章 38: Chapter 38: Natasha's Reward
A/N: Natasha finally gets tenure! Err wait, not tenure. Something BETTER than tenure!
-x-X-x-
Natasha Romanoff sighs as she fiddles with the zipper on her catsuit for a moment. After a second, she glances up at the ceiling.
"Any hints on what Tony wants me for, J?"
It's been years now since she found herself not only sent to spy on Tony Stark, but being flipped entirely by the impossible man. The eccentric genius billionaire had completely turned her fragile loyalty from SHIELD to himself, even if they thought she was still one of their agents and just working as his liaison.
Of course, by this point Natasha didn't think that Fury, Coulson, or Barton really trusted her all that much. She was probably considered 'compromised' all in all. It was only Tony's work with the World Security Council and therefore SHIELD itself that kept them from doing anything more permanent about her. So long as he was ostensibly their ally, it didn't matter if he'd all but turned her into his and his wife's sex pet, she supposed.
Still, Natasha had grown used to the rather insane life that Tony led. She'd even grown accustomed to Stark's AI, JARVIS. Enough that she had no problem asking him for whatever he could tell her.
"I'm afraid that Sir has told me to keep things hush-hush this time around Agent Romanoff. I can tell you that it's not a booty call, however."
Natasha hums and nods her thanks at that, pulling the zipper on her form-fitting SHIELD Uniform all the way back up to her neck. She does so just in time for the elevator doors to open, depositing her onto one of the many floors of Stark Tower that Tony has dedicated completely to Research and Development. The man is hard at work as ever, developing something that Natasha's eyes can't even fully comprehend, at least at first glance.
Walking into the lab, knowing full well that her ability to do so is in and of itself a sign of trust, Natasha saunters right up to Tony's side.
"You wanted to see me, Tony?"
"Oh hey Nat. Yeah, here you go."
Reaching off to the side, Tony picks up a thick cylindric container with one hand and holds it out to her. Blinking, Natasha takes it and sets it down on the table, flicking the clasps and opening the sleek-looking capsule. What she sees inside takes her breath away.
"Tony, is this…"
"Your dose? Yep."
He's so damn casual about it, it's enough to make Natasha grit her teeth. Inside of the cylinder is another cylinder. No visible needle, but it's obviously a high-tech injector of some sort based on the small viewing window that shows a glowing orange-red liquid inside of it. The thing is pretty intuitive… Natasha could pick it up and probably inject herself with it right now if she wanted to.
And oh how she wants to. This is what she's been working toward for years now, after all. Working for Tony Stark, serving him loyalty, being his and Pepper's little fuck toy… though admittedly that last one was completely of Natasha's own volition. She was well aware that she hadn't had to have frequent sex with the power couple if she wanted to earn this. She'd done so because it was fun.
Still…
"So I'm finally trusted enough, is that it?"
Finally looking away from his latest project, Tony gives her a grin.
"You sound almost unhappy about that, Natasha. I did tell you that it would be a couple years, didn't I? And here we are. You've done everything I've asked of you. You've had ample opportunity to betray me and Pep a dozen times, and you haven't. You've earned your prize. Though there are a couple caveats."
Natasha presses her lips into a thin line at that. Of course, there's always a catch. At least Tony was the kind of man who was upfront about what those catches were… at least if you were on his good side anyways.
"And those caveats are…?"
Tony tilts his head towards the injector.
"To be clear, that's something we call the Extremis Super Soldier Serum. Foundationally, it's built off of the stuff that my father and Erskine gave Steve Rogers back in the forties."
Natasha's eyes bulge out of her head at that as the gorgeous femme fatale finds herself unable to control her reaction, uncharacteristic as that is. But then, Tony makes her act in a lot of ways those who knew her would deem 'out of character'. Licking her lips, Natasha rolls Tony's words over in her head.
"… Foundationally. What ELSE does it do, exactly?"
"The part you want the most of course, Nat. The pure form of Extremis imparts extreme regenerative qualities onto whoever takes it. Not only will it heal you of what the Red Room did, but going forward you're going to be as strong as Captain America and a lot more durable. You'll be able to heal from most conventional injuries. Like I did against the Destroyer back in New Mexico."
That gets Natasha's attention, her eyes darting from the injector to Tony as he gestures and a sudden recording plays of something she'd been present before a year ago. Namely, Tony getting blasted backwards through the entrance of the compound he'd made to secure Thor's hammer.
Except, the video shows what nobody except for JARVIS and Pepper apparently saw… the armored chestplate was just a cover story. Tony hadn't been wearing any armor when the Destroyer had struck him. The damn thing had literally blasted a huge hole through his chest with its energy beam, one that he'd regenerated from in less than a minute.
"Damn."
Tony just smiles and nods at Natasha's succinct response to what she's witnessing. Then, he waves his hand and the video disappears.
