Remember the flying donut?

[ he looks ahead for a moment more before he meets her eyes again. She may not be Pepper but he hates telling her all of this when they're here, when it's all so far away and out of their control. ]

I'm sorry. I'm hoping it's not a one-way trip.

You're on that thing? [It's obvious. She says it anyway, searching his face for confirmation. It raises so many questions—how for one, and why for another.]

You don't owe me an apology. [Pepper on the other hand... Natasha keeps that to herself for the moment.]

Do we know were Vision is in all this?

Me and the wizard and the kid.

[ it's a damn field trip isn't it. ]

I don't know about Vision. He hadn't contacted me in a while. I was about to call Rogers, figured he could talk to Wanda about it but then the spaceships arrived and things got really fun.

So you and Steve... [It's not a question. She doesn't have to ask it because she can see the answer—it would take something like an alien invasion to get them talking again. She's just looking for confirmation.]

I didn't get to talk to him at home. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I was stuck on a spaceship.

[ but -- ]

We're cool here.

[ he had to make an effort. he still does. ]

[That's not exactly what she was asking, but it answers the question either way. Both ways.]

That's reassuring to hear you say.

Don't compliment me,

[ he waves his hand, dismissive, slightly annoyed ]

You know a part of me hates it. We're not friends but we can get the job done if we need to.

Not a compliment. Just a statement.

[And an honest one. There's only so much she can do to try to bridge a gap between two people who are trying to tear each other apart.

Two people who aren't friends, she can work with.]

Which part of it do you hate?

The part where I can't trust him. I have a member in my team that I used to trust and I don't have that anymore.

[ Granted, he always trusted Natasha to be untrustworthy. The woman had secrets, many of them. Or maybe Tony couldn't get over her spying on him all those years ago.

Rogers used to be different. ]

That part.

[She doesn't argue with Tony or try to defend Steve. It's a complicated situation.

She'll leave Tony his feelings.]

That's a hard thing to come to terms with.

Change the subject will you.

[ he asks, he demands. he's already developing a headache. ]

Unless you have other questions about me and Rogers.

It's your room. Your mimosas. You wanted me to come by. We can talk about whatever you want to talk about.

[There's a lot of information already on the table. He might not have a military background grounding his vocabulary, but experience has made him effective and putting a lot of information in a few words.]

You'd rather tell me more about Vision and Wanda?

How would I know anything about them? They're not around.

[ and they're not on speaking terms. ]

When the league of doom aliens came it was me and Banner and two wizards. I don't know shit about the others, you know that.

I thought you might have a little more intel on the lead up though. Last time I saw Vision, there was no reason to believe Steve or Wanda would be a better line to Vision than you would be.

[So something changed there.]

Vision turned off his transponder, he's not responding. Not to me, anyway. I figured he's friendly with Wanda and the best way to contact Wanda was Rogers.

[ he shrugs ]

That's the only lead I had.

Fair enough. [Natasha would like more information, but that's true about the whole situation. It's far away, leaving her with partial info on a situation she can't do anything about.]

Thanks for catching me up.

I know it's not much.

[ pieces of a bigger puzzle, one that tony doesn't understand much, either. not yet. ]

I just thought - if Wonderland drags one of those ugly ass aliens here or if there's an event, you deserve to know.

If an alien shows up, they'll have a lot to deal with here. They'd be just as stuck as we are.

[Which isn't to say the possibility isn't here and doesn't set her teeth on edge.]

As for events... I try not to think about that.