Marvel - An old Friend

[Jessy753]

Natasha rolled her eyes at his comment. But a small smile spread over her lips as he reassured her that it was for shaving only. She wasn't sure if anyone would allow her to actually bring along a shaver but it wouldn't hurt to try. "I'll see what I can do.", she replied to him and turned her gaze to the window.


"I'm sure I can find some good reasons on why they should allow you to go to the gym.", she replied and a real smile spread on her lips as his face lit up. "We might have some spectators though.", she said and guessed perhaps Fury would come and have a look himself. Natasha decided to take some matter in her own hands instead of waiting for things to happen. After all she had promised him to help to get into SHIELD. She might not know what kind of relationship they had but that didn't mean she wouldn't keep her promise of helping him while being at SHIELD.

 

[Kian Romanov]

"I don't mind an audience. It'll be a good chance to show-off my skills." he replied, not at all caring about how arrogant he sounded. "If they're impressed with my capabilities, then they won't see me as a liability." he added, following her gaze to the window. "Besides, the already know that I'm capable with a gun, this'll be an opportunity to display my combat skills to whoever will be watching, which I assume will probably be Fury."


He paused for a second, "I don't mind not having a razor, if that's what you want." he said carefully, weighing his words so that she wouldn't leave due to his lack of appreciation again. "All is well if you don't mind my soon-to-be beard." he added with a halfhearted smirk.

 

[Jessy753]

"I don't know who will watch", she admitted but continue "But I have a feeling Fury and perhaps Hill will be there. After all they will need to somehow form their own opinion on whether or not it's worth to take the risk to affiliate you into one of the missions." She turned her gaze back to him as he was busy looking out of the window.


Natasha looked surprised at him as he went on about the razor. "Like I said, I will see what I can do about that razor.", she said and continued with a gentle smile "Actually I think you look good with a small scruff on your face.", she told him with a smirk. For now, she seemed to warm up to him again "I mean it adds some edges to you." She allowed herself to laugh a little as she slid down on the wall, taking a seat while leaning comfortable against the wall. She tilted her head to the side a bit before continuing "Let's say if you actually win against me in the gym, you'll get that razor. Else I'm going to enjoy your company with a 'soon to be beard', alright?"

 

[Kian Romanov]

He liked the compliment, he saw it as a positive sign for him, it meant she was no longer keeping up the cold and formal attitude. "Usually my sniper is what gives my look of edginess, but I suppose I'll have to settle for scruff for now." he said jokingly while watching her take a seat, his mind haunted by why he was so keen on getting her approval. There was a red alert going off in his head. He wanted to be here in a stuffy room with Romanoff. Within the span of two days he had abandoned his lifestyle choice, realizing he held no loyalty to the KGB at all. He was a traitor, and he had to life with that for the rest of his life.


"I like bets," he said, marveling her smile a bit more than he should have. "The stakes being a razor are quite high, but I'll agree nonetheless." he hummed, his mind occupied elsewhere, in a realm of self-loath. He was confused, and never in his life had he ever been this uncertain.

 

[Jessy753]

Natasha laughed lightly and replied "Seems like it. Life's not all guns and roses, Kian. I'm sure you'll be back to your old edgy look in no time." Gently she nudged his foot with hers before she pulled her legs to herself, resting her chin on her knees as she studied his face. She recognized that he seemed to battle an inner fight or something right now. But she wouldn't question that now. Instead she would allow him battling this on his own as she could take a wild guess that it was about the situation - he was currently in. After all she had been in the same situation as he is right now - years ago. Abandoning the whole lifestyle and her beliefs hadn't been easy for her as well.


She chuckled and offered him a warm smile as he mentioned the razor. "Well, what kind of prize would you prefer, Kian?", she asked him curiously and continued "I mean a prize that I might be able to organize or simply something realistic." Natasha looked at him for a moment and joked "So, perhaps a teddy?"

 

[Kian Romanov]

"A teddy might be good company when you're not around..." he said in sarcastic consideration. "Well, if the razor isn't possible, I'd probably request another kiss, one not intended to distract me from your approaching partner." he said casually, never exactly being the shy type. The kiss was imprinted in his mind since it brought back years worth of what he thought were dead emotions. He still very much craved her and it didn't take a genius to notice.


