Chapter 55
In the end, everyone enjoyed the lunch as much as possible. Then big goodbye followed and the guests slowly began to leave for their homes. The trip to New York seemed longer to Peter than when they went to Blue Hill, but it was probably because no one was talking in the car, which he was quite happy about. A long and very exhausting conversation awaited them at home. Peter didn't remember ever discussing anything for so long. The main topic, of course, was how to deal with the fact that Peter had a sister, and whether Tony and Pepper should go on their honeymoon. And because they didn't know much about Teresa, they decided to focus more on the second topic, and in the end, it turned out that the newlyweds would fly to their well-deserved honeymoon.
"Are you really sure about this, Pep? We can stay here and fly off for our honeymoon when it's all settled,” Tony wanted to make sure as they drove into the airport.
"You know very well that I am not," sighed the woman with the strawberry-blond hair. "When this is resolved, another problem will arise, this is nothing new, Tony."
"Peter will be safe here," the redhead said from the driver's seat. She insisted on taking them, precisely because of this situation. She didn't want the couple to change their minds. "Bruce and Rhodey are at home, Steve and Sam are on alert, and Bucky is guarding the school, and as soon as I see you have boarded the plane, I will join him. And I'm pretty sure Loki will show up over time. I know we underestimated it before, but it won't happen again. She won't have a chance to get to him," she told them once again their plan. She understood that they were worried about him, but Peter had better protection at the moment than the president himself.
"I know, I know," Tony muttered.
"I'm wondering if I should fly with you. It seems to me that you two are a little unprotected for a change, "Nat grinned to relax the atmosphere a little, not even knowing she might be right.
"No way," Tony protested and a small smile appeared on Pepper's face. "You have to stay here, Nat. I believe you. I know you will do anything to protect him."
Natasha said nothing and stopped at a small plane that Tony owned. It meant a lot to her that he trusted her so much, but at the same time, his words scared her a little, because she would really do anything to keep him safe. She had already learned to live with it, but she was still not sure if the others would accept it. If they would still consider her a family.
"We're here," she told them quite needlessly and got out of the car. The couple followed her.
"You'll be in touch with us, won't you?" Pepper assured as Tony pulled the suitcases out of the car.
"Of course I will. But promise me you'll enjoy it. Who knows, maybe you'll come back with some surprise," she smiled and winked at her jokingly.
"What surprise?" Tony asked curiously, joining them.
"It's just between us - the girls," Nat grinned.
"All right, we'll have to go if we don't want it to go," he told his wife.
Pepper laughed. "It's weird, I thought if it was your plane, it would fly whenever you wanted," she teased, then hugged Nat goodbye and dismounted.
"Everything will be fine," Natasha tried to reassure him as he watched Pepper disappear into the plane, but he didn't move.
"I'm counting on you, Nat. Connect with Everett, okay? We should work together," he said before he got on the plane.
"Welcome, Mr. Stark. My name is Elizabeth and I will be available to you during the flight today," the brown-haired flight attendant greeted him on board and took his luggage from him. "Are we waiting for someone else, or will we be able to take off?"
"We're all here," he told her and went to sit with Pepper.
Elizabeth gave him a kind smile that turned devilish as Tony disappeared and she closed the door. Then she put the luggage and went to the kitchen, where two glasses were waiting for her, in which the Rohypnol was crushed. She opened a bottle of sparkling wine to pour white powder, which dissolved in a second. She grabbed the tray and put on a friendly smile again before going to the newlyweds.
"Your drink," she told them, handing each one a glass. "Five minutes to take off," she added and went to the pilot to inform him of the change of destination.
•••
Natasha parked at the school and went to sit on a bench next to a brown-haired man. He looked a little bored but still focused on the school building and its surroundings.
"You know, it means a lot to Tony and me that you're here, but if you don't want to, you don't have to be here. You practically don't know Peter, I'm sure Steve would exchange places with you," she said after a long moment of silence. Maybe that would be better. Bruce would be relieved, but to be honest, Nat didn't want Steve by her side. At first, she wasn't thrilled with Bucky's arrival, but she quickly got used to it. She was close to him because they were similar. He was an equal opponent and she liked it.
"I spent some of that time with him. I may not know him as well as you do, but -”
"But he has grown close to your heart," she interrupted amusedly. "That's what he can do."
"I owe it to Tony, too," he sighed.
For a moment there was silence between them again. Natasha remembered what Tony had told her in the car. And then she realized Peter's approach to the matter. She thought about it. She could have tried to solve it in a calm way, but if Teresa attacks, does Peter really expect her to do nothing? That she won't do everything to get rid of the threat? She tried to imagine how she would react if Yelena were in Teresa's place. Natasha wouldn't want to kill her, of course, but she would if the situation called for it. She was just like that. She had tried to get rid of this side, but now she knew it was impossible. She put up with it. If she has to intervene, others will have to come to terms with it.
"Would you kill her? If we got there earlier, would you kill her? Or if something happens - will you do it?” she asked him almost absently.
"That's a difficult question," he muttered, then paused to think about his answer. "It would depend on the situation, but I would probably try not to kill her. Maybe hurt, but not necessarily kill. I'm no longer a Winter Soldier, I don't want to have more blood on my hands," he explained eventually.
"I would," she told him without emotion. "When I started working for Fury, I tried to forget about Russia. I tried to forget who I was. When Peter was kidnapped in the fall, I couldn't do it. The person they had created surfaced and longed for blood. I learned from that. I can't suppress Black Widow. It's a part of me and how many times she saved my life. The only thing that sometimes worries me is that others don't accept it. I'm a trained killer. I've been led to it since childhood, it can't just be erased. It would be enough for me to see her aim a gun at him and I would shoot her before she had a chance to shoot Peter."
"You know, I don't judge people. I don't know what you had to go through, but I know how hard it is to get rid of the past. I know it's practically impossible. I don't care if you kill her and save Peter, but he does care," he said quietly.
Natasha sighed. "That's the problem. If something happens, I need you to assess the situation and stop me if it can be resolved in any other way."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, because when we meet Teresa, I'll be Black Widow, and she knows no mercy," she said coldly. She remembered Betty involuntarily. At the time, she had to work hard not to kill her.
"There's one thing that's bothering me," he said thoughtfully, looking at the redhead by his side. "If I don't count Steve, you're the only one who can go with me to the ring. And I'm not even talking about how you beat me up when you were jealous of Thor's friend. I don't understand," he said, keeping his eyes on her.
Nat turned to him and stared hard into his eyes. "It will be our secret, okay? The only person who ever found out didn't leave our meeting on their own,” she whispered mysteriously, then got up and walked to the school from which Peter and Michelle had just left.
Bucky watched her with a puzzled look on his face, but a smile soon appeared on his lips. He hated being drawn to her so much, but what was he supposed to do? And if she was really improved, as he thought, then it had never bothered him so much that Steve found him so late. Maybe if he got to her before Dr. Banner, he'd have a chance. But he couldn't think about it. He saw that they were happy together and would never stand between them.