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Though her entire identity was contrived, the work wasn't, and it took a good bit of her concentration to actually do the job she'd angled to get. The days consisted mostly of triaging Barnes' schedule, managing meetings, and whatever other little errands needed to be done in order to keep him focused on project management and the procurement of the next huge market of tech to come out of the department.

She was just sending off Cavanaugh's forms to the upper HR floor when the inner office door opened, and she glanced up from her laptop screen to see her boss's head around the door jamb, those reading glasses perched so adorably on his nose. She knew he only wore them when he was sketching or drawing, and was more often than not prone to leaving them hooked on his shirt collar or shoved up atop his head, instigating a full scale search of all premises to locate them again.

But she lifted her eyebrows politely, rising from her chair and coming around her desk at his call. "Of course, sir. What do you need?" Inexplicably, she found herself suddenly itching to push those stray locks of dark hair out of his face, curve them behind his ear and let her fingertips drift over that high cheekbone... Focus, Natalia.

"Go pick my kid up from daycare? I'll write a note," he says, leaning back into the office to write out a neatly-scripted note to explain that Natalie's his secretary and she'll be bringing Rebecca back to Stark Tower this afternoon instead of her going on to daycare. He signs it and hands it over.

"They shouldn't ask you anything but if they do, just put them on the phone with me. I'll have my cell on me and I'll answer it. Her special codeword is ladybug. They make you set one of those up. I think I told you to put it in my phone, actually, because I sure as hell don't remember where it came from."

That's the honest truth. He grins at Natalie, hoping to sweeten the deal.

"I'll let you have Friday off. And Monday. Yeah, Friday and Monday. You can have a long weekend. Please? I just want to see my kid before the sun goes down."

Yes, she remembered setting up the codeword when Rebecca started going to this daycare, just a short month ago. The little girl had just turned three, and had been so excited to finally be going to "school", just like her Daddy went to work every single day. And every time Natalia saw her beautiful little face, her heart wanted to break into a thousand scattered pieces.

But this was part of the job, to keep both her daughter and her daughter's father safe, and more importantly, alive, so the redhead steeled herself, forced a professional smile, and nodded. "Of course, Mr. Barnes. I'd be delighted to." She took the note, adding, "But I don't need the extra time off, really."

Natalia picked up her cell, sending Hogan a text to bring around the car. "And if you're going to be working late, we'll pick up something for supper, or we can have something delivered, whichever you like, sir."

"Have something delivered," Bucky says. "And make sure to get something for yourselves, too. We'll all eat up here."

He thinks it'll be nice and he doesn't mind spending a little extra time in the office if he can bond a little more with his daughter and with Natalie. Is it selfish? Yes. But he does like Natalie and he wants to see her as much as he can; it's not fair to anyone but it's there and he can't help himself.

"Is that all right with you, Miss Rushman? Please tell me if it's out of line."

"Of course, sir." It was the automatic answer, and she made a mental note to do just that, but paused when she heard his latter words. Was he...flirting with her? ...surely not. Their relationship was strictly professional; she'd done her absolute best to make sure of that. --regardless of her own feelings, which she did very well to keep buried under the calm, professional veneer presented to the rest of the world.

But she felt that façade slip, just for a split second, thought she believed she recovered well enough. "Oh? Oh." Natalia gave him a small smile, shaking her head lightly. "No, sire. It's perfectly fine. I'd be--delighted." Even if she'd be on pins and needles the entire time.

"Delighted makes it sound better than it might be. I had better roll out my best," Bucky teases. He realizes he's flirting with her and he knows he needs to stop; the last thing he needs is for his assistant to file a harassment claim against him when he's just bumbling through a crush.

"Sorry, Miss Rushman. I didn't mean to offend if I did. It just...rolled off automatically and I shouldn't have said that. I'll be more professional in the future."

The sheepishness she heard in his voice tickled her amusement and Natalie laughed softly. "It's fine, sir, I promise." She shook back a stray curl, lips tilting in a sweet smile. "You never offend me, you know that." He was such a sweetheart, and Stefana had broken that big gentle heart into a thousand pieces. It was just...unfortunate that she might end up doing the very same thing.

