After returning to my room, I couldn't sleep. But this time it wasn't from thinking about my mission or the team or Devin. No, definitely not Devin.

My fingers hovered over my lips, my tongue still tasting the lasting remnants of Steve on my mouth.

He'd gotten better since DC and I suddenly wanted to know who he'd been practicing with. The way his mouth fumbled with mine, though, told me it still made him nervous.

I ran my fingers through my hair, imagining it was Steve again. A smile crept onto my lips. Steve and I. Me and Steve. Was it really something we could make work? Sneaking around could be fun. There were just so many endless possibilities of mischief—

A ping from my phone interrupted my thoughts. And then another. And another. Until I realized someone was calling me. I blinked in the darkness at the screen before accepting the call.

"Hello?"

"Izzy, babe. It's me." Devin's voice sounded in my ear. "How are you doing?"

Trying to sleep, I thought to myself. Even if it really is just musing over my thoughts. "I'm okay."

"Good, good. What did the vet have to say about your cat?"

My what? I sat up in bed, letting the covers fall around me. Oh right. "The vet said he's gonna pull through. But we're both exhausted right now so I think it's best I get some sleep." I hoped he would take the hint.

"Take the day tomorrow," he said. "I drove by your apartment earlier and it looked like the lights were off. I hope you're getting a good rest."

"Uh huh. Thanks for calling to check in, Devin." I glanced at my clock. If Devin had been by my apartment, he hopefully would've seen the vehicle I kept parked there for days like this where I slept at the compound. Keeping up a double life and living in two locations was easier said than done. But being who I was, I had to do it.

"Anytime. I'll drop by your apartment after work tomorrow then?"

"No!" My voice came out more forcefully than I expected. "I mean, that's not necessary, Dev. I think having some space will help me get back on my feet."

Devin was silent on the other end. I hoped he would just end it there. We really didn't need another scandal on our hands.

"If you think that's best," he finally said. "Get some rest, then. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." I ended the call and flopped backwards on the bed. Devin was getting too close, and no progress was being made. Even after my discussion with Bucky this afternoon, none of the missing money was linked to any sort of off-shore accounts.

It was almost as if Devin was...clean. But something didn't add up. There had to be a reason we were keeping tabs on him.

At least he didn't know about the cabin. No one really did, except now for Steve. But I trusted him. And it was the place where I could do all of my personal investigations. The apartment was great for cover status, but the cabin provided me secluded access to everything I needed to contact Wakanda, New York, DC...wherever I needed.

I sat up. Why did I even need to be this close to Devin still if nothing was happening? What was the point of wasting perfectly good knock-out serum just for the guy to slump over without going further? It was my cover story, sure, but I'd led more double lives than I could count. If Steve and I were careful enough, this could work. But we had to still keep our personal lives separate from our professional lives.

My fingers fluttered over my lips. Steve's touch lingered there but somewhere below the surface, so did Devin's. I climbed out of bed and slipped from my room, taking the elevator to Steve's floor. I hesitated with my fist aimed to knock on the door.

This was stupid. What was I doing? There was no way Steve was still awa—

"Nat?" Steve's blue eyes blinked down at me. "Everything ok?"

In a fumble, I answered him by closing the space between us. My lips on his, claiming them as my own. Wanting to taste every inch, memorize every bit of him. His hands found my waist and effortlessly lifted me up so I could wrap my legs around his torso.

He kicked the door to his room shut and we stumbled our way through the room in the dark.

Hands in my hair, fumbling beneath my clothes. And wow, okay he's definitely gotten practice. Tongues exploring, teeth nipping. Hot breath on my neck as I tugged at his hair, begging him not to let go.

And then I pushed away from him, breathing heavily.

Steve blinked down at me, dazed as he came to his senses. A smile pressed against his lips.

I pushed down the blush that began to creep into my cheeks. Kissing Steve was almost like a drug; once it happened, I never wanted it to stop.

"So." He cleared his throat.

"Yeah." I tucked my hair behind my ears. "'Night, Steve."

The unspokenness hung in the air between us. We didn't need to say anything because our eyes said it all.

We both wanted this and more. So much more.

Tony may've enforced the 'no-dating' rule for the team, but I was never one to back down from a challenge. And Steve was just as stubborn as me.

***

A few days later

I had a new angle for the case now. After the night that I practically jumped Steve in his room after our swim at the pool, we'd spent our evenings sneaking to see each other. Just a few minutes each time, calling it 'practice'. He'd kiss me and I'd kiss him back. Our clothes acted as a reminder that we couldn't go too far and it was just this once and never again.

But it was always again. And again. And again.

I went back to work, left Devin hanging a few times, and always came back to Steve at night. But it was getting to be a bit dangerous.

"Why are you always leaving?" Devin asked one evening as I got dressed after a raid of ripping off each other's clothes in his apartment. He trailed a hand along my spine, a move that made me stiffen when he did it but had me melting when it was Steve. "You've been feistier lately. Anything I should be worried about?"

