Latrodectus mactans

Merlin nods as he looks around, leading her like he would with a lady- a queen. He treats her such as the night goes on, watching. He leans down to Natasha when it is near midnight, the party ending soon. "She was not here." He says, glad. If Morgana showed up- if she was alive. He shutters at the thought. "I will explain everything tonight, love." He whispers, before freezing when he sees Morgana smirking at him. In an exact replica of her red dress from the tournament when he was first at Camelot. "She's here."

Merlin purs his hand on her back, nudging her to the exit. "Move people outside and away from here. Whatever you have to do-" he says but pushes Nat with all his strength, moving so he gets hit by the fireball. Merlin flies backwards and groans as he hits the floor. "Natasha! Get everyone out now!" His eyes turn into liquid gold.

As soon as she began to undress, Merlin closes his eyes and waits until she is fine to uncover his eyes. He gives her a sad smile. "I am thousands of years old, Natasha. Have you heard the legend of Kind Arthur? It's actually true but I did have to change details to protect myself." Merlin admits. "Would you like to hear the truth?"

"I was 17 summers old when I moved to Camelot. I was a bastard- the only one in my village." He starts. "I had magic since I was born. It was dangerous. Camelot hunted and killed magic users. Cendred- the king I was born under- kidnapped them and used them. I went to go study under my mom's uncle- the court doctor of Camelot, Gaius. However on my first day, I met someone who would change my life. The royal prat, Prince Arthur." He smiles sadly.

The redhead tilted her head as she listened, furrowing her brows. He admitted to messing with details about the legend, so corroborating with books and articles wouldn't be resourceful. "Alright..." she said, processing everything and trying to not think him insane.

"Arthur and I argued at first, when we met. I did not know who he was. I ended up getting thrown in the stocks. But met more people. Later that night," he continues softly. "I saved Arthur's life after a witch tried to kill him. I couldnt control my magic, everything was instinct. Time slowed down and I saved him. I became his man servant." He admits. "We became friends over the years but I would often seek advice of a dragon, one who would manipulate me at first to do what he wanted. Morgana, Arthur's half sister, had magic as well. But even saying the word in Camelot would get you killed."

The woman nodded and listened, remembering some of the things from legends she'd read. "Alright. But why would that cause people to be killed? Magic seems like it was prevalent... Why shut it down? Can't magic help people?"

Merlin sighs. "Uther and his wife couldn't have children. His wife couldnt medically have kids. Now we could have helped them, the advances you humans have made." He smiles. "But back then? Magic was the only way. The hard thing is magic must keep balance. A life for a life. Uther knew this and so did his wife. But they didn't follow the rules. His wife died and he blamed magic, not the choices they made."

"So... All magic comes with a price?" she asked, trying to keep up with everything. "Given the displays today, magic is still a thing. And wait, what do you mean 'you humans'? Are you not human?"

Merlin nods. He looks down. "I am technically. The druids call me a Godling. Basically a born human that turns into a god." He winces. "I always hated that term and the name they had for me. But it is the name that has kept me alive." He admits. "When Magic was banned the druids got a... Prophecy about a king who would reunite the kingdoms into one and the world's greatest sorcerer would be by his side. The sorcerer in a sense would be a godling, and a dragonlord."

She blinked as she listened to him. She thought she remembered some weird thing about a place on Bleecker Street and things going on there that seemed to be mystical, but that was never something she was sent to investigate. "Okay. Prophecy. King and sorcerer... Are there still dragons? Do I need to worry about them?" she asked. "I mean... Some scientists are doing genetic engineering and DNA splicing so that's a thing."

"The ones that SHIELD knows of are not true magic uses but mystic artists. Two different things. Mystics can manipulate reality, it is jot true magic." He admits. "Yes there are dragons but they cannot disobey my orders as a dragonlord. They are safely hidden and not allowed to interact with other humans." Merlin admits. "The thing is Morgana became evil. She let the magic and anger and fear corrupt her. I am the only one who can kill her. And she is the only one who can kill me."

