The day of the journey to Monaco had come. Helen Cho and Tony Stark had only one day to prepare a stable working environment. The scientist simply needed a laboratory to bring all of her equipment. Tony had secured a lab where she would spend most of her time researching Cassandra's tissue. Meanwhile, Jarvis had acquired a property in California — an empty desert with an underground facility — everything needed to conduct tests on Cassandra without the world knowing.
Tony currently sat with Helen on a bench in his private hangar at the Los Angeles airport, waiting for Pepper Potts to arrive so they could head to Monaco together. It was a business trip he couldn't miss.
On the opposite side sat Natalie Rushman, who had arrived rather early. Tony felt poisonous feelings toward her. The woman in front of Helen was actually the infamous spy Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff — planted by SHIELD inside Stark Industries to spy on him. His cold gaze was more than justified.
"I think she will manage," Cassandra whispered in his ear after seeing Tony's worried look, smiling as her crush rubbed a bandaged spot on her abdomen. They had extracted some tissue from there, an extremely difficult endeavor. All Tony could do was ask what kind of entity left her in such a bad state when they first encountered her.
Hopefully, beneath the bandages, she had already regenerated.
Cassandra's skin wasn't as soft beneath the surface as it appeared. It pained Tony to use a scalding scalpel to tear some of her flesh filled with "stigmas." In this early phase of the project, it was Helen Cho's job to research what special properties her skin had and to try to identify exactly what a stigma was.
"Yes, Helen is quite capable. Are you feeling better?" Tony asked, still worried.
"I'm feeling wonderful. It was just a minor injury. Look, it's already healed." She tore the bandage away, revealing some dried blood, but the wound had already closed — her healing factor was tyrannical.
An awkward silence fell, and Natalie grew suspicious. Tony was usually talkative and a little touchy with her when they were together, but now he barely greeted her.
With such a devastating beauty by your side, of course you'd forget the second one down the line, she thought irritably. She didn't know why she expected more from a multimillionaire playboy.
Cassandra hated that someone was lying to Tony, but she didn't blame the woman for what she'd been through. If Cassandra's memories were correct, it was miserable suffering in a place called the Red Room.
"So, Mrs. Cassandra… where have you—" Natalie began, only to be cut off by the blonde.
"Save your interrogation for a true criminal, Natasha Romanoff."
!!!
Those words struck the spy hard. She sent a furtive glance at Tony, only to find him glaring coldly at her.
She couldn't deny it. If Cassandra had just said "you're a spy," she might have laughed it off as a joke, but she had said her name.
"When?" Natasha asked, her entire demeanor shifting so much that Tony was awed.
"From the moment I met you."
"How?"
"None of your business."
This complicated things. Natasha needed to know what she did wrong. How could she have been discovered at the very first meeting? She thought Cassandra was lying.
Tony saw Natasha's worry and sighed, crossing his legs.
"You can stick around for this journey to Monaco. It will be your last assignment. You're fired. I don't want any of Fury's dogs following me." Tony said little more. He'd considered Natalie a friend, perhaps even someone he'd want to be with if not for his feelings for Pepper.
Sadly, she didn't care about that trust. She was there merely to watch like a loyal dog.
"U-understood..." She was surprised they allowed her to come along, perhaps to avoid rudeness, or because they didn't see her as a threat.
Knowledge had been distributed both ways, and Natasha knew of Cassandra's performance at the Wells Fargo bank. For this blonde woman, she was not a threat.
The Black Widow knew her limits, and this foe couldn't be defeated.
...
From then on, the atmosphere was awkward. Tony and Cassandra chatted and flirted, but they didn't exchange a word with Natalie.
When Pepper arrived at the private jet, she noticed the closeness between Tony and Cassandra. They were sitting so close that Cassandra might as well have been on his lap with the same amount of contact.
Cassandra, as always, looked breathtaking in a full one-piece dress. Pepper felt she had to step up her game for the event.
"Hi Natalie," Cassandra greeted the redhead first, sensing the awkwardness.
"Hi Tony, Cassandra." Natalie approached Tony and kissed him on the cheek, then looked at Cassandra. The two women shared a brief stare-down before Cassandra smiled and kissed Natalie's cheek.
"Good afternoon, Pepper. It's nice to see you again~"
"Hi Pepper, are you ready? Where is your suitcase?" Tony asked, noticing she had only her purse.
"It's in the car."
"I'll help you." Like a gentleman, Tony went with her to get her luggage.
Pepper didn't know why, but there was a victorious glint in Cassandra's smile — and it annoyed her.
They're cousins, Pepper kept telling herself.
