Burning

A faint buzzing sound drew Natasha’s eyes up from her reading. Her phone pulsed once where it sat on an end table, then was silent. She turned back to her work, going over the report from Baron von Strucker’s interrogation. But her phone buzzed again, soft and insistent.

She had told James she wanted to see him after his morning workout, Nat reminded herself. Maybe he had finished early? But when she reached for the device, she was surprised to see Bruce’s name attached to the two incoming text messages.

“Hey Nat, I need a favor.”

“Tony’s getting hangry.”

She grinned in amusement and shook her head. “Sure thing,” Natasha typed back. “I’ll bring something up in a minute.”

Green eyes went back to the report as she read another paragraph. A few seconds ticked by and her phone buzzed again.

“Please hurry. I don’t like him when he’s hangry.”

With a short laugh, Nat set the paperwork aside and rose to her feet.

It wasn’t long before she was strolling into the lab, a tray of snacks and fresh coffee in her hands. But the scene she walked into was a surprise, as the two men seemed to be at odds, facing off before a display of data.

“I’m telling you, it’s annoying,” Tony was saying, one hand on his hip, the other gesturing in the air. “This is the last time we go with one of your ideas.”

Bruce shook his head, running a hand through his dark hair, clearly trying to keep his cool. “So it’s fair that you get to decide everything now?”

The billionaire shrugged. “Yeah. I mean, I just pay for everything and design everything and make everyone look cooler.”

Natasha cleared her throat.

Both men’s heads turned in her direction and relief instantly spread over their faces.

“Oh thank goodness,” Bruce mumbled, immediately crossing the room toward her. He took the tray from her hands and paused to look up and meet her eyes. “You really are a hero, you know that?”

Nat shrugged. “That’s what I’ve heard.”

After taking a moment to collapse the floating screen they had been working on, Tony moved to survey the food. “Strawberries?” he asked, picking up one of the fruits in question. “Were we out of blueberries?”

“Be nice,” Bruce cautioned.

“Oh, Tony,” Nat growled, already growing tired of the other man’s attitude. “I’ll just take it all back.”

Tony responded by cramming the entire berry into his mouth. “No, this is fine,” he said around his chewing.

With a toss of her hair, Natasha mentally dismissed him to turn her attention to the rest of the lab. Loki’s scepter stood in the middle, the blue-green glow surrounding it looking very out of place among the monochrome equipment. With all its thin edges and pointed corners, it still looked threatening, even without a mad Asgardian wielding it. She would feel a lot better once it was safely off the planet.

“So, what are you guys trying to figure out with this thing, anyway?”

“Well, ah…” Bruce began, stumbling over his words. “It’s a little complicated…”

“You know what?” Tony interrupted. “Let’s ask the Widow. See what she thinks.”

Natasha raised an eyebrow.

Dr. Banner turned his eyes to the mug in his hands, shyly avoiding meeting Nat’s gaze again. “We don’t have to-“

“You just said to be nice. It’s nice to involve her.”

Natasha rolled her eyes, beginning to regret that she had even come up to the lab in the first place. “Just tell me what you two are talking about.”

“This noise,” Tony said, flatly, his index finger pointing at the air around them.

Nat blinked, noticing the background music for the first time. Now that the men had stopped their squabbling she could hear a woman’s voice, high and strong, singing in Italian. She recognized it instantly.

“You don’t like opera, Tony?” she asked. “Or are you just not a fan of Maria Callas?”

Tony grimaced. “If I wanted to listen to a woman yelling, I’d ask Pepper about her mother.” He paused, then quickly added, “Don’t tell her I said that.”

But Bruce was already ignoring him, his attention turned back to Natasha. “Wait. You know opera?”

She shrugged in return. “Enough to make conversation.”

“Well, what do you like to listen to?” the doctor asked, his eyes bright with sudden interest.

“Oh, lots of different things,” Natasha replied, making herself comfortable by leaning back against a desk. “I like Prokofiev. He did some great operas. Ballets, too.”

“Ah. Sounds Russian,” Tony interjected, reaching back to the snacks to take a cookie. “Russia and ballet: the Black Widow’s two weaknesses.”

Bruce set his coffee cup down and folded his arms across his chest. “Really? Ballet?”

“You didn’t know that?” Tony replied. He pointed at Natasha. “This girl can dance.”

“Really?” Bruce repeated.

Nat cocked her head to the side, slightly surprised at the doctor’s sudden interest. “Well, I used to,” she replied, slowly.

“Can you show us?” Bruce’s voice took on a note of childlike excitement.

She laughed and shook her head at the absurdity of his request. “Not in these shoes.”

“Aw, c’mon,” Bruce begged. “Just one plié.”

Nat shot him a stern look. “Do you even know what a plié is?”

Bruce responded with his best puppy dog eyes. “Come on, please?”

“The lady said no,” a stern voice came from the doorway.