Natasha listened to the mage and she frowned. "So... what happens now? Why does she want to kill you? Why did she turn evil?" she asked, wanting to know what happened to turn these ancient beings against each other. "And are the whole legends true?"

"I can help if you need," he told her, "But yes, I do think you'll use it a lot for work."

"I wouldn't mind some lessons. Because I don't want to think it can do something when I need it and that's the one thing it can't do," she explained. "Knowing my luck, that's what would happen."

"Well, for one, it can scan just about anything and tell you quite a bit about it," he told her, "It can scan rooms to tell you if anyone is inside from a distance and all sorts of things like that. It can unlock doors and hack different technologies. Really, it's sort of like a Time Lord swiss army knife."

Natasha nodded once and furrowed her brows. "Okay. So... does it hack computers too? I'm feeling a little... useless," she admitted, looking over at her own screwdriver.

"It can help hack computers, yes," he told her, "Of course you aren't useless. You are one of my closest friends. A sonic screwdriver can't do that. Plus, you are very clever and very strong."

She shook her head and sighed. "I knew I was going to get pushed out by technology. But didn't think it would come from my friend," she teased lightly.

"No, it can't," he told her, "How are you holding up?"

"I'm holding it together... But let's finish this," she answered. "I'll be truthful when we get this over and done with."

He smiled and offered a hand out to lead the way back to the TARDIS. Each of the parts of the key to time would be in a different time and location, so they would have to head somewhere else next.

She walked beside him to the TARDIS, not taking the offered hand because she didn't need the assist, and hoped that she would be able to help in this next journey. If getting the next keys were anything like this one... danger mode would be a thing.

The Doctor began to program the TARDIS to detect the next part of the key to time. It let out a slight beep to alert him that it had found it and the Doctor began to program coordinates. "We'll likely need winter coats where we are headed," he told her.

"Then I'll go grab them," she assured. "But hey. We'll get everything and make sure the keys are safe."

"Exactly," he told her. He was very happy to have her company for this. "You are used to the cold, correct?" he asked. He knew she spent some time in Russia, although he didn't know which part. She kept much of her past a secret, even from him. He could always use the TARDIS to go find out of course, but he respected her privacy.

Natasha nodded and looked over at him. "I'm used to the cold," she assured. "I still like a coat though. And you should have one."

"I'll go get us some coats," he told her, "Anything else we might need?"

"I'm already on my way to get the coats. So don't worry about that," She pointed out. "Anyway. I don't know what we're going to face, but maybe some gloves and scarves if we're dealing with cold temps."

"So what is the gold in the rocks gonna do?" She asked. "I don't have the ability to mine the stuff. And then what? We throw gold nuggets at them?"

"For now, it will keep them from following us," he told her, "Like I said, they are quite weak to gold. Contact with it can make them shut down completely. If we make our way inside, it should be enough of a deterrent to keep them from chasing us."

"Okay then..." she said, moving towards where he had mentioned the gold veins were. "So here we go... here's the gold."

"Can't the screwdriver do something about that?" She asked. "I mean, really."

"Very true," she replied. "It is always super quick for you because of that perk."

"It can be for you as well," he told her, "You are welcome to travel with me anytime you'd like."

"I know. But I think I prefer the slow and steady life here," she answered. "But thank you for the offer."

Natasha's heels clicked on the stone floor, her walk purposeful and her head held high. She owned the room. "Of course they're worried. There are people who lie about who they are to get into these functions," she stated quietly. "This is a big deal and there are pieces here that are priceless. Of course they're going to have tight security."

"Like us," he mumbled quietly. Of course, he was actually quite impressed by her. He knew she was very capable, but here, she seemed very much in her element. She seemed to know exactly what she was doing and right now, he was just following her lead.

Natasha held out the envelope she'd received to the doorman and it was scanned quickly. She brought the Doctor into the room when the door opened. The redhead nodded and then looked around. She was directed to a pedestal and she removed the item from her purse, putting it on display. It was their sign of faith and she looked back at the Doctor before nodding over to the other items. "We should walk around and see what's up for auction," she said quietly.

