FLUFF at first.

SO MUCH HURT at last.

. . .

The three-times Steve Rogers caught Natasha Romanoff.

by: penandpathways

. . .

The three-times Steve Rogers caught Natasha Romanoff.

And the one time he didn't.

1.

Steve was starving. Blame his stupid metabolism for burning up so many calories in his body in an hour when with the average human four hours to do so. He just literally ate a quarter-pound burger (yeah, not healthy), potato salad, an apple, and gulped three glasses of milk for breakfast. How could you be hungry after eating that much in just an hour?

Well, it's the wonders (or should he say the cons) of what the serum can do.

He paced towards the kitchen door. As soon as he saw what was going on, he paused by the doorway.

Natasha was standing on a stool, her arms outstretched and reaching for something on top of the cabinets. He heard her mutter strings of curses and annoyance when her hands barely touched what she was aiming for. "Damn it." She paused for a while, tilting her head around to work the strain pulsing on her neck. With another attempt, she stood on her tiptoes and reached again.

It was just a fraction of a second when Steve saw the movement of the stool shift. It wobbled. And so did Natasha. His senses kicked in. The next thing he knew he was striding across the floor, held his arms out and felt a sudden weight on top of it.

He caught her.

She looked up, mouth parted slightly and pupils dilated. The strands of her red hair were strewn across her face. Green eyes stared back at him in surprise. "Oh hiya, Cap."

He still had a hand tucked under her knees while the other rested on her lower back. "Agent Romanoff," he smiled warmly, amusement creeping on his face. "I didn't know you could still be clumsy like a normal person."

That made her roll her eyes, a small smile resting on her stretched lips. "Not my fault. It's the stool's fault." she defended.

"Right."

"Well, thanks anyway." She said, getting off him.

Steve looked partly concerned once he saw her stepping onto the stool again. "You need help with that?"

Of course, she says no.

She always says that. But, maybe, that's what Steve liked about her so much.

Still, it didn't stop him from picking up another stool and stepping up to her level to reach for the Strawberry Jam with ease. He handed it over to her, grinning like an idiot as if he just won something big.

Natasha couldn't help but smile. He always makes her do it without even realizing. Without even trying.

Cute. she thought.

2.

"Romanoff!"

Natasha looked ahead just in time to see Steve swung his arm, his shield hurling straight for the android attacking her. It hit it right in the chest. She slashed her electric knives on it to finish it off. Swiftly, her hand reached out to grab his shield, curling her fingers around the handle and used it to shield herself from the blasts coming her way. She jabbed it on the android's thighs, its chest, then at its face.

Steve was running straight for it.

She took the opportunity to grab the android's arm and tossed his shield back at him to let him do the honors. He slammed the shield straight at the android's head. It fell down with a loud crash.

"Thanks," she turned to him, catching her breaths.

He was panting heavily, giving her a short smirk. Before any word could get out of his mouth though, his blue eyes quickly widened. Panic filing his dirt-streaked yet handsome face. "Watch out!" He tried to push her out of the way but the impact hit her body first.

She was thrown across the ground. Suddenly, she was tumbling. Sliding. Slipping away. Oh no. Her hand desperately tried to latch onto something. Anything. She was going to fall over the edge at this rate. She was going to fall. And she tried hard to grip something but it was too late.

The strong gust of wind blew across her hair, her face, her whole body. Her heart was pounding frantically. The panic building up was nothing compared to the fear shown on her face. As she stared at the depths below, the bright sun and pompous clouds filling her view, she felt light. Weightless. Frozen.

It was the end for her. She thought it was.

When a strong grip caught her wrist just in time. She glanced up, a tear slipping from her eye, down her cheek, towards the clouds beneath her.

And all Natasha saw was blue. The blue sky. Blue suit. Blue eyes.

Steve.

"Just hang on!" He cried. The fear was evident on his face as much as it is on hers. His fingers curled around her wrist tightly. Needly. Desperately. Showing no sign of letting go. He caught her. He had caught her.

