2014-02-09 - Meetings and Revelations

It's mid-morning after the embassy gala, and Natasha had made her way back to the Avenger's mansion after spending the night at Tony's penthouse at Stark Enterprises. Not that anyone would be entirely surprised by this, given how the two were behaving during the gala and how they left.

But she was here, and from the small gym duffle dropped by the worn kitchen table, probably to work out before doing whatever it was she had on her schedule for the day. But right now, she had ducked Jarvis to make her own coffee in the kitchen. She knows how to make that, at least. A pair of dark sunglasses sit over her eyes, covering up the dark circles from a night of little sleep.

Ant-Man comes flying into the kitchen on a winged ant. The ant settles onto the table and he gets off and grows as he steps off the table edge. He stretches a little and removes his helmet. "Morning, Natasha. Did you have a good time last night?" He carefully picks up the ant and places it on a window sill.

Nat gives Hank a bland look, unsure if he was making a joke or genuinely asking. She errs on the side of him asking in earnest, and nods. "It was a gala, they tend to limit the amount of true fun one can have. Afterwards was better," she comments offhandedly. She manages to get the coffee machine going, and the smell of java begins to fill the kitchen.

Ant-Man leans on the counter feeling a little awkward. "I see. I'm sorry your upgrades didn't reset for you naturally. On the other hand you check out as healthy now. No lingering effects I've seen so far. There were a couple of anomalies I'd like to pursue with a blood test. Hormone levels, endocrine functions and such." He tries to get a read on Natasha then gives up after a moment. Super spy and clueless nerd. Not a fair contest.

Natasha considers her conversation with Clint from the other night, and nods slightly. "Yes. Any tests you need. Steve had mentioned possibly trying to synthesize another super soldier injection from his blood-- I do not know how feasible that would be, but..." She isn't mentioning the Infinity formula, of course, as an option, though it may be. Or her and Clint's stupid and insanely risky plan to go rogue and try and see if the old facilities in Russia she had been trained at might have a vial or two. Nope.

Ant-Man frowns a little. "From Steve's blood ... I don't know. For one thing there were several steps in his process such as the vita rays that stabilized the compound after it's introduction. Then I'd have to check if he had any latent mutations the serum worked with. I'd love to investigate further though with his okay. Hmm then there was the whole cryogenic period ... anyway hold out your thumb for a minute." Hank pulls a small chip from his belt and it enlarges into a sample kit. He pulls out vials, a lancet, and alcohol swaps.

Natasha holds out her hand for the blood sample without flinching or argument. Like Steve, she's a good soldier-- orders are to be followed. "Biochemistry isn't my forte, Hank, but it was just an idea Steve mentioned-- neither of us have any idea if it would even work."

Ant-Man draws the blood quickly. He's actually a pretty good hand with a needle. He slips the tube int a compartment on the side of the kit and pushes a button. "These field kits are great if they work. A complete blood analysis with remote sensing. We'll just wait a few minutes. Is there more coffee?" Hank looks hopeful.

"Yes, let me get you a cup," Natasha says simply, pulling down a pair of coffee mugs as the carafe finishes filling. "I'm not Clint, I don't drink straight from the pot." A joke? No, she's being serious. Sigh.

She pours the mugs full and slides one to Hank. "I think there's cream in the fridge." She drinks hers black-- she needs the caffiene.

Ant-Man takes the cup and adds four sugars to it before drinking it black. "Thanks," he says. He points to the used sugar packets and says, "A side effect of my cybernetic communications over the years. I take coffee with my sugar.” Waiting is a pain in the neck.

A soft yawn signals the arrival of Janet. She looks to be in casual mode, which means she is still wearing a nice blouse and pants. No t-shirts and yoga pants for her. She stretches out, making a bee-line towards Hank and wraps her arms about him from behind, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek. "You're looking much better, hon. I was worried about you!" She reaches over, taking the coffee from Hank, without asking, then takes a sip. Janet's face wrinkles in mild distaste as she returns the coffee. "You always put too much sugar in it..."

