A/N: Woooowww this is the longest chapter I've ever written. I'm really bad at writing long chapters. I'm also kinda mixed about my writing in this one cause I feel like I started off bad but ended it better and don't have the energy to really make it consistent anymore.
Point is, I tried.
The Focus is a special device and she entrusted it to Steve because she believes he'll respect her enough to keep the secret, but even the best of people have moments of weakness and Nukoni's beginning to wonder if Natasha is one of them.
As she turns to leave the room and join the others in the kitchen for lunch, Nukoni glances at the shield resting on the bed one more time before closing the door behind her.
Tony finds himself suddenly awake, slowly tuning in to the sound of J.A.R.V.I.S.'s voice talking. He rubs the sleep out of his eyes while pushing himself to sit up. Feeling slightly annoyed at having his rare opportunity to sleep interrupted, the mechanic shifts his attention to the A.I. who continues to speak.
"Shall I accept it, Sir?"
"Sorry, J. Say that again?" he says running a tired hand through his hair.
"I said there's an incoming call from Captain Rogers, shall I put him through?"
Well, he certainly wasn't expecting that. He briefly wonders why the Cap's calling him so out of the blue, but Tony can only guess it's "work" related. It's not like they're known for casual conversation anyhow.
"Put him through."
There's a brief pause before he hears some shuffling on the other end of the call. He waits for Steve to speak but all he hears is the sound of someone walking. It's not like Steve to accidentally call people and even though Steve is familiar enough with phones now, he doesn't tend to use them often. Just as he's about to call out to the other man, Steve's voice cuts across.
"Oh, uh, hello?"
"Um, hey Cap. I would ask what's up, but you seem in a hurry," Tony says, keeping his voice neutral.
"Sorry, I didn't realize you would pick up so soon. I was just getting to some place more private," the man replies.
"Private? Do you finally have a girlfriend to hide from?" Tony snorts at the mental image of a domesticated Captain America. Steve answers him with a soft chuckle while the sound of a door closing can be heard in the background.
"No, I'm just at a friend's house." He pauses for a minute as an awkward silence engulfs the two of them. Tony is tempted to fill the awkwardness with a joke but something in Steve's voice has him perturbed.
"Listen," he continues, "something happened yesterday that I can't quite talk about on the phone. Is there someplace we can, you know, debrief?"
A million different thoughts run through Tony's mind, ranging from worrisome to downright catastrophic. He's itching to ask Cap to elaborate but knows that he'll hit a brick wall so instead, he buries his panic and tells Steve to meet him at the Avengers Tower in an hour.
"Thanks Tony, I appreciate it on such short notice. And, uh, by the way, I'm bringing Natasha and two other people with me," he adds quickly.
Tony raises an eyebrow in response even when he knows the other man can't see it.
"So, you're dating Natasha, huh? Not what I expected but hey, I won't judge. Good for you, dating someone so…unique."
An exasperated sigh can be heard on the other end and Tony smiles slightly.
"No! I'm not dating her; I have more respect than that."
"For whom? You or her?"
"Tony, please. She's just a friend."
Tony can imagine the blush on Cap's face right now and decides he's tortured him enough. He backtracks to Steve's earlier comment, recalling that he mentioned two other people.
"Okay, okay, so you're not dating her. Who else am I expecting then? They wouldn't happen to be the very friends whose house you're at, would they?"
Tony hears shuffling and what sounds like a bed creaking.
"Well, sort of. It's kind of complicated and I would say it makes more sense in person, but I'm not entirely sure it will."
Tony notices how tired the man sounds, resonating the kind of exhaustion that comes from overthinking. It must be one hell of a mess if Captain America is already tired of dealing with it.
Tony sighs at the thought of what might be waiting for him.
"Well, lucky for you, nonsense is entirely my forte, so I think we'll be fine."
"Right. Thanks Tony. We'll see you soon."
"Yea, see ya."
When the call ends, Tony remains seated on his bed. His mind is no longer fogged from sleep, too busy thinking about what he potentially got himself into just now. He feels a sudden bout of anxiety, swirls of butterflies migrating from his stomach and up towards his throat. The genius doesn't know why but chooses to quickly clamp down on the feeling. After a few minutes of thinking, Tony makes his way to the bathroom to prepare for Steve's arrival.
"If they get here before I'm done, just seat them in the common room, J." he says over his shoulder.
"Will do, Sir."
Steve re-enters the kitchen after ending his call and reclaims his seat next to Natasha. He can feel her eyes on him, scouring his face for clues about what he's thinking, but he knows she won't find much. He offers the spy a comforting smile instead, hoping to divert her attention elsewhere. It doesn't work.