"Good plan," the Doctor told her. He was quite curious about it anyway. He walked over to one particularly strange object. "This is from the planet Sakaar. It's part of a building that was on that planet many, many years ago. No idea how it would have gotten here."

The redhead moved with the doctor and sighed. "I heard that a colleague of mine ended up there for a while," she admitted. "Maybe he brought it back. There's also a lot of things in New Asgard."

"You didn't mess up," the Doctor told her, there was nothing you could have done." He walked over and looked at the screen, the video of the incident playing. He sat down next to her. "I'm not going to just let you sit in here in the dark alone. I'm going to sit here with you."

The Doctor thought for a moment. He knew they shouldn't. It would be extremely dangerous, not just to them or the other people there, but to the universe as a whole. "You were already there," he told her as he thought it over, "You'd be crossing your own timeline." He wrapped an arm around her and brought her into a hug. "There was nothing you could have done," he assured her, "And we don't know that we could travel back to the past and fix it. If it's a fixed point in time, there would be nothing we could do. It would always happen, regardless of what different choices we make."

Natasha's tears fell faster as she listened to the Doctor. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair at all. "Then what good are you..." she muttered, wiping away her tears as she took a deep breath. She shut down the computer and stood up. "Fine. What are you here for?"

"I'm here for you," he told her, "I saw what happened and figured you might react like this. I came to try and cheer you up and if that didn't work, at least stay by your side. I didn't want you to be alone."

She took a deep breath and shook her head. "I don't need help," she replied calmly. Natasha was used to cutting every emotion off and she wasn't going to deal with this. "I'll be fine. I'm always fine. There's better things for you to do with your time. I'll walk you out."

The Doctor walked over. "No," he told her, "there's nothing I'd rather be doing right now. Nothing better to be doing right now. You need me here."

"I don't need anything," she said coldly. "Other than to get the bastards that killed her. So if you're not going to help... then get out and leave me alone. Don't try to talk me out of it. I'm doing this."

"I didn't say I wouldn't help you, just that we couldn't go back in time and fix it," he told her, "I'm happy to help in whatever other ways I can with your investigation. We can figure out who did it and how to catch them together."

"You don't like my methods from what I've noticed," she pointed out. "And I'm not going to be nice with this. If you don't want to see what Russia originally made, then head out and come back in a bit. America softened me. I'm getting the venom back."

"I think you and I need each other," he told her, "To stop each other from going too far. You are right, I might not like your methods, which is exactly why you need me."

The redhead narrowed her eyes as he spoke. "No," she said firmly. "No. I'm doing this my way. I don't care what you have to say. You don't like it, go away. I'm doing this and I will not change my mind."

"Please," the Doctor walked over to her. "This isn't you. This isn't your way at all. You show people mercy. You help people. I'm not going to let you hurt yourself like this."

James immediately heads inside as he wanted to spend time with Lukas.

The redhead made her way to the veterinarian she knew about and the vet took care of the puppy. With no chip in the pup and some quick medicines and food recommendations, Natasha paid for the pup and brought him back to the hospital.

"Do they do scalp massages and hair stuff too? I think that could help," she mentioned as she followed him through the corridors.

"I think they do, yes," he told her as they approached a front desk.

Natasha nodded and smiled, walking with him to wherever it was they needed to be.

The redhead blinked at the question and then looking at the Doctor. "We had talked about massages. I don't know what types you offer, but deep tissue might be good. And foot massages. We just need to relax and have some peace," she admitted once she looked back at the people at the door.

She followed the attendant and looked over at the Doctor. "There are so many. Honestly... we could use all the kinds given our jobs," she explained.

"I appreciate that. Yes. Shoulders, neck, and back might be the best to have first. It'll probably end up being a full body massage and if we could do deep tissues one that might be the best too," she offered.

"Yeah. I am. But figuring out if I'm the whole meal deal or a stepping stone sounds like something you should do so I'm not in the middle and get kidnapped to be the buffet."

The Doctor looked over at her. She seemed scared, something he wasn't used to with her. He walked over and hugged her. "I will not let anything happen to you," he assured her.

