..By and By.. ((Steve/Natasha))

[Steve Rogers]

Steve was rather new to the whole fast food thing. Before he went to war, there was only one McDonalds in the entire country. Apparently the place boomed while he was asleep, who would have thought that it would? It was a bit silly really, the business was an empire, so different from the small time places for a quick bite from back when Steve was living in the 40's.

Natasha was off the bike almost as soon as they'd stopped, Steve following after he took the key out of the ignition. He walked up beside her before looking in. The place was so odd, modern looking. The two Avengers were on 33rd Street, sitting a block away from the new Madison Square Garden, one that towered over the building that Steve used to know.

The interior of the McDonalds was much odder, the chairs were eggshaped and cushioned all the way around. Early in the morning, people would sleep in them. Steve didn't understand that, the whole city was a totally different beast from the one he used to know. It kind of overwhelmed him at times.

Glad to have someone with him, he knew what to ignore and what to be curious about. Most times, someone would explain modern marvels to him. As they waited in line, Steve could hear people asking for numbers rather than food. He realized that people were getting them based on pictures.

Quietly he asked, "Natasha, do people not even read anymore?"

[Natasha Romanoff]

* * *

One manicured eyebrow lifted at the question, taking a second before she realised what he meant.

“It’s convenience,” she shrugged, thinking of the novel at home on her own bedside table. “People still read. You should see the library.”

Natasha especially loved the New York Public Library. Pepper had once pointed out that the atrium level of Avengers Tower housed a library, though she admitted it had mostly been curated by Tony’s father. A quick sweep of its impressive inventory uncovered a heavy bias in the fields of quantum mechanics and bioengineering; not exactly her preferred fare. The NYPL, in contrast, had an entire section on Russian Literature; she was fairly sure that the team had no idea, but she visited at least once a week.

Reaching the front of the line and pointedly not using their number system, she efficiently ordered her usual: fries and a vanilla shake. It was about as boring as orders came, and she was unapologetic about it being her favourite treat. Normally she preferred simpler cuisine, something protein heavy, but she was beginning to adapt to all the choices a full-time residence in New York offered.

Nodding at Steve to indicate he should place his order, she reached into her jacket pocket, pulling out a thin gold card and handing it to the cashier.

“We’re… it’s together.”

All business again, she signed the receipt and went quiet as she waited at the delivery space for their food.

* * *

[Steve Rogers]

"I-" Too late, Natasha had already paid, Steve was going to do it anyway, despite Natasha having said so, but it appeared that as per usual, she was quicker on the draw. There was a reason that Cap didn't regularly keep guns on him, he wasn't particularly fond or skilled with a pistol.

Steve grinned when Natasha mentioned a library, "I used to go to one when I was younger, all the time. Right after I stopped growing and realized I wasn't going to be all that tall or big, I got into reading more." He chuckled, "That all changed after I was finally enlisted. There's this antique shop on 53rd, that's where it all changed so much for me." He paused for a moment before saying. He realized that he sounded like he was asking Natasha to spend practically the entire day with him. Now he wanted to show her where he'd become Captain America, kind of a personal place.

He was feeling a lot of raw nerve today, but Natasha had become his support system, she was pretty much holding him up all day. After they ordered, Steve went out of his way to try and be a gentleman. He pulled her seat out, and even thanked her for paying. He was trying to be as polite as he could. If Natasha was letting all this happen to keep his mind off Peggy, she was rather brilliant.

After the meal, Steve was still rather interested in going to the lab where he'd been changed. He wondered if it even existed any more. There was only one way to find out. He looked back to her and started, "Nat, tasha." He was going to give her a nickname, but chickened out at the last second, sounding horribly awkward as well, "Would you like to see where it all changed for me?"

[Natasha Romanoff]

* * *

Natasha was quiet as Steve spoke. On one hand, she was glad he wasn’t dwelling on Peggy for the moment. It was obviously a heavy subject for him, and the pleasure that creased his face with the thought of libraries took ten years off his appearance.

On the other hand, Natasha didn’t do personal details; sharing really didn’t come easily to her. Hell, she’d known Clint for years before she ever knew his real name. And here Steve was, telling her all about what it was like before Captain America.

