Steve hated hospitals.

Before the super soldier serum, he was the poster child for hospital visits, constantly in and out of the doctors office because of his poor immune system or injuries from the fights he would get into with bullies. His mother used to say he had a death wish since he was always so adamant about defending the helpless even if it meant jeopardizing his own safety. Then his mother got cancer and the hospital became his second home - if he wasn't at school then he was by his mother's bedside, making sure she was okay. He was even on a first name basis with the hospital staff.

His mother was the light of his life, the single most important person in his life at the time. His father was an abusive alcoholic that left when he was a little boy, leaving his mother to take care of everything by herself. She worked two jobs just to keep the food on the table but she never complained. It was tough when he lost his mother which is why he came to the conclusion that nothing good could ever come from hospitals.

"Hey Cap." Banner said as he walked through the door with his clipboard in hand.

"Hey Banner. How's she doing?" Steve said forcing himself to look away from her for a split second out of respect to Bruce.

Bruce looked over the clipboard and nodded his head, mumbling scientific lingos to himself, none of which made any sense to Steve. No one understood Banner when it came to science. "She's going to be fine. I gave her some sedatives to knock her out at least until the poison leaves her system. Although I don't know if the poison would leave any side effects. It's weird. It's as if the enemies expected our attack. I'm going to tell have to run a few more tests to see what they laced their knives with to know what we're up against." He began to ramble on.

Steve nodded his head as he stared at all of the cuts and bruises on her body, ignoring Bruce. Right now, he didn't give two fucks about the specifics of the mission. He wasn't Captain America right now, he was Steve Rogers and the only thing he wanted to hear was the sound of her voice.

Bruce stopped pacing and realized that his friend was in his own world. There was nothing but sadness and worry on his face.

"Steve… Go home. I'll let you know as soon as she's awake." Bruce tried to reason with him. His friend had been by her side since the quinjet landed.

"I'm okay." Steve said firmly. The captain suit wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world but he wanted to be here. He needed to be here.

"I figured you would say that." Bruce sighed knowing how stubborn Steve could be. "I'll have a nurse bring some food." He said before turning to leave.

Steve waited for Bruce to be completely out of sight before he reached for her hand. The more he looked at her, the more his chest started to ache. The pain was mixed with anger as he starting to wonder why Fury would even put him on standby. Natasha was his partner and his responsibility was to watch her back and keep her safe. He failed. His angry slowly started to shift toward himself. Since when did a Captain take orders? By the time he actually took matters into his own hands, she was already hurt. This was his fault.

He lowered his head ashamed of himself.

The only positive thing to come out of this mess was there was no way he could deny that he was helplessly in love with Natasha Romanoff. The thought of losing her forever caused a painful physical ache in his chest as if his heart was literally shattering and he didn't know what he would do if he lost her.

He lifted his head and stared at her face. It was amazing how she managed to still be the most beautiful girl despite her injuries.

"I need you to wake up baby." His voice was hoarse from trying to maintain his composure. He forced back the tears that threatened to fall so he could continue talking to her, hoping that she could hear him. "Our relationship has always been complicated but it was okay because I was willing to work through the complicated. Because I love you and being with you is easy. It's easy for me to choose to love you and stand by you through the good and the bad because I couldn't imagine my life with anyone but you. I'm in love with you Nat so I need you to please be okay." He finally broke down into a quiet sob, unable to control his emotions any longer.

A soft knock on the door caused Steve to quickly straighten up and wipe his tears away. He didn't want anyone to see him this way.

"Hey Cap." Clint said as he slowly walked next to him. "How's our girl doing?"

"We're not sure yet." He cleared his throat and avoided making eye contact with archer. He didn't exactly appreciate his choice of words.

"She's a fighter. Nat is going to be alright." Clint placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"You're right." Steve nodded.

"So you and Nat huh?"

Steve glanced over at Clint and saw him looking at Natasha. His voice was emotionless but there was a hint of sadness in his eyes. He almost felt bad for ever holding a grudge against his friend for having feelings for Natasha when he couldn't even reign in his own feelings for her. He had come to the conclusion that it was impossible to fall for her.

"Yeah." He didn't bother to elaborate any further. He didn't have to. "But you already knew that."

"Of course I did." Clint said without taking his eyes from Natasha.

"Then why didn't you ever say anything?"

"Because it wouldn't matter." Clint sighed. "She loves you."

"But not enough." Steve said quietly, looking down.

