Scene #2215:

Owner	Pose
Toph Beifong	For the last two weeks Pepper Potts have been spending most of her time in New York to handle affairs, and of course Toph followed her adoptive mother to Stark tower along with Buster. The chocobos have been stationed at Njorun station for safe keeping, as Toph would rather not head back to Malibu right now. Things are hard enough to deal with as they are. While Pepper is off dealing with her CEO duties, the blind earthbender is relaxing up in the penthouse, lounging on the couch there. The TV is on, but she isn't paying much attention to the movie. Perhaps she should do a quick report on the mission yesterday from Reptilion, but no. Her mind is not completely there. Maybe she should head out and grab some food for her and Pepper, even if she's not exactly hungry. In the end though, she remains on the couch.
Natasha Romanova	Natasha has been doing some thinking about this entire ordeal with Toph and concerns about her abilities...and after talking with Dr. Banner, she's decided that it would be best to try to be at least a little more transparent with the girl. Yes, she knows it won't be easy to approach Beifong, especially now of all times, but maybe she can show some sympathy. Maybe that will calm her down at least a little. Thus, she makes her way toward the penthouse at Stark tower, pausing in the doorway to the living room for a moment as she spots the teen lounging on the couch. "Toph." she greets, her voice even. "You have a minute?"
Toph Beifong	It should be pretty easy to spot how Toph tenses up the moment she hears that voice again. And she recalls the last time she met the woman whom the voice belongs to. Immediately she sits up on the couch, moving one leg down on the floor as she grips the back of the couch. What might be the most telling however is the look on her face, her eyes half narrowed and her lips drawn in a thin line that should tell that her patience is already stretched thin. "... what do /you/ want?" Normally Toph's tone is far more playful. Now it's as cold as ice.
Natasha Romanova	Natasha expected this, so it doesn't really faze her. She sighs however, when she sees the look on Toph's face. Taking a few steps forward, she leans against the edge of the armrest. "Look, I know you don't exactly have the best opinion of me, and I know I haven't exactly been completely...honest with you either. And I know that you're under a lot of pressure, what with the situation with Stark--we all are. But I've discovered that keeping certain secrets from the people you're trying to protect isn't always the best route. All I'm asking is that you hear me out one more time..."
Toph Beifong	Great, she didn't get the hint. Toph's hand tightens its grip on the back of the couch, and she looks rather annoyed that the spy is stepping closer. "Oh, not the best opinion of you? I wonder why that is!" Toph comments in a sarcastic manner with venom dripping from her words. Not completely honest? Really? She didn't notice. It's when Natasha mentions her late adoptive father that Toph's expression displays anger. Her fingers dig into the material of the couch, and Toph pushes herself up to her feet. Hear her out? What a joke! "What I should do is throw you out." Still, that would cause problems for Pepper. So... "You have one minute before I do." The blind girl turns sharply and heads over to the other side of the room, stopping by the windows. Not that she can enjoy the view...
Natasha Romanova	Natasha sighs. "Okay, one minute, fine. I guess it'll have to do." She exhales softly, then continues. "I don't know how much you know about this planet, Toph, but my employer, SHIELD--was formed immediately following World War II and Red Skull's attempt to use alien technology to wipe out the Allies. Its mission was to do everything in its power to protect the Earth from alien and/or other supernatural threats. "But recently, the people we swore to protect, -became- threats because they somehow gained superhuman abilities. Some of them have good intentions, and do their best not to hurt anyone...although sometimes their best isn't enough. While others..." she shakes her head. "don't even try. Or worse, they -enjoy- it. You've run into several types like that already I'm sure. "So the pounding question over recent years has been: How do we protect people from -themselves-? How do we protect the majority of humans on this planet who don't have powers, from the people who do and who may or may not want to hurt them? And what's more, how do we find a compromise between destroying privacy and respecting just enough? "Well first of all we have to know who they are, where they are, and what they can do. So that if something ever happened, if they lost it or they decided they for example wanted to commit mass genocide, we could put a stop to it before too many people died. So we created the Index, a list of all 'gifted' people currently residing on our version of Earth. Whether currently sane or not. "Ever since then, we've been trying to put everyone who falls into that category on it as best we can. And that includes you, Toph. Because you are definitely a gifted young girl. You have to understand that -everyone- who has abilities like yours goes onto the Index if we can help it. Being on the index doesn't mean you're evil, or that you're perceived as a threat or untrustworthy. It's just protocol. A precaution." she shrugs. "It's just..." A sigh. "There have been too many incidents that involved someone with powers losing control in one way or another, and we weren't able to get to them fast enough. We -can't- let that happen any more, Toph. People -die-. Innocent people. It's the reason for the protocol. And just because you're Stark's adopted daughter doesn't make you somehow exempt from that protocol." And it's probably been more than one minute.
