Widow & Winter

Natasha Romanoff: the Liar

I went to open the door for her but she did it herself. I reached out my arm, attempting to help her up, but when she took it she used it to turn me around. My gaze focused and I could see her smiling at me out of the corner of my eye.
"Care for the grand tour?"
"After you milady."
She led me from room to room, stopping in one of the two kitchens.
"You're proud of it, aren't you?"
"Yeah, maybe. Tony may be a tool but working for him has its benefits."
"Tony Stark, yeah. How do you know you can still trust him?"
"He's not so bad, and he doesn't mean any harm. He won't give us away."
"How do you know that? What benefit does it give him to help you?"
"I'm his friend, Bucky."
"It was sure friendly when he tore the Avengers in half."
"Buck, you know that wasn't his fault. It was the government that..."
"I thought Tony worked for the government!"
"He stopped years ago when he realized the error of his ways!"
"Right, in Afghanistan, when it took a terrorist attack on him to help him understand the affect he was having in the safety of the people he was trying to help!"
"He was a victim!"
"But he's dangerous. You can't deny that! You said so yourself in your report to Nick Fury."
Nat paused and stepped back, "How did you know about that?"
"Never mind."
"Just give him a chance. Trust him."
"I tried that, he try to kill me remember?"
"You killed his parents!"
"OH REALLY?! I didn't remember that! It doesn't haunt me or keep me up at night!"
"I'm sorry."
I took a very deep breath, "No, don't be." I tried to catch her eye but she looked away, "It's not your problem."
She smiled, "I wouldn't care if it was. I dealt with Bruce, and he was crazy, remember?"
"Yeah, I remember."
She reached into a cabinet behind her and pulled out two glasses, went into another and took out a bottle of Scotch. I followed her into the living room.
I sat down across from her and looked at her.
"So, what about Banner?"
"We haven't seen him since we fought Ultron. He could be dead, or worse, hiding with Gods."
I laughed into my glass, almost choking.
"That's not what I meant."
"What did you mean?"
I looked around, I don't know why, and said quietly, "I meant about you and Bruce."
"Oh, um," she paused, "Bruce, uh, Banner and I made no sense. He is a man with anger issues who hates to be lied to, and I'm a liar."'