Washington, D.C.

7:15 p.m.

"Natasha? What's your status? Status, Natasha?" Steve's voice filtered through the phone line in a whisper.

"Hang on," Natasha said as she reached down to pick up her high heeled pumps and switched the phone to her other hand. The dust covering the old warehouse around her was falling off of her little black dress like a shadow trailing behind her as she walked away from the four unconscious men laying on the floor. "Warehouse secure," she said into her mission comm before she lifted the cell phone back to her ear.

Sitting inside the bathtub in his hotel room, Steve held up his cell phone and used its reflection to look at the healing cuts and bruises from his last mission. He had fixed another of The Director's incidents, and he was getting tired of acting as a glorified janitor. He had plans tonight for he and his lady, and he wanted to be in good shape for their activities. They had been scheduled to end their separate assignments on this particular evening, and he hoped that everything might finally fall into place for them.

"Where are you?" asked Natasha.

"I'm at a hotel in your area. I'm sending you the coordinates. My assignment completed on schedule. Your mission projections showed that you would be finishing things up around now. I needed to talk to you about something kind of important."

"What's on your mind?" she pondered with a raised eyebrow, her curiosity piqued.

"I owe you," he said in a low tone.

"For what?" the spy asked with a furrowed brow.

For helping me find a date," he answered. "You made a lot of suggestions, and you helped me find a woman that I really wanted to go out with. I might not have gotten back in the world without you."

"Oh, really?" she asked in surprise. "You finally found someone special?"

"Yeah," said Steve. "Very special."

"Someone with shared life experiences?"

"Very much so," he answered. "Her work is similar to ours, and she was employed by Stark Industries a few years ago. I'm not sure if you know her. I'm ... actually hoping to go out on a date with her tonight."

"Bozhe moi," Natasha whispered as she stopped walking and tried to gather herself.

She was almost stunned into silence. His words struck her deeply. She and Steve had been spending some private time with each other lately, not officially dates, but going out to malt shops and a few fun places together. She had thought that maybe they had been building something more than friendship between them. With his old fashioned values, she hadn't imagined that he might be seeing other women at the same time. It hadn't occurred to her that he may have acclimated to the current society so much. Maybe being around Tony and Clint had rubbed off on him, and he was out there in the world in a way that she hadn't anticipated.

Well, her personal life had been lonely and desolate before him, and it was all she had ever known. Going back to its coldness wouldn't be a problem. It was just that, for once this time, she had been caught with her guard down.

Above all else, Natasha really wanted Steve to be happy. She truly desired for him to have a woman that could bring joy into his life. When she had been trying to think of dates, she had wanted to find the perfect woman for him, or at least help him to figure out who the right woman was.

"You might know her," Steve said quickly, noticing the cold silence on the line. "The woman is a beautiful enigma. She has a truly noble heart, but her dark past makes her feel unworthy. Life taught her to be cold and emotionless, but deep down inside she loves romance. There is an inner beauty within which matches her outward loveliness. She worked as an assistant before I met her." Then, he paused for effect and emphasis. "Her name is Rushman. Natalie Rushman. Do you think ... she might want to go out with me?"

Natasha's face slowly broke into a grin. He was improving in their daily verbal banter and sparring. She would have to get him back for this one. But not tonight.

Natasha got the message. She shouldn't have wasted time trying to set him up with other women. She had always told herself that they just simply couldn't be together. She had thought that, over time, her latent feelings for him would just go away, especially if he was with another woman. Instead, they had only grown stronger with each passing day. It was time to stop denying what was between them now.

Steve wanted her to be his date. It occurred to her that maybe he was telling her that, after all they had been through together and the way they felt about one another, they were long overdue for their first date. He was right.

"She's on her way," she answered.