Part of her was intrigued. She knew roughly how he’d come to be, she’d seen some of the SHIELD files on the case. And sometimes she let herself imagine how hard it must be for him to live in this day and age. When she was particularly free with letting her mind wander, sometimes she even drew parallels between her life in America, how different it was from her beginnings.

But she knew nostalgia was a two way street, and more than anything, she never wanted Steve to know about who she was before she’d become The Black Widow. That chapter of her life was sealed tight; even Fury knew not to bring it up.

Ever.

She didn’t want the pity that came with losing her family so young. She didn’t want the judgment that always came with knowing she’d played assassin for SHIELD several times over the years, that her stack of collateral damage had piled up; she’d personally been responsible for so many deaths, and not all of them were bad guys. At the time, she’d thought she was just doing what needed to be done… but she was less hard these days. SHIELD had influenced her thinking; she wasn’t the Russian assassin anymore.

But she would forever have it all in her ledgers. It was enough to know it herself… she didn’t plan on sharing it with anyone, least of all Steve.

Still, after the day, she couldn’t very well say no. She would go along, have a curious look around, and keep her questions to herself. She took a long draw on her milkshake, mentally preparing.

“Sure thing, soldier. If it’s still there.”

* * *

[Steve Rogers]

The Captain beamed. Mostly because Natasha agreed to go down a trip on memory lane, but also because she hadn't given him a look for his odd pronunciation of her name. He was getting rather familiar with her already. It seems like having seen that Peggy had lived a long life here in the states. He hoped that she had been happy. But now, he could let her rest, not spend his days wondering. After finishing his meal, Steve cleaned up after himself. It wasn't much longer after that when he had asked Natasha if she wanted to make her way out to the lab, which was only a few blocks away.

"Great," Steve started, with perhaps too much excitement in his voice. He was glad to be going, he could pay his own silent respects to Doctor Erskine while they were there, another friend that Steve had lost way too soon. He smiled warmly before saying, "We can walk it from here, there's not really any reason to take the bike when we're so close." Steve hoped that was fine with Natasha.

He supposed that she might be recognized as one of the Avengers, but that didn't account for how she dealt with that when he wasn't around. She was the only one of the group that didn't live at the tower, well Tony and Thor didn't either, but that was a different story. Chuckling, Steve looked to her and said, "Whenever you're ready Natasha."

“Sure thing, soldier. If it’s still there.”

Steve nodded his head and answered, "I think you and I both know they'd never give up a base like that, it's too big and flashy on the inside, but way too invisible to the naked eye on the outside for Nick Fury to pass up on it."

[Natasha Romanoff]

* * *

She nodded; he was probably exactly right. Fury did like his secret hidey holes, and though she hadn’t heard anything about it, it didn’t mean it wasn’t still functional; it would be so very like SHIELD to keep the asset quiet.

“You’re probably right.”

Sipping the last of her shake, she tossed the cup and empty chip box into a nearby rubbish bin, running a hand through the curls that the wind had effectively tousled on the ride over. Out of habit, she had a quick look around, eyeing the rest of the clientele sharply to see if anyone had taken an interest in their conversation. She was met with typical New York City indifference; not a soul was paying attention to them. With a small but genuine smile, she shook her head, turning back to Steve and heading out the door.

“Sometimes I love this city.”

She especially loved walking in it. The cool, crisp fall air rushed up to meet her as she exited the building, not giving Steve the opportunity to hold the door. It wasn’t that it bothered her, it’s that the thought didn’t occur to her; chivalry had been defined quite differently in Russia, and by the time she’d come to the States, she already commanded a certain amount of aloof respect -- which wasn’t quite the same thing, but everyone had been nice enough to her.

Including the Captain. It was nice not to have to constantly be on the defensive, as she so often was with Stark, or overly cautious, as she’d had to be with Dr. Banner. Spending time with Steve was like being a really lax tour guide.

…She could certainly get used to it.

* * *

[Steve Rogers]

Walking down the new, yet familiar street was actually kind of a bittersweet pill for Steve to swallow. He'd been here with Peggy when he'd first really gotten to talk to her, pointing out all the places he used to get beaten up at when he was still small and frail. An hour later and the Doctor was dead, Steve had his first encounter with Hydra, most importantly, his life had changed forever, he'd become Captain Steven Rogers, also known as Captain America.

