Here is more backstory story, because I have A Lot Of Feelings:
The sun is rising in Malibu. Tony Stark's spiraling self-destruction is splashed all over the gossip columns online and off, Colonel Rhodes has flown off with one of the suits and landed straight into the hands of the military, Fury is eating Tums like they're candy and has made three seasoned agents cry in the last twenty-four hours, and UFOs are falling out of the sky in New Mexico.
"Seriously?" Natasha says. "A UFO?"
Phil is wearing sunglasses and his expression is convincingly impassive, but she sees the faint lines around his eyes that means he's almost smiling. "It's unidentified, it's an object, and it either flew or fell, depending on who you ask. It's an accurate name."
She can't argue with that, but that's hardly the point. "I can't believe you're pulling out to go find a UFO." She lifts her coffee cup to take a sip, then pauses, narrows her eyes and fixes him with her best interrogator's gaze. "You don't care about the UFO at all, do you? You're leaving because you're afraid that whatever Stark is building in his basement is going to turn all of southern California into a smoking crater."
"Don't be ridiculous, Agent Romanoff," Phil says, and this time he's smiling for real, not even trying to hide it. "I'm sure Mr. Stark only has humanity's best interests at heart."
Natasha snorts into her coffee cup, but Phil's smile fades, and she tilts her head. "What?"
He's quiet a moment before answering. "You know, I didn't before, but I might actually be starting to believe that."
Natasha opens her mouth, reconsiders, closes it again. She thinks about Stark asking her what she would do if she knew she would never have another birthday, and how, for just a second, for that same second she saw what he was saying and how scared he was, she had considered giving him an honest answer.
"No," she says. "I'm going with the smoking crater. All of southern California."
Phil says, "We can bet on it, if you want."
"You want to bet on the quality Tony Stark's moral character?" Natasha asks. "That is the very definition of a sucker bet."
"I don't think so," Phil says. And when Natasha just looks at him, one eyebrow raised skeptically, he said, "I'm an excellent judge of character. You're here, aren't you?"
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Date: 2012-05-12 07:41 am (UTC)The sun is rising in Malibu. Tony Stark's spiraling self-destruction is splashed all over the gossip columns online and off, Colonel Rhodes has flown off with one of the suits and landed straight into the hands of the military, Fury is eating Tums like they're candy and has made three seasoned agents cry in the last twenty-four hours, and UFOs are falling out of the sky in New Mexico.
"Seriously?" Natasha says. "A UFO?"
Phil is wearing sunglasses and his expression is convincingly impassive, but she sees the faint lines around his eyes that means he's almost smiling. "It's unidentified, it's an object, and it either flew or fell, depending on who you ask. It's an accurate name."
She can't argue with that, but that's hardly the point. "I can't believe you're pulling out to go find a UFO." She lifts her coffee cup to take a sip, then pauses, narrows her eyes and fixes him with her best interrogator's gaze. "You don't care about the UFO at all, do you? You're leaving because you're afraid that whatever Stark is building in his basement is going to turn all of southern California into a smoking crater."
"Don't be ridiculous, Agent Romanoff," Phil says, and this time he's smiling for real, not even trying to hide it. "I'm sure Mr. Stark only has humanity's best interests at heart."
Natasha snorts into her coffee cup, but Phil's smile fades, and she tilts her head. "What?"
He's quiet a moment before answering. "You know, I didn't before, but I might actually be starting to believe that."
Natasha opens her mouth, reconsiders, closes it again. She thinks about Stark asking her what she would do if she knew she would never have another birthday, and how, for just a second, for that same second she saw what he was saying and how scared he was, she had considered giving him an honest answer.
"No," she says. "I'm going with the smoking crater. All of southern California."
Phil says, "We can bet on it, if you want."
"You want to bet on the quality Tony Stark's moral character?" Natasha asks. "That is the very definition of a sucker bet."
"I don't think so," Phil says. And when Natasha just looks at him, one eyebrow raised skeptically, he said, "I'm an excellent judge of character. You're here, aren't you?"