The irony of it all is that the Natasha Tony knows is probably the more trustworthy. Sure, her loyalty lies with SHIELD (though always with herself and Clint first -- long gone are the days of blindly following any and all orders), but she's more reigned in, controlled. And honestly, there are certain situations where she would value Tony's life above her own. Not many but a few.
The younger self that she's been thrown back to though? She has the morals of a particularly vicious predator. Okay, that's not fair, she has some morals, it's just that they're horribly skewed from the way she was brought up to perceive everyone outside of the Red Room as either a threat or an asset to be used or disposed of. At any rate, she's dangerous, unpredictable and extremely volatile. Especially now that all her strings have been cut. She hasn't learned yet how to control herself without an outside force guiding her. The last time when she found herself outside the Red Room's control the death toll was immense and it was only brought to an end when Clint was sent after her.
But, then again, Tony probably doesn't know that. Because Clint wouldn't give up Natasha's secrets without a Norse god probing through his mind. And though everyone at SHIELD knows that Natasha used to work for the other side, few are aware of the details of the jobs she took when she went freelance.
If it came down to it, Natasha'd smash Tony's arc reactor to pieces and leave him gasping and dying on the floor. Except-- Right now? With his hand pressed against her stomach and her hand pressed against his stomach in turn? She thinks that maybe she'd feel bad about it afterwards.
Of course, there's no reason for her to kill Tony. Or anyone in the tower. Even if there was, the tenuous connection she has built with Clint is probably going to hold her back, because these people matter to him. And he is her guiding star in the darkness she's found herself in.
But Tony's right, there's no secret agenda here, just the burning need to find out who she is and where she fits into this new world.
His dry smirk draws a flicker of a real smile from her in return. "Like a vacation, I imagine. Except far better than some tropical island somewhere." Her voice has gone from dry to joking, and she's also surprised at the ease of their conversation and how quickly this-- thing between them has settled her. Because she feels settled. What tension had worked its way into her muscles between crawling into the air duct and now has simply dropped away, leaving her not relaxed exactly, but not achingly tense at least.
Natasha catches the way Tony's voice breaks ever so slightly mid-sentence, but she doesn't know how to interpret it. For all she knows, the surgeon may've been instrumental in torturing him or something. Because it doesn't sound like he was in that cave voluntarily. Slowly, she's working things out from the few clues he's giving her, and unlike piecing together the bits of and pieces of her own history, this is intriguing rather than frustrating. "They had one of those lying around in a cave?" Natasha's eyes flick up to the arc reactor again, her fingertips twitching against his stomach in the effort of keeping herself from just reaching up and touching it. She knows that she can't, but damn she's curious.
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The younger self that she's been thrown back to though? She has the morals of a particularly vicious predator. Okay, that's not fair, she has some morals, it's just that they're horribly skewed from the way she was brought up to perceive everyone outside of the Red Room as either a threat or an asset to be used or disposed of. At any rate, she's dangerous, unpredictable and extremely volatile. Especially now that all her strings have been cut. She hasn't learned yet how to control herself without an outside force guiding her. The last time when she found herself outside the Red Room's control the death toll was immense and it was only brought to an end when Clint was sent after her.
But, then again, Tony probably doesn't know that. Because Clint wouldn't give up Natasha's secrets without a Norse god probing through his mind. And though everyone at SHIELD knows that Natasha used to work for the other side, few are aware of the details of the jobs she took when she went freelance.
If it came down to it, Natasha'd smash Tony's arc reactor to pieces and leave him gasping and dying on the floor. Except-- Right now? With his hand pressed against her stomach and her hand pressed against his stomach in turn? She thinks that maybe she'd feel bad about it afterwards.
Of course, there's no reason for her to kill Tony. Or anyone in the tower. Even if there was, the tenuous connection she has built with Clint is probably going to hold her back, because these people matter to him. And he is her guiding star in the darkness she's found herself in.
But Tony's right, there's no secret agenda here, just the burning need to find out who she is and where she fits into this new world.
His dry smirk draws a flicker of a real smile from her in return. "Like a vacation, I imagine. Except far better than some tropical island somewhere." Her voice has gone from dry to joking, and she's also surprised at the ease of their conversation and how quickly this-- thing between them has settled her. Because she feels settled. What tension had worked its way into her muscles between crawling into the air duct and now has simply dropped away, leaving her not relaxed exactly, but not achingly tense at least.
Natasha catches the way Tony's voice breaks ever so slightly mid-sentence, but she doesn't know how to interpret it. For all she knows, the surgeon may've been instrumental in torturing him or something. Because it doesn't sound like he was in that cave voluntarily. Slowly, she's working things out from the few clues he's giving her, and unlike piecing together the bits of and pieces of her own history, this is intriguing rather than frustrating. "They had one of those lying around in a cave?" Natasha's eyes flick up to the arc reactor again, her fingertips twitching against his stomach in the effort of keeping herself from just reaching up and touching it. She knows that she can't, but damn she's curious.