A Tough Sell

Malcolm felt an odd sense of loss when he woke. He had never had a night filled with as much passion as he had had with Natalya. He lay in bed recalling the evening. The steamy moment in the car. The intense scene in the kitchen and the crazy sex in his bed. She had made him feel...alive. More alive than he had felt in a very long time. His leg ached as he shifted to get up and he no longer felt disgruntled about that fact that ‘she’ was the one that shot him. She had let him win at pool then let him have...all of her. There wasn’t a thing she wasn’t into sexually and he recalled the things she said and the things she did to him to. Now, as he looked out of his penthouse window down at the city below he wondered if he’d ever see her again…

For now the Avengers were allowed space in Stark tower. Tony was out of the country and had been for a while now. The jet was parked up on the helipad and Steve Rogers looked down on the still sleeping city. Kate was in trouble and if they interfered with what she was doing they might lose their one and only link into finding out what Victor was up to. If he was looking for Carbonadium and Uru, he knew it couldn’t be good. He was standing there with a coffee mug in his hand when Natalya strolled in.

“Well it looks like you had a fun night, you going to be good for today? We have a line on three possible sellers of Carbonadium. I sent Pharaoh and Peter out to stake out the two smaller ones. And we’ll check out the larger one at Crysolabs here in New York,” He told her though he did have a forlorn look of concern upon his face. Natalya might know what he was thinking. He was worried about Kate. obviously he still had feelings for her and didn’t know what to do about it.

Natalya was hungry and was hoping that Logan would be up and making her breakfast when she got in. However, the tower seemed pretty quiet...though it was still early. She yawned and stretched and saw Steve standing near one of the windows in the main room. She poured herself a cup of coffee and walked over to stand next to him. She tried to push Malcolm out of her mind. She needed to focus on finding Kate and the Carbonadium.

"Yeah, I'm good," she said. She was glad to hear that they had a couple possible leads on sellers of Carbonadium. As she looked at Steve she saw the look in his eyes and knew he was thinking about Kate. She sighed and put down her coffee cup and looked at him. "Steve, I know about you and Kate. I don't know what happened between you two or why she left, but it's clear to me that you still have feelings for her. We'll find her and we'll bring her back. At least we know she's alive and know who she's working for. I won't ask you any questions about your relationship with her, but please know that I'm always here if you need or want to talk...about her or anything."

Steve seemed about to say more to her about Kate but Logan stepped into the large, open room. He had a large bowl of some kind of cereal that crunched when he chewed it and he nodded when he saw her. “Ah, so you’re back...I wasn’t certain if you would be,” he said. His clothes were mussed as if he had slept in them again. “He was out late to” Steve murmured just loud enough for her ears. Logan smiled at Natalya, a knowing smile as if he knew what she had been up to. “So did he strike out or hit a home run?” Logan asked placidly in between mouthfuls of his cereal. Steve stepped away from them, likely to begin getting ready for their next mission. “I know I did,” He said and twiddled his eyebrows at her playfully. “I saw one of his ‘commercials’ last night,” He said as if he thought it was something else. “No man should look that pretty,” Logan said mockingly. “And he wears eyeliner,” he said with a cringe and shook his head disgustedly.

Natalya could tell that Steve wanted to say something about Kate, but suddenly Logan walked into the room and Steve closed his mouth. Natalya frowned at the bowl of cereal. That meant no pancakes. Boy she was getting spoiled living here. She knew she would need to eat something before they left so she would probably end up eating a bowl of cereal as well. "He hit three home runs," she said with a little grin as she walked towards the kitchen. He followed her and she began to get a bowl and spoon. "Don't know if I'll ever see him again, but last night was fun." She got out a box of cereal and poured herself a bowl. She liked the sweet cereals and today it was Lucky Charms. If only Tatiana could see her now. She would cringe if she saw her eating this. While she was with the SSB her diet had been restricted and she never ate anything sweet. Now, she couldn't get enough sweets or fried foods. Her metabolism was so high that it didn't matter what she ate, though she did try to eat healthy foods as well. "So, are you going with Steve and me this morning?" she asked as she poured some milk on the cereal and took a bite.