"But," he added after pausing for a split second, "seeing as how you're only interested in exploiting my infatuation with you for SHIELD's benefit, it seems the prize is highly unlikely." he hummed, equally as casually. It may have been the first time he openly expressed his "infatuation" with her, but he knew very well that Natasha already knew this, he also knew that she was using these emotions against him. "Therefore I stick with my initial request of a razor." he said simply.

 

[Jessy753]

She smiled amused at him because of his reaction to the teddy. She allowed her guard to slip aside for now. It felt better being her natural self around Korav than the cold, calculated assassin everybody believed her to be. By the mention of the kiss she looked surprised at him for a moment. "You want another kiss?", she asked him, sounding somewhat surprised as she looked at him. Natasha had guessed that there were feelings left for her but she hadn't expected him to actually talk about it or being that straight forward to request a kiss.


"You are wrong.", she told him just as casually but looked at him surprised. She knew that Kian liked her but she hadn't expected the feelings to go that far. "I would kiss you... But it's sending the wrong signals to SHIELD.", her voice was gentle as she looked at him. She wasn't very sentimental. During her time at the Red Room, she was trained not to get too involved with other people. Yet Kian had always been a weak point of her. But she had never been able to express such feelings. So, she simply looked at him quietly. She moved away from the wall and sat down next to him. "I will get you that razor if it's this important.", she said and gently leaned her head on his shoulder. This was the only way she actually was able to express her own affection of him. Even though she mostly just kept her feelings locked up for most of the time.

 

[Kian Romanov]

He wanted to laugh at her reaction, relishing the fact that he derived at least some sort of reaction from her. It was a pleasant feeling knowing that he was still capable of surprising her. He took note of her inability to express emotions, comparing to his very own deficiency. He wasn't sure if emotions even applied to anything in his life but Natasha. He couldn't even decipher what those emotions were. He had been trained to not get attached, but boy did he care for her. He wasn't sure how or why, but he did nonetheless.


He hated hearing about SHIELD. It made the word "traitor" ring through his head. Regardless, he wasn't stupid. He knew what the weight of SHIELD knowing that she was involved with him would have on her. She had spent years building this reputation among SHIELD, she wasn't going to throw it away. He also noted that avoiding it would benefit him as well, her being involved with him would have him seem like less of a worthy candidate.


When she sat down beside him and rested her head on his shoulder again, all thoughts of bitterness almost disappeared. "Don't think acting cute right now will get you out of getting your ass beat tomorrow." he said, a small smirk playing on his lips.

 

[Jessy753]

"Oh snap.", she replied and tried to look annoyed but the amused smile on her face ruined the annoyance in her voice. "You ruined my initial plan in making you spare me by "acting cute".", she laughed and continued "No, this is way more egoistic. Sitting like this is the closest I can get to feeling good. Moreover I don't need any tricks to win against you, Kian" A smirk played on her lips as she looked up at him from his shoulder and mocked him more "I'm just better than you." Natasha chuckled at her own statement.


Natasha stayed quiet a little longer before asking him curiously "Ever thought of how your life would have turned out if you were able to remove all mistakes from your past?" She had thought about what would happen if she just went on and kissed him. The thought was tempting, is she was honest. But it would affect her personal mission to try and remove her regrets in life by working for SHIELD. So, it made her randomly wonder how her life would've turned out without working as a KGB agent and simply become a ballerina.

 

[Kian Romanov]

He quirked an eyebrow at her "closest I can get to feeling good" comment, glad to hear that at least that sentiment was mutual. "We'll see about that. I have 5 years of extra training that you haven't witnessed up my sleeve." he said with a shrug, knowing that he did at least have a chance of beating Natasha in combat. While they were working together, he always saw her as the stronger link in the team yet it wasn't something he was ever bitter about, it just made him respect her more. He assumed that perhaps things may have changed.


"No. I don't dwell on the past at all. What you see as mistakes now felt right at some point." he said, never letting old thoughts weigh him down. He silently wondered if she was referring to her involvement with the KGB. It made him wonder if he regretted it too.

 

[Jessy753]

"Same goes for me. I wasn't exactly lazy the past few years. Perhaps we're able to finally surprise ourselves?", she replied with a smile. "We're both excellent in combat, Kian. So, who knows maybe we're even or you're even better?", she continued and tried to pet his ego a little - just to see him smile a bit more. Natasha enjoyed his smile but didn't show it to neither others nor Kian himself.


