Cathryn's Place

"You know, I think their lattes are kind of overrated," said Peter as he took a sip of his coffee, sitting across from Natasha at a small table. "Maybe I didn't put enough sugar, or creamer. I don't know."

"I was never much of a coffee lover anyway," Natasha replied. "I think coffee in general is overrated. It's just an energy booster. There's so many other ways to do that. Coffee isn't like this holy grail of wakeruppers."

"But when you're busy, and you don't have time for anything else, a cup of coffee wouldn't hurt."

"Well, let's just say there are a lot of things I don't have time for. Coffee's one of them."

Peter agreed with that one as well. Not just for her career, but his as well. For a moment, there was an awkward silence; more awkward for Peter given his feelings towards her. He could hold a decent conversation with her for a while, and actually still be somewhat engaged, but other than that, when they weren't talking, the energy between them in a way felt foreign, almost. Talking to her reminds him of when he used to talk to Gwen for the first time, before everything that came after. Peter tried doing something as little as looking out the window, pretending as if he was in some way occupied. The truth, however, points that Natasha acknowledges the awkward tension between them. To her, it was no surprise. She understood very well.

Peter felt more concerned about where her loyalties lied. They seem skewed, even after lending a helping hand in saving the world from an alien invasion. And even as he's sitting with her right now in a public area, him looking outside and seeing the number of people walking down the street, and seeing the number of people in the Starbucks now, he knew, in his heart, and even after what she tried to do for him, he still couldn't trust her.

"I understand how this may be a lot for you," she started, "but I need you to know that I care about your well-being just as much as anyone else."

When did she need to care about his well-being, Peter thought. Why did she care? All she's ever seemed to do was be genuinely nice to him for almost no apparent reason. Perhaps she did explain why back in Central Park a year ago, but it all made no sense to him. Why would she put so much time and energy in the life of an adolescent, or now young adult? From what Peter knows about her, Natasha seems like the selfish type; she would be the one to kill others to get her way. She wasn't a hero. Standing alongside The Avengers didn't make her a hero. She doesn't fit with that crowd.

"It isn't a lot, it's just . . . weird," he said. "Ten years ago I never would've thought the world could get as strange as it is now. And that was still when I had a wild imagination."

Natasha nodded slowly. "Yeah. Ten years ago I never would've guessed that I'd be fighting extraterrestrials. Life is full of surprises."

The two had left after twenty or so minutes. They talked more than expected. Both were surprised by this and each other. Natasha's apartment was their next stop. While walking down the streets, she reminded Peter to only refer to her as Cathryn in public. At first Peter believed she was exaggerating the seriousness of the situation, when really he was undermining it. With the entire world knowing who she is, including her real name and her common alias of Natasha Romanoff, someone out there would surely know how to put two and two together if they noticed someone referring to her as Natasha while indeed having red hair. Peter still thought that in a place like New York no one would be paying any attention to them at all, and that's when Natasha told him that's where he was at fault. He at first didn't understand what she meant by this, but she explained that you never know when someone's watching. She knew that from experience.

Natasha stayed in a more brokedown area of the city. It was obvious by the bricks of each building Peter saw. They all contained faded streaks of gray over them, indicating just how long they've been standing; surely for years and years, telling countless stories just by a glance. A lot of the windows needed some cleaning as well, as even from a distance one could tell they were badly stained. It had a sort of smell to it also. Peter looked up and saw a man poked out of his window, smoking a cigarette. He turned his head back straight to see a group of guys walking on the sidewalk across from them, one of them dressed in a dark hoodie and baggy pants, and the rest wearing other types of raggedy clothing. Peter's first instinct was that they were part of a gang, as that would be typical for young men dressed like so in the streets. This appeared to be one of those blocks in New York where something always had to be going down, and where no one was obliged to hold back from expressing themselves to full extent.

"Welcome to New York, huh?" said Natasha.

"This is pretty normal," Peter simply stated.

"Certainly not what they show on TV."

"No," Peter agreed all the way.

"I would've settled for the Bronx, but that's pushing it for me."

Peter found this amusing, as he would've thought the Black Widow possessed the necessary skills to adapt to the environment, no matter what the situation is. He guessed everyone had their preferences for a class of living.

"Too much to handle?" Peter lightly teased. Natasha looked at him with a certain look.

"Walking through there would be like a walk through Central Park," she replied.

