Avengers: Altruism [N. Romanoff]

16. Ghosts of the Past

CHAPTER 16
Ghosts of the Past

6 May 2010

"Would you like to explain?"

Claire walked down the steps of her home the very next day after the events of Monaco, Simba hot on her trails as he sensed the drama that was about to take place.

"I almost died," Tony defended himself.

"You," she pointed the end of her sucker head towards the man, "climbed into a race! You know nothing about racing!"

"I read-"

"You read... you read, wow, well done. That makes up for the years, on top of years, of training these other drivers have put their effort into."

"Stark-"

"If you say something about your car design benefits, I'm going to throw this lollipop at your face," she threatened, popping the candy back inside of her mouth.

"Is that all you wanted to say?" he asked her, sipping from the coffee cup in hand. He had arrived during the evening, after Claire had gotten home from her dinner with her family, after she had spoken more to her mom about the day's events, more with her sister about the expecting family, more to her 'brother' about the stress of a family...

"Natalie."

The shiver was drawn down his spine at the mere name. He had met the woman two days ago, yesterday dragging her along to Monaco, thrown her right into the job just as Claire had been. Yet, that specific O'Connor was the only one suspicious as to how Rushman had managed to keep her cool the entire time, as if she was prepared for the madness, trained for the madness.

"She is a fantastic woman. I hired her on the spot. Assistant attends events with me, that's all. It wasn't her over you, her over Simba-"

Meow

"That's right," Claire agreed with whatever she had made-up in her head that Simba had just stated. All Tony knew was that the cat had cut him off, and the cat might be jealous of another ginger adding to their mix.