Trust | 1 |

Chapter Seventeen

It was Stark's idea that I go with Nat. She was leaving to go see if Rogers would come with her and sign, and then was going to head for Vienna. I really didn't want to go to the conference, because I was willing to bet everyone there wouldn't trust me for a second. They may not know everything about me, but they probably knew the most important thing (in their eyes): Hydra. Nat was sort of happy to see me getting on the jet though, so I knew I was going to be okay with her.

The jet ride was quiet. I spun around in the co-pilot seat and Nat sat in the pilot seat messing with controls. Our silence was comfortable while she ensured we were on autopilot and heading for London first. Then,

"Why did you sign?" Nat asked out of the blue. I stopped spinning around and sat facing the front instead. There was no need to ask how she knew I signed, because she knew and that's that.

"Selfish reasons. My own protection. Ensuring I wouldn't be thrown back into a cell. Those kinds of reasons," I listed off. Nat nodded and we were in silence again, except this one was more awkward.

She cleared her throat. "You understand who did and didn't sign?" she asked me. I found it odd that she and Stark asked me the same thing, but didn't push.

"Yeah, I know Wanda didn't and probably won't. She also understands why I did. I don't hate her for her decision," I said. The silence flooded back into the jet and stayed there for the rest of the flight to London.

It had been a couple hours of silent flying but we were finally there. Nat landed the jet in a secluded area and smoothed the wrinkles out of her dress (she changed mid-flight so she'd look more presentable at a funeral and the UN meeting). "Alright, I'll be back with or without Steve. Do not move while I'm gone, got it? That way if you're gone I know it's bad," she said. It felt like she was my mother for a minute there, but I let that weird feeling pass over and agreed to her terms. Nat left the jet and made sure the door closed back up once she was out.

There I was, sitting alone in a jet, with nothing to do and no one to talk to. It reminded me of my lonely days in Hydra. Except back then I didn't have much of a mind of my own. Now I was better versed in what today is like, and I was much more human, so this sort of alone time might make me go insane. Part of me believed that if I channeled the soldier within me, I could make it through, but I had no interest in going back to that dark period of my life.

I sat there thinking when the jet door started to open, startling me. I turned around to see if Nat was successful in getting Rogers or Sam to come along, but she walked back in the jet. "No one?" I asked her, a frown settling on my face. Nat shook her head and the jet closed back up.

"Steve refuses to sign, and Sam usually sticks with him, so it looks like it'll just be us," she said, finishing up the sentence with a smile. I smiled back at her and she went up to get the coordinates in for Vienna. It would take us a half hour in the jet, so I didn't bother trying to get comfortable again.

We were going to a UN meeting with leaders around the world, and some might even be watching me. Big functions like this were not my forte. I had no time for being comfortable. I looked over at Nat to see that she also didn't seem excited.

"So, we're the only two Avengers going and neither of us want to. How'd we get stuck with this job?" I asked her. Nat laughed at let her head fall forward a bit. "Well, I know how I got stuck with it. What about you?"

"Well," she started, spinning her chair around to face me. I copied her move so that we were facing each other. "I didn't get 'stuck' with this, I volunteered. Like I mentioned, we need to win their trust back and I feel like if I showed up it would make a good impression. My appearance would let them know I was cooperative." I nodded and let her words sink in. Nat was all about strategy, which was something else we had in common.