"Good morning, Janet," Natasha pulls down a third cup and fills it-- Jarvis was going to have a stroke-- and slides it to her, before taking another swig of her own. "Did you enjoy yourself at the embassy gala?"

Ant-Man takes another sip and smiles. "Yet you always grab a swallow from my coffee. Yeah I'm feeling better. Galas are not my thing. I'm most comfortable hanging around mutants, mutates, deities and trained killers. Politicians scare me. When is this scan going to complete? I shoud just run it down to the lab. Well too late for that." he picks some sugar grains up on his finger tip and sprinkles them on the window sill for the ant.

"Oh, immensely. Though it seems I caused some unintentional drama." Jan looks up to Natasha from behind Hank, even as she casually slides the container of sugar packets slowly away from him. "I fully intended on saying hello to you and Tony, but I just simply wasn't able to make it over." She gives Hank a light squeeze. "I needed to take care of the dear doctor here. As he said, high society frightens him..."

Natasha shakes her head at Janet in that 'it's no big deal' way. "To be honest, with as many people as were there, I'm surprised we were able to speak to everyone we did," she comments offhandedly. "Say what you will about Shaw, he knows how to throw a party, da?"

Ant-Man nearly spills his coffee as the kit finishes its scan. He hits another button and enlarges a tablet he was also keeping in chip form in his pocket. "Hmmm ... koff! KOFF!" He nearly chokes on his coffee. Still choking he hands the tablet to Natasha and tries to keep his mouth covered.

Janet slides out from behind Hank, claiming a chair for her own as she nods in response. "oh, definitely. All the best parties seem to happen at the Hellfire Club." As Hank positively explodes in a coughing fit, Janet turns to react, concern deep in those blue eyes. However, as the tablet slides from Hank to Nat, the concern morphs into confusion as Janet regards the two. Something's up…

Natasha's already pale face goes white with shock as she reads the tablet. Her voice is calm and her tone clipped as she replies quietly, "That must be a mistake in the scan, Hank. And I want this classified. I want it off the system, /now/." She peers at him over the sunglasses, her eyes icy and dangerous. "I'm not having Tony nosing through my medical files and find this /false reading/."

In fact, her fingers are already flying over the tablet's screen, calling up whatever she can to nuke the result.

Ant-Man stops coughing and retrieves the tablet to stab at a few controls. "The remote scan is not integrated into the database yet. I'm still working out kinks. So don't worry it's ... gone. If Tony goes through my files I'll stick a giant water bug in his hot tub and he knows it. Calm down. It just took me by surprise. I'll run a proper scan on the blood sample in the lab. Seriously ... have I ever lied before?"

Ant-Man returns the tablet to her so she can see the results. The file is not only nuked, the readouts on the kit's performance are removed as well.

Normally, there would be questions. Spoken questions and a lot of them. However, the shock of the reactions from both parties stuns Janet into silence. Her mouth opens, as if ready to speak, then closes...then opens and closes again. She truly is at a loss for words. The only question is the unspoken one on her face. The question of 'What?'

Natasha is... actually shaking slightly. The normally completely controlled spy looks like Tony did the night before-- only moments from a complete nervous breakdown. She draws a pair of ragged breaths to calm herself. Torture, telepathic intrusion, death, extreme personal peril? Those things have never fazed her as far as her fellow Avengers have seen. But what was on the tablet overwhelms her perfectly poised control.

"That shouldn't be possible, Hank," she says after a few moments, her hands balling into fists at her side. "It's not possible. How...?" Ant-Man steps over to Natasha and says, "Let's run the analysis in the lab. Jan, you have to leave us alone plaese. I trust your discretion as always. " He tries to touch Natasha's arm, hoping it might calm her a little. "I'm sorry for my clumsy error. Let's get the right data from you in the lab. Natasha please forgive me for any embarrassment I caused you."

