I watched Natasha arguing with Tony from a distance. This was all my fault. If I hadn't been all flirty, Nat wouldn't have had to deal with punishment from Tony for something that I did. I was the one who deserved to be punished, not Natasha.
"Hey, man. What's going on?" Sam asked. He opened the refrigerator and took out the lemonade.
"Tony is assigning me to Nat's current case," I said.
"Isn't that a good thing?"
I gave him a look. "As her date."
"Oh. You think he knows something?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. He decided this after following us to Nat's car at the diner. We were...kinda flirting."
"In public?"
I rolled my eyes. "Yes, in public. We should've been more careful, but you'd think we would be able to let our guard down away from the compound."
"Well, maybe he doesn't know anything."
"Maybe. But he likely suspects something. It's Tony."
Sam shrugged and sipped at his lemonade. "You never know, man. Maybe he didn't actually see anything. Maybe he's bluffing. Or maybe he thinks you and Nat make a great team."
I watched as Natasha came back toward us without Tony. She glanced briefly at me, mumbling something about working out before dinner, and left to go change. That's when Tony came back into the room.
"Tony, can you tell me what that was all about?" I asked.
"Romanoff's undercover assignment. How do you feel about bars?"
"Well, considering I can't get drunk, I'm not particularly fond of them. Although, we drink all the time here, so I guess there isn't much of a difference."
Tony laughed. "Don't worry. This case doesn't require you to actually get drunk. Which is why you're the perfect addition. You see, Nat has talked you up to Emery over the course of the investigation, but doesn't know all that much about you. Now's your chance to be introduced as the boyfriend—for the purpose of the case only."
"So, you're not mad about what happened?" I asked.
Tony laughed. "Of course not. As far as I'm concerned, your chemistry with Nat is what we need to finally get a break in this case."
"So all you want us to do is pretend we're a couple?"
Tony nodded. "Yup. And after that, you can go back to the way things were." He clapped me on the shoulder and strode away.
The way things were, yeah right, I thought to myself.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
After the confrontation with Tony, I decided I needed some time to think and changed for a swim. Luckily, there was no one else outside at the pool, so I was able to swim and think in peace. Once I'd done enough laps to beat the longest race in the olympics without even getting tired, I climbed out of the pool and wrapped a towel around my waist.
"Enjoy your swim?" Pepper asked from one of the lounge chairs.
I smiled. "As always. Have you seen Natasha?"
Pepper gestured inside. "Last time I saw her she was in the training room. And she was asking about you, too. You still have time to see her before dinner." She winked.
"Thanks, Pepper." I hurried back inside to change. Once I'd put on fresh clothes, I walked down to the training room. I figured I'd get a quick workout in before dinner and I could talk to Natasha at the same time.
Natasha was focused on the punching bag when I walked in, so she didn't see me at first. I waved my arms to indicate I was there, and Natasha stopped what she was doing.
"Hi," she said.
"I talked with Tony after you left," I told her.
Natasha walked over to the wall. "What did he tell you?"
"Hopefully the same thing he told you. He said that I'm convincing as your boyfriend for the purposes of your assignment and he wants me to join you Friday night with Emery. Is that what he told you?"
Natasha nodded. "Yes, that's what he told me. He also said he didn't actually hear us through the comms."
I scoffed. "So he was bluffing. Well now I'm glad I didn't apologize for flirting with you."
Natasha waved off the comment. "He does that sometimes. Usually to mess with me." She bent over into a wall handstand. I'd seen her practice that move a few times, but she just so gracefully maneuvered into the pose that all I could do was stand there in awe.
"So are you ok with this? The Friday night thing?" I asked.
"Yeah. I still have to call Emery and tell her I'm bringing a date. Can you hold my waist?"
"What?" I looked at her confused.
"My waist. Can you hold me while I come out of the handstand?"
"Oh, yeah." I gently placed my hands on her waist and waited as she flipped back to her feet.