They used one of Starks vehicles, A Dark blue Ferrari this time. And this time it was just Steve and herself. Logan went with Pharaoh and Peter went by himself to the least likely of the 3 to have a buyer. The Ferrari was very fast and extremely agile as they roared along the New York streets. Steve drove with a grin knowing Stark’s cars would never be stopped by the police.

“So Peter says that this Clio character is more than he appears to be. He’s setting up these ‘buys’ for Kate and her...associates like a fixer. Our initial intelligence that he was the leader of The Kings, was incorrect,” he said as he took a sharp corner. His reflexes were every bit as good as Natalya’s and he was a bit stronger than she was besides though he lacked in other areas.

“The place we’re going has a rather large shipment of this stuff and likely Kate will need a truck of some sort to haul it. We can’t let her see us and my idea is to toss a tracker onto it and find out where it goes,” he said and handed Natalya one of the trackers. It was small and had a powerful electromagnet on one side. One good throw would land it on the truck undetected. The lab itself however…” he continued and handed her a white and blue folder, one of SHIELD’s dossier folders, “Dr. Laura Martin and Dr. Cameron Leeto, SHIELD had been investigating Crysolabs for some time. We need photos of what their doing in the lab. We’ll need to get a security card and possibly uniforms to,” he added as he accelerated on a small hill. The car caught a little air and the jolt from hitting the road made him chuckle. In the dossier there was a schematic of the facility. It had a protective fence with a guarded gate. They had their own parking structure which Steve had marked off as a possible place to obtain key cards and lab coats.

“If we could get our hands on Clio, I’d certainly like to talk to him,” he said plainly. He wouldn't believe Kate was willingly working with these scumbags. So until Natalya’s assessment was proven false, he’d assume she was under some kind of duress. If she saw them at all though, the gig was up.

Natalya was surprised by how fast Steve was driving. But this was one of Tony’s cars and you couldn’t expect to drive a Ferrari slowly. She relaxed back in the seat and listened as Steve laid out all the information they had. She took the tracker and the folders and flipped through them. She didn’t get a good feeling about the lab or either of the scientists.

“Good thing you have an expert infiltrator and spy in the car with you,” she said with a grin. She glanced at Steve after a moment as he continued to drive. “Are you going to be ok seeing Kate? As you said we need to be sure she doesn’t see us.”

Steve didn’t look at her when she asked if he’s ok seeing Kate. What choice did he really have? He thought about just abducting her or approaching her to see if he could see if she knew him or not. The obvious danger was that if she knew who they were and they let her go she would report back to Victor. And he didn’t like the thought of just taking her. No they had a good plan. Track the truck and find out what Crysolabs was doing.

As she read Natalya learned that Carbonadium was a rare substance but it was used in Deadpool’s Katana’s, Dr. Octopus’s tentacles. Nearly as strong as adamantium. More and more it was becoming clear that there was a really serious threat here.

“I will do what needs to be done Nat,” he said plainly. He stopped one street over from the lab and they were able to get a vintage point up high in a tree that stood in a park just off of the labs fenced in grounds. They each had binoculars and from the trunk Steve produced a specialized rifle that Natalya could shoot the tracker from a distance onto the truck. Then they could jump the fence, avoid the cameras and climb up onto the second floor of the car park. At least that was the plan.

Malcolm arrived just before dawn and he had found an excellent hiding place between two dumpsters that sat just beyond the security fences of Crysolabs. He had slowed down the camera sweeps to be able to get into position. Once the truck arrived he’d jump on top of it and go prone so he could personally view the exchange. SHIELD wanted to know how much Carbonadium was being purchased and also he was to set a tracking device they had given him to track the truck after it made its delivery. All in a days work, he thought.