I smirked at the floor as I clipped the strap for my heels in place. "Not at all. I've just got somewhere I need to be tonight."

The perfectly timed text to my phone had sent Devin into a fluster of cursing, giving me enough time to slip out of bed and swipe a set of his keys before I turned off the ringer. He hadn't appreciated my sheepish grin and flopped against the pillows, telling me the mood was ruined.

But I didn't really care about that. I knew that Steve was waiting for me when I got back.

I sped off from his apartment, arriving back at the compound only a few minutes later. Devin's keys stayed in my bag; I'd give them to Tony in the morning to scan for anything that might be able to help us.

"You missed a button" was all Steve said when I knocked on his door. His gaze zeroed in on my chest and red tinged his cheeks.

"Uh huh." I kept my eyes locked on his. "You wanna fix that for me?"

Steve stumbled back. "N-Nat, I thought we talked about this. Slow, right?"

"Yeah, but you've got to get practice with more than just kissing." I snaked my hands up his chest. "Let me show you something." I circled around him slowly, sliding one hand over his beating heart. As I came to settle behind him, my fingers worked to unbutton the shirt he was currently wearing. Slow, nimble movements, peeling the fabric back before pulling it back over his shoulders.

Steve reached behind and spun me around to face him, pushing me lightly onto the bed. His blue eyes darkened with confusion and desire. I leaned back on my hands as he fumbled in front of me, hovering just inches away. He worked at the buttons, undoing the unevenness until my top hung limply around my sides.

I sucked in a breath. This wasn't the first time Steve had seen me in minimal clothing, but I was still self-conscious of the way he looked at me. And now, the way he touched me. Or could touch me, if we ever allowed ourselves to go that far.

Then, without leaving my eyes, he slowly closed the fabric up around my body, letting his fingers graze against the bare skin underneath for only a second.

My body arched at his touch, feeling and wanting so much more. But I had to restrain myself.

We couldn't go further. Not yet.

"Better?" His voice was deep and husky against my cheek.

"Much." I forced myself to stand up and started to walk toward the door. Steve caught my arm and pulled me back to him.

He stroked his fingers along my hair and pressed his mouth dangerously close to mine. "Remind me why you still go to see Devin?"

I rolled my eyes and pushed off his chest. "The mission, Steve. I have to...I shouldn't need to explain it again."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry." He paused, looking down at me with those baby blues. Damn, I hated how much of a golden retriever he was. "It just feels like you and I...we can't, you know. Go further with anything unless Devin isn't in the picture."

I swallowed. I'd thought about that exactly. And he was right; I couldn't really be with Steve until I wasn't 'with' Devin anymore. But I had to be with Devin until we figured out how to put him away for good.

"Natalia..." the voice—no, the memory slithered into my mind. I shuddered. It was deja vu, I knew it was. But Devin was not him and Steve...I pushed it down into the depths of my mind from whence it came. No, I wouldn't lose Steve in the same way. I wouldn't let that happen.

"Nat." Steve tilted my chin up. I blinked up at him through blurry eyes. "If you don't want to do this, I understand."

"No, that's not..." I sighed. Why did this have to be so complicated? "I do want this. Coming back here to you, it gets my mind off of everything. You're a good escape, you know?"

Steve nodded, but something in his eyes seemed like he wanted to say more. "How about this: why don't we have dinner together tomorrow night? Just you and me, at the compound."

"What about the others?" I asked. "How are we gonna get them out—"

"Leave that to me," he replied, covering my hand with his own. "I don't want this to be stressful, Nat. Just meet me tomorrow night, okay?"

I sucked in a breath and nodded. "Okay. Thanks, Steve." I deposited a kiss on his cheek before heading back up to my room.

Despite the lateness of the evening, I wasn't tired. There had to be something I could do to move this case along.

I walked over to my desk and unlocked the panel on the floor beneath the chair. From the hidden compartment, I pulled out a set of materials that would at least let me get an initial read on the keys I took from Devin's apartment.

A pair of gloves snapped against my wrists. Blue liquid glowed from the dropper. Plastic squeaked beneath my feet.

Two drops onto the metal, careful to get the measurements exact like Shuri taught me. The liquid bubbled on the surface of the key then sizzled. The metal melted into a dark goo.

I frowned. Great. Now what? Using one of the tools on my desk, I scraped the goo into a vial. Maybe Tony could still do something with this in the morning.

But now here was the bigger question: what on Earth would make a key melt like that?

***

"And it just...melted? Into oblivion?" Tony asked, peering at the vial which contained the remnants of Devin's keys.

"Pretty much. Have you ever seen anything like it?" I bit my lip.

He gave me a sideways glance. "I can't say I have. What chemical did you put on them?"

"It was something from a kit Shuri gave me. I don't know the actual formula. But considering you once made your own element, I was hoping maybe you'd know more about this."

"I'd have to run a few tests and make a few calls, but I should have an answer for you later." Tony placed the vial in a holder on his workbench. "You said this was originally Devin's keys? The guy who you're dating?"

