Unexpected Romance

Chapter 15

Natasha:
I don't remember making it back to her room last night but I wake up in her bed alone.

"Val?" I call out thinking she could just be in the bathroom. No response.

I get out of her bed, get dressed, and head to the kitchen to see if she's just eating breakfast... Without me. I see Peter sitting alone at the kitchen table eating an orange. He waves and smiles at me with a mouthful of orange when he notices me. I smile at him, considering asking if he's seen Val but don't because he seems busy with that orange. I walk around the compound looking for literally anyone but I don't see a single soul except for Peter. I know Clint is taking the day with his family, Wanda and Vision are out together today, and Thor is in Asgard doing whatever gods of thunder do. Something feels off to me.

I walk back towards my room when I hear Steve and Bruce talking loudly in Tony's lab. I stop at the door to listen to what they're talking about.

"Okay. Tony just dropped her off," I hear Bruce say.

Dropped who off? I think.

"We should've prepared her more. Sending her with no communication with us other than the damn contacts seems so wrong," Steve says in a worried voice.

"Steve. Don't worry. She'll be fine. She'll be in and out," Bruce says to comfort him.

Who are they talking about and where is she?

"Natasha." I whip my head around to see Tony standing behind me.

"What're you doing?" He asks sternly.

"I-" I try to start.

"How much did you hear?" Tony asks.

"Not really anything except you just dropped off someone somewhere..."

"Okay. Stop eavesdropping." Tony starts to walk into the lab but I stop him.

"Wait. Tony, who did you drop off and where?" I ask curiously and concerned since he seems to be holding something back.

He just looks at me for a moment. "No one." He turns to go into his lab.

As soon as he opens the door, I hear Steve's voice tell Tony, "Valerie's in, Stark."

What the fuck?

I barge into the lab. "What the hell? Valerie?" I yell.

"Natasha-" Tony starts.

"No. Where is she? Don't play with me, Tony. Where is she? Is that who was dropped off? Is that who they were talking about?" I point to Steve and Bruce.

He sighs."Yes." I can tell Tony didn't want to tell me.

"What the fuck is going on? Someone better tell me right now."

"Valerie... was sent on a mission..." Steve starts, turning my attention to him.

"Sent where? What mission?"

He looks at Tony for approval and Tony nods. "There's an extremely dangerous piece of technology being held here in New York. If it were to be used, it could really make an impact. It's too dangerous to send the whole team so we had to send only one of us... being Valerie."

"I- Is it even safe for her to be alone? Does she have literally anything as backup? Steve, you said she has no way of communicating with us. What do you mean? How is she supposed to call if she needs us? How are we supposed to make sure she doesn't get hurt? Did you think about this at all?"

Tony cuts in. "Yes, Natasha. We put more thought into this mission than any other mission since it's an extremely dangerous mission. It was my idea to send Valerie. She's very skilled and I know she can handle herself. Yes. It's true that she doesn't have any direct contact with us. We did that because we don't want to risk any interceptions in the radio connection and have her cover be blown. We didn't send her with nothing. I gave her the new suit that has all the gadgets I could think of to keep her safe. I made her a watch to help locate the target. Her suit is extremely protective against hand-to-hand combat. I made her contacts to wear that project everything she sees to us here on this screen *points to a screen* so we can see everything like we're there, just without sound. The contacts connect to her watch which connects to us. She has a lot of ways to protect herself."