Imagine If You Assembled the Avengers: Volume 1

A Tumblr Romanogers Drabble (Rogers/Romanoff)

Original gif post here (not my edit): http://paperdragonfly.co.vu/post/138050715386/happy-shipping-to-my-beloved-romanogersstevenat

"Do you remember that awful party that Stark threw after New York?" Steve smirked, a sadness lingering in his eyes. "I was such a loser...well...maybe I still am, but I couldn't stop staring at you."

"I remember," Natasha sighed, "you came close to losing those beautiful baby blues. A lady doesn't like to be ogled."

"Then it's a good thing that you're not a lady," he laughed, wincing slightly as her hand landed a firm slap across his arm. "I'm joking! I'm only joking, I swear!"

His laugh faded away quickly, and the small smile wiped clean. Steve watched her for several minutes; watched her as she fought against the tears that were beginning to glisten and threaten to spill down her soft, rounded cheeks. He had kissed those cheeks a million times; as she slept next to him and smiled in her slumber, hoping that she was dreaming of him, when she awoke in the mornings and the sunlight brightened her face in a way that he dared to call angelic, knowing how she would argue against the word, and when they would have to part for a mission, saying goodbye as they were about to do again.

"You're staring again now, Rogers," she said quietly, the break in her voice now apparent. "There's nothing here that you haven't seen before."

He closed his eyes for a moment, bringing himself back to earlier that morning, when they knew it would be their last time together, not knowing when the next time would be. Even though he knew every inch, every curve, and every scar from a life lived in battle, he took every last moment to feel her skin against his fingertips and to memorize her scent as her body wrapped around his. These memories would carry him through; they would ground him when the fight would become too much.

Steve took a deep breath and let it out slowly, his shoulders falling slightly, "I want to be sure I remember every part of you. In case I don't-"

"Don't you dare say that to me," she scolded, her voice suddenly harsh and a shade of red flushing over her. "Don't you dare." Natasha turned away from him for a moment, tending to the tiny girl in the stroller next to her. She picked her up and bounced her on her hip, smiling at the little one despite the sadness that filled her soul. "Daddy promised to come back soon, didn't he?" she said in a light tone. "So if he doesn't, mommy has to be the bad guy, and we know daddy always loses to mommy, don't we?"

"I know better than to argue with that," he whispered, watching his wife put their daughter down and turn back to him. "I'll come back to you both, I promise. I've got Sam with me. What could possibly go wrong?"

Natasha laughed now, her voice still uncertain and beginning to falter as she spoke, "you really have no idea how to make me feel better about this, do you?" She reached up and wiped a small tear that rolled down his cheek, finally allowing her own to fall. "Go. Go before I change my mind."

Steve quickly and firmly pulled her in close to his chest, breathing her in. He could feel her body shake as he gave her a final kiss, holding her as if he were trying to steady her, trying to give her some of his strength though he knew she had more than enough of her own. He was leaving by his own choice, looking for a piece of his past, knowing that he wouldn't rest until found.

Natasha stepped back, looking at him one more time before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek and turning away so that she wouldn't try to stop him. She willed herself to let him go despite every fiber of her being screaming for her to not.

"Just be careful, Steve. You might not want to pull on that thread."