"What did Tony say?" she asks.
He doesn't miss the way Nukoni's head whips towards them from the corner of his eyes, and he wonders why. He's never mentioned Tony's name before, and she can't possibly know who they're talking about. Right?
Forgoing his concerns, Steve shifts his attention back to Natasha who's still waiting on him to answer.
"Not much. I didn't wanna say anything over the phone in case we're being heard." He hears Nukoni mutter something along the lines of 'good call' across from him, though he remains facing Natasha. "But he did agree to meet us at the Avenger's Tower in about an hour."
"That soon?"
"I guess. We're running on a timeline anyway so it's better to meet sooner than later. If we wait too long, we might not get the opportunity for later."
Natasha nods her heads in agreement while Steve diverts the conversation elsewhere.
"So, what'd I miss?"
Natasha's face becomes playful as she eyes Sam and says, "Well, Sam was about to tell me about his hobbies."
"I kinda feel like I'm being mocked," says Sam. "And I wouldn't call it a hobby, exactly."
He pushes a manila folder across the table to both Steve and Natasha, which he eyes hesitantly. Sam picks up on this and reaches across the table to open up the first cover. He retracts his hand and lets the other man have a proper look.
Natasha leans over next to Steve to get a better glimpse at the file, seeing it for the first time as well. As the two of them lean closer to read it, Sam hears Steve whisper, "What is this?"
"Call it a resume," Sam retorts. Natasha casts a brief glance at him and then continues reading. Steve gently picks up the photo from the folder and holds it up to his face.
"Wow," Steve whispers. "I thought you said you were a pilot?"
Sam laughs softly. "I never said pilot."
Steve looks back down at the picture of Sam in a winged suit, armed to the teeth with technical gear. He absorbs the image, trying to imagine it in action and on a battlefield but then it dawns on him of what's being implied.
"I can't ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason."
The other man crosses his arms and smiles.
"Like I said before, Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in."
The two exchange knowing glances while Natasha continues to observe the files. Some time during this conversation, Steve had forgotten about Nukoni and is suddenly startled by her voice when she speaks.
"Anyone gonna fill me in?"
For the first time since he re-entered the kitchen, Steve gets a proper look at the other woman. Sitting next to Sam with her legs crossed nursing a cup of tea in her hands, Nukoni seems outwardly disinterested in the conversation, but Steve has increasingly noticed that she often tries to minimize her presence in many ways. Probably a force of habit.
Natasha responds to her by pushing the stack of folders in Nukoni's direction.
"I'm assuming you know how to read, in which case, feel free to fill in the gaps yourself."
Letting go of the teaspoon she's stirring her tea with, Nukoni rolls her eyes with as much contempt she can muster. Lazily extending one hand, she pulls the folders towards her and opens it up to see the picture of the winged suit, though she doesn't immediately react. Placing the teacup on the kitchen table, she grabs the folder with both hands and settles it on her lap. The woman still says nothing, simply opting to stare at the picture with an intensity that might just burn a hole through it.
The other occupants don't say anything, unwilling to disrupt the silence that permeates the room. Curious to know why Nukoni is displaying such solemn interest in his file, Sam takes to scrutinizing her face when he thinks she's not looking, but it isn't long before she finally looks up from the folder and turns to him.
"Where's the suit now?"
Momentarily caught off guard, Sam carefully considers the question.
"Well, the last one is at Fort Mead behind three guarded gates and a 12-inch steel wall," he replies.
She nods thoughtfully and looks down at the folder again to gently close it back up and places it on the tabletop. When the silence drags on long enough, Sam and the others assume Nukoni isn't going to say more and continue with their conversation. Nukoni takes this opportunity to analyze her options; while she's not exactly thrilled at the prospect of involving more people in this mess, she guesses there aren't many choices lined up for her now. In fact, the rest of the Avengers haven't even been caught up to speed yet, so there's really not much left in her control.
I guess I should just take what I can get at this point, she thinks and as she's zoned out, staring at her now abandoned teacup without really seeing it, she's abruptly jolted into the present at the mention of Tony's name, suddenly reminded of a whole different kind of problem.
Anthony Stark.
She probably should have mentioned it earlier to Steve that she's well aware of who Tony Stark is but also figured that it would only create more questions than she can answer. Plus, if anyone ever found out, then the very secret she's been trying so hard to protect becomes vulnerable to exposure and if that happens, then they'll just hand her right back to HYDRA, no questions asked.
