The Captain Trap (Steve Rogers x Natasha Romanoff)

Chapter 6

"I think we should let them out now," Bucky said. "It's been over an hour."

"Ahhhh, let them simmer," Clint said.

"Do you really want to see Natasha that mad?" Wanda asked him.

Clint got up and walked away, hurriedly.

"You scared him," Sam laughed.

"Steve wasn't too happy in the locker room, this could be worse..." Bucky said to them. The lights came back on as they all squinted.

Wanda stood up off the couch, "I'm going to go bake some cookies." She hurried to the kitchen.

"Wanda, I'll tell Steve you had nothing to do with it!" Bucky called after her. "You don't need to worry!" Bucky got up off the couch, "I'll help you."

Sam sat on the couch and looked at his phone. Clint jogged into the room and Sam turned to see him.

"They're not in there," Clint said, breathing harder than usual.

"Did they crawl out the hatch?" Sam asked.

"They must have, but I can't find them anywhere," Clint said.

"Could be a surprise attack," Sam said.

***

"Do you think we ought to answer that?" Steve said, as Natasha's phone buzzed on the table repeatedly. It had been just seconds since his own phone had been ringing.

"No, I don't think so. I think it's making them nervous and we should just let them sweat for awhile."

"Fair enough," Steve nodded. He picked up his slice of pizza, folding it in half and turning his head sideways to take a bite.

"This is not a bad way to start a first date," Natasha said, smiling at him.

Steve shook his head and wiped his mouth with his napkin. "Oh, no, no, no, this isn't our first date." Natasha looked at him questioningly. "I can't take you out for greasy pizza on our first date..."

"Steve, this pizza is so good, it's...." she searched for the right word, "it's orgasmic." She smirked at Steve. "This might actually count as three dates."

Steve laughed hard and sat back in the booth. "Okay, then, if you insist... does that mean I get to give you a goodnight kiss?" He had his best charming face on, it was so hard for Natasha to resist.

"But we've already had our first kiss..." she giggled.

"Nat! You can't take that away from me, too!" He kidded.

She retreated. "Fine, you can still have that... we won't count that time since we were undercover." Although, in Natasha's mind, she knew she'd wanted to kiss him back then so it was hard for her to not count it.

"Thank you," he smiled softly.

Natasha grinned and took a bite of pizza. "This is about it for me," she said, rubbing her stomach. "You're going to have to finish it off, Steve."

"No problem," he smiled, reaching for another slice. "You know, maybe we should have done this awhile ago."

"Maybe we should have," she said. Natasha glanced out the window and then looked back at Steve. "I just want you to know... hmm, this is awkward but... I just want to say... this isn't, like, casual for me." She watched as Steve listened intently, nodding slightly. "I'm not running anywhere."

"Nat," he said, looking at her as if he was touched. "I'm not running either." He slid his plate away and continued, "I really should have asked you out a long time ago... I mean, I wanted to." His eyes squinted a little like it was hard to say. "But there was Bruce, and I just wasn't sure... I wasn't sure where that stood. And I didn't want to be that guy."

"Oh, well, that never really took off..." she said, being honest and vulnerable with him.

"I'm sorry..."

"No, it's okay. It's actually fine. I think it turned out better that way," she said, giving him a little smile.

Steve reached across the table to grab her hand. "I hope so. You know, I kind of encouraged him... I thought that's what you wanted."

"I didn't know," she said, watching him.

Steve looked at the remnants on the pizza tray. "I thought that's what you wanted, I thought I could help." He looked back at her, "It wasn't easy."

"He didn't feel the same. It's okay. Thanks for the help though," she smiled. "...You ready to get out of here?"

"Absolutely," he said, rising from the booth and leaving a tip on the table. "Let me just go take care of the check."

Natasha smiled to herself and then got up from the table, slowly walking to the front of the pizza shop to meet Steve. He turned around from the cash register and saw her, giving her a big smile and holding his arm out so she could take it.

Outside, they walked slowly, savoring the night air and each other's company. A few blocks from the tower, Steve slowed to a halt and turned to Natasha. "We're almost back," he said.

"We are," she smiled up at him.

Steve stepped closer, reaching for her waist, bridging the space between them. Natasha could feel his breath on her, he was so close. He moved in even closer, his lips next to hers, their noses touching. For seconds, they stayed that way, stealing air from each other before either of them could take a breath, until Steve finally pressed his lips against hers softly. Their lips moved slowly and gently against each other. The taste of the inside of Steve's lip, sent heat through Natasha's stomach. His hands pulled her body closer to him. Their noses stayed against each other as they kissed and Steve finally paused his lips and pulled them back, noses still touching, as he smiled. They stood still, just breathing, both grinning. When they finally both took a step back, Steve reached down for her hand as they turned to keep walking down the street.

A minute later, Steve piped up softly, "You know, that's the kiss I would have given you if you hadn't sprung it on me so fast last time." He let out a little laugh. "I've regretted that for years."

"It wasn't that bad," she laughed. "I never forgot it, I can tell you that."