CHAPTER TWELVE
"You sure this is going to work, Parker?" Natasha heard Tony asked as she quietly walked into the common room, her evening heels in her hand.
Peter looked up to give his reply when he caught sight of Natasha and promptly stopped talking. Puzzled, Tony and Thor who were both standing beside him also turned in her direction. Thor gave her a proud beam as Tony rolled his eyes in Peter's direction.
"That's some dress, Red," Tony grudgingly agreed.
Giving out an air of indifference, Natasha shrugged as she sat down on one of the chair to put on her heels. She wasn't going to admit that she had spent much too much time going over her selection of evening dresses to finally settle on the green evening dress made of sequined chiffon material that clung to her every curve. She certainly wasn't going to admit that she looked forward to this visit to Wakanda as much as she dreaded it.
As she got ready for the night ahead, her mind kept returning to the image of Steve and Sharon caught in that embrace. And no matter how many times she berated herself for feeling even an ounce of betrayal and suppressed anger, she could not help herself.
"I think you broke the Spiderman," Tony continued to tease the teenager who spluttered his protest, interrupting Natasha from her inner monologue.
"W..what, no disrespect, Natasha. I've just never seen you look so … ," he broke out, seemingly unable to find the right word. "I mean, you really look … nice, like a … -lady."
"Smooth, kid," Tony teased, drily.
Natasha gave Tony a look, one that the other man ignored. "Heed him not, Natasha. You appear queenly in that garment," Thor gave his stamp of approval.
Natasha flashed him an appreciative smile then flipped the thigh-high slit to slip in one of her many blades.
"Bet you don't know many ladies that carry as much weapons as this one does, huh, kid?" Tony enquired with a laugh.
Once again Natasha ignored the man and instead addressed Peter. "Thanks, Parker. You were saying about the device," she prodded, gesturing to the small remote he held in his hands.
Peter looked down as if only then realizing he was still holding on to the device and promptly handed it to Tony. "Here, man. Remember, I've encoded the programme to basically kill the switch on Sharon Carter's device. All you need to do is press the button."
"And she's brainwash-free?" Tony asked.
Peter shrugged. "The whole thing was rigged to recognize a certain set of fingerprint. All I did was to create something that will over-ride that."
"He says modestly," Tony slapped the boy on his shoulder then looked up as Banner walked in dressed in his evening wear. "Now that we're all here, let's get this show on the road," he announced.
Natasha stood up and made to follow Tony and Banner out the door but Thor hesitated where he stood. "Why isn't Peter joining us? He is as much an Avenger as we all are and equally deserving of a feast at King Wakanda's behest," he argued, gesturing to the boy.
"You guys go on ahead without me. I have to be home soon anyway. I only stayed to hand over the decoder," Peter replied, with a shrug. At Thor's continued look of befuddlement, Peter shrugged sheepishly, "I can't go, Thor. It's a school night."
Natasha felt her stomach twisting into a knot as they were escorted down the massive hallway into the Great Hall. She felt her heart raced as she caught sight of Steve standing beside Tchalla and she felt a smile forming on her face despite herself. The smile gradually slipped off as she noted the person standing next to him was none other than Sharon Carter. Determined not to show the sudden pain she felt at the beautiful picture the two made, she turned the whole force of her smile towards Tchalla.
"The Avengers," Tchalla exclaimed in greeting as they reached his side. "Welcome to my humble abode," he greeted, politely.
Natasha stepped forward and offered up her hand for the man to shake. Instead Tchalla lifted her hand and gave it a polite kiss. "Natasha, I am honoured you have accepted my invitation for a visit," he said to her.
"The pleasure is all mine, your highness," Natasha replied, adding extra warmth into her tone, still refusing to look at Steve even when she felt his eyes on her.
"Ah captain, your person has been sorely missed," Thor announced, pulling the other man into a bear hug. Steve gave out a laugh and clapped him on his shoulders. "It's great to see you too, Thor!" he replied, warmly.
Tony and Banner too exchanged stilted greetings with Steve before he pointedly turned to her. "Nat," he said quietly, trying to catch her eyes.
