Chapter 19: Answers

A/N: Natasha has some questions.

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Sitting behind his desk, Tony watches as Natasha processes the bombshell he just dropped in her lap. Finally, the gorgeous femme fatale shakes her head, sending her red curls bouncing every which way.

"… You can't be serious. You honestly expect me to believe Nick Fury is a Nazi?"

Heh, that's a fair enough reason to be rather incredulous of his claims, Tony has to admit.

"No. Nick Fury is not a member of HYDRA."

Natasha relaxes a little bit at hearing those words. Of course, then Tony has to ruin it.

"However, Alexander Pierce is."

That gets her attention again. She scowls a little at him for it, likely recognizing that he's enjoying provoking reaction after reaction from her. But can she really blame him? Getting genuine reactions of disbelief and shock out of someone of her training is always a treat.

"Alexander Pierce is a Head of HYDRA, and the one in charge of HYDRA's SHIELD branch."

When Natasha narrows her eyes at that wording, Tony just laughs.

"Sorry, did you think the version of HYDRA in SHIELD was all there was? Oh no. SHIELD is just a shell for one branch of HYDRA… one of its many heads. Still, you're right. Nick Fury is not a member of HYDRA. Neither is Phil Coulson or Clint Barton if it makes you feel any better."

She tries her best to hide it, but Tony can tell that it does indeed make her feel better. Still, it's obvious that Natasha is reeling, for as much as the gorgeous red head CAN reel. Tony has dropped one too many secrets on top of her head, and not really given her the time to process any of this.

"… I assume you have proof."

And yet, she was still willing to believe him. Or at least extend a modicum of trust towards him until she had found out for sure what was going on. Tony was left wondering if Natasha had been telling the truth earlier when she'd all but insinuated that her loyalty to SHIELD was shaky at best. She no doubt had a special bond with Barton, and she obviously greatly respected Fury and Coulson… but in the original timeline, she would have been working with SHIELD for a lot longer before she was assigned to infiltrate his company...

In this timeline, Natasha Romanoff had only been with SHIELD for about six to seven months before she'd been sent undercover. And then she'd spent ten months in Tony and Pepper's tender care, playing the role of their shared personal assistant. Tony wasn't foolish enough to think that she'd really fallen in love with either of them, JARVIS' joking aside. But he did have to wonder if SHIELD had made an even greater mistake than he initially thought by serving him up Natasha on a silver platter like they did.

"I have plenty of proof, Natasha. Convincing you of HYDRA's existence and the rot within SHIELD will be easy. It's convincing you that I and I alone am uniquely positioned to take down Pierce and HYDRA that might be a little harder."

Natasha's eyes narrow again.

"… You want to keep Fury and the others in the dark. You want me to help you keep this from them. Why?"

Tony considers how best to answer that for a second before deciding to be brutally honest.

"Because they'll make a mess of things, Natasha. And this can't be handled quickly. It has to be slow. It has to be delicate. Like catching a snowflake on the tip of your finger without letting it dissolve. If we're going to deal with HYDRA, we have to do this right. Here's the problem, Natasha. Alexander Pierce made Fury the Director of SHIELD. HYDRA tolerates the existence of superb agents like Coulson and Barton despite knowing they have absolutely zero hope of turning them to their side. Why do you think that is?"

Natasha's lips thin out as she considers the question. Tony has to admit, he's pleased that she's taking him so seriously. She never had in the previous timeline. But then, Natasha has always been something of a social chameleon, a mimic of a person if you will. Tony hadn't ever taken himself seriously in the previous timeline and Natasha had mirrored that energy, treating him like a child rather than a teammate, like a mark over a friend.

This time around, that wasn't going to happen. Tony wouldn't let it. And so he sits patiently, no quips, no jokes, no nothing. And he lets Natasha get there all on her own. Well, mostly on her own. He's pretty much already laid it all out for her.

"… Because they might not know it, but they're already in HYDRA's pockets. Because HYDRA knows them inside and out and if any of them make a single move out of the ordinary, it'll act as an early alarm system letting HYDRA know they have a problem on their hands."

Tony grins.

"Good girl. Knew you would get it."

