Chapter Text
Natasha’s gaze slid up towards the ceiling as tears pooled in her eyes. “If you’re about to tell me to look on the bright side, um,” Her eyes flicked back down to meet Steve’s somber gaze, “I’m about to hit you in the head with a peanut butter sandwich.”
Steve let out a soft sigh. Five years it had been since the Snap. He regretted his inability to hold the Avengers together. Maybe they weren’t all as close as they had thought they were. Maybe they weren’t a family like Nat wanted them to be. They were just some super people who worked well enough together to save the world sometimes. Sometimes, Steve thought, not every time, apparently.
“Nat, look. I should’ve¬¬–” The lights in the building all flickered out. Reacting on instinct, Steve immediately dropped onto the floor. His heart raced with adrenaline as he scanned the rooms around him for an intruder. Steve heard rustling from corridor and took slow breaths to calm his heart down.
How had someone gotten access to the power grid? Steve wouldn’t let himself believe that Nat could be so careless with the security system, even if the world was in shambles. If he could just see, then he and Nat could take on whoever thought it was a good idea to break into an Avengers facility. He was about to call out for her when the lights flickered back on.
“Steve, get off the floor,” Natasha spoke from across the room. She stood next to the light switch with one hand on the switch and the other limp in her hoodie pocket. She gave him a look that made his face heat with embarrassment.
Steve coughed and brushed himself off as he rose from the carpeted floor. “I heard rustling. I didn’t realize it was you,” he said off-handedly. Natasha’s face immediately made him regret saying anything at all.
“You seriously think I made noise after the lights mysteriously went out? Me, the superspy?” She let out a dry chuckle. An irritated Nat was someone Steve knew he should avoid at all costs, but since when did he not make stupid decisions? “What, did you think that five years on my ass running this place on my own is enough time for me to lose my touch?”
“No, Nat! I didn’t mean anything like that…” Steve’s words trailed off as he came to a realization. “You weren’t making noise. Who turned off the lights?”
“That would be me.”