Natasha woke up with a sound that seemed to be an argument. Lazily opened her eyes and stretched her body. She had slept peacefully and had a nice dream, she wasn't used to having dreams, nightmares were her night company.

Considering the thing she had planned to happen at the party, she had closed all the curtains on the street-facing side of the house the day before, to keep Ted from lurking in their house and wondering why things wouldn't be weird about Chris and Scarlett. Also, the next part of her plan was to keep him waiting for news from her. She was going to hide.

She got out of the bed and to the window, peaking from behind the curtain to see what was going on.

It was on the opposite side of the street, at Ted's house. She didn't care, it seemed someone had cheated on their partner, it wasn't something worth digging into.

She walked out of the room, stroking her neck, remembering Steve's touch and smiling while walking down the stairs with feather-like steps, not making a single noise.

As her feet reached the floor, she saw Steve sitting behind his desk talking to his phone.

She moved toward him but then, she heard her.

"Don't worry, I'll meet you on time" a small and cheerful voice broke through the silence on the line as Steve spoke on the phone.

"Be careful, I can't have anything happening to you, ok?" He was worried but somehow seemed to be happy and relieved at the same time.

"Don't worry big guy" she chuckled "I'll call you as soon as I get close to your house, ok? Don't wanna piss off that pretty fiancé of yours"

Natasha felt devastated, all of that meant nothing. All the things he did last night, it was just as a friend? She was coming? He hadn't let her call Clint in fear of someone finding them and she was coming here???

Although they were undercover they had two missions, in Ted's mission, Nat had the spotlight and Steve was her help. But Steve's mission was all on him, she wasn't a part of it and also she knew so little.

She suddenly shivered, was he supposed to seduce someone? Was that why he was so protective of her because he knew what they would do? Or was Chris also supposed to cheat on his fiancé, like Scarlett? All of this made her jealous but she would rather if the phone call would've been to Chris rather than Steve.

"It's about time she knew, don't you think?" He replied with a soft and gentle tone.

Natasha wanted to go back to the room but as if on cue, Steve turned around to find a redhead Russian spy standing a few steps behind him.

"She's here right now, wanna tell her now?" He teased with a smirk on his face and then got up smiling at Nat, he took her hand, placed a light kiss on its back, and slowly led Natasha to the other side of the house, to the dining room.

" Nooo, DO NOT TELL HER! Do you hear me?" Nat heard the girl scream and Steve burst into laughter.

" Okay, okay. But If she gets mad at me and wants to hit me, you'll take the punches, alright? Goodbye " And with that, another round of screaming started but Steve ended the call with a smile.

" who was she?" Nat's confused voice brought his attention to her.

" you'll know soon enough " he pecked her cheek while pulling a chair back at the dining table, gesturing her to sit down and went to the kitchen.

Nat sat down in confusion.

She would call, now and then, asking him for something. Steve would leave Natasha, he would walk to the backyard if they were home or would walk away from her if they were out, just to talk to her in private. Up to now, Nat knew she spoke fluent English but had an accent, something Natasha hadn't been able to recognize yet, thanks to Steve keeping his distance whenever she'd call. It all confused her more.

Steve appeared by her side with eggs and bacon, " I'm getting used to this wealthy undercover style, I could keep up to be Chris for a while you know ?" He looked at her, and a deep smile ran through his face. "Chris has a beautiful fiancé"

Natasha blushed, looked at him, then again, she thought about the mystery girl, her smile faded.

" what is it?" He looked worried." Are you in pain?"

" No, I'm fine.... very fine actually, hadn't slept like that in a while." She looked at the mug of coffee he had placed in front of her.

" Happy to help." He took her chin in his hand and pulled her gaze up" I bet I enjoyed it more than you did, let me know if I can help again, I'd be more than happy." He winked at her and laughed at the sight of her cheeks blushing.

He started going throw his files with Nat sitting beside him eating her breakfast in peace.

As she finished, she got up, took the dishes to the kitchen, and started washing them.

A pair of strong hands curled around her waist, pulling the dish she was washing from her hand, washed it off, and placed it aside.

He wordlessly took her hand and led her to the living room, led her to the couch, and sat on the coffee table in front of her.

" Nat, about what I did last night."

She looked up at him, fearful of seeing regret in his eyes.

" I care about you, I came to face that our feelings toward one another are different through the whole Bruce situation, it's ok. But I hate to see you hurt, I will protect you and look after you as long as you let me be, alright?" He held a shy smile and looked at her waiting or rather searching for an answer.

She froze. Deep down, she knew she wanted to hug him or tell him, that Bruce, was just a hopeless attempt to hide her monstrous past behind another monster, but she froze.

"Nat, are you okay? I figured you already knew, I thought you knew even back then. I'm sorry if I've passed a line or offended you." Steve began to ramble on and then Natasha burs out to tears.

She managed to get out an " I didn't ." before a heartbreaking chain of sobs left her lips and Steve pulled her to his embrace setting her head on his shoulders wondering if she was happy or sad.

He lightly kissed the top of her head, letting her relax in his arms and staying steel until she fell asleep again. Then he knew.

Natasha truly trusted him.

He moved a little to adjust her on the couch, placed a blanket on her, ran his fingers on her hair, and then got up, grabbed the car keys, and left.

He had a surprise to plan.

She was coming.