Taking Sides
Eight Months Later
Natasha sat rigidly at the table in the conference room at the lower level of the compound, absorbing everything her teammates were saying. She idly watched Rhodey and Sam argue, listened to Cap’s reasoning, heard Vision’s statistics and sympathized with Wanda’s emotional and apologetic logic.
She gazed at Tony as he paced back and forth, full of displaced energy. If she was honest with herself, she’d known what he was going to decide before he’d even shown them the photo of the fallen teenager that had been a casualty of their deeds in Sokovia. She didn’t expect his eyes to widen when she said out loud that she would agree with him, nor did she expect the sarcasm he quickly used to recover.
The room exploded with heated arguments around her until Steve rose up from the table, claiming that he had to leave.
They all sat silent and unmoving after he’d gone, the arguing stopped abruptly as if he’d taken all the air with him. She wasn’t sure who got up to leave first, maybe it was Wanda, going upstairs to sulk in her room, or Vision going to offer her some awkward comfort.
Before she knew it, she was following Rhodey out the door. She stopped when his voice called to her, just as she was about halfway down the hall.
She turned around, the pieces that were left of her heart after their debate nearly shattering when she saw him, hands in his pockets, glasses tucked into his collar. “Tony.”
“You don’t have to do it,” he said.
She swallowed hard. “I’m not just doing it for you,” she said.
He took a few tentative steps towards her until he was standing right in front of her. “With your history, and all the work that you’ve been doing. No one will fault you for not signing. Not like they will with him.”
She shook her head. “I’m doing it for all of us.”
He cocked his head to one side, gazing at her with a question on his face.
“Because you’re right,” she said, even though he hadn’t asked. “We have to take a stand, either way. This is how we protect them. And each other. And it’s always been about us staying together-all of us, hasn’t it?”
He nodded. “Well, then I guess I’m just really lucky to have you on my side this time around.”
She hesitated before placing a hand on his arm. “It’s not just your fault, you know. You’re not the only one who has sins to make up for.”
He kept his eyes on hers. “Neither are you,” he said quietly.
“Then it’s settled.”
He forced a smile. “I have a bad feeling that it’s far from being settled.”
“But this is the first step, right?” She asked, almost pleadingly as she gazed up at him.
“Yeah,” he said softly.
“Then it looks like we’re working together again.”
“Yeah,” he said again. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but he didn’t, his eyes lowering to the floor.
“Tony..” she started.
He looked up at her.
“H-how’s the baby?” She asked, forcing her own smile.
“She’s perfect,” he said quietly. “I could… show you some pictures, if you care.”
She nodded. “Yeah. Of course I care.”
He paused as his phone buzzed in his pocket. “Excuse me, I have to take this,” he said, rolling his eyes as he swiped the screen to answer.
She lowered her eyes as he chatted briefly with whoever was on the line. He was nodding and agreeing and he put the phone back in his pocket with a solemn expression on his face.
“It’s the secretary. He thinks one of us should be at the signing in Austria when the Accords becomes the law. Says it would look good.”
“He’s right.” She thought for a moment. “Okay. I’ll go.”
“What?” He raised his eyes to look up at her. “No one said it has to be you.”
She pressed her lips together in a forced smile. “But it should be me. Rhodey will have to work, and you’ve already stated your intentions by being the first one to sign. They need to see one of us supporting you. It should be me.”
He sighed. “I don’t deserve you.”
“Tony…”
“Okay,” he agreed. “You go to the signing. But you’re not going in alone. I’ll coach you through it.”
“Thanks,” she said softly, smiling for the first time since they’d all entered the conference room.
“I’ll book your flight right now, if you want,” he said, pulling out his device again.
She shook her head. “Wait. I need to make a stop on the way.”
He frowned slightly. “I’m not expecting you to work miracles. But maybe try to talk some sense into him. I don’t really want to do this without him.”