The wiser course would be to pull back, remain professional, and move along, but goddamnit, she simply couldn't. Not with those big blue eyes gazing at her, hoping to receive something, even the smallest scrap of affection. Natalia could no more resist that then she could walk on the moon.

"I think I'd really like to see your best, Mr. Barnes," she teased right back. "I'm sure it's beyond impressive, too."

"It would have to be somewhere other than the office, unfortunately. This venue leaves something to be desired," Bucky admits, laughing a little. He knows his cheeks are pink and he looks away. He hopes the tan he has keeps it from being terribly obvious. He has feelings for Miss Rushman that aren't professional and he accidentally showed them.

"Best get going to pick up Rebecca. She'll be happy to see you. She likes you," he says. "She told me you were pretty. I agreed but then reminded her she was the prettiest girl in the whole world. Sorry, Miss Rushman, but I have to keep my princess happy. I'm sure you understand."

"Oh, I don't know," Natalia mused, idly twirling that wayward curl around one finger as she looked her boss up and down. Slowly. "You could probably make anyplace look good, Mr. Barnes." She nibbled on her lower lip lightly, not missing the soft flush beneath his darker skin, and it thrilled her, just enough.

But he was right; Happy had texted her that he was waiting downstairs, so she should stop playing with fire and get back to work. Right? Hearing Barnes' revelation about his daughter, however, had her lifting her eyes in bemusement and shaking her head as she slipped into her overcoat. "Be back soon," she promised, fleeing just as soon as it was professionally acceptable.

Thankfully, the Care Center wasn't too far from Stark Enterprises, and the little Ladybug was indeed overjoyed to see her father's friend Mr. Happy and his pretty secretary, Miss Nattie. Rebecca tumbled into Natalia's arms for a huge hug and a sloppy kiss, sharing one with Stark's driver, too. Then it was off to the limo after gathering up her small backpack, coat, and Binky, the stuffed unicorn toy she insisted on carrying about everywhere.

"We're going to see your papa at his work," Natalia told the little girl as they drove. "He's missed you terribly, Becca-Bug, and said we could even get hamburgers and milkshakes for dinner!" Rebecca squealed delight and bounced in her carseat, not realizing just how much her mother's heart was constricting, simply being near the little girl.

Bucky loves spending time with his daughter and when she shows up at his office, he's so happy that she immediately runs to him and throws her arms around his neck. He scoops her up and spins her around the room for a moment before giving her a good, long snuggle and finally setting her on her own two feet again.

Dinner is simple enough, shakes and fries and burgers, but he's starving from missing lunch and is desperately trying to get his toddler to eat enough; do they all pick at their food like this or is it just his daughter?

"Do you have children, Miss Rushman?"

Watching her daughter with her father was...difficult. But Natalia was a professional, after all, and not just in the world of secretarial responsibilities. As promised, she did order out for dinner, and made sure to get the requests exactly right, even though little Rebecca wrinkled her nose when the food finally did arrive. Natalia, too, had a few qualms about digging right in.

Like mother, like daughter.

"Hm?" She glanced up at the question, caught with half of a French fry in her mouth, but swallowed quickly enough. "Oh. No...sadly." She automatically reached over and wiped the smear of ketchup from Rebecca's pale cheek. "No kids, no husband. I do have a goldfish, though." Natalie smiled down at the little girl. "Does that count?"

"Depends on how big the goldfish is," Bucky says, mulling over the response for a moment. "I've been thinking about getting Rebecca a P-U-P-P-Y but I don't know if she's old enough. Maybe I should wait a little longer."

Rebecca scrunches up her face again and pushes against Bucky's knee because he's sat down on the floor. "Daddy? What for me?" She doesn't have lots of vocabulary but she's getting there since she started preschool and he has to be careful.

"Surprise, Becca. Don't want to ruin it. What do you think, Miss Rushman?"

