Masks

"Nat!" Steve called as he entered the common room.

The redhead waved at him from her seat on the couch. She and Clint were watching a movie, some foreign film in what sounded like Japanese. "Anim-Ay?" they'd called it. Steve just smiled as usual and added it to the list. It wasn't like he didn't have more important things to worry about, especially now.

"Hey," Clint grinned. "Did you manage to track your cuddle buddy down?"

Nat smacked him on the back of the head.

"OW!" The archer glared at her. "What? It's not like we weren't all thinking it!"

"...is subtlety even a word you know, Legolas?" she jibed.

"Widow, could I speak to you privately for a moment?"

At his formality, Nat was all business, dropping the casual teasing and mischief like a discarded paper. She got up and followed him out of the room. "What's wrong?"

"Stark had a visitor this morning. He's left the Tower, said he'll back in a couple of days, but not where he was going... I don't--It's just a gut reaction, but something about the guy he left with is putting my back up. I wanted to show you the security camera footage, see if you recognize him from anywhere."

"Yeah, sure." Nat went to one of the Tower's work rooms, Steve trailing after her. She sat at a computer station, typing in a string of commands to let her access the camera records.

The screen abruptly went blue, and the computer switched off.

"I don't believe you are cleared to access that particular information, Agent Romanoff." JARVIS' voice was pleasant, but slightly stern. Mr. Stark and his guest are entitled to their privacy. Sir's personal life is scarcely within the Avengers' purview."

"Personal life." Nat's eyes narrowed in thought. "So this isn't a business acquaintance or one of his technical projects..."

"Definitely not," Steve muttered in annoyance.

"Ohhh." Understanding showed in her expression. "Steve, Tony's not a mind reader. You need to talk to him. "

"I'm trying. It's like he doesn't see the real me, not...Steve, instead of 'the Captain'. "

"A lot of people don't see the real Tony either..." she hummed thoughtfully.

"Help?" he pleaded softly.

Natasha grinned. "I've been hoping you'd ask."

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