The Abridged Meeting

Awkward.

Welcome to my Steve Rodgers fanfic. So this story is set before Winter Soldier, after the Battle of New York (Avengers). It's just for the sole purpose of Steve x OC fluff. Also to set the stage for a possible Bucky Barnes story in the future :D. I wasn't planning on publishing this story this month but a reader had been requesting it for a while now so what the heck :D.

Please rate and review ^^.

@dedicated to kristybauer7, thanks for the encouragement ;)

xx

SSC

Steve sat at the seat closest to the gate within the Quin-Jet. He was wearing his Stealth Mode Star Suit (as Natasha liked to call it). It was he usual uniform but with more muted colours than the usual bright and patriotic red, white and blue. Him, Widow and the S.T.R.I.K.E unit were just returning from a standard rescue mission (involving a volatile super and hostages). The mission was a success and they completed it early than he thought. Which meant he could stick to the plans he made...with her.

"What is this, is Cap' smiling?"

Steve raised his head up to find Natasha Romanoff. She was standing in front of him with her arms crossed, and her infamous mischievous smirk pinching at her lips. He leaned back into his seat while holding her stare confidently.

"I am not allowed to smile, Natasha?" He responded coolly.

"Of course you are, just never thought I'd see one among your subordinates. Gotta keep the soldier rep up right?" She teased whilst taking a seat on the free space beside him.

"I was thinking." He mused casually.

"Hot date got you in a good mood?" She questioned. Steve tensed up. It always irked him how easily she could read a person. Her skills were useful in a mission, but it was a whole different matter when she turned it on him.

"I haven't got a date." He quickly added, his face reddening. Her wicked grin widened, her eyes narrowed.

"Yet?" She playfully bumped her shoulder against his. Natasha insinuation only made him more aware of the blood rushing to his face. He couldn't deny that he did wish that he was more than friends with her.

"She in our line of business?" The agent inquired. She was busying her hands by removing the straps of her gauntlets.

"Far from it." Steve said with a soft smile spreading across his handsome face.

"That's good, Steve." Natasha mused and for a minute there Steve knew that she was genuinely happy for him. But when he looked to her there was a strange, pensive shadow in her eyes. As if she was thinking about someone else, someone that mattered to her.

She masked away her emotions in a stealth only the Black Widow possessed. Her attention was immediately on him again and her clear eyes were gleaming artfully.

"So how did you two meet?"

Steve hesitated. He wanted to tell her the story. It was an amusing one and it made him seem like a fool. But at the same time he worried that he would tell her too much. Too much that could risk her life. Then again, he thought back to the time they fought the Chitauri. Natasha had fought well and Steve considered her to be a valuable partner and soldier. He wondered if friendship was possible between them too.