Natasha took breaths and then pulled away after a moment in the hug. "Hugs aren't going to do anything about this. What are the next steps?" she asked, trying to keep her voice even.

He thought for a moment. Right now, her safety and the safety of the planet were his main concerns. "We end this," he told her, "We need to cause a huge time paradox."

"A time paradox?" She questioned. "What is that because that sounds like memories are going to be erased and stuff."

"I suppose it could rewrite some memories, although if I do it correctly, it shouldn't be ours, although our memories could be altered with what I'm planning," he told her as he was deep in thought. "We just have to do a bit of time travel. "I'm going to do something I usually wouldn't. We are going to have to go back in the past in the TARDIS, about twenty minutes in the past, to go find ourselves and cause a paradox. When this is done, we could remember the events from both sides of what happens. We'll need to be extra careful, however if we cause a big enough paradox, it should overfill the angels and wipe them all out."

"Alright... Have you ever done this before? That way you know how big of a paradox to make? When will we know if it's successful?" Natasha asked, tilting her head slightly.

The redhead sighed softly and closed her eyes for a moment before walking after him. "Well... I'm following you for this. I hope this works."

Lukas just hugs Nat and lays his head on her shoulder. He nods as he needs a new phone. He takes the damaged phone out of his pocket. It was just broken glass and wires now. He didnt want to go out but he knew he had.

Natasha gently patted him on the back and rubbed his shoulders, closing her eyes. "I'll go grab it if you don't want to go in," she said quietly. "I don't want you alone right now though. But I want you to have some space."

Clint looked at her for a moment and gave a small shrug. "You could wear an old potato bag and still be the most beautiful woman in my eyes." He smiled softly at Natasha

"I would not look as good a Marylin Monroe did in that potato sack and you know it," she countered, taking a deep breath. "But thanks. Anyway... what did you come here for? It can't just be to tell me you think I look pretty... right?"

"Right. You'd probably look even better than her." Clint smiled. "Maybe I really just came here to tell you you look pretty." The truth was Clint was bored. On the last mission he got out with three broken ribs and a punctured lung. He was okay again now but still wasn't allowed to go on missions or even train. And that was the worst.

The redhead paused and looked over at the archer. "Flattery?" She asked. "What do you want me to do?" The woman wasn't sure what to do with the compliments and she worried it was just something to butter her up to get her to do something.

"Why can't I just say nice flattery things without anyone thinking I want something?" Clint said with a dramatic eye roll. "So...how was your day?"

"Because that's how people work with me," she admitted softly, frowning a bit. "The day's been good. What about you? Aside from Liho stealing your hearing aid."

"Yeah. But you know that's not how I work with you." He told her. "Oh my days been good too. Except that I'm still not allowed to go on missions or even train a bit because and I quote our doc 'it could cause another internal bleeding'. And it really sucks to just be allowed to stay here and do nothing."

"Well, why don't we watch a movie or something? Or maybe we can do grab some stuff if you want to try making some new arrows. I'll make sure you don't end up bleeding," she assured.

"It's okay, I don't mind the rambling at all," Clint reassured her with a smile as he answered her questions. "Different daycares and schools have different rules, but at SHIELD, It's allowed any time if you ask in advance so we can ensure the safety and inclusion of any kids with food allergies or special dietary needs, though most people only do it when their kid has a birthday."

Natasha thought about it and tilted her head. "My company handles some great contracts. I think I might have a connection," she offered. "Let me see what I can do."

The woman paused and straightened up her posture. "Oh. I guess sheust have picked that up from me," she apologized. "Sorry?"

"Nothing to apologize for, it's cute," he replied. "I didn't mean to make you self conscious about it."

She chuckled a little bit. "No. Not self conscious," she admitted. "But I don't want her picking up on everything I do. I want her to have some work-life balance when she gets older."

The redhead watched him for a moment and then looked around the room. "There are clothes in the basket, bottles in the kitchen, my pump stuff all over that too," she began before shaking her head. "I'll go clean it and call Tony. You enjoy Penny Time."

She smiled at him and sighed. "Thank you you are amazing," she said softly. "I'll get everything done out here."