Toph Beifong	All in all Toph likes to think she knows a fair bit about this planet. At least what matters. SHIELD is something she has heard about many times, especially considering how prominent it has been in the lives of the people around her. People who have powers too. There's a sour look on Toph's face as Natasha brings up the index, about how some people enjoy harming others And how SHIELD supposedly tries to do that without being too invasive. Hah, now there's a joke...! That her powers are brought up doesn't surprise her, as it has always been something that Natasha has talked about ever since they first met. Surely a minute has passed by now. "You sure made it sound like I'm a threat when you suggested that I could kill my adoptive /father/ easily enough." Her right hand tightens into a first. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I wasn't he one who killed him." It's perhaps a childish comment, but Toph doesn't appear apologetic. Instead he keeps her back turned towards Natasha. "Keep your index and write whatever crud you want in it for all I care." Her tone is low.
Natasha Romanova	Natasha sighs again. "I know, I know, and I'm -sorry- about that, okay? I haven't exactly--" Oh. Ouch. Now -that- was a low blow, Toph. A -really- low blow, especially for Agent Romanoff. She purses her lips at the comment, biting back a storm of emotions. Toph doesn't understand... "Actually, I think -you're- the one who wants -me- to be a monster. Not the other way around." she says quietly. "Do you know why I do this, Toph? Do you know why I'm even -with- SHIELD? Do you know why I'm helping your dad?" Her voices rises slightly with each question.
Toph Beifong	A low blow? Perhaps. But Toph sees no reason to hold back considering they never held back against her in the first place. "No, i don't know. Because all you have been prattling on and on about before is how dangerous I am because I learned metalbending. A new type of bending that I saved him with," Toph reminds Natasha. "You're not a monster. You're a person who thinks that somebody who has mastered their abilities would willingly use them to hurt the very people they are fighting to keep safe." Here the blind girl begins pacing slightly, clearly uncomfortable with the situation.
Natasha Romanova	"I didn't say willingly. I -just- explained to you that sometimes well-intentioned people, and -even- very skilled, well-intentioned people lose control or fall victim to something incredibly dangerous they have no power over. -That's- why the Index exists. So that we know who is who and where they are, so that we can intervene to save people if necessary. Or intervene to save -them- if someone up to no good comes after them." Natasha sighs, rolling her eyes. Must she explain everything all over again? She's tempted to come back with, 'But you -want- me to be one so that you'd have a good excuse to pound me to pieces.' But she holds back. Unlike Toph. Romanoff shakes her head. "No, you're wrong. The reason I'm even here is because I -am- a monster. I betrayed people. Murdered people, and worse. For money. People who didn't deserve to die, and even if they did who am I to judge? And I can -still- murder people, but I sure as hell can't make them alive again. The best I can do is everything in my power to keep the ones who are still alive right now to -stay- that way."
Toph Beifong	The young earthbender is bitter. It doesn't look like she's about to pound Natasha to pieces however. But it does look like she's hurting, although not in a physical sense. And sometimes other people can make for handy outlets when it comes to negative feelings. That Natasha has killed people doesn't surprise Toph, considering what Tony has told her about SHIELD itself. And Fury, that bald idiot. Toph does frown and turn her head. "I don't see where you're trying to go with this. Tony is dead, you have put me on a list that doesn't really matter to me since most people here know about me anyway, and you have killed people. So what?" she says, pacing back and forth.
Natasha Romanova	Natasha sighs again. "I'm explaining to you -why- I'm doing this and why it's important to me. I said I'd be more transparent with you so here I am. Isn't that what you didn't like about me in the first place? Because I -wasn't- transparent?" She shakes her head. "Look, all I'm asking is that you let us index you. All you have to do is let them take a quick sample of your blood, submit to a few scans, and answer some questions. That's it. Quick and relatively painless, but you aren't even the type to whine at pain anyway, are you."
Toph Beifong	So... she's a regretful spy who thinks she can atone for what she did. Toph sighs, clearly not looking too impressed. "No, I didn't like you because you were lying all the time," Toph half snaps. That they haven't indexed her yet does catch Toph by surprise, and she snorts slightly. "As long as yo don't plan on cloning me." It's bad enough with one of her. "But I'll do it wen Pepper is here." Her mom would want to come with, wouldn't she? Besides, she would feel safer with Pepper there too. Not that she imagines that they can really hurt her like this, but it doesn't hurt with her there either, right?
Natasha Romanova	Lying all the time, not being transparent...sure, sure. It was the same thing. At least as far as Natasha is concerned for now. She nods, looking visibly relieved. "Yes, that's perfectly fine." She shrugs at the cloning part. "Cloning isn't the kind of thing SHIELD does. Our job is protect people from powered and extraterrestrial threats, not -create- additional potential for them." She gets off the couch, striding toward the door. "We'll have Ms. Potts give us a call as soon as she gets back." And then she's gone, glad to have gotten it over with.