AN: Here is the second part to the Tough Lady storyline. This is a little darker. I'm sorry.

I probably should warn you that it contains violence, but nothing you've never seen on the show, so…

Thank you so much for reading, and please leave a review telling me what you think.

Tough Lady (Part 2) –

Annie was the first to enter the safe house, being followed by Zarya and Auggie.

To be honest, Zarya had never really believed it when they read her in a year ago. Deep inside, she thought there was a slight possibility it was just a stupid joke they kept playing for a whole year, and that anytime they'd just say "I can't believe you believed it."

But now it all started to feel real. They really kept a safe house ready for an emergency. And a safe house that actually looked like what she had pictured in her head. If they had told her about it two days before, she wouldn't have believed them. But now that she finally had the chance to see it and experience it herself, she got scared. It felt really dangerous.

The safe house was a small apartment, no furniture other than a couch, a table, 4 chairs and a mattress. The power was off, so they only had the light of day to illuminate the place. Annie got in and quickly started to shut all the blinds, turning the room even darker, so that they couldn't be watched from the outside.

"Zarya, there is a burner phone in your bag. Turn it on. I'll call you to check in on you and dad. Everything alright?"

"Not really. I'm scared, Mom." She let out a tear and hugged her mother.

"Hey, everything is gonna be fine. I'm gonna fix it, ok? I'm sorry I'm putting you through this, baby. I love you. Now turn on your burner and wait here with daddy." Annie kissed her daughter's forehead and left.

Annie closed the door, Zarya sighed and turned around. Auggie was trying to map the place; it had been a long time since he had had to use that safe house, and he wasn't so sure anymore how the little furniture it had was organized.

Zarya brushed her hand against his and took him for a tour inside the small apartment. There was only a living room, a bedroom, a kitchen and a really small bathroom. When they had been to every room there was to be, she finally took them to the couch, where they sat down.

"What now?" She asked him.

"We wait." He sighed. "That's what I've always hated about safe houses. You have nothing interesting to do."

Zarya didn't reply to his inane comment.

"Hey, Z. Your mom is the best. She is going to solve this. She knew it was coming since last night. She is more than prepared." He took her hand in his, trying to reassure her.

"Shouldn't you be helping her?"

"She has her own team there. And I was never gonna leave you alone."

She laid her head on his shoulder and nodded. They stood there in that position for a few minutes, when Auggie heard some movement outside. Normally, he would have assumed it was the neighbors, but the situation and the fact that they had been walking in front of their apartment for over four minutes called his attention.

He turned to Zarya and whispered.

"Z, listen to me now. You are going to find somewhere to hide and you won't move, talk, or breathe, if you think they'll be able to hear you. You'll have to be invisible. Now go."

"What about you?"

"I can take care of myself. Go go go go." He pushed her gently out of the couch.

She hesitated for a while, but then they heard someone trying to open the door. She had to be fast.

She ran to the bathroom, then she remembered she had seen a fire escape outside the bedroom window. The time the guy spent trying to pick that lock was just enough for her to leave the bathroom window open and run to the fire escape. Once she was out, she closed the bedroom window carefully.

She was outside, but she could hear clearly as two guys, probably big by the way they walked, entered the house.

"Honey? I didn't expect you to be home so soon." Auggie played the blind card.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Mr. Anderson, but this is not your wife." Zarya new the guy had a weird accent, but she couldn't really make out where he was from. Not from that distance.

"And who would it be?" Auggie got up.

"The people your beautiful wife is trying to destroy." Zarya heard the other guy walking around. "Let's just say she was sloppy. And now that we know about her, she is going to pay."

Zarya could imagine her father's angry foam running down his face.

"Now, tell me, Mr. Anderson. Where is that beautiful kid of yours?"

"I don't know. I didn't see her." Zarya couldn't believe he'd be joking at a time like that.

Apparently, one of the big guys didn't believe it either, and Zarya heard something that sounded like a punch to the stomach. Auggie had probably been thrown to the ground, and just the thought that someone could be punching him made her sick; she fought hard the will to go there and scream, and beat everything up. But she knew it'd be pointless, so she just waited patiently.

"Listen, Mr. Anderson, we can do it the easy way… or other way."

"I really don't know where she is. But even if I knew, I would never tell you."

"Seems to me you'd like the other way, then." The man punched Auggie again, and Zarya gritted her teeth.

"Listen, you bastard!" Auggie tried to get up from the floor, but someone pushed him back down.

"Tie his hands! Take him to the car." One of the guys told the other. "If we can't have the kid, the blind helpless husband will have to do. I hope your wife loves you." He kneed down and lifted Auggie's chin, so that both of them would be on the same eye level. "Otherwise this is not going to work." He aggressively pushed Auggie's face away and got up, trying to look superior now. "But you won't die just yet, don't worry. You seem to know lots of… interesting things."

Zarya heard reluctant steps, probably her father's, and then the door was shut. She knew she had to get back in the apartment, but something made her wait just a little longer. She probably had her mother's instincts, because she heard new steps approaching the bedroom, and crouched, holding her breath. Her heart went full speed. She closed her eyes and prayed that she'd not be seen.

The big guy researched the whole house, but thankfully forgot to look out of the window. Zarya heard him curse when he entered the bathroom – he had probably found the open window and assumed that was her escape route –, and a few seconds later the front door was violently shut. She counted to twenty and then took a deep breath, preparing to go back in.

She stood up, opened the window carefully, entered the bedroom, ran to the bathroom and locked herself inside. She picked up her burner phone and desperately tried to call her mother. Voicemail. She left a message.

"Mom, please, please, call me. I've never been so scared in my life. They took daddy. Mom, please call me back. Tell me everything is gonna be ok." She ended the call and started to cry. She had no idea what she was supposed to do. What would those men do to her father? She didn't want to be strong and hold on now, she just wanted to breakdown and cry on that bathroom floor.