So this is it! The first chapter of the new fanfiction I'm starting with hihiitsbooksandstuff! Please read and review- we're both relatively new to FanFiction, and appreciate all the advice we can get.
It hadn't taken long for S.H.I.E.L.D. to find her. It'd taken even less time for them to shove her into a holding cell, and even less for interrogation to start.
"What's your name?" The man demanded, leaning forward. Her lips remained sealed, and her emotionless green eyes kept staring ahead at an undefined point in space.
"What is it?" He snapped after a minute or two of waiting. It took all her willpower to keep a straight face. After a short silence, he slapped her. The girl's head jerked to the side and her shimmering flaxen hair shifted slightly, but she continued to stare and keep her face impassive. He was about to bark at her again when another voice -a woman's voice- emanated from the side of the room.
"You'll never get anything out of her that way," It noted matter of factly, and the bearer strode forward. The girl's head remained locked and her face devoid of expression.
"Try something else then," He snorted.
"I will," She replied, promptly pointing to the door. The interrogator hovered in his chair for a moment before strutting out. The new interrogator eased into the chair the other man had previously occupied.
"Now," The voice began, turning the girl around so she could study her more closely, "You need to get comfy, this might take a while." She remained in her hunched stance for a moment before slowly straightening and bringing her gaze toward the owner of the voice. "I'm going to start with a simple question. What is your name?"
"I won't tell you," The girl clearly said in monotone.
"Okay, then let's start with mine. I'm Natasha. Now, what is your name?"
"I won't tell you," She said with her clear monotone mask.
"I'll need to know your name if I wish to address you," Natasha urged.
"Address me as you wish. I will not supply my name."
"I wish to address you by your name."
"And I refuse to tell you," She replied, smirking inwardly at her words.
"Then we'll just have to sit here until you decide otherwise," Natasha declared, easing back into her chair. If this girl was anything like what she usually dealt with, this was going to be a long wait.
~0.0~
Another agent sat on the other side of the glass, monitoring the interrogation. He was supposed to be writing down the girl's responses, but there hadn't been for at least three hours. He slunk into his chair, staring at the two.
"Easton," Coulson called from the door.
"Yes?" Garret Easton replied, standing attention.
"Shouldn't you be taking notes?"
"Sir, the subject or Romanoff haven't said or moved in over three hours. There is nothing noteworthy." Coulson didn't seem surprised.
"Romanoff'll crack her, if you give her some time. I'll send in another agent to monitor while you take a break."
"If they say anything…?"
"I'll have him call for you. Now go take a break."
"Thank you, sir," Easton replied, dropping the notepad and pen and rushing out the door. Coulson sighed, muttering something about young and restless agents. His hand reached for his right ear where he pressed a finger against the earpiece.
"Send someone to monitor Interrogation Badger. Preferably an agent that won't be needed for an extended period of time," He pulled his hand away and stood silently, watching the pair. After a minute, he guessed maybe four hours. Then she'd talk.
~0.0~
The girl was still motionless in her chair, wondering what she should say, or rather, not say.
"If you insist on having a name to call me by, use Astrid," She said, staring into the distance.
"Okay then, Astrid, where did you come from?" Natasha asked, masking her relief expertly.
"That question has many answers, some of which you already know," Astrid said, flickering her gaze to Natasha's for the briefest moment.
"I need to hear it come from you," Natasha pushed.
"No information you can trust will come from me, I assure you."
"Then I cannot trust that statement," Natasha shot, leaning back.
"That was not information," Astrid replied, monotone breaking lightly.
"I never needed to trust what came out of your mouth, just needed it to reveal itself. Even lies hold a hint."
"Then many a hint you shall have," Astrid said, monotone fully breaking into an Asgardian accent. Natasha's face held the shadow of a smile, and Astrid promptly bit her tongue. How could she have let that slip?
"Thank you for that answer. Now, why have you come to Earth? Or, Midgard, in your terminology."
"I did not come here." Astrid replied flatly, not attempting to hide her accent any longer.
"We both know you came one way or another. Why did you come here?"
"If answers are what you seek, I suggest you try someone else," She snarled, leaning into her chair and removing her expressions to the best of her ability.
"You've given me two," Natasha pointed out, leaning in slightly. "Why not more?" Astrid let her silence answer the question. "I could bring Ratchet back in," She threatened.
