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Natasha was feeling at peace; but that wasn't about to last long. The avengers had faced many criminals, Hydra and Aliens but to Natasha and Wanda's point of view, and also every other girl in the group, the avenger boys were the worst thing that could ruin a peaceful day. That feeling was incredibly increased when they heard a loud scream.

Natasha, Wanda, Maria and Pepper who had just joined them were swimming in a peaceful silent while Lila and Cooper were back on the shore making a sand castle with the help of non other that their uncle Steve. Everything felt right; just until they heard a loud scream and then, a huge splash of water washed over their faces; causing the girls to growl as they pushed their hair out of their faces. The water steadied and Sam's head popped out with a huge grin plastered on his face.

Maria was the one to scream at him "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sam parted his lips to answer but just then, they heard two more screams and the next thing they new, Tony and Bucky were giving them smug grins. Natasha was glaring at them and they could swear if looks could kill, hers would.

Everyone knew Natasha hated getting wet, she'd usually refuse swimming in general but she felt she wanted to enjoy this so called vacation; that was until the three idiotsas she would call them later had decided to ruin her peaceful moment. She took three deep breaths and shook her head, "You know what? I actually liked it better when you two couldn't stand each other." She groan, her eyes darting between the two brunettes "If I stay here I'm gonna drown all you three idiots! I'm heading back to the beach" she swam her way back to the shore just before Tony splashed a handful of water to Pepper's face, followed by Sam splashing Maria while Bucky and Wanda just laughed at them.

Natasha was walking back to Steve, not only to prevent herself from being splashed more but also to spend some time with both the kids and Steve himself. Sharon had disappeared back in the hotel, apparently having to report on Barnes status to both Fury and T'challa. She walked to Lila and Cooper whom where focused on their sand castles whilst Steve was smiling at her brightly. He hadn't stepped a foot in the water and it hadn't gone unnoticed by Natasha.

"Hey! Watcha doing?" She chimed as she got closer to them.

"Auntie Nat! Do you like my castle?" Lila squealed with an overjoyed voice that plastered a wide smile on Steve and Natasha's lips "I think it's beautiful!" She mused. Cooper looked at Natasha with a shy smile "What about mine auntie?" Natasha who'd crouched down on her knees to kiss Lila, slowly pulled herself up and walked the few steps between her and Cooper and pulled him to a warm hug "It's great, Coop!" She kissed his head and let him pull away as he wanted to go back to his sandcastle.

Steve gently pet the sand beside him, inviting her to sit by his side. Natasha bit her lip gently in hesitation and to her surprise, Steve read her mind, jumping to his foot "I'll be right back".

She watched him jog to the lounges and pick up two towels, then jog back to where she was. He handed her one towel with a smile and she took it gracefully "Thank you" she whispered and he nodded while spreading the other towel on the sand. He sat down and watched her trying to dry her hair, then wrap the towel around her shoulder to seat on the towel Steve had laid down for her "You're quite the gentleman, Rogers!" She mused in her husky voice.

He chuckled "I try my best, ma'am." she smiled at him.

They both turned to look at their friends whom where now playing with a ball.

"Where did they get that ball?" Natasha laughed. "Do you think Tony would come to the beach unprepared?" Natasha laughed again "Guess not".

They fell in a comfortable silent and Steve curled one arm around her waist, pulling her closer to himself as he planted a kiss on her shoulder. "I told Bucky, I hope you're ok with that!" He whispered to her ear. "I actually told Maria" Natasha grinned at him.

"So, who exactly doesn't know?" Steve laughed. "Well, Sam, Wanda and Vision knew from the mission. I told Clint you asked me to be your girlfriend yesterday, and I told Maria that you'd done some stuff to me!" She smirked as Steve went red "Nat!" She laughed at him "Don't worry, I didn't say anything specific! Not yet at least" Steve shook his head "So, the only one's who don't know are Tony, Pepper and Sharon?" Natasha hummed "I'm guessing Pepper is suspecting something but she's too polite to ask or snoop around" he nodded with a smile. "So, we're still gonna pretend like nothing's happened and keep our fun to ourselves? Or we just come clean with them?"

