Steve recoiled at the venom in her words, took an actual step back as she spit them out at him. His mouth had fallen open again and his eyebrows were pulled together in a terrible frown. He wasn't - that didn't - but there was no other way to interpret what she was saying. For once, she was being perfectly clear, and oh, Steve wished he could go back to not knowing this, just for a few more minutes. Because this was a truth that was terrible to face.
"Stane makes you," Steve said, hushed and awful, his horror coming through loud and clear. "People pay, and then he makes you..."
He shook his head, not wanting to believe it, except there was no denying it. There was no question that Natasha was telling him the truth right now, because there wasn't an ounce of calculation in her, not a single shred of playacting. She was raw and furious and no wonder she didn't like him, since Steve had managed to escape this.
Fucking hell, since she'd been the one to save him from this, without being able to save herself...
"Is it just you?" he asked, hating the fact that he was still pressing for details, but unable to help it. "You said everyone knows - does Clint? Bucky? And - and they just let it, they let you - " It seemed impossible to comprehend, that anyone could allow this sort of thing to continue. Why hadn't someone put a stop to it by now, why hadn't they found a way to save her from this?