Stuck in The Multiverse

Chapter 3 - What the hell is that?!

What the hell does Stark want to talk to me about. I swear if the man tries again to make changes on my suit, I'm gonna punch him in the throat. I already had a shitty day, I'm not putting up with his shit tonight. What's happening to me today, I really thought she was gonna tell me, at lunch, how she ended up here. I'm a trained spy, how can I not even manage to obtain this bit of information, gosh. I hope Clint is well too, he seemed bothered by something leaving this morning and I know this time of the year is quite challenging for him. With all these thoughts clouding my head I reach Stark's office. I go to knock on the door but Stark must have been warned by F.R.I.D.A.Y.

"Come in, Natasha."

I walk through the door and lose no time, "what did you want to see me for?"

"Wow, straight to the point I see, to what do I owe this Cerberus attitude", Stark snickers while intertwining his fingers under his chin.

"I had a bad day, so if you don't mind I would want to get this done quickly", I snarl.

"Jeez, okay, I just wanted to talk about our new friend, don't come at me."

"What did you get", I ask impatiently.

"Not much actually, it seems she did appear out of nowhere, at least that's what the security cameras caught," he says while leaning back in his chair.

He plays the recording. I can see Clint sitting on the couch, bent over something I cannot distinguish. Suddenly a dark mist appears and Inès is there, standing at the centre of the room. She seems lost and look around her, a moment later Clint raises his head, grab his bow which was on his lap, and stand bending and aiming his bow at her, at the same time she had turned towards him. I can see him speaking at her and she responds. He looks fazed, but it's so brief that I wouldn't have been able to catch it if it wasn't for the fact that I've known him for a long time. He pulls himself together and tells her something, and it's at that moment that I appear.

"You see that kind of black-blueish vortex or something, well I have tried recognising it all day and it defies the laws of physics, so, if you ask me, it looks an awful lot like magic."

"Well, shouldn't we ask Wanda then?"

"I don't want to make Wanda come back from Europe especially for that, and by the way, Thor and Loki will be returning in two or three days I believe, is that correct F.R.I.D.A.Y.?"

"Two days, sir."

"See? We just have to wait a few days and they should be able to tell us what it is."

"Well, if that's all, I'll be going." I am tired of this day, first I hadn't been able to go train this morning, then Clint left, and now Tony made me come all this way just to tell me he didn't know how Inès ended here.

"Actually, that's not, I found something concerning on what F.R.I.D.A.Y. scanned earlier."

"What is it, for it to be tormenting the great Tony Stark all day it sure must be something quite unusual", I tease lifting my eyebrow.

"Well, I wanted to make sure she didn't hide something like a weapon of some sort of cybernetic prosthesis like Barnes, and the truth is, I found nothing."

"How is it concerning, Stark", I am irritated and I'm sure he can feel it.

"Since we've known Loki, Wanda and Strange, I've reprogrammed F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s scan to detect powers and artefact of any kind, and I found nothing, don't you find that weird that it detected nothing."

He stands up and walks towards the window of his office. I have to agree that it is worrying F.R.I.D.A.Y. didn't detect anything.

"How the hell is that", he mutters. He turns towards me, "she used a magic of some sort, it has to be coming from somewhere, we just have to find it out."

I don't say a thing because I know Stark is not gonna let it go. I cannot help but think that she might have told me the truth.

"And you Natasha did you manage to obtain any information from her", he sighs.

I'm not gonna tell Stark that she may not have powers until I am sure myself she told me the truth. "No, I couldn't bring her to confide in me."

"Well, it's time you unveil your double-agent skills because we are gonna need them, you can do that, can you?"

"I don't think she poses a threat, Tony, to me she is just a lost girl, I mean she is clearly weak and not trained."

"How do you explain she snuck up on Barton then?"

"I don't know, but I certainly don't think she is sly or threatening in any way, I mean come on, we are the Avengers, do we really have something to fear from a lone girl?"

"My job is to protect everyone, and as such–" he waves a pen as though to underline his statement–"I will not let her roam freely without knowing who she is, how she got there and what her intentions are, so you are gonna pretend to become her friend to learn what she is planning, end of story."

"Fine but don't count on me to do it tonight, I had enough for today", I say making my way out, "and, by the way, if you want the information that bad, try to go talk to her yourself, she's not that terrible."

I leave the office and make my way to my room. Ugh, I hate that. I don't want to use her because I really don't think she is plotting an evil scheme against us, but if Tony is right, even though I doubt it greatly, we have to find out for the safety of everyone. She is funny and her bubbly attitude is refreshing compared to all the dead-serious personalities we have here.  If I don't discover anything and she finds out I used her, I will lose the only friend I could make.

The morning after I am eating breakfast when Tony enters.

"Breakfast? This late? I thought you were always up early", he asks surprised.

"Rough night. Couldn't sleep before dawn", I answer and lower my eyes, "I kept thinking about–"

"Clint, I know, I'm worried about him too."

Well, I am worried about Clint, yes, but that was not what kept me awake. I really think I am making a mistake lying to Inès and pretending to be her friend to get the information we need. Suddenly I hear a loud noise and jump from my chair, spilling my scalding tea on me.

"Fucking hell", I yell.

"Greetings to you too, Miss Romanoff", Loki responds sarcastically, "a great pleasure to be welcomed in this way."

"Good day friends! I am glad to be back," adds Thor.

"Weren't you supposed to be back tomorrow", Tony asks surprised.

"It turns out it was just a minor problem, we were done yesterday but my brother–" Loki wave towards Thor sighting–" wanted to 'celebrate properly' and I quote."

What a pair seriously, they couldn't be more different. They both move towards Tony and me, as I clean the mess I just made. Tony starts to explain to them the situation we are in.

"A Midgardian appeared here, out of nowhere you say, last night," questions Loki, doubtful.

"Yes and we need your help, we viewed the cameras records yesterday, and we couldn't determine how she did it."

"She appeared from a sort of mist, Tony thinks it looks like magic, so we need your expertise", I add.

"Well, let's go see that, lead the way Stark", Thor offers.

We go up to Tony's office. He shows the recording to the two brothers and I watch their reactions closely. Thor seems clueless and Loki frowns more and more as he rewatches the scene. After maybe ten minutes of rewatching it, Loki straightens up and we all turn towards him.

"What are you thinking about, brother?"

"I am thinking, and I am quite sure about it, that it looks tremendously similar to the aspect of the power of the Tesseract", Loki responds apprehensively.