Iron Heart's Love

What the hell?

Nat walked up the stairs to Steve's room and knocked on the door. She tapped her foot waiting for him to open the door. She wanted answers, and if need be; she was going to beat them out of him. She knew that she could put him down if she needed too. Thanks to the red room it didn't matter what the size or strength of the person, she just needed to know the right spots to hit.

"Don't come in!" Steve called out.

Natasha opened the door anyway and walked in. He was not about to just lock himself in the room and mope. He wasn't about to just block her out either, not after everything they had been through. She refused to let him do this to himself, no matter how mad she was at him, she had to be there for him just as much as she was there for Aria.

"Steve, we need to talk."

Steve frowned but turned to face her when she entered. He knew that he had messed up, he also knew that he was about to get lectured about it. He wouldn't be surprised if she was there to kick his ass for something so stupid. He knew that Nat had a soft spot for him, but he would never use that to his advantage. He knew that she knew what kind of person he was, she knew that he wouldn't do anything like that on purpose. 

Nat crossed the room and sat next to him on the bed. She could hear his heart hammering out of his chest. He put his head back in his hands and took a deep breath. She wasn't sure if he was going to spew some bullshit or if he was going to be honest with her. She put her hand on his arm and waited for him to say something.

"I didn't mean to hurt her," he began.

"What is going on with you?" She asked, rubbing her thumb in circles.

He leaned gratefully into her touch. He also knew that it was wrong to do that too, but her touch was nice. He at one time had a thing for her, but then he found out she had a thing for Banner, so he backed off. He didn't know until a few months after he had started dating Aria that she never really had a thing for Banner.

"Why was Tony the first person she asked for?!"

"Tony's her father. Steve, it had nothing to do with you."

"But I'm her boyfriend," he replied, hating the whine in his voice even as he said it.

"And she loves you, she just wanted her father after something majorly traumatic happened."

"I know," he sighed in defeat.

"You just got to give her time. Let's go out and get some food okay?" she said, taking his arm and leading him out of the room.

Steve followed behind her like a lost puppy dog. He knew that Aria needed time, and he would give her that time. He wanted her to heal and to get better. She needed to get better before Tony tried to send her out early. Tony always did that, didn't matter who it was or if they were ready. This wouldn't be any different with her. 

Aria took a couple of weeks to herself to heal her body. She didn't want to go out early, no matter how much she craved to take down this guy. Tony even put the search for him on pause so that way she could be apart of it. Everyone knew that the team wasn't whole without her. Everyone took the time to plan out a strategy for taking him down. For Peter, everyone prayed that it would work. 

Steve hadn't been to see Aria since he bruised her wrist. He was still ashamed of how he let his temper get the better of him. He was spending a lot of his time in the training room and talking to Nat about this anger that had been building up inside of him. 

Nat was doing her best to try and find ways to get him to let go of what he was feeling and work on his anger. She was teaching him all the different ways she learned in the red room do just work things out so he didn't lose his temper. He was doing better with how everything been setting up, now she was just trying to convince him to see his girlfriend. 

"Steve you have to go and see her at some point. You can't just avoid her." 

"I know, but I have to forgive myself before I can see her." 

"Do it and do it fast, because she's up and moving, and she wants to see you." 

"What the hell? Why didn't anyone tell me?" Steve said punching the punching bag.

"I just did. So man up, grow a pair, and go see your woman." Nat smiled as she walked out of the room leaving him speechless.