"Why did you do that?" Pepper's voice screams loudly through the living room of the Stark Tower in New York. Through the gigantic window front, the sparkling lights of the city create a beautiful contrast to the dark night sky, but Pepper pays no attention to that. Instead, her entire focus is on the red-haired woman in front of him. The facial expression of Natalie Rushman or rather Natasha Romanoff seems unusually insecure. In all the time that the two women have worked together, the strawberry blonde has only seen them self-confidently and strongly. But maybe it was only a part of the role for him. Only in this moment Pepper realizes that she never really knew the woman she considered her friend and maybe more.

"Understand me, Pepper," Natasha tries to justify: "It was my job to work here. I was just doing my job. Just like you" "So this was all just a job for you", Pepper's voice trembles. Slowly the elegantly dressed woman comes to Tony's assistant and her facial expression triggers a deep pain in the manager that runs through her body, because although the agent has lied to her, Pepper doesn't want to lose her.

Arriving at the blonde, the ex-assistant puts both hands on her shoulders: "No, it never was. We saw each other for the first time, there was something inside me that didn't want to leave again." Pepper has trouble swallowing the lump that has developed in her throat, because although she feels a lot for Tony, her heart starts beating faster every time she enters the room and whenever Tony wants to become intimate with her, she rejects him, because in her mind she is not with her boyfriend, but with Natasha. "I never wanted to lie to you, but it would have jeopardised my camouflage if you had known. After all, you are very close to Tony. "But I wouldn't have betrayed anything", the pain in Pepper's voice can hardly be overheard and the betrayal sits deep in her bones. "I know that, but I would have been fired if I had told anyone, Pepps," her facial expression clearly shows that the agent is literally torn between the fronts. On the one hand she feels bad because she has betrayed her friend, and on the other hand she is happy to have finally completed the mission. But does she even want to leave?

Natasha Pepper gently strokes a strand from her face: "I have to go, Pepper. Tony would betray me if I didn't and there are new missions waiting for me. "You could just quit your job and keep working here. I would also convince Tony that I still need you as my assistant and that he should leave you alone," she suggests with a slight desperation in her eyes. "No", when Natasha shakes her head, it feels to the woman as if she had been pushed through the back of her heart with an ice-cold one: "This job is all I have. I've done so much wrong in life, but someone could convert me and convince me to do something good. I have some things to make up for and I can't do that if I work in an ex-weapons company." Pepper's eyes become watery: "The company has changed after all. Everything has changed and you can continue to do good." "I can't do that. For no one", Natasha's voice drips with pain. With these words, the strawberry blonde's salty tears begin to roll quietly down his cheeks. Also the eyes of the otherwise so cool, self-confident agent fill with tears and her masks break. She gently wipes away the tears with her thumb and gently presses her mouth on Pepper's red lips.

The kiss lasts only a few seconds, but it is the most intimate one Pepper has ever received. Quite different from Tony. He's always so passionate and quick about that. While Natasha is loving and enjoyable.

Unfortunately they separate much too quickly, because Tony's voice suddenly sounds from another room. Pepper shrugs when she realizes that Natasha's whole body is instantly stiffening. Insecurity flickers in her eyes.

"I must leave now," Natasha whispers quietly as her gaze nervously wanders to the room from which Tony's voice came. "No, please stay," Pepper replies one last time in complete despair. This time Natasha just shakes her head quietly and releases herself from the woman consuming herself with pain.

"I have to go now," whispers Natasha quietly as her gaze nervously wanders to the room where Tony's voice came from. "No, please stay," Pepper replies one last time in complete despair. This time Natasha just shakes her head quietly and releases herself from the woman consuming herself with pain.

The heels of her black high heels clatter on the wooden floor as the agent approaches the elevator. Her long, red curls bounce slightly with every step. Her finger finds the button to call the elevator as automatically and the doors glide open instantly. Slowly, she steps inside and presses the switch to bring her to the ground floor. The white light of the glass elevator illuminates the young woman's face while the skyline of New York is enthroned behind her. Before the doors close again, Pepper sees a last glimpse of the beautiful woman. The single tear that leaves her green eyes and runs down her right cheek doesn't escape her either.

Just as both doors have closed again and the women are relentlessly separated, Tony steps out of the bathroom. He only wears a white towel around his hips and the water from his black hair drips to the floor.

When he sees the injured look on his girlfriend's face, he walks barefoot towards the young woman: "Hey, what's going on, Pepps?" He gently embraces her and presses his wet body against him. On this day, however, his body heat cannot give her a single drop. Instead, she would prefer to just push him away. Although his love for him is not suddenly extinguished, Natasha's love for him flares up brighter than ever at this moment. "Nothing', she says quickly and drives her hand over her face to wipe away her little tears: 'I'm fine. "I see it when you lie to me," Tony replies and, as always, just doesn't want to give in. "I don't," she tries to explain stubbornly, but her voice trembles. He tilts his head and lets her go: "Is it because of her? Because of this traitor?" Talking to him about the woman she just left behind in the huge Stark Tower gives her the rest: "Don't talk about her like that. You don't even know her." "And she always told you the truth?", now he sounds suspicious and no longer compassionate at all. When she doesn't answer, Stark pinches his eyes together into slits: "Do you love her? Again she cannot answer, but inside she knows the answer.