The Ghost [Marvel | Steve Rogers]

Chapter 13

So when she cornered Sergey Azarov in his bedroom-turned-computer lab, panicked and in the process of deep-sixing his system's harddrives and memory, she'd been prepared for the not-so-easy part.

But now that was turning out to be pretty easy too. Subduing him had been straightforward, his surprise and panic working to her advantage; she hadn't even deemed it necessary to restrain him, her presence more than enough to keep him frozen in the chair she'd all but hauled him back to after he'd tried to run. While questioning him hadn't initially been quite so easy, it still hadn't taken nearly the amount of effort she'd expected. A little flirting, a little touching, along with some flattery, some bluffed and real logic mixed in with a healthy measure of intimidation and topped off with just the right dose of pain and she soon had him turning away from the outright denials he'd opened with before he'd even realized he'd done so...he certainly was nothing like his brother.

Mikhail had been hard, cunning, brutal and ruthless. He'd been a man that was made to be an assassin and a spy. He'd been one of the ones brought into the Red Room to test the girls on their resistance to interrogation; the man had liked hurting people. He'd had no qualms about killing those who failed his tests in the Red Room. Despite all the hard lessons and harder teachers Nadine had faced during her training, Mikhail Azarov had been one of the few instructors she'd genuinely learned to hate in that place. It was probably what made deciding to go after him all those years ago as easy a decision as it had been.

Sergey was proving quite a different sort of man. While perhaps just as detached from the concept that people were more than just names or bodies as his brother had been, and perhaps even as ruthless—certainly as cunning and smart, at least intellectually—Sergey was not so hard nor so sadistic as Mikhail had been. His place was behind computer screens, brokering contracts, writing algorithms and matching agents and hired guns with clients. He didn't have the training to withstand a real spy's interrogation, not when that spy had been trained in the Red Room...and by his own brother.

Yet there was one thing he was being reticent on.

"You've already admitted you didn't find me entirely on your own, and you admitted you were supplied a great deal of the material that was being used against me. Really, I don't know why you aren't giving me the name to go with everything you've already spilled. If you're afraid of retribution? Of someone coming after you for it? Well, you've already shared more than enough for that. What more do you have to lose?"

"The difference between a quick death and a drawn-out one," Sergey bit out peevishly, though there was a subtle, anxious waver to his tone. Nadine restrained the hard smile that she was tempted to show him, instead settling for a patient, understanding one as she settled herself on his knee, draping an arm around his shoulders. He was tense from a mix of fear and interest that nearly amused Nadine. He was proving irritatingly predictable. She gave him an honest-looking, level look.

"Whether you tell me or not will mean the difference between a quick death and a drawn-out one, Sergey." He swallowed thickly, his pulse quickening, this time with fear. She smiled again. "You of course know what I'm capable of—you've seen the images you were told to send to me, as well as the video footage I imagine was included as well—just as you also know what Natasha Romanoff is capable of. You had to know I was close with her once." His face had begun to blanche, growing more sickly even as his jaw tightened as a means to restrain the urge to give in and simply tell her. Nadine stood, walking behind him, her hand lingering on his shoulder.

"You know it was Natasha Romanoff—also known as the Avenger Black Widow—that you tried to blackmail me into killing, right? She didn't really take too kindly to the idea of a hit on her, and she wants to know almost as badly as I do who was behind it all. And if you think working with the 'Good Guys' has caused her to go soft? Well...she was always much better at interrogation than I was..." She leaned in over his shoulder, peering at his profile as she let him come to his own conclusions about what she meant by that; a most effective technique. His eyes flicked nervously to her. "I managed to get here first. But I can't imagine she's likely to be far behind." She let the statement hang in the air. His eyes had fixed on where her hand still lingered. When he still didn't speak she allowed herself a sigh.