Incongruent
"So… why do they call you Black Widow?" Peter asked the "newly blonde" sitting across from him on the subway train.
"Why do you think?" Natasha replied as she slowly turned her head from the window, looking the naive teenager in the eye with a rather creepy glare.
The kid grew wide-eyed. "You mean… like, you actually- "
Natasha chuckled, unable to maintain her composure. "Of course not. Do I look like I have time to marry anyone?" Peter stammered trying to find the words. "Don't answer that."
"Wasn't… gonna," Peter muttered.
For the spy, Peter made it far too easy for her to make him uncomfortable. And for Peter, she reminded him a bit of Michelle. They both made him feel uneasy in the sort of way that he knew deep down they actually cared for him, but at the same time, you know, 'Screw you', he thought. Natasha eyed him up and down, sensing every nerve in his body; she could tell he was hella nervous around him. She figured that's what happens when an average joe realizes that she's a world-renowned master assassin sitting right next them. They'll remember that before they acknowledge she's also a veteran Avenger. But she remembered, Parker wasn't exactly an 'average joe'.
"And loosen up. Stop acting nervous," she insisted.
"What?" Peter dumbly reacted. Natasha wasn't having it.
"I'm on your side, remember? Even back in Berlin."
"Yeah…"
Natasha nodded. "Yeah… let's try to put that behind us."
"Agreed."
The two looked out the window again, trying to kill time.
"So, why are you called the Black Widow?" Peter asked very hesitantly.
Natasha slightly smiled and shook her head. There was no killing his curiosity, that was for sure.
"Like yourself, it wasn't a title I chose," she began. "It wasn't one that was born of some heroic act, though… wait, did you not do your research on me, really?"
Peter looked stupid again. "Uh, I-I didn't reall- "
"Eh, whatever, what do I care, I'm a spy," she continued. "It's a long story that's not one I like to ramble much about… maybe another time."
Peter had no words, but agreed and nodded.
Peter shook his head in disbelief. "I guess I have it easy, huh?" Natasha tilted her head. "Not much to complain about, right?" he insisted.
"No one knows what we go through on a daily," she continued. "No one truly knows what the person next to them goes home to every day."
With that, maybe Natasha wasn't so mean after all, Peter wondered. He appreciated her honesty at least. But what she said was bittersweet. It was reassuring, but also kind of unnerving. What the public thinks of the Avengers isn't their actual reality. However oblivious Peter was to Natasha's past was her prerogative - her business alone - but that didn't make it any less tempting.
"You're right," he said.
"Am I ever not?" she joked.
Peter smiled. "No one has a clue that Spider-Man's just a huge nerd."
Natasha smirked. Then memories came flooding through her head again. All at once. Peter saw it on her face.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah…" she lied.
Visions of the other Parker were coming in hot. His hair. His eyes. His face. The brown jacket he wore. His tall and slender frame. His young and naive charisma. His innocence and maturity.
Natasha faced the floor trying to recollect herself. When she looked up, expecting to see the Parker she was just sitting with on the train, she was instead met with the other. Before she knew it, the scenery started to change. They were no longer on a train. They were at a cafe of some sort… Starbucks? Drinking coffee. They appeared to be engaging in an irrelevant conversation of some sort. And even though Natasha's warped consciousness told her she was sitting at a cafe table across from the other, the scene was quite 'disorganized', as though she weren't actually there, but reality around her was changing right before her eyes. Fragments of sitting at the train still appeared, though scattered about in odd places.
The boy before her - the other - took a sip of his coffee. They were clearly engaging in some sort of funny dialogue, but Natasha couldn't remember what for the life of her. All of these memories only confused her more than they helped. Each one only opened another question. But maybe, just maybe, Natasha wasn't trying hard enough. Maybe she had to try something in order to trigger more memories. If this really was her subconscious she was dealing with, this was probably the only way… despite being extremely dangerous.
Her eyes met his again - taking a good look at his face. He was laughing at something that was said. He was handsome. She could see that. While he seemed to be in a good mood, something behind his eyes seemed damaged. He wasn't really happy. That laugh served as momentary relief from something else. Something traumatic must've occured…
At that very moment, a spark ignited in her brain. Quite unsure as to why that very moment triggered her, Natasha took a chance, nearly hesitated, but spoke anyways.
"I-I think their lattes are kinda overrated," she said.
The boy's face changed. He was no longer smiling. In fact, there wasn't any expression. It's almost as though he really heard her - as though he knew what Natasha was trying to do; he could tell Natasha was trying to figure this all out. To find him.
"Natasha," he said to her in his voice. It was so gentle and warm. Both Parkers had it in them. He called her name again. She wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words.
Her name was called again, but this time in the other Parker's voice. Literally, in the blink of an eye, the scene changed. She was back on the train. Or maybe, she never left the train.
"Are you sure you're alright?" the Peter before her asked.
Natasha could only stare awkwardly, not even sure how to make sense of what occured. She looked to her sides, out the window, watching the many buildings pass by. That seemed to help for some reason.
"What just happened?" she asked, like he had a clue.
"You… just kinda went blank for a sec. I was calling your name. You didn't hear me?"
"... No."
"You said something about lattes being overrated?"
She looked at him. She was serious, despite how silly the statement was. This made her realize that he could hear her the whole time. Everything she was doing in that moment, at the cafe, this Parker could see it all. And if that was the case, everyone else could also.
