Natasha's POV:

Upon first seeing her, Natasha already knew that the girl wasn't meant to be here.

She knew that Stark had been working on inter-dimensional travel, but she never thought that the idiot would end up dragging a person through…or, perhaps she had but simply hadn't been all too concerned.

Nevertheless, this girl had obviously been in the middle of something when she had been transported, and had gone through hell to get it done. Her hands were trembling in exhaustion despite the hard sheen in her eyes, and there was blood matted in her hair, almost completely invisible in the dark coloring; and, while she was well aware of just how effective a bow can be in combat thanks to Clint, a standard recurve bow- metal or not- was simply not something to be brought on a mission.

Hydra? Rebellion? Runaway? There were so many unknown factors that there was really no way to determine, no matter her Red Room training. Of course, there was always the possibility of Stark having been successful in his little project, so it was unlikely that Hydra was the same in her world- if there are all.

Whatever she was, Natasha never expected the girl- Katniss, as James had called her- to want her to stay.

Katniss cleared her throat, cheeks flushed at the short whine she had let out only seconds before, and slowly nodded her head, first towards James and then to her. "I'll talk to you all…if she stays."

Natasha's first instinct was to be suspicious- Who is this girl? Why does she want me to stay? What are her motives?- but this was no time to ask. There would be time later, where she could properly interrogate the girl without having to pull teeth on every answer; until that time, however, she would play along.

"Very well. I will stay."

Katniss' sigh of relief was interrupted with a, "-but, only if you tell us why your boy is so important."

A pregnant silence tore through the room at her words, but Natasha refused to back down. A favor for a favor, after all, would only ensure trust with the girl, making it so that she wouldn't have to worry about paying it back later. Indeed, Katniss' face morphed from one of anger, to contemplation, to reluctant acceptance; obviously, the girl had realized the same thing as her.

The girl licked her lips, flicking away the blood from her split lip in a momentary action as she stared down at them all with bright stormy eyes.

"Deal."