ic inbox

[redrooms]

"You've reached Natasha Romanov. Please leave a message."

Comments

@IAmLegend; audio; Day 163 (throughout the day)

[definingfuture]

[Message 1]
Okay, so that was stupid.

[And a few hours later.]

[Message 2]

Come on. Aren't you awake yet?

[Message 3, afternoon]

Damn it, Widow, answer me already. I'm not kidding here!

[Message 4, night]

Report back when you get this. And you're going to. I know you. A little cold weather has never been enough to keep you down before. Aren't you naturally immune to snow and ice?

Look, if you don't respond back, I can't apologize, and I know you really want to hear me say I messed up. You'll get to gloat and everything.

You get up and you get back to me, you hear? You have to.

[And a bit later.]

The insulation in this place sucks.

@itsybitsy; audio; day 164

[redrooms]

[Natasha responds to Tony the next day, and she's already feeling unsettled, so the way he's acting is a major red flag.]

Sorry to keep you waiting. I'm here.

audio; day 164

[definingfuture]

[THANK GOD.]

You scared the Hell out of Barton.

[And him. Shut up.]

[redrooms]

I'm sorry. I'm fine. Where are you?

[definingfuture]

Freezing my armored ass off in the snow. Without armor.

So just freezing.

Hey, good news: I found the police station.

[redrooms]

Yes, you don't have armor. We've established this, Tony.

[What the hell is going on with him?]

[definingfuture]

What?

[redrooms]

[There's a pause.]

...What?

[definingfuture]

Nothing. Got a chill for a second there. Hiking north, I guess.

[redrooms]

Tony, is everything alright? What did they take from you?

[definingfuture]

Who are you talking to?

[redrooms]

[There's another pause.]

I'm talking to you.

[definingfuture]

You were talking to me.

[Uh. Right. That doesn't make sense.]

[redrooms]

Who else would I be talking to?

[definingfuture]

I don't know. You know who I am, but you called me Stark.

[redrooms]

[Oh. Great.]

And who are you?

[definingfuture]

[The chill comes back and this time it hurts. It hurts enough to feel like a momentary heart pain, and Tony breathes in sharply with a curse.]

I'm... I'm Iron Man.

[redrooms]

[Oh. Great.]

Stark's bodyguard.

[definingfuture]

Don't sound so disappointed. Look, I'm going to keep going north. The plan is what? Reconvene and rescue Barnes from himself?

[redrooms]

[Natasha lets out a quiet, frustrated sigh.]

Knock it off, Tony. That was a terrible cover from the beginning.

[definingfuture]

Stop. I don't plan on going by the boss's name just because I happen to represent him.

[redrooms]

Cut the shit, Stark.

[She's in a bad mood and assuming he just lost his memories of the last few years. Oops.]

[definingfuture]

Stop calling me that!

[He actually gets rough for once. He doesn't have the voice modulator, but it's clear he's talking like he is used to having it.]

[redrooms]

[What... the fuck...]

What's the last thing you remember before arriving here?

[definingfuture]

Before getting here?

[He takes a moment.]

Working for SHIELD. Getting put on every shit list in the superhero community and then getting called out by the Hulk. The last thing I remember was a mission I was on. Pretty small time in comparison, to be honest. It was almost like a vacation.