A/N: WOW! It's been a long time since I posted a new chapter . Sorry about the delay guys! Some stuff was happening IRL for me and I didn't get much time to write (and I really didn't have much inspiration either) but I'm trying to get back to my stories ^_^ Reviews are always wonderful!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own it. Drats.
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Natasha had passed out again at some point. She wasn't sure when but the next thing she knew ice water was being dumped over her head and Nutian was once more in the room with her. She bit back an annoyed groan. Couldn't the man just leave her alone for once? It wasn't like he was interrogating her. Not really. He was just asking random questions and if she didn't answer he'd find some way to torture her and she still wouldn't say anything. He wasn't scary and everything he'd done so far she'd been trained to endure when she was in the Red Room Academy. Couldn't they just skip to the part where she escaped and killed him already?
Unfortunately, Nutian had been keeping her pretty drugged up so her body was weak and it took all of her effort to keep her head up when he was around. The second he left the room her chin would fall to her chest and she would have to work at staying awake. It was worse than the pain from torture because it left her vulnerable and practically useless. She couldn't even budge her arms where they were tied to the chair. Her wrists were turning red and her fingers felt a little numb. How long had she been tied down like this? It could have been days for all she knew. But at least she was still alive which meant that Clint still had a chance to find her. And if the drugs ever wore off, she would find a way out of this godforsaken place and put a bullet through Nutian's head. She smirked a bit, that was a comforting thought at least. It was about the only coherent thought she had at the moment. The rest was a jumbled mess.
Nutian's hand grabbed her hair and forced her head up, meeting her eyes with a sadistic little smile. She resisted the urge to spit in his face. That was more along the lines of what Clint would do. She was more into being silent and letting her enemies do the talking. It worked pretty well most of the time. So far, she knew that Nutian was afraid of whoever was controlling him. The same person who had an interest in her now as well. She really didn't know who could be controlling Nutian though, she had so many enemies and it was hard to keep track of them. Another thing she had learned was that Nutian needed to keep her alive. There was a steady stream of food and water brought to her. It was all drugged of course but they wouldn't let her die from hunger or dehydration. That was at least slightly comforting. It gave her more time.
"I need you to tell me something, Miss Romanoff. It is something small, but it is very important, you see," Nutian's voice grated on her nerves and she really had to fight not to spit now. Apparently her partner had been rubbing off on her more than she thought.
She rolled her eyes and gave him her best "shut the fuck up look". That earned her a smack across the face and another to her diaphragm. That was going to leave a mark and a cracked rib or tow. Nutian pulled on her hair a little harder, "Where is your partner?"
Natasha frowned. That wasn't the question she had been expecting. She figured now that they had her they wouldn't be focused on Clint anymore. This was a strange turn of events and there was no way Natasha was going to give up her partner. Her face remained stubborn and set as she continued to stare Nutian down. Her partner was the one thing she would never speak about to an enemy. No amount of torture could make her betray Clint Barton. She loved him too much for that and she knew he wouldn't ever give her up either. Another blow to her diaphragm and Natasha was ninety percent certain she felt a rib break. She bit her lip in an effort to keep from the crying out. Breaking bones never felt good.
"I will break you Widow. And you will tell me where your partner is or the last few days of your life will be a living hell and you will die knowing it was his fault. He is the only reason you are here after all. The only reason I have you now. And the reason you will be tortured and beaten until you give him up. Now, I will ask nicely one more time: where is Hawkeye?"
"Go to hell," there went another rib. She needed to spend less time with Clint. His personality was coming out in the worst way and it was only making things worse for her. So she held her tongue as the beatings continued and Nutian repeated his question over and over again. She never told him anything of course, just glared and worked to keep from crying out whenever he would hit her. She even managed to keep quiet when his men began taking knives to her flesh. There was a small pool of blood underneath her chair and she felt like she would pass out at any moment. Thankfully, Nutian called his men off and grabbed her chin in his hand. Once again she was forced to look at him and once again, she really wanted to spit on him.
"You are strong, Miss Romanoff. But is your partner as strong?" her brow furrowed together as she tried to understand what Nutian was talking about, "My men are in the process of sharing a recording of your interrogation today with S.H.I.E.L.D. We will see if your partner can handle seeing you suffering because of him or if he will break and come to us."