"It never felt right. No matter how hard they tried to make my bad consciousness go away - it never really worked for 100 %. Did you know that I had countless of sleepless nights? Especially when they sent me out to - to get orphans for the Red Room. I never wanted the girls to follow my foot steps. By the time a SHIELD agent was sent after me, once of my mission was to kill someone innocent. Clearly innocent or as innocent as a child can be and Russia attacked the closest thing I ever had to a father. You can imagine it had quite an impact on me - both events. That's when I was captured by SHIELD. You can imagine that my bond to the KGB wasn't as good anymore as they believed it to be?", she told him. The first time talking about the truth what had made her turn sides and become a traitor. "At first it was hard. The word 'traitor' constantly crossed my mind. But truth to be told. I never regretted to turn my back to Russia but turning my back to you without saying another word or saying my good-bye. Eventually I started taking missions for SHIELD and it feels good to finally be able to do something right and perhaps sending the bad guys to prison."

 

[Kian Romanov]

The flattery was obvious but he was grateful for the gesture nonetheless, giving her a light nudge in return. There were very few people Natasha would flatter, and he was glad to join those ranks.


He silently listened to her express how nothing she did then really felt right. It felt weird for someone to admit the emotional trauma of the experience with the KGB, it made his insides twist in an uncomfortable way. Hearing it out loud was a strange experience. Even back then when they were tortured for failing a mission, they were not allowed to complain. He paused for a few seconds to collect his words, "Well, it never felt right pulling a trigger. There was no...satisfaction to it. I guess it never felt wrong because we were taught otherwise. Completely broken moral compass."

 

[Jessy753]

"Of course it shouldn't feel good to pull a trigger on anyone. We might be broken in certain ways. But we're not completely bad. We might be a lot of things but no psychopath", she said after a small silence between them. " But I think there's most likely more about it than a broken moral compass. They made us to robots. Not allowed to fail or feel anything. We were good as long as we reached their goal or were better. Otherwise...", Natasha said and eventually trailed off into her own thoughts. Before she glanced at him with a frown. "I would have loved to meet you in another life - outside of Moscow and the KGB. It would be interesting, if we still would've become friends and more or would've hated each other for being completely different people.", she said and chuckled a little as her mind settled on that thought.


Natasha glanced out of the small window and recognized that the sun was almost gone by now. It must already be late and probably time for her to go to her own quarters. She knew that she couldn't stay another night inside this room and give SHIELD a reason not to trust her report. "I should leave soon... Need to check if I can get you out of here for the gym tomorrow...", she eventually said and looked apologetic at him.

 

[Kian Romanov]

He frowned at her robot comment, it was very much true, even he knew that, but it stung nonetheless. "But if we met, we'd have nothing in common to link us." he said with a shrug, "With our array of conflicting interests, chances are we would have never found a common ground." He leaned his head towards her, "Perhaps...perhaps it's the only good thing that came out of the KGB." he said.


He felt a heap of disappointment as she mentioned she needed to leave, but he hid it well as he stood up, adjusting his wrinkled shirt. "Right, you go do that. Don't forget to recommend them to get me another shirt though. We'll see about the razor tomorrow." he said, a bit too excited about the prospect of hitting the gym.

 

[Jessy753]

"Perhaps it is...", she agreed and looked at him for a moment before she rose to her feet. She watched him adjust his shirt and listened to him. "A comb, shirt, razor and teddy. Got it", she said and added the teddy to tease him a little: "I need to get you a little friend. So you're not too alone when I'm not around" Natasha noted his excitement to hit the gym with a raised eyebrow. "This eager to go to the gym, huh? Is this room already this boring?", she asked him sounding amused by the thought even though she understood him. There wasn't much to do beside thinking and staring at blank walls. This kind of life was for no one comfortable especially for them. They were trained to see things and to move around instead of staying at one place for such a long time.


"See ya tomorrow.", she told him and moved towards the door before barging an order to the agents outside of this room. She heard the lock clicking as a sign for it to be unlocked and the door swung open. Natasha turned around and looked at Kian a last time before waving shortly at him and offered him a warm smile. She stepped out of the room and heard the door close immediately behind her. Suppressing a sigh, she moved to the deck hoping to see Fury there and at least get him to agree to a sparring round in the gym.


To her own surprise she spotted Fury standing near some screen, giving orders of directions. Natasha moved to him and rose her voice: "Sir..? Have you received my report on Korav?"

