Civil War: Rewritten

Chapter 7: Ross

"Stark, Romanoff, and Rhodes," Ross' voicemail began. "I'm coming to the Compound later and you three better be ready to talk".

The trio looked at each other and sighed. They were half expecting something from Ross but secretly hoped it wasn't coming. A few hours, what they were dreading finally arrived and they went into the conference room.

"What do you three have to say for yourselves?" Ross began. "Where were you when there was a breach at the RAFT? Now there are fugitives running around!"

"Do you have any leads on any of them?" Nat asked, trying to keep her composure. She was hoping he didn't know where they were.

"Lang and Barton agreed to house arrest, but where are Rogers, Maximoff, Wilson or Barnes?" Ross asked, frustrated. 

"We have had no contact with any of them," Rhodey calmly responded. "And I think I speak for all of us when I say we have little desire to contact most of them".

"Well, since you three failed to stop them in the first place, you will have to hunt them down and-" Ross began.

"Let me stop you there," Tony interrupted. "We are not going to go searching for them".

"And why is that?" Ross shot back.

"We were running around searching for them for days because YOU, my friend failed," Tony crossed his arms. "We didn't break any laws, other than Leipzig because we were trying to get Rogers and Barnes, which you told us to do because you couldn't. We're done fighting your battles".

"You three are lucky you weren't at the RAFT," Ross glared at them before turning to leave. As he left, the trio let out a sigh of relief.

"God, I really hate that man," Nat rolled her eyes. The two men nodded in agreement. However, they could both tell she was trying to put on a brave face. 

"Are we seriously never gonna contact them?" Rhodey curiously asked.

There was an awkward silence since nobody really knew the answer. 

"Steve left me a phone with his number," Tony finally broke the silence. "I guess in a worst-case scenario that could work".

"Yeah," Nat half-heartedly replied. 

"Well, I'm gonna go back to the lab, if we're done here," Tony announced.

"I have to leave too," Rhodey added. "Nat, you gonna be alright?"

Natasha simply nodded and walked into the kitchen for a snack. She wished she could play pranks on Clint, or hang out with Wanda, but she couldn't. Once she opened the cupboards, she groaned at the lack of food they had. Eventually, she settled for a peanut butter sandwich. 

"Friday?" she asked as she sat down at the table. 

"Yes, Miss Romanoff?"

"Add fruit, vegetables, ground beef, bread, tortillas, taco seasoning, frozen pizzas, ice cream, and cheese to a shopping list".

"Already done, Miss Romanoff".

"Thank you!"

She finished up her sandwich and decided to try and read a book. However, she was interrupted when a surprise visitor arrived.

"Pepper!" Nat warmly greeted her with a hug. "How was the business trip?"

"Not too bad," an exhausted Pepper replied. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm okay. Tony's in the lab if you want to go see him".

"What else is new?" Pepper smiled, knowing Tony rarely took a break. She walked down to the lab to see Tony testing some tech.

"Hi Pep!" Tony greeted as he set down a tool to give Pepper a hug and kiss. "I missed you!"

"Missed you too Tony," Pepper replied and sat on the table. "What are you working on?"

"New suits and gear for SpiderMan and maybe Nat," Tony replied as he went back to work.

"Nat?" Pepper asked confused since Nat didn't really need anything new.

"I don't know, we'll see," Tony replied with a wink. 

"Anyway, I heard Ross stopped by," Pepper changed the subject. "He's not happy with any of you".

"Yeah, well, what else is new?" Tony smirked. "You see Nat yet?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Did you say she was fine?"

"Yeah?"

"Hm," Tony said, knowing Nat was lying. "She seemed upset when Ross was here".

"I'll talk to her in a bit," Pepper assured him. "How's Rhodey?"

"Better, he's doing PT and his slowly getting stronger," Tony replied, pleased that his best friend was getting better. "Plus, my fabulous tech is helping him out".

"Well, I'm happy for him," Pepper smiled. "And you?"

"What about me?"

"How are you?''

"Great," Tony lied.

"Tony, I know you're lying".

"You always do," Tony smiled. "This whole situation sucks. I don't want to hate Steve, but I kinda do. I also don't want them to be on the run, but I'm not gonna go chase after them".

"It'll get better," Pepper assured him, putting her hands on his for comfort. "In the meantime, you have Rhodey, Nat, the kid, and me".

"What would I do without you?" Tony laughed.

"You wouldn't survive," Pepper snickered.

"Can you go check on Nat?" Tony asked. "She was off after Ross showing up. I'll join you two in a bit".

"Alright, I love you". 

"Love you too, Pep".

Pepper then walked out of the lab and back into the common area where she found Nat reading a book. 

"Hey Nat," Pepper sat down next to her. "You up for anything?"

"Sure," she replied closing her book. "Wait, shouldn't you be with Tony?"

"He said not to leave you alone," Pepper smiled. "He'll be back soon, he's busy as usual".

"Oh," Nat replied, confused. "I mean, but now he's alone and-"

"Nat," Pepper interrupted. "You were the one that made sure none of you guys were alone. It's about time someone does it for you".

Nat smiled fondly. It was nice to feel appreciated. "Well, wanna binge Gilmore Girls?"

"You know me too well," Pepper laughed.

"Friday, order two pizzas with extra pepperoni and cheese!" Nat said.

"Done, Miss Romanoff".

The pair started their Gilmore Girls marathon, Tony joining not long after. Rhodey also joined not long after. The pizzas arrived soon after Rhodey. They kept watching into the early hours in the morning, Rhodey falling asleep first and Pepper following not long after. 

"Tony?" Nat said. 

"Red," Tony snickered. 

"Are you ever going to quit calling me that?" Nat laughed and threw a pillow at them. 

"Nope!" Tony grinned.

"Whatever. But thank you".

"For what?"

"Not leaving me alone".

"I'd do it anytime, Red".

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