Steve's smile is tight but apologetic as he slips into Natasha's cabin. He picks a spot near the door but very obviously not blocking it - not even in her own cabin - and leans against the wall for now, because Natasha, at least, isn't the type to be threatened by his height and bulk. She knows him, and he hopes that means she'll talk to him.
She had let him in; that's a good start, at least.
"So. That was something," he says - and trusts her to tell that the lack of judgement in his voice is genuine. Because it very much is. If Natasha was responding to a situation like that, then he suspects it was very much warranted.
Natasha closes the door gently, looking at her hand on the door knob for a moment before turning and looking up at him. There is no guilt in her face; no embarrassment or shame, though if there's anything he can read in her features it's likely the residual anger that she had a minute longer to finish him off.
And she knows what would have followed if she did.
With a nod, she crosses her arms loosely and leans up against the wall beside the door, diagonally opposite to where Steve stands with ten or so feet between them. "Yeah, it was. Probably a good thing you stopped it."
"Probably," Steve agrees, although he kind of wants to be clear: "For your sake. Not for his."
Given what he does know about the man now... he is not feeling particularly magnanimous toward him. But he cares about Natasha, and above all else, he does not want to see her trapped here. Not like he was.
"That's how this place is. It's gonna - get to you. It's gonna send shit your way to get in your head and - " He pauses, because he doesn't want this to sound like an insult. In fact, he means it as a compliment. "I don't think you're used to being vulnerable to that kind of thing."
A little smile curls at one corner of her mouth. "Still always have my back," Natasha nods, bringing her gaze up to meet his. There's never been a question there and in some way, she's thankful for him caring about her enough to always do it. In other ways? Well, they hardly matter now. If it's not someone from her and Yelena's past that the barge throws at them, it'll be something else.
"And you're right, I'm not used to it. Not outside of the constant reminder of where we come from." A small sigh of frustration sounds and Natasha shakes her head. "Had it been anyone else.."
It could be patronizing - but it's not. It's just quiet. And sincere. Maybe a little grateful, that she lets him do it, still.
And he can guess the end of that sentence pretty well. He nods.
"That's the hardest part. For a lot of us. Feeling weak. Out of control. The Barge, the situations being here puts us in, foster that. In the name of growth."
His tone of voice isn't sarcastic, exactly. He doesn't know if it really is for growth or not. Not anymore. At one time, he fervently believed it. Now, he isn't sure, but it's still the situation they're in, whatever the reason.
"I know you'll learn to handle it. But - " He hesitates, only because he wants to say this right. It's important to say this right. "We're still a team."
He's here for her. She doesn't even have to ask. He will never make someone ask, if they don't want to.
In the name of growth. Like him, she's not entirely sure she believes that either. They aren't the one meant to grow and change, though being on a barge sailing through space with people and beings from every corner of the multiverse very well could force a person to evolve in a way they never expected themselves to.
Natasha nods right after he says it. "Yes, we are." Her tone carries with it the resolute promise of always having his back. No matter where they were. Or who they were up against.
There's no small amount of relief, when she agrees. They're a team. Admittedly, Steve is generally less concerned with other people having his back than with other people letting him have theirs, but he never pretended not to be a hypocrite. Much.
Besides. The wardens do end up changing, for better or worse. Hopefully better, though it isn't always the case. He wants it to be in Natasha's case though, of course.
For worse - he's been there. Hell, he still feels like he is there, a lot of the time, in at least some respects.
"B's got him in Zero. He'll stay there until the flood's over." Steve lets out a breath. "Maybe it's better than he deserves, but it'll have to do."
He watches her, waiting for argument - or any other indication, verbal or nonverbal, that that's not good enough for her.
If that's the last they ever see of him, great. But there's always that possibility that the next time it could be someone far worse, that could do so much worse than trigger her by simply existing on the barge.
"Let's hope," Natasha muses, letting her arms fall to her sides and she glances towards the kitchen. "I'll have a strongly worded letter for the Admiral if he's replaced Yelena with him. How many times can a warden be demoted for causing grievous bodily harm?"
"Only person who's going to find out if you're curious is me." That's Steve's not conceding the argument voice. Because he's not joking, either.
"Nat, I would kill him myself before you got the chance, if I thought you were going to." His voice is quieter, now, but no less firm. He sighs, quietly. "I would rather be trapped here another ten years than let you go through it." Which is partly why he is glad the guy's in Zero. B would definitely be disappointed if that happened. Among some other things.
"It's not permanent. Yelena will come back, and Dreykov will go back to where he came from, and he won't even remember it - even if he ends up dead. So, there's no point."
No reasonable point, anyway. Sometimes you have to be unreasonable. But Natasha is much more reasonable than Steve is. Usually. He's counting on that now. Hopefully.
