He'd have plenty of opportunity if he wanted to take them. [Considering Steve, most of the women and probably no small number of the men working at SHIELD would jump on that if he showed any interest.] And I can't say he's been living in a convent.
But you're not going to be breaking up any happy homes.
[Things might get awkward if Sharon shows up, but Natasha can't be blamed for not knowing the extent of that. Or if she knows, considering it an acceptable risk.]
As intel goes, it's -- helpful. [ peggy exhales. something tense in her relaxes by degrees, as though providence now gives her permission to do precisely what natasha is suggesting she does. carpe diem. ] Sussing the information out from the man himself isn't all that helpful.
[ she can't trust steve not to lie to her on this matter. to spare her feelings, or perhaps to preserve what they've only been flirting with for the time being. ]
Lucky me. [ dry-like. peggy rakes fingers through her curls. ] What a bloody awful conversation you must have had with him, however. [ ... ] Did he blush?
[ let's not be too coy. peggy rather likes it when he blushes. ]
[ an amused snort. her would-be-beau, turned into a noun? not a bad curve of events. ]
I'm a good thing, am I? [ dry, still, but not without a verbal doffing of the cap. ] I suppose I should count myself fortunate for the approval of his friends.
Shall I be honest for a turn? [ a snort of nearly-laughter. ] It never really had the opportunity to 'work' before, either. Steve never even asked me for a date until he was already crashing -- at the time, it all felt very tragic.
Lately, it's more like annoying. [ with him in the fleet, it strips the moment of its rawer pain and she's left wondering how one man who's so brave could equally be so cowardly. ]
Leave it to him to finally find the guts when there's no chance he'll have to follow through. [She shakes her head a little. She can imagine the frustration, and also how strange it would be to have that tragedy taken away.]
Should I ask if you'd rather move on yourself?
[Because maybe she already had. Natasha suspected she knew the answer already, but it deserved a nod.]
I didn't. Not for a very long time. [ she sounds tired. the harder question, however, would have been who she'd been keen to move along with. but daniel has his bride-to-be, now.
and jason... ]
But time marched on. I accepted the inevitable. Nothing much serious has come of it -- just as well, because a great deal of that 'moving on' found itself undone. Here.
[ there's no reason to hide it, really. merely seeing a man she'd taken for dead had brought a part of her back to life. ]
There is that. [Natasha has to admit, that one is a mood killer.] I've heard you can man some extra money that way, but can't say I'm convinced it's worth it.
[ peggy isn't shy. it isn't as though she hasn't worked her better angles for the mission in the past. it isn't as though she wouldn't refrain from considering the pay-off in a different situation. but this is steve; it's as near as she's come to true honest-to-goodness love. it's the last thing she wants to cheapen with an audience. ]
It feels like it isn't. [ worth it. ] Until the moment he's gone, again, and I'll start kicking myself once more.
And I figured it would take more than simply being myself to impress you. [ wry, still. ] I'm afraid it can't be helped. Hampstead, born and raised.
[ of course, she can shake the british off when she needs to. one day she might slip into russian for natasha's benefit; she already does so with bucky. ]
Nothing wrong with that. I appreciate your tact. [Which begs the actual question, but Natasha will let it go. She's probably stuck her nose more than far enough into she and Steve's business far enough for one day.]
So tell me about this firing range plan. What did you two have in mind? How did you even end up working on it together?
[ -- it's just as well, as peggy isn't inclined to explain much further. likely, enough can be inferred from between the lines.
instead: ] Truthfully? It was Jim who tied me and -- [ a tilt of her head ] you together on it. Jim...the Barnes from an alternate timeline where he became Captain America in Steve's stead.
[ oh, boy, was that man soft as lights on natasha. ]
She wasn't. But -- she was in the Fleet before I was, and so spent a great deal of time adjusting to the peculiarities of his timeline. Long before any familiar version of Steve himself arrived.
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But you're not going to be breaking up any happy homes.
[Things might get awkward if Sharon shows up, but Natasha can't be blamed for not knowing the extent of that. Or if she knows, considering it an acceptable risk.]
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[ she can't trust steve not to lie to her on this matter. to spare her feelings, or perhaps to preserve what they've only been flirting with for the time being. ]
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[A good one who's not above ratting out a friend for the right cause, apparently.]
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[ let's not be too coy. peggy rather likes it when he blushes. ]
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It was endearing.
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He's worse than a school-girl, sometimes.
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[Natasha is comfortably amused by that.]
You see why I felt like I had to get involved. Normally I'd let my friends handle heir own love lives, but when that friend is Steve...
He'll just Steve himself right out of a good thing.
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I'm a good thing, am I? [ dry, still, but not without a verbal doffing of the cap. ] I suppose I should count myself fortunate for the approval of his friends.
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[Natasha shrugs, philosophical about the fact that nothing lasts forever.]
What does in the end? It worked for a while.
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Lately, it's more like annoying. [ with him in the fleet, it strips the moment of its rawer pain and she's left wondering how one man who's so brave could equally be so cowardly. ]
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Should I ask if you'd rather move on yourself?
[Because maybe she already had. Natasha suspected she knew the answer already, but it deserved a nod.]
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and jason... ]
But time marched on. I accepted the inevitable. Nothing much serious has come of it -- just as well, because a great deal of that 'moving on' found itself undone. Here.
[ there's no reason to hide it, really. merely seeing a man she'd taken for dead had brought a part of her back to life. ]
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The supposed cameras don't do much for making it simple.
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It feels like it isn't. [ worth it. ] Until the moment he's gone, again, and I'll start kicking myself once more.
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I doubt you'll have to worry about too much exposure too soon, but that'd be something to talk to Steve about.
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[ of course, she can shake the british off when she needs to. one day she might slip into russian for natasha's benefit; she already does so with bucky. ]
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So tell me about this firing range plan. What did you two have in mind? How did you even end up working on it together?
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instead: ] Truthfully? It was Jim who tied me and -- [ a tilt of her head ] you together on it. Jim...the Barnes from an alternate timeline where he became Captain America in Steve's stead.
[ oh, boy, was that man soft as lights on natasha. ]
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[Natasha's brows draw together a little at that, forming a slight frown.]
She wasn't from his timeline, was she?
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[She shakes her head a little.]
I have a hard time picturing it. Somehow it's easier to for me to imagine the other way around—Steve as he Winter Soldier.
[Easier to picture someone whole broken than someone you've only known damaged how he might have been if things had been different, she means.
Both options make her a little uneasy, but one is somehow stranger than the other.]
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