Requested by tamiresdr, Steve is temporary undone from the serum and Natasha takes care of him.
Natasha had never seen a mission go so wrong so quickly.
Especially a mission that was being led by her and Steve. They were a strong team and since their relationship had evolved into more then friends, they were careful not to let anything go wrong.
This time Natasha wasn't even sure they could have prevented it.
They had been done with the important part of their mission. Hostages had been rescued and most of their team had cleared out, leaving only Steve and Natasha to extract the data from the computer lab.
It should have been easy and quick, but the second they had stepped foot in the room, the doors had all locked and a gas began seeping into the room.
"Shit," Natasha mumbled, shooting the lock in a pointless attempt to get them out before they breathed in whatever gas was filling the room. When it failed she went to the computers and began trying to get the data.
"Natasha the window," Steve said, grabbing her hand.
"Hang on, we've got to get this data."
Steve shook his head, "We'll find another way to get it Nat. C'mon."
Natasha ignored him, typing away quickly at the computer and inserting a flash drive before removing it as soon as the computers shut down.
"Got it."
Steve coughed, the gas now at his height, "C'mon Natasha. We gotta get out of here."
She nodded and shot at the glass as they ran towards it. It cracked and when they got close enough to it, Steve pulled her into his arms and charged into it with his shield, diving out the window and holding his shield out so that it would break their fall.
Natasha coughed when they hit the ground and sat up, reaching down to help Steve up.
"Steve? You alright?" She asked, suddenly growing concerned when she saw sweat building up on his suddenly pale forehead.
Steve nodded and tried to stand up, only to stumble and fall towards Natasha.
"Steve?" She asked again, placing her hands on both sides of his face and frowning at how hot his skin was.
"I don't feel great," Steve admitted, stumbling again.
Natasha let go of his face and held him up, "Fury we need immediate extraction and a medic. Captain Rogers inhaled some sort of gas."
"It's on the way," Fury responded.
Natasha frowned and wrapped Steve's arm around her, "C'mon Steve. We gotta get you to a medic."
"I feel dizzy Nat."
"I know but you gotta help me get to the quinjet okay?" Natasha asked, her voice laced with worry.
Steve nodded weakly and stumbled along Natasha's side until they were in the jet.
Luckily they were only about 15 minutes from the compound.
When they got back to the compound, the medics took Steve and tried to force Natasha away from him.
"Let go of me, I'm not leaving him," She argued, pushing the hands of one of them away.
"Agent if he's been exposed to a deadly gas we can't risk you being exposed too."
Natasha pushed past him, "I was already exposed. Now let me through."
"Take her into another room and make sure she isn't experiencing any symptoms," Nick's voice said from behind her.
Natasha turned around quickly and glared at him, "I'm fine."
"That's an order," Fury added.
Natasha wanted to argue but Clint appeared and pulled her into the room besides Steve's.
"What the fuck are you doing?" She asked, slapping his hand away as the medics came up to her.
"Making sure you don't kill someone or get yourself fired. Steve will be fine. Just let them check you out and you'll be able to see him."
Natasha shook her head, "I'm fine. Steve's the one whose sick. They should be helping him, not making sure I'm alright."
Clint rolled his eyes, "There are plenty of people helping Steve. So stop struggling before they have to sedate you."
Natasha glared at him again, "I'll sit here for 15 minutes and then I'm going to see him."
Clint sighed, "Fine."
He stood up and moved so that the medics could check Natasha's vitals.
Fifteen minutes later, Natasha pushed them out of her way and walked back towards Steve's room.
"Natasha!" Bruce called, walking out of Steve's hospital room.
"Is he okay?" Natasha asked.
"Um, yeah. He's okay. But there's something you should know-"
"Is he awake?"
Bruce shook his head, "No, he's unconscious but he should wake up soon, but listen you should really-"
Natasha pushed past him, "Whatever it is can wait."
Bruce tried to argue but Natasha was already walking into the room.
She looked at Steve and couldn't help the small gasp that escaped her lips.
Steve was nearly a foot shorter, skinny, pale, and looked at though a strong gust of wind could blow him over.
"We think whatever gas Steve inhaled was meant to stop his super serum."
Natasha frowned, walking towards the bed and taking Steve's hand in hers, "Is it permanent?"
Bruce shook his head, "It's hard to tell but based on how little of it was found in his system and the fact that I was able to get a sample of the gas, we should be able to make an antidote that will reverse the effects if it doesn't wear off."
"Does he know yet?" Natasha asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
Bruce sighed, "No. He slipped into unconsciousness and hasn't woken up since it happened."
Natasha nodded slightly, her fingers brushing over Steve's hand gently, "Okay."
