Chapter: 11

I'm so sorry this took forever to get updated. I could give you a bunch of excuses but let's face it you've heard them all before so let's just get on with the story.

The street was surprisingly quite for the city as two men walked with the cover of darkness. Both men were well built and a bit above average height though one was slightly shorter than the other. No words passed between the pair of them but the taller of the two was asking for a punch to the throat if he insisted on continuing to pop his gum over and over again. The shorter one sent a glare as the offensive sound was heard again but the taller man just smirked back his way. Sometimes the shorter man swore that his companion had a death wish. The two continued on with their journey until they spotted a man in plain clothes sitting on a bench in the park across from the street. The two men watched as the man carefully folded the newspaper he was reading and placed it in his lap then folded his hands over the top. That was all they needed to know and the shorter man immediately broke off and walked down the street perpendicular to the one they were standing on. He was relieved to finally be rid of the annoyance of his friend but the nights' events had just started.

Clint watched her for the rest of the night. While they had been eating dinner he had gotten an idea and was trying to get the words right in his head. He needed to have the right words so that she would listen and see that he was just trying to help her. So he watched her as she gave in and began to do exercises in the hotel room. He watched as she used the SHEILD issued laptop to look up the different languages she wished to practice. After that she took a shower and it was when she came back in the room that he knew he had the perfect opportunity to step up.

After stepping out of the small bathroom wearing a pair of black sleep pants and tank top Natasha took a moment to put the clothes she had been wearing previously in her bag. Clint stood as she finished zipping the bag then turned and began to head for her bed. His movement caught her attention and she paused and looked to him waiting to see if he wanted to say something.

"Romanoff, we've really got to talk about this." She knew what he was talking about without him having to elaborate any further.

"I'm not in the mood Barton," she said and moved to go to bed. He took a step forward, not in her way, but the posture he had taken made her pause again. It looked as if he were preparing himself for a fight. "What are you doing Barton?" She asked and Clint could hear the suspicion in her words.

"I know you won't listen to words Romanoff." He said "I'm going to show you that you don't have to continue to follow this schedule and do things that you don't want to do anymore. I know you didn't want to go to that man at the bar. You didn't want him touching you but you still allowed it because that's what they made you do right? The people you used to work for?"

"I don't want to talk about this," she said coldly and the look she sent his way made him rethink his plan for a moment but it was too late for that. He had already decided that he wasn't going to back out from it. Natasha shook her head in annoyance and moved towards the bed again. It was just about time for her to be in bed. Unfortunately for her Clint had discovered that there was no one in the room beside of them and so no one was around to hear them. He also figured that part of him must be ready to die because as soon as she started moving he jumped forwards and straight up tackled the deadliest woman he has known so far.

The shock he saw in her eyes was barely noted before it was replaced with that same fire he had seen earlier, only worse. Clint barely had time to think that it was a bad idea when he was flying off of her and into the night table beside the bed. He moved fast and just as she got to her feet he was pushing her up against the wall.

"What the hell Barton?!" Natasha yelled at him and he took the moment to be thankful that she didn't just snap his neck and be done with it.

"Three minutes Romanoff," he said as he struggled to hold her down. She threw him off of her but again he got her to the floor in a much better hold then before.

"What are you doing?!" Clint heard the break in her voice and could feel the muscles in her arms ever so slightly begin to shake.

"You won't listen to me." He said and fought to keep her wrists pinned down as he straddled her waist. "I'm trying to show you that it will be ok. Nothing bad is going to happen just because you stay up for a little longer."

"Barton stop!" She pushed at him but he held firm. He didn't miss the fear that shot through her features.

"What did they do to you Romanoff? What did they do to make you this terrified of not following their system for you?" It hit her like a ton of bricks to the chest.

