Across the Universe

“Pepper, the meeting went well. Would you stop nagging me already?” Tony spoke into his earpiece as he tightened his long jacket around him to ward off the harsh chilly winds blowing through Manhattan. Sometimes the city was a damn wind tunnel and it was one of those days. The SHIELD building loomed ahead of him, casting a shadow overhead that seemed more than ominous. Tony swore it blocked out the little bit of sun that peeked through the clouds.

“They’re reconsidering their investment Tony! What part of that sounds like it went well? Were you not in the same meeting that I was? That seemed more like a warning than anything else.” Pepper was exasperated on the other line. Tony had only moments ago left the car that Pepper remained in and he’d left her mid-sentence. Refusing to be ignored she had called him immediately after and had continued to do so until he’d finally picked up and spoke with her. Happy had dropped him off in front of the SHIELD building by request. Tony had gotten a call during his meeting from an agent there, Maria Hill, who was often charged with handling his consultant work ever since their move to Manhattan.

“It’s all part of the process, Pepper. Calm down and take this thing one step at a time. They want to work with me! They’ve seen what this project will do and want to be the first involved. It’s good publicity for the state of New York. They’re going to reevaluate their expenses and get back to us with a new number, probably more significant than the last. What part of that scares you?”

“How about everything you just said?” Pepper whined with frustration when Tony continued to blow off what seemed to her like a very important business dilemma. “How can you be so optimistic that funding will hold? What if they’re reevaluating because they’re not confident you can pull this energy thing off? What if they are going to pull funding entirely?”

“I’ve been doing this Stark Industries thing for longer than I can remember, that’s why. If it doesn’t work out then we find other investors and march on. You’re panicking for nothing. This is just business, Pepper. It’s not like it’s going to make or break us. I’m Tony Stark, remember?” Tony stepped through the glass double doors and waved his hand at the security officers who were about to ask him for clearance. “I’m sorta busy right now. I have this SHIELD headache to deal with already don’t give me a second one.”

“You can’t have two headaches, Tony.”

“Do you see that? You’re nagging so hard you’re breaking the rules of biology, Pepper! I’ve got to go.” Before she could respond, Tony ended the call and slipped the earpiece away from his ear and pocketed it. He’d gotten used to keeping it with him since he’d been booked solid with meeting after meeting for the past few months. The security officers looked to Tony skeptically before waving him past. He could’ve sworn he saw them smile while listening in on his conversation. “Finally you let me past without checking that stupid card. Seriously guys, read a paper. You know who I am already, don’t pretend you don’t.”

“Ah, Mr. Stark.” Phil Coulson walked into the front office and up to Tony Stark. He didn’t extend his hand to shake as he had done for Scarlett but instead nodded to acknowledge his arrival.

“Coulson.” Tony shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat before looking around him at the SHIELD agents who were busy on their computers. The last time he’d come in he’d caught three of them playing Facebook games and another uploading a picture of him to Twitter. He’d promptly allowed the employee to get a better picture of him then scolded them to get back to work. Now each of the SHIELD employees made a point to actually be doing their work when they knew Tony was going to show up. “Everyone’s paying attention today, nice to see that. I was starting to wonder how you got anything done here with such an inefficient system.”

“Everyone does their job here, Stark. We’re social animals by nature. As long as they’re not discussing SHIELD secrets on their Facebook then we aren’t offended.” Coulson nodded toward the hallway at the opposite end of the room where he’d planned to debrief. “Shall we?”

“That’s why I’m here.” Tony yawned, closing one eye as he did. Then he stripped off his jacket and draped it over his arm. It was much warmer inside the SHIELD building than it was outside.

“I’m sure you’re wondering why I called you in.” Phil spoke without turning to face Tony, presuming he was following closely behind even though Tony actually lagged behind and took in his surroundings as he always did. He was led into a large meeting room where the walls were filled with white boards and screens filled with information on open cases and unfinished formulas. Out of the corner of his eye Tony caught a glimpse of Natasha Romanoff, the short but fiery red-headed mercenary who had once worked undercover for SHIELD in his company to spy on him. Tony and Natasha had a difficult friendship, if that was the best word to use to describe it. Natasha often challenged him more than he was comfortable with and so in turn Tony gave her an equally difficult time. She’d deceived him a number of times, so he made a point never to trust her. Despite her budding friendship with his girlfriend, Tony wasn’t going to let down his guard.