“It’s...complicated,” Steve finally said. “She wants children but I didn’t,” he said honestly out of the blue. “I’m not even certain if I can have children,” he said. “Or how they’d be affected,” he added as he looked through the binoculars. “What happened to you...what they did...it was monstrous. But I volunteered for this. And I decided long ago to live and die by my choices,” he said.

Natalya's ill feeling about this whole thing was growing by the minute as she read more and more about Carbonadium. She was beginning to suspect that Dr. Doom was using this stuff to make weapons and that thought terrified her. As Steve parked the car they each took a set of binoculars and Natalya grabbed the rifle for shooting the tracking device into the back of the truck. She and Steve were then able to climb up into a tree and see what was happening down below them. They now just needed to wait for Kate and the truck to arrive. Little did she know that Malcolm was nearby and was waiting for the exact same truck.

Natalya wasn't expecting Steve to say anything about Kate and so she was surprised when he suddenly spoke up and told her the reason they had broken up. She looked over at him and was quiet a moment before speaking.

"Perhaps she will change her mind. I never knew anything really for certain until recently about you two, but I can tell you that the way she used to look at you was a woman who was very much in love."

Steve smiled and gave out an amused sigh. “Only if it was that simple,” he said as he looked back at her. His voice was calm but his eyes spoke volumes about how truly conflicted he was “She’s really the only...the only woman since… Peggy,” he said sadly. And then they both shifted with excitement as a large cargo truck turned the corner and began heading up the street toward the front gates. Steve looked over at Natalya and nodded. As he did and Natalya looked down the scope of the rifle she saw a flicker of movement that was difficult to know what it was for certain looking into a scope with one eye closed. On instinct, the truck had not moved again yet while the driver was being checked by security, she opened her other eye to widen her field of vision. It was Steve who spoke first though.

“What is ‘HE’ doing here!” He exclaimed as he looked through the binoculars. Malcolm came down on the truck so fast that the guards below never saw him. He seemed to stop then flatten out atop the roof of the truck and he turned in such a way that he was facing in their direction. Natalya fired the rifle, it had a high pitched sound and when she looked to see where the tracker stuck into the truck she noticed it just seemed to hang there, in mid air then drop to the ground. She also saw Malcolm waving a finger at them mockingly as if to say, ‘Not today chumps!’ And she saw him place a similar looking device on the roof. The truck began moving again when the guards finished their security check.

Natalya wanted to ask Steve more. She wanted to know how long they had been together but she could only assume it had probably been a year or more. She couldn’t even remember the last time Kate had even looked at another man. However before she could ask him they both spotted the cargo truck they had been waiting for. She quickly aimed her rifle but paused a moment when she thought she saw some movement. She opened her other eye to try and see what that movement was because she didn’t want anything to obstruct her shot. She and Steve saw him at the same time. It was the same guy from a few days ago that they had encountered and she had shot. He had jumped down onto the top of the truck.

“Clearly he’s after the same people we are,” Natalya growled before taking her shot. She looked up to see where the tracker had hit, but it was hanging in midair. She looked at the guy with anger in her eyes as the tracker simply dropped to the ground and he wagged his finger at them. “I’m starting to hate this guy.”

“Go...give me the rifle….the trucks a bust but you can still get inside!” Steve said urgently then took the rifle from her. As she jumped down he did to then sling the rifle as he ran with her. His shield was still on his back as he ran and they made it to the parking structure in under 30 seconds.

The parking structure was dimly lit like most others they’ve seen. Cars of different makes and models and colors were everywhere. They hunkered down between a white truck and a blue sedan as they watched how the cameras scanned back and forth and how long it took for them to move. There was a guard that patrolled there as well and he stopped to talk to a woman in a long, white lab coat.