**
The flight was peaceful, with Pepper taking over Cassandra's victorious grin. She spent most of the time talking to Tony about Stark Industries, business, and inventions. Tony was like a fish in water with these topics — ones Cassandra hardly understood.
But she saw Tony smile the entire flight, simply from Cassandra's presence.
"This is your hotel room. The race starts tomorrow. Please be on time, 12:00 pm, for a meeting with the CEO of Meng Hao Corporation before the main event," Natalie said briefly. They all nodded. There were three rooms parallel to each other in the luxurious hotel.
"Very well…"
"There is something else." Natalie suddenly said, glaring at Cassandra. Pepper noticed the devious tone, indicating something had happened between them. Natalie's silence during the flight had been telling.
"Hm?"
"Could I speak with you? In private," Natalie said to Cassandra.
The blonde exchanged a glance with Tony, who nodded. Only then did she decide to go with Natalie.
Tony stayed with Pepper, who pulled him into a small room with a mysterious glint in her eyes.
**
The redhead and blonde entered a room that wasn't Natalie's.
"What do you want?" Cassandra wanted to get to the point. Tony remained with Pepper, giving the CEO the perfect opportunity to counterattack; Cassandra couldn't waste time here.
The two women sat, and Cassandra crossed her legs in annoyance.
"I wanted to know, if possible, Cassandra... what are you?" Natalie asked. If she wouldn't have another chance to spy on them, she wanted to secure as much information as possible. The Black Widow didn't misinterpret politely.
"And why would I answer you that question?"
"Because not doing so could mean… some people might misinterpret you and end up attacking Stark for it."
RUMBLE!
"Are you threatening us?" Cassandra asked firmly but held her ground.
"I'm merely stating the truth. You could have done this the worst way — killed me — and you didn't. So allow me to extend cordiality. We could keep investigating; you could kill me, and someone else would come, ready for whatever you have. Or we can do this the easy way: you tell me what you are, if you have ill intentions towards Earth, and we go our separate ways, happy friends, right?"
"..."
"So?"
Cassandra stood and approached Natasha. The woman tried to stay quiet, but her heart raced.
"Doesn't it feel bad to be constantly used as a weapon?"
"..."
"To be denied what you truly are, experimented on, ordered around... treated like a dog. Don't you hate that?"
"What are you talking about?" Natasha frowned but twitched at the words. A nerve had been touched.
"I'm talking about the Black Widow, trained by the Red Room and turned into a killing machine, deprived of what she desires most... companionship, children..."
"Y-you, how—"
"That word 'how' doesn't matter right now. What matters, Natasha, is that you and I are the same in many ways. I could kill you right now. I could erase SHIELD. But that's not what Tony wants. He doesn't want me to cause trouble, and I don't want to be an inconvenience for him."
"..."
"But I won't allow people like you to lie and pester him. You're right, Natasha. You could be my friend or my enemy."
Cassandra extended her hand in a proposal.
"Become my spy in SHIELD and be my friend, or reject me and be my enemy."
!!!!
"Y-you! What are you saying? That's nuts!"
"What? Can't you do it? The most infamous spy in the world, the Black Widow, can't pretend to play two sides?" Cassandra giggled.
"What do you want with Earth?"
"Nothing. I only want Tony to be safe."
"Your 'boyfriend' is one of the most powerful men in the world. He could destroy a country with a word. He doesn't need your protection." Natasha hissed.
"Yet he was unaware that such a spy was so close all along. A man who could destroy a country with a word, yet a simple knife from you could have ended his life." The blonde hissed back.
"..."
"Natasha, I will be his SHIELD, and you're going to help me."
"..." Natasha's foot began to tick.
"In exchange, I can give you a home and a life worth living. I can give you a place to come back to, something I recently realized is important."
"I can't trust you if you don't share things with me. You know everything about me, but I don't know anything about you. I don't know what you are or your intentions. You could be lying!" Natasha was at a crossroads. The desire to join Cassandra was strong.
But another part doubted her words, her intentions. What if she was manipulating Stark and now manipulating her?
To respond, Cassandra touched Natasha's forehead, and memories started to flow — selected ones.
Memories of experimentation, fights, and that cold, undesirable life. She shared that incident too.
"W-what..." Natasha held her head, feeling a mild headache, then sent Cassandra a look of disbelief.
"Do you believe me now?" Cassandra waited.
Natasha sat, her gaze filled with contemplation, struggle, and hardship.
"Allow me to think about it. I won't tell anyone."
"You know where to find us."
"Is he going to be involved? He hates me."
"Tony will understand my motives. You don't need to worry about that. I would never conceal anything from him. You know where to find us, Natasha."
Cassandra left the room, leaving Natasha to face an existential crisis.