Thank you Gategirl7 for being such an awesome beta! Wow guys, thank you for all the emails, reviews and follows. I was worried no one was going to be reading after my long delay between chapters. It was great to see that the interest was still there. Thank you!
Chapter 29
Felicity glanced over at the red-haired woman next to her. She and Natasha had been going over all the info that they collectively had on Slade. She was pleasantly surprised at how knowledgeable Natasha was with computers. The spy wasn't a hacker at Felicity's level, but she was damn good.
"How long have you and Steve been partners?" She'd been trying to curb her curiosity, pushing a deadly assassin/spy for information didn't seem like the wisest course of action. Natasha looked up from what she was doing on the Starkpad she held.
"Since the attack on New York," Natasha answered. "I've been traveling out of the country for a while though. It's good to be back among friends." Felicity wasn't sure if the other woman was warning her that she considered Steve family or telling her that Felicity was now included in that circle. She'd been surprisingly friendly. Felicity hadn't known what to expect, but she certainly would never have expected to like the Black Widow as much as she was starting to.
"I've seen the pictures he drew of you sleeping in the rubble. You must have been really exhausted to fall asleep in a place like that." Felicity frowned as she noticed the older woman shift subtly, putting herself between Felicity and the door to the club upstairs just as it opened. How had Natasha even hear the door before it opened? Felicity thought of Oliver and all the times he'd moved to protect her without showing signs of even being aware of what he was doing. She'd recognized Natasha's shift for what it was. Did all deadly superhero people have super senses? Did they all feel like they needed to protect their resident hacker?
Oliver stepped through the door, popping the Velcro on his quiver strap and catching it as it fell from his shoulders. Felicity turned to offer Oliver a smile, but was just in time to see him school his features as his eyes landed on Natasha. "What are you working on?" he asked, voice gruff. Angry face was firmly in place and not leaving anytime soon, Felicity decided by the tone and abruptness of Oliver's question. She wasn't sure what was going on with him at the moment.
Felicity searched his face. He didn't look much lighter than he had when he left. As annoyed with him as she was for going out without backup, she'd at least been hoping he'd come back in a better mood. Oliver was taking things better than she would have thought, but she could tell he was having some trouble holding it together. Between Slade terrorizing the team and now Isabelle trying to steal QC, Oliver was closer to the edge than she'd seen him.
"Just comparing notes to see what information we might have missed," Felicity answered back. "You didn't tell me you were going out and patrolling." With Slade out there it wasn't a good idea to be alone and without backup. "What would have happened if Slade had attacked you?" she questioned. "You could have been hurt or killed and we wouldn't have known to look for you. We all thought you'd gone home."
Oliver's stance went even stiffer as he set the quiver down on the table with more force than necessary. "I don't need a babysitter, Felicity," he snapped. She turned to look closer at her friend. He must be more upset than she thought.
"Perhaps not a babysitter, but manners might not be amiss." Natasha's words brought Felicity's focus back to the spy before swinging back to Oliver. Oh crap, this wasn't going to be good. She briefly considered texting Steve to get his butt back down the stairs, but her phone was lying across her desk, they'd notice.
.-
.-
.-
"Do you have a problem with me, Miss Romanov?" Oliver demanded. Until he'd opened the door and found Natasha Romanov sitting next to Felicity, he'd been feeling a little more in control. His evening of taking his mood out on the thugs in the alley had helped. What didn't help was Romanov.
Oliver wasn't sure what it was about the woman that made him feel so off. He didn't have that reaction to any of the other Avengers. Steve and he were becoming friends, he was learning to tolerate and actually even respect Stark, but Romanov set him off. She'd been flirting with him from the moment she met him, but in a backhanded way that made him suspicious that she was toying with him rather than actually interested. The next moment she'd invaded his family home like it was her right and dismissed his concerns over it. On top of all that, he got the distinct impression that she had an issue with him. When someone like Natasha Romanov had an issue with him, Oliver preferred to know why upfront.
"I have a problem with people that are not who they pretend to be," Natasha relaxed back into her chair almost like she was dismissing him as any threat to her. Her eyes were intent on him. "Does that apply to you, Mr. Queen," she asked him. "Should I have a problem with you?"
"Oliver has to pretend," Felicity was quick to jump in trying to defend him. He didn't let his feature change, but her concern warmed him. "He can't just go around telling everyone he's the Arrow."
"I don't think that's what Miss Romanov is referring to, Felicity," Oliver corrected, looking at her for a quick second, hoping she could read in his eyes how grateful he was for her support of him. "Why don't you go up and let everyone know that I'm back and we should use this time to train while we can." He wanted her out of the discussion he was about to have with the redhead sitting in front of him.
"I'm not sure I should do that right now." Felicity was obviously worried that their discussion might turn violent. Oliver wasn't sure she was wrong. "I'm not sure you both will be alive when I come back."
That actually brought a brief softening in Romanov's features that pulled at Oliver's insides. He couldn't ever remember his reactions to a woman being so unexpected and all over the boards.
