Too Little Too Late

Natasha Romanov

Coming back to the compound was not what she expected it to be. She was a bit off her game after a year in exile. They were all forbidden to leave Wakanda and so she had no clue or lead on what was really happening outside the borders. She could only go on with what was on the television and as a spy, she knew it wasn't the whole story. When General Ross went down, she knew it must have been Stark's work. Who else? He couldn't always do wrong after all. Even a broken clock was right twice a day. One right didn't erase all the wrongs. One right didn't meant that Tony would on the path of being a real hero. She couldn't do a thing before but as soon as they were back home she would do something. She had to. Tony's absence from the media wasn't the good sign that Cling wanted it to be. If the billionaire were hiding, it would be hard on them. The money and the free tech would be gone. T'Challa wouldn't be providing for them forever. The king wasn't as easy to manipulate. His mother, his sister and the Dora Milaje never hesitated to put him right on track. If Tony had had this kind of entourage, maybe Shield would not have been able to infiltrate his company and his life like that. Hurt Tony was always manageable.

That's how she should have found him. Hurt and ready to help, to make amend for the accords, the fight and anything in between. One comment or two well placed about his ego and she would have made him to whatever she wanted. If he were dead, that would be an entirely different story. The media were still on the Avengers' side at the moment. That didn't mean it would stay that way, especially if the event of Siberia were to be made public. Steve had told them and the world a story about other Winter Soldiers and Stark attacking him and Bucky without a reason. Some of that was the truth. The best lies came from the truth after all. Problem was that she knew about Howard and Maria's tragic end. She suspected that Iron Man attacked, yes, but after that somehow he was told the truth in the worst way possible. Once upon a time Shield had a copy of that recording and obviously Zemo had one too. The red hair needed to find those as soon as possible and destroy them. It was also well known by the team that the Iron Man armour recorded everything when deployed. That really would be her main problem. Her security was always her first priority and for that all traces of that event needed to vanish.

Rhodes wasn't helpful at all. She had tried on him one or two of her old tricks but the man deflected all her attempts. He was too used of that kind of things with all those years in the military. To an external eye, they were just having some kind of catching up conversation. Steve probably didn't understand one bit of what she was doing there. He wasn't one for the subtility. He would come to her, later, asking what was that. The captain had still the presence of mind not to stop her. She would only tell him what he needed to know. It wasn't like the man wasn't lying to her for his own agenda, so really, no harm done if she would be doing the same. Her actions would not only secure her position but also everyone else's. Not that she particularly cared for them except for Clint. The archer could be so infuriating sometimes that she could leave him behind just like that. At the end of her conversation, it was clear that Rhodey was feeling guilty toward tony and that wasn't good.

On that same day, the world learnt that Stark Industries was no more. Wanda took that as a victory. As if she personally closed the business and destroyed his owner herself. That stupid girl. She could never look further than her own revenge. Already, during Ultron, she had sided with the bad robot to get to kill Stark. No more money for her tonne of clothes or a new phone every other week just because "oops it felt not my fault na-ha". When she would realise how harder life would become without a rich benefactor, maybe she would realise her mistakes. Natasha doubted that. The girl was too easily blinded by her emotions and too stubborn to see the folly of her ways.

Pepper was not in the scene anymore. Quitting her job had been a real bad move on her part. Without Jarvis or Friday, it was a lot harder to research for her whereabouts. She managed. The media was till writing about the CEO resigning after their "Civil War" over a year ago. They weren't tender with her. They never have been that nice with Stark in the first place. Potts would be forever associated with him. She had wanted to share the life of the billionaire, she should share the hate as well. Some unsavoury articles were mocking Pepper, telling how nobody wanted to hire her anymore. No surprise there. After some good old hacking, Natasha found her trace in Cleveland. Talking about being knock off her pedestal, it was almost funny. That also meant that the bridges between the infamous Virginia "Pepper" Potts and the devil Tony Stark were certainly burnt. Natasha had to go and find out anyway.