bakerstreet | More than Partners

More than Partners

MORE THAN PARTNERS

You two are a complimentary duo, a team that many would envy. One leads, the other follows. One offers support or intel or back up to the other, or perhaps even medical help for the other, the berserker or powerhouse. Whatever your cause may be - working for an organization, working for yourselves, adventuring, demon hunting, fighting giants, protecting humanity from rogue alchemists, or just living life in a situation that calls for a "partnership" - you work like a well-oiled machine.

But it's more than partnership. You look out for each other, watch each others' backs. No one will hurt your partner on your watch.

But it's more than that, too. More than anyone can ever know. You two care for one another nearly more than anyone else in the world (or perhaps more "nearly" involved), and you're partners in a different way as well...or, at least, you're dangerously skirting that line.

Even if that's a dangerous game, there's one thing for certain: you can't and won't let any affections and emotions get in the way of making sure they stay safe.

➳ Comment with your character's name and any preferences. You can also mention which "side" of the partnership you'd like to play, though that's optional.
➳ Reply to other characters.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Edited 2016-03-02 17:14 (UTC)

[can be with his war rig crew, or a lancer!]

[ How would Mindy like to take on a new apprentice, and unexpectedly grow closer to her then expected?]

[ mind this guy here? ]

(not at all, bring it)

[ did you have any preferences for time frame, what side, or anything? ]

(hmm, well I would suggest closer to winter soldier and before AoU or an adjusted AoU. Since they got on the same page by the end of winter. Stick with dangerously close to crossing the line, Natasha would probably be more likely to push it than Steve? Up to you.)

[ did sort of a hybrid of the two, let me know if anything doesn't work for you - also went prose past tense but can change it up if you prefer :) ]

The weeks that followed the collapse of SHIELD had been, well, hard. Chasing a ghost hadn't helped and by the time Steve found himself back in the States and back with the Avengers at Tony's Tower he had felt more than raw, and once more struggling to catch up to a life that had once again been irrecoverably changed without warning. It had been hard to give up the trail he'd been following, to put aside the need to find Bucky - but just because they had exposed HYDRA it didn't mean they'd finished it. There was work to do, and as much as he wanted to focus on finding Bucky, he knew he couldn't.

Getting the band back together as Tony had so eloquently put it in one of the first sessions was at least a nice distraction. At least he knew he had put his search for Bucky on hold for something. As much as he itched to throw everyone right into it he knew it had been a few years since the battle in New York and they needed a bit of time to regroup. So while Maria worked on the intel side and a place for them to even start taking down HYDRA, the team hijacked the training rooms deep in Avengers' Tower. It hadn't been that long since he and Natasha had parted ways in the cemetery and Steve was glad to find they slipped back into the seamless way they had fought together before. It had been there a little that first battle they'd all been in, but after being partnered for so long afterward it had only intensified it. The others were his teammates, Natasha was his partner. And while Steve trusted the others too, it was different with Natasha. It was more somehow - something Steve tried not to dwell on too much.

The others had all scattered for the day and left the two of them as the lone stragglers still in the training room. They'd been working on passing his shield off and on between them, getting used to the new magnet system Tony had rigged into Steve's gloves and then Natasha's at their request. He had to hand it to Tony, the system was a vast improvement over the old leather straps. They worked for a little bit longer before Steve caught the shield off one of her tosses and then set it down.

"Take a break?" he asked her and moved toward the mini fridge in the corner of the room. He peeled off the gloves, the only part of his uniform he'd worn having opted for sweats and a shirt for training, and set them down on the table beside the fridge before he pulled out two bottles of water. He handed Natasha one and then leaned against the table lightly as he took a drink. He glanced to her for a quick moment. Natasha was beautiful, any idiot with a set of eyes could see that - but for him there was something about her like this. Mid fight, mid training, cheeks flushed and that look of determination in her eyes. More things he tried not to let himself dwell on. He looked away and took another drink before he spoke. "Hill thinks she'll have something for us to move on by next week."

Natasha wasn't entirely surprised to see Steve return. She was maybe a little surprised it was without the Winter Soldier in tow. She'd honestly thought that Captain America had more chance than anyone to track down the elusive Barnes. She wouldn't have blamed him if he'd kept searching, if he'd abandoned the Avengers for a more personal agenda. Natasha was the last one that would have held him up to some unreal standard just because he'd been a national hero.

She figured everyone earned the right to do something selfish after saving the world. However unlike Steve, or even the Winter Soldier, Natasha had nowhere left to hide. She'd dumped her secrets on the internet for the world to see and left herself open for the interrogation that followed. She had struggled at first with the concept, and there were quite a few safehouses she'd cut loose rather quickly. And there were even more informants that were starting to dodge her.

Being a spy was clearly going to come in second to being a part of the Avengers, and being in the public eye. Natasha had to consider each and every move far more carefully than she used to. Although it wasn't all bad. Partnering with Steve was a definite benefit. She'd worked with Barton for years but this was different. This was a new kind of partnership and she really wasn't opposed to it.

At the suggestion of a break she couldn't help but smirk. Keeping up with Rogers tested her stamina and strength but she never suggested a break before he did. "Finally wearing you out, Cap?" she asked lightly as she took the water off him. Natasha shifted her weight, and held the water against the back of her neck and watched him out of the corner of her eye. Steve in sweats was a sight to behold. She enjoyed the view better than when he was in uniform and occasionally it cost her in the form of a delayed response to an attack and she'd get clipped by his fist or the shield. But for the most part they were well and truly starting to work in sync.

She eventually cracked open the bottle and took a sip, her tongue licking up the excess water as she moved closer to him and let her hip rest against the table. "Us or the team. There's a big difference. Sending everyone could be overkill if the intel isn't genuine."