"Thanks." She pushed a sweaty piece of hair out of her face. "We should probably head up for dinner."
I nodded. "Yeah. Unless you want to attempt to beat me in a quick combat?"
Natasha smirked and raised an eyebrow. "You are so on, Rogers."
We set up on a mat for a quick battle, but before I knew it, I was flat on my back with Natasha straddling me in triumph.
"Nice try," she said. She stood up and put out a hand to help me up. "Are we still on for our swim rematch tonight?"
"For sure. But I have to be honest, you don't stand a chance."
Natasha laughed and bumped me playfully with her hip. "That's what you think. C'mon, let's go up for dinner.
We walked up to the main level again and found most of the gang lounging in the usual spot on the sofas. Sam caught my eye, and I shook my head. I mouthed the word 'later' to him. Natasha went to sit by Clint as Tony came into the room.
"How does everyone feel about a team bonding exercise tonight?" he asked.
Collective groans echoed through the room.
"Tony, the last time we did a team building exercise it ended with a certain corrupt robot software destroying your summer house," Clint said, getting a series of nods from the rest of us, as Rhodey said, "Oy not the Ultron thing again."
"In my defense, I didn't know that was going to happen. And half the blame is on Banner."
"Banner isn't even here," Nat argued.
"I think it's a good idea," I said. Everyone turned to look at me.
"What? We haven't had time lately for the whole team to do anything together. I think this would be good for all of us, especially as we engage in future missions. You never know when you'll need to count on your partner more than you were expecting."
Sam and Nat looked at each other and then back to me.
"Thank you, Steve," Tony said. "Anyone else?"
"I guess I wouldn't be opposed to team bonding," Wanda chimed in.
"Alright, I guess I'm in too," Sam said, giving in.
"Nat? Clint? You two gonna jump on the bandwagon at some point?" Tony asked.
Nat glanced at me again and then sighed. "Fine, I'm in. But you're gonna have to set some ground rules, Tony. No funny business."
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
After a few rounds into the game, and many more drinks, everyone was feeling pretty reckless and loose. Except for me. Sometimes I really hated not being able to get drunk. And, despite Nat's urge for 'no funny business', Tony had come up with some pretty crazy dares for us. Including having me and Nat kiss in front of everyone.
"Next round, everyone! Get a refill on your drinks because this one is going to be the best," Tony said.
"You having fun?" Natasha asked me.
I shrugged. "It's not as fun when you can't get drunk."
Nat smiled. "I know the feeling." She stood up and motioned for me to follow her into the kitchen.
"What are we doing?" I asked.
Nat pressed a panel on the wall and a set of buttons appeared. She fiddled with them for a second and then turned to me.
"We haven't had a moment alone all evening," she said.
"You really think the kitchen is the best place to talk?" I asked, glancing nervously at the door.
Natasha waved her arm. "The panel on the wall shrouds the room in silence for as long as is necessary. Pepper showed me. We won't be disturbed."
"And why do we not want to be disturbed?" I asked, taking a step towards her.
"Because I need to talk to you about the case and how we're gonna handle Friday night."
"Oh." I stepped back, raising my hand to scratch the back of my head—a nervous habit. "I thought you were cool with it?"
"I am. But we need to go over ground rules, especially because we're...well, whatever we are, we can't let that get in the way of the mission."
I nodded. "I know that."
Natasha narrowed her eyes at me. It was a little frightening, but mostly just cute. "You can't let your personal feelings for me affect the mission."
"Isn't my role to play the boyfriend?"
"Yes, but if we get caught or if anything goes wrong, you have to treat me like your teammate, not your girlfriend, ok?"
Steve nodded. "Got it. Anything else."
"Yeah. How convincing is this?" She pulled herself up to my level and kissed me.
A few seconds later, we pulled away from each other.
"Pretty convincing," I said.
Nat smiled. "Good. Now we can go back to the game." She left me alone in the kitchen, which in hindsight was probably not the smartest thing to do. Because now all I was going to think about was that kiss.