"That man's petty slaps won't coax anything out of me," Astrid retorted with a roll of her eyes.
"I think I've heard something like that somewhere," Natasha muttered, just loud enough for Astrid to hear. Astrid took the bait, flinching for the smallest of moments.
"There is no one like me," Astrid tried hiding in all of her inward panic, promptly regretting saying so.
"That too. Okay, better question, what's your last name?" Astrid stared, eyes slightly wider than before, with her mouth squeezed into a tight line. Noticing her expression, it was wiped away and replaced again by void.
"That is not necessary to address me," Astrid tried pointing out.
"But this is an interrogation. It is necessary for the interrogation. Again, I'm sure Ratchet'd love to fill in…" She let the last bit hang off, soaking the thought in Astrid's mind.
"And his slaps are just so persuading. Wonderful tactic," Astrid shot, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
"His tools are. The slaps were just the first level." Astrid was about to ask what that meant before she restrained herself. Natasha may know she's from Asgard, but she wouldn't let her relish in the achievement.
"I'm sure they are. Why don't you showcase for me? Torture is always so much more fun if you know what you're dealing with."
"I think you'll have to pay for that with your last name."
"No."
"That's awful short for someone with so much to say, and I don't think that Astrid No is your name."
"My answer is no, and it shall not be altered in any way," Astrid glared.
~0.0~
"She's not going to be persuaded this way," Natasha told Coulson from her chair. Flipping her fingers absently through the notes, she listened to his endless tactics, but there was no way she'd agree. "Talking won't work, neither will force. We'll just have to use my method." Coulson sighed.
"I told you, S.H.E.I.L.D. has neither the time nor the resources to just… wait her out," Coulson tried explaining.
"And I don't have the time or patience to just stare at her four hours at a time to get a minimal answer at best!" Natasha retorted.
"We need results."
"We don't need a child's blood on our hands," Natasha persisted.
"She's hardly a kid. Besides, how do we know she's not some criminal in disguise? A realistic invention of Doom?" He asked, walking over.
"We don't. If we waited, then maybe we could see the signs," Natasha pushed, standing up to meet his level. Coulson stood still, thinking, before he replied in a low voice.
"I'll take it up with Fury. He might not like it." And with that, he walked out, leaving Natasha in the meeting room alone with her thoughts.
"My method has to work," She muttered. The last time they had used it, the plan had worked flawlessly on the subject, but Phil was right. I had taken so much time and resources, a reasonable argument could be made.
Maybe Clint could help figure it out. Standing up, she headed out of the room on a little mission to figure out where he was. Not much, considering how small the New Mexico base was. She had only walked a few yards down the hall when she spotted his familiar brown hair in a room huddled over a computer screen.
"Hey, Tasha," He greeted, looking up.
"Clint. What's that?" She asked, looking over his shoulder at the screen.
"Ah, nothing. Just a few similar criminal attacks here and there, nothing a squad can't put a stop to," He replied absentmindedly, clicking every few seconds on a new alert and filling in the space with data.
"Good. I've been working on Badger-"
"That one? Oh, that must be boring, staring at her for hours on end…" He said, still clicking.
Natasha sighed. "We stared at each other for four hours straight."
"How you do that, Tasha? Every five minutes, I have to scratch something or the other, or I'll go nuts." A few more clicks sounded.
"It takes patience, Clint. Something you obviously lack," She joked, poking him playfully in the side.
"I had plenty when we got together," He teased back while standing up to give Natasha a hug, a goofy grin on his face.
"Well, this is a special case. One I need your help with," She said, trying to return to the topic, but still embracing him.
"Can I solve it like I did in Budapest?" He whispered into her ear. She pushed him off and delivered a swift jab to his side.
"Clint, I'm serious! How do we sort… Astrid out?" It felt odd using the subject's name, but she did have one either way.
"Astrid? She sounds pretty!" He said, teasing her again.
"Don't go there. The point is, we have to crack her, and everyone is set on torture. I need a way to persuade Fury to let us wait her out."
"Us?"
"The Avengers. Earth's Mightiest Heroes?"
"Not Earth's Greatest Babysitters!" Clint protested.
