Romanogers - Oneshots

Empaths don't lie

"So what are the antennae for?" The others groan. It's all Sam's been talking about for the last half hour, despite the rather more pressing threat at hand. No one freaking cares what the antennae do, but for some reason he can't seem to be able to shut up about it.

They're standing in Shuri's lab, she who is standing over a table swiping and tapping at a hologram hovering above Vision, who's lying on the table, looking increasingly uncomfortable. Wanda stands beside him, clutching his hand reassuringly. Steve and Natasha are talking in low voices. He shakes his head, and she puts a hand on his arm, murmuring something assuring. He turns his head to look at her, and a look passes between them, as it often does. Whole conversations with no words. A smile twitches his mouth as he mutters something, and her face breaks into a grin as she laughs.

"It's okay." Mantis answers in her soft voice. "They have something to do with my empathic abilities."
"What are they?" Sam presses further. Several people roll their eyes.
"If I touch someone, I can feel their feelings." She explains.
"You read minds?" Steve questions.
"No." She quavers. "Telepaths see thoughts. Empaths see feelings. May I?" She puts her arm out as if to touch Steve's arm. He hesitantly agrees, apprehension filling him. Everyone watches as her face lights up like a glow worm as her fingertips come into contact with his arm. He frowns, almost...scared. Natasha chortles next to him, snickering begins her hand.
They're expecting fear, or anger, or something, given the threat coming ever closer. What they receive is something entirely of a different breed.

"You feel...love." There's a silence as eyebrows raise across the room.
"Umm....okay. I guess I do have a general feeling of love...for life in general. It can be fun."
"No, for her!" Mantis gestures clearly, ignoring his blanch, to Natasha, who's eyes widen and arms drop to her sides in confusion. Steve feels a strange urge to push Mantis away, not that that would help. She's already received a reading, it seems. Natasha is no longer smiling. A frown is set into her brow as she turns to Steve, asking for an explanation. He doesn't blame her.
"Uhh...yeah." Steve fills the silence and attempts futilely to supply some sort of comment. "She's my best friend."
A warm feeling spreads through Natasha, from the ends of her hair to the tips of her toes, and a small smile passes over her mouth, relaxing her frown.

Steve is being gripped by an increasing feeling of panic. This is going to end badly. Reeeally badly.
Mantis frowns again, oblivious. "No! Romantic. You love her!"
Steve feels like he's dying inside, like his heart has stopped and his organs are rotting. His face is white, a sickly pallor.

The smile is wiped off her face instantly, an expression of pure shock replacing it. Her head snaps to look at him and Steve wants the floor to swallow him up then and there. God, this feels worse than anything Thanos could ever put him through.
Sam makes a loud choking sound. T'Challa looks between the two with interest, as Shuri pauses a moment to snicker loudly. Wanda and Vision are just as astonished.
Steve attempts to feign surprise, but it's half hearted. "For...Natasha?"
"Careful, might hurt my feelings." She whispers after a second, but without mirth, and there's a crack in her voice. She carries on staring at him, unblinking, surprise etched into every feature.
He manages to turn back to Mantis, try to salvage this un-salvageable situation. "No, no I don't. Not like that. She's like my sister." He can see Sam looking at him from across the room, shaking his head and sighing.
"You, awww..." Mantis carries on. "You're in love with her and you want to ki-"
"Okay I think that's fine." Steve pulls away roughly, detaching Mantis's hand from its place on his bicep. Her bright expression fades, arm drifting to her side.
"Talk about exposed." Shuri not-so-silently whispers to T'Challa.
"I'm..." Steve begins, gesturing to the doorway. "I'm gonna go..."

"Steve-" A whisper comes from Natasha's mouth. Her arm reaches limply after him as he turns.
"No, it's fine. I'm just going to..." He doesn't finish that sentence, just shuffles away, head bowed.
"Please stay." He looks up. "I mean...don't go. We've still got things...to discuss."
More silence. He doesn't reply, just takes a few steps back to where he used to stand, though not as close. Their shoulders don't touch as before. Their fingers don't brush.

She fidgets beside him, fiddling and knotting her fingers. Her cheeks are victim to a light blush, the pink colouring livid against the pale pallor. Steve is still blanched, and keeps swallowing, as if he's trying not to throw up. They both stare straight ahead, not acknowledging the other's presence at all, a stark contrast to just a few minutes ago where all they would think about was each other.

"So yeah sorry I was thinking..." Sam attempts to fill the tense silence, to no avail really, but carries on speaking, despite not one person is listening to his piece. They can't stop twitching their eyes to the two off to the side, their embarrassment evident.

And then all at once, Natasha turns abruptly to Steve and kisses him. There's a sharp intake of breath through the room, a collective gasp. After a second of utter surprise he responds immediately, wrapping his arms around her back and reciprocating with as much passion as he can muster.

At last they pull away, flustered, and return to their previous position. If it was possible to go redder, Natasha did just that, a scarlet flush spreading up her neck to her cheeks. Steve's ears are completely pink, and he's no longer blanched. They seem rather out of breath.
"Sorry, carry on. I, uh, just needed to do that." Natasha explains, cutting through the various snorts and snickers. Shuri, after smirking once again, turns back to the table, where Vision has been watching the whole scene with interest, and continues explaining science none of them really understand.

Natasha's fingers twitch next to him, and suddenly twine around his hand. She swallows and stares straight ahead. He turns his head to look at her, a warm smile spreading across his face as he glances at their linked hands and then her serious face, before turning back to the front and finally paying at least a grain of attention to Sam.

Hey, so updates will not be as often as before, as I usually write the chapters in advance but you obviously publish faster than you write, and with school I don't have as much time, so they might be once or twice a week. Also trying to write chapters for three different books at the same time is impossible.

Thank you x