Continuing With Therapy
Chapter Two: An Intruder
After the others calmed down, Natalie got up and pulled Loki up. Kevin was the first to speak, and he said, "Congrats! I get a big brother!"
Natalie laughed. Loki looked somewhat startled, and Natalie noticed. "Now you'll have a little brother, Loki," she told him. "Though the way he's going, he might be as tall as you are someday."
"I never thought of that," Loki said.
Mrs. McKenzie smiled. "Welcome to the family, Loki," she said. "I'm sure you'll fit right in; Kevin never stops talking about you."
Loki smiled. "Mmph," Mr. McKenzie said. Mrs. McKenzie elbowed him and said, "Keep the overprotectiveness to a minimum, dear."
"Besides, Dad, I thought we already established that Loki has no intention of hurting me," Natalie said.
"I know, it's just…. you're getting married!" Mr. McKenzie said.
"Dad, I'll always be your daughter, whether I'm married or not," Natalie said.
Mr. McKenzie sighed. "If you don't stop moping, I'll ask Tony to walk me down the aisle instead of you," Natalie threatened.
"Right, no moping," Mr. McKenzie said immediately.
"Why not Thor?" Loki asked.
"I assumed you'd want him to be your best man, which would mean he'd be helping you get ready and standing beside you while Dad walks me down the aisle," Natalie said.
"Oh," Loki said.
"Okay, I know no one's going to like me for this, but are we having the wedding before or after Thanos?" Clint asked. "Because according to Loki and Natalie, he'll be attacking in three months, and I don't think we want him crashing the wedding."
The others grimaced. "Good point," Tony said. He looked at Loki and Natalie, and said, "I don't know what you two want to do, but I would suggest before. Because much as I hate to say this, there's almost no chance of all of us coming out of a fight with Thanos and the Chitauri unscathed, and there's a possibility that not all of us will survive this."
Loki and Natalie exchanged a glance, and then Loki said, "You're right. We should have the wedding before things start getting bad."
"Exactly how bad are we talking?" Mr. McKenzie asked.
"We've received confirmation that Thanos is going to attack in approximately three months' time, and he's bringing a massive army of aliens with him," Steve said grimly. "And considering he wants both Loki and Natalie eliminated, things are going to get extremely bad. We know he's going to attack this city first, probably to get us out of the way before he tries to conquer the rest of the planet, but other than that, we don't know his plans."
"I'd recommend thinking about if there's a place out of the country you've wanted to go to," Tony said. "I'll make the arrangements and pay for it, but we don't need a hostage situation, and there's a good possibility that Thanos is aware of you, or at least Kevin, since he was the one Odin kidnapped. Regardless, after the wedding, we need to get you guys out of the country."
"And Natalie?" Mrs. McKenzie asked.
"I'm staying," Natalie said. "Thanos is after me; I need to be separate from you, and I won't leave Loki- he's going to be fighting, and I can't just leave him to it, not after what Thanos and the Chitauri put him through."
Both her parents and Kevin looked scared, and Natalie sighed. "I knew when I took this job that at some point, I'd be in danger, and I accepted that fact," she said. "I know how to fight, protect myself, and protect others; I'll be better off than most people in the city. But I need to know that you guys will be safe. Tony's right, we can't afford a hostage situation, and you're the most likely targets for Thanos to go after."
"Even if he doesn't go after you, you live in the city," Loki commented. "It's not going to be safe for anyone to be here in about three months."
Mr. McKenzie sighed. "Alright," he said. "I agree that we need to remove ourselves from the situation, so we'll discuss where we think would be the best place to go. I'll call Natalie when we work it out."
"Thank you," Steve said.
Suddenly an alarm went off, and Tony asked, "JARVIS, what's going on?"
"There is an intruder in the building; he has neutralized the security team already, and is headed your way," JARVIS said. He showed them the security footage, and Natasha cursed in Russian.
"Tasha, isn't that…." Clint trailed off.
"The Winter Soldier," Natasha growled. "The Red Room's secret weapon."
Natalie looked at the footage, and asked, "Is he brainwashed?"
That caused everyone to look at her. "What makes you ask that?" Steve asked.
"His eyes are completely blank, and there's something off about his body language," Natalie said.
"You might be right," Natasha said. "When I was still with the Red Room, he was one of my trainers, but for some reason the people in charge kept taking him to a lab. When I went on a mission with him, he started acting oddly at one point, like what we were doing was something he knew was wrong. And he was treated worse than any of the other Red Room operatives. If that is the case, maybe we can get him on our side."
"Loki, can you restrain him long enough for me to see what's really going on?" Natalie asked.
"Yes," Loki said.
"Watch out for his metal arm, it's much stronger than normal metals," Natasha said. "JARVIS, where is he?"
