• Blinded or Silenced • {B. Barnes} •

• Phase 1 •

July 31st, 2004

Lydia spent her entire life yearning to travel the world just to see what it was like behind her windows. Now, sitting in this box, Lydia would like nothing more than to go home. Maybe see the upstairs for once. She's been waiting in the box for over two hours, afraid to touch anything.

One arm handcuffed to a metal chair with no back to it, a rectangular metal table with a singular pen just slightly tilted in front of her with the same metal chair across from her.

Lydia rolled her eyes. It was clear after the fourth hour passing no one was coming for her, so she whimpered and in a sweeping quick motion poked the pen. Lydia kept her eyes wide open and glanced around frantically, waiting for poisonous gas to be expelled or darts to shoot her in the forehead.

Lydia jumped out of the chair at the intrusive memory of her mother's shot in the dead center of her forehead. Eyes glazed over, blood spilling from every hole in her face. Lydia shuddered while catching her breath. She saw the floor instead of the table and realized how far she jumped and fell on the floor.

Little did she know, just outside her door stood a graduating student of SHIELD Operatioms academy: Grant Ward. This was his first real interrogation. If it didn't go the way he needed it to, his graduation would be set back many months. He was ready to go in, throttle, beat, harass, anything to get the information his S.O. required.

Agent Ward opened the door after many deep calming breaths seemingly cool and collected, but he was unable to hide his surprise when no one was sitting there. He reached to unholstered his hand gun but was new with that sort of weapon compared to the sniper rifle he quite enjoyed using and fumbled.

Lydia jumped on him, kicked him in the knee and socked him right in the jaw. She screamed in pain. She never punched a man before, and her fist had felt like it was on fire. Trying to suffer through it, Lydia cradled her hand to her chest and realized he was not knocked out after one hit like the people in her stories were always able to do.

Lydia made a run for it, or more of a limp for it. Just as she looked up with a happy smile on her face she saw what she was afraid of. The beautiful red head who rescued her from that awful place.

"You!" Lydia panted, before finding the strength to go on. Natasha chuckled dryly, lowering the weapon and sauntered over to the younger girl.

"You saved me! W—why are you—" Agent Romanoff had a sweet smile on her face. That's why Lydia felt so obliged to trust her as she rushed towards her. Lydia would soon come to regret it, as Agent Romanoff decievingly wrapped Lydia in a hug, then smacked the back of her head with the bit of the gun. Now Lydia was the one who went out cold after one hit. Agent Ward was a blushing mess as he stood up feeling his jaw. Only as he stared at the empty seat he tried to run out of the cell. Agent Romanoff eyed him while strutting into the cell with a straight face, carrying Lydia's whole body over her shoulders like she was getting ready to squat her weight.

Agent Romanoff secured Lydia back into her chair and shed a baffled Ward out of the cell. Natasha shut the door and locked it tight from the inside. The doors can't open from the inside, but they shut. No one's intrigued Natasha like this before.

Lydia woke up completely unaware of what happened and the red headed woman behind her standing in the corner instead of sitting in the chair. Lydia picked up the pen once more and glued with it in her hands. She held it up and looked closely at it.

"I can see you." Agent Romanoff smiled slightly after realizing how. Lydia saw her in the reflection of the pen when she was pretending to be interested by it.

"And I am impressed, Miss Luna." Lydia winced, and shook her head.

"Please do not call me that. The woman who saved my life can call me Lydia." Natasha smiled even more as she circled her young prey. Natasha wasn't much older than the young girl beside her, but the differing in childhood was the main issue.