The Capitol was busy, extremely so, and Natasha hated every minute she had to spend there. The grand hallways were crowded with people, politicians and aides and security and media, and being surrounded was amplifying her already heightened sense of paranoia. "This is bullshit," Clint muttered beside her,"I don't understand why we're here covering Roger's ass when he's out there finding his "pal," Bucky."
Natasha didn't answer. She probably should have. Clint's patience had been eroding steadily since the hearings had begun. Ever since SHIELD had been revealed to be HYDRA, the government and the public alike had been scrambling for answers. What this meant. How it had happened. Who was at fault. The massive dump of all of SHIELD's most valuable secrets onto the internet had been proverbial fuel to a fire, spreading concern and disorder throughout the globe.
"You hear from Rogers?"
"No." She kept her voice calm, even as her heart ached in her chest and her stomach roiled anew. Steve had been gone nearly a month now, and she hadn't heard a thing from him.
"I'm sure he's fine," Clint said smiling a little, "he's Captain America, remember?"
She resisted the strong urge to brush her hand over the flat of her lower stomach, instead curling her fingers over the fabric of the sleek, black pantsuit she was wearing. "I'm sure he is, too," she agreed emptily.
Clint regarded her with narrowed eyes, but before he could say anything further, a woman emerged from the meeting chamber and announced the hearing was about to start. Natasha closed her eyes momentarily, trying yet again to quell the nausea building in her throat.
"Good morning, Agent Romanoff." Natasha turned around to the voice of Senator Stern.
Natasha stood. "Sir," she greeted with a deadened tone. Clint followed suit, his glare unabashedly threatening. He was stiff with barely contained rage.
Stern glanced between them. "You look a little piqued this morning." His smile turned sleazy. Greasy. Natasha wanted to break his neck. "Must be hard on you two, faced with this mess on your own. You know, considering your training probably didn't make you prepared to deal with something like this. Since both of you were little more than SHIELD's hired guns."
Stern was sizing her up, his eyes nothing short of hungry and lascivious as they roamed up and down her body. "Is there something you wanted to say to me, Senator? Or are you too busy looking at my body?" Natasha, at this point, didn't give a shit about what came out her mouth. She was nauseated, aching, and tired.
Stern walked away with a slight smile on his face. "Slimy bastard," Clint muttered disdainfully, "you ready to go in?"
"Do I have a choice?"
________________________________
State your full name for the record," directed the man who'd sworn her in.
There was no point in lying. She'd made this decision to purge SHIELD's secrets in order to reveal to the world HYDRA's machinations. And her secrets had been SHIELD's secrets. There was no going back. "Natalia Alianovna Romanoff," she replied firmly, her chin held high.
"Otherwise known as Natasha Romanoff," Admiral Scudder said. He was an older man with a long face, thin lips, and a hawkish nose, dressed in all of his naval finery. He seemed completely humorless, and he regarded Natasha coldly.
"Yes," she said.
"And Black Widow," Stern threw in from the other side of the table. He gave a hint of that same awful smile as before, not so much as to set anyone else's suspicions off but enough to remind Natasha of their earlier conversation. "Just for the record."