Natasha's head snapped at his side "Keep our fun to ourselves? Really, Rogers?" She teased him with a crooked brow. "Well I'd rather be able to hold you close to me when we're out in public, it may keep some eyes off you" Natasha gave him a sweet smile and pulled herself up to linger a kiss on his cheek "You're also too protective." She smiled at his baby blue eyes. He just pulled her closer to himself wordlessly.

"Steve" she tilted her head to face him "Nat?" His eyes were still locked on their friends. "Why won't you join them? You haven't been in the water at all" Steve sighed and turned to face her "I don't really miss it" Natasha gave him a confused look "You know, having spend decades in the ice and stuff" he chuckled but she could only bite her lips, "I'm sorry". He shook his head "Oh it's fine, I got you" Natasha looked at his wide boyish grin, making her blush. She rested her head on his side and closed her eyes to breath in the fresh air.

She wished the vacation could last forever; but of course nothing good would ever last in her life.

Everything from their peaceful moment went fast. In a matter of hours, before the team could settle down for lunch, Fury called in with a certain discomfort, informing them that there had been an attack on a cruise ship on Atlantic Ocean with nearly a hundred civilians being held hostage. As it appeared, the attacker were The Triads, a well known international transnational organized crime syndicate based in Asia and has outposts in various countries. The question was why would they attack a cruise! The avengers were needed at short notice and their trip had come to an early end. Two quinjets were called for them, one to take Pepper and the Barton family back to the headquarters, one to take the team to their sudden upcoming mission.

Natasha was standing next to Clint, bidding their goodbyes to the two very disappointed kids while Clint promised them he would make it up to them.

Pepper was making Tony promise her he wouldn't do anything she wouldn't do, meaning he wasn't allowed to do anything Stark-ish!

Steve was talking to Maria while they were going through the background information they had, a short briefing on the weird situation. As it appeared, a billionaire had bought the ship for his daughter's 18th birthday and she had thrown a party, including too many teenagers and as it turned out, her father had previously settled down for a deal on a nuclear weapon with the gang, but he had failed to seal his end of the deal. Now this daughter and her many many guests were being hold hostages. Steve felt agitated as Maria filled him in on the information, there were too many lives at risk.

Wanda was talking to Fury, asking him if it was reasonable for her to join the team, scared that something would go wrong with her powers.

Bucky was told to stand back; so he and Sharon would be joining Pepper and the Bartons back to the headquarters.

They all settled on the quinjet for the take off with Natasha sitting next to Steve, eying the team. It was hard to believe in less than two hours ago all of them were in swimsuits or bikinis. Maria told them they were stable and safe to get of their seats. Steve immediately jumped of his seat and walked to Maria to get their strategy ready. After a long conversation between Steve and Maria they came to the conclusion that they needed to be as subtle as possible and therefore, they couldn't all get on board at once.

Steve was dividing them to groups of two, Maria and Sam being one, Clint and Natasha the second team with Wanda and Vision as the third; while he himself would get on board alone, headed for the the invader's commander. The teams had to get the hostages to safety and Tony would be hacking in the system, taking control of the ship, routing it back to the closest seaport. Once everyone was informed about the plan, he finally took back his seat next to Natasha. He's entire body was tensed and she could easily tell he was stressed out with his famous compress in his fist. She took in a deep breath trying to ignore the fact that he was still clinging to Peggy for comfort. They had had many missions, some concluding hostages but this was too many.

"We're gonna get them, Steve." She gently whispered to him as she leaned closer to his side. He turned his face to look her in the eyes, they were so close that he wanted nothing but to kiss her right then. He sighed and shook his head to get that thought away "I hope so" he murmured. Natasha rested her head on his side, her own mind clouded with thoughts about what was to come. Steve looked down at her cherry red hair with a small smile on his lips.

Steve Rogers was shy. Everyone knew that and he wasn't the most open person out there; but he'd been waiting too long for a chance to build something with Natasha and now that he'd gotten it, he wanted to show everyone she belonged to him; that was if she had the same idea and if he couldn't do so right then, he'd take any chance of having her close to him.