"For the mission," I clarified. "But yes. My alias, Isabelle, is dating Devin. And now Devin's keys are goo."

He nodded. "We'll see what we can do. Keys aren't exactly supposed to melt like that."

"Yeah, no kidding." I shoved my hands in my back pockets. "Anyway, thanks."

"You got it, Natasha." He peered at the vial one more time. I could almost see the wheels turning as he left the workshop and walked up to the main level.

I cocked my head, following closely behind. "You know something, don't you?" I asked.

Tony chuckled. "I know you want answers, Nat. You've got to give me some time. I might have an idea but it's gonna take a bit to figure out. But I promise I'll get to work on it right after the movies tonight." He glanced at me. "You comin' out with us?"

"Oh, um"—I scratched the back of my head—"no, I'm gonna stay in and just rest."

Tony raised an eyebrow as he followed my gaze to Steve, who was standing and talking to Sam by the sofas. "You got a hot date or something?"

"Having two full time jobs takes a toll." I winced. It was a terrible lie, and Tony knew it. "A girl's gotta take a break sometime."

He shrugged. "Well don't overwork yourself then. See you later, okay?"

"See ya." I sat down on one of the sofas and waited while the team tricked out to the cars. Steve joined me a few minutes later, handing me a beer and clinking the necks of the bottles together.

"Alone at last," he said.

"For a while at least." I grinned. "How'd you manage to get out of going?"

Steve shrugged. "I have my ways."

"You didn't tell anyone about us, did you?" I asked, sitting up.

"No, of course not. Not until you want to, I promised you that." Steve set his beer down. "I told Sam that I wanted to stay back and do a little work. He told Tony that I needed to punch it out in the workout room. That usually puts Tony at ease."

I pursed my lips. As long as Tony didn't know anything, we were safe. For the time being. I still had yet to figure out why he'd even sent Steve after me at the diner before all of this started.

"So, what should we order tonight?" Steve asked as he shuffled through the menu drawer.

Yes, in a compound where we had more technology than any of us knew what to do with, we still had a single drawer for take-out menus. It made us more 'civilized' as Pepper put it when Tony had protested about not putting in a robot menu feature instead.

"How about Thai?" I traced a finger along the back of the couch.

"I could go for Thai." Steve looked up and smiled at me. "I feel like I'm missing something here, Nat."

I blushed. "No, you're not missing anything. It just...it feels strange that we're here all alone. Almost like I'm waiting for the catch."

"I'll catch you anytime." He winked at me. Steve had definitely gotten more bold over the time I'd known him and ever since we started sneaking together.

Steve leaned over the couch, his lips dangerously close.

So close.

I looked up at him interlocking our fingers together. His hands were three times the size of mine and rough to the touch. I wondered what it would feel like to have him run his hands down my body, more than he'd done that last few days.

His mouth inched closer.

"Call from: Emery Hawkins!" my phone blared out. "Call from: Emery Haw—"

"Emery, what timing," I said into the phone, shooting Steve an apologetic glance. He caught my drift and walked to the other side of the room.

"Oh?" my friend's voice came in from the other end. "You with Devin tonight?"

My voice caught in my throat. "What? Why would you think that?"

Emery snorted. "Girl, it's totally obvious. That day last week when you were late and you went to talk to Devin, you were gone for way too long. There's got to be something more going on there. Except..." she trailed off briefly, clucking her tongue. "Then there was the other hottie."

My cheeks burned. She was talking about Steve. "It's not what you think, Em. With either of them." Not fully the truth, but not fully a lie either.

"Mm, so you are with diner guy."

How the hell did she get from Point A to Point B?

"So what if I am?" I glanced at where Steve had disappeared. "And I thought you'd nicknamed him American Playboy." I had to then hit Steve who started laughing. "Okay so yes, I'm with him. And I did not approve that nickname."

"Oh, he's still American Playboy. But now he's also diner guy."

"And totally off-limits. Look, I gotta go, but I'll see you in the morning."

"See you then. And I want all the details."

I hung up with her and then turned to Steve. "Sorry about that."

"Don't be sorry." He glanced at me, smirking. "So I'm totally off-limits, am I?"

I swatted at him playfully. "Shut up! It's a joke." I bit back a smile. God, he was cute when he did that.

He opened the menu, and we decided what we wanted to order. Fifteen minutes later, the delivery guy dropped the food off with us, and we popped in a movie.

After dinner, I laid my head on Steve's chest and took a deep breath.

"Thank you," I said.

"For what?" Steve asked.

"For giving us—and me—a chance. I know this isn't exactly the ideal situation, but I'm glad I have you."

Steve smiled. "I'm glad I have you, too. We can take things as slow as you want. It's all pretty new to me anyway." He leaned forward to kiss me, and I kissed him back. He tasted like peanut sauce, and I realized that I'd never been happier than all those times I'd spent with Steve, even if that time was only on missions.