DICLAIMER: Not mine. I wish they were.

Right after the helicarriers went down, right after SHIELD's lifetime of intel was trending topic on twitter and once she made sure Steve was safe in a hospital bed (Sam was with him), she had checked herself in a seedy motel in DC, over some plans and case files she was studying, her burner phone rang to the sound of AC/DC.

She rolled her eyes and picked up with a smirk plastered on her face.

'Stark' she greeted.

'Romanoff' Tony Stark replied on the other end of the line. 'How come you don't even sound a bit surprised?' he inquired.

'I was kind of expecting your call. And the theme song is getting old' she heard him laugh.

'You're not even curious about how I got your number?' he just wanted to brag.

'If I didn't believe you were capable then I would' she said coldly.

'Was that a compliment, Agent Romanoff?' she smirked.

'Don't kid yourself. And it's not agent anymore. In case you haven't heard, SHIELD went down with the helicarriers'. Now she was playing him, though he could hear sadness in her voice.

'Yeah, that made for a very interesting read. Your file was particularly long.' She froze. He had read it. Of course he had read it, everybody had by now. Yet, Tony Stark still had called.

She automatically gazed at the door of her motel room and moved farther away from the windows. He broke the silence like nothing had happened.

'I rebuilt the tower. I want you to come live here' he caught her off guard.

'I thought you were gonna offer me a job'

'Yeah, that too. I'm trying to make the Avengers Initiative a full time thing, especially now that SHIELD's gone down the toilet. Someone has to keep the world safe. Why not us?'

she smiled on her end. 'I know you are' now it was his turn to be surprised. Sometimes he forgot she wasn't just a spy, she was the best there is.

'How do you…? You know what, don't tell me. So what do you say? I've already got the Doc and Boy Thunder here…'

'I didn't know Banner was staying there' she frowned, thinking.

'But you knew about the Asgardian god?'

she smirked again. 'Thor doesn't exactly make a subtly entry.'

'Point made' Stark answered.

He gave her a few seconds to think about it. She went back to the table, where her files were spread and picked up a piece of paper with an address. She stared at it, blankly.

'You won't find Steve' she said finally. He was trying to gather all six of them.

'Oh?' Tony simply said.

'He's got a mission of his own' she mildly explained.

'Anything we can help with?'

She smirked. 'Stark, is that worry I detect over Captain America?'

'Please' he offered. He waited another second. 'I'm not going to beg, Natasha, so what do you say?'

She looked at the files she was studying again.

'It's not like you've got many places left to go' he made a good point and she knew it.

'Fine' she answered, and after a second she added 'but I need a favor first.'

Tony Stark was smiling to his phone when Pepper walked into the Tower. He gave her a quick kiss and Pepper frowned at the device on his ear. 'Romanoff' he mouthed and Pepper nodded in agreement. She hadn't seen Natasha –Natalie- since she had worked at Stark Industries while undercover all those years ago. She had learned her identity as soon as she was gone (Tony had filled her in). But she had read a few things herself about the redhead online. Tony had read her entire file, but Pepper couldn't take it. Some things she didn't want to know. She was taken aback from her thoughts by Tony, answering to Natasha on the phone. 'Sure, what do you need?'

Natasha didn't waste a second before answering this time, a plan already in her brain. 'A chopper. And bring your toys, I might need you.' and she hung up. She grabbed the duffle bag from under the bed and put the few belongings she had in it, and above those she threw the files.

She was in the parking lot of the shitty motel 25 minutes later, when a Stark Industries chopper came down from the air to pick her up, millionaire at the wheel. She got in and threw the bag under the seat. 'You're late' she gave him a death glare.

'By five minutes! That's like 20 minutes early in me time!' She suppressed the smile.

'So, where are we going?' he asked, looking subtly at something sitting on her collarbone through his expensive pair of sunglasses. She noticed, but didn't say a thing.

'Ohio' she answered flatly.