"I'll leave you two alone. Just call if he needs something. Tony and I are going to start looking for an antidote."
Natasha nodded, her eyes not leaving Steve's shut ones.
Bruce left the room and Natasha couldn't help but brush some of Steve's hair from his suddenly thin face.
He looked so different like this.
Not in a bad way...Natasha didn't care how short or skinny Steve was as long as she could still tell that he was her Steve.
She sat there silently observing his chest rise and fall until his eyes fluttered open and landed on her.
"Nat?"
She looked up with a soft smile, "Hey there. How do you feel?"
Steve frowned, "Weird. What happened?"
"Whatever that gas we were attacked with was targeted at you. According to Bruce, it temporarily took away the effects of the serum on you."
Steve frowned again and sat up, suddenly noticing how weak he felt and seeing that his height and stature had been reduced to what it had been almost 80 years ago.
"It took away the serum?" He asked, his voice sounding more fearful then Natasha had expected.
"Temporarily. If it doesn't wear off by the end of the day Tony and Bruce think they'll have an antidote."
Steve simply nodded, keeping his eyes fixated on the wall in front of him and avidly avoiding Natasha's gaze.
She frowned, "What is it Steve?"
He shook his head, "Nothing."
"Don't lie to me Rogers. I know when something's bothering you. What is it?"
Steve sighed, "Natasha what if it doesn't wear off and they can't just find an antidote? There's no way to recreate that serum. The only man who could have died the day he gave it to me."
She frowned again, "Then we figure something out Steve. That serum doesn't make you who you are. With or without it you're still a vital part of this team."
Steve scoffed, "Vital until I have an asthma attack and pass out. Without the serum I'm not Captain America anymore Natasha. I'm not the same guy you agreed to date."
Natasha's brows furrowed, "Is that what this is about? You're worried about what I think?"
Steve looked down at their connected hands, "There's a reason I didn't have my first kiss until after I got the serum Nat."
Natasha shook her head, "I can't believe you're actually worried about this Steve. You really think I'm that shallow?"
Steve shook his head quickly, "No. No, I don't think you're shallow Natasha. But you didn't sign up to date a skinny kid from Brooklyn with serious health issues."
"No. I didn't. I signed up to date Steve Rogers. Skinny and sick or not. Honestly Steve, I could care less what you look like or how many health conditions you have. You're still the same idiot I fell in love with."
Steve's eyes met hers slowly, and she cupped his cheek gently, "Plus, my favorite part of you hasn't changed a bit."
Steve raised an eyebrow, "What's that?"
She smiled softly, "Your eyes."
Steve couldn't help but smile back, "Yeah well they sure as hell don't work as well."
Natasha raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
"I'm colorblind. Makes you look pretty different."
"Worse?" Natasha teased.
Steve shook his head, "Never."
She smiled and leaned forward to kiss Steve softly, moving so that she was laying by his side on the bed. His hands wrapped around her waist and he gently pulled her on top of him, threading his fingers through her hair as they made out.
"You're still a great kisser," Natasha mumbled against his lips as they pulled away slowly.
Steve laughed quietly, gasping for breath, "You're literally going to kill me if you keep doing that."
Natasha smirked moving her lips to his jaw, "So you want me to stop?
Steve shook his head, "No. Just don't be surprised if my lungs give out."
She laughed again and rolled off Steve, curling up besides him with one hand in his hair and the other resting on his chest..
"It's funny until it actually happens," Steve teased.
Natasha kissed his cheek and smiled, "Sorry but you're kind of hard to resist."
Steve shook his head, "I love you."
"I love you too," Natasha said, laying her head against his shoulder.
Hours later, Bruce and Tony had figured out an antidote for the gas.
"So what do I do?" Steve asked, standing in front of the chamber the two had built.
"Go inside and we'll release the gas that will cancel out what the other people hit you with and then you'll be back to normal," Bruce explained.
Natasha gave Steve's hand a light squeeze, as he began walking towards it.
He smiled at her and stepped inside. Tony flipped some switch and the chamber made a strange noise for a few moments before going silent again. Natasha heard Steve cough before opening the door, now back to the super solider she had always known him as.
"Alright great. Problem solved," Tony said, pushing off a wall in his rolling chair so that he could resume working on something else.
Steve rolled his eyes and walked back to Natasha with a smile.
She raised an eyebrow, "What?"
He grinned, "I missed your red hair."
Hey guys. Sorry that it's been so long since I updated. I went on vacation for the past 10 days and didn't realize that we were going to have very little wifi and that I would be sharing a room with all 4 of my family members, which made it nearly impossible to update.
But with this being said, I quit my job and now updates should be much more frequent!
I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter and if you did please comment and vote! Next chapter should be up soon!!