Like Clay

Ducking under a strong whipping leg from Natasha Romanoff, Harry grinned slightly in anticipation, even as he brought up his left hand to catch a powerful thrust of the other leg, before pushing back firmly with a small grunt of effort. That wasn't enough to throw off the Russian super spy though, as she acrobatically flipped backwards to land almost catlike, looking at her opponent with a faint glimmer of interest before it was swiftly replaced with a cold icy stare once more.

Harry simply grinned even wider, actually standing in an almost relaxed state, as he kept his eyes firmly on hers. A wordless agreement seemed to be made, before she launched at him again, flowing into a swift and brutal combination of Martial Arts, aiming to incapacitate him. Harry almost burst out giggling, but restrained himself to a slight snicker, as he leant back slightly before whipping his body forward, deflecting her kicks and elbow strikes, and pushing her away heavily with a single hand, causing her eyes to widen in surprise.

"Patience young grasshopper!" he remonstrated mockingly, wagging a finger slightly at his opponent's foolishness.

"Didn't I tell you your weapons were in the room behind you?" Harry snickered slightly with a slight gleam in his eyes. "Come now, aren't you supposed to be a big shot assassin?" he added condescendingly. This really was too amusing. Muggles and their antics. Nothing in the face of his power. Why, she couldn't even understand how he was subtly directing all her moves with naught but his own will!

"But don't get overeager!" he added loudly, as she inched towards the open door behind her. "I really hate cleaning up blood." He sighed dramatically. "But surely you want to kill me for the motherland!" he continued with bubbling laughter.

"Remember?" he sang mockingly as he walked towards the backing away spy.

Natasha's eyes seemed to blank slightly in confusion as his words drilled into her head. "W-what?"

At her slightly nervous look, Harry cackled madly. "Ickle Ickle Baby Spy! Why don't we play a game?"

At these words Natasha stumbled back, and the room became utterly pitch black. She was rendered completely blind.

"I'll be the Widow… You'll be the fly…" a chilling whisper sounded around the room.

"Won't that be fun?" the whisper sounded directly in her ear now, causing her to strike out directly, but hitting nothing but thin air. Even the sound of own breathing felt oddly magnified in the endless dark. Even now, panic was setting in, digging its claws into her mind, shredding her slowly and teasingly, piece by piece.

"Don't you remember my dear?" the voice spoke slightly less eerily now, encompassing the whole room. "I'm a liability! Aren't you meant to be doing something right about now?"

"For the motherland hmm?" the voice resounded, mockingly this time, but with a slight hint of urgency oddly included.

For the motherland.

Then everything suddenly clicked back into place again. The green eyed man, who healed her. The escape from her prolonged torture. Wait.

That was it. She had been betrayed… What had happened to her? The last thing she could remember was… "Liabilities huh, what can you do?" Yes that was it. What happened after that? But as she tried to grasp it once more, the memories trickled away like water, before something oily seemed to be seeping into her mind, causing her to whimper once more and then… silence. Blissful silence.

It was all clear now. Mission Protocol: Terminate All Liabilities.

And then she became cold and detached once more. Terminate the green eyed man. Her entire existence was devoted to this. Yes! For the motherland! Her eyes blanked before clouding over in confusion again, as a strange tugging sensation seemed to ripple through her whole body. The world suddenly felt inverted, before it snapped back into place in an almost metallic screeching noise.

"Can't have you getting lost in daydreams now little fly…" a ghostly voice whispered around her, freezing her to the spot. "You might get caught, and never notice until it's too late."

"Perhaps I should feel flattered at your… enthusiasm my dear." The teasing voice now returned. "It's been so long since someone wanted to kill me so badly…"

"It's just a shame it has to be such a clinical thing." The voice remarked almost wistfully. "If only you truly felt something about it…" it added offhandedly. "Intent to kill, with real feeling behind it. Those ones always made me shiver in excitement!"

High pitched and cold laughter now rang out, filling every part of the black world, as she slowly drew into herself in reflex. Growling slightly in one shout of defiance she yelled out. "What the hell do you want with me!?"

Her voice seemed to echo slightly, before everything became quiet once more. Thankfully enough, she was now feeling more courageous than before, because she bitingly snapped out in increasing anger. "Nothing to say!?"

This time there was only a moment's pause before the reply came.

"I just want you to get out my dear." It voiced almost kindly.

"Get the hell out of where!?" she snarled back at the confusing answer.

Even being able to see nothing, she could practically feel the smirk on the infuriating man's face… no whatever the hell it was, it was certainly no ordinary man. Just what was happening to her?