They entered the apartment building. Already the place looked disgusting. Mold covered the walls and there were cobwebs filling in holes in every corner. It smelled much worse in here than outside. Peter wondered when the last time someone cleaned the place was. He could only imagine how many rodents got inside the place. Since she lived on the fifth floor, they took a trip up the stairs, which was also a gross experience. There wasn't as much mold on the walls fixed around the stairway, but that was substituted with lots of nasty cracks instead. Natasha pulled out her keys, which were also rusty and looked ages old, and stuck it through the lock and turned. She opened the door and she stepped in first, turning on the light and throwing her keys on the bed. Peter reluctantly stepped inside, for some reason feeling like it could be the last step he might take.

"Close the door behind you," Natasha said, as if Peter wasn't going to do that anyway. He did.

Once they stepped inside her place, the ugly smell disappeared. Instead it smelled kind of refreshing. He figured she must use air fresheners or something to make the place feel a little more comfortable. And her place didn't look as bad as it did on the outside. Natasha seemed to keep it somewhat neat and tidy as she could. Nevertheless, it still was nothing compared to his home.

"I know, I hate it as much as you do," she said, accepting the fact that her place was disgusting.

"Times get hard," Peter said, trying to empathize in some way.

"I have to lay low somehow. The chances of someone looking here aren't as high, and I won't get very much attention since the people around here have the average IQ of a raisin. So that's good. And it's more affordable than some newer place."

"That's true."

Standing in her place alone made Peter feel very uncomfortable. Even though it was clearly daytime outside, Natasha had her place tinted with black sheets on all windows to block out as much sunlight as possible, and to keep her hidden fairly well. If she really wanted to, she could pull something crazy on Peter right now, and no one else would know about it. But one other thing that Peter felt was some reassurance that if she actually did try something funny, his enhanced reflexes would let him know a second ahead. He believed to have the advantage in this sort of situation. Though, this is hypothetically speaking. Now, he could only hope for the best, and that she isn't the type of person he presumes she is.

"Alright, let me tell you what I need to tell you," she said quietly. The fact that she spoke so low kind of made Peter feel even more uncomfortable. "It concerns you only to an extent, but I can't take my chances."

Peter just kept listening.

"You remember when I told you about HYDRA?" she asked seriously.

Peter almost completely forgot about that conversation from before until she mentioned the name again now.

"That terrorist organization?" Peter inquired. Natasha nodded in response. "What about them?"

He hoped that whatever she was going to say next wouldn't be what he thought before.

"Some fellow agents from SHIELD have been secretly filling me in on new information about . . . anything. They've been off the grid as well. And from what we know is that there are still HYDRA agents out there."

Peter's heartbeat gradually escalated, whether he recognized it or not.

"So . . . are you saying that they're a threat to me, or something?" he asked. Natasha waited a moment before answering.

"We've heard that some of the agents that escaped had clearance to a lot of SHIELD's files, including classified operations. One of them included the operation that involved targeting a list of individuals who posed as potential threats known as Project Insight.

"Since recent events along with the fall of SHIELD, Project Insight has since been diminished, but HYDRA . . . we can't say the same for them. They're still out there, and they still want what they've always chased after. Absolute power. A perfect totalitarian society where they rule over everyone else. And they can't have anyone who would fight stand in their way. But Peter . . . you were on that list."

Utter shock came over his face. It was clear for her to see. Even after knowing that it no longer exists and that he is alive at this very moment, the thought of realizing he was on some fort of kill list frightened almost anyone. Ignorance to things like this made the world that much scarier. What made it worse for Peter was that he couldn't see his own enemy this time. To him they were invisible. He didn't know what HYDRA was until yesterday, and now all of a sudden he's told that they were meant to kill him.

"Why are you telling me this now?" said Peter. "You said Project Insight was diminished."

"Yes, but HYDRA lives on, and they know you still do as well. I can't be certain, but there is a possibility they'll still try to get you and others like you out of their way."

Peter took a deep breath.

"Why should I trust you?" he boldly asked. It was only a matter of time until Natasha had to answer to that. But she had almost nothing to say to convince him otherwise.

She shook her head slightly.

"You can't," she said. "I admit, you have no reason to trust me, and I accept that. But I wouldn't waste your time telling you that your life could be at stake for nothing."

With that, she had a point. Maybe she answered his question on why she was so invested in his life. Maybe she wasn't really invested in his life, she only came around when she felt it was important. This was important. She was here. Though, it was going to take more than circumstances for Peter to know the truth.

(A/N): Sorry it took so long to update. Other complications came along the way, but I assure that other chapters are soon to come.