"Face it, S.H.I.E.l.D. can't spare agents. if I want to work some information out- the humane way," She said, feeling how odd it was for her to take that direction, "we need to scrounge up the resources ourselves. In this case, The Avengers is all we've got."
"You know I hate kids," He resisted.
"Yes, I do, but I need you to get over it. This is my case, and I want to solve it my way. If you won't help me, I'll tell Coul-"
"Okay, okay, you've got me!" He exclaimed, raising his hands in mock defeat. "That doesn't need to come out, like, ever." Natasha smirked.
"Thought so. Come with me to see Fury?"
"Like Tony says, 'Be careful, he might be Fury-ous'," Clint joked as he followed her out.
"Ha, ha, don't let him hear you say that," She replied flatly.
"Hey, it is a pretty good joke." He defended.
She muttered, "Don't give Stark the credit. He could really afford a downgrade of ego."
~0.0~
"We can't afford losing our team to do business like that! What if we need a dispatch? HYDRA won't rest just because our response team is babysitting Badger!"
"Fury, I want to do this case my way. If you'd just give me a month-"
"We don't have a month, Agent, and I know you're well aware! I need you for the field. Ratchett can handle it just fine with his equipment."
"Torture won't do anything. You know it didn't work with me," She retorted.
"So now you're making connections to the foreign threats? Where next, Romanoff, where next! I told you, I won't let you waste my team on one threat. We have many, much more serious problems, on the map now." Natasha looked as if she were about to make a real ugly retort about foreign threats when Clint stepped forward, obviously sensing her anger.
"If I may, sir, I've seen the maps, and it's nothing a minor squad can't sort out. The readings have only picked up about five signals per location," Clint reasoned.
"And if it's just a deception? If Badger is just a distraction?" The director continued to challenge.
"Then we'll be able to sort it out when the time comes. She can be put into holding if we are needed elsewhere," Clint continued.
"I don't like this, Barton, not one bit."
"I'm well aware, sir, but I'm also aware this is my case." Fury stood for a moment, thinking intensely, until he replied,
"Okay. I'll give you one chance. If she so much as-"
"We've got it, sir," Clint cut in. The director looked as if he were about to continue his speech, but then shook his head.
"You know the terms. I'll send my permission for you two to take her out."
"And the others?" Clint asked.
"I'll notify them immediately that you'll be coming as soon as possible," Fury replied, already turning back to his array of screens overlooking the tech area of the agency.
Natasha headed out of the room, Clint by her side. She swiftly headed towards the holding rooms. Clint opened his mouth as if to ask her a question but quickly decided against it. Better not annoy her, he thought and continued down the plain steel hallways until they both reached the cell holding the subject. The agents guarding the cell looked up surprised, but after they recognized Natasha and Clint, they nodded and opened the door leading into the room. With a nod, she entered, motioning for Clint to stay there.
"She doesn't know you," She explained in a quick whisper before disappearing behind the door. He leaned against the wall, waiting for Natasha to reappear. After a couple long minutes, she came out followed by a tall, thin girl with chiseled features, a proud set of her jaw, long flowing flaxen-colored hair, and a pair of piercing green eyes. Clint's face immediately hardened at the reminder of his old master, but then went slightly at ease. Even if she were somehow related, she was in chains, like he should be. Natasha led her down the hall, Clint following the rear to make sure Astrid didn't try any escapes. He thought he heard her mumble something about how horrible the design was, but it was probably only a figment of his imagination.
Hihiitsbooksandstuff-
SOOOOOOOOOOOO, what did you think? You're probably wondering what I'm doing here aren't you? Well, I wrote this along Amber, and I'll be popping in on the A/N here on out.
Amber Sunstrike-
Hej, it's that crazy Avengers fangirl! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed our first chapter. If you want us to keep posting, leave a review (and if you want the virtual cookie of gratitude, but HEY! Writing is better… I hope). IF we get enough follows, I think both Ash and I agree on posting every Saturday.
hihiitsbooksandstuff-
OH OH ME! Please read and review, like Amber said, and flames are accepted. Fire is used to roast marshmallows! ALSO, follow and favorite the story and both of the authors! Thanks and keep watching for the next chapter! :) IF you follow that is… How about 5s? Okay, I'm going to leave now, BYE! Read you all later!
Amber-
Okay, don't worry, the crazy author notes spam is OVER. Next chapter will be posted at 5 follows!