Chapter: 23

After being shoved into what they guessed to be the same truck as before and a bit of a drive, they were being handed over to their team. Agent Hill was there to greet them as they were rushed away from the Russians and into a waiting jet that would take them back to SHEILD. Hill motioned for the other jet that both Fury and Coulson knew was full of more SHEILD agents. They had barely stepped foot on the jet when they were rushed by a medical team. Coulson spotted Barton sitting alone in the corner, glaring out the window.

"Wait a minute," Coulson said but was ignored as the doctors began to poke and prod at him. "Stop."

"Enough," Fury said and with that one word the medic team was backing off. Coulson would be lying if he said he didn't admire that skill. "Agent Hill!"

"Yes sir," she pushed through the crowd of the medical team and stood before her boss.

"Agent Barton!" Fury called and watched as the man approached. It was easy to tell the man was not happy and he couldn't say that he blamed him.

"Yes," he hissed.

The steel against her skin was cold and to make matters worse it also rubbed up against the cuts on her back which caused her excruciating pain. The poison Ivan and his scientists had created only worked when it broke a person's skin. Once the cuts were healed all the way the poison would be deactivated. The cuts on Natasha's back weren't all the way healed and with her skin rubbing up against the table, it only reactivated the poison and made it feel like her back was on fire again. She was sure that he planned it this way. However, as painful as that was, her real concern was the fact that Dr. Zholdin had begun to fill up the different syringes with the different colored liquids. It was a scene she remembered all too well from her childhood. A sight that had always and probably will always scare her to death.

"I'm ready sir," Zholdin said and turned to Ivan for the go ahead.

"Ah," Ivan walked to the front of the table and placed both hands on Natasha's forehead as the doctor approached with the first syringe. She tried to move her head but Ivan held it down firmly allowing Zholdin to easily slip the needle into her skin. "Don't worry my darling," Ivan said in a false sweet voice. She felt a slight tingling sensation rush through her body before it slowly began to go limp against her will. She tried to stop the tear that fell from her eye but couldn't. A deep fear ran through her very core and she tried to remember to breathe. Ivan smiled down at her almost apologetically, though she knew better than that, and wiped the tear away. With his other hand that was still resting on her forehead he began to rub her head. "We'll be home soon Natalia. After the good doctor hear gives you a treatment to make you a bit more compliant." His hand kept up a steady rhythm as he spoke. She felt Zholdin attach the electrodes to the sides of her body, two on her chest, and then one on each temple. "It was so easy Natalia," Ivan said softly "planting a mole inside SHEILD was easier than I expected. He watched you and reported back to me. He was the one who pressed the trigger on you but you managed to survive the activation. It's not an easy thing to accomplish." He chuckled at that "I sent him to finish the job and you almost killed him in the hospital room, alerting all those little SHEILD agents. Still, they thought you had snapped and turned against them even for just a moment, and the seed of distrust was planted. Of course, you did tell them quite a few valuable secrets. Oh you think this was bad Natalia? You haven't even received your punishment for that yet. A shame you probably won't even remember what it is you did when we get around to that part, oh well. It was easy enough to turn them against you after that. We saw you sneaking off so we knew they'd eventually catch you. However after the second time we came up with an idea, and idea to get you and ensure that SHEILD wouldn't care to take you back. All we had to do was interrupt that simple little mission and thanks to our mole we knew the best was to frame you. Why wouldn't you want revenge on the man who had challenged you? Then we take the leader of SHEILD to make a trade. It was all too easy." She wanted to fight. Every fiber of her being screamed at her to fight back but the drugs running through her system prevented her from even twitching much less fighting her way out of this. The only thing she could so was blink up at Ivan who was nodding at Zholdin for some reason. She felt another needle slip into her skin then being pulled out a moment later. Her thoughts slowly became confused. Something in the back of her mind screamed at her but it seemed so far away that it was really impossible to care. The hand rubbing her head was feeling good despite that voice that was screaming warnings at her. Little by little even the voice started to fade away. It was then that a strong and painful electric current stabbed though her system and snapped her mind back.

Agent Hill stared at her boss as if he had grown a second head.

"But sir the council…."

"I'm not asking you to come along agent Hill but I am ordering you to keep your mouth shut." Fury said. The tone he used and the look in his eyes left no room for argument. Agent Hill never much listened to those signs.

"But sir do you really think you…"

"If you aren't on board than sit down and keep quiet Hill, that's an order." Clint Barton had never before in his life heard his boss talk to his second in command like he had just done. He kept quiet but was mentally yelling at them to get a move on. His nerves were jumping all over the place and he couldn't get them to calm down. According to what he had heard, Natasha had saved his life when she had locked him into that cell. He was determined that he would thank her properly.

"Barton," Coulson's voice snapped him out of his thoughts and he stood from where he was sitting and face his handler. A look of anger and determination raged in his handler's eyes.

"Yes sir,"

"Go out there and meet with the agents who've agreed to help." He nodded and headed off the jet. There was three men out of the eight he knew had been on the other jet. He rubbed the back of his head and wondered if seven people would really be enough. It was true that it wasn't an official Red Room base. It was just some place that they suspected was used every once in a while when needed. Still, there was at least ten men that Coulson and Fury could account for and was probably more. He looked up at the trees that surrounded the area where they had landed and for the first time in a long time he sent up a prayer that everything would be ok. It had to be.

Another shock coursed through her body and she held back the scream that threatened to escape. She refused to scream anymore for these people.

"Who is your family Natalia," Zholdin ordered again. For the third time she refused to answer him and he sighed before reaching for another syringe. The drug made her head feel fuzzy again. "Who is your family Natalia," he asked again and she tried to think of who the man was talking about.

"I….my family is dead,"

"Close," the doctor said then flipped the switch "not close enough."

"Try the chant again." Ivan said from where he watched.

"This will be easier when we are back in Russia with my real toys," Zholdin said as he flipped the device off.

"Soon." Ivan replied and Zholdin nodded then turned his attention back to Natasha.

"Natalia," he snapped and her eyes tried to focus on him "Your family is the Red Room. You are loyal to the Red Room. You will never betray your family. You serve only the Red Room." He repeated it twice then shocked her again. This time a little yelp escaped before he cut the machine off again. "Who is your family Natalia?"

"U…ugh…" she tried to form words but that wouldn't seem to come out.

"Who is your family Natalia?" he yelled. His excitement grew when he heard her trying to form the words.

"N…no." She said softly and another shock tore through her at a much higher setting. He was getting frustrated and some part of her, buried beneath the drugs, was satisfied at knowing that she was getting under his skin. However, she was also aware how the man loved a challenge, just not when his boss was watching and expecting results right then and there.

"We are your family Natalia!" he yelled at her "We are the only ones who care for you, look around," he gestured around the room "no one else is here for you. No. One. Else. Cares." There was another shock and she couldn't hold back the small yelp that escaped. Her back was hurting, the drugs made everything blurry and confusing, the shocks hurt and made her nerves shake, and she just wanted it all to stop. She almost gave them what they wanted because, why not, they were right weren't they? No one was going to come for her. There was no one that would come and rescue her, she had learned that a long time ago. Still, something held her back, something deep within herself refused to give in. Something screamed at her to hold on and if ever asked she would deny that the voice sounded a lot like a certain pain in the ass archer she had met. As her body went limp again and she gasped a bit for air, Ivan watched her for a moment before speaking to the doctor.

"We will be leaving in the morning." He said then turned to leave. He had no idea that twelve of his men laid dead and that number was steadily growing.