Steve looked at Natalya and grinned. “Now that was some luck,” he said in a whisper. In a moment he took off his shield and as as he stood he saw Natalya take off toward them. As Steve’s shield hit the guard Natalya struck and the two ended up in a heap on the floor of the garage. Steve rushed forward and took up the guard as Natalya took up and carried the woman. Before long they were dressed in their new attire and Steve had his shield in a black, collapsible shoulder bag. He watched as Natalya tried the woman’s keycard that was on a bungie necklace and the sliding door tonan elevator opened.

Natalya gave the rifle to Steve and jumped down like a cat from the tree. She landed in a crouch and immediately was on her feet and running towards the parking structure. She heard Steve come up beside her and within seconds they were in the parking garage. Thankfully, the garage was full of vehicles and almost no people. She and Steve were able to take cover between a couple of vehicles and she spotted the security camera. She studied it before some movement caught her eye. She and Steve both saw the guard and the woman in the lab coat at the same time. Within moments both the guard and the woman were down and Natalya knew that they hadn't been seen by either. They took their clothes and changed into them and Natalya took the woman's security keycard as well. She waited until Steve was ready and then used the keycard to access the elevator. Together they stepped inside and the doors closed. As the elevator began to move she glanced over at Steve.

"I'm going to figure out who this guy is if it kills me."

The inside of the facility was very much like Natalya had seen before. The walls were white and gray with very little warmth. The air had an antiseptic smell and the doors looked thick and sturdy. Between the two of them they had keycards to open up enough doors to get them into the interior labs. They had to duck into corridors, closets and labs to avoid being seen but they both had enhanced senses and were able to hear when people were coming. They saw custodial personal, guards, nurses in dark blue uniforms and doctors in lab coats. Steve saw one of the doctors they were looking for, Laura Martin but before they could get to her a guard stopped to talk to her and they had to let the woman go...for now. But they saw where she went and after the guard passed they gained access into what looked like another lab complex.

Here the walls were all white and the floor a glossy black tile. Natalya had her AV disrupting device running and whenever they got close to a camera, over in the security room a monitor screen fuzzed until they went out of range. The guards were frantically checking their equipment but eventually the screen cleared up. They called for a tech to take a look at them but they wouldn’t get there for several hours.

Their opportunity came but they were going to have to hurt several people. Steve didn’t like hurting innocent people but there was nothing for it. He took off his guard uniform and brought out his shield. “You ready? Try not to kill anyone,” he said softly as they hunkered down between 2 tables. “We’re here for information and to learn what Victor is doing. After this he will likely accelerate his plans but there is nothing for it,” he said then slid his keycard in the keycard slot and the door opened.

As they entered the facility Natalya's senses went on high alert. Even though they were wearing the correct attire they still needed to avoid being seen if possible. They were able to use their combined years of training and heightened senses to detect when someone was coming and duck into another room. In this way they were able to make their way deeper into the facility until they finally spotted Dr. Laura Martin. However, before she and Steve could get to her a guard approached her and they had to pull back. But they were able to see where she went next and began to follow her into the next building.

Natalya had brought along a AV disrupting device and it scrambled any AV equipment they got close to in order to keep them from being seen on security monitors and Natalya took note that there were a lot of them. Clearly, something big was happening here to need this much security. Finally, they gained an opportunity to get Dr. Martin, but there were a few other people around that they were going to need to take care of. They would need to work quickly to keep her from slipping away from them. Natalya looked over at Steve and gave a little nod and the moment he opened the door they both sprang into action.

There were four additional people in the room and they each took two. They moved fast and within moments the four people were down. They were alive, but unconscious. Thankfully, there was only one door in and out of the room and so Dr. Martin was trapped. Natalya stood near the door to keep anyone else from coming in and decided to let Steve address her.

