[AU] How much - how little - is within our power

[from_the_outside]

 "No," says Sharon, for what feels like the thousandth time. "That's not acceptable."

The rest of the flight had been uneventful, and once they landed she'd been grimly unsurprised to see that Stark had sent Happy Hogan, his erstwhile chauffeur, to guide them to the apartment they've been assigned. Stark himself had apparently gone somewhere to get out of his armor, somewhat mollified by having gotten them here and under his thumb.

Except Sharon won't stop kicking up a fuss.

Hogan stares at her as she inspects each corner of the apartment. "I can't cut these rooms off from the central security protocols," he says, slowly, like he thinks she's just misheard him.

"Well, you can," she tells him. "Or I can force a cascade in a couple load-bearing subroutines that will shut the whole damn thing down. It's your choice."

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[from_the_outside]

She does as she's requested, pulling out what looks like a deliciously runny Camembert, a jar of olives, a container of cashews, and a baguette. There are some grapes and apples in the crisper drawer; she pulls them out, too.

"I think this is the most I've seen you in years," she comments, searching around for a cutting board and knife so she can slice up the crusty bread apples and start putting a plate together.

She slants a smile Nat's way. "It's nice."

[marvel_npc]

"It is." Nat pours the vodka generously, then adds vermouth and goes to the freezer for ice. "Maybe I can talk you into coming back more often."

She pauses, considering that. "Tony or no Tony."

[from_the_outside]

Sharon makes a frustrated sound somewhere between a snort and a grumble that loosely translates as Tony Stark is the most annoying man alive.

"How you've managed to keep from punching him in the face all this time is beyond me," she says. "You're friends?"

It's a little doubtful. Nat's the first to say she's in no position to judge anyone, but Tony Stark is a hard pill to swallow.

[marvel_npc]

"Most of the time." Ice rattles as she whirls the shaker around in her hands. "Which isn't to say he can't be infuriating. But he means well, and that's something."

[from_the_outside]

"That's what I hear."

She keeps it diplomatic, but she's still furious with Tony Stark and she's not likely to cool down about it anytime soon. She lays out wedges of apples and rinses the grapes before adding them to the plate, along with a handful of nuts. She glances up at her friend as she does so.

"Steve can be a little overly optimistic, but I trust your read on people. If you see a way this shakes out without bloodshed – literal or metaphorical – I'll believe you."

[marvel_npc]

"Some of that's going to depend on James," she murmurs. "But it's a good sign that there hasn't been bloodshed already."

She pours both glasses full and carries them over to Sharon.

[from_the_outside]

"Not for lack of trying," Sharon mutters, thinking of the way Tony's palm repulsers had flashed in her eyes before he'd powered them down.

Was that really only just this morning? It feels like a week ago. She accepts the martini, fingers delicate against the cold glass, and clinks it lightly against the one Natasha is holding.

"Well. I get to see you; that's worth a lot."

[marvel_npc]

"About that," she says, after she clinks glasses and takes the first sip. Nat gives her a sharp look. "What happened?"

She helps finish up the plates and carries one toward the dining nook, then changes directions and heads for the sofa and loveseat in the living room, in front of the gas fireplace.

[from_the_outside]

"I don't know how he found out where we were," she says, as they sit down. She shifts a little uncomfortably until she finds a way to sit and face Nat without twisting her bad side too much, then sips at her drink.

It's strong and smooth and cold as ice. It's perfect. "He showed up this morning and put a crater in my driveway when he landed, then threatened to blow up the house if Bucky didn't come out."

[marvel_npc]

Nat sighs. "I may need more vodka for this," she grouses. "Leave that to me. If he's feeling clever about it he'll want to boast, so I'll find out how he found out."

She doesn't miss the way Sharon shifts, and pairs it with a couple of things from Virginia to ask about later.

"He threatened to blow up the house? Tony, you idiot."

[from_the_outside]

"That," Sharon says, gesturing at Nat with her martini. "That is what I thought. Idiot! So of course Bucky tells me to run – "

Her expression as she reaches for some bread and cheese and a slice of apple shows what she thinks of that idea. "But it wasn't like Tony wanted my head on a stick, so I went out to deal with him instead."

