Victims 3 & 4: Natasha and Jane

Natasha stretched happily as she walked into the kitchen of Stark Mansion, feeling relaxed and limber from her previous workout. It wasn't often that she got to really beat the crap out of something like she had that morning going for several rounds with Steve. The man was difficult to hurt and the knowledge that she couldn't kill him easily meant that she didn't worry about holding back. There wasn't a point.

Coffee in hand, she made her way over to the counter and retrieved her cellphone from her pocket. It was almost 11, and she had arranged to have lunch with Pepper at noon. The female CEO was always fun to talk with, mostly because she had the most interesting stories from working with Tony. Still, the woman would also occasionally forget non-work related get-togethers so Natasha made it a point to call and remind the other woman of their plans.

"Hello?" asked Pepper, a large amount of noise seeming to echo from around her. It sounded as if she was walking down the street, though the noise mostly disappeared a moment later.

"Hello Miss Potts," greeted Natasha in her best assistant voice. It was a joke that started between them after Fury revealed that Natasha was one of his own sent to monitor Tony. "I was just calling to remind you that you have lunch scheduled in one hour with a Miss Romanov."

The sound of something, possibly Pepper's head, thudding against the something soft, likely the back seat of a chair or car, echoed through the phone along with a groan from Pepper. "Oh god Natasha, I completely forgot."

"As I thought you might," admitted Natasha. "You seemed distracted recently."

"A little," admitted the CEO. "Listen, I'm out with someone right now, so could we reschedule...actually, no. We can still have lunch but why don't you grab Jane as well? We can make it a girls lunch."

Something that sounded like a muttered 'really? Do we have to?' came from somewhere near where Pepper was, but Pepper offered no verbal reply. Apparently, she was out with another friend, though Natasha couldn't begin to guess who. Pepper hadn't mentioned a friend or any family coming to town.

"We can still have lunch if you would like," agreed Natasha. "Though if you need to reschedule-"

"No, this is fine," assured Pepper. "I'd like you both to meet someone. She's going to be living with us at the Mansion for the foreseeable future, so we may as well all meet for lunch. This way, both you and Jane can get to know her."

Natasha smiled a little. "Does this woman have a name?"

The voice said something which made Pepper do the suppressed giggle thing she sometimes did when Tony was being particularly ridiculous. There was a smile in Pepper's voice when she responded to Natasha. "My associate would like to wait and introduce herself, apparently. You'll have to learn her name when we gather for lunch."

"Alright," agreed Natasha, curiosity piqued. It was rare for anyone to successfully convince the CEO of Stark Industries to do something such as with-hold information from others. Especially in a way that implied messing with other people's heads, which was exactly what Natasha suspected Pepper's guest wanted to do. "I'll meet you at the restaurant at noon with Jane then."

"Wonderful, I'll see you both then." Pepper promptly hung up at that point, though Natasha thought she heard some laughter before the connection died.

Squinting at her phone in suspicion, the former Russian assassin stood to begin the potentially long process of finding and convincing Jane to leave her lab. Not for the first time, Natasha wished that Jane's former intern was still around. Apparently the woman had been successful more than once in convincing Jane to abandon her work in favor of other activities. Though Natasha would always wonder how anyone had achieved such a goal, and with apparent ease.

Sealing herself for the battle ahead, she headed for the rooms Jane and Thor shared first, hoping that the scientist would be there and possibly not be neck-deep in research-related reading. After all, Natasha really wanted to be on time for lunch. She was just dieing to know who Pepper's mystery associate was.

It turned out than dragging Jane out of the lab, where she was found nearly buried in data forms, was far easier than Natasha had thought it would be. It still took her nearly thirty minutes to convince the scientist to leave though, meaning that it was nearly ten minutes after twelve when Natasha and Jane stepped into the restaurant that Pepper had selected. It was a grill of sorts, almost like a sports bar in a way, but served significantly better food than most grills.

Upon entering, Natasha was quick to scan the room but found no sign of Pepper. At first, the assassin thought that perhaps Pepper had been delayed but a quick check of her phone showed no missed text messages or calls. She was about to call Pepper herself when Jane let out a surprised cry and darted into the restaurant. Confused, Natasha followed.

Jane made a bee-line straight for a dark-haired woman who was leaning back in a chair and waving at them. The younger woman was wrapped in a sweater and pair of jeans with vans on her feet and a pair of black-rimmed glasses on. Her chair touched the ground at Jane reached the table so she could stand and embrace the scientist.

