Beauty is a Beast

Chapter 7: Gwen's Bright Idea

*3rd Person's POV*

Natasha walked back into the living room after Kat had said she'd see them in an hour. Thor and Clint have her expectant looks.

Natasha had been in charge of getting close to Kat, trying to find out more about the girl that was hidden from plain sight. But Kat had known her plan. She called her out.

"She's good." Was all Natasha said as she sat next to her best friend and partner.

"What happened?" Thor asked, curious to what would have the Widow complement another's skill.

"She knew I was trying to find out more. She changed the subject and made it about me. She even stated that we had read her file. Not asked, she already knew we did."

"What did she say about that?" Clint questioned, equally curious about the girl.

"To not take pity on her. We all fight battles and have our own demons," Natasha met her teammates eyes. "She's going to be a tough nut to crack."

"We have months to get to know our new Avenger. She will come to us when she is ready." Thor vowed.

"What I want to know is if we're teaching her or if she's gonna be teaching us." Clint spoke up, wondering how an 18 year old girl could call out Natasha Romanoff.

*********************

A few hours later the Avengers, Loki, and Kat were finishing up their meeting. They hadn't made much progress, even with a fresh mind in the group. Most of the ideas Kat had came up with they had already tried and the rest weren't possible for them.

"Okay, where were they last seen?" Kat asked, rubbing her temples with frustration.

"Asgard, when they stole the Tesseract." Thor answered.

"And they haven't shown themselves since," Kat whispered to herself, trying to come up with an idea. "Can't blame them. If I stole a source of pure energy I wouldn't show my face anywhere I'd be recognized."

Steve sensed the aggravation in the room rising as no one could think of what to do next.

"Why don't we end the meeting here?" Steve offered. "We'll pick this back up another day."

Gratefully, everyone started piling out of the room and headed for the elevator. Dinner should be ready by now and everyone was hungry and annoyed. So when a foreign sound filled the small room everyone looked at Kat.

Smiling shyly, she pulled out her phone, already knowing who it was. Gwen.

"Crap," Kat muttered before answering the phone, speaking sarcastically. "Yes, dear?"

"Where are you!?" Gwen screeched from the other side of the phone, making Kat pull the phone away from here ear.

"One, ow," she started when she brought the phone back to her ear. "Two, in a building."

"Kat, don't play games. I just saw the news! You got electrocuted by Kraven!"

"Well, good news, I'm not dead." Kat deadpanned.

The whole conversation amused her companions in the elevator, only Tony showed it by the smirk on his face.

"Katherine Avery Howlett, where are you?" Gwen's voice was so deadly that it would have made Kat proud, if it hadn't been directed at her.

'How long was this elevator ride?' Kat thought.

"Avengers Tower." Kat answered meekly, knowing that not telling Gwen first was the worst, and probably last, decision Kat ever made.