The sound of his fist hitting the punching bag isn’t as satisfying as Steve hoped it would be. It’s the only way he can let out the restless energy that’s consuming him, though, so he’s got to make it work. His skin feels itchy, like it’s not fitting right, and he’s already tried getting rid of it by running. Five miles hadn’t helped, so he figured punching something repeatedly might. He isn’t sure what he’s feeling, so it’s kind of hard to fix it. No, that’s a lie.
Darn it. Now he’s lying to himself on top of all the other mess he’s creating in his life.
Groaning, he leans his head against the punching bag and wonders if he’d knock some sense into himself if he started using his head on it instead of his fists. He tries once or twice, but he still feels the same. Must not work. Maybe he should try it a little harder.
“Regardless of what Stark might have told you, that isn’t how you use that piece of equipment, Rogers.”
Steve stiffens when he hears the quiet voice behind him. Not only has she managed to catch him by surprise, but she sounds like she’s laughing at him. It shouldn’t matter, but it does. Since the beginning, he’s trusted her to have his back. Regardless of anything else, he’s impressed with her skills and knows she’s loyal to the team. The loyalty mostly seems to be to Clint, but it extends to the rest of them a little more with every passing day. As the leader of their rag-tag group, he should be happy that she’s becoming a more solid part of the group. And he is, in a way, but he can’t help being a little selfish, too, and missing how it was when she used to only drop in occasionally or when they had missions.
When he hears her deliberately clear her throat, he blinks at the bag and straightens up. “Stark didn’t tell me this was how you used the bag,” he says, cringing slightly when he hears the sharpness to his tone. It’s not like she’ll miss that, and he tries to think of a reason to explain it if she confronts him about his behavior towards her.
“I know.” Natasha has the enviable ability to make words sound like weapons. She doesn’t actually say all that much, but, when she does, she’s always careful with them and gives them power. Steve’s always thought it was a pretty great skill, but this is the first time he’s been on the receiving end.
It’s easy for him to accept the words at face value. After all, she’s got to know Stark can be an ass but that it’s mostly for show. Somehow, he knows she isn’t talking about that. It doesn’t mean that he does know what she’s talking about, though. Steve counts to ten in hopes that it helps him calm down and get a hold of his frustration. It doesn’t really work but he at least feels prepared to face her. He finally turns to look at her and is about to ask what it is she knows but he can’t do more than stare when he sees what she’s wearing. Or not wearing, since there’s more skin on display than that one website Tony set as his default webpage home when he first got a laptop.
“You’re frustrated, Captain. You need a little release, don’t you?” Natasha prowls towards him, and Steve unconsciously takes a step back. She isn’t walking. She’s moving in a way that’s very sexual, and she’s looking at him like he’s a slice of chocolate cake. While he’s had people look at him like that before, he can’t remember anyone being this obvious about it. It’s disturbing, not only because that sort of attention bothers him but because it’s Natasha. His teammate. She’s never once given him this type of interest before. Usually, she takes orders, ignores him, or gives him these odd guarded looks that he doesn’t understand.
“Uh, Natasha, I, uh, I really need to go now.” He’s proud of himself for not sounding as anxious as he’s feeling. She’s an attractive woman, but he isn’t interested in what she seems to be offering. Even if he was, he wouldn’t be interested in it this way.
“Captain, I can help you with your problem.” She’s talking in a husky purr that would probably have most men willing to do whatever she asked, but he isn’t most men. Even without his confusing whatever that’s been on his mind for weeks, he wouldn’t want to use her in such a way. Besides---
“What about Clint?” He frowns as he realizes that she doesn’t seem to have any problem offering herself sexually despite her relationship. He knows times have changed and that people aren’t always as traditional when it comes to intimacy, but he can’t really see Clint involved in a, what did Pepper call it? Right. An open relationship.
“What about him?” Natasha arches a brow and moves in a way that makes him worried that her breasts might fall out of her top. If he wasn’t feeling so angry at the moment, he’d be offering her his fleece jacket because she has to be cold with so few clothes on. The gym is always kept at a lower temperature than the rest of the floors they use.
“Does he know you’re doing this?” Steve is trying not to sound judgmental or like a sanctimonious prick, which Tony seems to enjoy calling him whenever he gets too critical about these modern times. It’s just. It’s Clint. And he knows that Clint is a faithful partner because they’ve spent hours talking since the team started living together, and he hates the thought of being part of something that might hurt him.
She reaches out so fast that Steve doesn’t even have time to blink. Her fingers are on his chin as he forces him to look at her. Her smile is menacing as she leans in close. “Clint doesn’t matter. You need release, and I’m here. I’ll make you feel real good, Captain.”
“Doesn’t matter?” Steve ignores the rest of what she says because he’s unable to believe what he’s hearing. “He’s your partner! His thoughts on you trying to--to—uh, be intimate with other men should matter.”
Her laugh catches him by surprise. It’s hollow, he can tell the difference between sincerity and not, but she’s still smiling and looking seductive. “He isn’t my lover, Captain. He’s too soft for me,” she says as she drags her thumb along his jawbone. “I live for today, not the future. He wants more than one night, and that’s all I want. We aren’t compatible. You and I, though, are different. You need what I can give you.”
Steve doesn’t see any reason she’d lie, which means she and Clint aren’t in a relationship. The world is tilting on its axis because those four words change everything he thought was reality. When he hears the rest of her words, he feels the anger returning. “I’m afraid that you’re wrong, Natasha. I don’t need anything from you.” He reaches up to grip her wrist and pulls her hand away from his face. “I want a future when I choose to be intimate with someone. You should go now, find someone more compatible. Someone who isn’t soft.”
When he lets go of her wrist, she steps back and just looks at him. Her lips twist into a smile, one that isn’t at all like the ones she’s been flashing since interrupting his training slash jealous snit. “Good answer, Captain.” She changes her position, and suddenly she’s no longer the prowling sexual creature who was offering herself to him. Even with the lacking of clothing, she’s more familiar to him. She nods once, and he gets a strange sensation of approval, before she turns and walks away. He stares after her, feeling confused and a little lost because what was that? She stops when she reaches the door but she doesn’t turn to face him. “There’s a time to watch and a time to act, Steve. Contrary to cliché sayings, good things don’t always come to those who wait,” she says before leaving the room.
Steve rubs the back of his neck and considers asking Jarvis if he’d recorded that entire encounter so he can replay it in case it’d make sense then. He doesn’t, since doing so would also likely alert Tony and he’d never hear the end of turning down what Natasha had offered. Really, it doesn’t matter what that was about. Maybe she was bored and thought he was a different kind of guy than he is or maybe she just isn’t good at dealing with non-secret spy type people. The main thing is she’s not Clint’s lover. He’s relieved about that, even if it doesn’t really change anything. With a shake of his head, he grabs his stuff and heads back to his room so he can take a shower.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.
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