Katarina had been missing for two weeks now. Two weeks and yet it felt like years to Natasha. How could she have just disappeared? Where was she now? Strapped to a table being hurt over and over and over again?
Or worse.
Had they simple killed her? Was the love of Natasha's life dead and left half-buried in a shallow grave in the middle of nowhere?
No. She couldn't be. Natasha would know, she'd know if Katarina were dead.
But you hadn't before, a traitorous voice whispered in the back of her mind. Katarina had been alive and a prisoner to Hydra and Natasha hadn't known, had thought her to be dead the entire time. How could she possibly claim to know if her Katarina was alive or not now?
The images flew through her head one after another.
Katarina, chained in a dimly lit cell, barely conscious, barely alive, wondering if anyone was coming to save her this time, or if she had been forgotten. Resigning herself to never being found, to becoming a slave again for whatever organisation had her now.
Katarina, strapped to an operating table as they experimented on her over and over again, new procedures to test, new serums to try out. Angry flames licking at her veins as she grits her teeth and refused to scream refused to let them win.
Katarina, being touched, held down by men much bigger than her. Powers stripped, defences gone, mind drug-addled as disgusting men who thought all women belonged to them climbed on top of her and used her for their own pleasure.
Katarina, with dark bruises marring her beautiful skin. Varying shades of black, green, purple, blue and yellow. Her skin paler than ever before, an almost perfect handprint around her delicate throat, dried blood on the corner of her mouth, clothes stained such a deep red, lifeless body left carelessly in a ditch. Snow drifting down and slowly covering the beautiful corpse of the only person Natasha could ever love.
The voices in the meeting room droned on but Natasha couldn't hear them any more. She ran from the room, bile burning up her throat as she just barely managed to make it to the bathroom. She threw herself down to her knees, the pain barely registering, and hugged the cold porcelain bowl as the meagre contents of her stomach made an appearance. Her chest heaved as she gagged and spat into the toilet, sweat cooling quickly on her skin making her shiver. Her eyes filled with tears that Natasha couldn't tell if they were from vomiting or losing Katarina.
"Nat?" A voice came softly through the door, followed quickly by a knock. "Nat, you in there?"
Natasha squeezed her eyes shut tight. The knocking echoed in her head. She didn't want to answer, as compromised as she was she didn't think she could answer.
"I'm coming in."
The sight that greeted Clint broke his heart. Red, puffy-faced Natasha, with tears still streaming down her face, half clutching the toilet bowl and half curled in on herself.
"They took her, Clint." Her hoarse voice barely above a whisper felt like a sucker punch. "Someone took her from me. I've lost her again."
Clint rushed forward and held tightly to his best friend. Natasha released the toilet and held onto Clint just as tight.
"She's gone and I wasn't there." She mumbled as Clint started rocking her back and forth. "She could be dead and I can't remember the last thing I said to her." Natasha's body shook with the force of her sobbing.
Clint ran his hand through her hair making comforting noises in the back of his throat. "We'll find her," Clint whispered. "I promise we'll find her."
Katarina was strapped down on a cold metal table, goosebumps erupting over her whole body. Her whole body ached and her head throbbed in pain.
Where was she?
She blinked her heavy eyes trying to see anything around her. Her surroundings were much too dark though, she couldn't even see what the straps tying her down were made of.
Her head thumped in protest as she tried to recall the last thing she remembered. Natasha had gone on a mission, it was the longest the two had been apart since they reunited. Katarina wasn't proud to admit it but it had been hard and she had definitely been slightly mopey.
Pepper had been trying her best to keep the assassin from just isolating herself until Natasha came home, or worrying herself to death. They had planned a shopping trip, Pepper finally done with Katarina not owning any of her own clothes, and Katarina convinced when told she could get some very nice things to wear that would definitely surprise Natasha when she got home.
Katarina smiled slightly at the thought, it had been a long time since she had dressed up for Natasha.
Her head thumped again and her teeth ached.
The plan had been to meet Pepper after she had finished with her morning meeting. Then go on a shopping spree worthy of a teenage movie montage with one of Tony's credit cards.
Katarina rolled her tongue in her mouth trying to rid herself of the awful taste that lingered in it.
She had left the tower and was headed toward Madison Avenue where she and Pepper were going to meet at a cafe Pepper loved.
Had she made it?
She had hailed a cab halfway when it started to pour down with rain.
Katarina's eyes flew open. The cab! She had gotten into it and started feeling woozy. Woozy and then unconscious. They had drugged her. That narrowed her list down of who could've taken her. Only two organisations had the cocktail that could knock her out; Hydra and the Red Room.
Her stomach rolled as she turned her head sideways looking for anything she could use to escape. The straps around her body were so tight she couldn't take a deep breathe to attempt to steady it. Her hands getting pins and needles from the strap on her wrists cutting off her circulation.
A wave of her fingers attempting to use her powers to undo the straps.
Nothing.
Trapped, drugged and powerless. Not something Katarina had been in a long while.
The heavy door squeaked as it was pushed open.
Katarina closed her eyes and relaxed her body feigning unconsciousness. Several footsteps sounded around the room and Katarina's ears strained to try to count how many.
"Moya Malen'kaya Kukla," My little doll. A voice purred as two hands stroked her arms.
It took all Katarina had not to tense. She knew that voice. It haunted her days whilst she was under Hydra control and echoed in her nightmares now.
