Natasha smiled, she always felt better when she spoke with Chloe, it was refreshing, they had more in common, they were both mothers, and well they loved their children as much as they loved their own lives.
Natasha looked back on her laptop screen, as she answered some more emails, until her mind began to drift, she was thinking about Romanoff again, she did not know why, but that man was so familiar and yet so distant to her.
Her mind was moving to the gun she had seen Romanoff hold in his hand as he was getting ready to shoot, her, she paid attention to the gun, and she saw that it looked old, vintage even, she was sure that you would not find a gun like that anywhere nearby.
Natasha was curious, and she was not one to just sit down and wait for answers to come to her, she went looking for the answers, and she needed any information right now in regards to Romanoff.
Natasha sighed, she knew that she would regret this sooner or later, because what she was about to do would get Dom hot on her trail, but she did not care, that was his problem, all she knew was that she needed more information on that gun, and she knew just who could give it to her.
Natasha picked up her phone as she dialed a number that she never thought she would call again, but right now, she was desperate for answers.
To Natasha's surprise, her call was picked almost in an instant, which made her narrow her eyes, as if who she was calling had been waiting for her to call.
"Natasha?" asked Michael in surprise as he put his phone to his ear.
"Yes Michael's it's me" said Natasha as she knew that it was now or never.
"What a surprise" said Michael as he smiled, he was very surprised, Natasha had not called him in ages, because of you know who, and what went on between them, but once Michael saw the caller id, he had to rub his eyes twice to make sure that he was seeing correctly.
"Michael, I need your help with something" said Natasha as she went straight to the point.
"Alright, what is it Natasha?" asked Michael as he was more than ready to help, it was the least he could do.
"Michael I saw this gun, it was not like any other gun I have seen before, it was vintage" said Natasha.
"Give me a description of the gun" said Michael as he looked serious.
"Well it looked like a semi-automatic pistol, it was black, it was about 134mm in height, and it had a little sharp spur at the back of the gun head" said Natasha.
"What do you think the barrel length might have been?" asked Michael.
"I'm not sure, a rough guess, I would say 114-116 mm" said Natasha.
"Oh and I think the gun is of Russian origin" said Natasha as she remembered to add that part.
"Hmm, well I think the gun you must have seen might have been a Tokarev" said Michael.
"A Tokarev?" asked Natasha.
"Yes, or a TT-30, it meets all the requirements, since you added that it is from Russian origin" said Michael as he knew a lot about guns.
"I see" said Natasha.
"It was used in the Russian army till 1952, when it was replaced by the Makarov pistol" said Michael as he explained.
"It Is actually a very interesting gun make, you must have seen one of the last known ones, because I haven't seen that gun anywhere" said Michael as he had only read about it.
"I see" said Natasha as at least she knew that Romanoff was actually Russian, if his name, and accent still made her doubt, and well she also knew that that gun was actually vintage, could that mean that she could find him if he had registered the gun?
"Yes" said Michael.
"Why do you ask?" asked Michael.
"No reason, just out of curiosity" said Natasha.
"Alright then" said Michael as he did not want to ask any further.
"Thank you for your help Michael" said Natasha.
"Anytime" said Michael as he smiled and Natasha ended the call, he wondered what she was up to, curiosity was one thing, but digging for information was another, he was sure that she had something going on.
"Who was that?" asked Charlie as he walked into the office where Michael was working in.
"Natasha" said Michael.
"What did she want?" asked Charlie.
"Nothing much, just information about a vintage Russian gun" said Michael.
"Weird" said Charlie.
"Very" said Michael as he had to agree there.
"What are you doing?" asked Charlie as he looked bored.
"Work" replied Michael as he resumed typing on his computer.
"Professional work or personal work?" asked Charlie as he raised an eyebrow at Michael.
"A little bit of both" replied Michael simply.
"Don't tell me that you are checking what I think you are checking" said Charlie.
"Even if I am, it's only because Dom asked me to" said Michael.
"He did?" asked Charlie in surprise.
"Yes, he did" said Michael.
"What exactly are you looking for then? This is a closed case, you know that" said Charlie.
"I am looking for anything that will vindicate Natasha, because she is, and always has been innocent" said Michael.
"Whatever you say Michael, I have more things on my mind, but if you would prefer to bore yourself investigating a closed matter, I say go ahead" said Charlie.
"Thank you for your support Charlie, I really appreciate it" said Michael in sarcasm.