"I want you to take this dose today Nat, I really do. But those caveats from before… we should probably go over them first. For starters, you'll be healed today. Stronger than ever before. Capable of regenerating from life-threatening wounds… and most importantly, you'll be capable of becoming a mother. However, I have to ask you to put off actually going out and getting pregnant just yet."
Natasha glances at Tony sharply. The way he said that… 'going out'… did he really not know already? Still, she keeps her mouth shut about that and focuses on the other part.
"Why?"
Here, Tony smiles crookedly.
"That leads into the other caveat. You're going to have to die, Natasha."
She twitches at his choice of words, but understands immediately all the same. She's not an idiot after all.
"I see."
Raising an eyebrow, Tony turns to face her entirely.
"Do you, Natasha? Please spell it out for me. I want to make sure we're on the same page."
Huffing, Natasha crosses her arms over her chest.
"You want me to fake my own death because SHIELD would never accept me suddenly being pregnant. They might not even let me carry the child to term, or they might let me give birth only to use her against me. Especially since… SHIELD is HYDRA."
Tony inclines his head in silent agreement. It wasn't like Natasha hadn't thought about it before of course. Her nostrils flare though in frustration, especially when she looks at the injector.
"… How long?"
Humming, Tony considers the question for a long moment.
"Sooner rather than later, I should think. We just need to wait for the right opportunity to come along. Having you die in a cushy position like this wouldn't make much sense. It'd draw too much attention. But Thor's visit and Loki's attack… I doubt those were one offs. They felt like a prelude to something greater, like Earth is just getting started with the overt alien visits."
Crooked smile returning, Tony nods to Natasha.
"Those are the caveats. You take the ES3 now but wait to get pregnant. And you let me arrange your death so we can set you up with a new identity that SHIELD and HYDRA can't find you under."
As far as caveats went, they weren't anything too bad. Besides, given who Natasha had already deemed the most acceptable 'sperm donor', she basically had to wait in this case. He wouldn't say yes until she and her potential child or children were safe, after all. Nodding, Natasha picks up the injector and pulls down the zipper of her catsuit, exposing ample amounts of her upper chest.
Though, she does pause for a moment and look at Tony.
"HYDRA is still out there. In fact, they're stronger than ever. I'm not… are you sure you don't need me to help deal with them in the long term?"
Tony laughs.
"How selfless of you, Nat. As for dealing with HYDRA…"
Without him even moving a muscle, another holographic display shows up next to them. Natasha looks over at it and her eyes widen the more she takes it in. It's Tony's plans for HYDRA in exacting detail and she finds her breath hitching at both the beauty of it… and the sheer depths he's going.
"This is…"
"Yep."
Looking into Tony's eyes, Natasha sees a man of conviction. She sees a man who will stop at nothing to get things done. And while she's met many men like that in the past, both good and bad… Tony is the first who she knows for a fact won't be stopped. Not by anyone.
Bringing the injector to her chest, Natasha presses the release button, maintaining eye contact with Tony all while the ES3 fills her veins. She feels it going to work, feels herself growing hotter and hotter to the point that she begins to pant. Tony catches her as she almost collapses, holding her as she shakes and spasms. Deep inside of her loins, Natasha feels it… her body regenerating. Old scars being erased. The Red Room's most heinous crime… reversed.
Emotion wells up inside of her. Natasha couldn't remember the last time she'd cried without it being on purpose for a mission. Not since she was a child, she thinks. But the tears fall all the same, with Tony holding her to him and rubbing soothing circles into her back.
"Welcome back to the land of the living Natasha. The Red Room did everything they could to turn you into a ghost that would only ever do their bidding. No more. Never again."
Never again. The old Natasha might have taken the Extremis Super Soldier Serum and ran. After all, she had everything she wanted from Tony, ostensibly. But… no. She was in it for the long haul now. Tony Stark would have her loyalty until the day she died.
-x-X-x-
"Closing in on the target, Sir."
"Excellent J. Nobody in the area yet?"
"No Sir. We are secluded and the satellites in the region have been spoofed. Nobody is going to detect what happens here."
Hovering above the water near the frozen shores of Greenland, Tony stares down into what would, to anyone else, be fathomless depths. However, Tony Stark was now a Technopath… and that meant he saw what JARVIS saw through the sensors in the Vibranium-Nanotech Armor he now wore.
There, down below, the remains of the Valkyrie have finally been located. A month from now, a Russian Oil Team would have found the plane and ultimately SHIELD would have been alerted, with agents arriving to find Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, frozen in the ice. Not this time however. This time the oil team was still weeks away. This time, as soon as JARVIS was able to locate the Valkyrie based on Tony's foreknowledge, he'd come out here to get it first.
The Battle of New York was just around the corner now. Admittedly, Tony didn't know for sure if it would even happen like it originally did… but he believed it would. From an unknowing Pierce and Fury, Tony knew that research into the Tesseract had been started just like last time, presenting a siren's call to the rest of the universe. And from Sif he knew that Loki had flung herself into the void after Thor destroyed the Bifrost, same as her male counterpart.
