Chapter 11
Natasha Romanoff did not think it would come to this. Day 2 was a Saturday, so she took one of her old contact’s routes to DC. Getting President Ellis wasn’t so much easy as it was doable and a challenge for someone of her caliber. He was dead, and she was in.
Well, it should have been that way. Instead, she had gotten cocky, and she had gotten caught. She was in a Secret Service interrogation room, with people she recognized as being from the FBI, and CIA behind the glass. She was thankful she looked like Natalie Rushman and not Natasha Romanoff right now. She could play the unwitting PA caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. But then her eyes widened at who else was behind the glass, watching. SHIELD, and not just anyone from SHIELD. It was Coulson. And both knew he would only be here to disavow her if she was truly made. But the last person surprised her. Army liaison, Colonel James Rhodes, Stark’s best friend.
A Secret Service agent entered the room and sat across the table from her. She was safe from any extreme interrogation methods, because all those officials would always choose plausible deniability of such. So far, this could be only talk and possibly a few psych tactics, textbook.
The agent wasn’t particularly intimidating, but she knew the policies. They always checked to see if she was a civilian first, and she would play the part. The agent smiled. “Miss, what is your name? For the record?”
“I’m Natalie Rushman. Why am I here? Where is here? You’re Secret Service, right? I did a project on that in college.” she started talking, babbling a little bit but not too much. She knew what a logical civilian would react like.
“Miss Rushman, you are currently our most likely suspect for the death of President Mathew Ellis. Do you know anything about it you'd care to share?”
“He died?” She brought her hands up to her face for a gasp. “I voted for him.” She said, earnestly. “I wouldn't kill him.”
“You know, I think Agent Drama Queen is overdoing it.” Colonel Rhodes said.
“You're Colonel Rhodes, right? I work for Tony Stark, he's mentioned you when he dumps off the day's paperwork.”
“Let's test that.” Rhodes said. “Happy little accident Tony's also in DC today.”
He thought he was calling her bluff but as they waited for Tony Stark to come in, she hoped she could predict him as well as she thought she could.
When Tony Stark sauntered into the room, he saw her, and she knew she had made the right play, “Sour-patch, that's my PA over there. She's competent and professional, you know how hard those are to find?”
“It's classified, but Ellis was killed a few hours ago, and your PA is currently our most likely suspect.”
“Oh? I'm not a lawyer, but I would like to know what motive my PA would have for presidential murder, and really, any other details you could spare. I really hope there weren't any of my weapons involved though.”
“No. Motive has been identified as likely money and she's suspected to be working for someone with a big grudge.”
“I don't know about that, I pay her 350k annually, and Ellis was pretty much well liked, if a bit annoying at times.”
“Really, Tony?”
“What! His want for a conversation lost me a dance on my wedding day.” Tony said.
“Miss Rushman, if you tell us why you killed President Ellis and give us as much other information as possible, such as who paid you, I can testify and ask for leniency for you, a life sentence instead of something worse.” The Secret Service agent said.
“I didn't do it!” She said, “I wanted to see the White House, so I came here for a weekend trip. Then you just arrested me and I really don't know what's going on!” She exclaimed.
“She's lying.” Coulson said. She gave him a pleading look. If she could get out of this, why was he giving her away? She was sure he genuinely liked her, but then again, one does not become Director Fury's right hand being an open book and sincere.
“Agent Coulson?” The FBI representative asked.
“This is an act right out of the KGB’s what-if-you're-caught textbook. We managed to get a copy at one point.” Coulson said. He hadn't given away her identity just yet. “Either way, I recognize her.”
“Is she one of yours?” The FBI one asked.
Coulson opened his mouth, a smug grin on his face. She dreaded what his answer was going to be. Giving her away or disavowing her. It was a lose-lose and she wasn't the only one who knew it. “No. But I do know who that is.”
“Her real name?”
“Melina Vostakoff. From Russia's Red Room program.” She would never ever stop admiring Agent Coulson, as she caught on to what he was doing.
“Really? We nearly caught her at one point but she got away and that doesn't look like her.”
“One of the other Red Room girls, Natasha Romanoff, she's one of ours, she quit a few months back, took the name Natalie Rushman, we check in on her, she's in New York. This isn't her.”
Her eyes widened when she realized what Coulson was doing.
“What do you suggest we do if you know her so well?”
“Melina Vostakoff, I recognize the name. Tried hacking my servers once.” Natasha saw Stark was just playing along but wondered what her past temporary adoptive mother had done to get on Coulson's bad side.
“What do we do with her?”
“I take this as a personal offense, impersonating my PA to commit a crime and dump it on her.” Stark said. “They just finished construction on the Raft, I can fly her up there, I'm due to check their security anyways.”
“Alright. She can wait in the Raft for her trial.” They all agreed, and handcuffs were placed on her, and she was pushed by Stark to follow him to a waiting quinjet, where two guards followed.
After the quinjet doors closed and they were up in the air, he took off her handcuffs. “You're good.”
“Am I supposed to escape here?” She asked.
“No, you're still my PA who came along for the ride, I got off Melina Vostakoff’s disguising tech.” He said, as he jerked his thumb to her figure sedated on the other side of the jet.
“Why get me out? What if they catch on to you?”
“Really? You think I'm incompetent enough for that?” He asked. “Either way, we’re dumping her off and you need to be retrained.”
“What?”
“That was sloppy, getting caught. You're lucky Rhodey was there and Coulson thought to call me beforehand.”
“That was all orchestrated?”
“Coulson asked me to get you out, I wanted her away for good, mutually beneficial.”
“Since when have I been made?”
“Since before you walked through the doors to legal. I was curious to see what you'd do.”
“Why do you need me? Undercover at SHIELD? A bodyguard?”
“No, Natalia. I don't need Natasha Romanoff. I need Natalia Romanova. And you need to up your game.”
She didn't find out what that meant until after they had dropped off Melina at the Raft, a prison she doubted she could break out of, and they landed somewhere definitely not Stark Tower.
They landed in a place that was supposedly an old, empty Stark warehouse, but as they exited the jet and went inside, she saw it was anything but.
When they entered, she saw a training room with the last person she expected to see.
“Voila!” Stark smirked, spreading his arms.