Second Chance - Romanogers

5

Steve walked out of his apartment the next morning with a new sense of possibility lingering in the air. He made his way into New York and decided to reunite with a specific friend.
"Captain?" Tony Stark said as he spotted Steve making his way towards him at Stark tower. "What're you doing here?"
"Just thought I'd say hi." You know, since it's a little too late to do that in my own timeline.
"Okay? Hi." Tony raised his eyebrow and turned back around to continue his conversation with Happy.
Steve looked at him as his back turned and rolled his eyes. He forgot that him and Tony didn't start off in good terms. The fighting didn't stop there, but at least they'd become a team, maybe even friends. Still, it hurt to see Tony ignore him as if he wasn't even there.
Very well, Cap had other plans for the day anyways. If he was going to stay back in the past for a while, he might as well make use of his time with Natasha.

And so Steve was off to find his Russian friend. He finally spotted the red head a small while later talking to Bruce Banner.
His mind went straight back to the terrible memories of their fling, but that wasn't supposed to happen until 2015, so there's still time for them to remain just friends... right?
As Steve made his way over to them, he noticed Bruce was grinning widely at something Natasha had said before walking away and nodding at Steve in a friendly way.
"What were you guys talking about?" Roger's asked as Natasha waved bye to Bruce.
"Well, I'm just laying the groundwork." She said, a mischievous glimmer in her eyes.
"What does that mean?" Steve asked again, although he had some suspicions.
"I never would've thought of Dr Banner that way, but after you mentioned it I couldn't help but think of him differently." Natasha smirked and looked to the side, a slight blush on her cheeks.
"wHat?" Steve whispered, his voice cracking. This couldn't be real, this couldn't be happening.
"What's wrong?" Her face dropped as she saw the expression on Steve's face. "You look like you're going to be sick."
"Noooo, I'm fine." He forcefully laughed. "But... don't you think Dr Banner is a little much?"
Natasha squinted her eyes and furrowed her brow. "No?"
"I'm just saying, dating the Hulk would be kinda rough, wouldn't it?" Steve wished he could bite his tongue and take back telling her so much about the future.
"I suppose so, but I like things rough." She grinned at him, making his cheeks heat up.
"I...uh...well...uh," Steve stuttered. He didn't have any idea how to reply, other than demanding that she never speak to Dr Banner again. Of course, it was her choice and he didn't have the guts to do so anyways.
"Say, do you wanna have lunch? I'm starving." Natasha interrupted, then started walking off to her car without waiting for a response.
Steve, still at a loss for words, took off after her. A million thoughts kept creeping into his mind as he trailed Nat, but he pushed them out of his head. His heart longed to tell her how he felt, although how confusing that was, but everytime he started to think it was a good idea his mind immediately went back to the image of Natasha and Bruce Banner. Thanks to him, they'd be getting together sooner than they were supposed to.
Suddenly, Nat stopped in her tracks and turned around to look at him.
"For a super soldier you are quite slow." She observed, her voice breaking him out of his thought process. Steve quickly became aware of his feet, which were barely lifting off the ground as he walked.
"Seriously, you're barely moving, do you not want to come?" Nat raised an eyebrow at his peculiar behavior.
"No!" He blurted out, finally able to make his mouth form words. "Um, I'm very hungry as well, so I'd hate to miss out on lunch."
Natasha rolled her eyes and continued forward without another word.

At last, taking exceptionally long thanks to Steve's lack of speed, the pair made their way to a table at the closest restaurant they could find.
"So, tell me more about the future." Natasha said, "I haven't been able to keep myself from wondering. However, leave out the most surprising parts, I need to live some life."
Steve sighed. The most surprising turn of events in the future was something that he definitely didn't want to tell her. "Well, saving the world as the Avengers becomes an annual thing."
"Really?" She smiled, her eyes brightening with wonder. "I'm surprised I didn't grow tired of the bickering between you and Tony."
"Oh you do, multiple times. Luckily though you never did leave my side." He grinned wide recalling all of the memories, including when she chose his side in the end of the fight with Tony at the airport.
"What?" She smirked at his sudden change in attitude.
"I mean we make a good team. Fighting. We fight well together." Steve's smile dropped and he put his hand over his mouth in an attempt to cover the heat that slowly crept up his face.
The waitress chose this moment to approach their table. "Hello, I'm Wendy. Can I get you happy couple anything to drink?"
Steve's eyes widened and he sat straight up while Natasha stifled a laugh.
"No no, we're just friends." She replied cooly. "And I'll just have water. Steve?"
He blinked twice. "Me. Too."
The waitress looked at the two and raised her eyebrows as if she could see everything that was going on between the complex friends. "I'm sorry, I'll be back with your drinks as soon as possible." And with that, she turned away from the unrequited love story between the two.
Natasha waited a few moments after she left and then turned to Steve, her eyes bright. "So, what'd you think?"
"About what?" Steve asked, unable to bring his full attention away from the waitress's words.
"Wendy. Quite a women, huh?" Natasha crinkled her nose and gave him a knowing look. "You helped me with Bruce, now I'm helping you."
"What? Oh no, not my type." He shook his head. He couldn't believe they were back to old times.
"Although she apparently misunderstands easily, she's beautiful! If she's not your type, who is?"
You. Steve quickly said in his head. Wasn't it so obvious? Who's type wasn't the Natasha Romanoff?
"She might be beautiful but I don't know anything about her personality or anything."
Natasha sighed in annoyance. "Well that's what first dates are for, getting to know each other! Now, give her your number or I'll do it for you."
The waitress, Wendy, obviously had a knack for returning at the worst possible time, for she once again chose this time to come back.
"Here's your waters, may I interest you in anything to eat?" She asked, placing down their glasses, and pretending like she hadn't overheard the last parts of their conversation.
"Sorry, we haven't had much time to think over what we want to eat, but Steve has something else he wants." Natasha smirked and winked at him as he gave her a dirty look.
"No I don't." He smiled apologetically at Wendy before turned back to glare at Nat.
"Yes. He does." She looked him straight in the eye before understanding that he wasn't going to do it himself. "My friend Steve here was wondering if you'd like to go out with him sometime."
Wendy pretending to act as if she was caught off guard, "Sure, I'd love to! Is tomorrow night okay?"
"Tomorrow night is perfect. Here's his number, he can't wait for your call." Nat smiled as she quickly jotted his phone number down on a napkin and handed it to Wendy.
"Great! I'll be back in one moment to take your orders." Her cheeks grew pink and she glanced over at Steve, who sat there red as an apple, before she turned around and left.
"There, now was that so hard?" Natasha asked him.
Steve's blood boiled as he watched Wendy walk away and the love of his life happy about setting him up. One date was all it was, a date. Plenty of people go on dates, there was still time to win Natasha over and somehow admit his feelings.