With every passing minute, Tony became more suspicious that he wasn't really here to give S.H.I.E.L.D. a report on the emergence of the Avengers.
In fact, he was starting to doubt these people were even S.H.I.E.L.D.
The man with light hair and dark glasses sitting across the table from him didn't quite have the S.H.I.E.L.D. vibe. Neither did the dark-haired woman with clear glasses sitting in the corner holding a slim laptop in one hand while typing on it with the other.
They hadn't asked him to divest himself of his shield, or any other weapons he might be carrying. That was something.
"Mr. Stark...Can I call you Mr. Stark? Or do you prefer 'Iron man'?"
"Whichever you like..."
"Woo. Agent Jimmy Woo. Iron man, I understand you and the Avengers, well whats some of them have been traveling through North America and Europe on various assignments for the United States government for several months now."
"Yeah. Everyone knows that," Tony replied.
"True. There are several websites that report sightings and post photos and videos of so-called superheroes and other enhanced individuals, some of them specifically devoted to you."
Tony tapped the table, trying to look more impatient than nervous. "Can you get to your point?"
"Were you and the Avengers in the town of Westview, New Jersey, on or around May 16th?" Agent Woo asked.
Westview?
Where the hell is Westview?
"Doesn't sound familiar," Tony said. "We were in Utah around then."
"Oh really?" Agent Woo leaned back in his chair, folding his arms. "Romanov is being asked that same question in the next room over. Is she going to be giving the same answer?"
Natasha looked across the table at the slightly too chipper man in an off-the-rack business suit who had identified himself as agent Culson.
"So are you saying you don't remember going to Westview, or you don't remember where you were on May 16th?"
"I don't even know Westview," she repeated.
"You mean you don't remember what you meant when you said you don't remember? I'm sorry to say this, Widow," he shook his head slightly, like he was disappointed with her, "but you gotta give me something better than that. This is kind of a big deal."
Part of her wanted to, wanted to demand to know what happened in Westview that would lead S.H.I.E.L.D.—or whoever these people really were—to bring Her and Tony in for questioning under false pretenses. But she couldn't take the risk of revealing who they were there to see, especially if something happened.
"I'm sorry. I wish I could help you, but I don't remember a place called Westview. If you tell us what this is about, maybe we can look into it."
Agent Culson gave a pouty frown and a shrug. "Can't. But if you change your mind and decide to work with us, give me a call." He handed him a business card.
Natasha stared at him for a moment. "I'm going, we're done here"
"Of course. You're not under arrest."
Tony was waiting in the lobby for an elevator when Natasha came in, having been rather abruptly dismissed from her interrogation.
"Hey."
"Hey," she replied.
They stood in silence for a minute, looking at the lit arrow above the elevator door.
"That was weird," Tony said.
"Yeah. They were asking about a place called Westview," Natasha prevaricated. The lobby might be bugged.
"Me too," Tony replied. "Ever heard of it?"
"No. You?"
"Nope, I've been at Golden Acres for the last five years."
Natasha nodded.
They would get Bruce and Khamala, of course, go check it out as soon as possible.
They waited in silence another ten seconds.
"I don't think the elevator's coming," Tony said.
Natasha was already clutching her weapon, ready to fight their way out if they had to.
A door to the back room flew open, and the young dark-haired woman who hadn't said anything while he was being questioned rushed out, unarmed but waving her laptop like she might try to stab them with it.
"You liars! We know you know something about Westview! Tell us!"
Agent Woo ran out behind her. "Doctor Lewis..." Woo said warningly.
"No. My friend is in there, and I'm going to find out what happened to her one way or another!"
"Darcy, we talked about this," Woo said.
"Yeah, we talked, Agent Woo. I said we should just ask the Avengers for help, you shot me down."
"Hold up a minute," Tony said. "What happened to your friend?"
Woo grimaced, but didn't try to stop her from answering.
"Over the past few months, my friend, Dr. Jane Foster..."
"Wait," Natasha interrupted her. "Thor's Jane?"
"No, her own Jane. But yeah, she used to date Thor. Anyway, a few months ago she was measuring background magnetic field patterns but they kept getting interrupted by distortions. Jane decided to go check it out. She triangulated the distortions to this town in New Jersey on July 6th, and that's the last I heard from her. You have to understand, what she was tracking shouldn't have been dangerous. Like, a threat to virtual particles maybe, but nothing that would affect anything on a macro scale. But about then, my measurements recorded another jump in the strength of the disruptions."
Agent Woo cleared his throat. "The early morning of July 7th, there was a strong, localized, and completely inexplicable electrical storm over Westview. Ever since then, no one has been able to contact anyone in the area. We lose signals from any drones we send in. One of our agents entered the perimeter to investigate and never came out. Satellite data and aerial surveillance are too distorted to make any sense of. That's what we know. So I'll ask you again: what were you doing in Westview back in May?"
Natasha subtly glanced at Tony, leaving the answer up to him.
"We don't know this Westview," Tony said. "If you must know we were in Utah getting our asses saved by Hank Pym."
"Told you they wouldn't help us," Woo said. He took out his phone and walked out of the room.
"Come on, guys," Dr. Lewis pleaded. "Jane's trapped in there. Thor would want you to help us."
"You really expect us to believe the Avengers wouldn't be investigating" Woo asked.
"I'm saying we don't know," Tony said. Which was true.
Agent Woo nodded.
" Now if you'll excuse us " Natasha said.
" Told you we should have asked A.I.M. For help" Woo said.
" You do that" Tony said " Let us know how it goes and if you need our help "
