The Way It Should Have Been

Ch. 14- You Broke, It You Fix It.

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Recap:

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The only person left to speak was Natasha, who seemed content to ignore the situation and Y/n until Tony spoke up, “Romanoff this team includes you, make a proper introduction.”

“Fine. You'd better listen well because I won't repeat myself. I'm Natasha Romanoff,  the Black Widow, and I don't expect you to be here long enough for that to matter. I expect you gone by the weeks end, because you don't belong here. You belong in a prison, you're a murderer and a criminal, and this little charade has gone on quite long enough.”

The entire table went dead silent staring in shock at her for the longest time before Wanda spoke up, “What the fuck Nat…”

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I remained silent, staring at the redhead. Anger bubbled within me, but I swallowed it down, forcing a calm I definitely did not feel for the sake of the others. The room was so thick with tension, the other members of the Avengers shifting uncomfortably in their seats. Natasha, had thrown the gauntlet down, making her disdain for me clear.

"I guess we'll see about that," I finally said, in a steady but icy tone. Nto one to back down, I held Natasha's gaze, refusing to be the first to look away. Even though my heart was pounding in my chest, I was not going to let the Black Widow see any kind of fear. I had faced down far worse in my time as an assassin.

No one said anything for a long moment. The air is still heavy with tension. Finally, it was Steve who broke the silence. "Natasha, that was uncalled for," he said, his voice stern. "We're all here to work together. We don't have to be friends, but we do have to at least be civil."

“Are we here to work together, though? Are we really? Because I don't recall HER getting that invite. She is just a criminal who hasn't found her proper cage yet. I'll do the test for you, Tony, but don't for a second think you're welcome Y/n, because you aren't. I refuse to pretend like the rest of this team is doing. You don't belong here, and I won't pretend just to spare your pathetic feelings. You don't deserve-”

Clint cut in silencing her, “NATASHA THAT'S ENOUGH!”

Natasha said nothing, her icy gaze still locked with mine. But after a moment, she stood, her chair scraping harshly against the floor. Without saying another word, she turned and walked away, leaving the room in stunned silence.

After another moment of awkward silence, Tony cleared his throat. "Well, that was... eventful," he said, attempting to lighten the mood. "Let's continue with breakfast, shall we?"

Steve leaned over, speaking in a softer tone, “I swear Natasha really isn't like this…I've never seen her act like this.” He paused to consider his own words then added, “Not to someone we brought here lile this anyway…”

The others made a show of returning to their meal, but the mood had been irrevocably soured. I picked at my food, my appetite gone. Somehow, I just knew I would be in for absolute hell during the training test with Natasha. There was no way after that outburst that things would have ANY hope of being civil.

As the meal came to an end, I stood up, pausing momentarily as I remembered the blanket, and placed it onto the kitchen island before waahing my dishes. I'd begun to head back to my temporary room to change into more fighting appropriate clothing and mentally prepare to face down the trio in whatever Tony's idea of a hand to hand test was. I was getting better at navigating the tower myself already, though, and remembered Bucky had said the training room was on the 7th floor. With that, I backtracked to the dreaded metal box, saw no alternative, and punched the button for the correct floor mumbling to myself.“Will I ever get used to these dead contraptions again, or am I just...forever going to get nauseated in them.”