 

[Kian Romanov]

He watched her walk out with a frown on his face, her smile still echoing in the room even after she had left with the door locking behind him. He sat back down and leaned onto the wall once again. He rubbed his temple, the lack of ventilation in the room was really getting to his head. He shook his head, it definitely wasn't the ventilation affecting him, it was the sheer nagging in the back of his head.


His mind was exhausting him. The strain of enjoying being on the other side was absolutely killing him. Feeling more peace in a 2 x 3 room than his entire career as an assassin felt wrong. He was trained to do the exact opposite of saving. He wasn't supposed to be here, at least not as willingly as he was. He allowed his mind to drift to Natasha and his chances of getting access to that gym of theirs. He had no doubt that the place would be state of the art, not expecting any less from a levitating airplace platform.


After 1 hour of idly staring at the pristine white ceiling, he devised a plan that would guarantee a bit of entertainment.

 

[Jessy753]

Fury turned to her after giving another order to which direction they were heading. "I have received and read your report, Romanoff. But to me it seems like there's a huge risk to your recommendations of integrating Korav into SHIELD. The current situation suggests not to take such a risk. We have to protect the earth from Asgardians and whatever else is in outer space. I can't and won't play babysitter just because you became sentimental, Romanoff! Moreover we have more important things to do than to take care of a lose assassin. I expected you to catch him for us to put him in jail and not to hire him. He's dangerous and a threat to SHIELD's security. ", the director told her.


"He's not a threat, Nick. He might be confused but that's a normal reaction to his current situation.", Natasha replied and quickly added "In fact he will be really useful. He went through the same education I did with the difference that he wasn't at the Red Room. He's able to fight and he's going to be better than most of SHIELD's agents, if you are willing to give him a try! Just allow him to prove himself. If you don't believe me: I can take him to the gym, tomorrow. I'll spare with him and you can actually see how good he is." Natasha looked at him while she unconsciously tried to decipher every little detail of his facial expression and body language, which would give her a hint on how he actually thought about this whole situation and the thought of offering Kian a job as she slid down on a chair at the big table on deck. "I mean he gave you some of his clients. So he did show signs of cooperation.", Natasha pointed out as Fury didn't speak.


Fury watched her sitting down not giving anything away of his initial plan yet. "He did...", Fury answered thoughtful for a moment and continued "He's allowed to use the gym tomorrow. But no longer than an hour! But I have a condition if you want me to truly consider that idea of yours and not to allow Barton to bring him to the sandbox. Because I'd say you want him here because you've become sentimental especially because the relationship between both of you! Hawkeye is correct that he's way too big threat of going back to the KGB after he collected enough information for them to take him back. But there's something Barton hasn't thought of and that's you"


Natasha raised her eyebrow silently while she listened intently to what Fury said. Soaking in each word, she considered of how to understand them while Fury went on "I've watched what Korav had to say while you unauthorized interrogated him, Natasha. He has a weak spot for you and you are able to find out whether he wants to stick to us or goes back to Russia as soon as he gets the chance to clear out. Record me a truthful statement of him staying at SHIELD and you two can use the gym as long as you want in the future. I might even consider to check out his skills and your recommendation before making my final decision on what's going to happen with him." Fury put down a small recording device in front of Romanoff.


He looked insistent at Romanoff and she gave him a small nod, taking the device from the table. "There's another thing...", she began and rose from her seat as she spoke "A comb, razor and some fresh clothes are needed. That's the least you can grant him, if I'm supposed to record his statements." Fury nodded and replied "Granted but if a razor blade is anywhere near my agents' throats. Koran will be faster of the Carrier than he can say 'SHIELD'. The stuff will be in your room by tomorrow. So, you can give them to him before the gym. Just don't fail to remember him that this is no vacation but he's being captured."


As Natasha watched Fury turning away from her, she rose to her feet and made her way to her own quarters while holding the recording device in her hand. She thought about what just had happened and considered what Kian's odd may be.

 

[Kian Romanov]

Korav slid down into sitting position on the door that linked him to the outside. The position would be optimal to hear what was happening outside. Since this wasn't a cell, the door was made of wood instead- of course, heavy duty wood, but he could still slightly hear the outside activity. The plan he devised was incredibly simple. He would wait until the guard that was now positioned on the right side of the door to take a few steps away from the door (close enough for them to hear the bang but far enough for him to have time to hide), to give Korav enough time to loudly bang his metal bed into the wall and hide beneath the bed- making the guards rush in to not find him inside- making them believe for only a little while that he had escaped.


