"Oh, and Laura's not my physical therapist anymore. Seems a woman patient wanted a female therapist instead of the guy she got, made a big fuss about it, so they switched them out," Clint said as his image flickered across the view screen. "The good news is she stopped by my room and told me that since I'm 'free', she'd like to have lunch with me after I'm released."
"How about that!" Natasha said, feigning ignorance. "Will you?"
"I am. I'm not stupid!" Clint's broad smile washed away any misgivings she might have at interfering. "She's come to visit me every afternoon after her shift finishes for a few minutes. She's interested in what I do. I can't tell her everything, but it's nice to have someone to talk to about this that's not on the team."
"That's good, Clint. I like her. She seems nice."
"She seems to like you too." He said. He sat up a little straighter, his voice taking on a more serious tone. "I am serious about Paris. We can't sit on this."
"Our time is about up. I'm on the way to talk to Miss. Potts. I'll come to visit you tomorrow..."
"That's all I'm asking for. At least a discussion. See ya, Nat," he said. Natasha closed the link. Sometimes she had second thoughts about her covert operations, but not now.
Her time in New York was short. She had stopped by the Sanctorum but either no one was home, which was most unusual, or they didn't answer. She understood Strange and Wong had their own battles to fight against unseen enemies but all she wanted was a little guidance about their situation. Maybe they decided it was best to leave them to their own devices or were off fighting a new threat. Either way, that avenue was closed for now.
She stood up so she could inspect herself in the hotel mirror because appearances were important. Ms. Pepper Potts reputation precedes her. No time for trivialities and nonsense and a constant expectation of complete professionalism from everyone who came in contact with her. The dark business suit, shoes, the hair, understated makeup fit together to form what Natasha hoped was a perfect replica of the other Natasha, lost to this world. She spent several evenings studying recordings of her and Pepper. The genial personality and ready smile of the Pepper they knew often threw people off their guard upon first meeting her. They did not understand an accomplished woman lurked underneath all that disarming charm. She would describe this Pepper's personality as prickly but then the woman had a lot to be prickly about. Working for years trying to take down an organization from within but finally having to face the fact she could fight the good fight better with Stark's resources. Then the whole business of abducting here..how frightening it must have been even if Stark's intentions had been good. Natasha felt a little guilty admitting this to herself, but as annoying as 'her Tony was at times, she was glad the other guy was gone.
New York. The same buildings, same long canyons between skyscrapers, same traffic. The Twin Towers still existed. The large looming presence took her breath away but remembered from her research that other awful tragedies had taken place here. Neither reality had it 'easier.'
Up the elevator, outside imposing doors where a young man ushered her into the private office. Pepper sat there, her face giving nothing away, but she motioned for Natasha to take a seat. This was the woman of the hologram. Short hair, glasses, wearing a dark business suit, not unlike Natasha's.
"Mr. Stark told me of your coming and set up this appointment. Why you?" she asked. "Where's that henchman of his? Are you part of his courier service?" Her voice had a short-clipped rhythm to it.
"I am here officially visiting our teammate Clint." She responded, doing her best to keep her eyes even with Pepper.
Pepper's voice softened for a moment. "How is he?" A heart inside that marble facade?
"Much better. They'll release him soon."
"Good, good. I have little time so if you don't mind, it would be best if you could come straight to the reason for your mysterious errand."
Natasha took a deep breath. This one hell of a chance. "The other reason I came is that Mr. Stark didn't wish to entrust this to anyone outside the team. He wanted it done in person, not going out over any comlinks. He… wants to come clean about what happened in Paris."
Pepper sat back in the chair, her face softening even more. "If this is the truth, it is welcome news. Why now?"
"With the recent tumultuous events, he realized that it would be wrong to keep this information from the public. Trust…" Natasha said, choosing her words with care. She didn't like winging it but in this case, there were no other options.
"Is important. I insisted we verify the codes and chatter we received on the first location, but Mr. Stark said there was no time to waste and off you went."
"We were wrong," Natasha said. "We will admit to that."
"In your defense, it was a masterpiece of planning that may have taken years. No warning signs, no red flags, but then civilians died because of it."
"We are sorry," Natasha said.
"Yes, well, sorry won't bring them back but at least, Iron Man can return. I've kept it under lock and key under Mr. Stark's orders but that was their terms. No Iron Man, no information released about Paris. It was a most elaborate blackmail."
Pepper toyed with some papers on her desk for a moment, then fixed her attention back to Natasha. "Recent events might help us. The job of holding a large organization together when half of your people are in a compromised state would be almost impossible. I know we're having our own problems here. We should strike back now."
"Yes," Natasha said, mentally slapping herself. They were too busy adjusting to their new lives but Pepper was right. Now was the time. "You might be right. I'll return to Wakanda day after tomorrow, and no doubt Mr. Stark will wish to contact you himself about the details."
"We'll set up a secure link and tell him we're ready on this end, whenever he is. Thank you, Ms. Romanoff." This was her way of dismissing her.
Natasha strode out of the office, her heels clicking against the tile floor. So many questions answered. They blackmailed Iron Man into hiding. The scheme they set up was elaborate and risky, giving out false codes and leads. This led the team to attack a random location, killing innocents. After that tragedy, they continued to manipulate events, including the press, into believing what had happened was a terrorist attack the team had stopped. All this time they were holding the truth over their heads. Natasha hated to admire the enemy, but this was an excellent scheme.
She observed the World Trade Center again as her taxi drove by. Starting over didn't just mean restoring what they had lost or returning everything to something they recognized. They needed to stay something more because there were battles to fight here and things to be made right, just as they had been in the world they left behind.