"McCabe, what the hell is going on?" Fury demanded, storming into the main office on the fourth floor of Shield HQ
"We're not sure Sir, several intruder alarms were all set off simultaneously, and all the security feeds have gone down. I'm not sure whether it's an actual breach or if someone's messing with the system..."
"Damn it!"
"You sure you weren't wrong about her Sir?" Agent Murphy asked, snarling when he referred to Natasha.
Murphy was still convinced he should have executed her in Budapest when he'd had the chance to finish the job Barton couldn't. He'd also tried to convince Fury to change his mind ever since she'd gotten here; even going as far as suggesting they withhold the essential surgery she needed to save her life.
But those wounds were a result of Natasha saving Clint's life, and Fury had felt he owed her at least the opportunity to convince him to trust her; and he needed her alive if she were to have that chance.
"You're jumping to conclusions" McCabe told him wearily, Fury always knew he liked McCabe for a reason!
Murphy was an ass; everyone knew that, but he was a big, imposing guy who wasn't above bullying and belittling other agents to get what he wanted, McCabe on the other hand was a small nerdy guy who worked on the security desk and was usually incredibly quite, but he still stood up to Murphy where most other wouldn't.
Fury cut back in before Murphy could retaliate;
"McCabe; start evacuation of non essential and non combat-ready staff; just in case, and then start getting our security footage back. Murphy; gather a few teams to check the sites where the alarms have been activated, I'm going to go check on a certain Russian..."
Clint woke a short while later; he knew he couldn't have been out long because it was still dark out. Hill was lay beside him; both had had their hands tied behind their backs and all their weapons removed.
"Что ты здесь делаешь?" a man asked from the corner, he was examining Clint's bow, and it made his skin crawl just to think of someone else touching it
"English?" Clint asked, trying to ignore the headache which was building. He could speak Russian pretty well, but he knew Coulson and Hill didn't; so on the off chance Phil was still listening, or Hill would wake soon, he thought he'd get it translated sooner rather than later
"What are you doing here?" he repeated in heavily accented English
"Out for a midnight walk" Clint answered sarcastically
The man scowled, and in the light Clint could see a nasty scar down the left side of his face
"Kudrin?" Clint asked, and the moment of hesitation gave Clint the affirmative answer he was after
He was a large, strong man; not the typical science type, and had harsh features; he looked mean, and Clint knew enough about him to hate him already. For everything he'd put Natasha through he was going to kill him
"Why are you here, American?" Kudrin asked, saying the last word like it tasted foul in his mouth
"We just needed a little information" Clint said confidently, keeping him talking and the other mans attention firmly placed on him
"Information on..?"
"Natalia Romanova"
The look Kudrin gave Clint in that moment was once of pure shock, laced with intrigue, he obviously remembered the name of the little Russian girl he tortured
"She was such a special child" he spoke fondly "A successful experiment indeed..."
Hearing the man reduce Natasha down to merely something to experiment on made Clint's blood boil
"What'd you do to her?" he asked angrily, and Kudrin smiled as the archer lost his composure
"Which time? Natalia was a subject in many of my tests, I was fortunate to play with her a lot"
Hill stirred next to Clint, and the distraction reminded Clint he needed to keep his cool, he needed Kudrin to talk
Clint had managed to free his hands by this point' Kurin may be a genius with no ethical boundaries, but he wasn't great at tying knots
Kudrin continued, he was clearly enjoying tormenting Clint; "Natalia was a screamer at first; a little frightened girl, the next time she was brought to me she cried and sobbed, but each time after that I broke her down; little by little, until she learnt not to make a sound; because nobody cared"
"I care" Clint whispered, lunging to his feet and slamming the scientist to the floor by his throat;
"Now tell me what I need to know!"