It was childish, he admit, but he was ridiculously bored. He knew it would be brief and harmless, so he stayed put in his position, listening intently to the rustling of feet on the other side. A very slow 45 minutes passed, his eyes plastered to the window, waiting for that familiar tap of feet. And finally, he heard the man on the other side take a step forward, prompting Korav to drag the bed backwards to gain momentum, then slamming it into the wall. He rushed under the bed while he heard the door unlock, and lifted himself so that he wouldn't be visible if someone briefly looked under the bed.


A guard frantically came rushing in, he watched footsteps rush to the bathroom, then glanced under the bed ( stupidly not bothering to look at the top half where he was hanging). "THE SON OF A BITCH ESCAPED. HE'S OUT. HE'S OUT!" the guard yelled at the top of his lungs in the hallway, running down the hall. He chuckled, letting go and crawling out, "I'm right he-" before he could finish his sentence an alarm seemed to already be pulled, red lights were flashing everywhere and a computerized voice was saying "Prisoner escaped. Prisoner escaped." he walked out to the hall, taking a few steps away from his door to clear up the misinformation.


Within a second he was faced with the face of no other than Captain America himself, the man the media couldn't seem to get enough of. Before he could say anything or express any form of surprise, the man had slammed Korav's body into the wall, his cheek painfully meeting the cement, in an effort to restrain him. "Got him." was all the bastard said into his comm-link, while Korav was left to wonder how everything had escalated so quickly.


"Fuck."

 

[Jessy753]

Halfway to her room, red lights started to flash and she heard the automatic alarm starting to boost over the speakers. Natasha stopped in her tracks as she felt her heart sink and like someone had stomped on her guts. It hadn't taken her long to link the alarm with Kian as the Helicarrier didn't carry many prisoners, who'd be able to escape. For a moment she thought about allowing the other agents to take care of Korav. But deep down she knew that he was her mission and she would tidy up her own mess of trusting him.


As anger over her own mistake and disbelieve rushed through her Natasha started to run towards the room, in where Kian had been kept the last two days. On the way she bumped into a few agents, who were startled and obviously afraid about someone like the current prisoner on the lose. Of course many had heard stories about him by now. After all stories and gossip always spread like wild fire on the Helicarrier.


Finally Natasha arrived at the scene. She saw Steve's back in front of another body. She registered that it must be Kian. Right now she was torn between telling Rogers to move back. So, she could punch her old partner in the face for being this stupid to both stay near the room after trying to escape and even trying to escape. He should've known better than trying to.

 

[Kian Romanov]

Korav felt the mass of steroids turn his head to face someone, "He was two steps away from his room. Not much of an impressive escape plan." he told her before Korav could spot that it was Natasha. "I wasn't fucking escaping-", the man interrupted with shoving him against the wall. "I'm serious! It's a complete misunderstanding. A prank gone very wrong." he said, for the first time in his life feeling very small as he tried to justify his actions.


"I was hiding under the bed." only now did he realize how stupid that sounded, "I expected the guard to panic for a bit before I made an appearance, but the idiot ran to the alarm and set this entire place into chaos." As hard as he tried to writhe out of the man's grip, he couldn't get loose enough to face Natasha.

 

[Jessy753]

She stood there emotionless watching Rogers moving Kian around. By now she had restricted herself to watching instead of talking and listened intently to every word that was said as well as scanning them from a lie. She agreed with Steve that it was anything else than a master plan to escape from this room. But there weren't any options to actually go on the Helicarrier and jumping was idiotic unless you had a parachute. Natasha toyed with the recording device in the pocket of her jacket as she estimated her next steps.


"Why should we believe you?", she asked him casually not giving away her anger about this situation. Right now, she couldn't tell if she was fooled by actually believing he would fit into SHIELD and actually stay here or if he had just been extraordinarily stupid by pulling such a prank. "And don't you point fingers at someone, the agent reacted properly by setting off the alarm! This is your fault only. Perhaps you had too much liberties by being able to stay inside that room!", she added, looking at him.

