Author's Note: Thank you again to all those who read, followed, favorited, and reviewed. It gives me great pleasure to know that I'm not the only one who wished Endgame would have gone a little differently for my favorite (non MCU-canon) power couple.

Just an FYI, this chapter is M -rated, so if you aren't into that kind of thing, only read to the POV switch. Otherwise, we're heading into smutville. I am a big fan of smut; however, I prefer the tasteful kind to the raunchy stuff, so that is how I write it. Hopefully, you're a fan either way.

Only one more chapter after this.

"Come in," Natasha called out, voice muffled by the oak paneling that separated them.

Steve opened the door and was surprised to find her perched on the end of the bed rather than already under the covers.

"You okay?" he asked, unable to stop the knee-jerk question. How could anyone be okay after everything that had happened?

She nodded. "Just trying to wrap my head around everything."

"It's a lot to take in," Steve agreed as he took a seat next to her on the bed, sitting much closer than he would have in the past. The mattress dipped under his weight, making her slide toward him until their legs were pressed against each other.

"The question I keep coming back to is 'what now'?" Natasha said. "I think I was just so focused on the 'how' that I never really thought about what I'm supposed to do afterward."

"You could do whatever you want to do," Steve replied.

"I know, but there's still so much that needs to be done. The world's got to be in chaos right now with everyone back." Natasha started to run a hand through her hair, only for her fingers to get snagged.

Steve reached over and pushed her hands away from the end of her braid, pulling the tie out, and began unwinding her red and blond hair with the utmost care.

"It's nothing you can't handle," he said, trying to reassure her undoubtably scrambled thoughts. "You'll just take it one day at a time."

She nodded. "What about you?" Natasha asked.

"I think I'm ready to try some of that life Tony was telling me to get."

"You mean formally retire?" She frowned. Though he hadn't exactly retired during the five years after the Snap, he had taken a step back from Avenging and taken up Sam's role of running a support group.

Steve chuckled and shook his head. "No, not yet at least. I just meant that I think I'm finally ready to let go of the past and focus on what's been in front of me all along."

"Yeah? What's that?"

Steve had prepared himself for her question. Natasha was nothing but direct. However, he still found himself hesitating, afraid of what she might say, afraid of rejection. But then a voice in the back of head that sounded suspiciously like Bucky told him that if he was brave enough – stupid enough – to stand up by himself against Thanos and his army with only half a shield, then he could tell Natasha how he felt.

"You," he said, taking the leap.

Her curious expression wavered slightly, morphing into something longing and hopeful for a split second before she schooled it.

"I've always been there for you, Steve," she replied, and he knew that she purposely misunderstood him.

"I know you have," he said, dropping her gaze out of embarrassment. "You've always been there. You kept the world running when the rest of us couldn't do it and I'm so sorry that I wasn't there to help you. I just –" He dropped his gaze down to his hands out of embarrassment.

He wasn't sure how to explain himself. There were so many reasons as to why he'd had to take a break from being Captain America. After going up against Thanos and losing, he had lost faith in his abilities, and finding out that Thanos destroyed the stones so they couldn't undo what he had done had only made the feeling worse.

"You had just lost everyone that meant the most to you," Natasha tried to reason.

"I did, but I forgot that you did, too." He sighed. "I also forgot that I hadn't lost you." Steve looked back up at her, focusing on her direct gaze. "I don't want to be your friend and partner anymore," he said, then recovered when he realized how it came out. "I don't just want to be those things."

"What do you want?" she asked after a moment.

