veuve | cm x mcu

3 | the "notaries"

"The notaries are here! can you please sign the transfer paperwork?"
"i'm on happy time. sorry."
"what the hell was that?"
"it's called mixed martial arts. it's been around for three weeks."
"it's called dirty boxing. there's nothing new about it."

natasha and i walk in, or 'natalie' should i say.
"i promise this is the only time i will ask you to sign over your company."
i walk over to pepper with a paper, "i need you to initial each box."
as pepper is signing, the man he was boxing comes over behind tony and starts hitting him, "rule number one, never take your eye off..."
"that's it! i'm done!" he points to nat, "what's your name lady?"
"rushman. natalie rushman."
"front and center, come into the church." oh this should be fun.
"no. you're seriously not gonna ask.."
"if it pleases the court, which it does."
"it's no problem." nat reassures pepper.
"i'm sorry. he's very eccentric."
"don't worry, she'll be fine."
"can you give her a lesson?"
"no problem."

i walk over to the corner of the ring, but not far away enough from tony and pepper to where i couldn't hear them.
"who are they?"
"they are from legal. and they are potentially a very expensive sexual harassment lawsuit if you keep ogling them like that."
"i need a new assistant boss. two is even better."
"yes, and i've got three excellent potential candidates. they're lined up and ready to meet you."
"i don't have time to meet. i need someone new, and i feel like it's them."
"no it's not."

"you ever box before?"
"i have, yes."
"what, like, tae bo? booty boot camp? crunch? something like that?"

"how do you spell your name natalie?"
"r-u-s-h-m-a-n"
"how about you..?" tony blanks off and i realize i never actually introduced myself.
"katherine reams, r-e-a-m-s."
"what are you gonna google them now?"
"i thought i was ogling them." he pulls up our files on his table. fury wasn't kidding when he said he had computers EVERYWHERE. "wow. very, very impressive individuals."

"rule number one, never take your eyes off your opponent.." and when he went to swing, nat grabbed his hand and flipped him over, landing with her legs over his head.
"oh my god! happy!"
"i just slipped." he groans in pain.
"you did?"
"yeah."
"looks like a TKO to me." tony rings the bell and nat steps out of the ring. "alright your turn." he points at me.
"tony." pepper deadpans to him.
"alright fine." nat and i walk over to tony.
"just.. i need your impression." she tells him.
"you have a quiet reserve. i don't know, you have an old soul."
"i meant your fingerprint.."
"right."
"so, how are we doing?"
"great. just wrapping up here. hey, you're the boss."
"will that be all mr stark?"
"no."
"yes that will be all, ms. rushman, ms. reams. thank you both very much." we both walk out with smirks on our faces.

———————————

"mr. stark?"
"hey."
"hello, how was your flight?"
"it was excellent. boy, it is nice to see you all."
"we have one photographer from the ACM, if you don't mind. okay?"
"when did this happen?"
"what? you made me do it?"
"i made you do what?"
"you quit. smile. look, right there. stop acting constipated. don't flare your nostrils."
"you're so predictable."
"that's the amazing thing."

i open the door for tony while pepper and nat walk behind us. "right this way."
"you look fantastic."
"well, thank you." not gonna lie, i blushed a little.
"but that's unprofessional. what's on the docket?"
"uhh." i flip through his calendar, "you have a 9:30 dinner."
"perfect. i'll be there at 11."
"absolutely."
"is this us?"
"it can be."
"great. make it us."
"mr stark? your corner table is ready."

as nat and i are standing there, pepper starts freaking out.
"natalie! katherine!"
"yes ms. potts?"
"what do you all know about this?" she points at the television, where we see tony getting in a race car.
"this is the first i've known of it." she looks over at me, waiting for an answer that i don't have. "me too."
"this, this cannot happen."
"absolutely. i understand. how can i help you?"
"where's happy?"
"he's waiting outside."
"okay get him. i need happy."

———————————

after tony's joke of a party, fury called nat and me to meet him at some doughnut place.
"just my luck, where's the staff here?"
"that's not looking so good."
"i've been worse."
we walk up to fury and tony, "we've secured the perimeter but i don't think we should hold it for too much longer."
"you both are fired." tony tells us, mouth agape.
"that's not up to you." nat and i sit down, her next to fury and me in a chair on the outside of the booth.
"tony, i want you to meet agent romanoff and, well, agent romanoff."
"that's a shocking twist." he whispers, "hi."
"we're shield shadows. once we knew you were ill, we were tasked to you by director fury." nat told him.
"i suggest you apologize."
"you've been very busy. making your girl CEO, giving away all your stuff. you let your friend fly away with your suit. now if i didn't know better.." fury trailed off.
"you don't know better. i didn't give it to him, he took it."
"woah, woah, woah. he took it? you're iron man and he just took it? the little brother walked in there, kicked your ass, and took your suit?" fury looks at nat and me, "is that possible?"
"well according to mr. starks database security guidelines, there are redundancies to prevent unauthorized usage."
"what do you want from me?" tony asked us but nat got up to get the injection.
"oh god, you're gonna steal my kidney and sell it! could you please not do anything awful for 5 seconds? what did she just do to me?"
"what did we just do for you? it's lithium dioxide. it'll take the edge off. we're trying to get you back to work."
"give me a couple boxes of that. i'll be right as the rain."
"it's not a cure, it just abates the symptoms." i told him and nat and i left.

"i'm sorry." i told her.
"what do you mean?"
"that i can't stay longer."
"it's.."
"no nat, it's not okay. i haven't seen you in 3 years and barely have enough time to sit down and actually have a conversation, and the one time i do see you i have to act like i don't know you? it's not okay."
"it will be okay kate, you're my sister. don't act like fury isn't gonna call you in again."
"you're right. but what if we don't have time to talk."
"it'll be okay."

——————————

a/n

sorry for a weird ass chapter, but i've been busy as hell with ap exams and finals. so here's a little filler with nat ofc 🥲

-nae!