Chapter Text
The first time Steve saw her, all he could focus on was how wrong she looked. Her hair was wrong, left loose instead of tied back as required. Her uniform was wrong, wearing a man's tie instead of a woman's. And then there was the most distressing issue... her unmentionables were visible, through her shirt! Steve had to avert his eyes. That was when he noticed the baseball game playing on the wireless. It was one that he and Bucky saw in the stadium, back in 1941. That was when he realised just how wrong everything really was.
Not long after that, things got really weird...
It was two weeks later when Steve actually met her, and found out who she was; Agent Natasha Romanoff.
The vivid sun was bright in his eyes as he stepped out of the helicopter and onto the carrier platform, but there she was, haloed by the sunlight, with the rays lighting up her fiery red hair. She was a complete blackout girl, and it took Steve several moments to realise that it was the same woman who'd looked so wrong just a few weeks prior. Though now he couldn't help focusing on what a dream puss she was. Then she smiled at him, a sly little smirk, and all he could think was ' Wow!'.
A thought that only intensified tenfold, as Steve followed Agent Romanoff through the helicarrier.
He'd always prided himself on being a good, honest man. A gentleman. But he couldn't stop his eyes from sweeping her attractive body; just as he couldn't with Peggy. However, when she glanced back over her shoulder, he did his best to not seem like he'd been taking a gander, despite the blush he could feel rising to his cheeks.
However, he wasn't sure if her own appreciative look was meant for him, or the good doctor who is walking beside him, but his heart sped up all the same. But later on, Steve realised he didn't stand a chance. Not once he'd seen her with Agent Barton, who'd rejoined S.H.I.E.L.D. thanks to some cognitive recalibration, whatever that was.
The technology of the new century was completely beyond him, and Steve really didn't have a clue.
There was nothing untoward or unprofessional between Agent Romanoff and the archer, it was much more quiet and subtle, which made it seem all the more powerful. It was in the way she looked at Barton. Not like the warmth with which Peggy used to look at him, nor the doe eyed glances girls use to give Bucky. No. There was an intensity to her gaze, one that Barton returned in equal measure.
That realisation was further affirmed during the fight in New York city.
When Steve saw them together, fighting back to back, it was obvious that their involvement was long standing. They were effortless together, seemingly knowing what the other was about to do, without even looking. It was as enviable as it was admirable, and even though Steve wasn't proud to admit it, he was starting to feel a little jealous.
Even before Agent Romanoff mentioned Budapest.
As the fight progressed, it had been a completely instinct when he'd rushed to shelter her with his shield. It wasn't that he doubted she could make it to safety on her own... Agent Romanoff was as formidable as Peggy ever was, perhaps even more so... but he was there and able to offer her protection, to shield her from the explosion that followed the Hulk and Stark taking out whatever in God's name they were fighting. Steve honestly thought she was going to slug him, or at least berate him, even though it had been the gentlemanly thing to do.
However, she merely flashed him that coy smirk of hers and gave him a wink. The she went on surprising.
When she asked for a boost, he didn't doubt her abilities for a second... serum or no, Steve knew he'd have failed miserably if he'd attempted what Agent Romanoff managed to make look effortless... though he couldn't help worry for her safety. Because, holy mackerel! When she flipped up onto one of those flying-craft-things it was nothing short of impressive, that was for sure.
In that moment, he envied and admired Agent Barton in equal measures, since he wasn't sure how the other man coped. Steve knew he would have given himself a stress ulcer worrying about her. Peggy had been an independent and indomitable woman, but Agent Romanoff took it to a completely new... and frightening... level.