never leaving your side || romanogers

Chapter 31

When Steve awoke from his concussed slumber, he had two first thoughts. 

The first was: Is Natasha ok?

The second was: Where the hell am I?

He didn't have a very long chance think a third thought before his eyes shut again.

---

They had made it out of the "Red Room", but what would happen now?

If it were just Natasha and Yelena, they could probably charm their way into getting a ticket out of Berlin, but they had a dozen young girls with them who couldn't possibly do things the way Natasha did them.

They walked around Berlin, looking for a safe place for the girls to stay while Natasha could go save her team. Finally, they found a cheap hotel, booked a few rooms, and settled the girls down. On the way out the door, Natasha bumped into a familiar face, very familiar, in fact. 

Natasha blinked, unsure of what she was seeing. 

"ToNy??"

---

Tony docked the jet in an abandoned field, just outside of the main city. He started walking around the city then, only looking in places he thought that Natasha would be after getting out of the Red Room. Of course, where he was wouldn't matter if she never made it out. But she was strong, she didn't need him to bail her out, did she? Should he try to find the base?

He then decided that maybe she had fought her way out, and was finding a safe place to lay low. Tony started to search hotels, going from expensive suites to dingy motels. Just as he was about to give up and find a different place to search, he saw what looked like her. 

From far away, it seemed quite unlikely that Tony had found the lost Avenger. This woman had damp-looking dark red hair, quite unlike the bright locks Natasha had. This woman looked gaunt and tired, but she still held herself with dignity, like Natasha would. 

It was her! Tony straightened his spine and took off his glasses. He opened his mouth to greet her, but she beat him to it. 

"ToNy?" 

Tony closed his mouth, a tiny bit taken back by her tone of voice. Frowning, he said, "I would appreciate it if you would greet me with more, say, warmth. After all, I'm here to take you home. Also, I love your kicks."

Natasha looked down at her battered high tops and groaned. She probably would have beat him up right then and there if there hadn't been a secretary sitting at a desk. "No, shit, crap, fuck, we need to go save Steve and everyone. It's an emergency."

"Um.." Tony gave Natasha a confused look. "Ok? They're fine though. They just went to find you, but I can get the message to them that I found you and they'll come back."

---

"So, what's her deal?" Tony sank into a dingy armchair. He jerked a finger toward Yelena, who was sitting on her bed, picking dirt from under her fingernails?

Natasha glared at him. "Don't. She's my friend here."

Tony put his hands up. "Ok, Little Red. So, you go first or I go first?"

"Me." Tony nodded, as if he already knew the answer before the words came out of Natasha's mouth. "So, a few days ago. That day I disappeared. Yelena brought me to what I thought was the Red Room, because well, I don't really know. Maybe I was bait, or something. And then Madame B showed me a video, of Steve. He was beaten up really bad, and I don't know. Something just clicked inside of me, and then I realized it was the wrong Red Room. So I got all the girls out, and I was looking for a way to get to Steve. And then you found me, or I found you."

Tony sighed. "Wow, what I'm about to say is about to make this so, so much worse. Ok. So, I got these notes that told me how to find you. But I didn't really understand them. They just threatened to hurt all of you guys if I told anyone about them, so i just ignored them until you disappeared. And then I realized I was the only one who could find you. But when they all left to find you and I knew that they were heading the wrong way, something just broke, and I went home to tell Pepper, and then I came here. So I think that Thor and Clint and Steve and Bruce are all under attack at the other place, and we really need to go help them."

Natasha looked shocked. Numb, almost. "Shitshitshit, that's terrible. But I can't just leave all the girls here."

Tony nodded. Understandable. "I can call Happy or Pepper to take them back to the tower for now, then we can find a safe place for them to stay. Ok Natasha? We'll figure it out."

Satisfied, Natasha smiled. "Well, then there's only one thing for us to do. Do you have a jet? We should go. Yelena, come on."

"Wait-" Tony objected. "Are you sure she-"

Natasha glared at him with sharp green eyes. "She's coming. She knows her way, and," Natasha bit her lip, probably to prevent anything terrible from coming out. "And she's a good fighter."

Tony sighed. But it was a lost cause. Natasha would beat him up if he said Yelena couldn't come. "Fine. I'll call Happy, and we can get on the jet I came here on."

---

"Happy? Is Pepper with you?"

"No? Yes? Oh my god, just pick an answer. What? I said just tell me if Pepper's with you- oh hey! Um, I was wondering if you could get a jet to Berlin, it's an emergency. I can't really talk right now, but it would be great if you or Happy could get onto that jet and come here as soon as possible."

"Why for? Oh, well, so I've found Natasha and her friend Yelena, but she also has with her about a dozen girls from the Red Room that she helped get out of there. And we need to get them someplace to stay safe and lay low until we can get them somewhere to stay. So yeah, we've got quite a few empty rooms in the tower, so maybe they can stay with us."

"Really? You would? That's great- we'll leave soon to find the rest of the team, but I can send you the address. And if anyone tries to get in your way when you come here, Happy knows where I keep the weapons. Thank you Pepper, so much, for everything that you've done. I love you, bye."

Tony hung up the phone. "Alright, I've arranged with Pepper and Happy. They'll both fly here as soon as they can, pick up the girls, and go back home. Maybe you should um, go tell the what's happening."

Natasha nodded, both to him and Yelena. "Let's go." As the two left the room, Tony couldn't help but notice all the similarities between them. He had known Natasha for a pretty long time now, and that woman with her, Yelena, had the same purposeful stride and high chin. They were so similar, yet so different. 

Tony straightened up. "Alright," he said to himself. "I've got a team to save."