"No; it didn't happen fast at all." Perhaps events that Pepper didn't know about had gone by rapidly, but this wasn't a choice Natasha held to for a matter of minutes. Weeks had gone by, marked by so many moments that felt like agony under her skin. Especially at the beginning, when every single second felt sharper than the pain of torture she'd been put through at home. She'd been burned alive, and what Billy had done was still so much worse. But things had actually started to get better; they'd started to heal, and then this.

Pepper shook her head, wondering if the woman across from her really understood just how long it had been. What those thirty days had been filled with.

"I trusted you. More than anyone besides Tony." She swallowed back emotions that were too strong, her gaze lowering to the table for a moment, just a moment before she could meet Natasha's eyes again. Her composure was cracking, nails biting into her palms from where she had her hands closed too tightly. Pepper moved to her feet, knowing she couldn't stay here any longer. She couldn't do this, because the apologies weren't enough. They just--weren't.