Shadow

2. Expense

"This is the building?" Steve asked in wonder whilst staring at the large glass building.
Natasha didn't seem fazed in the slightest, used to the young woman's finer tastes.
"Thalia enjoys the fine things," the spy said with a tight lipped frown, "and unfortunately has the skill set to attain these things"
The sentence caused the blonde to tense, the use of the spy's skills being used for fraudulent stuff like this not sitting right for him.
Natasha ignored his discomfort, not seeing much harm in what the woman did. She only syphoned money from rich millionaire bastards.
"Come on, before we're spotted" she said, walking in briskly to the lobby.

Expensive chandeliers hung from the ceiling, diamonds glittering in the shining lights. It was early morning, a perfect time for them to sneak around whilst still gaining access to the building without it looking too suspicious. After hanging around the front for a few minutes, a man clearly headed for work had left and the pair managed to catch the door before it locked.
"This looks like somewhere Tony would stay"  Steve remarked as they climbed the stairs, the lobby workers not even paying mind to the pair as they walked past.
Likely, they were waiting for their night shift to end since it was only five in the morning.
"Stark's house probably cost four times the amount of this whole building" the redhead shrugged back.
Steve was inclined to agree after having spent a number of time at Stark tower.

The rest of the walk was done in silence as they came up to the penthouse, not passing a single soul up the staircase.
Natasha raised her fist up, rapping her knuckles against the door. After a few seconds, shuffling was heard on the other side of the door before it was flung open. The black haired woman in question was on on the other side, gun pointed at Natasha. The redhead smirked, glad to see the younger woman's reflexes still sharp.
"Natasha," the younger woman drawled before her eyes flickered over to the other person, "and Captain America. What a pleasant surprise"

Thalia was clad in a satin dress robe that barely reached her mid thigh. Underneath was a vest top and shorts that scarcely clung to her.
Her black hair was messily sprawled around her head. Clearly they had just woken her up. Even still, she was a beautiful woman even if she had just woken up.

"We're not here to exchange pleasantries" he said as she shifted away and put the gun down.
"Oh? Such a gentleman. Here I was thinking Captain America wanted to show off his muscles to me" she said with a grin at seeing his discomfort.
Natasha always forgot how awkward Steve was around women. Especially the openly flirtatious ones who were rather blunt. Unfortunately for him, Thalia was both.
"Now, Thalia, leave the poor man alone" Natasha said as she stepped into the penthouse.

A wall of windows covered one wall, showing the city below them. Plush, red velvet couches littered the area by the windows, fur blankets hanging over the backs. On the glass coffee tables were magazines haphazardly thrown around, a few bottles of wine next to them.
"Château Cheval?," Natasha asked as she picked up the wine bottle, "these cost a couple thousand a bottle"
Thalia grinned sheepishly as she settled on a nearby couch. She crossed her tanned legs, tying her hair back from her face. Natasha rose a brow and only received a shrug in return.
"What is it you want then? I'm a rather busy woman" Thalia said father nonchalantly.

In reality, Thalia was rather nervous. For Natasha to come to her this early, with Captain America at her door, it must've been serious. It caused her to ring her fingers in discreet motions.
"For one I wanted to warn you," the redhead said as she sat opposite the younger woman, "Hydra have infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. I think you should keep off the grid until it's sorted"
Thalia shifted, covering it up as if she was reaching for a magazine.
"Not much of a shock," she waved off whilst flicking through a few pages half heartedly, "they've always had those rats crawling in the ranks"
The man in the room stayed standing, always on guard in case of attack. Nobody had seen them, and nobody knew where they'd been. Hopefully it would stay that way.

"I'm hoping by your dismissive attitude that it doesn't include you" Steve blurted out, eyes hard as he watched her.
His mind was racing, thoughts of his past mixing his feelings and usual diplomatic and sometimes kind manner.
Thalia just looked up, a glare fixed onto her fine face.
"If I wanted to bring S.H.E.I.L.D to its knees like Hydra, I would. Trust me, I have the connections to. But I don't because i'm loyal and have morals, even if S.H.E.I.L.D doesn't always have the best ones" she said as her powers flickered to life in reaction to her anger, singeing parts of the magazine in her hands.

Both avengers watched on, only now seeming to gauge the threat that Thalia truly was. It was easy to forget under the expensive, dainty facade that she was a weapon honed for war and death.
"Now if you've finished accusing me, leave me alone" she hissed.
Natasha raised her hands defensively, trying to diffuse the situation.
"Thalia, we didn't come here to fight. I need to know where Maeve is" She iterated, sending a glance to Steve.

It was sharp and quick, a silent look in telling him to cool off and back down. They couldn't afford to make her pissed off. Thalia was always the hotheaded one, similar to her powers. Whereas Maeve was the coolheaded one who could be pragmatic about situations and adapt.
"Of course you do" Thalia groaned as she stretched her arms above her head.
A groan was released from her lips, whether from the movement or the conversation neither knew.
"Hydra are targeting people using a system that we need Maeve to get into. Even if you refuse us, Fury wants you to tell us" Natasha replied, not wanting to pull rank.

"God dammit," she mumbled before standing up and moving the magazines around hastily, "she'll murder me, you know? Hunt me down and kill me"
After a few seconds of searching, Thalia produced a burner phone from the mess.
"Take this phone and it has her location. For some reason if she's not there, theres a list of safe houses she uses"

Natasha thanked the younger girl, taking the burner phone and studying the screen. Still in the US, that was good. They didn't have the time to fly to other countries.
"Just be careful," Thalia said cautiously, "she's temperamental sometimes"

(A/N): So Thalia's introduced. I wanted to start showing differences between Maeve and Thalia. Since Maeve is older, she's always protected Thalia and had to make decisions. This plays a part in how Maeve is level headed and calculative whereas Thalia is more childlike and doesn't care as much

Please let me know if you want to see more of Thalia! Maybe I could pair her with someone? Or maybe she can just be a side character idk
Just please comment your opinions