Deadly Attachment

Chapter 35

- just because you bury something doesn't mean it stops existing.

When I reached the Triskeleton, it seems like the agents up front have been waiting for my arrival. I was taken to see Tony Stark, and even he looked grim.

"What happened?" I asked immediately, taking longer strides to get to him faster. "Is Natasha alright?"

He waved my words off, turning halfway to face a different direction. "Yes. I mean, no. Well, yes. She's fine physically. Mentally, she's struggling today." His words weren't very comforting.

"What does that mean, Tony?" I stepped in front of him. He better start giving me answers soon.

Tony sighed, rubbing his eyes. Why did he look as unhappy as he did? He locked eyes with me, and in a grim voice, said, "Today marks the two year anniversary of Natasha's brother's death."

I flinched. Brother? "She has a brother?"

"Had a brother."

"What happened?" I questioned in a low voice. "Where is she?"

"She can tell you what happened. Right now, she's in Montclair, New Jersey." Tony turned to his computer and began typing. I watched as a black screen with white lines came up, and a blinking red dot appeared. "This is her current location." Tony turned to face me.

I was so confused. "Why couldn't she just tell me that?" I asked no one in particular, staring at the ground. She was acting so weird in the morning and woke up in a cold sweat. "Was there anything else she had to do this morning?" I looked at Tony.

"This morning, no."

"What about later?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Later she's supposed to leave for Moscow, Russia," Tony said these words carefully, knowing that if they were spoken the wrong way I might explode. "Don't be alarmed. There, she's going to collect one of our younger agents."

"Name." I folded my arms, staring at the blinking dot on the screen. When Tony didn't respond, I felt anger in my chest. "What's the younger agent's name, Tony."

"Ava Orlova." The name was Russian.

"What was she doing in Moscow?" My next question. Whatever Natasha was going to do, I wanted to go with her. But by the way that Tony was speaking, I could tell Natasha wanted to do it alone.

Tony stood up, picking up a few papers and crumpling them up. "Ava was sent on a SHIELD mission. Out of my control, but I heard that it was something with Russian mercenaries." He dropped the papers into the waste bin.

"Natasha can handle that." I sat in one of the three chairs by the computer. It was soft leather, probably Tony's personal choice. This was his lab, after all. "I still don't know why she couldn't just tell me that's where she was going." I was baffled.

"Did you ask?" Tony raised his eyebrows at me.

"Not directly." I was starting to feel uncomfortable. Did I have to outright ask Natasha if she had any relatives? I just assumed that was something that you tell each other when you're in a relationship.

"Then there's your problem." Tony tapped a pen in my direction, then began writing on some sort of equation on a blank page. "You should know Natasha well enough that she doesn't talk about things unless she has to."

Tony had a point, but this was something completely different altogether. This was her brother, and I had no idea that he even existed.

"When is she getting back?" I was much calmer when I spoke this time.

Tony wrote down more numbers, then typed something in his computer. "Um," He breathed. "By the looks of it, I'd say she'd be back in New York by ten at night."

I stood and fingered the keys to my bike. They seemed much more interesting than my lack of knowledge about Natasha's past. "Hey Tony, I have a question."

"Shoot." He nodded at me.

"What would you say if I asked Natasha to marry me?" I met his eyes and he didn't look the smallest bit surprised at my question. He seemed to be expecting it.

"Well, I'd say that you need to get your act together." He was completely serious. "She's clearly in love with you, the whole team saw you two when you walked out of the room after Doctor Doom. We all know you two are all for each other." He stopped walking in front of me. "So what's stopping you? What's holding you back?"

"I'm not human." I looked away. "She deserves someone human."

Tony laughed. "If it mattered whether or not you were human, she wouldn't have gone this far with you." His eyes bore into mine. "She doesn't deserve someone human. She deserves someone who loves her. If you love her, you better make sure she knows it."

"So you're telling me I should do it." I watched him walk towards the exit.

"You said it, not me." Tony waved, opening the door to leave. "I'll see you around, Katya. Call me if you need anything."

Soon, I was the only one in Tony's lab. It was huge, this whole building. I moved myself to whatever Tony had been writing. It wasn't an equation, it was an address. I ripped the paper off the notepad, and tucked it in my pocket. Then, I just stared at the blinking red dot on the screen. Natasha's location. Does she know that Tony has it? Probably. Nothing gets by this agent without her noticing.

Sitting on my bike, I took out the paper I ripped off Tony's notepad. There was no name for this address, but I was too curious to just let it go. He left it for me, I was sure of it. I wanted to know what he was leading me to. 

Revving the engine of the motorcycle, I looked out across the parking lot and saw Tony wearing dark shades. He gave me a two fingered salute, and got into his car. Okay Tony Stark, where have you led me?