Natasha flashed him a quick smile before slapping his shoulder, awkwardly. "Hey, Cap." Determined to keep some distance between then, Natasha took Tchalla's proffered arm and allowed him to escort her into the hall.
"Your palace is beautiful, Tchalla," Natasha murmured, trying to ignore the hurt look in Steve's eyes as she walked past him.
"Thank you, Natasha. It was built many thousands of years ago. Every generation of Wakanda ruler since then has expanded on the palace, gradually allowing it to become more and more technologically advanced," Tchalla shared as he led her to the huge table before them. Before he could help her into the seat next to his, Natasha was greeted by Clint and Sam, both seemingly glad to see her.
She gave each of them a warm hug but to Clint she whispered, "Thanks, Barton. I owe you one."
Clint let out a snort. "Think again, girl. You owe me big-time," he stated, as he slid into the seat next to her.
The rest of them began to seat themselves too and Natasha took note that Steve sat at the other end of the huge table, with Sharon to her left and Sam to his right. Thor, Tony and Banner filled in the seats in the middle of the table.
By tacit agreement, they had all decided not to discuss matters of dire importance. Talks of Sokovia Accords, the growing darkness of the task force, the issue of the mutants and even the fate of Wanda was surreptitiously set aside in favour of discussions of Wakanda and its merits. Natasha paid particular attention to Tchalla, listening avidly as he regaled her with the history of his kingdom. She made extra effort to be entertaining and soon had Tchalla laughing with her.
Increasingly she felt the weight of Steve's eyes on her but refused to budge from her plan to minimize her contact with the man. During one of the breaks in her conversation with Tchalla as he turned to give instructions to his manservant, Clint leaned in to her. "Hey, Matahari, you might wanna tone it down a notch. The last thing we need is for Steve to be kicked out of Wakanda for attempting to manhandle their king," he hissed at her, drily.
Natasha took a sip of her wine and avoided his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said, dismissively.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Tone it down," Clint repeated, under his breath.
Natasha turned to give Clint a piece of her mind but locked eyes with Steve instead. His face was dark as he arched an eyebrow at her, even as Sharon and Sam both attempted to involve him in their conversations. Natasha quickly looked away, not wanting him to see more than she wanted him to the longer their eyes stayed locked.
But Natasha heeded Clint's advice and spent the rest of the evening parceling her attention between Tchalla and the larger group at the table. After the last of the scrumptious dinner had been consumed, Tchalla ushered the group into a smaller room besides the hall to allow them to discuss more relevant matters.
As soon as the door closed behind them, Steve immediately turned to Tony. "What are you going to do about those imprisoned kids?"
Instead of answering, Tony sent a meaningful look towards Natasha, one that she chose to ignore for the moment as she calmly took the seat next to Sharon. "Look, Cap, there are a lot of things to catch up on. But first we must address the leak in information from your side. How do we know what we discuss here is not going to end up on General Ross's reports?"
Tchalla nodded and gestured for both men to take a seat. Tony sat himself across from Natasha while Steve elected to stand by the fireplace. Leaning his body against the wall, he folded his arms and sent a hard look Tony's way. "And exactly how do you suggest we find the leak? Coz I won't have you accusing people and breaking up my team."
Natasha's jaw clenched as she heard the emphasis on his team, as if implying that she, Tony, Thor and Banner weren't. She refused, however to be included in the discussion for now, allowing Tony to take the lead.
"Cap, calm down, don't forget we're on the same side here," Banner interjected.
At this Sharon let out a dry laugh beside her. "Didn't feel like it at the prison," she retorted.
Tony and Natasha shared a look, and he gave a tiny nod of his head as a signal. Swiftly, before anyone could stop her, Natasha pulled a blade from her clutch and held it to Sharon Carter's throat. Sharon gave out a cry, pushing the blade even further in. "Don't move," Natasha warned her.
Steve jumped to his feet. "What the hell?" he cried out but Clint shot up from his feet and proceeded to hold him back. Tony rushed to the back of Sharon's seat and leaned forward to sweep back Sharon's blonde hair.
"Steve!" Sharon pleaded with the man to help her.