Tuning into their conversation, Nukoni catches the tail end of Steve's sentence about how they should be on their way to meet Tony. Her heart drops into her stomach out of sheer anxiety, completely unprepared to face the genius known as Tony Stark. She convinces herself that there's no reason to worry since it's extremely unlikely Tony will know who she is, but it does little to quell her nerves.
Nukoni sees both Steve and Natasha head towards the bedroom to grab their gear and makes a move to follow them when she's stopped by Sam.
"Hey, uh, just out of curiosity. Why'd you need to know where the falcon suit is?" he asks.
"Well you're gonna need it, aren't you?"
Sam's eyes widen in confusion before he understands what Nukoni's implying. A smile slowly graces his face as he hums softly.
"That's true, I do need it if I'm gonna help. The question is, how are you going to get it?"
"Simple. Sneak in and take it," she replies with confidence.
"You make it sound so easy. I can't imagine getting past several armed guards would be a walk in the park, let alone over a fortified steel wall. At least not without attention."
"Right," she replies, "that's true. For you. Not for me. I'm very good at what I do and that's all you need to know." She turns back around to head into the bedroom but not before throwing one last comment over her shoulder.
"Don't worry big bird, you'll get your suit."
With that, she disappears into the room leaving Sam wondering what exactly he got himself into.
In the meantime, Nukoni enters the room as Steve and Natasha are packing up their things. Natasha is tightening her holsters just as Steve straps the shield to his back when the two of them notice the other woman.
Nukoni smiles at them as she glides past them towards the bathroom to fix her hair when she notices Natasha following her inside. Standing in front of the sink, she can see the Black Widow looking at her through the mirror from her position behind her, arms crossed and face neutral. Nukoni sighs in irritation, feeling kind of annoyed at being tailed in such a manner and begins untying her ponytail.
In the three minutes it takes Nukoni to redo her hair, Natasha still hasn't spoken a word, simply choosing to continue staring and it's beginning to freak her out a little. She finishes retying her hair and leans over the sink on both hands.
"Is it always going to be like this with you, Widow?"
"It will if you continue to keep secrets." Her voice, though smooth and unwavering, is sharp in its delivery.
Nukoni turns away from Natasha's reflection to face her directly. She keeps her expressions neutral, unwilling to let the red-haired woman see the anxiety spooling in her throat.
"You mean like you?" she retorts.
Natasha's face remains stoic but Nukoni knows she's hit a sore spot when the spy doesn't respond. Taking this as her cue to continue, she keeps going.
"Listen, I'm not saying this because I want us to be best friends or some shit, but you and I are not that different, and I get the feeling that you don't trust me because of that. I mean, why would you trust someone just like you when you don't even trust yourself."
Her becomes lower and is just a whisper by the time she's finished talking. Her face, just inches from Natasha's, is cold and humorless and at some point, had moved close enough to stand nose to nose.
Natasha's own expression becomes bitter as she carefully shakes her head.
"I told Steve you were full of shit. And I was right."
The spy doesn't wait for Nukoni to answer and all but marches out of the bathroom. When Nukoni's certain she's far enough away, she lets go of the breath she'd been holding, shaky and full of anxiety.
Note to self: stay out of her way or lose it all.
Taking a moment to compose herself, Nukoni brushes her hair once more for good measure and then joins the rest outside.
Once Tony finished getting showered and dressed, he feels much more awake than before. With new clarity, he revisits his phone call with Steve, trying to find any hints the other man may have dropped that went over his head earlier. He comes up empty, however, considering the call lasted less than five minutes.
Glancing at the clock, the billionaire grabs the mug of coffee off the kitchen counter on his way down to the lab. J.A.R.V.I.S. hasn't notified him of any arrival yet and Tony figures he can take this time to get some work done.
No sooner had he reached the elevator when his A.I. interrupts with the news of Steve's arrival. Tony feels only briefly irritated from being redirected before the anxiety from that morning comes back with a new intensity. Tony has never dealt well with uncertainty and having no idea what to expect from Steve is killing him.
The genius supposes he could make them wait a little bit, he's not exactly known for being on time and it would give him the opportunity to get his act together. But then making them wait means he has to wait and that just won't do, so Tony makes the split decision to head to the common room where Steve and his guests are currently seated.
When the elevator doors open, he doesn't immediately spot them. Walking further into the room, he first notices Natali-, no wait, Natasha, who's already sensed his presence and turns to greet him.
"Well, well, the last time we met, you had just moved up from the ranks of 'backstabbing secretary' to an 'okay teammate'. What's next on the ladder?"
