𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒓 ✘ 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐀 𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐅𝐅

{4⁸} {VIENNA}

∆ {4⁸} {VIENNA} ∆ 

Vienna, Three Days Later

ROXI HADN'T GONE to Peggy Carter's funeral. Her mind had been spinning so harshly after her conversation with Tony, that she'd had trouble walking straight, and had fallen into Natasha's arms seeking comfort when she'd gotten back to the redhead's room. Natasha had also promised not to mention it to anyone else, though her concern for the ice-eyed woman she had grown to love so dearly had become considerably stronger with the incident.

Roxi, strangely, hadn't felt close enough to Steve to go either, even after their semi-forced bonding experiences in DC. Maybe it was because Natasha had been the one to drag her into it in hopes of help. But Roxi had still only really opened up to Natasha. Sure, with Tony and Wanda she'd been getting here, but she had no clue what was going to happen now that the Accords had come into play. 

Natasha had gone. Not to pay her respects to Peggy, or to try and find some manipulative way to try and get Steve to try and sign the Accords, but simply to be there for the man, who needed someone exactly like Natasha as a friend. In fact, she was now waiting in a car outside the airport in Vienna, anticipating the moment that Natasha's familiar, vibrant red locks appeared outside out of the slightly squat building, after her flight from London. She had been waiting for forty minutes when the redhead appeared, smelling of sour-cream and onion pretzels - the ones that the longer flights always seemed to have - in a way that didn't mix with her usual rose and vanilla scent so well. She'd ignored the look Natasha gave to her when Roxi offered her a mint, simply linking her hand with Natasha's as the driver started up the car.

In all honesty, Roxi was glad that she'd had the time to prepare herself for the event that was about to happen. While Natasha provided her with a reassurance that she'd never be able to find anywhere else, she'd wanted to have a clear mind for this, just to make sure that she was making the right choice, especially after the open threat that Tony had made regarding the Accords three days prior. They were already changing the dynamic of some of the closest people on the team, and they hadn't even been ratified yet.

Most of the drive was spent in a nervous silence, though both women were slightly too proud to admit that this scare them, and that panic was clawing up their throats so harshly that it burned anytime they tried to speak. At least, that was how Roxi felt. Looking up at the UN building as they drew in, Roxi knew that she couldn't deny the fact that it was impressive, with its modern architecture and massive windows that spanned the whole outside of the third and fourth floors. She remembered the glances that she had exchanged with Natasha before they'd stepped out of the car, trying to instil faith and confidence in each other -  the kind that neither held within them to start with.

The walk into the building had been a blur flashing cameras, clamouring voices, wailing sirens and a tense kind of pressure that seemed to suck half the air from Roxi's already burning throat. Nonetheless, she played her part perfectly, acting as if these Accords didn't affect her, never once stopping to glance at any of the interviewers that screamed her last name. The fact that none of them knew her a true name brought her a sense of satisfaction that she'd never felt before as she almost marched into the building, taking a quick moment to admire the way the building had been constructed as she waited for Natasha's slightly shorter strides to catch up with her own, long, faster ones. It felt as if every corridor that they walked through stopped its entire movement, all conversation hushing as all attention turned to the two seemingly confident Avengers as they strode through their hallways in the sharp suits that Tony had bought them for the occasion.