"Almost at this floor; all attempts to stop him have failed," JARVIS replied grimly.
Loki moved to stand near the door to the stairs, and the minute the door broke down, Loki shot a spell at the assassin that immobilized him, followed by what looked like a magical net. After a minute, he said, "He's secure. Natalie?"
Natalie went over, and put a hand on the man's forehead. After a minute, she said, "Yeah, he's brainwashed. It's started to fade a little bit, but nowhere near enough for him to act of his own accord."
"Take the mask off," Natasha said. "I want to know who this guy is."
Natalie obeyed, and there was an immediate storm of cursing from Tony, Natasha, and Clint. Natalie looked at them, puzzled, then noticed Steve seemed to be in shock. "Who is he?" Natalie asked.
"James 'Bucky' Barnes," Tony said grimly. "AKA, Steve's best friend from childhood."
Natalie was momentarily stunned, before going into practical mode, and saying, "Loki, we need to take him to the medical ward. I can't work on him like this; he's too tall." She turned to the others and said, "The rest of you, stay down here and wait for news; I do not need distractions. The sooner I get rid of the Red Room's influence, the better." She waited for everyone's agreement before motioning to Loki. He levitated Bucky and they went down two floors in the elevator, to the medical ward. Loki put Bucky on one of the beds, and Natalie pulled a chair over. "Make sure he doesn't move," she told Loki.
"Understood," Loki said. Natalie nodded, put her hand on Bucky's forehead, and dived into his mind.
She reappeared in what appeared to be a prison cell of some sort, and looked around. It was empty, but when she tried to leave, a man appeared in front of her. He looked like a slightly-younger version of Bucky, and said, "You shouldn't have come in; there's no way out. I've tried everything to get out of here, but the brainwashing is too strong."
"Where is the brainwashing coming from?" Natalie asked. "Can you show me?"
Bucky looked uncertain, but motioned for her to follow him. She did so, and they came to what appeared to be a memory. Bucky looked scared and said, "I don't like seeing this. This is what happened after HYDRA found me." Then he vanished.
Natalie looked back at the memory, and walked into it. Scientists were torturing Bucky, trying to brainwash him. Natalie waved a hand, and the scientists were tied up and unconscious. Natalie went over to the Bucky on the table, and freed him. He looked at her, and asked, "Who are you?"
"I'm Natalie," Natalie said. "You need to get out of here. Come on, I'll help you."
She held out a hand, and he got off the table and took it. The minute their fingers touched, the scene changed. They watched as a teenaged Bucky protected a small, skinny kid from bullies. "Steve…." Bucky said softly.
"Do you want to see him again?" Natalie asked.
"Steve's dead now," Bucky said sadly, as more memories surfaced, showing both Bucky and Steve.
"Steve's not dead," Natalie said firmly. "He was in suspended animation for seventy years, but he's not dead. He wants to see you again; don't you want to see him?"
The flow of memories changed, showing Bucky as the Winter Soldier. "He'll hate me," Bucky said. "I worked for HYDRA for so long; I'll never be the same."
"Steve will understand; you didn't do it of your own free will," Natalie said. "All this time, you've been fighting to get yourself back. Maybe you won't be the same man you once were, but you'll always be Steve's best friend, no matter what. You obviously care about him, and he cares very deeply about you. A lifetime of friendship doesn't go away just because you were brainwashed. We'll help you, Bucky. Steve, me, all our friends- we'll all help you get through this, and we won't let your captors get you back."
The memories playing in front of them stopped on a redheaded girl, and Bucky looked at her. "I need to keep her safe; she was the only one of the Red Room's operatives I managed to get out," he said. "She was the only one to get a mind of her own after being paired with me."
"What was her name?" Natalie asked.
"Natalia," Bucky said. "That's what the others called her, anyways."
"I know her; she's safe and she's a friend of Steve's," Natalie said. "Are you ready to go back to the real world?"
"The brainwashing isn't completely undone," Bucky said. "There's a switch that they can use to turn it back on; I need you to destroy that."
"Show me," Natalie said.
Bucky led her to a part of his mind that reminded her of the lab she had seen in his memories, and went over to a wall. There was a button on the wall, and Natalie asked, "Is this it?"
"Yes; if it gets pressed, I'll go back to being brainwashed," Bucky said. "I don't know how to destroy it though."
Natalie put her hands in a cross sign, and said, "Ua kom puas no kev qias." (A/N: Translation: Destroy this abomination). The button was obliterated by blue light, leaving nothing behind, and the room shimmered before fading away. They were standing in the middle of a park, and Natalie asked as a younger Bucky and Steve ran past, "Are you ready to go?" She held out a hand.
Bucky smiled and took it, saying, "Yes."