Siren was small and skinny. Staring into her dirty mirror she could count all her ribs poking harshly out of her pale, sallow skin. She hadn't seen sunlight in weeks and it showed. Soldier had been gone for over a month on a mission and Siren hadn't been needed. Her life currently consisted of training and sleeping, and she wasn't allowed much of that second one. Her muscles itched for release. She wanted to run, she had been locked in her room for a couple of days now and there was only so much exercise she could get done in a six by eight cell. She stood from her tiny bed and stretched joints popping as she did.
Someone banged loudly on the thick door, her warning to back away from it and not cause any trouble. Siren backed up to the far wall and looked at the ground. Whatever test this was she wanted to pass so she could return to the training area and hopefully finally be allowed some warm food instead of the cold slop she's been getting occasionally.
As quickly as the door was opened, it was shut and locked again. "Malen'kaya Kukla."Little Doll. The deep, rough voice seemed to fill the entire room, Siren almost felt like it would suffocate her.
"Ty byl khorosh, kukolka?" Have you been good, Little Doll?"
Siren didn't answer, certain this was a trap.
"Ty skuchal po mne, kukolka? Menya ne bylo tak dolgo." Did you miss me, Little Doll? I've been gone so long.
Siren raised her eyes, confused. Weapons didn't have feelings, how could she have missed him.
The moment he saw Siren's eyes his hand raised quicker than even Siren could've seen. The blow to her cheek was devastating, knocking the small child to the ground, ring catching on her cheek gruesomely cutting it. Red bubbled up from the cut and slowly dripped down her face.
Siren got up quickly and silently, accepting the punishment of looking her superiors in the eye.
"Pochemu ty zastavlyayesh' menya nakazyvat' tebya, kukolka?" Why must you make me punish you, little doll? He sighed wearily. He roughly dragged his thumb across her cut then popped it into his mouth, sucking on the blood. He moaned at the taste, then smiled toothily at the little girl.
"YA vypolnila svoyu missiyu, Malen'kaya Kukla. Vsya sem'ya mertva, nikakikh sledov. U nikh byla malen'kaya devochka, ona pokhozha na tebya." I succeeded in my mission, little doll. An entire family dead, no trace left behind. They had a little girl just like you. He took a menacing step closer. Siren tried to back away but she was already flush against the wall. "Ne volnuysya, ya vse yeshche dumayu, chto ty krasiveye." Don't worry though, I still think you're prettier.
He was pushed up against her now, one hand moving up her arm towards her throat and the other, with it's long, claw-like nails digging into her stomach, almost as if he were prepared to tear it out.
"Samaya krasivaya kukla, kotoruyu ya kogda-libo videl." The prettiest doll I've ever seen.
His hand skipped over her throat and tangled into her hair pulling it roughly as he weaved his fingers through it.
"Ty znayesh', pochemu ya zdes', da?" You know why I'm here, right?"
His mouth was right next to her ear. Siren wanted to scream and fight. She wanted to yell until her throat bled and squirm until she was let go off. She wanted Soldier to appear and pull him off of her. She wanted to never have to see him again, but most of all Siren wanted him gone, gone from her room, her life, she never wanted to feel his large, heavy hands-on her again, or have his warm, smelly breath cling to her skin. She knew exactly why he was here, and she knew there was nothing she could do to stop it.
"Ty budesh' diya menya khoroshey nagradoy?" You'll be a good reward for me? He asked like she had any choice.
Siren closed her eyes as a hand-pulled harder at her hair, forcing her head back and another crept up and wrapped around her throat clawed nails digging in leaving little wells of blood.
"Volk goloden." Wolf is hungry. He growled before claiming his reward.
Katarina forced herself back into the present. It wouldn't do to lose herself now, not with him here. She was no longer Siren, the child who wouldn't fight back, she was Katarina the young women who would not let anyone touch her without her permission.
But why was there still a voice in the back of her head telling her to stand down? Informing her fighting Wolf only ever hurt her more. Many men had used Katarina's body for their own gain but Wolf was the only one who had ever terrified her, the only one she knew she could not fight off if needs be.
"She's still beautiful." His voice was still as harsh as she remembered. More growl than anything else, more so with his thick Russian accent. "How long till she wakes?" He demanded to know. "It's been such a long time since I got to play with my little doll."
"It shouldn't be much longer now." A voice Katarina was certain she had never heard before answered. "And they'll want her before you get to play."
"They'll let me play." Katarina could hear the grin in Wolfs' voice. A dark promise being made. "I always got to play with little doll when she misbehaved and little doll has been very, very naughty."
His nails, still filed into claws, scraped down her arm leaving red streaks and small cuts behind.
"Enough." A third voice said harshly. A man, German possibly if the accent was anything to go by. "You will have the chance to play with the traitor later. We have more urgent things to do for now. They can't find us."
"They won't," Wolf answered, as the door squeaked and Katarina was left alone in the dark room, wondering how she was going to get herself out of this mess.
A/N: So it's been forever... my bad. And this isn't long, or even that good if we're being honest. But it's 2020 and in this hellscape year anything can happen so try to enjoy it and I'll try to put out another chapter this year. I am sorry it's taking forever but my will to write comes and goes super damn quick and I have been trying to get this done throughout the entirety of lockdown but with eight people trapped in a house with each other it's very hard to find any peace and quiet to get any writing done.
Anyway, leave me a review and let me know what you think or just yell at me for taking so long. (Please don't do that I'm a fragile person and I wouldn't actually be able to handle that.)