“I always wonder why you call me in. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t wonder.” Tony had only come into SHIELD because he had ulterior motives. He didn’t actually care about what SHIELD wanted him to work on but he very rarely did. Instead he wanted to discuss the way they pursued Scarlett and see what he could do to avoid her eventual employment. He desperately wanted Scarlett to keep her distance from them if he could manage it. If he could convince Coulson to get his men to back off then maybe she would forget about SHIELD altogether.

“Usually I have to send someone to chase you down just to get you to look at paperwork.” Coulson led Tony into a far corner of the large room where there were several boards set up covered in maps and coordinates as well as damage reports. Several comfortable rolling chairs were set in front of the boards for those who were examining them. But for now they were empty. The maps caught Tony’s eye and for a split second he took in as much information as he could before turning his attention back to Agent Coulson.

“You got lucky today, I guess.” Tony shrugged his shoulders but he wasn’t sure how long he could play nice before he got to what he really wanted to talk about. Tony didn’t have a whole lot of patience when it came to dealing with SHIELD. When Tony was exhausted he had even less patience and currently he was beyond exhausted. If Coulson talked too much he was likely going to fall asleep waiting.

“Well, I’ll take it for what it is.” Coulson chuckled but then turned his attention to the boards set up in front of him. “Over the past week and a half odd phenomena have been developing across the tri-state area. It seems to be getting worse and more frequent the more time passes”

“Did the Mets win the World Series? David Wright finally pulled through, huh?”

“It’s a temporal anomaly, not a baseball anomaly. Besides, the Mets have been out of the running for awhile now. And Wright is a good player so I don’t know what you’re complaining about.”

“I had no idea you were a baseball fan, Coulson.” Tony looked impressed. It was very rare that his references were actually acknowledged by the SHIELD agent. “You are a constant surprise.”

“I know, I put the secret in secret agent.” Without missing a beat Coulson continued and pointed to the map in the upper right hand corner of the board. Taking a step closer Tony squinted so he could read the tiny font face. His eyes were so tired he could barely make out the lettering.

“This is in Fishkill, that’s hardly local.”

“I said tri-state. That means three states, Stark. Throughout the three states, not just around the city. Simply because Fishkill is a little upstate doesn’t mean it’s no longer part of the area.” Coulson clarified, pointing to a larger map that clearly displayed the tri-state area of Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey.

“Yeah, I just thought it was a little closer to home. But thanks for the geography lesson.” Tony blinked his eyes closed then opened them again, hoping they would focus a bit better. This lack of sleep thing was really starting to catch up with him.

“It’s getting increasingly closer to our area but the events are rather unpredictable. We’ve had our best teams on it trying to predict the location and severity of the next occurrence but we’re wrong each time. We were hoping you could take a look and help figure out a way to predict where this next anomaly might occur. If we can get there before it actually happens we might be able to get to the root of the problem.”

“What’s the frequency? At which this happens obviously, not a radio frequency.” Tony walked to the next board. It seemed as though whatever was happening had no rhyme or reason to it. Tony searched for a pattern in the numbers but found none. There were places in southern New Jersey, some scattered throughout New York, but most of the events had occurred in Pennsylvania and at varying times.

“It started small, with just a fluctuation of gamma radiation and no damage or visual event but it’s since compounded and expanded. The gamma spikes have occurred more frequently.” Coulson watched Tony go over the maps and SHIELD reports. As he went to open his mouth to further explain Tony turned suddenly on his heels.