The second she got herself back up, Steve was immediately in front of her, inspecting her for any other injuries. "Nat, are you okay?" She couldn't answer, she was just staring at him with glazed eyes. The sweet realization that he was acting so worked up in concern making sure she was alright when there were literally psychotic androids just behind them. "Hey, Natasha, talk to me. Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine." She finally managed to say. Her voice was shaking and she couldn't hide it. "I'm fine."

He grabbed hold of her shoulders, making her meet his eyes. Blue meets green. "God, don't ever scare me like that again." He ordered firmly, voice possessing an authoritarian tone but she could see straight through him.

He was shaking. Trembling. Lip quivering. She could see he was scared. Terrified. Terrified of losing her.

She felt the world shift beneath her.

And how all Natasha could see was blue. And blue. And just blue.

That moment, she couldn't see anyone but him. Just Steve.

3.

"You're not going to stop."

She could see it in his face. The hesitation lurking across his tired eyes, bruised cheeks, and sullen lips. He felt distant. Different. different from the Steve Rogers she had met on the helicarrier. Different from the one she'd been partnered with in SHIELD. Different from the one she'd spend watching late movie nights with. His blue eyes no longer held that bright light. Instead, it looked dark. Dim. Downcasted every single time. Like there was something blocking what he truly wanted to see.

Feeling hopeful, she saw a flash of remorse waved across him. He had his guard up. His walls. Everything.

But he still had that hint of vulnerability inside him.

She could see it. She knew because she knew him.

Steve shot down all remaining hope lingering in her chest. "You know I can't." He contended, his lips were engulfing a frown. He looked sullen, probably a hint of guilt? But there was no regret on his face. Not a single sign.

Natasha swallowed dryly, aiming one of her widow bites at him. The drumming of her heart got louder. Loud enough that she felt it was going to explode and expose her. "I'm gonna regret this."

She took in a huge amount of breath, squeezed her eyes shut, and snapped open just in time one of her bites aimed T'Challa straight on his torso.

Steve was staring at her like he couldn't believe what she had just done. For him. For them.

"Go." She urged. Eyes pleading with a pain that followed right after. Her heart throbbed. Her heart ached. It was all coming too fast that they had no time. She could no longer stop the tears spilling down her cheeks. "Just go, Steve." Her voice cracked, but she tried so hard to remain strong. "Just go."

So he did.

Steve had barely made it two steps when he was suddenly turning around and running back. He grabbed both of her arms, spun her around, and kissed her hard. The kiss was rough and unstable, and she had almost stumbled back if Steve hadn't tightened his hold on her. Natasha had let out a small gasp, wet tears shone on her cheeks, as she kissed him back. She poured everything into it. Her heart. Her soul. Everything she is.

Natasha had realized something.

That she fell yet again.

And that she had fallen in love with Steve Rogers.

But just like the last time, and all the other times, he had caught her. Steve caught her.

+1.

The last time she ever saw Steve Rogers was before she went into hiding.

The last time she ever saw Steve was the time they shared their first (and last, probably) kiss.

Natasha tried to move on. From him. From them. From everything that happened. That was what she was good at anyway, leaving her past behind. Leaving the memories. Everything that she had used to be, and everything that he had made her be.

She tried. Every single day. But she just couldn't. She couldn't bring herself to put everything behind her, it hurt too think about it but making herself forget that was too painful. It was unbearable.

She missed him. She misses him.

Every night, she wonders the different conversation filling her mind to see what would happen if they cross paths again? If fate somehow made it seem like they were going to meet each other at some point again. It was impossible. Steve Rogers went missing under the radar almost about a year ago. He wasn't the same man who went down in the ice anymore. He had become stronger. Adaptable. More knowing of how the world works.

And if he had picked up anything good from the times they stayed together, it's her skill of hiding in plain sight.

So she gave up on finding him. To hell with it. If they would meet again, then they would meet again.