Dr. Martin was altogether stunned by the violence that took place around her. It was fast and she had barely knew what was happening before all of her other colleagues were down. The room had several lab tables set up with various apparatus atop them. It was well lit and the 4 people in lab coats, 3 men and 1 woman groaned but did not make any movements to get up. Laura was an older woman who looked to be around 55 years old. She had her hair in a tight, gray bun and she wore wireframe glasses. Her lab coat was pristine and she wore a light blue blouse tucked into dark blue slacks with dark blue pumps. “You’re...you’re, Captain America!?” She said in surprise but her surprise was brief. When she looked around the room, recalled where they were a look of deep worry creased the lines of her face. It was then that she seemed to gain some level of composure and drew herself up.

“How ‘dare’ you break in here and harm innocent people!” She said angrily.

Steve didn’t know much about lab equipment but he moved over toward the nearest table and lifted up what looked like an old fashioned helmet. Like something a knight might wear. It was extremely light and he touched the metal with hand. He thought it felt much like his shield did but not exactly like it. It was certainly an alloy of some kind. He thrust it toward her.

“What is this? Are you making armor with Cabonadium?” He asked. Laura looked down at the helmet briefly then back up to his face. “I don’t ‘have’ to answer your questions, you don’t work for the government, and I know you don’t have a warrant,” She said defiantly. “Laura, right?” Steve said. “Dr. Doom is planning something, if he has Crysolabs making him armor...and weapons,” On another table there was a longspear and a Broadsword. “Then he is building himself some kind of army. An army that will undoubtedly harm alot of people. If I don’t get the answers I want, I’ll take you back to SHIELD’s headquarters. I bet they will get the answers they want...without a warrant,” Steve said plainly. Laura gulped audibly and her right hand was up against her neck as if she were terrified.

“I thought this ‘was’ for SHIELD, what does Dr. Doom have to do with this? Agent Blackwell is picking up another batch of what we’re producing...but she’s a SHIELD agent. We’re not working for Dr. Doom. Certainly not,” she said hopefully with a quiver in her voice. Steve looked back at Natalya and he had a troubled look on his face.

Natalya did not anticipate any trouble from Dr. Martin, though she did not relax. She was always prepared for trouble...that was one of the reasons she had survived up until now. She stood by the door with her legs spread a little more than hip wide and her arms crossed over her chest. Her gaze was narrowed towards Dr. Martin. She wanted to know as much as Steve did what was going on so they could put an end to it and find Kate.

She remained quiet as Steve questioned her about the Caronadium and what they were producing with it. From the looks of it they were making armor and weapons and that was a little frightening. It meant that Dr. Doom was building an army. The question was, what would he need an army for?

Steve seemed to back Dr. Martin into a corner, but what she said next surprised her just as much as it surprised Steve. Dr. Martin was clearly under the impression that what they were making was going to SHIELD, not to Dr. Doom. Natalya could immediately tell that she wasn't lying. She knew how to spot a liar and Dr. Martin wasn't. Natalya looked back at Steve, looking just as worried before looking back at Dr. Martin.

"Agent Blackwell is working for Dr. Doom. We believe she is being mind controlled, but I can tell you for a fact that these weapons and armor aren't going to SHIELD. When is Agent Blackwell's next pickup?"

Laura didn’t know if she believed...them but it wasn't some FBI agent telling her these things. It was Captain America. She went through what they had been working on. Melee weapons and armor and also rifles and ammunition capable of penetrating adamantium,” she said and gazed at his shield. Her eyes flared in understanding now that she thought about it all. She was an intelligent woman and to be making weapons that could penetrate...that could harm The Avengers was the furthest thing from her mind.

“Well...I’ll certainly not help any more. Neither will my colleagues,” She said and Steve held up his hand to forestall her. She heard what Natalya had said and she thought about her answer.

“Hmm, maybe in 3 days? It seems like about every 3 days they come for another shipment,” She said. “I can put a stop to thi,” She began but Steve interrupted her. “Well, I have an idea and your next shipment, isn't going to be what they think it is,” he said with a grin. “Say nothing to Kate Blackwell about this,” He said.

