˗ˏˋ romanogers oneshots ˎˊ˗

across the stars

"You're sweating. Relax. Take a deep breath." Tony says as the two men ride up the elevator, towards the office of a certain Director Romanoff. 

"Relax? I can't possible relax Tony, I haven't seen her in ten years." He says, looking at Tony with a small smile, nervous and giddy with excitement. 

Tony glares across him in the elevator and looks down with a sigh. "Well at least try and look relaxed, she's stressed enough as it is, she doesn't need your infatuation stress her out too." 

The elevator bell dings and Steve composes himself, stepping out of the elevator and into her office. Her office, after she had been recently promoted to Director of SHIELD. "Keyword, try." He mumbles under his breath as Tony glares at him again. 

Tony opens the conversation. "Director, the attempt on your life was not the first and it will not be the last. As a result, Captain Rogers and I have been sent to protect you."

"I haven't seen you in a while General Stark." Natasha Romanoff says, turning around, looking as beautiful as she did ten years ago when Steve first met her, with his words 'Are you an Angel?', to which she had laughed it off. She turns to Steve with a smile, "Steve? My goodness, you've grown."

"So have you. More beautiful, that is." He smiles. She looks at him, eyebrows raised, arms crossed. "For a Director, I mean," he adds nervously, shifting his weight across his feet. 

She shakes her head with a laugh. "Oh Stevie, you'll always be that little boy I knew on Camp Lehigh." She quips back, taking a seat behind her desk, opening the case file as the two men take a seat across from her. 

"The Captain and I think it would be a good idea to get you out of town." Tony starts, pulling up a hologram of his plan. 

Natasha cuts him off immediately. "No. I am not leaving my people. These people need my help."

"You're no help to the, if you're dead." Steve jumps in in defense, but is cut off when Tony glares at him. "We'll protect you Director, I will make sure no harm comes to you." Tony glares at Steve again and he shrugs. "What? Just doing my job."

Later, when Natasha has retired too her quarters for the night, Tony chids Steve for his behavior earlier, "You can't be objective when it comes to her, if you continue to keep it up like that, I'm taking you off the case."

"God no, please no. Tony, I promise I can keep my emotions in check. I need to be there to protect her." Steve protests. 

Tony rolls his eyes, "She doesn't need your fucking protection, how do you think she made Director? She's more than capable of protecting herself. Our job is to find her assassin."

Steve sighs. "Okay. Fine." But he stops short as they both hear the breaking of glass, rushing into her room, to find the window broken into, a masked shadow holding her by the neck. Natasha reaches for her gun, firing it through her shoulder into the assassin's heart. The assassin lets go of her, collapsing to the floor behind her. Tony rushes to the masked assassin, pulling off the mask as Steve rushes towards Natasha, enquiring about her wound. 

"I don't like this plan," Natasha says as she packs her bags. 

Steve paces up and down her room, "Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do. Like Tony keeps holding me back, limiting my potential, but I have no choice but to follow even though I know I'm better than this." He whines. 

He moves closer to Natasha and she moves away. "Don't look at me like that."

"Why not?" He protests. 

"It makes me uncomfortable," she states firmly, closing the zip of her duffle bag, slinging it over her shoulder. 

Steve leads her into the Quinjet in silence, getting into the pilot seat as she takes a seat in the back, looking around at the gear he stashed. 

"Where to?" She asks as he takes off. 

Tony replies on his behalf from the copilot seat, "Italy."

They sit in silence for the rest of the journey, the only moment of noise, the shuffling in seats and the dramatic sighs. 

In Italy, he tries to make a move on her, several times in fact, but she rejects him every time. And when he cannot take it he finally confesses, "From the moment I met you, all those years ago, not a day has gone by when I haven't thought of you. And now that I'm with you again... I'm in agony. The closer I get to you, the worse it gets. The thought of not being with you- I can't breath. I'm haunted by the kiss that you should never have given me. My heart is beating... hoping that kiss will not become a scar. You are in my very soul, tormenting me... what can I do?- I will do anything you ask ... if you are suffering as much as I am, PLEASE, tell me."

Natasha shakes her head in response, "I can't... We can't... It's not possible."

"Anything is possible, Natasha, listen to me." He protests. 

"No you listen! We live in a real world, come back to it. You're a Captain, I'm... I'm a Director. If you follow your thoughts through to conclusion, it will take us to a place we cannot go, regardless of the way we feel about each other." She insists. 

"Then you do feel something!"

"I will not let you give up your future for me."

"You're asking me to be rational. That is something that I know I cannot do. Believe me, I wish I could just wish away my feelings, but I can't."

The two are in an unspeakable silence and do not speak until they find themselves incaptive, right next to one another, headed towards certain death. 

"Don't be afraid." He reassures her

She looks over at him with a look in her eyes, "I'm not afraid to die. I've been dying a little bit each day since you came back into my life."

'What are you talking about?" He asks, confused. 

Without hesitating, she lets it slip. "I love you."

"You love me? I thought we had decided not to fall in love. That we'd be forced to live a lie and that it would destroy our lives." He looks over at her, his eyes softening. 

"I think our lives are about to be destroyed anyway. I truly... deeply... love you and before we die I want you to know." She says, looking at the situation around her. 

They share a kiss. And the pieces fall right into place. 

A/N: attack of the clones era anidala but make it romanogers i know its so creative anyways im running high and dry on ideas for one shots not a slay but on the other hand love and war my novel is on 50k words slay so vote comment my loves and its not sad le gasp new era bern is a happy bern yalls have my bestie and year 11 ball to thank for this anyways.