After showing Mr Banner to the lab Natasha stuck around for a while, just out of sight. She hadn't been ordered to do so, but she figured it was wise under the circumstances. It was bad enough she knew what the monster inside of him was capable of, but the man wasn't at all what she had been expecting. He had... surprised her, to say the least, and that was extremely rare.
If the circumstances were different Natasha might have gathered further Intel on the scientist, looked back over her notes or just spent time with him, because he truly was fascinating. But he wasn't the only... unique individual aboard SHIELD's biggest/most expensive toy, Natasha equally fascinated by the super soldier who had somehow survived being frozen for over a half-century, and to a lesser extent the spoilt, annoyingly clever man-child who like to dress up in a suit of armour and call himself a superhero.
Yes, these men were fascinating, or at least entertaining, but the usually calm and collected Black Widow was struggling to keep her facade of nonchalance when one of the only people in this world she'd be willing to admit to caring about was being mind controlled by some deranged Viking God. Fucking Hawkeye. There was a thin line between confidence and arrogance, and more often than not that stupid fool was more often the latter than the former, which was probably why this happened to him. Of course the fact that it had happened to him at all was a sign of just how dangerous Loki was, and how much trouble they were all in.
Nearly overwhelmed by her own emotions Natasha found herself wandering the halls of the Helicarrier, silently weighing her options. As if she was going to do anything other than end up in Maria's office, leaning back on the big comfy chair Fury had initially forced on the uptight brunette, Natasha knowing that despite what she may say Maria had ended up loving it. During lighter times Natasha had thoroughly enjoyed it too, especially as waiting in it had earned her some wonderfully brutal spankings, the redhead's body tingling as those enjoyable memories briefly distracted her from the turmoil she was in.
What felt like a lifetime later Maria finally entered her office, briefly looking surprised to see Natasha before murmuring, "Shouldn't you be babysitting Banner?"
"Shouldn't you be finding Barton." Natasha said almost nonchalantly, although her bitterness shone through.
Her heart filling with sympathy, perhaps too much, Maria instinctively closed and locked her door and then cautiously approached her desk. Natasha looked just about as relaxed as could be, slouching in that big chair without a weapon in sight, the redhead not even turning towards her but instead staring at the blank wall like it was the most fascinating thing in the world. Of course Maria knew better than anyone that appearances can be deceiving, and you should never underestimate The Black Widow, so she took her time walking around the desk until she was standing directly in front of the deadly Natasha Romanoff.
"Barton is one of our best, and whenever someone is captured it's for a purpose. This time it seems pretty clear that purpose is to be used as a weapon against us, so Loki will keep him alive until he chooses to attack, which will give us a chance to save him." Maria said, leaning against her desk as she attempted to comfort her lover. The problem was she was so very, very bad at this, "Until then we're doing everything in our power to find him, and if there's one thing I can promise you Natasha, is that we will find him."
"I wouldn't be here if I doubted that for a second." Natasha admitted calmly.
Maria smiled softly at the admission, and then after a pause added, "We've all heard it a million times, so if you want to tell me to fuck off you can, but this is the job. We risk our lives every second of every day and no matter how good we are all it takes is one little mistake in the wrong place at the wrong time and that's it. And the odds aren't exactly in Barton's favour, but I've seen you both get out of worse and no matter what happens you have to believe everything is going to be ok."