Tony was trying to focus on his suit but couldn't stop himself from eying them from the corner of his eyes; he definitely needed to talk to Pepper about the closeness of their captain and his partner. He was starting to come to the conclusion that the two may not be just partners in crime anymore but at least, he hated Rogers less than Banner.

As Vision had said, he hated Banner the most! Well, it wasn't actually hate, but there had been so many times that he'd wanted to punch either one of them than he'd come to using the term hate; one of the many things Pepper would lecture him about. And also, it wasn't a secret that he still viewed Natasha as the young girl who had stepped in his gym with Pepper and beat the shit out of Happy! He grinned at the memory. That's also why Natasha letting Rogers and Barnes leave the airport back at Germany had frustrated him to an amount beyond words; causing him to go harsh on the spy. He wasn't a fan of the Widow and Hulk playing hide the zucchini; and he'd made it clear several times! Although Clint had assured him nothing of the sort had ever happened between the two and it had all been emotional and very brief; he was still suspicious about the whole situation; never really understanding what had gotten the little red close to the doctor.

From the corner of his eyes, he saw Steve Rogers smoothly taking Natasha Romanoff's hand in his and intertwining their fingers. Somehow, the smile on their faces and the vibe surrounding them reminded him of Pepper and himself. Tony Stark's lips curved up to a soft smile and he finally turned all his focus back on his suit.

"We'll be there in ten, Captain" Maria's firm tone broke the silent that was hovering the team as she walked to Steve, handing him a tablet showing an infrared scan of the ship. She was back to her agent voice and so was Steve. "Good" He stood up, the rest mirrored his action. "So, the mission is on a cruise, it's going to be dark, but still we can't just all jump down on the deck."

He turned to Vision and Wanda "You two can fly down to the quarter deck, there is no crowd shown there, but there are three guards that you'll need to take down. Then you'll get in the dining area which is the bottom floor of the cruise and appears to hold the hostages." The two nodded.

Steve turned to Sam and Maria "Hill, I need you up here, monitoring everyone's moves. And Sam, you'll be flying around the quinjet; if anything goes wrong on Hill's watch, she'll send you to get things under control."

Then he turned to Clint and Natasha "You two will have to jump with parachute, so we need to get you somewhere that's not guarded and that's the third deck, where the pool is." Clint gave him a confused look "But that's because there's lights all over the place, they'll even see a fly if it gets there." Steve shook his head "No need to worry about that, Stark will hack in the system and shut it down for about four minutes. That'll give you enough time to land and get out of the spotlight." Clint nodded while Natasha looked at the scan in Steve's hand "And what exactly would we do down there?" She asked while her eyes studied the movements of what seemed to be five guards on the deck above.

"You'll need to take down the guards, then get the lifeboats ready for the hostages." She nodded softly, studying the scan to find the lifeboats. "Tony!" He gave the brunette a serious look "I need you to unlock every single door; the whole plan depends on it." Tony gave him a grin "Piece of cake, capsicle!"

"Why can't we unlock the door?" Wanda asked Steve. It seemed it would be much faster and easier to use either hers or Vision's powers. "It'll trigger the alarms." Tony answered instead, receiving a nod from Wanda. Steve smiled, then took his time to look at every single member of his team "Avengers" He smirked "Assemble!"

They all walked to the backdrop, Clint and Natasha putting on parachutes; Sam getting his wings ready and Tony's suit covering his entire body as Steve watched him, he for sure wasn't getting the hang of this new nanotechnology suits. "Hey, cap!" Clint called out to him "Yeah?" Steve answered. "What are you going to do?" He asked with creased brows. Steve turned to Maria "Lower the backdrop" and she obliged. Then he turned back to the team "Turn on your earpieces!"

Natasha turned to face him "Steve! What are you suppose to do?" She demanded an answer.

He sighed "I'm going to the Captain's quart". They all turned to give him frightened looks.

"What??" Natasha snapped at him.

"Isn't that were their leader is?" Sam asked. "Yeah, and one hostage." Vision shook his head "The billionaire's daughter?" Steve nodded "Probably".

Natasha was glaring at him wildly, making the rest of the team take a step back in horror and Steve tried his best not to meat her gaze. "Are you crazy? You're gonna get yourself killed!" She screamed at him at the top of her voice.