Humorlessly enough, they did.

Natasha was in Alabama at that time. She was trying to outrun the cops who had been chasing her when they saw her face strangely similar to the woman named 'Natasha Romanoff' that the government was tracking for a year now. She lay down her guard too long, she supposed. Even with the now newly-dyed blonde hair, she thought no one could recognize her. Apparently, she underestimated these bastards.

She ran faster. Fast as her limbs could get her and arrived at a deserted building. She took her chances and ran inside, leaping across the things scattered on the floor, and pushing a large door open. She shut the door beside her and held it in place, peeking over the broken window to get a glance at the cops. Once she saw them take a wrong turn, she sighed in relief, letting her shoulders sagged.

In the midst of the shadows, a voice sounded, "Natasha?" It was barely above a whisper but it was louder than lightning. Thunder. A storm. Louder than anything she ever heard since then.

She knew that voice well enough without so much of a hint.

Natasha turned around, a figure stood in the darkness, but she could see the light tracing his arms and chest. Her heart began stammering, knees trembling, and voice finding difficulty to speak. "Steve?"

The figure stepped forward until she could see him clearly. Sure enough, it was him. Steve Rogers, who was still clad in his usual Captain America ensemble. Yet the bright silver star that was splayed on his sternum was no longer there. It was... missing. Like he ripped it away. The traces of the months, that eventually turned to a year, that passed were evident on his face.

A beard rested on his once smooth jaw. He looked like Steve. But at the same, he didn't look like Steve.

He didn't look like her Steve.

Then again, she didn't look like the same Natasha he had seen a year ago. They were different people now.

But she didn't care. What matters is he was there. He was there. Standing in front of her. Real to the eye as it could get. "Steve..."

Steve was having a hard time believing this as much as she was. He snapped out of it quicker than her, though, and in a second, it looked like he was about to pull her in his arms. Hug her. Kiss her. Tell her everything he wanted to tell her before things fell apart.

But he didn't. He couldn't.

It was his fault.

It was his fault that she was hiding again. Why the government was hunting her. Why the people lost their trust in her. Why she lost everything. It was his fault and his fault alone. "Nat, I'm sorry." Those weren't the wisest words he could say, but it was the only thing that kept coming to his mind. His voice shook, "I'm sorry." For leaving you. For hurting you. For not being there when you needed me.

There were so much emotions evident on his face. Guilt. Remorse. Pain.

But she saw it.

She still saw it. The only thing that mattered. The only thing she was searching for this whole time. And it was still with him. He still had it with him.

Love.

Natasha was already pacing across the floor and wrapping her arms around Steve tightly. Her eyes started stinging again, and she never felt so much hurt and relief all at the same time. Steve pulled her closer, burying his face in her shoulder.

She lets him cry. She lets him feel. She lets him.

Because this time, he was the one falling.

And this time, she was the one there to catch him.

0.

It happened so fast.

They were fighting back to back. Just like old times. Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff against their enemies. Against the world. Against everything. They were blasting off these goddamn aliens as much as they could but they just kept doubling up in number. It didn't take too long for them to feel the soreness of their limbs and muscles. Everything hurt.

Natasha looked the worst. Her hair was messed up in all the wrong places and she had blood trickling down the side of her temple. Her arm was scratched and she could feel a large bruise forming on her thigh from where she had landed it against a rock earlier.

Steve didn't look so good himself. He was sweating and bleeding. A cut formed on his lip, blood had seemed to dry off it though. Dirt covered the cuts on his face. He looked worn out. Exhausted. They all were.

But it didn't give them a reason to stop.

They fought. And fought. And fought until the end.

Yet they couldn't stop fate. No matter how much hard they fought, the large number those alien bastards would just mess up the work they've started. They were coming at them nonstop. No one was giving up but none of them had the strength to advance anymore. They just stayed put. They were losing. They were losing. And they had no choice but to accept it.

Natasha thought it was the end of them.