"Oh my god, Darcy! What are you doing here?" asked Jane, wide eyed with excitement. Ah, so this was Darcy Lewis, the former intern. She wasn't quite what Natasha had pictured, looking less put together than would have been assumed but still rather pretty.

Then the name hit. Natasha raised her eyebrows and reexamined the woman as Jane stepped back and gestured to Natasha. "By the way, that's Natasha. She works for S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Nice to meet ya," offered Darcy, extending a hand towards the ex-assassin.

Natasha took it with a sly smile of her own. "I do not suppose you are the same Darcy who captured the attention of one Agent Clint Barton, are you?"

Darcy laughed a little. "Yeah, that's me."

Jane's eyes widened almost comically at the comment. "You slept with Agent Barton?"

"Yep," confirmed Darcy as she sat back down, attention flipping back to Jane. "So how'd you end up out here?"

"Well, um, first: we got Thor back," admitted Jane with a goofy smile as she dropped into a seat across from Darcy.

Darcy giggled herself and leaned forward. "I told you that you'd get him back. So? Did she sufficiently rock your world? Was he as spectacular elsewhere as he looks?"

"Darcy!" exclaimed Jane, lightly smacking the younger woman's arm. Darcy just laughed hard and pretended to defend herself. "Seriously though Darcy, I'm here because S.H.I.E.L.D. transferred my research out here. They've given me so much funding and resources, it's amazing what I've been able to do."

"That's awesome Jane," congratulated Darcy, having calmed down. "Seriously, I'm really happy for you."

"Thanks," accepted Jane as she looked Darcy over again. "So what brings you to New York?"

Darcy shrugged a little. "A job."

Jane grinned. "That's great Darcy. Who do you work for?"

"Stark Industries," replied Darcy with a grin. "I'm working with Tony and Pepper."

Jane's eyes widened, then narrowed and she was about to ask more questions when Pepper appeared at the table, cellphone in hand. "Oh good, you found us."

"Hello Pepper," greeted Natasha as the CEO took a seat beside Darcy. She was quick to take the one remaining seat beside Jane and across from Pepper. "So, should I assume that this is the young associate you wanted us to meet?"

"Yes, this is Darcy." Pepper looked over at Darcy with a almost proud smile. "Darcy, did you order me a glass of water?"

"Uh, no?" replied Darcy, brows furrowed. "I didn't know you wanted one."

Pepper frowned a little. "Didn't you get my text?"

"Oh, I turned my phone off," replied Darcy as she pulled a sleek Stark Phone out of her pocket and hit the power button to turn it back on.

"Why did you turn your phone off?" asked Pepper. "You know you're not supposed to do that unless necessary."

Darcy shrugged. "Dad kept calling."

Pepper's brows furrowed further. "So you turned off your cellphone?"

"Yeah," replied Darcy with a heavy sigh. "I so don't want to talk to him right now. Not after that BS he pulled this morning."

"Darcy," sighed Pepper, sounding as frustrated as the girl beside her. Natasha noted the similar mannerism. "He probably wants to apologize you know."

"So?" asked Darcy. "I'm not ready to forgive him yet. He can't just go off his rocker about who I choose to fuck. Its not his business and he's being a hypocrite to boot."

On the table, the phone started to buzz. Pepper didn't even look at the phone. "Take the call Darcy. He's your father and he loves you. All he wants is to protect you."

"Easy for you to say," muttered Darcy as she stood and snatched up the phone. "Fine, I'll talk to him." Her thumb brushed the accept button as she headed towards the doors to the restaurant. Her voice was unhappy and frustrated when she spoke again. "Hey Dad."

As they watched Darcy weave her way out of the restaurant, Natasha spoke up. "You've certainly become quite the mother hen."

Pepper just shrugged. "Between Tony and Darcy, I've had plenty of practice. Mediating one of their fights makes navigating the board room look like a cake walk."

Natasha's eyes shot to Pepper so fast, one might have thought they would fly from her head. "Tony? As in Tony Stark?"

"Yeah," sighed Pepper as she flagged down a waiter and asked for some water. She ordered an Irish coffee as well, then motioned for Natasha and Jane to order their drinks. Both woman chose water. When the waiter had left, Pepper continued. "Tony and Darcy blew up at each other this morning over Darcy expressing an interest in sleeping with Agent Barton again."

Thankfully none of the drinks had arrived yet because Natasha was pretty sure she would have choked on anything had see had one. Plus Jane probably would have knocked all their drinks over with the way she jumped. Apparently, Jane was as confused as Natasha.

"Why would Tony Stark care who Darcy sleeps with?" asked Jane, brow furrowed.