"You are welcome, anyway, I'm out of here, see you at home" said Charlie.
"See you" replied Michael as he was focused on what he was doing.
…
The next day.
"Mommy, where are you going?" asked Joy as she looked at her mother's reflection in the dressing table mirror.
"Well my beautiful baby, I am going to the office today, and I need you to work your nice magic and style my hair for me" said Natasha as she smiled.
"Really mommy??" asked Joy in surprise as she looked at her mother.
"Mhmm" said Natasha as she nodded her head.
"So will you style my hair for me baby?" asked Natasha as she smiled.
"Yes yes mommy" said Joy as she nodded her head excitedly and she pulled out a brown stool as she stood on top of it.
"Don't you need this my baby?" asked Natasha as she smiled and she handed Joy a hairbrush.
"Yes I do mommy, thank you" said Joy as she giggled and she nodded her head and Natasha smiled, her heart felt so light when she saw how eager her baby was to be responsible.
"So what hairstyle do you have in mind for me my baby?" asked Natasha as she smiled.
"It's a surprise mommy" said Joy as she giggled and she brushed her mother's hair.
"Oh alright then my baby, I will wait for the surprise" said Natasha as she laughed, she wondered what her precious darling had in mind.
"Mommy, is your office close to daddy's office?" asked Joy.
"Well no my baby, your daddy's office is far from mine" replied Natasha as she smiled.
"Why are you going to your office mommy?" asked Joy as Natasha handed her some different coloured hair ties as she could feel her tugging on her hair.
"Well I have a meeting with some people today my baby, and I need to go there" said Natasha as she smiled.
"Can I go with you mommy?" asked Joy.
"Well no my baby, you can't, I would have loved to take you with me, but if I do, there will be no one there to look after you until I am done with the meeting" said Natasha as she smiled.
"But I wanted to go with you mommy" said Joy.
"I promise baby, I will take you to my office some other time, okay?" asked Natasha as she smiled.
"Okay mommy" said Joy as she nodded her head and she giggled as she looked at her handiwork.
"All done mommy" said Joy as she giggled.
"Oh my baby, it looks wonderful, thank you" said Natasha as she laughed, and she looked at her reflection in the mirror, she had to admit that she looked like she just came out of kindergarten, Joy had tied her hair up in two buns, Natasha hadn't done this with her hair in ages.
"You are welcome mommy" said Joy as she giggled and Natasha turned to carry her as she placed her in her lap.
"It would seem that my little darling wants to become a hair stylist" said Natasha as she laughed and Joy giggled as a knock on the open door interrupted them.
"Sorry to disturb you Madam" said Amalia as she smiled.
"Not to worry Amalia, come in" said Natasha as she smiled and she looked at Amalia.
"Madam, there is a letter here for you" said Amalia as she smiled and she handed Natasha a letter.
"From who?" asked Natasha as she looked at the letter.
"The man did not say, he only said that it was for you" said Amalia as she smiled and she waved at Joy as Joy waved at her.
"Alright thank you" said Natasha as she smiled, she was curious of who could have sent her this letter.
"You are welcome Madam" said Amalia as she smiled.
"Amalia, do you know where Alfred is?" asked Natasha.
"Ahh, well he went to the office today Madam" said Amalia.
"Are you free Amalia? I need you to look after Joy since I am going out, but I promise you that I will be back soon" said Natasha as she smiled.
"I am free of my duties Madam, and it would be an honour to look after Joy, she is such a darling" said Amalia as she smiled and Joy giggled happily.
"Thank you Amalia" said Natasha as she smiled.
"My baby, Aunt Amalia, is going to look after you until I come back okay?" asked Natasha as she looked at Joy and she smiled.
"Okay mommy" said Joy as she giggled and Amalia smiled at her.
"Okay, my baby, I will be right back, I need to get something from my office first" said Natasha as she smiled and she put Joy down as she stood up.
"Okay mommy" said Joy as she smiled.
"Do you want to play with your toys Joy?" asked Amalia as she smiled.
"Okay" said Joy as she giggled and she followed after Amalia as Natasha smiled and she walked out of the room to the direction of her office.
Natasha opened the door to her office as she found her phone on the desk, but her curiosity got the best of her as she looked at the letter she was holding in her hand, she wondered who stills sent letters in this day and age.
Natasha frowned as she tore open the letter and she was immediately caught by surprise.