"I want more," he said before leaning in and kissing her again. "I want you. I want however much you'll give me."

~~~oOoOoOo~~~

Natasha's heart swelled with Steve's declaration. Her only response was to kiss him harder, hands coming up to brace herself against his broad shoulders.

She parted her lips to his seeking tongue and shivered when he moaned into her mouth. His strong hands found purchase on her waist and he lowered them back onto the bed, stretching out beside her, stroking his hands up and down her sides.

When his fingers skimmed the hem of her shirt, Natasha arched against him, silently welcoming his seeking digits. In a swift move, Steve rid her of the clothing, reveling that she wore nothing but a pair of skimpy blue panties under his borrowed shirt.

She couldn't help but grin when Steve took a moment to admire her body. Natasha knew she looked good. All of her years of ballet and martial arts training kept her fit, giving her body a nice tone without being too intimidating to potential marks. But Steve's gaze didn't hold the type of lust that she was used to with men. His held reverence.

Natasha didn't let him look too long before she sat up and forced his own shirt up and over his head. Then she pulled him on top of her, bringing his muscular torso flush with hers. Their nipples grazed against each other's a few times as their mouths met in another deep kiss.

But all too soon, Steve pulled away and began kissing his way down her body, nipping at her neck and shoulders. He stopped at her breasts, cupping them in each hand, swirling his tongue around each of her nipples before continuing downward. He paid special attention to the scar just left of her belly button, pressing a soft, almost chaste kiss there, sending chills throughout her entire body.

Finally, he hooked his thumbs into her panties and pulled them down her legs in a single, even stroke. He looked to her before continuing his exploration of her body, so Natasha parted her legs to answer his questioning eyes.

He didn't seem to mind the red thatch of hair that grew between her legs, smoothing his fingers through the curls before dipping down to stroke her slit. Natasha drew her knees up, further exposing herself to him and let out a soft moan when Steve pressed a finger to her clit.

She grabbed at his shoulders, bringing him down beside her so she could kiss him again while he pleasured her with his hand, rubbing over her clit a few times before stroking first one, then two fingers into her while he ground the heel of his palm against her.

All too soon, she was a shaking mess, unable to keep kissing him. Steve levered himself back onto his knees to watch and she forced herself to keep her gaze locked with his while she writhed and sighed, hips pumping with each thrust of his hand.

When her muscles began coiling from her pending orgasm, Natasha pushed his hand away and sat up.

A quick maneuver had Steve on his back under her. He grinned, obviously pleased with her show of strength and skill.

Natasha pressed a few lingering kisses to his lips, nibbling playfully before pulling away to graze her teeth along the tendons of his throat. She paid his body the same attention, nibbling each individual line of muscle along his abdomen, reveling over the way his body flexed involuntarily, before edging her fingers under the top edge of his boxer briefs.

With careful precision, she pushed the material down his thighs all the while keeping her gazed locked on his.

Only when he was completely exposed and the last of his clothing had joined hers on the floor did Natasha take her eyes off of his. She lowered her gaze to his erection and was pleased to find that it was only slightly above average in all ways, because no matter what anyone else said, bigger was not always better.

She stroked a hand over him, fingers skimming from the bulbus head down to his testicles, making him shiver and twitch. When she wrapped her fist along his length, Steve's entire body tensed and he let out a shaky breath as she pumped her hand up and down a few times.

Rather than build him into a writhing mess like he had done to her, Natasha kept him in hand as she straddled his hips, preparing to lower herself onto him, but a gentle hand on her hip stopped her.

"Are you sure?" he asked, pupils blown so wide she could only see a faint line of the aquamarine she had grown to love.

She smiled and leaned down to kiss him. "I'm sure," she replied before pushing upright and lowering herself onto him.

Natasha hissed at the stretch while Steve moaned underneath her.

It took her a few strokes to adjust to him, but when she was finally able to take all of him in, Steve forced her to pause, pulling her hips flush against his.

For a moment, they just basked in the feel of each other, stroking hands up and down the other's body, admiring the light sheen of perspiration and tousled hair their intimacy had produced.

Natasha flexed against him, pulling a surprised gasp from Steve which spurred her on. She levered herself up, then slid down his length in a long, smooth stroke.

At first, Steve's hands roamed her body, cupping her breasts, thumbing her nipples in time with her strokes, grabbing at the globes of her ass to help guide her. But eventually, he reached up and threaded their fingers together, giving her an anchor, connecting them in yet another way, one that oddly seemed more intimate than everything else they had done.

It didn't take long for Natasha to work either of them into a frenzy.

Steve flexed his hips a few times, finding just the right angle to have her breath hitching. He reached between them, finding her clit and swiping his thumb across it a few times.

Natasha found her rhythm faltering as her muscles began to seize, right on the edge.

Steve suddenly sat up beneath her, bringing their torsos flush against one another, pressing smooth expanses of skin together. He took her mouth in an aggressive kiss, biting at her lips, thrusting his tongue into her mouth in imitation of what he was doing below.

Her breath caught and the next thrust of his hips sent her flying.

When awareness caught back up with her, Natasha found herself draped over Steve's chest. One set of fingers stroking through her hair, the other skimming along her back and thigh.

She lifted her head and they both grinned at each other. He shifted slightly, bringing his mouth to hers in a chaste kiss, and the tightening of his abdomen made his erection flex inside her, pulling surprised gasps from them.

Steve flexed his hips a few times, sending shock waves through her overly sensitized body, but the angle was all wrong for him.