Pepper shrugged. "I'd imagine most fathers would care who their daughter's sleep with. Plus, the age difference is a little disconcerting."

Neither Jane nor Natasha had any reply to Pepper's comment. Both were too busy attempting to process what Pepper had just said to actually understand the second half of her comment. Natasha could really only stare at Pepper, attempting to figure out how she had missed such a key point.

Jane managed to regain her speech abilities first. "Darcy is Tony's...But I didn't, I mean no one ever said..."

"Who's her mother?" asked Natasha suddenly. Though it was a bit of a long shot, it was possible that Darcy lived with her mother. That would explain why Natasha never heard anything about this until now.

Pepper glanced at Natasha, her eyes having previously been focused on Darcy through the front windows of the restaurant. "I am. Legally that is. Her biological mother passed away years ago."

Well, that shot that theory to hell. Natasha shook her head. "I see. Who was she? I've never heard of Tony having been married."

"He wasn't," confirmed Pepper. "The woman's name was Nancy Foster. She'd been one of Tony's previous one-night stands."

Natasha glanced at Jane, noting the way the woman's face paled at Pepper's admission. Pepper, for her part, was too distracted keeping an eye on Darcy. The woman was waving one hand around angrily but her expression was far more exhausted than pissed at this point.

"Jane?" questioned Natasha curiously.

Jane blinked, then bit her lower lip, worrying it slowly before she spoke. "This woman, Nancy, where did she die?"

Pepper looked at Jane, suddenly turning her full attention to the conversation at hand. "Mainstand Hospital in Tucson, Arizona. Why?"

"Oh god," muttered Jane instead, her head dropping to rest on her hand. "I wonder if..."

Pepper and Natasha shared a worried look. Pepper opened her mouth to speak but Darcy came inside at that point, snapping her phone shut with a heavy sigh. Gracefully, like any Stark, she dropped back into her chair and rubbed the bridge of her nose heavily.

Thankfully, the drinks arrived before anyone could say another word, with Pepper slipping the Irish coffee in front of Darcy as soon as the waiter had left. Darcy raised an eyebrow at Pepper, who shrugged. "I don't approve of under-age drinking but as you pointed out this morning, you will be 21 in a month and I know how bad fighting with your father gets to you."

"Thanks," replied Darcy with a faint smile as she took a sip. "Oh, that's good."

Pepper chuckled a little and took a sip of her own water, noting the way that Jane was looking at Darcy uneasily. Darcy glanced up at the scientist, feeling the woman's eyes on her. "What's up Jane?"

Jane gulped and sat back a little. "Um, nothing. Nothing at all."

"Right," muttered Darcy as she leaned back in her chair and turned to Pepper. "Dad and I are good by the way. He apologized for being a hypocrite, though I'm assuming I can thank you for that."

Pepper smiled softly. "I might have pushed him a little after this morning. You should be aware though, if you do choose to continue sleeping with Agent Barton then your father will probably have a talk with him."

"Long as its not the 'birds and bees' talk," replied Darcy. "That was horrifying enough the first time."

The faint smile that crossed Pepper's face was almost mischievous. "At least he didn't offer examples."

"Mom!" exclaimed Darcy, blushing even as she laughed. Natasha felt her brain short momentarily, still not finished processing Darcy's relationship to Pepper or Tony. "That would have been beyond mortifying. That would have been just...wrong."

"Yes, but this is Tony we're talking about," reminded Pepper. "He has done worse."

Darcy laughed. "Yeah, Dad's done a lot worse. Did you really create the 'nudity allowed only in the bedrooms and bathrooms' rule because of that incident with the kitchen table?"

Pepper nodded. "It was bad enough I walked in on that. I didn't want you to."

"Thanks," agreed Darcy as she finally turned back to Jane and Natasha. Jane had stopped looking at her funny but still looked uncomfortable. Natasha was still trying to process the entire conversation.

The group fell to silence pretty easily, which is why everyone jumped when Natasha suddenly broke into laughter. Taking in all three wide-eyed faces, she just smirked and said: "Barton slept with you, the daughter of Tony Stark."

Darcy nodded slowly, not finding the humor yet. "Yes..."

Natasha continued to grin. "Come now, does no one else find the image of an over-protective Tony Stark lecturing Agent Barton on what will happen if he harms Darcy funny?"

As the image began to set in, laughter began to rise around the table. Even Darcy had to laugh at the image, though it was almost grudgingly. Pepper shot Natasha a grateful smile, which Natasha returned with a shake of her head.

Poor Clint, he was so screwed. And Natasha was going to enjoy every minute of it.