 

[Kian Romanov]

He scowled at her tone, not liking being reprimanded one bit. He hated being reminded that he was just a prisoner. He didn't like the edition of the "we" in her question, noting how Captain America was someone she worked with on a regular basis. "I'm a fucking trained assassin, Natasha. I wouldn't be waiting outside the room I supposedly escaped from when this guy held me down while I was yelling out that I'm right here." he glared at the guy to give Natasha confirmation.


"Look, this was a stupid, stupid mistake." he said, resisting the urge to wince at the guy's extremely powerful grip. "Just put me back in the room and there won't be anymore trouble. Take my word for it." he knew his word wasn't worth much, but he assumed it could work.

 

[Jessy753]

"Well, which lie am I supposed to believe, Kian?", she asked him back and continued "That you are stupid enough to pull such a prank out of boredom while being captured or that you don't want to escape?" She looked cold at him as she went on "No trained assassin would do such a stupidity because of not having anything to do. So, what's your motive? Revenge on me?" Natasha looked him straight in the eye not even batting an eyelid as she watched his facial expression and reaction to what she was saying. Right now, all she did was trying to detect the lie in his words.


"So, just give me one fucking good reason on why I should believe you.", she said as her voice made clear that she wouldn't tolerate further bullshit and continued "Perhaps you did have too many liberties and we shouldn't go to the gym tomorrow. But you can be lucky as hell that Steve caught you and not me! If I were him, I'd make sure that you won't be able to walk around anymore." She didn't bother to hide her threat and continued "Let's put it like this. Cap's the nice guy and I'm the one, who will fuck you up if you don't follow the rules. Is this clear?" She glared at him as the anger slowly showed through. Even though she remained the calm normal self.

 

[Kian Romanov]

He stared at her in disbelief, not in his decades of being tortured had he ever felt so degraded. The words "what's your motive?" rung through his head, he knew he did it because he was bored but he knew that at this point Natasha could be suspecting that his little stunt today was building up to some grand plan for escape. Her repeating it just made him realize how childish his idea of fun was- appearing as a stupid call for attention. He was a respected and feared man- he should have expected the exaggerated reaction from the guards. Him disappearing from his room could very easily cost the lives of quite a few on board. He wondered if she was being more of a bitch due to the other man's presence, perhaps trying to consolidate that her relationship with Korav was strictly him being her prisoner. He didn't answer the first question, looking straight ahead.


He craned his head to spot the security camera that was well concealed, "There. Watch it. You'll see me flailing my arms while saying "I'm right here"." He was furious about the way she was talking to him, but losing his temper right now could be a one way ticket to hell, so instead he clenched his jaw and listened. She was threatening to take away the gym visit that he had been craving, but he refused to give her a reaction. It was clear to see that she was livid with anger and the authority in her voice was particularly convincing through the way she emphasized that he should be worried about what she would do to him, not the Captain. Even though he doubted the bundle of muscles holding him was by any means a "nice guy" he didn't doubt Natasha's threats one bit. She wasn't on his side. "Clear." he replied with a scowl, just wanting this mess to be over.

 

[Jessy753]

She looked at the security camera and looked at one of the agents. "Make yourself useful and get me the video immediately. ", she ordered and glanced deadly at the guy that caused him to flinch a little before hurrying away. "You.", she pointed at the other agent, who had set off the alarm and told him strictly "Go and talk to Fury about where to put Korav as this is obviously not the correct room for him. Ask him for the cell, which he had actually wanted to put him in!" Then she turned to everyone, who had come to catch Korav and stayed along to watch the whole scene "To the rest of you. Get back to your duties - there's nothing to be seen!"


Cap stayed behind still holding onto Korav as he watched the whole seen without even commenting once. "Now to you.", she turned to Kian as people slowly hurried their ways not wanting to provoke the Black Widow further. "One more stunt like this and I will throw you off deck with my own bare hands, are we clear? I won't take the blame for your stupidity here and actually sympathize with Fury and every other person, who will say to send you to jail. This is your stupidity and you will face the consequences for your actions! I gave you the chance to redeem yourself, if you don't want to take it - tell me! Don't pull me down with you out of some stupid plot to ruin me. An ant has no quarrel with a boot." Steve stared at Natasha for a moment, remembering the last time someone said that.


The agent came back with a stick and told her "The security cam video, ma'am." Natasha curtly nodded at the man accepting the USB stick from him while talking to Steve: "Put him in that room. We have a video to watch."