“This is all very interesting and everything but I was wondering if I could discuss a private matter with you before we get too involved here.” Tony knew that whatever these anomalies were that Coulson wanted to discuss they would occupy most of the rest of his afternoon. It was intriguing to say the least. Most of what Coulson had asked him to look at thus far had been fairly boring and easily sorted out. These maps and configurations were like nothing Tony had seen before. He was excited to get his hands dirty. But before he could do that, he needed to get the little matter of his girlfriend out of the way.

“A private matter? Sure.” Coulson looked more than confused but Tony didn’t care. Glancing over his shoulder, Tony saw that Natasha sat nearby looking over a file folder. So he grabbed Coulson’s arm and pulled him closer to the boards and further away from the redhead. The last thing he wanted was Natasha spying on his conversation about Scarlett. He was sure that she would not approve of what he was about to say. “…is something wrong?” Coulson seemed suddenly concerned. Tony didn’t seem like his usual self.

“What? No, no…” Tony shook his head.

“You look troubled.”

“Troubled? Me? No, just tired. I had a long night if you know what I mean.” Tony smirked and Coulson shook his head in dismay, regretting asking. Instead of telling the truth about how he’d been unable to sleep and how worried he’d become about Scarlett, he’d been telling everyone that their sexual prowess had been keeping them up for days at a time. There were those who enjoyed his stories, but he got the distinct feeling that Coulson saw through him and understood that it was something he didn’t wish to discuss. Tony didn’t consider anyone at SHIELD his friend but he had grown fond of Phil Coulson even if he wasn’t willing to admit it. There was just something likable about him.

“So what is it then?” Coulson pressed him onward, hoping to avoid a lengthy conversation about Tony’s nightly exploits. Checking over his shoulder again to make sure that Natasha hadn’t moved closer, Tony was relieved when she remained still seated on a desk reading over some file folder.

“It’s about Scarlett.”

“What about her?” Coulson folded his arms over his chest as he listened.

“I know you want her to work for you.” Tony became serious, which was a rare sight for Phil Coulson. “I’m asking you as a friend not to hire her on as an agent or a consultant.” He lowered his voice as he spoke, not wanting anyone to overhear. Coulson was surprised to hear Tony’s objections, having not expected him to be opposed to her working for them considering how they’d met. It was possible that Tony knew more about Scarlett’s history than anyone else on the planet; surely he couldn’t find her incapable.

“I’m afraid that it’s too late for that. I’ve already discussed it with her.” Phil bowed his head apologetically but at the same time there was something in his eyes that seemed to scold Tony for his actions. “Even if the deal wasn’t already sealed I would say no. She’s too valuable an asset.”

“She’s not an asset she’s a person.” Tony gritted his teeth. He’d grown tired of watching SHIELD and MedCo treat human beings like they were disposable. But before he could continue on what was promising to be a decent rant Tony jumped a mile when someone else joined their conversation and interrupted him.

“And who are you to come in here behind her back to try to sway our hand?” Natasha had appeared out of nowhere, no longer holding the file she’d been reading but instead folding her arms over her chest as Coulson had and glaring at Tony in disapproval. For someone of her short stature she was still awfully intimidating.

“I’m her boyfriend. Did you miss that memo? Did she not tell you that already? Isn’t that the kind of stuff you two discuss? Was that not in her file somewhere?” Tony glared at her as though she were something unpleasant. Had she been listening in on their conversation from the start? He’d had the distinct feeling that she was spying on him when he’d first walked in. But then again he got that feeling from her every time that he saw her.

“And dating her gives you the right to control whether or not she works here? Worse than being controlling, you’re manipulating the situation. Why not tell her you don’t want her to work here? This is very shady.”

“Because I already told her that and she didn’t listen.”

“And if she still wants to do it then you should respect her decision! Scarlett doesn’t need some guy telling her how to live her life.” Natasha argued. Coulson simply watched the exchange in front of him. Apparently he didn’t need to have a discussion with Tony about what had happened with Scarlett since Black Widow had decided to do it for him. Still, Coulson had the distinct feeling that there was more to Tony’s request than he was letting on. Something seemed off about the usually cocky billionaire, something more than just lost sleep.