That earns him a slightly frosty glare from the Black Widow as she narrows her eyes dangerously at him.

"… I'm not really your dutiful sex pet, Stark. Natalie Rushman was just an act. You don't have to keep up the positive reinforcement. Especially when it's so obvious."

A laugh escapes Tony's lips. She was right, of course. And he'd known every time he used 'good girl' on her and watched her perk up while pretending to play Natalie Rushman, that it was all just an act. Though…

"I suppose the weekend sex marathons are over then, hm? Pepper will be disappointed."

Natasha barely reacts, and she definitely doesn't try to say that they can continue such things. But he's pretty sure she actually does feel a little bad about losing the relationship with Pepper. A good sign for the future, if nothing else.

"Like I was saying before, Agent Romanoff. You already believe me about HYDRA, deep down inside. Now I just need to convince you that I can destroy them once and for all."

"… And how are you going to do that?"

Grinning once more, Tony shrugs.

"Simple. I'm going to infiltrate the infiltrators. I'm going to pretend to join HYDRA, convince them I'm on their side, and then dismantle them from the inside."

The incredulous look Natasha gives him makes him want to laugh again. Instead, he just lets his grin grow.

"Give me a week."

Now the incredulity infects her tone as she parrots his words back to him in disbelief.

"A week."

"Not to destroy HYDRA, but to show you that not only are they puppeting SHIELD, using them as a skinsuit, but that I can easily infiltrate them and turn their control of SHIELD to my own ends. A week and I'll have Fury not only ending this long-term mission of yours, but introducing you by your actual identity to me, however begrudgingly. A week to have SHIELD itself eating out of the palm of my hand and falling all over itself to give me whatever I want."

By the time he's done talking, he can tell he has her interest. Natasha even quirks up the corner of her mouth in a half-smirk, her nostrils flaring as she no doubt imagines it.

"That would be quite the show, Stark."

"I'm quite the showman, Romanoff."

But then the half-smirk disappears and Natasha is solemn once more.

"You are that if nothing else. Still… one thing I don't fully get. Why are you so convinced I'll be willing to side with you? Even if I do believe you about HYDRA and SHIELD and the futility of trying to tell Fury, Coulson, or Barton about any of this… why are you so convinced that I'm on your side? I was SHIELD's enemy just a year and a half ago. And yet… you seem convinced that I'd do anything to save it."

Ah. Honestly, that was fair. Tony considers the question for a long moment before deciding how he's going to answer it.

"I'll give you half now and half later, Natasha."

She raises a brow at that, waiting patiently until Tony elaborates.

"First things first, there's the matter of what the Red Room took from you."

Natasha's face closes off almost violently at that, but Tony just plows on ahead.

"I have the means to heal you, Natasha. Wholly and completely."

"… The Red Room were incredibly thorough."

Yes they were. One might argue that there was nothing left there to BE healed. But Tony just smiles and lets his eyes fill with an orange glow, something that startles Natasha even as she does her best not to react.

"Not thorough enough. I've created miracles since coming back from Afghanistan, Agent Romanoff. You suggested you believed that much to be true when you gave your report to Fury and Coulson, but you refused to let yourself consider what that might mean for you. Let me be blunt. I can heal you. I can give you back the parts of you that the Red Room removed to make you their perfect assassin. I can give you back the capacity to become a mother."

Natasha's poker face is impeccable. But to her credit, she seems to realize it doesn't matter. After a moment, she scowls at him, her eyes narrowing into dangerous slits for what feels like the dozenth time since they started talking.

"How? How could you even know I cared about something like that? SHIELD doesn't know that. It's not something I've ever told anyone. So how?"

Tony gives Natasha a bland smile.

"You know I'm not going to answer that, Natasha. The question you should really be asking is what it's going to cost you."

That gets her attention. She stiffens up.

"… What would such a thing cost me?"

"Trust. Give me the week, Natasha. And then, once I prove everything I've said to you, help me dismantle HYDRA piece by piece, block by block, until there's nothing left. After HYDRA is gone, you have my word that you'll have the chance at a normal life, motherhood and all. I won't let anyone get in your way."

