I probably have no business starting another work in progress, but here we are! Enjoy :)

"Romanoff, I need you in my office in ten minutes," a voice rang out over the phone speaker.

"A please would go a long way, Nick," Natasha replied as she rolled her eyes.

"Romanoff," Fury warned. "It's important, we need to talk."

"I don't know if I can fit that into my schedule. I am a pretty busy woman." She quickly finished typing out the email that she was sending before beginning to shut down her computer.

"You know, a simple 'okay boss' would do," he huffed out.

Natasha hummed as she pretended to contemplate what Nick had said. "Yeah, not really my style."

"Just get up here, dammit," he demanded before the line clicked indicating that he'd hung up.

Natasha slid her laptop into her bag and grabbed the rest of her things, fully intending to leave straight from Nick's office to head home for the night after discussing whatever he felt like they needed to talk about. Natasha knew that she wasn't in trouble. She knew it was nothing she'd done. Nick pretended to be a hard-ass, but under his hard exterior, she knew that he had a soft spot for her. Not that he would ever admit it.

Flipping off the light and pulling her office door closed, Natasha wandered out among the cubicles, catching some of her coworkers giving her a fleeting glance as she passed by them. She stopped off in the kitchen to grab her lunchbox from the fridge, the conversations between the few employees chatting happily in there instantly stopping in favor of turning their attention to her. Natasha wasn't stupid, she knew what most people thought of her. She knew that they were constantly gossiping about her. Speculating on why Nick was so good to her. Why he trusted her with far more than most people in the building, and why he gave her more responsibility and reign over things that happened in the company than what would typically be allowed, even though she was an executive. She'd heard everything from the thought that she was actually Nick's long lost biological daughter, that she's having an affair him (she loves Nick, but definitely not like that), that she's got blackmail on him and holds it over his head to get what she wants, and finally, her personal favorite, that's she's the one who took Nick's eye (which would be completely badass but still not true) . Keeping her features schooled, she walked through the kitchen and over to the refrigerator, hearing the slight whispers from the group behind her back as she turned it to them to grab her lunchbox before quickly standing up and turning around to face them. Again, the conversation she'd heard immediately stopped and everyone's eyes were on her. Giving them an icy glare, she turned and left the room.

They could believe what they wanted to believe about her. They could think that she was screwing her boss. They could talk about how she was probably "an easy lay." She could even put up with the men in the office having disgustingly inappropriate conversations about her because at the end of the day, it didn't matter to her. No one in the office could deny that she was exceptional about her job. Anything that landed on her desk, no matter how arduous the task, how difficult the client, or how seemingly out of the realm of job description it was, Natasha completed it with flying colors. Much to the surprise and disappointment of her fellow coworkers.

That's not to say that she didn't have any friends at SHIELD. Nick aside, Natasha had friends. Clint Barton, for one, was one of the very few people that Natasha would consider her friends. Natasha and Clint had been best friends since high school. They went to college together, and Natasha was the one who had helped to get him a job at SHIELD after he was forced to retire from archery after sustaining an injury to his shoulder. It was through both Nick and Clint that she met Maria Hill who also worked at SHIELD. She oversaw most of the employees and handled all of their ridiculousness with a perfect mixture of grace and sass that made even Natasha slightly envious.

Natasha stepped out of the elevator onto the top floor of the building.

"Hi Natasha," Wanda's cheery voice rang out. Natasha smiled and dropped her things beside her desk. "He's waiting for you, so you're good to go in."

Wanda was the only other person at SHIELD that she felt like she was really friends with. The girl had begun working at SHIELD only a couple years earlier, snagging a job as Nick's assistant right out of college. It surprised even her when Natasha found herself making more conversation with Wanda. Maybe it was because she felt like she could relate to her. Wanda understood things that none of her other friends could about moving to a new country and struggling to find her footing, and in the years that Natasha had known Wanda, she'd taken on more of an older sister role. Natasha had never had a family, but she imagined if she did, she would feel an awful lot like she did with the friends she'd made at SHIELD.

Natasha hummed before pushing herself up on Wanda's desk, crossing her legs at the knee as she grabbed a stack of post-it notes to mess with. "He can keep waiting," she replied, offering Wanda a mischievous smile. "Are we still on to grab drinks tonight?"

"Absolutely! I just have to run home and change and then I'll be ready to go."