Natasha gave a small grunt when Nutian violently released her chin and she was left to her own thoughts as everyone cleared out. Clint was going to see everything that had happened today? She didn't know how he would take that. She knew that Coulson and Fury would work to keep Barton from doing anything stupid but he could be so stubborn sometimes. She prayed he wouldn't come looking for her…
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Clint punched the wall of his living quarters, leaving a small dent and making his knuckles throb painfully. Fury had ordered him back to the Hellicarrier a few hours ago, saying there was something he needed to see. That alone made Clint anxious and now he had to sit around twiddling his thumbs and waiting for Fury to call him in. They were hovering somewhere over China so at least they weren't across the world but he still wasn't as close to her as he'd like to be. For him, the only time he felt like Natasha was safe was when she was at his back covering him. When she was right there he could easily protect her (even if she could protect herself just fine) and he could make sure she wasn't too banged up when the fight was over. When she was taken from him like this he became frustrated. He was like a caged animal, banging at the bars of his prison and needing to be free. Natasha was the key to his freedom and his peace of mind. Without her he would go mad.
He regretted the space that had blossomed between them now, the space Loki had caused. He knew that he'd been pushing her away more and more since the incident in New York, terrified of the things he had almost done and contemplated doing while under Loki's control. Had Loki ordered it back then he wouldn't have hesitated to slit his partner's throat while she tried in vain to help him. He would have killed her and enjoyed it which was what truly scared him. There was a monster inside of him and Loki had only brought it to the surface. He woke the beast Clint had struggled to keep under lock and key for so long, slumbering away and not causing harm. Now Clint wasn't sure he could keep that beast asleep anymore. It had tasted the blood of many during that brief period when he was not himself and that was enough for it to grow restless now.
A sharp rap at the door had him jumping up from his cot and standing rigid. Coulson used to be the one sent to fetch him, now it was Hill. He didn't trust Agent Hill the way he had trusted Coulson but at this moment in time she was hi favorite person. She was finally letting him do something, even if it wasn't busting through the doors of Nutian's hideout and getting his partner back. It was something at least and that was more than nothing. She didn't say a word, another area she and Coulson were different, and simply motioned for him to follow her toward the main conference room. He frowned, why was she taking him there? The only time he used the conference room was when they had footage to sift through when running an op. Even then, he'd only done that once or twice when he wasn't cleared by the medical wing to head into the field. That had only happened three times. Once when he first arrived, another after Budapest, and the last was after New York. Needless to say, he hated the conference room.
Fury was already waiting inside when he stepped through the final doorway and entered the cool, darkened room. He wasn't alone either. Tony was there. And Rogers. No Banner though and Thor was in Asgard still. Clint sighed and fell into a chair beside Stark, giving a curt nod to his teammates. Tony's usual smirk and snide remarks were absent and Steve was looking a little pale. That made Clint even more nervous. Obviously things were bad if they were here but their faces said things were much worse than he could even imagine. He looked at Fury expectantly, ready to understand the change in the two Avengers beside him, "What's going on, Director?"
Nick Fury was normally calm and collected and most of the time that irritated the hell out of Clint, especially in situations like these when his partner's life was on the line, but today he looked angry. No, he looked livid. Clint was fairly certain that if Nutian walked through those doors right now, Fury wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet in his head. Interrogation or not. At least they were on the same side for once. Clint wouldn't be the one to stop Fury from killing the bastard. But the anger also scared Clint even more because that meant things were worse than he'd thought. Fury looked Clint in the eyes as he lifted a small remote and a video appeared on the screen.
Clint's stomach dropped and his heart slammed to a stop in his chest. There was Natasha. She looked alright, a little banged up but nothing serious. But she looked sluggish too, her movements were slower and her head was hanging low as her chin rested on her chest. He frowned, she was drugged. No wonder she wasn't already figuring a way out of her cell and back to him. She wasn't even struggling to reach the bobby pins she kept on her body to remove the bindings around her wrists and ankles. That worried him. The worry turned to raw anger though as Nutian walked in, a cocky little grin on his face. Clint's hands clenched into tight fists and he wanted nothing more than to strangle the man standing before his partner in that moment.
Nutian grabbed Natasha's hair and pulled her head back, earning him a death glare from the fiery red-head as he asked her where her partner was. Why the hell did Nutian want him? He wasn't as famous as Natasha and he was fairly certain he had less enemies. And he knew for certain Nutian wasn't on that list because Clint had never dealt with him or any of his associates before as far as he knew. Someone else was pulling the strings then, moving the players around the board and trying to win this deadly game. If they could find that person then maybe they could also find Natasha. Too bad the list of enemies was long and many were in foreign countries scattered across the globe. Who could possibly be controlling a small arms dealer like Nutian? There were people much bigger than him in the black market. So why?
His attention was pulled back to the screen however, when he heard the smack of a fist against flesh. And the undeniable sound of bones cracking. He gritted his teeth, seeing the pain in Natasha's eyes from the blow and he had to fight to keep from throwing something at the screen. He needed to see everything Natasha had been through. All the pain she suffered simply so he would not be in danger. He needed to see it so he could pay Nutian back twice over for it before he died. Clint was going to enjoy breaking every single bone in his body, making him beg for death, before finally putting and arrow through his brain. This bastard was going to die before Clint was through with him.