"Relax, Felicity," Natasha reassured. "If I wanted your boss dead, I certainly wouldn't do it here where his body would be such an inconvenience to deal with." That was direct. Oliver felt his hackles raise at the threat as well as the insinuation there was no doubt who would be the winner in a battle between them.
"Ahhh, OooK," Felicity drew out the words. It was clear she didn't know what to do.
"It's fine, Felicity," Oliver assured her. He made sure to make eye contact with her and let her see how relaxed his face was. He'd schooled it that way for her benefit, he was actually pretty pissed at the moment and very on guard, but he didn't want Felicity to run get Steve or to stay herself. He wanted to hash this out and know what Romanov's problem with him was.
Felicity didn't look like she was going to listen as she looked between the two of them. Then she rolled her eyes and turned on her heels to head up the stairs.
Oliver raised his eyebrow in a questioning fashion and focused on where Romanov was sitting. She didn't seem to be in a hurry to tell him her issue. "You have an issue with me Ms. Romanov," he prompted impatiently.
"Steve trusts you," she told him, standing out of her chair. The woman was all deadly grace. Oliver had faced down more than a few assassins, but this woman screamed threat without trying. Her outward calm and lack of any verbal threat did nothing to lessen the deadly vibe she was putting out.
"I trust him as well," Oliver found himself saying. The thought of how quickly he'd come to trust the other man still surprised him. "Do you have a problem with that?"
"Does he know that you are Bratva?"
Oliver was taken aback. He tried to cover it but from the slight narrowing of Black Widow's eyes she'd caught his slip. "That has no bearing on what is going on here." He informed her, holding his temper by a thread.
"I don't know if Steve will agree that you holding the rank of captain in the Russian mafia has no bearing." She mused, stepping forward into his space once more. "I have done some checking. Word is that you have been using your Bratva connections to gain information. That information has not come free, but you have passed the tests they asked of you." Romanov's face gave nothing away as she waited for him to answer. Damn, how did she know so much about him or his dealings with the Bratva?
"Things are not always as they seem Ms. Romanov," Oliver kept his voice level and refused to show any sign that her line of questioning made him nervous. To gain the information that she had meant that she had a good inside source. He couldn't afford her digging too deeply and finding out that he hadn't killed the man that his Bratva contact had insisted he eliminate. He'd set him up with a new name in a new place, but if anyone found that out, both that man and Oliver would be marked for death.
"The last time that Steve dealt with things not being as they seemed, three helicarriers ended up in the Potomac river and he ended up in the hospital nearly dead." Natasha informed him. Oliver resisted the urge to sigh. This was not going well.
"You're right. I hold that rank. It comes from my time on the island and the things I had to do to come home. I am not an active part of their organization. I use them for information only as a last resort." He told her. Oliver got the feeling that this woman was not going to accept anything but the truth. "I passed their test, but not in the way they expected. I can't say anything more about it than that. I won't put other's lives on the line as proof."
Romanov studied him. "The Bratva is a good source of information," she agreed, her face giving away nothing. "But they are deadly when crossed. You took quite a chance creating the name of Ivan Dakoravich instead of killing the man he used to be as they ordered you to."
Oliver couldn't keep his face straight on that one. He didn't check the impulse to grab the woman before him by the shoulders and turn them both, slamming her against the wall. He did manage to restrain himself from using enough force to do more than simply jar her even as a small part of him realized she hadn't fought back. She'd allowed the move.
"Who else knows that name?" Oliver ground out. "How did you find it out?' No one was supposed to know that Ivan was the name Oliver had created to make Bratva's man disappear. How did Black Widow know that name? Did that mean that Oliver was found out, that he was now being targeted by the Russian mafia?
"Do you want me to tell you that you are safe, no one else knows?" She asked him. "Do you need me to assure you that your secrets won't come back to bite you and this team?"
"What I want is for you to stop playing games and tell me if your research has compromised the man I relocated or anyone here." He was already going through options in his head. If the Russian mafia got wind that he had deceived them, the man he relocated would be dead, he would be dead and likely they would take it out on both families as well.
Natasha studied him for a moment. She didn't say anything at all but her body seemed to relax somewhat. "I compromised no one," she told him. "If you are truly using the Bravta for information and are not at their beck and call then you are playing a dangerous game, but you are not a threat to Steve." She glanced at his hands on her shoulders, lifting a brow at him. Oliver released her. "You should tell Rogers before he finds out on his own. He doesn't like surprises from people he considers friends."
She didn't say more, just stepped around him and headed for the training area.
Romanov took her jacket off and hung it on a hook on the wall. Oliver watched her perplexed. She'd gotten whatever answers she wanted from him and with a bit of advice and a warning, she was just going to go on as if everything was fine. Her whole attitude with him had been about protecting Steve and questioning Oliver's motives? He wasn't exactly sure. As much as Oliver had come to respect Steve and see the reasons these people gave their loyalty to him, they really were like a big dysfunctional family. He looked skyward to keep from rolling his eyes. If he wasn't careful he'd find himself pulled into their strange little family. Well if this woman didn't decide to kill him first.
