Chapter 7
They were coming. She didn’t have much time, but the least she could do with the little time she had was to warn them.
The most logical option would be to contact Tony. Though she was pretty sure he had never fully trusted Ross, he was the closest to him and therefore the most vulnerable. They burst into the apartment she had been holding up in, grabbing her side arm she shot in their general direction not looking to see if she hit her mark. She dove out of the window jumping down the fire escape onto the next landing where another apartment was, leaning on the rail for balance she kicked forward breaking the window and headed inside. She ran into the adjacent room and barred the door grabbing a desk chair and forcing it under the handle. She was just playing for time. She took out her phone and recorded the message;
“I wouldn’t do this if it wasn’t necessary,” she said. She could hear them getting closer, it was now or never. “I’m... I’m in over my head. They’re going to take me, and I don’t think I can get out.” Shots we’re fired through the door, the men were shouting. “I’m sorry Tony. I wish things were different. But we played this wrong. Way, way wrong. Ross was never on our side. You have to stay away from him. He will come for you. He will go after the spider kid, he’s relentless. Stay safe. And again, I’m sorry.” The door burst open, someone yanked her arm. She was damn lucky she had preset the video to be encrypted and sent.
She whirled around she struck her captor in the head and his grip on her arm slackened. Whirling around she round kicked him and he went down. She readied herself for the fight to come when suddenly a sharp prick hit her in the neck. Her hand instinctively reached up and she felt a dart piercing her skin. She pulled it out and looked at it, almost bewildered.
Her limbs became incredibly heavy. Her knees buckled and she went down to the ground, knees first then falling forward. She was still conscious at first she lay on the ground as the room filled up with more footmen. They were talking into radios confirming the mission had been successful. Natasha’s arms were wrenched behind her back and secured with some sort of restraint she couldn’t see. Then someone lifted her head slightly and placed a sack on it.
——
Natasha woke groggy, dehydrated, and with an aching head. She took stock of her current state; nothing seemed to be broken, or even injured. It took her a moment to remember the tranq dart and realize that’s where the headache came from.
She felt something heavy around her wrists, looking down she saw manacles with a chain attached to the ground. By the weight she felt around her ankles she figured it was the same deal. Something about the atmosphere felt off there. Almost strange.
She heard a heavy lock being undone, and a door swung open. A few soldiers stepped through followed by—
“Natalia Romanova.”
“General Ross.” She sat up, rolling onto her feet and standing up. “Nice to see you.”
Ross smiles dirtily. “I could say the same.” He stepped closer, “It’s good to see you chained up where you belong. Under my thumb.”
“Under your thumb?” Natasha asked innocently. “Is there something I can do for you General?”
“As a matter of fact,” he snapped his fingers at a soldier who went out of the room and reappeared with a chair. Ross sat down, his elbows on his knees his hands to his chin. “I want you, to tell me... where Steve Rogers is.”
Natasha tilted her head, gazing at Ross in a way that would have sent men running. “No clue,” she said.
Ross didn’t react to this, almost as though that was the answer he expected to hear. “Alright then tell me this,” he paused a smile in his eyes “Where is Clint Barton’s family?”
Time froze. Natasha didn’t dare move, but something inside her plunged and she swore she was going to be sick. She kept her face stoic and still, letting some curiosity into her expression.
“Family? Barton doesn’t have a family.”
Ross retrieved something from his pocket, a flat circular device. He pressed it and the wall to their left showed what must be surveillance footage. Tony was in the Raft, outside of Clint’s cell.
“You’re all grown up you got a wife and kids. I don’t understand why you didn’t think of them before you chose the wrong side.”
Goddammit Tony.
She still didn’t react. “Gee, you think you know your best friend.”
“You’d have me believe you knew nothing of his family?”
“No sir.”
“You’re lying.”
“Where’s your proof?”
Ross stood up sharply, his chair clattering to the floor.
“I’ll get my proof.” He said, anger seeping into his tone. He headed towards the door. “Boys.” Then he was gone. The men didn’t leave. They shut the door after him and spread themselves throughout the room.
“Playtime boys?” Natasha asked.
Nobody answered. One of the men withdrew a baton-like weapon that crackled with electricity. The other five men converged on Natasha, grabbing onto her chains and yanking them tighter. They grabbed onto her arms and held her even more still. The man with the baton drew closer, then slammed it into her abdomen.
Natasha seized with electricity, clenching her teeth against the pain. Instinctively she tried to free herself from the men’s grasp but they would not let her go. As the electricity flowed through her she jerked and grunted, her legs trying to kick out but the effort was impeded by the chains around her ankles.
The electricity stopped, she had a brief moment of reprieve before it happened again. And again.
—
“What about Sam Wilson?”
Natasha was spread out on the ground of herself. She could barely feel her limbs, her breathing was labored.
“Couldn’t... tell you.”
“Spider-Man?”
“Screw you.”
“You will tell me where they are.” Ross said. “Where they all are.” He stood up and walked around the room hands in his pockets. “There is no end in sight for you. You’re mine, and you’re not going anywhere.”
“You’re playing a game you can’t win Ross.” Natasha licked her dry lips, “If you think I’m going to portray anyone, anyone... you’ve deluded yourself.”
Ross darted forward and kicked Natasha in the face, she felt blood flow from her nose. She spat out at Ross, he stumbled back in disgust.
“Work her.” He spat at his men.
But she didn’t ever say anything. She refused. And by doing so, she saved everyone all over again.