From there, he'd become a USO mascot, until after going rogue during a USO show, he'd finally shown the army what he was capable of on the battlefield, and he was put in a leadership role. It didn't last long, but Steve remembered it all like it was less than a year ago.

He refocused now and said, "There it is, across the street. Let's go have a look inside Natasha."

The duo walked into the antique shop, where a bored looking woman was reading the newspaper. She looked up and spotted the pair. Obviously she knew who they were, but was obligated to ask anyway. In an unenthusiastic tone, she spoke up.

"Nice weather we're having today."

Steve gave a curt nod, "Yes but I always carry an umbrella."

She sighed and pressed a button, the back bookcase opened and revealed a much larger room. After walking in and the doors closing, Steve grinned and said, "Just how I remember it. Let's have a look around. Doesn't seem like much staff are in, they must be on the Helicarrier after the incident with that mercenary."

[Natasha Romanoff]

* * *

The walk over was quiet. Natasha rarely felt the need to fill spaces like this with words, and it was nice that Steve seemed comfortable enough with the silence as well.

New York was busy around them, and they made their way unnoticed by the bustling crowds. Her hands found their way into the pockets of her black track jacket, fingers skimming over the necessities inside: her i.d. lanyard that held both SHIELD and Stark Industries identification, a spare hair elastic, her trusty credit card – registered under an alias, of course – and her slimline smartphone. The air would be crisp when the sun started to go down soon, but Natasha quite liked the cold. Preferred it, really; it reminded her of home.

"There it is, across the street.”

She followed Steve’s gaze to an unassuming shopfront. She hadn’t known where the base was – had never really needed to know, so she’d never bothered to look it up – but she saw now that SHIELD had chosen well all those years ago. If she didn’t suspect, with all her training and natural suspicion, she knew it would be rare that anyone else would.

The woman behind the desk seemed to recognise Steve at once, and Natasha didn’t bat an eyelash at what she knew was a passcode.

”Just how I remember it. Let's have a look around.”

Outwardly, Natasha was as cool as ever, but inwardly there was a measure of surprise; she’d supposed Steve was the adventuresome type – his background certainly suggested he was – but she hadn’t seen that side of him in action so far. Mostly it was all a sense of duty or quiet confusion over what the world had become. The slight twinge of giddiness written on his face suited him, and she smiled without thinking about it. The man had been an open book all afternoon; it was unnervingly attractive.

“Right behind you.”

* * *

[Steve Rogers]

The pair of Avengers worked their way through the base and through to an observatory room. Steve peered in and remembered it all as they were looking. This is where he'd gone through his transformation all the way back then, during the war. He smiled, looking upon it fondly before his eyes shifted to Natasha. She seemed to be looking around inquisitively, like she always did, but was that a hint of a smile? He thought it was.

Steve's own grin grew as he cleared his throat and said, "Down there, where that pod is. It's where I was when they put me through the Super Soldier tests. The original. I'm the only one they ever put it through before Doctor Erskine was killed."] After that, the Super Soldier program had been dismantled, sent in two different directions. There was Weapon X up north in Canada and there was also the tests in Gamma radiation, resulting in Doctor Banner becoming the Hulk. Steve hadn't heard of Weapon X yet, but it would be sooner rather than later when he did.

After a few moments of reminiscing Steve spoke up, "We should keep looking around, I doubt that room's been used for years now." It was true, after the original program was terminated, the room was shut down, but left as a memento to Doctor Erskine and his work. Further along ahead, Steve and Natasha ran into a big room with hundreds of photos on the wall. In the center of the back wall, there were six with circle around them.

Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, The Hulk, Hawkeye and the Black Widow. Steve smiled and said, "This must be Fury's office then. His eyes shifted along the walls, there was one of the hero reported by the Daily Bugle as a menace, there was a group of Mutants all dressed in black catsuits. There was the group of four that lived in the Baxter Building. Those were the only ones that really stood out outside the circle, Steve couldn't really figure out the rest.

