A Favor For Natalya (January 2015)

The next morning, Kate was feeling well enough to call Phil. She was still shocked that Natalya had actually asked her for a favor. This was big. Natalya never asked for favors. That just wasn't the way she operated. Kate knew that she was mostly doing this for Logan, but Kate also knew that Natalya didn't exactly trust this woman and she wanted dirt on her.

Kate was out of bed and sitting in one of the chairs in her and Steve's apartment. She had more color to her face and wasn't coughing nearly as much. Phil picked up almost immediately and Kate smiled when she heard his voice. "Hi Phil."

Phil was in his office finishing up some paperwork when he got Kate’s call. He knew she had been sick and had wanted to send her his best wishes to get better.

“Well hello Kate, you’re sounding better. To what do I owe the pleasure?” He asked.

Kate and Phil had a close relationship. Even before the death of her parents, Phil had been like an uncle to her and then he had become her guardian and had personally trained her to be a SHIELD agent. Even though Kate no longer worked for SHIELD, they maintained their close relationship and talked at least once a week. Phil was invited to the various parties that Tony and Isabella threw at the Tower and had even walked her down the aisle at her wedding to Steve.

"I need a two part favor. First, SHIELD arrested Kayla Silverfox the other night with Spymaster. Well, it turns out that Logan used to be...close with her, but Logan thought she was dead. Logan wants to see Kayla and talk to her. The second part of the favor is for Natalya. She wants to know as much information as she can about this woman. Can you get me whatever information you have on her?"

Phil has wondered about Logan and Kayla. He had seen them talking at the Stark International building. “Well, to begin we didn’t arrest Miss Silverfox. She was working a deep cover op for the CIA. We only made it look like we arrested her but once we separated them the CIA took her for a debriefing. I believe Isabella used to work for the CIA here in New York disnt she?” He asked.

Kate listened to Phil and she was surprised to learn that SHIELD did not arrest Kayla. Instead, she had been working a deep cover op for the CIA. It had looked better for Natalya when this woman was supposed to be a bad guy.

"Yes, she did. I suppose I can see if she can use some contacts to get in touch with her."

It was just after lunch and isabella had just gotten back from yet another meeting with the Stark Foundation Board. THey had been steering the charity into helping more people and families affected by the threats that the Avengers worked to remove. Unfortunately alot of people and property were often injured and destroyed or damaged do to fighting the good fight but the Board was dragging their feet about the new initiative. AKA they don’t feel compelled to give a portion of their earnings to help people and that infuriated Isabella. It was only 12:30 but she set down her leather laptop case and moved right up to the mini bar and poured a healthy amount of whiskey into a glass then downed it. This was particularly the reason Tony didn’t attend these things though if he had been there she felt it could have helped alot. HE got to tinker in his lab and enjoy life while SHE had to run around behind him and pick up after him like he were come kind of man-child. But thats exactly what she signed up for when she married him! More the fool her for it! Well not really but still she was PISSED!

Kate got dressed, but did not workout that morning. She was still feeling under the weather, though she was getting better. She and Steve did manage to get caught up on a few things while she waited for Isabella to get home. They had just finished lunch when Isabella arrived back from her meeting with the Stark Foundation Board. Unfortunately, she did not look happy...at all. That meant that the Board had either denied being involved in the new initiative, or, more likely, were dragging their feet about it. Kate began to wonder if now was really the time to talk to her about what she needed to talk to her about, but Steve convinced her to go.

She found Isabella in her office, and though the door was open, she still knocked to get her attention. "Could I talk to you about something?"

Isabella kicked off her heels and leaned back in her thick, leather desk chair and put her stockinged feet up on top of the desk. She held her glass in her hand and tilted her head back. She heard someone come in and rolled her head toward the door. She blinked and then sat up quickly.

“Ofcourse, come in Kate, how are you feeling? You certainly look better. I hear Steve makes a good nurse,” she said with a playful wink and a smile. "What can I help you with?" she asked.

As Kate walked in, she couldn't help but notice the glass of bourbon in Isabella's hand. Isabella, though, seemed happy to see her and she walked in and closed the door behind her.

"I'm feeling better," Kate said as she took a seat. "Not back to fighting strength yet, but getting close. I can't wait to get back to training. I feel like I'm going stir crazy. Steve has been taking great care of me though."

She paused a moment before diving into the reason why she she was there. "So, the reason I'm here is because I need a favor...well, technically, Natalya needs the favor. The other night at Stark International a woman was 'arrested' as apart of Spymaster's group...Kayla. Do you remember?"

When Isabella nodded she continued on. "It turns out that Kayla Silverfox used to be in a relationship with Logan, but Logan thought she had been killed. He wants to speak to her and get some closure I guess and Natalya agreed to help him. I thought she had been arrested by SHIELD, but when I called Phil this morning he informed me that she actually works for the CIA as a black op and so I was hoping you might be able to get in contact with her."