Laura escorted them out in a very direct manner back to the parking garage. They hurried to the edge and leaped off back onto the grounds. It was a quick run back to the fence near the car and they jumped over it and got back into the car. Steve started up the engine and raced off back toward the inner city.

“So, what do you think of my plan? We stowaway in containers, we get taken into Victor’s facility then pop out and put a stop to this,” He said.

Natalya was almost certain that Steve was thinking what she was thinking. It was perfect. They now had Dr. Martin's help and it could work...it would work. However, now that they knew that Dr. Doom was constructing weapons and armor it meant that he was now their main priority...not Kate. Those weapons had to be stopped. She didn't even want to think about what they might have to do to Kate if she interfered.

As she got into the car with Steve she looked over at him. "Well, you and I were thinking of the same plan so I like it." She glanced out the window before looking back over at him as he drove back to the Tower.

"And if Kate discovers what we are doing and gets in the way...?"

Steve didn’t say anything immediately and it was quite clear he was conflicted about that. He had fell in love with Kate and thought he still was, after a fashion. They had to think of all of those people who would die at the hands of those weapons. He had no access to the super soldier serum and instead, he’d make impervious soldiers who could withstand most any conventional ammunition. “If we can take her down without harming her, that is my preference. But if not...stopping Victor is our priority,” he said finally and the rest of the ride back was nothing but silence.

Back in the tower in their apartments Logan was there back in his civilian clothes. He had a beer in his hand and watched them come in. “Well that was a wild goose chase, by the way you both look right now I’d say you either found something or nothing...which is it?” He asked.

Natalya hated putting Steve in this position, but it was something that had to be discussed. She nodded and said nothing else. She quietly hoped that it wouldn't come down to that extreme. Kate had been her only female friend and she felt sick at the thought of possibly having to kill her. She made a promise to herself in that moment that she would do everything in her power to not kill her if it came down to it.

As they entered the tower they saw that Logan was already back and drinking a beer. She glanced at Steve before looking back at Logan. "We actually found out quite a bit from Dr. Martin. Apparently, they are making weapons and armor from the Cabonadium. However, according to Dr. Martin they weren't aware that they were creating these for Dr. Doom. She believed they were working for SHIELD because of Kate. Three days from now Kate is going to bring a truck to Crysolabs for a pick up. But instead of the armor and weapons, she is going to be unknowingly picking us up and leading us right to Dr. Doom."

Logan listened to what Natalya said and he liked the plan but there was a problem with it. “You know they’ll never give us a warrant so if we go in there, we go in there alone, with no backup. If somehow Victor finds out we’re coming, we could be walking into a very bad trap. That and if Kate ‘is’ being controlled by him…” He began but Steve only looked at him. “I know the risks Logan and none of that matters. We know that if we do nothing, Victor will have at least 5000 men with armor and weapons no conventional military can stop. “I’m going to make a call,” Steve said briskly and stepped away from them.

“Well, was it something I said?” Logan said and Pharaoh came down. He had heard people talking and felt like some company. Pharaoh was more or less a loner. Someone who preferred to not engage in much socializing. Pharoah was an attractive man, obviously from the middle east by how he looked. But there was much more to it then just that. The way he walked and held himself. He had a grace to him do to how long he had actually been alive. Most of the time he was in a tomb but he was still several hundred years walking and talking...and learning.

“Probably,” Pharoah said as he stepped up to them. I take it your investigation bared fruit? I look forward to doing something but chasing my own tail, for a change,” he said smoothly. “Oh and someone left ‘that’ for you,” he said and gestured over at a table that was set in front of the large window that reached up to the ceiling. It was a massive bouquet of flowers. Expertly arranged. Orchids and other varieties, all rare types of flowers in fabulous, vibrant colors. “Oh...I forgot about that,” Logan said dismissively. They both watched her for any emotional sign.

