CHAPTER 19
Things are going to start getting violent in the next few chapters. There's nothing to graphic in this chapter but it's still violence.
Coulson had begun to come around just before the doors slammed open again. Barnes was there, his face was set in a cold and impassive way, the Winter Soldier was in place. He was the one to unlock the chains that where attached to Natasha's ankles from where it was attached to the ring in the floor of the van. He then yanked her out and she looked around at all the guards that where there to welcome them. One of them came and grabbed her other arm. Fury and Coulson where pulled out behind her and after a moment for the guards to make sure they had good grips on their prisoners, they were led into the old building.
Fury kept his eyes trained forwards as they were led up to the front of the old compound. He didn't think that this was the main branch of what was known as the Red Room. No, he suspected that like SHEILD, the Red Room was building off from the main branch. As he watched Romanoff he notice that she walked with her back just a bit straighter and her head held just a bit higher. Her footsteps were more sure of themselves as she walked. This was her element. He almost didn't see the way her fingers twitched ever so slightly. It was something he'd seen before on Barton, a tell that he was nervous and ready to shoot something.
They were led through many hallways of the compound until they stopped at a metal door. When they got inside the extra guards waited outside while the ones holding on to the prisoners led them the rest of the way in. They were brought to the center of a large, darkened room, then stopped again and all three of them were kicked to their knees. A moment later a man came out of the shadows and Fury noticed that Romanoff tensed at the man's presence but otherwise showed no emotion towards him. The man looked like he could be someone's loving father. He was a bit on the heavy side, but not excessively so, he had wrinkles under his eyes but he didn't look too old, and his hair was starting to turn grey at the roots. He would look completely normal if not for the evil aura hanging around him. The man looked down and his eyes instantly found Natasha.
"Natalia," he spoke with a deep Russian accent "welcome home my daughter." Fury watched as the man smiled at her as though she really were his daughter. Natasha was forced to her feet as the man approached her. He reached out to touch her face and she turned away from him. "Oh, but that's right," he turned away from her "you've turned your back on us." He spun around fast and the backhand he hit her with would have caused her to fall if not for the guards who were there to catch her.
"Go to Hell Ivan!" She yelled at him and struggled against the men holding her. He gave her an amused look and waved two fingers in the air. Lights came on and made the prisoners wince at the sudden assault. Fury and Coulson were brought to their feet and forced into chairs that had thick leather straps attached to them, one for each ankle and wrist, and one that went around the waist. Natasha was left free for the moment.
Coulson shook his head to clear his vision as the last of the drugs he'd been given left his system. He took in his surroundings and tested the strength of the straps, he wasn't getting out of them soon. Ivan smiled at them as he walked past Natasha and stood in front of them.
"Welcome my guests," he said happily "I am Ivan Petrovich as you've probably guessed. I want to thank you for keeping my little girl safe for me. It was so nice of you." Neither Fury nor Coulson responded to him but he didn't seem to mind. He studied them for a moment before he spoke again. "I'm trying to figure it out. Why of all people would you go to them?" He asked and glanced back at Natasha. "You probably could've done better on your own my dear. Of course, we would've caught you anyways." He glanced over both Fury and Coulson once more before continuing. He looked over his shoulder at where Natasha was glaring at him then back at his two other prisoners. It must have been some type of signal because the guards dragged her over to where he stood. "You see, Director Fury," Fury didn't hesitate to make eye contact with the man. "Your agents are weak. My girls? They are strong." Behind them they heard a door slam open and someone else being dragged in. "I've trained my agents to withstand anything that is thrown at them. They are trained to block out the pain in the only way that you can truly teach them."
"You tortured innocent children," Fury said. Ivan smiled then and another prisoners was dragged to his other side. They all recognized the SHEILD uniform.
"I made them stronger," Ivan said and with that the sack that was over the new arrival's head was removed and they were staring at Frank Massey. His eyes where wild and Natasha tried hard not to cringe, she knew that look and who had caused it. "Take this man for example, he lasted no more than an hour and a half under my doctor's care before he was screaming for mercy. Another half hour and he was telling me all he knew of your organization." He said "My agents are trained to keep their secrets to the death." As if to prove a point Petrovich grabbed a blade from the holster of the guard standing next to him. There was a smile in his eyes as he stabbed it into Massey's upper thigh, causing the man to scream out. Coulson tried not to flinch at the sound and both him and Fury tried to hide the anger it cause to stir up inside them. "Weak," Petrovich practically spat. He tore the blade out of Massey and wiped the blood of on the man's uniform. Without warning he stabbed it into Natasha's thigh and while her jaw tightened and she flinched ever so slightly, she didn't move or make a sound. Petrovich smirked as he yanked the blade from her as well. He gestured to the two agents and looked directly at the two men before him. "You see…" before he could continue he was cut off by the sound of laughter. Coulson looked to Massey like he had lost his mind. Knowing exactly what the man had been through, Natasha suspected that he had. Petrovich calmly turned to the young SHEILD agent. "Do tell what you find so amusing."
"Nothing," Massey worked up a smile at him "I just find it amusing what you said about your agents being trained to keep quiet." Petrovich returned his smile with a more deadly one of his own.
"Yes," he said and indicated him to continue.
"How then does it feel," Massey said glaring at him "to know that your agent must have wanted to share your secrets since she did so willingly." He chuckled again and spat out blood towards the man. Petrovich smirked then hit him in the gut hard enough to have him gasping for air. They all saw the drops of blood falling quickly to the floor. Ivan turned back towards Fury and Coulson with his eyes closed as if he were trying to calm himself. He opened them and a sigh escaped his lips.
"As much as it pains me," he said "he has made my point for me." He glanced over to Natasha who simply glared back. "I had an agent turn against me and now, you will be here to witness her punishment. Maybe you will pick up a thing or two, no?" He then looked back to Massey. "But first, I do believe that you've more than earned yourself another hour." Massey visibly paled even more so than what he had already been. He was quite obviously scared to death.
"No," Massey said as the guards began leading him away "No, don't!" Coulson watched him being dragged away but Fury watched as Natasha looked to be weighing something in her mind. He saw the exact moment she had made up her mind. She suddenly broke the grip of the guard and landed a good hit on the unsuspecting Winter Soldier, also taking a gun from him at the same time. She barely registered the look of appreciation on Massey's face as she aimed the gun and shot him right between the eyes with no hesitation or emotion. His body fell to the floor with a heavy thud and the last thing she saw was Coulson's barely contained shock before she felt a hit on the back of her head and everything faded to black.