"What are you doing?" Steve asked, urgently even as he struggled to release Clint's hold on him. Thor stood up to give Clint some help.
"Cap, you've gotta trust us on this," Tony said, locking eyes with the man he has had such a difficult relationship with before and after the Sokovia Accords. "Do you trust us?"
Natasha looked up and watched the warring emotions on Steve's face. His eyes moved from Tony to land on her. After a second, he gave his head a reluctant nod. Taking this as cue, Tony leaned forward once more to bare Sharon Carter's neck. Natasha turned to the side to look and saw nothing at the back of Sharon's neck.
"Tony," Natasha said in a warning whisper.
Tony shook his head, using his other hand to take out the small decoder Peter had prepared for the situation. "It's transparent, remember," he reminded her then pressed the button. Now a rectangular shape started forming where there was none before. Tony pressed it another time and a red light started blinking three times before the whole thing disappeared once again with a loud ping.
"Is that it?" Natasha asked, quietly. Tony nodded his head and she quickly released her hold on the other woman. Upon her release, Sharon jumped out of her seat and rushed to Steve's side.
"Are you ok?" Steve asked, urgently, grabbing her arms to peruse her closely. The woman nodded her head but refused to look at anyone other than Steve.
There was now quiet in the room as Tony straightened up then proceeded to take the seat recently vacated by Sharon, next to Natasha who was avoiding to look at the tender scene enfolding before her.
"Mind sharing what you just did back there?" Steve asked quietly, pushing Sharon to his back as if unconsciously trying to protect her from them.
"We've just switched off the leak, Cap," Tony stated, simply, crossing his legs and looking calmly up to Steve.
At first there was disbelief in his face as he turned to face Sharon. He shook his head slowly as he lifted his eyes to the woman before her. "What?" he asked, softly.
Natasha could not bear to watch the betrayed look on his face. "It's not her, Rogers. They got to her and have been controlling her mind," she said, quietly and Steve turned to look at her.
He shook his head as realization seeped in. "But Wanda…," he started, hoarsely, taking a few steps away from a now distraught Sharon.
"Wanda's alive, Cap," Tony announced and Steve whipped his head quickly to first stare at him then to Natasha. "We don't know how. At this point we can only speculate. But we've got it in print. Wanda made it out of the morgue on her own two feet," Tony continued.
In her attempt to block whatever connection there had been between them, Natasha kept her eyes away from his. As such she could only hear and not see as Steve stumbled backwards and carelessly sat himself down at one of the vacant armchairs.
"Look, I know this is must be a shock to you and the others," Banner began.
- "But you held a memorial," Clint argued, equally as shocked as Steve.
"We wanted to get the task force off her back," said Tony.
Clint sat down next to Steve, a stunned but increasingly relieved look on his face. There was a moment of silent where the other group digested the news. Sharon, however, continued to stand where she was, her body beginning to shake. Steve, as if belatedly aware of her, stood up and gave her arm a comforting grip.
"Sharon, why don't you take a seat? This is must be terrible for you," he said, quietly. Sharon nodded her head and let herself be maneuvered into sitting next to him, right between Clint and Steve.
"How… Who did this to me?" Sharon cried out finally, her eyes filled with unshed tears.
Tony whipped out his phone and brought up an image of William Stryker. "Do you know this man?"
Sharon leaned forward to look and her eyes lit up in recognition. "Yes, yes, he came to see me a few days after Aunt Peggy's funeral. Claimed to be one of my aunt's financial consultants. He said he wanted to discuss one of Aunt Peggy's assets."
"That man is Colonel William Stryker. He has been heading an underground organization focusing largely on the issues of mutants. And he's been doing this for decades, experimenting on what weak mutants he managed to get his hands on," Tony explained. "He must have installed that device on you that first time you met."
Clint, Steve and Sam all wore identical looks of confusion. Tony looked at each of them and grimaced. "We've been played. We don't know how deep it goes. Ross was in on it for certain. The UN was probably as much a tool as we were," Tony recapped.
"So what's their end game?" Clint asked.