Natalia watched the little girl clamber into her father's lap and plunk there as if she belonged no where else, clutching Binky in her small hands and yammering happily to the stuffed animal. "I think...there's a little time, yet," she replied honestly, trying to imagine that particular household with the addition of another hyper baby. "Maybe next Christmas? Or next birthday?"

Natalia automatically began to gather up their used burger cartons and napkins, tidying up the glass-topped coffee table in her boss's office. A glance at her watch revealed it after six, but she knew Mr. Barnes would probably stay a bit longer, no doubt having more sketches to finish before heading home.

"I think I have a coloring book in my desk," she said to the little girl, "and some crayons, too. Want to look and see, Becca-Bug?"

Rebecca jumps at the opportunity offered by the coloring book and Bucky mouths a silent thank you at his assistant. He has more schematics to get through before he can go home for the night and taking time out to have dinner with his daughter means he has to stay even later than usual. It's nice to see her with someone female for once, though, and he wonders if he ought not bring her up here more often.

"I'll be done soon, I promise," he murmurs. "Just a few more things to wrap up before the Barnes clan can head back to Brooklyn for the night. The Manhattan's getting on me. Gotta get out of here."

She returned him a You're welcome, as well as a gentle smile, and shrugged as if to say it wasn't a problem. Truly, he could stay as long as he liked, because the longer he worked, the more time she had to spend with her child. Natalia and Rebecca ended up at the table in the outer office, each with a page from the coloring book and sharing the large box of crayons she'd procured just for this opportunity.

Natalia also noticed, that like her, Rebecca was left handed, and where most children typically just scribbled here and there, random splashes of color, the little girl was oh-so-careful with her coloring, slowly filling in the spaces completely before moving on to the next. She also chattered to herself as she worked, offering advice with a child's brilliant wisdom every now and then.

"Try this color, Miss Nattie," she said seriously, chubby fingers holding out a pale blue crayon. "It's pretty." Natalia took it, asking, "You like this color, Becca-Bug?" The little girl nodded. "Uh huh. Is my fav-or-it." Natalia smiled. "Mine, too." Mostly because it was almost the same shade as a certain engineer's eyes...eyes she'd begun to see in her restless sleep all to often these days.

"You color so nicely, Becca-Bug," Natalia told her, watching the little girl's face light right up. "Even better than me."

"Haveta be careful," Becca says sagely, moving on to the next part of the drawing. "Like Daddy." Becca sees her daddy draw things on the computer and with his hand and she doesn't know how to do that kind of drawing but she can do this kind and she likes it when he puts it on the board next to the door at home.

"Daddy doesna make any 'stakes," she adds. At least, not that she can see anyway. Bucky pokes his head out of the office and looks at the two of them, unable to keep from smiling.

"You ladies doing all right or do I need to hurry up and get out of here?"

"We colorin', Daddy," was the three year old's sage, serious answer. "Almos' finish." Natalia had more or less given up on coloring her page, preferring to just watch the little girl seated beside her. Her daughter. Her sweet, loving child. Sometimes it took every effort to keep from bursting into tears.

But her job still took precedence, thus she sat back slightly, glanced up and met her supervisor's gaze with a small smile. "Are you wanting to drive home yourself, Mr. Barnes? Or shall I have a car brought around for you?"

She'd be taking the train, herself, but the walk wasn't too far, from both stations.

"I'll drive myself," Bucky says, giving Natalia a little smile. "But thank you. And thank you for helping me out. Is there somewhere I can take you on the way? I don't mind going out of the way since you've helped me so much tonight."

He doesn't want her to take the train home by herself or take a car by herself if he can drive her himself. That's just the way he likes to do things.

"Don't mind givin' ya a lift," he says, grinning. "Don't mind it at all."

It was a terrible idea, letting him drive her home; professional distance, Natalia kept reminding herself. Remember professional distance?? She'd just shaken her head in negation and attempted to thank him for the offer but she'd be fine, she could walk, when Rebecca suddenly reached over to grab her hand and give it a tender little tug.