“She only wants to because you and your bird-brained boyfriend won’t leave her the hell alone! She says that she might as well get paid if you’re going to keep dragging her in on your missions.”

“And what is it you expect her to do if she doesn’t work here? Stay at home and cook you dinner and do your laundry? Scarlett has far too much potential to be hidden away as nothing more than the candy on your arm, Stark.” Natasha hoped she’d made Tony feel at least a little bit guilty but instead he went pale and shook his head adamantly.

“You’re putting words in my mouth, Romanoff! I’m protecting her. I don’t want her to be cooped up and doing my bidding. I wouldn’t be dating her if she was that kind of woman.”

“What exactly do you think you’re protecting her from?”

“From turning into you!”

“And what’s so wrong with me that you’r[a name="here"][/a]e afraid of that?” Natasha was taken aback but obviously angered by his response since her eyes flashed dangerously. The last thing Tony wanted was to be wrestled to the ground by someone almost a foot shorter than him.

“In what order would you prefer that I list the many, many reasons?” Tony sneered. “Natasha Romanoff probably isn’t even your real name. Do you even remember who you are? Scarlett was already there once. I don’t want that for her anymore.”

“If you think your girlfriend’s real name is Scarlett Damien then you’re a fool.” Natasha chuckled though she still enraged.

“Enough.” Coulson finally intervened as Tony opened his mouth to take another dig at the assassin. “Tony, this is an unreasonable request to make. Scarlett has already met with me and we’ve worked out the kinks in her contract and she’s agreed to work with us. Natasha’s right, she’s far too valuable not to pursue. Her intellect alone is worth the contract. Add in her skills as a fighter and an engineer and it’s impossible for me to let her slip beneath the radar.” Tony rubbed his hand over his jaw and turned away from the both.

It was pointless.

There was no convincing them otherwise just as there had been no talking Scarlett out of approaching SHIELD. He had thought she had other things to do that afternoon. He didn’t realize she would be coming to SHIELD to discuss their next move. He’d secretly hoped that she’d forget about it for another week so that he could devise a deal with Coulson that would keep her from becoming an agent. Now it was too late and the deed had been done. He had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach now that he knew. Why was he so crippled by fear of the unknown?

“Fine.” Tony turned to face them both again, sure that the defeat radiated off of him more than his cologne. “Can I make a request, at least?”

“You can. I can’t guarantee it’ll be honored but there’s no harm in requesting it.” Phil shrugged though Natasha seemed to disapprove of the notion entirely. She obviously was not comfortable with Tony interfering in Scarlett’s affairs. Then again, wasn’t she doing the same thing by interrupting her life with mission after mission? It was different though, wasn’t it? Natasha was trying to convince Scarlett, not working behind the scenes to manipulate her into doing something against her will like Tony was.

“Don’t let her work alone.” Tony pled and while Coulson immediately recognized that Tony was worried for his girlfriend, Natasha was quickly on the offensive.

“She has worked alone for twenty years and suddenly because she’s dating you she can’t work by herself anymore?” Natasha scoffed in disbelief. “If you can’t accept who she is then maybe you should back off before things blow up in your face. This is who Scarlett is.”

“No it’s who you think she is! She’s going through something, something life altering and if you keep pushing her then she’s going to slip right back into being the person she was. She hated that person but you wouldn’t know that, would you? My guess is she doesn’t tell you that, does she?” Tony fought back instantly. He was tired of SHIELD meddling in his affairs and he was tired of Natasha stacking the deck against him. Why did she think she knew what Scarlett needed any better than he did?

“Scarlett is more than capable of handling herself and the missions that Coulson will be assigning her. You want her to have a babysitter. Do you realize how angry that’s going to make her?”

“I don’t want her to have a babysitter! What is it with you putting words into my mouth constantly? Can you stop being awful, just for a second?” It wasn’t the first time Tony had made this request of her and he was sure it wouldn’t be the last time. He usually liked Natasha well enough and could joke around with her but when it came to discussing his girlfriend and her friend they never saw eye to eye. Ever since he’d moved to Manhattan Natasha had been a very unwelcome addition to his life.

