illogical

𝚌𝚑. 04

❗this chapter contains: cursing

_._♧_._

Katerina Koroleva was done with SHIELD and their fucking assholes...she means interrogators.

The first man to try his hand at breaking the unbreakable girl just yelled. He screamed in her ear, breathed down her neck, and forced his stubby finger into Katerina's face. She didn't flinch once, not even when he planted a heavy slap of his palm against her cheek. It was shortly after hitting her he was called out of the room.

More waiting. More waiting. Katerina was hungry, but she could hold off longer. She wouldn't fail. Couldn't fail.

The next interrogator to face her was a woman, middle-aged and dressed in a sharp blue pantsuit. She had a soft, breathy–very irritating–tone of voice that didn't match her appearance. This woman must be the "good cop", as she offered Katerina food, water, and never-ending bargains of lighter sentences and a better cell placement. Katerina did not fold, didn't even consider it. After about five minutes, she just tuned the woman's annoying voice out.

One man questioned Katerina in eleven different languages–she counted. Another flat-out called her a monster, a faceless weapon of HYDRA, a mindless drone...yes, Katerina took pleasure in tuning his words out. She was doing good, and this man obviously did not recognize that. SHIELD probably corrupted him. 

At one point, they brought her another tray of food, this time consisting of a thin ham and cheese sandwich, a few pieces of celery, an apple, and some sort of baked good Katerina didn't recognize. There was a small plastic cup of water, too. She frowned slightly, debating eating the possibly tampered food...No, She could go longer. It was probably drugged.

A guard was sent to collect her untouched tray, and another interrogator was sent in. And another. And another. Katerina had stopped paying attention to them, letting her mind wander freely as she stared at the ground. After the third–which had threatened her with a variety of torture methods if she didn't start talking–Katerina noticed there was a longer wait in between.

Katerina kept expecting the next interrogator to walk in, but they didn't. Was SHIELD just going to keep her in here? Why even give her a cell, then?

Waiting. Katerina caught herself mindlessly picking at her fingernail once and forced herself to stop. Waiting. She was getting too comfortable in the silence. Maybe that was SHIELD's intention. If so, she would not be getting comfortable anytime soon.

The door clicked open again. Katerina's eyes remained glued to the floor, her hands slack in their chains and her back leaned as far against the chair as she could manage, being tied to the table. She watched the person enter out of the corner of her eye and slide into the seat opposite her. It was a woman, dressed in a white shirt, leather jacket, and jeans. She slid a glass of water onto the table, in reach of Katerina. 

"Drink it."

Katerina glanced up at the plastic cup, then at the woman, and her jaw tightened. It was the same one who had tased her in Siberia, her black leather unitard replaced for civilian clothes but her carefully arranged blank expression the same. She recognized the look; it was not unlike that of several Widows she had met before. Her red hair and green eyes made her memorable, though. What was her name? Katerina dug deep into her memory, trying to recall all of the files she was required to go over...

Наталья Романова. Natalia Romanova. All of this–her capture, the interrogations, her recapture–it was Natalia's fault. Katerina felt a surge of anger towards the woman.