Janet slides out of her chair and moves to stand behind Natasha. Those slender hands reach out, to rest on Natasha's shoulders in her own effort to calm her down. Most people wouldn't dare touch Natasha, especially when she is visibly shaken. Of course, Janet is not most people.

As she places her hand down, Jan leans to the side to mouth silently to Hank...'what the hell?' Then, and only then, does she actually look at the table....and the medical supplies that Hank was using. The wheels begin to turn within Janet's mind, but she keeps it to herself...for the moment.

"No," Natasha shakes her head shortly. "No, not here, not in this lab, not where he has access..." she's almost babbling. Almost. As close as Natasha would get to it, anyway. "No. Hank, I need to... get to the helicarrier. I have paperwork. Lots of paperwork." She hates paperwork. If she's willing to bury herself in it…

So...hands on the shoulders and nothing bad happened. So far, so good. But...now comes the difficult part for Janet. Without waiting for Hank to respond, she leans down, her words soft as she speaks to Natasha. "Look, hon. I think I have a pretty good understanding of what just happened...and it will be okay. You got me here. We can figure out what to do together." Of course, Jan doesn't mention what she thinks she knows. However, she's seen those testing supplies before. She's got a pretty good idea.

Natasha having not shrugged away or reacted otherwise to being touched is only indicative of the level of shock she's in. "Do? There is nothing to do. It is a mistake." Yes, it seems Natasha is intent on ignoring-- no. Her eyes flit towards the cameras, recording all the public areas of the Avengers Mansion, instantly viewable by Tony. She knows this.

Even with as upset as she is, she is mitigating damages.

Ant-Man decides to mitigate damage as well. He keeps his mouth shut.

Janet just nods, unseen by Natasha, and rubs the shoulders absently. She knows when to leave things alone, and she takes the safe route in this case. "Of course it is a mistake. No need to worry at all." The surveillance of the surveillance system is noticed, too...if, by anything else, the tightening of Natasha's shoulders.

Jan leans down, positioning herself so that she may be able to whisper in Natasha's ear as softly as possible without the cameras being able to pick up what she is saying.

Janet Van Dyne whispers “If you want...we can go to my studio. I promise you there is a room there free of any spying eyes. We can talk there, if you want"”

Natasha stiffens slightly. She doesn't /talk/ with anyone about things, unless it suits her purposes for one mission or another. Her gaze moves to Hank, and she nods. "...thank you for the follow up. We will check again in a week, see if everything seems to have leveled out then."

She looks at Janet, though. "We did... have an appointment today, yes? At your studio? Regarding dresses?"

Ant-Man nods and steps away from the Black Widow. He pockets the medical kit and then does a doubletake. "Oh would you look at the time. I have that thing in the lab. Later ladies!" He replaces his helmet and shrinks then makes a leap to his waiting ant on the window sill.

As Hank departs, Janet straightens up, releasing Natasha's shoulders. "Yes...yes we do. I finished that sketch from the other night and the sooner we can get you into some color the better."

Once Hank leaves, Janet breathes a sigh of relief. "Seems Hank forgot about scolding me for not telling him about my ribs last night. Good thing, too. He can get so particular when he worries."

Natasha nods slightly to Janet's comment. But she also moves away from Wasp with the same cold, blank look she usually reserves for the heat of a fight, making her way out of the kitchen. "Let's go, then," she says shortly.

Her duffle bag is left forgotten by the kitchen table.

It really is a short walk from the Avenger mansion to the Van Dyne Design fashion studio. Janet knows where her clientele is, and 5th Avenue is the prime location. She leads Natasha through the main storefront, which has a variety of ensembles on mannequins ranging from Janet's version of casual to formal. "Just this way, hon..." Jan heads towards the back of the main room, passing a display case that has, sealed within, her original Wasp uniform. "We just need to duck through the back room to my design room. You could say it is where I do my own version of top secret planning."