“I’m not putting words into your mouth. Do you listen to yourself when you talk? Of course you don’t.” Natasha rolled her eyes and took a step closer to challenge Tony.

“When she works alone she turns cold!” Tony fought, looking over Natasha’s head and to Coulson who watched the exchange in amused silence. Natasha stopped arguing and stared at Tony, scrutinizing him. “She forgets what it’s like not to be that woman she was. She… I watched it happen when we were in Africa. It took her ages to realize that I was there for her and if she’s alone again what happens if she forgets that? What if she thinks she doesn’t need anyone again? Everybody needs somebody, even you, Romanoff.” Tony didn’t bother to look at her but instead spoke to Coulson. “She deserves to have people in her life who need her and care about her. I don’t want her to forget that.”

“Is that really why you’re asking?” Natasha kept up her defenses but internally she softened. Tony wasn’t trying to control her friend, he was worried about her. He was looking out for her. There was nothing malicious about what he was asking, even when he’d requested that she not work for SHIELD. At face value it looked like he was just being a misogynistic asshole but now that she could see past the man Tony was in the papers and found the truth.

“I don’t want to lose her again.” Tony looked finally at Natasha and sighed heavily in hopes she would stop trying to rip his head off as they spoke.

“Fine.” Natasha turned away and took a deep breath. Only seconds ago she had been so angry she was ready to give Tony a black eye but now she wondered if Tony’s worries were founded. Natasha’s past was riddled with demons, maybe more so than Scarlett’s was. She understood better than most what it was like to lose herself in those demons. If Tony was trying to simply protect her from herself than it wasn’t doing any harm.

“I think that’s a perfectly reasonable request. She probably won’t like it very much, having a partner that is, but I don’t see why it would be a problem.” Phil nodded his head once he’d tossed the idea around in his mind. He wondered who he should partner with the new recruit and immediately had several people in mind.

“Thank you.” Tony sighed with relief. “You could always partner her with me. That’s the obvious choice.”

“If even a quarter of your stories are true, Tony, then you two would never get anything accomplished.” Coulson immediately put a stop to that idea before it became too appealing for Tony. He would push until he got what he wanted most times. But Tony just wasn’t built for fieldwork. It wasn’t that he wasn’t capable but he was too volatile and self obsessed to go into the field and do as he was told. Plus he had no experience and was far too recognizable a public figure to run stealth missions. Scarlett may eventually have a similar problem what with being Tony’s girlfriend, but for now she had more experience in stealth and fieldwork than most of the SHIELD agents currently under his watch.

“That’s true.” Tony nodded his head and considered it, a smile creeping over his face at some memory of a time when he’d tried to get something done with Scarlett. Even before they’d started dating they hadn’t been able to properly work together without getting into trouble. Back then it hadn’t been physical acts of romance but instead an insatiable tension. “Can’t argue with the truth.”

“I’ll have to think on it. She’s going to be hard to pair with.”

“I know it may come off as needy but I have another request.” Tony pursed his lips, sure that Natasha was going to, yet again, butt in when he finally made it.

“For someone I called into work today you are asking quite a bit. But go ahead.”

“Don’t pair her with Natasha.” Tony glanced back at the redhead.

“Hey!” She immediately objected. “And why not?”

“Do you really need me to spell it out for you? Weren’t you here for most of this conversation? Oh yes, and isn’t this a conversation you weren’t invited into in the first place?”

“Scarlett and I have worked together pretty well, if you ask me. She would be a perfect fit as my partner.” Natasha preferred to work alone if she could help it but the fact that Tony was so against her being partnered up with his girlfriend was grinding on her nerves. That was why she had chosen to spy on him when he’d started to talk to Coulson in hush tones. He’d acted particularly suspicious since he’d entered the room, throwing glances at her over his shoulder as though he didn’t want her to know what he was up to. She understood why now, but it still bothered her that Tony was manipulating Scarlett’s life to such an extent. Scarlett had been manipulated for years, specifically by her ex-boyfriend. Natasha wasn’t going to let her friend end up in another relationship founded on lies and deceit, not after what it had put her through.

