Natalia has fought with Steve for many years now, never more closely than when she joined his secret team. She knows him well, knows that he is the best kind of leader, both level-headed and without fear. He does not balk from danger, neither does he court it. He waits. He plans. He thinks things through, and he protects his own. In battle, she would follow him anywhere. But here, in matters between close friends, particularly those with as long and complicated a history as he and James, Natalia finds herself uncertain how to proceed. It is not a feeling she enjoys, and not for the first time, she finds herself wishing that Sharon were here.

"Waiting on Tony?" she asks, short nails skimming along James' scalp. "To become the man we used to know? Or something else?"