Clint stayed quiet for a moment. He may have been a professional trained spy but he anything like Natasha - stealth was more of his job description. He wasn't good with words or exhibiting emotions whether it was real or fake. "I've known about you two for a while now. If I'm being honest with myself, I've always know you two would end up together." He admitted with a shrug. "She didn't have to tell me and she didn't need my permission." He placed a quick hand on Steve's shoulder and left without another word.

Steve watched as Clint walked away and then turned back to Natasha. He wondered if breaking things off with her was worth it. What point was he trying to prove? He couldn't live without her - not when he knew what it felt like to be with her. He was in love with her and it was enough. He held her hand and leaned down to lay his head down on the edge of the bed, closing his eyes.

He must have dozed off for about ten minutes because he woke up when he felt a slightly twitch. He lifted his head and his eyes met with hers. She was staring right at him with a soft smile on her face. "You came." She managed to croak out before falling into a fit of coughs.

Steve quickly poured a cup of water for her and held up to her lips, slowly letting the cool water slip into her mouth. She took another small sip before pulling away.

"Of course I came." Steve said as he gently grabbed her face and kissed her urgently. He pulled away and looked her right in the eyes. "Don't you ever scare me again."

"I'm okay." She said as she tried to sit up and winced in pain.

"Hey. Take it easy." Steve said worriedly. "I'm going to get Banner." He walked toward the door and asked the closet nurse to please tell Banner to come as soon as possible.

It only took a few minutes before Bruce appeared.

"How are you feeling Nat?" He smiled at his friend before jotting some notes down on the clipboard.

"I've been better." Natasha smirked.

"That's good." Bruce nodded his head. "You're lucky. I ran more tests and by the looks of it, the poison was intended for Steve."

"What do you mean?" Steve asked concerned.

"The poison was supposed to have a counteractive effect to reverse the super soldier serum. Since Natasha doesn't have the serum in her blood, it didn't have anything to attack. I suppose you were the lucky one Cap."

Steve furrowed his eyebrow as he tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together - then it clicked. "You knew." He turned and looked at Natasha. Fury had benched him from the mission to make sure Captain America wouldn't be in danger and Natasha was in on it. She never went into a mission without knowing the full extent of the mission especially after the winter soldier mission.

"I did." Natasha answered honestly.

"Why would you risk your life?" Steve yelled as he clenched his fists to try to control the anger boiling inside of him. He had to make a mental note to make a visit to Fury as soon as possible.

"Do you really have to ask?" She asked in disbelief. Men were dense but she refused to believe they could be this blind. "I did it because I love you."

"It should have been me." Steve crossed his arms and looked away.

"What?" She forced herself to sit up, fighting through the pain.

Bruce could sense this was a private matter and excused himself quietly from the scene.

"Those weapons were made specially for me. I should have been on the field with you."

"The world needs Captain America."

"And I need you." His eyes were filled with pain and fear and Natasha's heart broke the longer she stared into those beautiful blue eyes. She didn't mean to cause him anymore pain, she just wanted to protect him.

"Come here baby." She reached out to him. He took her hand and she tugged to pull him closer until he was sitting on the edge of the bed. "I'm okay." She cupped his cheek and wiped away the tears that had fallen down his face. The memories of the night of their argument flashed in her mind, reminding her that she could have died and left this earth without letting him know what he truly meant to her.

"I've never loved anyone as much as I love you Steve. And I'm sorry I let you think otherwise." She stared into his eyes making sure that he knew she was telling the truth. The Black Widow was a master of deception. She could pretend to be anyone she wanted and make any emotion come to life at the snap of a finger - but Natasha Romanoff didn't do feelings. It had taken her a while to accept that with Steve, there was no other choice but to feel. "I'm going to tell Clint about us. If you still want me."

"I'll always want you. Forever" Steve laced his fingers with hers. "But you don't have to tell Clint. He already knew."

"I know." She answered. She's always known that he knew but she never had the courage to actually talk to him about it. He still had feelings for her and she didn't want to hurt him which only ended up hurting everyone in the process. "I'm going to talk him. He deserves to hear it from me."

"Okay." Steve nodded his head. "We're going to be okay right?"

"Of course we are." Natasha smiled.

Things weren't going to be easy. Easy went out the window the day they agreed to be Captain America and the Black widow but they were going to be okay.

Maybe it was possible that love was enough.

An: I know it's been a while but life happened. I'm sorry it took so long but I hope I didn't disappoint.