Our Destiny - The Red Web

A Fractured Mind

⚠️ Torture Warning ⚠️ 

Nat felt the shock that Shuri had warned her about and then everything went black, it was as if someone had turned all the lights off and a strange silence wrapped around her. She wasn't sure how long it lasted but what could have been a few seconds or minutes later Nat opened her eyes and found herself stood on the side of a river bank. 

"Okay, this is definitely one of the stranger things I have ever done" Nat murmured to herself as she looked around, trying to workout where she was in Y/N's mind. 

The sound of tyres screeching and a loud crash had Nat spinning around as she watched a car smash through the barrier of the bridge above that stretched across the river. The car plummeted into the dark water, disappearing with in seconds beneath the surface. Nat stood frozen to the spot unsure what to do, could she interfere with this? She didn't want to risk doing anything that would push Y/N's mind further apart. 

Moments later a blur of red and gold came flying through the tree line, they quickly assessed the situation before diving in after the car. Nat was sure it had been Tony and that was when she realised where she was and what memory she had been dropped into. This was the night that Y/N's parents had crashed and died. 

Blasting out of the water, Tony landed on the river bank not too far from where Nat was watching and he placed a soaking wet young Y/N on the ground. He didn't seem to notice Nat at all, but young Y/N immediately looked round and fixed her violet eyes on Nat, frowning at her. 

"You're not suppose to be here" Young Y/N said matter of factly as she stood up from the ground. 

"Hey Y/N" Nat took a few cautious steps toward her, watching as the image of Tony blurred and then disappeared leaving just her and Y/N on the river bank. 

"Am I in trouble? is that why you're here?" Young Y/N tilted her head slightly, looking up at Nat. 

"Yeah you are in trouble Y/N but none of it is your fault.  I'm here to help you" Nat said softly as she knelt down so she was level with Y/N, "Can you tell me why you're here?" 

Young Y/N frowned harder, thinking hard about how to answer Nat's question. 

"This is where they make me come. When they want me to do what they say, they force me to be here so I can't fight back. They know it scares me being trapped here, so I do as I'm told so I can come back" Young Y/N explained pointing at the bridge and then the water. 

Nat tried to keep her features neutral but she was horrified to learn that the Red Web had brain washed Y/N to a point they could trap her in reliving the most horrific memory of her childhood, over and over again. It was no wonder that Y/N's mind had begun to fall apart. Nat was sure this hadn't been all they'd done to get Y/N to comply. 

"Well you don't need to be trapped here anymore. You are safe, I promise. You're not with them anymore you are back home with your family and they are so desperate to see you again" Nat explained gently. 

"I don't know how to find my way back anymore though" Young Y/N said her voice trembling with fear. 

"That's alright, we can figure it out together. I'm not going to leave you alone, okay?" Nat smiled as she held out her hand. 

Young Y/N reached out and took Nat's hand as she did everything shifted and they went from standing on the river bank to being up on the bridge. Nat took a moment to adjust to the send move, clearly Y/N's mind had a way of moving them to where it wanted them to be. 

"So how about you pick the direction and we just start walking and see where we end up? I think you know which way is best" Nat said as she glanced around, half expecting to see Y/N's parents car hurtling toward them. 

"Okay" Young Y/N nodded with a little more confidence now as she tugged on Nat's hand pulling her in the direction she wanted to take. 

As they walked, Nat watched as everything around them began to blur and flicker, a few steps later and they had left the bridge and the pair of them were stood at the edge of a massive blast crater. Looking around Nat saw that there were teams of people working on digging and pulling up the rubble and there were multiple tents set up around the edge of the crater. Then she noticed the red spider web printed on the side of one of the tents. The Red Web. 

"I don't like this place either" Young Y/N said sadly as her grip tightened on Nat's hand. 

Nat pulled young Y/N closer to her to protect her from having to watch, however Nat couldn't pull her eyes away as she watched them discover Y/N trapped deep under all the rubble and dirt.  There was a lot of commotion and then another group of men climbed down into the area, they began connection vials to the machine that Y/N was in. 

"Super soldier serum" Young Y/N answered Nat's question before she could ask it. 

A sudden wave of fear and searing pain hit Nat and she struggled to stay on her feet, she felt everything that Y/N was feeling in that moment as the serum was administered to her. Nat could understand why Young Y/N had said they didn't like this place either. This was the start of where it had all gone wrong for her. 

"Can we leave now please" Young Y/N asked tugging on Nat's hand to get her attention. 

"Sure of course, lets keep walking" Nat nodded managing to look away now. 

They started walking again and just as before the scenery around them began to face and shift, bringing them to a new location. Now they were stood in a cramped cell, the only light came from a brick sized window in the back wall. Nat scanned the small space and saw the metal table  pushed up against the wall and strapped to it was Y/N covered in blood from a series of open wounds on her chest and arms. 

"What the hell" Nat muttered to herself as the door flung open and a woman walked in. 

"Now Y/N are you ready to stop fighting?" She spoke with a cold distant tone as she walked up picking a scalpel up from a tray on the end of the metal table. 

"Go to hell, bitch" Y/N's voice cracked but the defiance was clear. 

"Very well" the woman said as she dipped the end of the scalpel into a vial of black liquid. 

A single drop fell from the scalpel as the woman held it over Y/N's face. 

"Last chance Y/N. This will be easier if you just give in" the woman pushed the scalpel against the skin on Y/N's face. 

"I won't do it" Y/N said as a single tear rolled down their cheek. 

The woman didn't hesitate as she pushed down and dragged the scalpel across Y/N's face, causing Y/N to cry out in pain as the black liquid seeped into the wound, stopping her healing abilities from being able to seal the deep wound. Nat couldn't watch, it was breaking her heart. It made her sick as the woman cut into Y/N over and over again. Now it was clear how Y/N had gotten all the scars on her body. 

"When does this stop?" Nat asked, looking down at young Y/N who looked very pale. 

"It never stopped, not really" She answered quietly. 

"What happened next? Can you show me?" Nat was scared to know but if they could work through these memories then maybe there was a chance that Y/N would stop hiding in her mind and come back to them. 

"I don't want to do this anymore. I want to stop" Young Y/N shook her head, starting to cry and move away from  Nat. 

"Hey I know this is scary and hard but remember what I told you? You're safe and everyone is desperate to see you again. Especially Wanda" Nat said softly as she put her arm around young Y/N. 

"W-wanda... I miss her..." Young Y/N sniffled as she wiped her face. 

"She really misses you too and I promise that if you keep going you'll be back with her in no time" Nat gave her an encouraging smile, "Just keep thinking about seeing Wanda again."

Young Y/N thought about it for a moment before holding her hand out to Nat a silent agreement that they could keep going. Nat took her hand again and was relieved that Y/N had agreed to keep going, she didn't want to mess this up. One wrong move and all of this would be for nothing and that wasn't something that Nat could allow to happen, not when the team had been through so much, not when Wanda was relying on her to bring the love of her life out of this.