"Didn't I already tell you… before?" it replied teasingly this time. "Drop the act girly!" it snarled now reminiscent of an old gnarled Auror with an electric blue magical eye.

"So drop the act Miss Secret Thingamajig, and get out." The cold voice in her memory supplied, at his words.

"Did you really call me a Secret Thingamajig?" she voiced incredulously, forgetting her position for the moment.

Gruff barking laughter rang in her ears.

Frowning at her lack of self-control she fell silent once more, pondering what it meant. Though she certainly knew her training hadn't prepared her for this level of mind trickery… Wait. Training. This stirred a memory.

…Those bastards! She howled at the indignity of it all in her head! They had brainwashed her!

"Heheheheeee" wild giggling broke out at her realisation, causing her to shiver slightly at the powerful sense of fear that had engulfed her.

"And the truth shall ssset you free!" the voice hissed silkily in triumph.

"Stop it, Stop it, Stop it!" Natasha shivered as a wave of fear thrummed through her very bones.

"The truth my dear… Is both a wondrous and terrifying thing." The voice supplied softly.

"But what will you make of it?" it added, practically broadcasting a full on grin through the words.

As she began frantically scrabbling for anything… to feel safe, safe again, away from the monsters under her bed, the demons in the closets, the endless scientists in their gleaming white coats-

"I hadn't thought you would be so weak!" the voice snarled now. "Pathetic!" it growled as she whimpered again.

"Perhaps I was wrong…" it added almost mournfully. "You're just a scared little child who wants her mummy and daddy aren't you?"

"Perhaps your mummy and daddy never loved you?" the voice remarked apathetically. "They knew the little girl was weak, so they threw her out-"

"Don't you dare." She hissed out, furiously cold with anger. "Don't you dare call me weak, don't you dare insult me anymore." She continued, eyes narrowing in anger. "You're the one who's weak here. You pathetic worm!" she yelled, causing the black world to tremble slightly.

"This isn't even real…" she growled. "No more! I refuse to play along with anymore of your mind games!"

"This is my mind, and you are not welcome here!" she snarled out, clenching her fists tightly. "So… you get out!"

Panting slightly, she breathed a sigh of relief as the blackness seemed to warp back into the familiar colours of reality, only to see the green eyed man still sat in the same chair with a cocky smirk she was now really starting to utterly loathe.

Before she could rip into him once more, he simply spoke.

"Are you going to stare at me all day my dear? Because I could have sworn I asked you to leave five minutes ago."

"I know I'm good looking and all, but this must be a record for having someone stare at me for so long."

/

Natasha stared unresponsively at the man even after he had told her she had been sat there, dripping wet… ogling him. The nerve of that…

Under normal circumstances she probably would have smashed the nearest heavy object on his head to knock him out, but she was still reeling from an unpleasant experience. Understatement. That was downright mind-bending and utterly terrifying. Fortunate that she didn't seem to be showing that in any way at all.

The man… no… creature… she refused to believe that was all a hallucination, was starting to seem a little annoyed. Good, she thought. She would count that as a point back to her. Long way to go to even the score though.

"It seems I have a defective Russian sex-doll, operator." A crisp British accent cut through her thoughts like a hot knife through butter, as her mind screeched to a halt. What. Did. He. Just. Say.

"I know I should probably ring the store and get them to replace the damn thing, but I just want to vent. You understand don't you sir?" he continued on inexorably, before she grit her teeth and looked at him with all the frigidity she could muster.

Only for her jaw to drop open in shock. He was actually on the phone! HE WAS ON THE PHONE TO THE OPERATOR!

"I'm pretty sure it's not the power supply. No. Don't all Russian sex-dolls come with their own power supplies? Mine did, but she seems to have misplaced it."

"In fact she's making horrid grinding noises right now!"

"…"

"Yes, she probably does have a stick up her arse. You know it's nice to talk to a familiar accent. Especially over here in 'mother Russia'" he drawled sarcastically, astutely ignoring the red-head.

"I would have invited you for tea if I could. You would have been able to take a look at her as well. I swear, a second opinion is always helpful. Bye now!" he whistled cheerily before ending the call.

"Ah so, the lady decided she is capable of functioning hmm?" he smirked at her angry visage.

"Wowee, you're pissed." Harry frowned curiously. "Was it something I said?"

"Yesssss." she hissed out, eyes practically slitted.

"Now that you've decided to wake and smell the roses, what have you learnt?" he inquired seriously, dropping all manner of teasing for a straightforward and direct question.

"You are an insufferable bastard." She smiled politely, with eyes promising pain.

