SHIELD Headquarters.
"Missed opportunity," Hawkeye sighed, leaning back in his chair.
"Don't tell me," Natasha smirked. "You were planning to short-sell Stark Industries too?"
"Nat, you know me," Barton shrugged. "I've got a farm. I've got a wife. I've got kids who need braces. SHIELD pays well, but it doesn't pay 'Stark Money.' A little insider trading would have secured the college fund."
The room chuckled, but the sentiment was shared. Even spies have bills to pay.
"We all missed the dip," Coulson admitted. "Lucas was right. If Stark had gone to Afghanistan, the stock would have tanked. We could have bought in for pennies and retired on a private island."
"But he didn't," Fury grunted. "And now we have to deal with a fully funded, fully armored, and fully aware Tony Stark."
Fury turned back to the diary entry on the screen.
"The Bald Egg Head... Novice Village Chief... Beautiful Deadly Viper."
Fury's scowl deepened.
"Bald Egg Head," Fury muttered. "Again with the egg. I swear, if I ever meet this kid, I'm going to introduce him to my boot."
"It's descriptive, Sir," Natasha teased. "Shiny. Round. Hard."
"And you," Barton pointed at Coulson. "Novice Village Chief. What does that even mean?"
"It's a gaming term," Natasha explained. "The NPC who guides new players at the start of the game. Lucas sees you as the 'Quest Giver.' The friendly face who introduces the hero to the wider world."
"Friendly face," Coulson smiled. "I like that. It's better than 'Egg Head.'"
"And then there's me," Natasha said, reading her section. "Beautiful Deadly Viper. Russian Super-Spy."
"He blew my cover," she said, shaking her head. "I haven't even been assigned to infiltrate Stark Industries yet, and he's already spoiling the surprise."
"Stark knows now," Fury realized. "If he has the diary, he knows 'Natalie Rushman' is a plant. He knows you're Black Widow."
"Which makes infiltration impossible," Natasha noted. "Unless we go in through the front door."
"But there's one thing that bothers me," Fury said, tapping the table. "Lucas says he went up to 'catch some rays.' To sunbathe."
"And Stark saw him."
"Why would Stark notice a sunbather?" Fury asked. "Unless Lucas wasn't on a roof. Unless he was somewhere... higher."
"Like the sky," Coulson suggested. "Or the stratosphere."
"Sunbathing," Fury narrowed his eye. "Maybe it's not a code. Maybe it's literal. But literal where?"
"We need to ask Stark," Fury decided. "He saw something. He knows something about Lucas's abilities that we don't."
Stark Mansion.
Tony Stark was reading the same entry, but his reaction was... different.
"Tony Stark, being the playboy he is, will definitely hit on her... A beautiful, deadly viper."
"He calls me a playboy," Tony scoffed. "I prefer 'Philanthropist with a high libido.'"
"And this 'Russian Super-Spy,'" Tony mused. "Natasha Romanoff. Black Widow."
He pulled up her file on the holographic screen. The photo showed a stunning redhead in a SHIELD uniform.
"Dangerous," Tony murmured. "Deadly. A Viper."
A slow grin spread across his face.
"I like dangerous."
Without the trauma of the cave to sober him up, Tony was still very much the hedonist. The idea of a Russian spy trying to seduce him? That sounded like a Tuesday night, but with better stakes.
"Jarvis," Tony said. "When Fury calls, tell him I'm available. And tell him to bring the redhead."
"Sir," Jarvis warned. "She is a highly trained assassin. She could neutralize you with a single touch."
"That's the fun part, Jarvis," Tony winked. "Let's see if she can handle Iron Man."
"Also," Tony added, his expression turning serious. "The 'Sunbathing' comment."
"Lucas says he went up to catch rays. He literally flies into the stratosphere to absorb solar radiation."
"It confirms the Superman theory," Tony deduced. "He's solar-powered. That's his fuel source. That's why he's so strong."
"If we want to beat him," Tony whispered, "we don't need Kryptonite. We just need to block the sun."
"Project: Blackout," Tony ordered. "Add it to the list."
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