Natasha wasn’t particularly sentimental in that respect but she knew that Scarlett needed someone looking out for her. Maybe it was the same way Tony felt about it which was why he was there trying to change her deal with SHIELD. Was Natasha just as bad for interfering? It was amazing and a little disturbing how they were making decisions about Scarlett’s life when she wasn’t even there.

“Coulson, please. Back me up here.” Tony looked to Coulson in hopes that he would put a stop to the argument before it got any more complex. He was tired of having to defend his motives in his personal relationship with people who weren’t in the relationship. Even Pepper couldn’t mind her own business when it came to Tony’s personal affairs.

“I get it, I get it. Sorry Natasha but I can see eye to eye with Tony here. You won’t be partnered with Scarlett unless it’s an emergency situation and you’re the only backup we have available.” Coulson knew that when Scarlett and Natasha worked together it was nothing but trouble. The two women were too hard to keep under wraps when they were working as a team. Even when Scarlett had been in Russia and Natasha had been assigned to shadow her to make sure she didn’t get into trouble they’d ended up disobeying very strict orders and putting Clint’s undercover operation in jeopardy. It was too much of a risk for Coulson to let Scarlett and Natasha work together on a constant basis. Plus, Tony was right. The two women would likely get into more trouble together than they would apart.

Scarlett didn’t need to be any more like Natasha and Natasha didn’t need to be any more like Scarlett. They would be bad influences on each other and no one, especially SHIELD, wanted that. Natasha, as predicted, didn’t look happy about the decision but seemed to understand that there was no arguing against it. When she got the chance she would talk to Scarlett about it and they would either agree to deal with things the way they were instructed to or find a way to fight against Coulson’s ruling. Or they’d straight up break the rules.

“Thank you,” Tony sighed with relief. It was nice that at least one person seemed to get why Tony was afraid that Scarlett would turn into Natasha. While Tony didn’t know much about Natasha’s personal life or her history he knew her well enough to know that he had absolutely no interest in dating someone like her. Natasha was the kind of work obsessed assassin that Scarlett had been before meeting Tony and she was finally breaking out of that. It was something he hoped he could keep her from turning back into.

“I understand why you wouldn’t want Romanoff paired with her but why not Barton? They get along well enough and are constantly joking around. They get the job done when they’re together. It seems like a natural fit for both of them.” Coulson was relieved when Natasha chose to quietly listen rather than continually object to the matter at hand. Tony had been right; she really shouldn’t have been involved. Obviously it was a boundary she was comfortable crossing since she had so much history with Scarlett.

“Look, I like Barton. He’s a decent guy. But every time he works with Scarlett or they hang out for coffee or something she ends up with either a black eye, a busted lip, or another mark on her rap sheet. She doesn’t need any help with legal trouble from him. He’s a little reckless or has really bad luck, either way Scarlett doesn’t need that. She needs someone who is going to be reliable and have her back.”

“Clint would always have her back.” Natasha chimed in but she was smiling at last. Tony wasn’t wrong, but she hadn’t noticed it until he’d pointed it out. “He’s a little destructive but he’s very loyal.”

“I know that. I do. He’s been very good to Scarlett but he’s also the reason she has a split lip right now.” Tony was tired of Natasha objecting to every word out of his mouth. If she did it again he was going to explode. It was bad enough that he’d had to follow up with investors all morning and then hear Pepper nagging him about how they were losing their deal with the state of New York. The last thing he needed was to argue with someone who shouldn’t have had any say on his personal affairs. All of that on top of no sleep made Tony a very cranky man.

“Alright, alright. No Natasha, no Clint. We’ll find someone else for her to be partnered with.” Coulson couldn’t help but be amused by his reasoning. He could tell that Tony was on edge and wanted to avoid any negative interaction if he could manage it. So far the day had been going remarkably well up until that point considering he’d managed to get Scarlett to sign a contract and he had been very unconvinced that she would ever come around and join SHIELD.

