Spiderwebs - Chapter 5

A soft knock on the door woke Natasha immediately from sleep. A lifetime of training had enabled her to stir at the slightest noise, and even in the midst of troubled dreams, this was no exception. She pulled on a shirt as she walked to the entrance to her room and swung open the door to find herself face-to-face with a deeply blushing Steve Rogers.

"Uhh, s-sorry to wake you, ma'am," he stammered, purposefully tilting his gaze upward so as not to look directly at Natasha in her scant pajamas. She couldn't help but smile. In 2012, there was nothing indecent about the tank top and shorts she wore, but Steve's standards were that of a much more modest era. And he, a very modest man. She remembered reading in his file that his only love interest had been brief, and cut off too soon by the incident that brought him into the 21st century. It embarrassed her slightly to know such intimate information about her co-workers. Steve had never volunteered information about his past life, preferring to keep his duties strictly professional, but Natasha's profession included knowing everything about everybody. She wondered with a start what information was in her file, and made a mental note to check into it later. It had never mattered before, but for some reason the idea of having her personal thoughts and feelings recorded like cold objective data bothered her now.

"It's alright, Captain," she assured him. "What seems to be the problem?"

"There's…there's something you might want to see. In the common area. Director Fury told me to bring you at once."

Frowning, Natasha turned to quickly get dressed while Rogers waited in the hallway. Glancing at her clock, she saw it was only 5:00 AM. She was in for a long day.
Steve, who was clearly much more at ease with Natasha in full uniform, set off with her towards the main common room. On the way he tried to make conversation by catching her up to speed on the events of the safe room the day before.

"We're all pretty near stumped on what to do about that no-good Loki," he made the Asgardian's name sound like a curse, hatred and disgust apparent on his face. "Thor seems to think he might just stay in Asgard and try to get himself back in order, but if you ask me that's just wishful thinking."

"What do you think then, Captain?"

"To be honest, ma'am, I'm not quite sure what to think just yet. That devil's got tricks up his sleeve that we haven't seen, and I don't like it. This business about his trial doesn't sit right with me. I don't know what his game is, but it wouldn't surprise me if we're about to get mixed up in it again." He gave Natasha a sideways glance. "Do you know anything about it?"

"Me?" she was completely caught off guard.

"From the tapes, I mean. Did you find anything in security? Any sign of him?"

Natasha was genuinely shocked at what came out of her mouth next.

"No, nothing."

What was she saying? Was she…protecting him? Why?

Steve looked bothered, a slight frown creasing his forehead.

"Oh. I thought…well, nevermind."

"What?" her mind raced with curiosity.

"I just figured if you had, you might be able to shed some light on this."

Natasha only realized then that they had arrived at the common room. Following the gesture of Steve's arm, she looked through the doorway and had to stifle a cry of surprise.

The room was entirely enmeshed in delicate, silky spiderwebs. Glimmering threads netted everything in silvery canopies, giving the entire room the appearance of spun cotton candy. It was a very surreal sight. In the center of the room, one web stood alone, stretched from floor to ceiling, with clearly defined spokes spiraling out in all directions. It was gorgeous, in a way that made Natasha uncomfortable. Then she saw something that made her stomach drop. Perched at the heart of the web was a small spider—jet-black, spindly, graceful-looking, with a bloodred hourglass stained on its abdomen.

"It seems like someone's trying to tell you something," Steve commented after allowing Natasha a few moments to take it all in. "Director Fury thought it might be a threat, or a message. You sure you don't know anything about this?"

Unable to form words, Natasha soundlessly shook her head instead. Compelled onward, she moved toward the center web where the black widow spun in graceful, dancelike movements.

"Hey, wait!" Rogers called after her, but Natasha was oblivious. This surreal world was obviously meant for her, and there was only one person the message could have come from. But what did it all mean? Was it, as Fury had suspected, a threat? It was the most logical answer, especially given the events of last night. But Natasha had a soldier's sense for danger, and it was nowhere to be found in this room. She did not feel threatened in any way. Only intrigued. She reached out a hand to touch the spiderweb and was surprised when her fingers closed around some sort of papery surface. Hidden by a trick of the light was a thin scroll of parchment, where the spider had perched only moments before. The same instinct that had led her to lie about seeing Loki in the security room caused her to palm the parchment and slip it into a pocket away from prying eyes. With that action, she realized, she had made a dangerous gamble. For better or worse, this was now her game.

"Natasha!"

She turned to see several newcomers gathered at the doorway, Clint foremost among them. He ran to her, his face twisted with concern and bewilderment.

"Natasha, what is this? Are you in danger?"

"Clint, I'm fine. Really. I don't know what all this is, but nobody's been hurt yet."

"Are you sure?" The worry in his eyes almost broke her heart. Why did he have to be so…genuine? Especially after how she'd treated him yesterday? She felt as if she'd prefer his bitterness and hatred at this point. It would be easier to stomach, especially with these new conflicting emotions racing through her head.

"Positive. We have more important things to worry about right now."

"Like how someone managed to get this mess past all of my beautiful security systems!" Tony had just broken onto the scene, and it was clear this was not a pleasant start to his day. "JARVIS!" he shouted commands at his AI sidekick as he stormed off to the security headquarters.

Natasha felt a sudden rush of panic as she realized suddenly what awaited Tony when he checked films from the night before. She would have a lot of explaining to do. For the second, but certainly not the last, time that morning, she thought it was going to be a long day.