She pauses, thinking back. "In retrospect I probably shouldn't have yelled at him, but in my defense he was being an ass."

[marvel_npc]

"Well, he had just threatened to blow up your house," Nat points out. "And it's a nice house; I liked it."

She shakes her head and takes another sip of her drink. "What was James doing while you confronted Tony?"

[from_the_outside]

"He'd found some place in the woods where he could camp out if he needed," Sharon says. "I thought he went there, but instead he came around Tony's blind side and popped up out of nowhere. I thought Tony was going to blast his head off."

[marvel_npc]

Nat sighs.

"Sharon. How long have you known James? And you thought he would just leave you there in danger? Danger that was because of him?"

[from_the_outside]

She sighs, too. "Yeah, I know. It was a pipe dream. But I really didn't think Tony would actually hurt me, no matter how much he threatened to do things 'the hard way.'"

She takes a large sip of her drink. "So anyway, Tony whirls around, powering up, and I've got just enough time to get between them before anyone does anything stupid."

She can still hear the flat way Bucky said if you hurt her, I'll kill you. "Which put us at kind of a stalemate. Tony said he wanted answers, so he asked all his questions and between the two of us we answered everything."

Sharon shakes her head. "It wasn't enough, though. How could it be?"

[marvel_npc]

Well, it had been worth asking.

"I'm surprised he was even as calm as you say he was," Nat tells her, reaching for a piece of cheese and a few grapes. "Tony's been under a lot of strain right now, even before this. Did Steve tell you about the Stark Foundation scholarship presentation?"

Probably not, she knows, so she answers anyway. "He showed a three-dimensional interactive hologram of his parents and his younger self on the night they died, right before they left the house, as part of his speech. That's been what, two weeks ago now?"

[from_the_outside]

"Jesus. That's taking his self-destructive habits a little far, don't you think?"

Sharon takes a large swallow of her drink and sets it down on the table. "Look, Nat, I see what you're trying to do. Yeah, he's got every reason to be pissed. And he's stressed. Even I can tell that he hasn't been the same since the battle of New York, and then with Ultron and Sokovia..."

She gestures with a piece of apple before taking a bite. "Anyway, it was all over the second it seemed like he was going to make trouble for me or Steve. Bucky was always going to do what Tony said, no matter what I tried. But that doesn't make me any less pissed that Tony showed up wanting to throw down and forced us into coming here. And now he calls us 'guests,' says he 'invited' us? Fuck that."

[marvel_npc]

"He's protective of the people who matter to him," Nat says, carefully leaving who she's talking about unstated, and waits.

[from_the_outside]

"Well, so am I."

She shouldn't be drinking her martini this fast without eating more, she knows, but between stress and anger and worry and the pain in her side her appetite is screwed ten ways from Sunday.

Anyway, right now? Alcohol seems like the better choice.

[marvel_npc]

"I know."

She takes her glass in hand, kicks her shoes off under the coffee table, and curls her legs under and into the corner of the sofa beside Sharon, looking at her.

"I'm on your side," she says, candidly. "Obviously I don't want the Avengers to fall apart like SHIELD did, but that's not all I want here. So... I'm on your side."

[from_the_outside]

Her smile is wry but real. She doesn't curl up the way Nat does – she can't without hurting herself – but she relaxes a little. "Glad to hear it."

She picks her own drink back up again and takes a sip, watching Nat with interest over the rim of the glass. "So. What do you want?"

[marvel_npc]

"Oh, lots of things," Nat says, keeping her tone deliberately light even though the look in her eyes is serious as her gaze meets Sharon's.

"But mostly? I want to help."

[from_the_outside]

Sharon studies her for a long moment, right up until her grin breaks loose, brilliant and unfettered in a way it hasn't been all day. It crinkles up the corners of her eyes and her voice is filled with laughter when she says,

"God, you haven't changed a bit."

[marvel_npc]

Nat beams at her. How many people would say that to her and mean it? She's pretty sure she can count them on her fingers. Maybe even the fingers of one hand.

"Good," she teases. "That means you won't be surprised when I start poking at you. But I'll even make you another drink first."

[from_the_outside]

"Hey, I know when I'm being interrogated," she says, laughing, and lifts her almost-finished martini to make her point.

"As methods go, this is a good one."