Thanos would retrieve Loki from the void and arm her for an invasion of Midgard. This, Tony fully believed. And when Loki came, Tony would be waiting for her.
But first… Tony holds out a hand and extra Vibranium Nanites pour from his gauntlet into the water below. Thanks to his Technopathy he's able to maintain a connection with them, though he ultimately does have to follow them around after a certain point. The Valkyrie is still thousands of feet under water and ice and Tony's Technopathy, while constantly growing, has only progressed to just under a thousand feet at this point.
Slipping beneath the waves, Tony continues to stare unerringly at his target. The nanites he's sent down slide under the Valkyrie like the grasping hand of a gentle god, spreading across the buried plane's surface. They cut through the ice and remove the rock and sediment that had covered and encased the bomber plane until this point, before finally settling into their places along the underside.
Once everything is in place, Tony lifts with his hand… and the nanites lift as well. Slowly, the Valkyrie is pulled up through the water. To the naked eye, if anyone where around to watch this, it might look like Tony Stark had developed Force Powers all of the sudden, since what he was doing was eerily reminiscent of a certain Jedi on Dagobah lifting his X-Wing out of the swamp.
Not nearly as hard though or as much of a strain. Flying back up, Tony pulls the Valkyrie up with him until it breaches the surface. The nanites keep it afloat, even as Tony hovers down and makes himself a hole in the massive plane's side with a laser. Then, quiet as a mouse, he floats his way inside.
It doesn't take Tony long to find what he's looking for, of course. He knows exactly what he's here for after all. Or rather, who he's here for. Captain America encased in ice with his Vibranium Shield held across his chest like he's some Norse Warrior off to Valhalla. Rogers looks almost peaceful as he is right now, with Tony regarding him silently.
Funny, originally Tony had planned to take Cap's iconic shield for himself at this moment, melting it down and using the Vibranium for his Nanites. That way he wouldn't step on Wakanda's toes. But Loki had caused him to move up his plans and in the end Klaue's Vibranium had ultimately served him much better, coming in a far greater quantity as it was. Now, Tony no longer had any need to appropriate Steve's shield.
"… Hey Steve. Been a while. Bucky says hi. Or he would if he knew I was here or that you were alive."
"Sir."
JARVIS' voice echoes in Tony's ear but he waves the AI off.
"Just give me a moment, J."
Then, he focuses back on Steve Rogers' frozen, sleeping visage.
"Look Steve… I'm hoping you and I can work together this time. That's why I'm snatching you up before SHIELD can get their claws into you. We'll take down HYDRA together and hopefully you'll be amenable to me quietly ruling the world. Or if not, hopefully you'll never find out. But… I feel like I need to make you a promise right now. Fuck with me this time around and I'm not pulling punches, Rogers. I'll kill you myself if I have to. Just so we're on the same page."
A crooked smile spreads across his face, because obviously he and Steve are not on the same page. The man can't hear him right now and Tony isn't stupid enough to say any of that to Steve's face. If there's one thing Tony learned about the other man in the previous timeline… it was that Captain America didn't respond well to threats or intimidation.
Letting out a sigh, Tony tilts his head to the side.
"Alright J. What is it?"
"… I believe it would be better for you to see for yourself, Sir. Turn to your right."
Blinking, Tony does as he's told, letting his focus on Steve Rogers become more decentralized as he allows his senses to flow back through the sensors in his suit and what JARVIS is 'seeing' right now. Then, he freezes in place. He'd been so locked in on Steve that he hadn't been paying attention before. One might excuse his lapse in judgment for the fact that most of the Valkyrie was pitch black save for the lights of his suit… but that was no excuse in this case.
Slowly, stomping over a few steps, Tony comes to a stop in front of something impossible. Against all conventional knowledge, it would appear that Steve Rogers wasn't alone when the Valkyrie crashed. There, frozen in the ice just like Captain America… is a pristine, youthful, and altogether fit and toned Peggy Carter. Dressed in a British-Inspired version of the Captain America Uniform… and with a British Union Jack Vibranium Shield resting across her front as well.
"J?"
"She's alive, Sir."
There's no doubt in Tony's mind that she had to have been dosed with the Super Soldier Serum as well to have survived under the ice all this time. However, her body type reminds him more of Natasha than Steve, with her feminine attributes still on display… if not amplified. As Tony steps closer to the young Peggy Carter, he can see that there's probably corded muscle under those curves of hers though. If Steve is a man of steel, then this Peggy is steel wrapped in velvet.
In the end, a lot of things are going through his mind right now. But the primary one is…
"… What the fuck?"
-x-X-x-
A/N: So yeah, this is now happening.
To be clear, this Peggy Carter looks more like her live-action MoM version did. I wasn't a fan of just how manly they made the cartoon version of Captain Carter look, but I like how the Illuminati Captain Carter looks because she still looks relatively feminine.
This one is mostly like that, but also even more feminine and only slightly more muscular than Natasha, basically.
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