A/n so I finally watched iron man 2 after a long time mainly so I could do Nats pov thingy and partially cos it was loong overdue. A) pepperony is adorable B) Natasha Romanov is bamf. So yeah... enjoy? Um so I did take an idea or two from a couple fics I read on this site. One was Tony calling Natasha 'Natashalie'. I picked it up from this fic 'Heartless' by 'silent song of shadows' its a really good fic. And I also put in a line that I got from one or two fics. Um I couldnt find the exact fic I got it from though. I will clarify the line at the end.
So to all those who followed, thanks a bunch especially to the reviewers, you get cookies! (::)(::)(::)(::) thanks to silent song of shadows for letting me use that term, I really appreciate it. To the guest who reviewed I hope the changes in the past chapter were to your liking.
Natasha Romanov was the best at what she did. Except for Fury- because there was no one better than Fury- you couldn't find a better spy/assassin even if you trained them yourself.
She was an expert at seeing through masks, at finding the person beneath with only minimal effort. She was deadly, dangerous and never in known history been compromised. Barton didn't count. He never did. Anyone who said or thought otherwise was introduced to her Widow's bites. The hard way. So why was it that she could not break through Tony's mask? A renowned playboy, a surly alcoholic, textbook narcism with a mask so strong she had to work to break through, and even then she barely got through one or two layers.
He appeared to the world-to everyone really, as an egotistical self-serving genius who didn't care who thought what of him. But why would such an apparent narcissist not tell anyone he was dying for almost a year? And that night, at his party, he could wipe the floor with Rhodes, why would he let him fly off in a suit?
Tony stark made no sense to her. He was an enigma wrapped in a mystery cocooned in a suit of armor.
She had seen his panic, that day at the races, when his first action after putting on the suit was to push the car with Ms. Potts and Happy away out of Vanko's reach. For someone whom caring was not an advantage, he certainly cared a lot.
Again, the man was dying for almost a year and told no one. He never displayed weakness, never let on how much pain he would have been in. Had she been anyone else, she probably would have been as oblivious as Ms. Potts.
Something Fury said resonated within her mind. He said it would help a little in understanding Stark. Apparently one of Howard's favourite lines to his son was 'Stark men are made of iron'.
Tony clearly took that to a whole new level. To be anything else was a sign of weakness, a disappointment, an embarassment, something to hide. The paladium poisoning, proof of his weakness. Another reason for his father to be disappointed. Because dying 'cause he couldn't solve a problem he created in the first place, made him nothing less than a disappointment. Fury claimed to know Howard Stark, told Tony his father loved him and was proud of him. Well, he sure had a strange way of showing it. She knew she wasn't one to talk considering her childhood, but Tony's was ten kinds of messed up, even by her standards.
Tony Stark was a dangerous man. He knew of the effect words and actions can have and used it accordingly. To those he cared for, he knew exactly what he was saying and was careful of how he said it. To those he wanted to hurt... well, there was a reason SHIELD wanted him. He would have made the perfect agent. He could break people with just a few words, could threaten to hurt and destroy them with a smile on his lips and a glass of scotch in his hands.
But Stark- Tony - cared. He cared about people a lot more than he let on. He allowed sentiment to get in the way, influencing him. But what was scary was how he could block it completely. There was a reason, after all, why he was called 'The Merchant of Death'.
She had learnt a long time ago that love was for children. Tony had apparently learnt the same lesson a little differently. Caring, empathy, sentiment was a sign of weakness. He had taught himself never to show how much he cared. She had never felt such actual real fear at what such a man was capable of.
Tony 's mask had fooled the world. Even a spy like Fury. Tony Stark was Iron Man. In every sense of the word. To assume otherwise was ridiculous. They were one and the same. Iron Man was Tony's way of proving he was more than just billionaire playboy. He cared. Iron Man was Tony without a barrier around his heart preventing him from caring. She knew exactly what she was doing when she wrote that report. She gave Fury what he was expecting. Nothing more, nothing less. If Tony was approved for the Avengers Initiative he would've practically been owned by SHIELD. Not only would that have been a waste of such a brilliant mind, but she couldn't have Tony owned by any one or thing. He deserved more than that. Besides, bad things tended to happen when Tony was forced to do something or ordered to. He did not take well to orders, no matter how subtle. Except when they came from Coulson, but no one knew how or why that happened.
~line break~
Natasha Romanov was pissed. She stormed into SHIELD headquarters and into Fury's office. She calmed down a millisecond before opening the door. The Black Widow did not lose her calm. She was colder than a russian winter, not a bomb about to explode because her recent assignment's father used to beat him and verbally abuse him as a child. She was not about to explode because SHIELD intended to use said assignment as a pawn. No, not at all.
Howard Stark deserved to be resurected and tortured in the deepest pits of hell by Lucifer himself before she killed him again in a very... colorful way. The Widow programme she grew up with was designed to break them yes, but to remake and mold them into the perfect weapon. Key word being 'remake'. Even they knew the importance of having to rebuild their toys. There was a limit they wouldn't go beyond, a limit that apparently did not exist for Howard.