He can see her peering at him, trying to figure out if he's lying or telling the truth. He can also see the moment when she realizes she has no way of knowing. Natasha's poker face is impeccable, but Tony's poker face is perfect. He'd left her unaware that he knew her true identity for the last ten months after all. She was going to have to come to terms with that fact.

In the end, Natasha takes the leap of faith, just as he'd hoped.

"Alright then. I am… tentatively on board, Stark. I suppose the knowledge I can be healed is the half up front and the actual healing is the half later, yes?"

He could have lied to her. He could have easily agreed and not bothered to correct the misunderstanding. But in the end, Tony doesn't. He shakes his head, a sad smile on his face.

"No, that was all the first half. The second half… well, like I said. It's for later, Natasha. You're going to have to be patient, I'm afraid."

He's being selfish and he knows it. Telling Natasha Romanoff that her assassination attempt against Dreykov had failed and the Red Room was still very much operational would only distract her at a pivotal time. She would go AWOL almost certainly, and not only would Tony lose a valuable asset, but she would probably wind up throwing herself right into Dreykov's hands.

Tony wasn't technically supposed to know about what Natasha got up to back in 2016, shortly after the Sokovia Accords tore the Avengers apart. But he'd had FRIDAY keeping tabs on all of his former teammates all the same. That was how Tony knew that most of the Avengers had spent their time hiding out in Wakanda following the end of their little 'civil war'.

Natasha though, she'd stayed active. And when you wound up doing something as big as taking down the Red Room once and for all, properly this time, it tended to show up on some people's radar in a big way.

The problem was, Red Dust hadn't been created yet in this timeline. Tony had JARVIS keeping an eye on the situation, but at the moment there was no movement from the former Widows of the older generation. No talk about the mind control that Dreykov was putting the newer generation under. No mention of developing a synthetic gas that could prove to be the counteragent to chemical subjugation.

And frankly, Tony had enough on his plate already. The moment he was confident that they could free the other Widows and destroy the Red Room without risking Natasha's freedom in the process, Tony would help her do exactly that. Until then… until then, he was going to keep Natasha in the dark about Dreykov and the Red Room's survival. It was kinder that way.

The look on Natasha's face makes it clear she's not happy to hear that. Her curiosity is undeniable. But in the end…

"Fine. I suppose that's the leash, isn't it?"

When Tony raises an eyebrow in response, Natasha elaborates.

"You've collared me with this promise of healing. You'll keep me leashed by making me wonder just what else you're holding in reserve. Can't exactly go against you until I know what you're hiding, now can I?"

He can't help himself. He laughs and shakes his head.

"That's not fair. You can't end our sexual relationship and then put mental images like that in my head, Agent Romanoff."

Suddenly, there's a genuinely pretty smile plastered across Natasha's beautiful features. She rises from her chair, uncrossing her legs and brushing off her pencil skirt.

"If that's all Mr. Stark, I should really be getting back to Ms. Potts. Somehow, I think she needs my assistance more than you do at this point."

Tony watches, a little stupefied, as Natasha proceeds to spin on a dime and begins walking towards the door, putting a hell of a lot of sway in her step and drawing his eye to her heart-shaped derriere in the process. As she reaches the door, she turns to look back at him over her shoulder and gives him a wink.

"Looking forward to the show, Tony."

And then she's gone and Tony is left groaning a little bit at the pressure he suddenly feels in his crotch. That beautiful bitch knew exactly what she was fucking doing, damn it. And wait… did she just imply that she'd be continuing her sexual relationship with Pepper and only ending things with him?!

Tony growls, half-tempted to chase the red head down, pin her against a wall, and remind 'Natalie Rushman' of her place. He doesn't of course, but damn if he isn't tempted. He'd always known he wasn't likely to continue to have access to Natasha's panties once she knew he was playing her and all of SHIELD for fools.

Ah well. Sacrifices had to be made. And plans could now continue apace. Natasha wanted a show? He'd be sure to give her one.

"JARVIS. It's time. Use Zola to get in touch with Pierce. He's been rather panicked at having lost the Winter Soldier. Let's give him a win, shall we?"

"Of course, Sir. Sending the message now."

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A/N: In the end, she just can't help herself can she? Once a minx, always a minx~

And now it's time for that Zola thread to be picked back up!

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