"You can hate me for doing my job all you want, Tony, but you can't deny I was great being both those things."
Tony playfully rolls his eyes as he scans the room for the others. His eyes land on Steve who had been seated on the couch but is now making his way towards him and Natasha.
"Hey Tony, thanks for meeting us on such short notice," the captain says, reaching out to shake Tony's extended hand.
"Yea, yea, you're grateful and all that, let's skip over the parts where you make me seem nice. It's not good for my image," he jokes.
They share a laugh before Tony subtly attempts to look past Steve's shoulder. Steve notices this and turns slightly sideways so that both and Sam and Nukoni can introduce themselves. They exchange greetings as Tony and Sam shake hands, while Nukoni hangs back and waves shyly.
"Sam Wilson, nice to meet you Mr. Stark."
"Pleasures all mine but please, call me Tony. Mr. Stark makes me sound like my father." He makes an exaggerated gagging motion, playing up his repulsion for being referred to as 'Mr.' anything. Sam smiles in response, amused by the familiarity with which Tony interacts with people.
Tony then turns to the other woman and he's immediately drawn to her face. The two of them stare at each other for a moment and Tony is suddenly overcome with a sense of Deja Vu, like he's seen this girl before.
She steps forwards slowly, extending one hand while the other grabs a fistful of her pants.
"Uh, Hi. I'm Nukoni, nice to meet you." Her voice is steady, but Tony doesn't miss the way her hand is slightly shaking. It's not outwardly obvious to the average person but no one in the room currently qualifies as average and judging by the look on the rest of their faces, they seem to have noticed it too.
Tony spares her further scrutiny and grasps her hand firmly. They lock eyes for a few seconds, and he can see something akin to panic in Nukoni's eyes, which confuses him because he's absolutely certain that they've never met before.
"Likewise," he replies.
The two of them let go and Nukoni is quick to look away and partially hide herself behind Steve. The genius thinks it's a bit strange, but he lets it go for now. Turning away from the group, Tony waves a hand behind him, signalling for them to follow. As they start walking towards one of the conference rooms, Steve picks up the pace and matches pace alongside him instead.
Tony glances at him and raises a brow in question.
"This could probably wait but I need to know, has anyone from S.H.I.E.L.D. contacted you?"
The urgency in Cap's voice is startling him but he reserves panic for later.
"No, why?"
"Okay, good. I can work with that; this gives us time." Though Steve meant to have a conversation, he's largely talking to himself at this point and has the decency to look ashamed when he sees Tony looking at him strangely.
"I'm a little lost here, Cap. Are you in trouble?" Tony asks.
"I think it'll be easier to explain once we're settled down but, in a sense, yes. I am in trouble." He keeps his voice low so that the others don't hear.
"So, you're telling me that goody two shoes Captain America got in trouble?" Tony's voice sounds like he's about to laugh and when he sees the childish smile on his face, Steve inwardly groans. "What on Earth did you do?!"
"It's not like that, Tony. I didn't do anything," he stresses, subtly tilting his head behind him so that the other man takes the hint. Lucky for him, Tony picks up on it and steals a quick look behind him at the two new guests. Sam, who's talking to Natasha doesn't notice him looking but he catches Nukoni's gaze. Apparently, she had already been staring at him but quickly looks away when their eyes meet. He looks at Steve questioningly who nods his head in confirmation.
They reach the conference room door, and Tony steps aside to let everyone else in first. Steve opts to do the same, the two of them standing on either side, opposite to each other. Natasha's the last one to enter and she pauses slightly to regard the two men, but Steve assures her everything's fine.
"I just need a minute with Tony."
She nods and glances at Tony, offering a friendly smile before disappearing inside. When the two are alone, Tony is the first to speak.
"Look, I have a lot of questions and I know most of them will probably be answered soon, but you're kinda worrying me here, Cap. Are we in danger?"
Steve sighs deeply and runs a hand through his hair.
"Possibly. And before we get in there and unravel the world's secrets, I need to ask you; do you trust me?"
Of all the things Tony imagined being said, he wasn't expecting to have his loyalties tested. But when he looks closely at the Captain, at the exhaustion and stress embedded in the curves of his face, the genius realizes this thing must be bigger than all of them combined.
He looks the Captain in the eyes for a moment, both of their gazes unwavering, when Tony answers.
"I do."
The Captain visibly relaxes, his shoulder sagging in relief, almost as though he was worried that Tony would turn him away.
"Okay then," he says, "Let's get started."