"I know." Harry replied simply. "I'm usually worse." He added, causing Natasha's eyebrows to rise even higher in disbelief.

"I fail to see how that is possible." She frowned. "No. Don't go there." She snapped firmly, as she saw the man opening his mouth to say something no doubt even worse.

"You're also a very… very… dangerous man." She continued, her voice deepening in pitch and becoming very husky and seductive. Or at least, seductive to any other man she had met.

Harry simply looked at her blankly, before snorting in amusement.

"Look girl, that just isn't going to work." He stated simply. "I've seen the act so many times before, it doesn't even bother me." Of course, it was very attractive the first few hundred times I saw you do it. But ah, everything becomes… stale after a while. His lips twitched slightly at the thought. Though, it is still extremely attractive in the flesh. No stop it Harry, bad Harry! He berated himself mentally.

"Fine." She rolled her eyes before carefully looking at him with calculating blue eyes. Funny how he calls me 'girl' or my dear, as if he's older than me. He seems barely into his 30's except for the grey streaks he's got.

"Why don't we get to the point Natalia Romanova?" the man suddenly asked, eyes darkening slightly as Natasha tensed in surprise at him knowing her name.

"You shouldn't really be surprised, I got it out of your head after all." He continued monotonously. "Black Widow, really?"

Hopefully showcasing her indifference to his knowledge she calmly stated. "So you are obviously in the know."

"But you don't know everything. Revealing that to me, means I have to eliminate you if I am to get away from the termination of the program. Just survival instincts, you understand?" she finished sweetly.

"Considering I went rifling through your head, to fix what those abominations did to your mind, I doubt you know yourself better than I do." Harry calmly returned, causing Natalia to shiver slightly.

"Of course, I didn't do it the nice way, but frankly, I was bored." He smiled mirthlessly, causing Natalia to tremble slightly in suppressed rage.

"Can you imagine what it felt like?" Harry continued smiling mirthlessly. "A woman just so happens to find their way onto my property when not a single living creature has ever been able to do so. She just happens to be dying too!"

"And then, I find she has rapid healing of some sort. What is this creature that has come to my door?" Harry continued monotonously, ignoring Natalia's gasp of pain at his referring to her as a creature.

"It was funny, see?" He continued. "I live here by myself, and I find myself ever so… restless…" he scowled slightly at his own words, before continuing. "I take amusement in the fleeting things I can, see?"

"And you… amuse me." Harry smiled toothily now. "Quite a lot actually." He added in a murmur.

"Don't misunderstand me, my dear, but I don't take amusement in torturing people. And I certainly… dislike… scientists a great deal."

"But what I did to you was not torture." Harry admitted "You may disagree, but you needed to break through that yourself. Quick fixes do not exist."

"So now that we've established that neither of us is going to kill the other…" At this, Natalia let out a small scoff, causing Harry's lips to twitch slightly.

"I guess I should introduce myself to the Russian sex-doll." Harry continued straight-faced, ignoring her cry of outrage.

"Hello Natalia Romanova, my name is Harry Potter."

"I'm sure we'll get along just fine!" he smirked slightly.

"After I kill you." she replied dangerously sweet.

AN 09.08.2014

So, was gonna pop this out tomorrow, but finished it satisfactorily enough for my own happiness. In any case, every chapter has been hitting 2.5k roughly, so I'll keep that average up, and I'll probably burn out many chapters rather quickly in that way.

It seems slightly 'anime-ish' where he's on the phone to the operator, perhaps in the reactions department, but that's alright for me. Harry isn't completely… there, and hasn't been for a while. No, Natasha(when she forcefully corrects his name for her) will not be living with Harry. That's just the makings of a bad sitcom in fanfic form, and that's just not what I want. Humorous at times yes, but I still want to treat this seriously. The more mature stuff comes up soon, and Harry will probably stabilise some semblance of a personality when talking to Natasha, though he has some of it already coming through. He can be pretty off the wall right now, but don't worry about it descending into some sort of bad parody of a Schizophrenic Harry xD He is actually very mature, having been through a lot of crap, but at the same time it forces him to be slightly childish to deal with some aspects. Hope that's understandable at the moment. This chapter was freaky for Schizo!Harry cases though xD

And no, Natasha isn't going to be some damsel in distress. This just happens to be the early life-phase where she breaks out of her brainwashing and conditioning crap by the Ops Program before going freelance. She'll soon be back to badass form, even if she seems to be pretty cool right now, she still has to deal with her background. I'll cover that just as well as I do Harry's!

Til next time!