A/N: Thanks for reviewing!

I've put my money where my mouth is for the first time in my life

Eventually, the Black Widows finished sketching out a plan for the next day. It took longer than expected because they kept getting off-track. None of them spent much time with other people of the same age, and certainly not with anyone who had such a similar background. It was novel to be so easily connected to another person, let alone two, and the three of them enjoyed it while they had the opportunity. Anna finally insisted they get some sleep, and exhaustion took over quickly after that.

In the morning, Natasha was the first one awake. Her phone was blinking, so she went into the bathroom and shut the door to check it. A message from Pepper, just saying to call back; it had slipped her mind that she'd reached out to her earlier. Checking the time and calculating briefly, she decided to give her a ring.

"Potts."

"Hey, Pepper."

"Oh! Natasha! I'm glad I heard from you. I was starting to get worried," the CEO of Stark Industries told her, sounding quite relieved.

Natasha smiled. "That's sweet of you. I'm fine. What's up?"

"I looked into Ulyanov. There's not much on him, and I had to follow the money trail for a while before it was anything besides dummy companies that sprang up right before being used."

"Pretty standard," Natasha offered when Pepper didn't immediately continue.

"Sorry, a little busy here. Anyway, Ulyanov got his fortune from the Russian government."

Natasha's brow furrowed. "That's unusual."

"I thought so; be careful. The connection is pretty old; I don't think they've funded him for some time. But that's how he came into the picture after some sort of accident. I couldn't find anything else, I'm afraid," Pepper added, apologetic.

"It's fine, Pepper, every little bit helps."

"Keep me in the loop, Nat."

"I'll certainly tell you all about it when I'm done," Natasha offered.

Pepper sighed. "Fine, just stay safe. Bucky's just terrible at hiding how worried he is about you," she teased. "It's distracting the whole team."

"I'm sure they'll figure something out. Thank you, Pepper," she said sincerely.

"You're welcome, Nat."

Natasha hung up her phone and considered this new development. It was very suspicious and she considered that they might have stumbled onto something larger than just the three of them. Of course, if Gynacon was targeting Widows and was, at least tangentially, funded by the government, it might be a cover-up operation to destroy all records of what Department X had been allowed to do. Which meant more than just the three of them were in danger.

"Natalia?" Anna's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Yeah, didn't want to disturb anyone," Natasha explained as she opened the door.

Yelena was getting up as well, though the room was still dark. "We should get a move on."

After Natasha related the conversation she'd had with Pepper, they agreed that Yelena should follow the thread of the bounty she'd been chasing when this all started. Anna and Natasha would meet with Ulyanov as soon as possible to question him, Natasha posing as Anna's bodyguard. Hopefully, Natasha would be able to get herself hired by Ulyanov, or at least by Gynacon, and could learn more that way. It wasn't a perfect plan, of course, but it was a good start.

After a quick breakfast and a stop at a clothing store, Natasha and Anna arrived at Security International. Adrienne met them at the door, looking very relieved.

"Good morning, Ma'am," she said, glancing at Natasha with some suspicion.

"This is Nadja Rothbauer, an old friend and a skilled bodyguard. After the incident yesterday, I thought it would be wise to have her around, don't you?" Anna asked.

"Yes, ma'am." Adrienne led them to the elevator, frowning at any of the employees in the lobby who stared after them. "The police want to talk to you," she murmured once the elevator doors were closed.

Anna waved her hand dismissively. "Spin it as a maintenance issue. I want business to continue as usual. Even if it means taking over a different office," she added with a grin. Adrienne smiled in return, though Natasha kept a serious façade.

"I'll see what I can do. Will you be accepting meetings today, then?"

"Yes. One in particular, if you can manage it. Gynacon cancelled their appointment yesterday. I'd like to see them today."

Adrienne nodded, entering something into her tablet. "Any representative in particular?"

"One of the men in charge, of course. One of them is Russian, I think?" she guessed convincingly.

"Yes, a Vassily Ilyich Ulyanov owns half of the company. Ian McMasters is his partner."

Anna nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I'd prefer to talk to Ulyanov. See what you can do, Adrienne. Send in the rest of my appointments as usual," she ordered, stepping out of the elevator and calmly across the open space toward an office on the other side. It was a similar floor plan to the one above, where her old office had been. Natasha was impressed to see, when they entered it, that it had been recreated as closely as possible to the destroyed version, with most of the papers and materials present that she had seen the day before.

From the look on Anna's face, she was as pleased as Natasha was impressed. "Wonderful work, Adrienne."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Well, let's get started," the CEO said, sitting down at her desk.

The day passed slowly for Natasha, who took a spot slightly behind and to the right of Anna. Chairs were offered to her on several occasions, but she turned them down. Her job as a bodyguard meant being vigilant, and, after everything that had happened, she was going to take the task quite seriously. Ulyanov was not available that day, but they set up a meeting at his office for the following afternoon.

When the sun was just setting, Anna declared the day over and the two of them returned to the hotel to rest. Yelena was not there, and had left no message, so they had little choice but to continue their assignment as best as they could. Sleep mostly evaded Natasha as she fretted about what the solution to their dilemma was, and how to put an end to this.

Finally, it was morning and the two of them headed to the office to get to work. Anna was almost jittery and unfocused all day, clearly concerned about how the Ulyanov meeting would go. Adrienne noticed the aberrant behavior, but didn't comment; she no doubt suspected it was related to the incident. Natasha watched the other employees closely, but found no one to be particularly suspicious. If this lead fell through, she didn't know what their next options were. Take the others back to New York and enlist the help of Nick Fury and/or the Avengers, she supposed. James would certainly be happy to lend a hand, and she'd considered calling him at several points along the way. But he was Captain America now, with plenty to do in his own country. Besides, she could handle this. For now, at least.

After a brief lunch, Anna, Adrienne, and Natasha got into Anna's luxury car, and her driver took them over to the Gynacon building. It was an impressive structure, and the three of them were escorted by a handsome assistant up to the top floor, where they were asked to wait in a sitting room.

"Here is the presentation, ma'am," Adrienne said, handing over a USB drive. "Unless you'd like me to present?" she questioned, seeing the hesitation on Anna's face.

"Not at all, dear, I'm sure I'll be fine. I think, for a company of this size, they will need a personal touch, don't you?"

"Yes, ma'am."

The doors at the other end of the room opened, and Natasha immediately stood back up to assess the situation. Joining the handsome assistant who had led them there was a man not much older than she was, wearing a very fancy suit. Some scarring on the side of his face threw her off, but his startled smile froze her in her tracks.

"Why, Ms. Eddis, I had no idea you knew my wife."