Nearly boneless, Natasha let herself collapse sideways and rolled onto her back. "Come here," she urged, letting her legs fall open and embracing him as he shifted on top of her.

Without delay, Steve pushed back inside her, only stopping when he was a deep as he could possibly get.

"Is this okay?" Steve asked as he pushed an arm under her to thread his fingers into the hair at the back of her neck.

Natasha couldn't find the words, lost in the sight and feel of him on top of her, so she nodded, silently urging him to find his own completion.

He started slow, somehow knowing that she was still too sensitive for much more, but when she started to respond again, gripping at his shoulders, hips pressing up to meet his, things changed.

A gasp leapt out of her as Steve's hips snapped against hers in a sharp thrust. Her nails dug into his shoulders as his head dropped into the space between her neck and shoulder, lips pressing endless kisses to her skin.

Natasha never would have thought that she would have been aroused by the sound of sex, but there was something about the way Steve moaned against her that had her teetering on the edge again. Then he pushed her left leg higher on his hip and gave two sharp thrusts that had her falling into another climax that surprised the both of them.

Later, she would be thankful that her second climax was short, because she would have hated to miss the sight of Steve reaching his own end.

His hips picked up speed, almost slamming into her, while the arm under her back kept her in place, preventing her from sliding into the headboard. His mouth latched onto her shoulder next to where his fingers dug in, teeth scraping against her skin before clamping down.

Right as his thrusts began to falter, Steve loosened his grip and pushed up away from her. Eyes that had been previously clenched shut opened and locked onto hers. Two strokes later and he fell over the edge, hips losing their rhythm, a harsh groan bubbling up from his chest, vibrating through her as well.

Instead of collapsing on her like she expected, Steve rolled to the side, landing on his back beside her. One of his hands found hers and threaded their fingers together to keep them connected.

"I never would have expected that you were a biter," Natasha said, breaking through the sounds of their heavy breathing.

She felt rather than saw Steve turn.

His lips brushed against her shoulder, soothing over what was soon to be a bruise. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize –"

"I'm teasing," Natasha interrupted. "I liked it."

"Good, because I did, too," came his snarky reply.

Natasha turned her head to face him, eyes taking in his naked form, loving the way his chest still heaved from their encounter.

Part of her was so deeply satisfied with the turn of events, ready to embrace the change in relationship.

The other part regretted that she'd just jumped him after his declaration. Should they have discussed things first? Were they moving too fast?

Then she reminded herself of how they had danced around each other for years, her harmlessly flirting with him at first until they developed an easy friendship that had pushed all thoughts of anything else to the wayside.

"Will you promise me something?" she asked.

He turned to face her, and said, "Anything."

"Will you promise that no matter what happens between the two of us, will you promise that we'll find a way to stay friends if it doesn't work out?" It seemed so cliché to ask him that, but it was suddenly the only thing she could think about.

Steve's expressive eyes gave away his concern and Natasha knew he was worried that he had overstepped.

"I'm not saying that I don't want this," she said, quick to explain herself. "Or that I expect a relationship to fail. But you have become one of my greatest friends and I don't want to lose you if we decide that we don't want to be together."

He stared at her for a moment, gaze softening to one of understanding as if he knew exactly what she was worried about.

"I promise," he said, rubbing a hand up and down her arm. "But, if I'm being honest, I think that we've danced around being in a relationship for a long time."

"You're not wrong," she admitted.

"I also think that we make a good team," he said, "in more ways than one."

"You're not going to suddenly think that I need to stay home and have dinner ready on the table for you when you get home from a fight, are you?"

Steve laughed. "I just got done saying how well we work together and you go and ask that? You should know by now that your ability to kick my ass is what I find most attractive about you."

"Language," she quipped, a wry grin pulling at her lips. "And here I thought it was my endless old man jokes that won you over."

"That's number two on the list," Steve commented.

"There's a list?"

He nodded.

"Care to share," she asked.

"Maybe eventually," he replied. "Wouldn't want to give away all of my secrets." He rotated onto his side, leaned over, and gave her a soft peck on the lips. Which turned into another and another until they were making out like teenagers, sprawled across the bed on rumpled sheets that smelled like sex.

When they finally pulled away from each other, it was in mutual agreement that they needed to get some sleep. Natasha knew that she had a lot of catching up to do and that though Steve would suggest she take more time to herself, he wouldn't insist on it.

There was no discussion of whether or not they'd share the bed. They had already shared so much that a bed was almost laughable. Natasha settled on her front, tucking one arm under the pillow to help cradle her head, letting the other find the arm Steve had tucked under his own pillow. Steve propped himself on his side and splayed a hand across her back, drawing designs along her skin.

Natasha knew that if it wasn't so warm that Steve would be snuggled up against her, cradling her body tight against his own. Part of her was scared of that level of intimacy. Even though they had been pressed up against each other in various situations, him shielding her from enemy fire, her using him to practice different takedown techniques.

But all of that was very different from the intimacy of holding someone just to feel closer. As it was, having a hand on each other worked, enough to know that he was still there and that none of this was some illusion the afterlife had cooked up for her.

Somehow, she was able to quiet her mind and start drifting to sleep. Maybe it was the sex. Maybe it was Steve lying next to her. Either way, she fell asleep more content than she ever had.