Shadowplay | Tony Stark

THIRTY FOUR - BRAVE

"Good to see you, Stark. Didn't expect to have you by my side so fast after we made the call."

Natasha let out a content sigh after smashing the last conscious man's head against the cold brick wall, leaving the only two minds in the room functioning belonging to herself and Tony.

She hadn't seen him in a while and although they'd have plenty of calls while he'd been living with Mila and her son, it felt nice to have her friend back alongside her, missing the dynamic they had between them.

Tony wasn't as warm as Clint or as gentle as Steve, but that was part of the reason Natasha loved him. Since they'd met, Tony had been undeniably himself, not changing for anyone or anything that crossed his path.

That being said, Natasha never thought she'd see the day that Tony Stark would become a father, whether by blood or not.

After entering a room filled with four HYDRA agents in the old base just outside of Mila's hometown, Tony and Natasha were quick to react to the task at hand, both of them dealing out blows to the heads of the agents that would bide them enough time to carry on with their mission.

"You kidding me, Romanoff? Where else did you think I'd be?"

Tony retracted his helmet to look his friend in the eye properly for the first time that day. She had a small smile on her face, one that he knew she was desperately trying to suppress, but was unable to do so.

"Protecting Mila and her little boy?"

Natasha raised an eyebrow, taking a moment to catch her breath as she crossed her arms at her chest, standing with her feet shoulder width apart.

Tony blinked, "That's exactly what I'm doing."

Hearing Mila's name made Tony feel a certain kind of way. It was almost electrifying, just the mentioning of her conjuring up inescapable memories that his mind held, all of them golden as he recalled what her hands felt like on his skin and how her laugh sounded like cold silk.

He thought about nothing but her during every waking moment and in his dreams too, hating whenever they were apart but constantly craving the euphoria of being reunited again.

Tony wasn't sure he'd ever had a woman tell him that they were in love with him, at least not one that meant it and certainly not one whom he loved as tenderly in return.

He was going to be strong for Mila and Tristan regardless, however Tony wasn't prepared for the hot surge of adrenaline that had been burning through his veins ever since Mila had confessed her love for him, the words feeling as though they'd injected his body and soul with something stronger than a human was ever supposed to feel, something otherworldly.

"Did you hear that?" Tony said, his head snapping up from the ground as his ears pricked up, his eyes darting around the small room, narrowed in a thin darkness.

"Hear what?" Natasha questioned, holding her breath as Tony silenced her with a raised index finger.

The two of them remained silent for a long moment, hearing an echo of footsteps and muffled voices they knew belonged to other HYDRA agents and most likely Avengers, but that wasn't what had caught Tony's attention.

"I-it sounded like Tristan. It sounded like him calling my name, I-"

"Tony, I don't know what that Tesseract can do, but they're safe, you made sure of it. They're not here, you must be hearing things because of the-"

"No," Tony shook his head, swallowing once, "I'm not. Listen."

Natasha did as she was told, breathing shallowly to compress the silence, waiting to hear whatever had instilled a pale fear into the whites of Tony's wide eyes.