“And she doesn’t start doing work for you out in the field until she has a partner, you got it?” Tony turned instantly to Natasha who had been well on her way to objecting. “I don’t want to hear it. If you care so much why don’t you date her?” Natasha held up both her hands and closed her mouth, backing off officially from the conversation. She’d meddled enough and from what she could hear Coulson knew what he was doing and wasn’t going to let Tony bully him into making decisions, without Scarlett’s knowledge, about her career.

“That seems fair enough. I get that you’re trying to protect her but she has proven that she is more than capable of handling missions without someone holding her hand. I will agree to this but reluctantly.” Coulson looked back to the board that he had barely gotten to address before Tony had taken him off on a tangent involving his personal relationship.

“It’s not about her being able to handle herself. I know exactly what she’s capable of handling, I just want to know that someone is going to be there looking out for her the way she’s going to be looking out for you and this damn company.” Tony acknowledged the rest of the room. Scarlett, even though she claimed she didn’t want anything to do with SHIELD, was the type of person who immersed herself into her work. She had once said that she didn’t get emotionally invested in her job but he knew that was far from the truth. Maybe that had been the woman she was five years ago but that was not the woman she had become in the past months. Scarlett was going to get involved and it was possible she would get involved so deeply that she would get in over her head. Tony wanted someone to be there to help her out if and when that happened. If it couldn’t be him, he wanted it to be someone reliable.

“Okay, I get it, I get it. I wouldn’t have agreed if I had thought you were simply being overprotective. I don’t think she should work alone either.” Phil Coulson was well aware of what had happened to Scarlett in the months past with MedCo and her ex-boyfriend who had manipulated her severely and even set her up to be horrifically tortured. While he was confident that Scarlett was more than capable of handling any job he threw at her, he also thought that she deserved to have someone who was there willing to help her. Scarlett needed to realize that the whole world wasn’t out to get her and if he could help her do that by assigning her a partner who would be there for her then he was more than happy to oblige her worried boyfriend’s requests.

“Thank you.” Tony said after an awkward moment of silence. He was surprised the conversation had gone at as well as it had. When he’d walked into the building he’d half expected to spend most of his visit there arguing his point with Coulson. Then again, he also hadn’t anticipated Natasha being anywhere near the facility when he’d shown up. Perhaps Coulson had thought he’d been punished enough by the redhead and had decided to throw him a bone by agreeing to his very simple request.

“Why don’t we go and fill her in on all this?” Coulson nodded to the board. “I’ll let her know that she won’t begin fieldwork until after a partner is found and assigned to her and we can give her the information I have on these anomalies. I was going to fill her in before you got here Stark but you were surprisingly prompt.”

“Only because I wanted to talk to you about Scarlett before you got to talk to her. Unfortunately, that didn’t quite go the way I had wanted it to.”

“Oh you poor thing, not getting everything you want.” Natasha rolled her eyes but a smile still played on her lips.

“Shut it ginger.” Tony responded without a second thought. “Wait, so Scarlett’s here already? Right now? I know you said that you had just signed a contract with her but I assumed that meant that you had done it hours ago or something. She said she had some hair appointment thing this afternoon.”

“Right, like Scarlett has ever made a hair appointment weeks in advance.” Natasha laughed at how naïve Tony could be sometimes. Unfortunately she also knew that meant Scarlett was keeping secrets from him. As much as she disapproved of his worry and meddling in her life she also disapproved of Scarlett hiding things from Tony simply because they might make him uncomfortable.

“Why are you even here right now?” Tony barked in annoyance but he’d been wondering the same thing. It didn’t seem like Scarlett to go to those sorts of appointments every week. That was more Pepper’s speed. He knew it was hard for them to be honest with each other on a constant basis but he had hoped that they wouldn’t start lying to each other so soon after they had agreed to be honest. Though Tony couldn’t complain much considering how many secrets he’d kept since their relationship’s inception.

“This way.” Coulson ignored them both and started through the large meeting room to the door at the other end of it. Natasha and Tony followed closely behind to find Scarlett so they could get to work.