Jan opens up the door to the back room. Upon inspection, there are sewing machines lining the left wall, each with a dress mannequin and each with at least a partial outfit upon them. However, Jan heads to the right, up a flight of stairs to what looks like an office, overlooking the workfloor. There is pane of glass that is quite obviously a one-way mirror, designed to let whoever is within the office to look out, but no one can look in. Jan unlocks the door to the office, opening it to escort Natasha in. Within is a drafting table, as expected, but also a set of comfortable furniture, along with other tasteful decorations. It could almost be considered a nice apartment, if it wasn't for the desk in the corner. "Welcome to my secret sanctum, Natasha." Natasha looks around. "Very nice," she notes. "So, you said something about color? Last night's dress was black, and it looked fine, I think. It had the expected reactions from men present." Of course, Natasha understands fashion from strictly a 'usefulness' point of view.

Jan offers a nod as she closes the door, then locks it from the inside. "Hon, you could have worn that t-shirt and yoga pants ensemble to the Hellfire Club last night and still received the 'expected reactions' from men present." As Jan speaks, she uses her hands to mock air quotes to make her point. "However, we throw some color on you and you will find that those reactions will far exceed those expectations."

Janet is normally a confident person in any location. However, in her own office, she reigns supreme. She points to a chair, indicating Natasha should sit. "But, you are trying to deflect my attention, and you know it. So, you want to tell me what's going on, or do you want me to ask you why Hank was using his medical kit to give you a pregancy test?" Jan steamrolls through to continue speaking, not giving Natasha a moment's pause. "And don't tell me that's not what he was doing. You're not the only one he's used that on, you know."

Natasha just blinks at Janet disbelievingly. "I didn't know. He said he needed to check an anomaly he saw in my blood after this... Atlantean... issue." She's still shaken-- that she even responded to Janet's question makes that obvious. She sits in the offered chair, sinking down.

"I didn't... know that was what he was testing for. Why would he? How did... it had to have been a mistake."

A hand waves absently in the air as Jan paces. "Hank would say that. His way of getting you to agree to the test in the first place. You would have never let him otherwise." She seems to know her doctor rather well. "That just means he saw the signs when he was treating you and Clint before and he wanted to confirm."

As Jan says that, her head snaps up and quickly swivels towards Natasha, her eyes wide as her mind jumps to a possible scenario. "Wait a minute! Did you and he..." She trails off, shaking her head as she starts rambling. "it would have been recent. a week or two. Probably putting it..." Jan covers her mouth, covering her shocked expression..."No...couldn't be..."

"No." Natasha draws her legs up to her. "No, Clint and I... we did not. He is being loyal to America-- he is many things, but when he has it in his mind he will keep to one bed..." there is a touch of regret in her tone. But only for a moment. "Well, that is all there is to it."

"Well...if it wasn't Clint then it was...." The realization hits Janet hard, the force of it causing her to suddenly gasp. "No wonder you wanted the results wiped immediately." When Janet gets rolling, there is little that stops her. "Well, he's not going to find out from me. And no snooping is going to happen here. This room is a dead zone." Janet produces her smartphone from a handbag hanging next to the office door. She turns it on, and turns the front to face Natasha, showing zero reception in the room. "Nothing comes in here and nothing goes out."

Natasha nods. "Tony has become... very intense lately." She leans back in the chair, thinking. "I do not know how he will react. I don't know what he will do." She rubs her temples. "I've never even had to consider the implications of this. I should not be /able/ to be..." she pauses. "This should not be a problem I can have."

Jan leans on her desk, tossing the smartphone on its surface. "Well. We got to be sure. It is possible that it is a false reading. That type of early detection can be affected by other factors...including whatever it was that Orin's people did to you." She snaps her head up and looks Natasha dead in the eye. Natasha may recognize the look that Jan is now giving her. It's Janet's classic 'take care' look. "This is what we're going to do. We are going to get Hank here and do the test again. Right here, in this room, with his own equipment. Then, we will see what the results are. We can't use the over-the-counter tests yet...it is too soon. Got it?"