"He is dead," she nods, answering that first before finding the irony of Steve wanting to kill him first and she there's a tug at the corner of her mouth. "Yelena blew up the helicopter he was trying to escape in and almost herself in the process."
Had it happened and she truly lost her sister, Natasha isn't sure she would've seen the point anymore then.
"She better."
Because there'd be a lot of noise coming from her if she doesn't.
Steve wants to say She will, because that's how floods work.
But sometimes people don't come back. After ports, after breaches... after floods. They disappear, and there's nothing they can do about it, up to and including making deals.
So he just nods, with a tight look on his face that says he's aware that answer, such as it is, isn't good enough. There's so much that's not good enough, on the Barge.
If nothing else, though, "Good. That he's dead. Good on her."
Then he tries, maybe, for a little smile. "Trying to even things out, then, huh? I don't think that's how the competition usually works."
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She had let him in; that's a good start, at least.
"So. That was something," he says - and trusts her to tell that the lack of judgement in his voice is genuine. Because it very much is. If Natasha was responding to a situation like that, then he suspects it was very much warranted.
At least, to a point.
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And she knows what would have followed if she did.
With a nod, she crosses her arms loosely and leans up against the wall beside the door, diagonally opposite to where Steve stands with ten or so feet between them. "Yeah, it was. Probably a good thing you stopped it."
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Given what he does know about the man now... he is not feeling particularly magnanimous toward him. But he cares about Natasha, and above all else, he does not want to see her trapped here. Not like he was.
"That's how this place is. It's gonna - get to you. It's gonna send shit your way to get in your head and - " He pauses, because he doesn't want this to sound like an insult. In fact, he means it as a compliment. "I don't think you're used to being vulnerable to that kind of thing."
At least, not for some time now.
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"And you're right, I'm not used to it. Not outside of the constant reminder of where we come from." A small sigh of frustration sounds and Natasha shakes her head. "Had it been anyone else.."
They wouldn't be having this talk.
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It could be patronizing - but it's not. It's just quiet. And sincere. Maybe a little grateful, that she lets him do it, still.
And he can guess the end of that sentence pretty well. He nods.
"That's the hardest part. For a lot of us. Feeling weak. Out of control. The Barge, the situations being here puts us in, foster that. In the name of growth."
His tone of voice isn't sarcastic, exactly. He doesn't know if it really is for growth or not. Not anymore. At one time, he fervently believed it. Now, he isn't sure, but it's still the situation they're in, whatever the reason.
"I know you'll learn to handle it. But - " He hesitates, only because he wants to say this right. It's important to say this right. "We're still a team."
He's here for her. She doesn't even have to ask. He will never make someone ask, if they don't want to.
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Natasha nods right after he says it. "Yes, we are." Her tone carries with it the resolute promise of always having his back. No matter where they were. Or who they were up against.
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Besides. The wardens do end up changing, for better or worse. Hopefully better, though it isn't always the case. He wants it to be in Natasha's case though, of course.
For worse - he's been there. Hell, he still feels like he is there, a lot of the time, in at least some respects.
"B's got him in Zero. He'll stay there until the flood's over." Steve lets out a breath. "Maybe it's better than he deserves, but it'll have to do."
He watches her, waiting for argument - or any other indication, verbal or nonverbal, that that's not good enough for her.
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"Let's hope," Natasha muses, letting her arms fall to her sides and she glances towards the kitchen. "I'll have a strongly worded letter for the Admiral if he's replaced Yelena with him. How many times can a warden be demoted for causing grievous bodily harm?"
She's joking.
No, probably not.
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"Nat, I would kill him myself before you got the chance, if I thought you were going to." His voice is quieter, now, but no less firm. He sighs, quietly. "I would rather be trapped here another ten years than let you go through it." Which is partly why he is glad the guy's in Zero. B would definitely be disappointed if that happened. Among some other things.
"It's not permanent. Yelena will come back, and Dreykov will go back to where he came from, and he won't even remember it - even if he ends up dead. So, there's no point."
No reasonable point, anyway. Sometimes you have to be unreasonable. But Natasha is much more reasonable than Steve is. Usually. He's counting on that now. Hopefully.
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Had it happened and she truly lost her sister, Natasha isn't sure she would've seen the point anymore then.
"She better."
Because there'd be a lot of noise coming from her if she doesn't.
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But sometimes people don't come back. After ports, after breaches... after floods. They disappear, and there's nothing they can do about it, up to and including making deals.
So he just nods, with a tight look on his face that says he's aware that answer, such as it is, isn't good enough. There's so much that's not good enough, on the Barge.
If nothing else, though, "Good. That he's dead. Good on her."
Then he tries, maybe, for a little smile. "Trying to even things out, then, huh? I don't think that's how the competition usually works."
It's a bad joke. Frankly his specialty, by now.