"I don't need to go to medical!" Natasha insisted.
"I really think you do" Tony said, gesturing to her blood soaked arm.
She took a step back but didn't take her eyes off Tony. They were the only two left in the room now; the shield agents had all cleared off to go back to their daily business, and Steve had taken Clint to get looked at. Tony wondered how he'd ended up watching the awkward one...
"Nat, come on. We need to get you stitched up and then we can go home"
She sighed, only now did Tony notice just how tired she looked. "How much longer is this going to last?" she asked, looking dejectedly at the floor.
"What do you mean?"
"This is a test right?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about"
"Don't lie to me. You work for Ivan; I just don't understand the point of this test. I'm sick of playing games, so please just tell me so I can go back and take my punishment for failing"
"Natasha, this isn't a test"
She clearly didn't believe him, but Tony wasn't sure how to make her...
"Natasha, would we have brought Clint; a civilian, into this dangerous situation if it were just a test?"
"Of course you would. The red room doesn't care for civilian lives"
"Okay, would we have let you get injured if this were just a test?"
"A gunshot wound barely qualifies as an injury... You know that"
"Would I be asking all these stupid questions if I honestly knew the answers?"
"Probably"
"I swear to you Natasha, and I know we have no right to ask you to trust us, but we are not part of the red room. This is not a test, and no one here is going to hurt you. You're safe; I just need you to trust me"
Tony watched as her bright green eyes carefully examined him. He knew she was a good judge of character; he just hoped she'd see he was telling the truth.
"Okay, I'll go with you to your home, but I don't want to go to medical"
At least that was some progress...
"Natasha, you have a gunshot wound. You might think it's nothing but to me it's a serious injury. So you're going to go to medical and you're going to go now!"
Tony shocked himself slightly at his words, he sounded just like Clint had when Natasha had refused to see the doctors over a broken wrist the previous month. Tony had watched as Clint ended up dragging her down there...
"No I – Ouch!" she shouted, swatting his hand away as he poked her arm.
"See" he said with a smirk. Maybe there was something to Barton's method...
She was momentarily distracted looking at her arm, so Tony grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder, surprised at how little she weighed, he carried her all the way back to medical while she argued and protested.
Steve had taken Clint back to the infirmary, leaving Tony to try and talk Tasha round. Tony didn't know it; but after Clint he was probably the best to deal with Natasha when she was being irrational.
"So, your shield is real cool" Clint told him, walking beside Steve up to medical, openly admiring Captain America's shield he held in his hand.
"Thanks" Steve smiled. Seeing the young Clint Barton looking up to him like this was strange; the adult Clint would probably be embarrassed, he normally kept his feeling pretty close to his chest.
"Can I hold it?"
"After we get you checked out and safely back to the tower, okay?"
"Okay" he said excited, "race to the med bay!" he shouted, already setting off at a run. It took Steve slightly by surprise, but took off in a sprint just a second after Clint, of course Steve could have beat him easily; but he let the young boy win, just.
Clint was checked over by the doctors, and ended up needing a few stitched down his jaw line where one of the hydra agents had caught him with the butt of their gun, and an ice pack on his fist where his hand was swollen.
As they were finishing up they heard the shouting of a disgruntled Natasha as Tony carried her into the room. Placing her on the examination bed, he warned her to stay and receive a death glare in response.
While the doctors stitched up her arm (and the graze from a bullet on her thigh that she had failed to mention), Tony cleaned up her blood off his arm and went to fetch her a clean top.
"I can't believe you carried Natasha Romanoff up to the medical bay and lived to tell the tale" Phil whispered to Tony when he turned up to check on them following the attack.
"Yeah well, she's a miniature Agent Romanoff, if she were fully grown I wouldn't have dared; I leave that to Barton!"
"We're all done here" Doctor Montgomery informed them, and the four of them were finally ready to leave shield and head back to Avengers Tower.