Unfortunately, she never saw it coming that it was going to be the end for her.

It happened so fast that neither even had the time to process what just happened. Because the next thing she knew, a searing pain suddenly spread across her sternum that she had let out a small gasp of pain. Natasha heard a loud cry, a voice she surely knew belonging to Steve, and found him staring at her with gaping eyes.

No, he wasn't staring at her.

Because he was staring at the blade latched onto the center of her chest. Where bright crimson blood was beginning to seep through her uniform.

"No..." He muttered. No. No. Please, God. No.

Her face was white. Bloodless lips. Eyes filled with fear and excruciating agony. Steve looked at her, looked at her for the longest time, not wanting to see what was happening. Not wanting to believe that this was happening. But it is happening. She was stabbed. "Natasha!" He ran towards her, not caring about the aliens and leaving his shield on the cold ground.

She wavered, falling limp and slipping away from the blade and thus, leaving a hole in her chest.

Steve caught her just in time. Holding her body close to him. The warm blood gushing in front of his chest and out of her body. "No, no, no, no. Stay with me, Nat. Stay with me. I can get you help."

Natasha couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe. "Steve..."

He was shaking so much. Tears were falling freely down his cheeks as he squeezed his eyes shut. There was too much red. Red. Everything was red. "Nat, please..." He gasped out a sob, lifting her body only to end up staggering his way down to the floor. He couldn't do it. The strength left him all at once. With everything surrounding them, there was no place to go. There was no place to go. "You're going to be okay, alright? You're going to be... you're fine."

She coughed, eyes glazed and half-lidded. She was panting heavily, shaking her head. Trying to direct the pain somewhere else but it wasn't doing so much of a good job. "Steve..." She was breathing so loud that he thought she was going to run out as fastly as she was doing it. Tears slipped past her eyes. Pain. Too much pain.

The bitter realization came to him. That he wasn't there in time to save her. To protect her.

"Hang on, Nat. Please." he pleaded. "Please."

"I can't." She choked, gasping through the pain. She was paler than ever. Her eyes threatening to close fully. "I'm... sorry..."

"Don't do this to me!" He was losing her. He was losing her. But he couldn't let her do that. He was too selfish to let her go. His hold around her tightened, his gasps soon turned into sobs, then into cries. He pleaded. Pleaded so hard that it wasn't going to happen. "I can't lose you too... please... Natasha."

Her hand weakly reached out to grasp his own. The one wrapped around her. Cradling her. Holding her. She glanced up at him and almost smiled in content. The blue sky. Blue suit. Blue eyes.

Everything was blue.

Everything that Steve is.

Her eyes slowly slipped shut. She was slipping away. Slipping away from him. "Ya tvoy." she whispered.

Steve shook his head, not wanting to accept it. "No... no. Please. I can't-I need you." He pleaded one last time.

But she was gone. Natasha was gone. All breath left her, and he waited. Waited and watched in torture as she completely left him. Soon, he could no longer hear her heart. She was as lifeless as she could be. He lost her. He lost her.

He cried. And cried. And cried."Ya tvoy." He murmured, lip quivering while he pressed a kiss to her forehead, "I love you. I love you..."

Steve thought he'd always be there to catch Natasha Romanoff.

But it turns out, this time, he couldn't.

Ya Tvoy means 'I'm yours' in Russian.

I'm sorry for the last part. It really was supposed to be a part of this but somehow I just ended up writing that scene with Nat and Steve crossing paths before the events of IW along the way. That was the bonus part scene.

The one time that Steve didn't caught Natasha (the one referred to in the summary) was actually the last scene. Yes, with the death of Nat. (stop it :( )

Blame Infinity War for giving us so much traumatic events that we weren't emotionally ready to deal with HUHUHUHU. It's been months and I'm still not GODDAMN OVER IT.

But all in all, it really was a good movie...

"I don't wanna go... Mr. Stark."

WAAAAAAAAH :-(