Natasha exchanged looks with Tony, Banner and Thor. "Stryker has shown both revulsion and fear for mutants since day one. From what we could surmise from stolen data, it seems his aim is to rectify the situation by putting powerful mutants under his control." Natasha gestured to Sharon, "The same thing that's on Sharon's neck right now? They've been putting on all the mutants under capture. And all this under the guise of upholding the Sokovia Accords," she finished, grimly.
"What do we do now?" Steve asked, eyes darting from Tony to Natasha.
"They don't know we're on to them," Tony replied. "They don't know we've found a way to nullify the effects of their brainwashing device."
Clint leaned backed in his seat and slowly grinned. "A little misdirection in order?"
"How good of an actress are you?" Tony directed his enquiry to Sharon Carter.
"Good enough to fool Steve and I into believing she's nothing but a nurse for a full year," Natasha broke in with a dry laugh. She gestured at Sharon, "She's a former SHIELD agent, Stark. She can do it."
About an hour later, Tony led the way to the jet craft. The sounds of approaching footsteps, however, stopped them and they turned around to see Steve approaching, his eyes furiously fixed on Natasha. "Natasha," he called out, pinning her to the spot with his eyes.
"I don't think we're invited to this particular conversation, gentlemen," Tony retorted, flashing knowing eyes in Natasha's direction before continuing on with a shrug. Bruce too had the same knowing look in his eyes as he squeezed her shoulder before making a move to climb the plane. Thor hesitated but upon noting the deepening scowl on Steve's face gave Natasha a reassuring look before following the other two into the plane.
"What's going on?" Steve asked. His voice was low but Natasha could see from the darkening of his features that he was furious. Which was fine because as it turns out, she was just as –if not more- furious at him.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she bit out.
"You barely said a word to me the entire night!" he pointed out, folding his arms and frowning at her.
"I was seated at the other end of the table! Should I have been yelling things to you over the length of the table and ignoring everyone else?"
He leaned forward. "Then maybe start with why you were seated at the other end of the table."
"Because I was showing Tchalla the proper attention in return for him inviting us over for dinner?" Even in her furious state, Natasha realized this was starting to get ridiculous. "Seriously, is there a point to all of this?"
Steve started to say something then stopped himself, raking a hand through his hair in a show of frustration. "I don't know! It's just… this is not what we do. This," he emphasis this with a sweeping of his arm gesturing to the distance between him and Natasha, "is not us."
"Oh, really?" Natasha replied, archly. "Then do tell me, what are we?"
This seemed to stop Steve in his tracks, as Natasha knew it would. His body stilled as his eyes probed hers as if trying to find the answer there.
"Can't find an answer to that one, can you?" she bit out, sharply, letting some of her anger show. At his continued silence, Natasha rolled her eyes and made a move to leave. "Do let me know when you've figured it out. After all it's only been what? – one, two months since the last time we saw each other and you've been sufficiently busy sucking face with Sharon Carter in the meantime to ponder such inconsequential questions." Recognizing that she has now fully step into petty area and not wanting to stay and find out how Steve would react to this, Natasha quickly turned around to once more head for the plane.
But Steve was quicker. He took one step in her direction, grabbed her arm and swiftly turned her back around to face him. "What the fuck do you mean by that?"
"Language, Cap," Natasha retorted insolently instead, not finding any words to say that would not make her sound any crazier than she probably already did.
If anything, Steve's face darkened even more at that. "Explain yourself, Romanoff."
"I thought I was pretty clear."
"Is that what this is all about?" Steve asked, incredulously. "You're jealous of Sharon?"
If she had anything bigger than her dressy clutch in her hand, she would have thrown it at him at that moment. Instead, she threw him a pointed glare and once again turned around to leave.
And again, Steve grabbed her arm to turn her to him. But this time, he did not let go of her arm. "Nat, wait, I'm sorry. Talk to me, please."
Refusing to acknowledge the effect the hand on his arm and the strength of his eyes had on her, she instead focused her eyes on the ground. For a moment she was tempted to resort to mulishness and not say anything. But even while she was thinking this, her mouth opened as if having a will of its own. "You kissed Sharon," she said, quietly.
