+ [I'm trying so hard not to step on your existing Natasha-verse]
+ [But suddenly I ship them really hard]
+ [Shhhhh]
ihavesomesecretsnooneshouldknow:
Natasha pauses for a moment, knowing that this is one line she truly shouldn’t cross. She’s never had herself as an adversary, nor does she want to. She reaches up, indulging herself for just a moment as she trails her fingers down Steve’s jaw. “Go find her, Rogers. I’m no good for you right now.” Too emotional, too human… far too tempted. “I am not her, no matter how we look.” After a moment, she looks up at him through her lashes, just before she draws away. “You know where I am, Steve. And in the morning, everything will be the same. Teammates. Right now, tonight - I’m simply a little less resolved than I should be.”
He really doesn’t know what his mind is doing in the instant she touches him, but it was nothing coherent, and his eyes bore down into hers for a moment. Go find her, Rogers, she told him, but somehow that felt like the most alluring thing she’d said this whole time, and he actually has to step away to stop himself from touching her right back. “No. No, I guess you’re not,” he replies distantly, trying not to completely lose himself in the velvety tony of her voice, and it hit him that she was fighting her own temptations; panic swelled in his stomach, and he knew he needed to do as she said and go. He nodded obediently at her words, understanding just how she felt. “Teammates,” he repeats, almost as if to remind himself, and turns on his heel. “In the morning, then, Agent Romanoff.”
Natasha nods, ignoring the disappointment that courses through her. This isn’t what either of them needs - they still must work together - but right now she can see clearly every reason that she could want the man before her. “Captain,” she nods shortly, forcing herself to head in the other direction. She can’t resist looking back, knowing beyond a doubt that there had been a moment, a lingering doubt - and if it were anyone else, she’d have exploited it mercilessly. But this is Steve, and he has a version of her already, one with the capability to be happy, and she will not interfere with that. “The briefing is at eight,” she calls back. “Inhuman.”