Isabella’s eyebrows rose up at this news. ‘Logan...wants closure...with a woman?’ This was certainly unexpected! The man is an onion it seems. She took another sip from her drink.

“Well I am still close to the New York office director. I’ll give Renee a call and see what I can find out,” she said.

After Kate left Isabella decided to go ahead and call. If Logan’s involved and Natalya is ‘helping’ him? This all was very unlike them but maybe Natalya is changing? Logan had done alot of work with her over the past few years.

Renee had only been the director of the New York office for 2 years and she had paid the price for success. 2 failed marriages and a daughter that doesn’t even call her. She had put her career first and she was good at what she did but sometimes she thought the cost had been too high. When she saw who was on the phone she smiled delightedly, picked up the receiver and leaned back in her black, leather chair.

“Well this IS a surprise. Isabella! How are you!?” She said. ”Its been years woman! Gosh, how long HAS it been?” She asked.

Isabella had not worked for the CIA for over 25 years, but she had kept close ties with Renee and that had paid off for her. Renee was now the director of the New York office and was a great contact for Isabella to have. On a personal level, Isabella still considered Renee a friend, although they had not seen each other in several years.

She smiled as Renee answered. It was good to hear her voice again. "I've been well. I hear you are the New York office director now. Congratulations! That is a well earned position. I think it's been 3 years since we last saw each other. Time just seems to be flying by. We should get together soon for lunch and catch up. I wish I could say that I'm calling just to chat, but I'm calling for a favor. Kayla Silverfox was once involved in a relationship with Logan. It ended when he thought she was killed years ago, but the other night he realized she was still alive. He wants to speak to her. I know she's a CIA black op. Can you possibly put me in touch with her?"

Renee did not expect this. Kayla Silverfox was involved with Logan? Well ‘that’ had never come up. She hadn’t vetted Kayle personally but others had. She had come from the DC office 5 years ago. She had requested the Spymaster mission and though she was hesitant to put someone she wasn’t all that familiar with out in the field like that. The woman convinced her and so she did.

“Kayla and Logan eh? Well I didn’t see that coming. I wouldn’t think kayla would be his type but who am I to judge after 2 divorces myself,” she said. “If you have Logan’s number I can make certain she gets it. She’s been here for 5 years. DC prior to that. She’s a mutant but that's no secret. Never ages and after a short rest she can continue on as if just starting out again. She’s a very skilled martial artist as well,” she said.

Isabella was glad that Renee was going to pass along Logan's contact information to Kayla. Neither Logan or Natalya asked for much. She just hoped that Kayla wasn't going to try and come back into Logan's life and mess up everything he had going with Natalya. That was her greatest fear in all of this.

"Thank you Renee," she said and then gave Renee Logan's number. "I really appreciate you doing this for me." She then paused again before speaking again. "Is there...anything else you can tell me about Kayla?"

“Not much and I find it odd that she never mentioned knowing Logan. She grew up in Alberta, Canada. Our background check appeared to check out but I can send over her file if you really want it,” Renee said. Doing such a thing is very much against ‘company’ policy but for Isabella she’d do just about anything. She had saved her life a few times.

“We should do lunch very soon. I take it you and Tony are doing well? What about Serena, how is she these days?” She asked.

Isabella appreciated Renee sending over her file. She knew it was against policy, but Renee knew she could trust Isabella.

"Yes, Tony and I are doing well. Serena is still with Peter. They are practically engaged now if you can believe that. I know I can't. It seems like just yesterday I was holding her for the first time. Peter is a great guy though and he adores Serena. I think he's wonderful for her and I know she's happy."

Isabella had called both Kate and Natalya to her office. She had printed out the digital file and wrote down Kayla’s number. As the two women came in she gestured for them to take a seat then moved and sat on the edge of her desk as they both sat.

“Ok so, I have Kayla’s file and her phone number. Does anyone besides me think this is a terrible idea? I see so many ways this can go wrong Natalya. What if this Kayla go after Logan? When it comes to women he’s like....well you know what he’s like,” Isabella said. As he looked at the two women. Ofcourse she didn’t know how upset Logan was. He hid his emotions most of the time. Natalya though, she lived them. Logan was open to her and she knew he hadn’t slept much since he saw Kayla again. He just wasn’t himself and she knew it. Isabella held up the file folder.

“Her entire CIA record is here including her background check,” she said and handed it Natalya. Her number is on the front,” she added.

Kate looked over at Natalya. This was Natalya's call...not hers. She had only helped her out because Natalya had asked her to. Natalya sighed and looked at Isabella. "I'm not sure if it's a good idea, or a bad one. All I know is Logan asked for my help in this. He has assured me that he doesn't still have feelings for her. He just wants to talk to her and understand why she lied to him. I'm not sure yet if I trust HER, but I'm going to give her a chance I suppose," she said with a little sigh.

She took the file and pulled the number off of the front. She hid the file away and then found Logan and gave him the number. "Here's her number. She's working for the CIA as a black op. She was undercover that night and not actually working for Spymaster."