Fury looked up as she entered, staying quiet as he saw the look on her face. Smart move.
"You knew didn't you?"
"Contrary to popular belief, I am not a jedi warrior who can read minds. That's Coulson's division."
"Fury, don't. Not today. Tony Stark had a childhood worse than mine, which you ever so conveniently forgot to mention, and you not only tell him his father actually loved him but set him up as a pawn in one of your 'greater good' schemes? We will come back to Howard Stark later but right now I want you to explain to me why you thought it would be a good idea to center him in such a thing."
Crap. He needed damage control. Fast and before Widow brought this place down upon him. "Technically this was one of SHIELD's schemes-"
"With all due respect sir, you are SHIELD. So unless you want me- and I'm sure Hawkeye will help me willingly- to bring down SHIELD, you will remove any and all influence away from Stark concerning the Avengers Initiative. Keep him as a consultant by all means, but use him as a pawn in one of the Council's games and I will end this place. And you of all people know I don't make empty threats." And without letting Fury say a word she got up and left. There was a reason why she was SHIELD's most feared agent after Coulson.
~line break~
(Cos I wrote something else and it kinda fits but it kinda rambles too and I sorta lost all sense of direction... oops. This part has Tony!)
Stark's house in Malibu looked better than before. He certainly worked fast when it came to rebuilding his mansion. Jarvis told her Tony was in his lab- playroom more like, considering his 'toys'. She had an assignment to give him from Fury. This was the first and last time though, she wasn't his assistant anymore.
She could hear AC/DC's Back in Black pounding from the instant she stepped through the front door. How he could stand music this loud without going deaf was beyond her. It shouldn't be possible to have music this loud. As she entered the lab, however, the music suddenly dropped and was more background than anything else. The sudden change was annoying but not entirely unwelcome. Then Stark turned around.
"Natashalie! Is Fury already giving me projects for his ultra super secret spy agency? Lucky me! Wait. You're not still working for Pepper are you? I thought she would've fired you by now. I mean, as helpful as a spy could be as an assistant, I don't see Pepper wanting one." His tone was jovial, light, but his eyes hard.
Natasha cringed internally at the name, she did not need a reminder of how badly Tony took to betrayal. He was already a very suspicious man even before Afghanistan. Stane's betrayal just made it worse. Speaking of trust issues, she had to warn Fury to upgrade the firewalls. The idea of Tony hacking into SHIELD was not a good one.
She noted Back in black finishing and the opening chords to Stairway to Heaven began. It didn't seem like Tony's style in the beginning, but now it kinda seemed to fit.
"Well Rushman? Or technically Romanov. But perhaps you would prefer Natalia?" He didn't pause for a second, even after seeing her visibly start at the name Natalia, his tone still light. "You know, I read somewhere that people, when changing their names, often take ones with the same initials as their original. I wonder why that is Natalia. Don't you? Is it something psycological perhaps? Well, I never paid attention in psycology class so I could care less.
"Don't look so surprised. Hacking into SHIELD was my first priority after learning of their interference and the whole mess with Hammer. Especially considering the involvement of my father. Their firewalls are pathetic by the way. Remember Natalia, I am a curious man who always finds his answers one way or another. There are few secrets that can be kept from me."
No one, not even Fury, could scare her the way Tony did. His words were weapons and he wasn't pulling any punches.
"So as you can tell," he continued, "I can and will destroy you. Now that we've moved on from the threats, why did Fury send you?"
"How do you know Fury sent me?"
"You're holding SHIELD files, you're dressed in what is as close to a catsuit as is possible while in public with three guns and seven knives on your person. You came directly from SHIELD didn't you?"
"Alright Sherlock, I did. Here's your assignment straight from Fury. Also this is the one and only time you will recieve anything like this from me so don't expect it."
"Agent Romanov a few months at Stark Industries and you're already compromised? Should I be flattered? I am. But anyway you can go back to being a spy knowing I don't completely hold anything against you. Now I have science to do and things to build. See you another day when I have a death wish and decide to make you angry? Alright then, Jarvis show her out."
A/N so thats a wrap. Wow I wrote a lot. So i have no idea if I did any character justice so I'm gonna need input from you guys. I know you're there I can see how many people read this. Seriously I need input for this chapter. So um I have a headcannon that Natasha just gave Fury what he wanted in the report at the end of Iron man 2 so yeah. When she was yelling at Fury, I got the idea from this fic called amalgam which is awesome. So SPOILERS FOR THAT FIC Nat Clint and Fury set up Tony so they can use him as a pawn to take down the corrupt council. Technically end spoilers So I was all what if there was something like that but Nat doesn't agree? Ok its safe now spoilers definitely over.
On the plus side there were a lot of references so... inner London from sweet life of zach and cody. Yay me! Kudos to those who get the avengers, star wars and sherlock references. Enjoy And review please!