The Seventh Avenger

Chapter 18: Heart to Hearts

"This is all your fault you know," I inform Nat tiredly, as I gently press the cold compress against my throbbing head, closing my eyes at the sensation. After the events of what happened on the race course a couple hours ago and having been questioned by the authorities, my brain had succumbed to a nasty headache that left it throbbing and the pain practically screaming to be felt. But with a couple of aspirins and a cold compress from Nat, I managed to numb the pain away. Somewhat.

After Ivan had been dragged away, Pepper, Tony, Happy and I had all been checked over by paramedics and upon finding that we were unharmed, the four of us and Nat had then been taking down to the police station where we had given our statements. Now Nat and I were sitting in an empty office, while Tony talked to some of the officers. I didn't know where Happy or Pepper went though. I didn't think they were here still however.

I open my eyes to find Nat looking at me, her head tilted slightly to the side as she considers what I just accused her off, causing her auburn curls to shift over her shoulders as she does so. Her eyes study me intently from the other side of the table though they're also narrowed in confusion as she asks "How so?"

"You jinxed us," I mumble, readjusting my elbow in the table I was currently leaning it on. "You got me all excited about coming here, telling me that this mission would be a breeze and that we would get a chance to relax. Does this look like relaxing to you?"

"It could be worse," Nat dismisses with a simple, small shrug of her shoulders. "We could be stuck doing statistics all day."

"Uh. Now those are the one thing that I don't miss from back in the day."

"You say that and it makes it sound like we're older than we actually are."

"We're not that old-we're just more experienced than other agents," I reply. "Take Budapest for example-"

"No."

"No?"

"No."

"But you and Clint love talking about Budapest," I start to tease though a quick flash of anger in the red-head's green eyes causes me to swallow the rest of my sentence and let out a small laugh instead, before then wincing at the noise causing pain for my head. "Ouch. Anyway, I was only teasing Nat. I know better than to bring up Budapest." Which was true. Budapest had and would probably always be a touchy subject for my uncle and his best friend since they completed the mission in the capitol of Hungary four years ago.

"Yet you bring it up constantly," Nat replies, though there isn't any anger in her voice.

"Not as much as other agents," I point out. "Honestly, whenever you or Clint walk by a level 4 agent, they start talking about you and practically worship you at your altar. You're like a celebrity with them."

"I'm flattered," Nat replies before she lets out a weary sigh as she steals a glance at the clock up on the wall. "We've been here for hours," she mutters, more to herself then me. "What's taking so long?"

"I don't know. Do you know where Pepper and Happy are?"

"Happy's with Pepper across the street, getting her some lunch," Nat explains. "Pepper's still in shock a little, so Happy thought he should go and take her to get something to eat."

At the mention of Pepper's name, I can't help but feel a pang of sympathy for her, after what she had been through today. She had been thrown right in the middle of danger, with Ivan slicing down on the car with the whip literally centimeters away from her. Any closer and she most likely would've been killed. Pepper didn't deserve any of this and now because of the actions of a pissed off man possibly wanting revenge, she had to deal with everything that had happened today. Happy as well, for that matter. But at the thought of the serious bodyguard, my heart sinks a little as I remember the conversation that the two of us had had prior to the attack on the race course.