"Sounds good, that'll give me plenty of time to get ready and come pick you up." Natasha sighed and set down the post-its back on Wanda's desk before pushing herself off and smoothing down her skirt once more. "Alright, I'd better get in there, don't want Fury getting his panties all in a twist." Wanda giggled behind her hand and waved her off with a promise to text her once she was ready to be picked up for the night.

Natasha knocked once on the door before swinging it open and stepping into the room. "Alright Nick, I'm here, what do you want?" She asked teasingly, before her eyes fell on the dark-haired man sitting across from Nick. Natasha quickly back tracked, swiftly putting on an apologetic smile. "I'm so sorry sir. Wanda said that you were ready for me, I'll just show myself out until you are." She turned toward the door about ready to pull it open when Nick's voice stopped her.

"Romanoff, come in and have a seat. Mr. Stark and I were just talking some logistics, but we're ready for you now," Nick explained, gesturing for the open seat beside Stark.

Now, Natasha wasn't stupid. She knew exactly who Tony Stark was. The CEO of Stark Industries who inherited his father's company once he died. Self-proclaimed "genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist," or at least he was before meeting Pepper Potts and getting married. He was loud, distinguished, and apparently knew Nick.

Natasha held out her hand to him as he stood to greet her before she took her seat. "Natasha Romanoff, it's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Stark."

"Likewise, Ms. Romanoff," Tony replied, giving her a cheeky grin as he shook her hand. "Nick tells me wonderful things about you, which is why I think you're perfect for this job."

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about Mr. Stark." Natasha fought to keep the confusion off of her face, instead turning her gaze to Nick for clarification.

"That's what we're here to talk about Natasha," Nick explained, cutting into the conversation. "Stark Industries is going to be absorbing SHIELD. The merger will be going through in the next several months. We want you to head it up. You'll be working closely with a representative of Stark Industries and together you two will help Tony and I with making sure that the transition from California to New York goes as smooth as possible."

"And don't worry, it comes with a significant pay raise that will stay with you, not only during your time as SHIELD's liaison, but also once you take on your new position as an executive within SI," Tony said, as he leaned back in his chair.

"You're the best one for the job, Romanoff. You know SHIELD like the back of your hand. You've worked as an extension of me for years now. I know that I can trust you to do this job." Nick gave her a meaningful look as she took everything in.

"Yeah, but New York? That's a long way away, I don't know that I have the money to-"

"Another thing SI will be paying for," Tony interrupted. "All higher-level employees and Nick's assistant Ms. Maximoff will be moved out to New York on SI's dime. We'll also be providing assistance with living expenses for the first couple years as you guys get comfortable in the city"

Natasha nodded as she took everything in. It all sounded like a good deal. She'd always considered moving out to the east coast at some time or another, why not now? Higher pay (not that she was making bad money now), moving expenses paid for, housing helped with, all her friends would be moving with her, her position held for her once she completed the merger, she really couldn't think of any reason not to take the job. "And who would I be working with?" She asked after a moment. "You said I would be working with a representative of Stark Industries, so who would that be?"

Tony offered her a smile, "Steve Rogers. He's ex-military. All American good guy. Nearly impossible to not like. Trust me, when I first met him, I tried. So, what do you say, Romanoff, do we have a deal?"

Natasha lifted an eyebrow as she glanced over at Nick, Tony's hand still extended towards her waiting to make a deal. Natasha's lips curled up at the corners and she turned to face Tony, grasping his hand with hers. "We have a deal."

Author's Note: Hey guys! I'm sorry I've been so MIA. I'm in my LAST semester of college and it is currently kicking my butt! I promise that I haven't forgotten about my other WIP's and I definitely want to continue them and finish them (hopefully a new chapter for "We Need You" is coming soon. I'm currently piecing it out in my head and getting it down on paper).

The good news: There's only 11 more weeks of it being super stressful and then I will have WAY more time to write. (I'll also have a degree, so that's pretty cool). I ALSO actually have somewhat of an outline for how the majority of this story is going to go, which is already way more prepared than my usual "winging it" style of writing that I've been doing up until now.

The not-so-good news: I don't know exactly how often I will be able to update because, again, this is a super busy time for me right now. So, I hope you guys don't give up on/forget about me because I promise that I haven't forgotten about all of you.

Please leave comments and kudos! 3