While they were still looking around, Steve happened across some filings. Each one labeled with an Avenger's name on it. Deciding to have a bit of a laugh, he held up Tony's and said, "Hey Natasha, let's see what Fury's got written on Stark." He opened it, leaving his own file, written by Peggy Carter and Howard Stark, laying unprotected and out in the open. Natasha's sat at the bottom of group, not yet in plain sight.

[Natasha Romanoff]

* * *

It was cute the way he took up the role of tour guide so naturally. It was a remainder from his days with the USO, she supposed, but it was endearing all the same. Of course, she knew about Hydra, and subsequently had a loose understanding of the day’s events surrounding Captain America’s “creation.” But she’d never seen the actual facilities, and suspected they kept everything intact for the day when the technology could be recreated; no doubt they would want to Frankenstein the machinery from the old lab if they could. But she didn't say as much to Steve; he'd had enough unpleasant truths for one day.

"Hey Natasha, let's see what Fury's got written on Stark."

She winced, remembering the particularly scathing initial review she’d written during the beginning of her time with Stark Industries. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she tried her hardest to sound properly abashed instead of amused.

“Page 13,” was all she said. She was sure he’d thought everything she’d written down at one point in time, anyhow – there certainly wasn’t anything in the report that would surprise him.

While the agent half of her brain – which, to be fair, was quite a bit more than half, seeing as she’d known little else in her life – said they probably shouldn’t be snooping around the office, she knew none of the files that would be found here would be highly classified, or probably even very recent. The highly protected stuff only existed in physical form, and even she wasn’t sure where those files were kept, but she knew it would be under lock, key, and heavy armour. Not to mention Fury had fairly well entrenched himself on the Helicarrier, and she was sure that was his main office; the stuff here was likely old news.

On that thought, she noticed Steve’s folder laying out invitingly, and she quietly picked it up as he was entrenched in Stark’s file, turning her back and peeking into it to see if it would tell her anything she didn’t already know.

* * *

[Steve Rogers]

Oddly enough, the top picture on top of the file was the way Steve looked before the Super Soldier Serum had been administered. Steve looked small and frail, susceptible to just about anything. Within that was files on his time with the Howlin' Wolves, notes on the Super Soldier program, as well as a grading sheet for whether he should or should not be included in the Avengers Initiative. Obviously Steve had passed with flying colors, the person grading him had been Phil Coulson.

Steve was reading the file on Tony. He got a chuckle out of Natasha's report on him. After finishing the page, he whistled and said, "I don't blame you. Sometimes he drives me right up the wall." Tony Stark was quite the polarizing figure at times. Placing the file down, Steve looked through the other files. Flipping to the bottom, Steve found the one on the Black Widow.

He looked up and saw that Natasha was distracted. Grinning a bit, Steve opened the file and began to read. There was an awful lot written on so few pages. It took him a little bit to settle, but once Steve was really reading it, he was hooked. Her life was absolutely fascinating, if not a bit eye opening. He was beginning to understand why Natasha could come off cold at times. Such a life, a yet, she was still one of the finest people Steve knew. To think that some of these things, no, never mind. They didn't matter to him, Natasha was the woman that was sitting across the room from him.

Cap knew her better than that. He wasn't going to let her past blind him to what he knew, what he'd seen. Natasha wasn't the person in this file, not anymore at least. Steve was sure of that.

Unfortunately, he'd been so caught up reading, his eyes had been off Natasha from the second he hit the first page.

[Natasha Romanoff]

* * *

Opening the folder, Natasha quickly stifled a chuckle. This particular photo had been missing from the file she’d peeked into months ago, so the sheer entertainment value was not lost on her. She’d heard about the effects the Serum had on Steve, but she’d never imagined it was this drastic. If she hadn’t known better, she never would have recognised him.

Thumbing through the rest of the notes in the file, she didn’t see anything she didn’t already know, though the Avenger Initiative rubric gave her pause. She’d been off taking care of Dr. Banner at that point, so Phil had recruited him. His signature at the bottom of the page made her smile. The pen indentations told her this was the original document; she half expected him to have stuck a gold star on there, too.

Finding no new information save a lot of tedious biochemistry notes she wasn’t that interested in wading through, she flipped back to the photo in the front, grasping it carefully between two fingernails to avoid leaving prints – a professional habit – and holding it up playfully.