Steve sighed "I'm not gonna do anything reckless." He gave her a soft smile in hope of lightening her mood but Natasha didn't look convinced at all "Then you'll wait until we get the guards down, before you jump down and then I'll join you, ok?" Steve wanted to protest but he found it pointless. He exhaled loudly, a look f defeat plastered on his face "Fine". Natasha smiled victoriously.

"It's time!" Maria informed them and they instantly turned to the backdrop. Wanda and Vision were the first to fly out, followed by Tony who was to use FRIDAY to hack in the system to turn of the lights, clearing the third deck for Natasha and Clint's landing. They walked to the edge of the backdrop waiting for Tony's sign.

"Wanda, Vision, what's your status?" Steve asked through his chip. "We've got the guards down, waiting for Tony to unlock the doors." "Good" Steve replied.

"Tony, how are you doing?" He asked again. "I'm working on the doors, that take just about...." he slurred the word and then "Done! They can get in!".

"You heard that?" Steve asked the duo. "Getting in, Captain." Vision answered.

"Stark, how long before you get the lights out?" They waited for Tony's reply "Give me two more minutes and then they can jump" Steve nodded without uttering a word, he was worried about the timing.

Natasha who'd been standing by his side in silent, suddenly turned to face him and pulled him down in a demanding kiss, causing Cling to turn away from them. Steve grasped her waist and returned the passion. Natasha raised her hands to tug her fingers in his dirty blonde strands, tussling. Steve grunted in her mouth as she pulled him closer, deepening the kiss.

"Time to jump!" Tony spoke through the chip, getting a low throaty growl from Steve as Natasha pulled away "Don't you dare die out there, soldier!" She commanded before she ran to the edge and jumped of, followed by Clint, not giving Steve a chance to reply.

He waited in silent, waiting for their status. He waited impatiently, stomping his foot repeatedly and pacing around. Sam watched him in silent as he waited for Maria to give him the sign to fly off the quinjet. When he felt he couldn't wait any longer, he spoke through the earpieces "Barton, Romanoff, what's your status?" It took a few seconds to get a respond "Almost clear! Tasha's taking care of the last one." Clint answered him breathlessly. It took her a few more seconds before she answered him "All clear!" Steve sighed in relief "Good, get to the lifeboats." He ordered.

Then he turned off his chip hi and turned to Maria "I have to get to the leader before they figure we're invading the ship! You can narrate Wanda and Vision, right?" Maria hesitated to answer and Sam butted in "Cap, didn't Romanoff tell you to wait?" He asked skeptically. "We don't have much time." Steve answered. "I'll take over the narrating." Maria answered him with certainty. Steve nodded and walked to the edge, jumping down with only his shield, disappearing from their sight.

Then there was silent. No sound could be heard through the earpieces from Steve Rogers' chip but all were too occupied to notice; Maria telling Wanda and Vision which hallway to take and when and where they would run into guards. Soon they reached the dining area where the hostages were being hold and they were helping them on the deck to the lifeboats. Everything was going on as they had planned, almost. There was one single problem and that was the fact that one of the guards from the Captain's quart had walked out on the deck to find the guards unconsciously laying on the ground.

"Cap, you have incoming!" Maria shouted through her chip.

"What??" Natasha screamed back "Where the hell is he?? Isn't he up there??"

Maria bit her lips "He jumped down after you guys" she heard Natasha curse and shout at Clint "I'm going after Steve!" Then for the first time since Steve had jumped down, they heard him through the earpieces "No! You need to get those people off the ship!" His tone was stern.

"The guards are down! Why do we need to get them off anyway?" She screamed at Steve but got no answers. "What are you hiding??" Her firm tone demanded an answer; an answer that Tony provided "The leader is going to take off in a yacht, but I've got them locked up in one of the corridors. There was a bomb in the Captain's quart with the girl. I'm gonna get the girl out and Cap's taking the bomb to the yacht."

Natasha bit back an angry scream, inhaling deeply. "We need to get everyone off the ship." Steve spoke with a gentle tone. "And what are you planning to do?" Natasha asked as she helped a young girl get on a life boat.