"Noooo, Miss Nattie!" the little girl insisted. "Come home wi' us, come home wi' us! Pweeese? You kin sweep in my bed, awl by yourswelf!" She tugged on Natalia's fingers a little more, shaking sable ringlets and blinking wide blue eyes up at her mother. "Wantchu to come pway wif mee!"

"Miss Natalie can't come home with us, Becca-bug," Bucky says ruefully. He'd love it, genuinely, but that crosses professional lines in a way that he's afraid will end up having legal repercussions. How could she say no to something like that? It could definitely have some terrible insinuations and make her uncomfortable.

"At least take a car home. I would have done it anyway. Charge it to the department's account, please? I want to make sure you get home safe. If I can't drive you myself, at least let me pay for the car to get you there. You got my daughter for me today and that was an extraordinary request. Let me give you something nice in return?"

Rebecca pouted a little, hearing that, but Natalia held the little girl's hands tight, lifting her small fingers up for a soft kiss. "Not tonight, Bug," she said gently. "But maybe one day this weekend you and I can go to the park, or maybe shopping? And get cookies and ice cream? How does that sound?" A little mollified, the small girl nodded, her lower lip still protruding enough to count. "Ok-ay, Miss Nattie. I guess so."

Her heart constricting, Natalia pulled the little girl into her lap and kissed her cheek, enveloping her in a gentle hug. "We'll have good time, just you and me, okay?" To Bucky, she said, "I wouldn't mind a lift home, if you're offering, sir. And I never mind spending time with this gorgeous girl, she's the most wonderful princess in the entire world." She hugged the girl close again, her cheek pressed to Rebecca's.

"Settled, then. I'll drop you by your place before we go home," Bucky says, flashing a grin at her. What work he has left is just going to have to hold over for tomorrow. He's been at Stark Tower for far too long today and he has to get his Becca-bug ready for bed and read her the required four bedtime stories before she goes to sleep.

"Where are you at? You in Manhattan? Don't break my heart and say something horrible like Queens or Staten Island."

He grins even wider and bites the corner of his lip, trying to see if the joke lands or not.

Natalia had to laugh as she gathered up their coloring instruments, placing everything back in its place neatly. "Oh, no, sir." She shook her head, then picked up Rebecca's overcoat to help the little girl into it. "I live in Bay Ridge, on Brooklyn's west side. Just a small studio apartment, but it's in a nice building, at least." Natalia smirked slightly. "Right across the street from Victoria's Secret and a good wine shop, so I'm covered." Her eyebrow arched slightly as she glanced at him through her lashes. "...relatively speaking."

She knew he was currently living in his parent's old brownstone over in Sheepshead Bay, a middle-upper class community that had grown exponentially over the past two decades or so. And had deliberately chosen the residence for herself; not too far, not too close. But situated just enough so she could keep an eye on her daughter...and her daughter's father, as it was turning out.

"That's...not too far out of your way, is it?"

"Oh, so you're practically on the way. Good to know you're a Brooklyn gal like we are. I would have been disappointed if you weren't, honestly, because we like you so much." Bucky grins at her again and motions for her to follow him. He'd driven in himself this morning so he has his own car and there's plenty of room for them all.

"I live in my parents' place. They're gone but I keep the place up, try to keep it in the style it was when we were kids. Feels like I'm home home, if that makes sense? This Stark stuff is too modern for me. I'm more of a comfy couch kind of guy, not clean lines and metal. At least outside of the office, anyway. Kinda have to go with the style here."

He's rambling, he knows, but he'll keep rambling in the face of her. He lifts Becca up. "Time to go."

She had his briefcase in one hand and her own satchel over the other shoulder, and the three of them rode the elevator down to the parking garage in companionable quiet. Rebecca was already yawning, her small head resting on her father's broad shoulder, and she whined a little when Bucky strapped her into her car seat.

Natalia situated the rest of their belongings on the opposite side, and slid into the passenger seat of her boss's nice SUV, saying as they exited the garage, "I think it's nice, that you still live in your childhood home. Someplace safe, and familiar." She gazed out of the darkly tinted window, watching the lights of New York slide by. "That's rare, these days."

A pause, then she added, quietly, "I don't even remember my parents."

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