Natalya could sense where Logan was going with his comments and opened her mouth to stop him from saying something about Kate, but was too late. She sighed and glanced at Steve. She was with him 100%. They both knew the risks they were about to take, but they also understood that if they didn't do something then...well she didn't want to consider that right now.

As Steve took out his phone and stepped away Natalya looked over to see Pharaoh come downstairs. She and Pharaoh had flirted some, but nothing more than that, although she wouldn't deny he was attractive. She shared special relationships with all the men on the team and that included Pharaoh. They would often go to museums or art galleries together and he had surprised her once with tickets to the ballet when he heard the story of how she had wanted to learn to dance as a child after seeing the Russian Ballet. They had gotten dressed up and he took her out to dinner before they saw the show. It had been one of the most special nights of her life.

She was about to fill Pharaoh in on what she and Steve had discovered when suddenly he looked past her and gestured behind her. She turned and was stunned by what she saw. It was one of the biggest bouquets of flowers she had ever seen. And the flowers weren't ordinary Roses or Lillies. They were rare, and beautiful flowers...many of which she had never seen before. Natalya didn't know what to do or say. Logan had never been the "bouquet of flowers" type of guy and so she had never received flowers...until now. She of course knew who they were from even though there was no note. She had not been expecting this and suddenly felt...unsure and desperately wished Kate was there to give her some advice.

She walked over to them and looked at them a little more closely before seeing a white envelope with her name on the outside. She hesitated a moment before opening the envelope and pulling out the card within.

“I removed the card incase it said something...personal,” he said as he glanced over at Logan then stepped up to her. Logan gestured innocently however he was a nosey one. Pharoah moved his hands as if he were about to do one of his slight of hand tricks that baffled everyone. He gestured then snapped his hand toward her. In the middle of his first 2 fingers, was a small, white card with a black backing. He proffered it to her and she knew he would not have read it. Romance, like mysticism were like elements to Pharaoh. Vital to his existence. He was very specific on the women he chose to spend more than just one night with and had no problems with telling those he did not wish to see again exactly that. He stepped away from her to stand by Logan.

Not an easy thing to find something as rare and beautiful as you are. I find myself thinking about you long after the last time our lips met. I’d love to see you again Natalya.

-M

On the back was only his phone number.

Natalya went to remove the card, but found the envelope empty. However, at that moment Pharaoh informed her that he had removed the card. She trusted Pharaoh and knew that he would not have read the note. Now Logan on the other hand was extremely protective of her...and nosy. She would not have put it past him, but thankfully Pharaoh had gotten to it first. She watched as the card magically appeared in his hand. She actually felt rather nervous as she took the card from him. This was all entirely new to her. She finally read the card and actually smiled a little as she did. Malcolm certainly knew how to play this game and he was playing it well. She was now thinking about him again, which she knew he wanted. She turned over the card and saw his phone number. She glanced up at Pharaoh and Logan and saw them both still looking at her.

Needing to think, she stepped away from them both and went into the kitchen. She made herself some tea. Before going to her room she stopped to look at the flowers again. She pulled one of the flowers out from the rest and then walked up to her room. She shut the door and then sat down on her bed with the card and the single flower. She lifted it up to her nose and closed her eyes and breathed in it's intoxicating scent. She didn't realize she was smiling as she did so. She glanced at the card again before picking up her cell phone and dialing the number he had put on the back. It rang a few times before he picked up.

"It's Natalya."

Malcolm was at home considering what he wanted to have for dinner when he saw an unfamiliar number on his cellphone. He usually just ended the call when he didnt know the number but something told him not to this time. When he heard her say her name he smiled and took a seat on his couch.

“Hello, I was hoping you’d call. Did you like the flowers? It's always difficult to get someone who likely has everything, a gift. The flowers were one and how about me as the second? Fancy dinner tonight? I can have a car come pick you up,” He said and found it difficult not to smile while talking to her.