Natasha straightened in surprise and turned to see her boyfriend walking into the room. A frown marred his handsome features and he had a dark look in his eyes.

“Well, if it isn’t our favorite little black rain cloud,” Tony remarked, finally moving away from the food and turning his attention to a page of notes.

Bruce’s smile evaporated and his shoulders lowered, looking very much like a dog that had just been caught stealing food from the counter. “Oh, hi Bucky,” he began. “We were just talking-”

“Yeah, I can see that,” the Winter Soldier snapped back, holding Bruce’s gaze.

Natasha watched them carefully. That darkness lined James’ face, a barely contained anger that she was noticing more and more often. It was the same expression that he wore when the Hulk destroyed the Hydra bunker. The same expression as when she noticed him watching her speak with Bruce on the jet after the battle.

She considered the way Bruce was more open with her than he was with the other Avengers. She had always figured he saw her as a friend, as a sister, the way the others did. But he way he had just been asking about her taste in music, teasing her about ballet… was this Bruce’s haphazard, awkward way of flirting?

Natasha swallowed hard and fixed a smile to her lips. “Hey sweetheart,” she chirped, relaxing her posture, casually brushing off her sudden concerns. “How was your workout?”

James’ cold eyes moved to meet hers. “Fine,” he replied, his words short, snipped. “You said you wanted to see me after.”

“Mhm,” Nat hummed, pushing herself to her feet and crossed the room toward him. “Come on, I have a surprise for you.”

She let her hand graze against his as she moved toward the door, subtly inviting him to follow her out of the lab. And she had to suppress a sigh of relief when she heard his footsteps behind her.

Natasha lead them down the hallway far enough where their voices wouldn’t carry through the open door back into the lab. Then, she suddenly whirled on the man behind her.

“What was that in there?” she asked, folding her arms across her chest.

A flash of surprise at her demand covered his face for a fraction of a second, but then James’ eyes darkened again. He turned slightly, glancing over his shoulder at the way they had come, back toward them men she had just been taking to.

“I was looking for you,” he began, slowly. “And I found you with Banner.”

“And Tony,” Nat reminded him.

The muscles in her jaw flexed as he clenched his teeth, and several seconds passed as she waited for an answer. For him to come out and say what was on his mind.

But he didn’t.

“Okay,” James relented, his posture relaxing and eyes softening. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

Nat let out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding. As much as she knew they would have to address these sudden surges of jealousy she was seeing in him, she also knew the Winter Soldier didn’t volunteer any information until he was ready. She let the matter slip away… for now.

Instead, she let herself smile and took a few steps toward him. “I got you a present,” she replied, reaching into her back pocket for two small slips of paper.

She handed them to him and watched his face as he carefully examined them. His blue eyes traced the writing once, then twice, before moving upward to meet hers.

“These… are these tickets?”

Natasha’s smile widened. “Mhm. Dodgers versus Yankees, this Saturday. The party is that night, but you should be back in time. You said it broke your heart when you learned the Dodgers moved out of Brooklyn, so here’s a chance to see them.”

He looked back down at the tickets in disbelief. “Tasha, these are…”

His voice faltered as his eyes moved again, this time to the metal hand that was holding his gift. James looked back up at her, starting to shake his head. “I can’t-“

“Yes, you can,” Natasha insisted. “It’s cool enough for long sleeves. Just keep your hand in your pocket when there are people around. Wear a hat. You know how to get around without drawing attention.”

James pressed his lips together, clearly considering her words, fighting between his fear of being seen and his desire to go. It was a constant struggle for him, and between the two of them. Even discussing going out to get a cup of coffee usually turned into a lengthy debate. The metal arm drew attention, it was true, and a man as private as James Buchanan Barnes was very uncomfortable with people staring or fans asking for selfies with the hero. Maybe things would be better after his session with Dr. Cho, but in the meantime, Nat didn’t like seeing him caged up, hiding away in the tower day after day.

“I bought a few of the other seats around those too,” she added. “Just to make sure you weren’t stuck in a crowd.”

Much to Nat’s relief, her boyfriend actually cracked a smile at that comment. “You thought of everything, didn’t you?”

She shrugged. “I tried.”

He laughed, a joyful, sweet sound that was good to hear after their previous tension. “Okay. Why not? We’ll go.”

“Oh, I’m not going,” Natasha rushed to reply. “Baseball is boring. Take Steve.”

Another laugh and James tucked the tickets into his pocket. “Sounds good. He’ll be excited.”

He paused before taking a step closer. His hands moved to her shoulders, fingers gently caressing her through her shirt. Those clear, blue eyes were earnest when they met hers again.

“Thank you,” James said. “I don’t know how I got so lucky to have a girl like you.”

Natasha hummed in response and lifted up onto her toes to place a gentle kiss on his lips. “All yours, sweetheart,” she said, softly. “Don’t forget it.”