He knew the moment that he kissed her that it was a mistake. It was fairly chaste as far as kisses go, and she'd kissed him back. But when he'd pulled away he could tell that something in her eyes had changed. She was suddenly different, distant, gone. That hadn't been what she'd needed right then, and a stronger man would have seen that and resisted the temptation. But Steve had never claimed to be a strong man, and lord if he could take that moment back...

It had been the morning after the incident with the vial and they'd been standing in his kitchen. The morning sun was brilliant and she'd walked up to him after breakfast and wrapped her arms around his middle, thanking him for the night before. They'd stood like that for such a long time and everything felt right with her in his arms, the two of them full and content.

"I might go away for a little while," she'd told him. And he hadn't been surprised. Natasha was like him; she didn't care to lick her wounds in front of others.

"Tell me where you are when you get there?"

"Yeah," she'd said and then lifted her head from his chest.

That was when the moment came. He'd run a hand through her silken hair and kissed her forehead. And then she'd looked up at him. Steve had found himself so mesmerized that he'd touched his nose to hers without thought and then when she didn't pull away he'd leaned down slowly and kissed her.

He'd noticed the change in her eyes right away and begun apologizing immediately. Natasha had been gracious and charming, even smiling as though nothing were wrong. Except that she'd been out of his apartment so fast that it'd made his head spin. At the door she'd planted a kiss at the corner of his mouth, promising that she'd be in touch. Steve had stood there with his heart in his throat, fearing he'd ruined everything.

"Can we talk—about this?"

"It's not a big deal, Steve. Relax, it happens." And then she was gone.

That had been going on six weeks ago, and he'd barely had a word from her since.

Sam was the only one who knew how he felt about Natasha, but he was too good of a friend to admit that Steve had botched it. The lack of communication left him in a depressed flux. He'd called and texted, practically begging her to call him back, but she'd only responded via text a handful of times.

: In the Ozarks. Spotty reception. Talk soon.

: Be here bit longer. I'm fine.

: Stop worrying. We are OK.

: Can't talk right now.

But, Natasha must have listened to his last message, because she was coming back—today.

Steve stood in the middle of his living room, dressed to travel, his shield and duffle bag waited near the door. She would be here any moment, and the nervous butterflies in Steve's stomach had morphed into venomous blood-sucking bats. This whole damned thing had dragged out for so long that he wasn't even sure he wanted to face her anymore.

What would happen if Natasha looked at him differently from now on? Would they go back to just being acquaintances? He didn't want that. It was hard enough making friends in this time as it was, so losing a best friend would be a blow. He still had Sam, but Steve knew he'd be lonely without her. Natasha had brought color and laughter into his life and things felt drab when she was gone.

And if Steve were being honest, even though he'd made a mistake, it hurt his feelings that she'd brushed him off as she had—not even allowing him a chance to explain himself. The doorbell rang and Steve's mouth suddenly went dry. Forcing himself to swallow, he walked to the door and opened it.

There she was. The source of his greatest joy and torture. She was like an apparition; as if weeks of dreaming of her had finally conjured this wonderful, frustrating woman onto his doorstep.

"Hi," Natasha said with a small smile.

"Hey Nat, come in."

Natasha hugged him briefly and he felt so awkward—not knowing how long to hold on or where to put his hands. It was killing him. She looked stunning. Wherever she'd been, her skin had turned a light golden tan.

"You look nice. Get some sun?" Steve asked as he took her overnight bag and walked it into the living room while she took off her shoes.

"Yeah, thanks."

He kept his back to her for a moment while he gathered himself. With his heart leaping about, and his mind racing, Steve didn't trust himself to speak. He might blurt something out and send her running.

"Where is he?"

Steve cleared his throat and turned around. "In a box." Steve motioned for her to follow him and lead the way back to his bedroom. There in his closet was Poe, curled up in an old sneaker box, looking fairly miserable.

Natasha immediately knelt and ran a light hand down his back. "Oh no," she crooned. "You're not feelin' so good, are you sweetheart?"

He opened his eyes briefly and made a pitiful sound by way of greeting, and then closed them again. Natasha stood back up with a look of deep concern on her face. "What'd the doctor say?"

Steve frowned and glanced worriedly down at his cat. "Uh, they pumped his stomach and kept him overnight. They got out all the poison they could, just need the rest to work its way out of his system. In the meantime, he's gotta keep drinking. They gave me a little dosing syringe to get some water in 'im. It's over here."

They went back into the kitchen and Steve showed her the syringe and how to fill it with water. "He's not gonna want it, but you gotta make him drink every couple hours."

"And he's not eating?"

"No, not yet, but the doc says that's normal for the next 24 to 36 hours. If he starts nosin' around for food, give him the dry kibbles and see if he can keep that down."

"Ok, water and kibbles, got it."

Pointing to a business card on the fridge, Steve said, "Vet's open 24-hours. So, if he starts getting shaky or vomits, call 'em." Steve ran a hand through his hair. "Look… I know the timing isn't great. If there was any way around it, I wouldn't have asked. But Tony's been, well… Tony, and what he found in the vial's pretty important. Not that Poe isn't, but—"

Natasha placed a hand on his forearm, stopping him. "Steve, I'm happy to do it. You know I love him."

"Yeah, I know. I love 'im too."

"I've got him, okay? I promise."

Steve nodded. "Thanks Natasha. Thanks for coming back."

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