Natalie smiled, and willed the two of them back to the real world.
When Natalie opened her eyes, she blinked; it was bright. Bucky appeared to be waking up, and looked confused when he saw her. "Natalie?" he asked uncertainly.
"Yep," Natalie said. "How are you feeling?"
"I can think for myself again," Bucky said, sounding faintly awed. "I can't feel their control. Why can't I move?"
Natalie looked over at Loki, and said, "I think you can take the spells off now, Loki."
Loki hesitated a moment before taking the spells off. Bucky stretched and sat up, looking around. "Where is this?" he asked.
"The medical ward in Avengers Tower," Loki replied.
"How long was I in Bucky's mind?" Natalie asked.
"It's been about an hour and a half; how are you feeling?" Loki asked.
"I'm a little tired, but it's nothing like the last time," Natalie said. "I guess Frigga was right, I did get a power boost."
"I suggest you go tell the others the good news; I would like to question Bucky," Loki said.
"Don't traumatize him," Natalie said, getting up. She left, and went to the elevator. "JARVIS, are the others still on the main common floor?" she asked.
"Yes, they are trying to comfort Captain Rogers," JARVIS said. "Shall I take you there?"
"Please," Natalie said.
JARVIS took her to the main common floor, and she got out of the elevator, going to the communal living room. Natasha was the first to notice her, and she said to the others, who were trying to calm Steve down, "Guys, Natalie's back."
Steve shot to his feet, and asked, "Natalie, how's Bucky?"
"I got him out from under the mind control," Natalie said. "I got lucky; when I went in, the real Bucky was still in there, looking for a way out. I unblocked his memories, and destroyed the control the Red Room had over him. He was very helpful, though I think he was a little worried you'd hate him for what he did under the brainwashing. I brought him out of his mind, and when I got back to the real world, he recognized me and said that he actually felt like himself again, so I think the brainwashing is gone for good."
"How did he recognize you?" Tony asked.
"Bucky was essentially trapped in his own mind, unable to get out or have any say over what his body was doing," Natalie said. "When I went in, he was in there as well, in a form much like the one I have. I helped him break the brainwashing and get out, so when we both went back to the physical world, he recognized me as the person who was in his mind with him." She looked over at Natasha, and said, "Natasha, he remembers you- though he seems to think your name is Natalia. When one of the memories showed you, he said he needed to protect you."
"How old was I in the memory?" Natasha asked.
"About ten, I think; he didn't know and I'm not great at discerning ages, but you were still flat-chested, so I'm guessing you hadn't hit puberty yet," Natalie said.
"I was still being called Natalia at that age," Natasha said. "Why does he think he needs to protect me?"
"He said you were the only one he managed to plant the idea that the Red Room was bad in," Natalie said.
"My question is why would the Red Room attack NOW?" Clint asked. "If they were after Tasha, why wait until she was in the tower here, rather than on a mission or something?"
"They weren't solely after Natasha," Bucky said, coming into the room with Loki. "They're after all of the Avengers, and Natalie as well. I don't know why, but the woman who was paired with me somehow knew you'd all be in the same building, and waited until you were all gathered here to send me in."
"How does the Red Room even know Natalie exists?" Natasha asked. "Or about her ability? The only ones outside of us and her family who know are Fury and Phil Coulson. And those two only know the bare minimum."
"If Fury put the information in her file, though, and the Red Room hacked it…." Clint trailed off.
"The Red Room is the remnants of what used to be HYDRA," Bucky said. "From what little I've gathered, they have agents EVERYWHERE. And SHIELD is no exception. If they have an agent with high enough clearance to see Natalie's file, the Red Room will know about Natalie. The woman sent with me, Anya Belova, said I was supposed to capture Natalie, not kill her like the rest of you. I'm guessing they know about her ability."
"This is bad," Natasha said. "Natalie's file requires level 10 clearance; that's the highest level we have. If HYDRA has people with level 10 clearance in SHIELD, they're in pretty deep."
"So SHIELD's been compromised," Tony said. "I can almost guarantee that Agent isn't from HYDRA, but aside from him, Clint, and you, Tasha, I don't know. What about Fury?"
"He's on the 'To Be Gotten Rid Of' list, so I doubt he's aware that he's got agents who are loyal to HYDRA," Bucky commented. "You might want to tell him to be careful; even with me out of the picture, HYDRA will send someone else, and he'll be dead."
"Good point," Tony said. "I don't think this is something I should say over the phone, though….."
"Tell him to come here, alone, and have JARVIS check him for listening devices," Steve said. "I think Phil's on a mission."
"He is," Clint said.
"Alright, I'll call Fury," Tony said, and dug out his phone.
Sorry I'm so slow to update; I've got a million ideas, and I have to decide which ones to do first. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please review!