There was silence from Steve and when she looked up there was such a look of pain on his face that she felt her heart give a twist. Why was she doing this? This was so far from what she wanted to do that she suddenly felt ashamed of her actions tonight. Why was she punishing him for an act that to be completely honest had absolutely nothing to do with her. She doesn't own him and has no right to be angry. She shook her head. "You know what, forget I said that, Steve. It's none of my business who you spend your time with. And Sharon's a perfectly nice girl. I mean, hey, who was the one who told you to call her in the first place, right?" she said, mustering up a weak smile to convince him she was sincere.
"Don't," he said, suddenly. Alarmed at the quiet intensity in that one word, Natasha lifted her eyes to his and felt a hitch in her breathing at the look in his eyes. She frowned as she watched him clench his jaw as if fighting back anger. What exactly does he have to be angry about?
"Do not say things like that when you don't know," he said, quietly.
"W..What?" Natasha stammered.
"You have no idea, Natasha. You have no idea how scary it has been for me to worry everyday that today would be the day that I say something stupid that would make you run away."
She scoffed at that. "No, Steve, I was not the one who run away. You did, you left and you chose Sharon that day in Berlin!"
"Fine, yes! Sharon is every bit the girl that I would probably have ended up with in 1945. She's warm, she's strong, and she is uncomplicated. But here's something that people don't really get about me yet. I am not that same person who flew that plane into that icy water. I came out of the ice a different man, Nat."
Natasha opened her mouth to bring him back to what happened to Berlin but his grip on her arm tightened, effectively silencing.
"No, let me finish. Yes, Sharon would have been perfect for the man I was in '45 but then I met you. You who from the first time we met seemed so engulfed in darkness yet I watch you try so hard to find the light in everything you do. You who tease and smirk and flirt, then willingly lay down your life when someone you care about is harmed. You who weave lies and secrecy so intricately that no one can tell the truth from the lie yet can stand so tough and so unswervingly beside me even when you don't see things the same way I do. So yes, I wanted Sharon in Berlin for a split second right after you looked me in the eye and told me you agreed with Tony. But you I have wanted for much longer, ever since you jumped on my shield without even a hint of fear. But I know you enough to know that if I so much as hint this to you, you would run so fast I would probably never see you again. Am I wrong, Natasha?"
Natasha was left speechless at the depth of his understanding of who she was, right down to what she would have done. And he was absolutely right too. Had he said anything like this a few months ago, she would have packed up and gone. And even now, a part of her still itched to fight his hold on her and go back to the way she has always lived her life. Alone, with nothing to fetter her to anything. But the thing was he was not the only who has been changed. Natasha, too, was no longer that same person who can hide behind lies and make them appear truths to different people. She no longer lived in shadows, trying very hard not leave imprints in other people's lives so that she will never be remembered, never be recognized, never be made. And most importantly, she never wanted to be that person again, at least not with Steve Rogers. And suddenly, with this revelation all the anger and uncertainty she felt melted away.
She looked up at him and stepped closer, her heart racing at the hopeful look in his face. "You are not wrong, Steve. I would have run," she said, softly.
"Would have?" he repeated, probing her.
She nodded her head, eyes looking deep into his and she let a soft smile formed on her lips. One only meant for him. "Post-ice Steve Rogers need help differentiating between past and present tenses?" she teased.
She watched as a grin started to spread on his face, dispelling all the tension and anger previously etched there that night. "No, ma'am. I think I got this one," he said before pulling her in closer, close enough that their noses touched. "But I would prefer to hear the words just in case," he whispered, lips almost meeting hers.
"Okay," Natasha said, breathlessly. She bit her lip, looked up into her eyes. "I'm not going to run."
At her words, Steve threw his head back and started to laugh. "Not exactly the words I was aiming for. But I guess that will do. For now."
She opened her mouth to make another retort but with a shake of his head, Steve finally closed the distance between them and pulled her lips in a deep kiss. His hand snaked to cup the back of her head and pulled her in deeper. "But I feel obligated to warn you that even if you do – run, that is, this time I can't promise I'll let you."
She nodded her head, fully understanding what he was saying. And finding absolutely no problem with that as she leaned in for another kiss.