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"But we need a grifter and you have the perfect skills, plus you already have the Robin Hood shtick going. That's a joke, 'cause of your archer friend with the crazy arms. You're not laughing. Did I tell it wrong? I've been practicing, but I'm not good at comic timing. Hey, you can bring Robin Arms along too if you want. We could always use a good lookout and distance backup guy."
"I said it's not happening," Natasha repeated to the blonde thief she'd run into while searching Irene Vanzetti's apartment for a very specific and incriminating thumb drive. "As for Hawkeye, you'd have to ask him yourself. I work alone." Coulson could try to recreate the past all he wanted; she had no interest in hollow dreams, and less in creating even more attachments that could be used against her. Freelance work suited her these days.
"What about consulting?" the thief asked, unleashing an unnervingly effective combination of pleading kitten eyes and knife-bright smile. "For a negotiable percentage of the profits... and the satisfaction of knowing you're making a difference."
Natasha let a small, rueful smile surface in the corner of her mouth and the set of her eyes. "You're very idealistic for someone in your line of work. Just because I'm on the side of the angels this time doesn't mean you should trust me. But I'll think about it," she said.
"Oh, you are good," the thief said, as her smile somehow grew even brighter. "Hey! That reminds me. I've been meaning to try breaking into Stark Tower for a while but no one on my team is good enough with freefall and wires to spot me. You helped Tony Stark save the world so if you come along it'll be obvious we're just there for the challenge, not to rob him blind. And it's good to take a break from serious work now and then. What do you say?" She bounced lightly on her toes, waiting for an answer.
Natasha thought about the inherent risk in helping a thief into Stark's territory. Then she thought about Stark's face when he discovered the intrusion. The smile she allowed to show was very nearly real.
"Meet me tomorrow evening, seven sharp, at the Starbucks two blocks south of the tower," she said. "But this is a one time thing."
"That's what I said, before I had a team," the thief told her. She stuck out her hand, the gesture strangely graceless for someone so adept at avoiding laser security grids. "Parker."
"Widow," Natasha said, and shook.