“I think this one needs its own trading card.” She glanced at the folder in his hands. “Whose is that?”

Slipping close, it took her all of two seconds to realise it was her own. The first thing she thought was how unnecessary that file was; she’d practically grown up with Fury, he certainly didn’t need a file to know about her, so it shouldn’t have existed in this office at all. The second thing she thought about was the content of that file. It was brutal, to say the least. She’d been the instigator of some unsavoury decisions SHIELD had made in the past, though that was hardly the worst of it. Any personal file was charted from birth, and while Steve’s only included an embarrassing picture, hers included a lot more information than she’d been willing to share.

Briskly, she replaced the photo and tossed it back on the pile, her voice detached, all business now. Her mind rattled with Russian curses, but even now she knew better than to give away how she felt.

“We should go.”

* * *

[Steve Rogers]

The more Steve had read, the more he was amazed. Such a violent past, Natasha hadn't even really had a childhood. That really tore Steve up. Everyone deserved that, but she hadn't received it. Awful, to be out there, killing at such a young age. As he flipped page after page, he kept trying to think of what he could do to make up for the horrible lot she'd drawn in life.

Unfortunately, reading her file had set Steve two steps back.

“We should go.”

Steve instantly knew Natasha hadn't wanted him to read that. It was quite the story after all, but he didn't care. The redhead was his friend, that's what was important to the Captain. Now he just had to make her understand that. He couldn't deal with the coldness, not after he'd been looking to her to support him. Really now that he thought about it, Natasha was the best friend he had.

"Natasha," he started, wanting to clear the air, "I didn't realize you didn't want me to read your file. I'm sorry." Regardless of whether she had or hadn't wanted him to, Steve wouldn't intentionally do anything to upset her. He just hoped that he could get that across to her, they'd actually made a bit of progress as friends earlier, something that Steve desperately needed in this time period.

"Those things in the file. That's not you now. The you I know." He smiled and said, "I know a thing or two about people's lives changing for the better."

[Natasha Romanoff]

* * *

She prickled as he used her name; the first time Clint had used it all those years ago, she’d hauled off and slapped him. Of course, they’d been holed up in a tiny Polish bar and she’d had about a quart of vodka in her by that point. Half of her wanted to correct him, to insist on “Agent Romanoff,” but she didn’t, (a) because she wasn’t drunk, (b) because she wasn’t that person anymore, and (c) because Steve had saved her life those months ago. Had saved several lives, in fact, and that was something to be respected.

“Nothing to be sorry for.”

Her face was emotionless, a mask she’d learnt years ago, but her voice gave away the fact that she was lying. She hated herself for being so obvious, and she tightened her control over the situation immediately, yanking her hair back into a ponytail to keep her hands busy as she turned to leave the room, striding toward the door.

"Those things in the file. That's not you now.”

Stopping, she turned, a slight smile curving her lips. It wasn’t kind, but it wasn’t sarcastic; it was just her reaction to situations she didn’t want to deal with.

“You don’t know who I am now.”

It came across a little cruel, and she didn’t backtrack to apologise for that. It was the truth, after all. He’d known of her existence for eight months. There were people who’d known her the majority of her life and still couldn’t tell you her middle name.

* * *

[Steve Rogers]

“You don’t know who I am now.”

She was spot on there. Steve didn't know a damn thing about the redheaded Russian assassin, but she was his teammate, and his friend. He wasn't about to let that slip away because he'd read a file about a person who didn't exist anymore, Steve was smarter than that, he didn't judge based on what had happened, he only knew based on what was going on at that moment.

"You're right."

Steve looked at Natasha, the ultimate mystery woman. Even after reading her file, there was so much more to her than he figured he'd ever be able to understand. Though right now, he could tell, beyond the stoneface, she was upset, or at least he felt that way. He could feel it under his skin.

"I don't know the first thing about you Natasha, but I'd like to."

Even Steve was surprised with how confident that sounded, bold even. Around women, he was always a nervous wreck, unless it was a moment that really mattered. He hoped that he didn't come off like some jerk trying to position himself as Natasha's best guy or anything like that. She was his friend.

Well, maybe one day though...