Finding Natasha

Steve and Morgan appeared back in the familiar forest around the beautiful wooden cabin that was Tony Stark's house.

"How's your mom?"

"Oh, Steve. Mom died last year. She had a heart attack one day at work. The doctor said it was because of an underlying condition but it was because of this toxin in her body put there by a man called Aldrich Killian, who did a weird experiment on her. Dad thought he got all of it from her system but the tiniest bit was left and it multiplied and eventually it was too much for her body to handle. I think she just thought she was hurting because she missed dad."

"Oh my god Morgan. That's horrible I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I hope you've had someone to talk to."

"Yeah, Happy's been making me see a therapist since my dad died and I go to his apartment in New York on Saturday nights. I see Peter sometimes too."

"So who do you live with here, if not Happy?"

"If I had any free will I would choose to live with Happy in the city but instead I live here with my aunt, uncle and their three kids. Mom's older sister, who I had never even met but apparently since mom didn't put anyone down for getting custody of me, they needed to put me in the hands of my next closest family. The house technically belongs to me but since they are taking care of me, they are legally allowed to live here until I'm 18."

"Don't you think they might find it a bit weird if you bring an adult man to stay with you for 2 days?"

"You're Captain America, they really won't mind."

Steve was happy to be back, even though the news of Pepper's death was a horrible shock.
As Morgan had said the family didn't mind at all him staying with them for a few days as long as he took some pictures with the kids. Morgan showed him to the guest room next her hers.

It's obvious that she isolates herself from the family. Her room is far from the rooms of the other children and they barely acknowledged each other over the dinner table. The aunt and uncle fussed over Steve but didn't even ask Morgan what she'd been up to today.

Steve had a quick shower and put on some old clothes Morgan had found in a box of things from the old Avengers tower. He had a sudden memory of this exact t-shirt and how it had been left behind in Tony's possession.

They were all in a circle, sitting out on the roof of the famous Stark tower, the skyline of New York City surrounding them as far as they could see.

It was a few days after the battle of New York. They had decided to have a small party, to celebrate the fact that aliens hadn't managed to take control of the planet yet. He says they, he means Tony decided.
Tony and Pepper were sitting next to each other, and the other 5 avengers were sitting round the makeshift campfire when Thor suggested they play a game he had heard of while he and Steve visited a middle school, Tony said it was for publicity as if they were a band.

"Why don't we play Truth or Dare?" Thor said. They were all tipsy, even Steve who had had a few sips of Thor's Asgardian mead which could make even him slightly drunk. But Steve was nothing compared to the rest of them.

Tony and Pepper were acting like a high school couple, making-out the whole time but also joining the conversation when they felt like it.

Clint was hammered and was singing along to a song only he could hear. Bruce was leaning on Clint fast asleep even though Clint was shouting his song at the top of his lungs.

Natasha was sitting to the left of Clint, her back against Steve's side. Though they weren't close yet, they felt comfortable in each other's company, something they both needed.

Steve knew she hadn't drunk as much as she pretended she had but he wasn't sure why she was pretending to be drunk.

So the game started off light. Tony having to kiss Clint, Clint having to run around the roof in his underwear a few times. Thor had a truth about who his biggest crush was and he got all tearful over Jane.

Then it got interesting. Steve remembered exactly what happened even though it was so long ago now. Tony dared Natasha to make out with Steve. He didn't think much of it at the time.

He looked at her. Her vibrant green eyes stared into his soul silently asking if it was okay with him. He nodded and she gently cupped his cheek with one hand and leaned forward, kissing him slowly. He put a hand on her cheek as he felt a spark at the connection of their lips, he found himself unable to remove himself  from her gentle kiss.

Suddenly the kiss became a little more intense, Natasha put her other hand in his hair, pulling him closer, she must have felt the spark too, Steve thought. Just as he began to run his finger down her jaw, he heard Tony's wolf whistle.

Thor was clapping and Tony was whistling, Clint hadn't seemed to notice and Bruce was still asleep. Steve suddenly came back to reality and remembered that there were other people there too, unwilling removed his lips from hers looking into her eyes as he did so. They were sparkling furiously as she smirked and leaned towards him whispering in his ear "Not bad for an old man."

He chuckled and turned towards the rest of the group as if nothing had happened. Unfortunately for Steve his dare was next and Natasha made him take off all his clothes.

He protested until they let him keep his boxers on but she said he had to do 20 jumping jacks in just his boxers and then stay in his underwear until he got back to his apartment.

He wasn't impressed. He stood up and slowly got underdressed only aware of Nat's eyes on him. When he took his shirt off both Tony and Clint wolf whistled and Steve blushed bright red.

As he moved forward to do his jumping jacks he felt Natasha look him up and down slowly before he glanced in her direction. She smirked at him and gave him a wink. He noticed that she certainly wasn't looking at his face while he was jumping.

Steve remembered trying to steal his clothes back before he left but Tony had hidden them well. He had to walk through the streets of Manhattan wearing only his blue boxers that night.

Steve smiled as he remembered the memory, when they were all together, happy and had no idea what was coming for them. His heart longed to go back to a time when he was this happy and unguarded. But he knew he had to accept that life moved on.

So he moved on to thinking of how to get Natasha back from Vormir.