"You were late." Ivan towered over her and she fought to keep her back straight and her eyes lowered so not to meet his unless he demanded it. The young Natalia had been at her new home for two months and this was the first time she had shown up late anywhere. She would have been on time but the day before she had lost a training match to one of the much bigger girls and had been injured. On her way to training that morning another girl had tried to take advantage of the weakness and had succeeded in injuring her further. The other girl had left her in the hallway and had arrived to class on time. Natalia had arrived a few seconds after the minute hand turned. It didn't matter, she was late in her instructor's eyes. "What do you have to say for yourself? Speak freely."

"It wasn't my fault. One of the other girls…" his hand moved so fast that she didn't see it but felt the sting across her face as she was knocked to the floor.

"I do not want your excuses Natalia. You were late yes?"

"Yes sir." She said from the ground where she sat holding the side of her face. Ivan's eyes grew darker. He reached down and yanked the girl to her feet. She barely held in the yelp of pain.

"When you speak to me you do it on your feet unless your legs are cut off or you are dead, do you understand me girl?"

"Yes sir."

"So help me child if I see one of those tears fall you'll be begging me for a quick death by the time I'm through with you."

"Yes sir."

"Now," he released her arm and pushed her back away from him. She stumbled but did not allow herself to fall over again. "Since you clearly lack any time perception we must teach it to you." He waved his hand and a guard came in. "Take her and see to it that she learns her lesson." The man nodded and grabbed the girl's arm. "And you will do well remember to never be late again my dear."

"Yes sir." She said and was pulled away to another room. It was empty and after being pushed inside the door was sealed behind her. She noted that there was nothing in the room with her, it was completely empty. Empty besides two speakers built into the walls at the top of the room that ran the length of the north and south walls.

"Nod if you can hear me Romanova." A woman's voice came through one of the speakers and she nodded. "Good. In a moment you are going to hear a sound. The first will be for a minute and it will go up a minute each time. By the end of it you will tell me how long the last one was and if you get it wrong you will be made to restart. Do you understand?" Again she nodded. "Good girl." To Natalia it sounded much too easy of a punishment. That was until the sound started. It was a loud ear piercing noise that filled the entire room and made her ears hurt. She felt that her ears would burst. It felt like it was stabbing at her brain. Thirty minutes was the answer they had been looking for. She was made to restart once for being two minutes off. She was never late for anything again.

The memory tore through her and she gasped as she recalled the screeching sounds ripping through the inside of her head. So loud and high pitched that covering her ears had done little to help block it out. She remembered not being able to hear as well after that incident and being terrified that it would never return again. Luckily it had but she was still sensitive to sounds that were high pitched.

"Get off of me!" she yelled at her partner and tried to throw him off again. Clint noted that the far off look she had had a moment ago was gone and she was more frantic. He knew that she remembered something and it scared her but he wasn't going to give in.

"It's ok Romanoff nothing bad is going to happen just stay with me."

"Get off!"

"Stay with me Romanoff we're almost there, less than a minute ok, just hang on."

"Get off of me!" she screamed at him and was finally able to knock him off. She pushed him away but it was already done. Time was up and she was visibly shaking in front of him. Before he could speak up she was falling to her knees and screaming.

"Romanoff!" He got down beside her and tried to pull her hands away from her ears. "Romanoff stop!" She had to stop screaming or someone was sure to notice. He knew this was a terrible idea and was beating himself up. The only saving grace was that this was one of those cheap hotels where even if someone noticed the screaming it was possible that they would go about their business and not care. "Romanoff it's ok. You're ok. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Please stop and look at me!" He got her hands down and grabbed her chin so that their eyes met. Her body was shaking, her defenses were completely down, and he could see the pain in her eyes. "Romanoff I…"

"Ssstop," She pushed him away and got to her feet, stumbling slightly. "Why can't you leave me alone? I was fine! Why did you…." Something cut through him to see that there were tears forming rapidly in her eyes and she looked at him with fear.

"I was trying to…"

"Stay away from me!" She yelled when he moved a step closer. "We'll do the mission tomorrow but you stay the hell away from me!" With that she opened the door and it slammed after she disappeared behind it leaving him standing there alone.

Hope that everyone enjoyed and just to let you know I do have the next few chapters already written and will have them out sooner. Have a good day everyone!