Katta dodged a punch and threw a high kick that directly went into Barnes's jaw. He retreated a few steps before again raising his fists.
When Katta and Steve had returned from Doctor Strange, Natasha and Clint had been gone to fulfil another mission. Banner regularly had her in his laboratory to check on her condition, and Steve and Barnes spent their time training with her.
He lunged forward and grabbed her throat with his metal arm, pushing her against the wall and raising her slightly, causing her feet to lose track of the ground. Katta clamped around his hand to loosen his grip but couldn't make his hand open.
"You give up?" he asked. Katta felt becoming lightheaded but stayed stubborn. She wouldn't grant him the satisfaction of winning against her - fucking metal arm.
"I asked, whether you give up?" he pressed through his teeth, slightly shaking her.
Katta used all her strength to shake her head before kicking into his guts. He backed away and let go of her throat. She fell to her knees and gasped for air. Still kneeling, she pulled out a knife from behind her back, ready to attack.
"You wanna do it this way?" he asked, pulling out a knife as well, making himself ready to defend. Katta looked at him, prepared to lunge forwards when Agent Coulson entered the training room.
"Sorry to be the party pooper, but I need to borrow Miss Harlovsen," he said, looking between the two. Katta got up and nodded. She proceeded to put it in her holster, but Barnes stepped forward, stretching out his hand.
"Only for training purposes," he stated. Katta reluctantly handed the knife over before unwrapping her knuckles.
"It was a good sparring," he said. Katta looked up at him.
"Sure," she answered. "Even though this is an unfair advantage." She tipped against his metal arm. He flexed his fingers and shrugged.
"I'm sure you can handle it."
Katta scoffed and walked towards Coulson, who still waited at the door. "Where are we going?" she asked as he let her through the building.
"I'm afraid I'm not authorized to give you that information." Coulson opened a door and motioned her to step in. The bare room only contained a table and two chairs opposite each other.
"That's quite a cliche for an interrogation room, don't you think?" Katta asked but took the chair he pointed at.
Steve entered the room and took the other chair. Katta raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "I'm wounded, Rogers. I thought we were partners in investigation."
"Investigation, yes. Partners, no," he answered, opening a folder. Katta's smile faded. He wanted to be the bad cop? Fine.
"I didn't expect you to do the interrogation, Rogers. You seem a bit too warm-hearted to squeeze the truth out of victims," she stated, leaning back onto her chair.
"I'm full of surprises," he said dryly, looking up from the files and presenting her a picture. Katta knew the motive well enough. It had been taken on one of her Hydra missions, one of the few she had done with almost all her siblings.
"Tell me about that picture," he demanded, observing her.
"It was a nice day. Maybe a bit cold, but the soup was good," she answered, bored.
"Harlovsen," he said sharply. "You might want to answer the questions. Otherwise, we'd need to rethink our part of the deal."
"Ah," Katta leaned forwards. "This is how you're playing."
He nodded. First world war hero, my ass. But what had she to lose. This information wouldn't help them anyway.
"7 years ago, Siberia. Mission: Abducting the scientist Jurga Nowikow. No survivors," Katta repeated the facts of the task they had been given.
"And what about this one," Steve laid another picture at the table that showed her in a black dress at the inauguration speech of the last president.
"5 years ago, New York. Mission: Preventing terrorist attack on the old vice president. 4 Injured - 2 dead." Katta replayed the happenings in her head.
"Did you work for H.Y.D.R.A back then?" Rogers asked. Katta shook her head.
"But do you remember anything you did while you were working for them?" Steve raised his eyebrow.
"It's not like I had a contract," Katta remarked bitterly. "I did not work for them. They used me—all of us. And not only could they make me obey to the quietest whisper. They made me remember it. Every shot, every punch, every life taken," she stated harshly.
"Bucky didn't remember--" Steve started.
"Other countries, other customs," Katta interrupted him. He only nodded before speaking on. "When and how did you leave them?"
Katta glared at him. "Quite a lot of questions you have here, Rogers. What do I get in return?"
He frowned. "What did you think of, Harlovsen?"
"I would love to see the sun again, sometimes," she smiled faintly, tilting her head.
"You want to go outside," he stated.
"Very clever. Now I understand why they hired you, Rogers." Katta watched his face distorting in annoyance. This man truly was quickly offended. Not a good quality in this job.
"That is something I can't decide." He closed the folder and looked at her. Katta mirrored his gaze. The time had come for him to take a step in her direction. It was part of her H.Y.D.R.A training. Interrogation 101. Give and take equally. She'd given him information, and now it was her turn to stir the negotiation in the right direction.
"It is as easy as that, Captain. Answers for Authorization."
Steve examined her with a hard stare as if he wanted to look inside her. She leaned back in her chair. "You can always accompany me, Steve," she whispered, winking at him.
〰〰〰
"And he is out," Tony sighed, looking through the one-way mirror. "How can someone become so uncomfortable by a woman that is simply using one's first name." He shook his head.
"Indulge him. From the time he comes, that probably meant almost hooking up." Sam laughed, even earning a grin from Bucky, who had joined them to watch the interrogation.
"We should probably allow her going outside under surveillance," Bruce said, looking through the window at Steve, who tried to gather himself. As if she had heard him, Katta looked up, and it seemed like she could see them through the mirrored surface.
"She would easily put down every agent we make watching her," Wanda stated. She had tried to gain as much space between her and this whole recruiting thing, still having issues with threatening people.
"Oh, welcome to the conversation, witch," Tony remarked sarcastically.
"Bite me," she retorted.
"Easy thing. Barnes will look over her." Sam bit into a burrito, looking at the winter soldier. "That means if you don't feel uncomfortable being accompanied by a woman," he added, smirking at Bucky.
"Speaking of which, I better get Steve out of that room," Bucky answered, leaving the monitoring room.
"I'll take over, Steve," he said upon entering the interrogation room. His friend quickly got up, clearing his throat. Bucky took his seat and looked at Katta, who watched him with a bare expression.
"You'll get outside under the following conditions," he started. "One: Thirty minutes maximum per day. Two: You'll be under surveillance by one of us the entire time. Three: When we notice that you try either to flee, harm somebody or even think about setting off another bomb, the arrangement is cancelled."
Katta shortly thought about it before nodding.
"Perfect, answer the question then," Bucky demanded. A faint smile grazed over her face.
"I will tell you when the two of us do a walk outside." Katta could feel that he fought with himself before giving her a curt nod and standing up. The door immediately opened, and she followed him through the corridors until he stopped in front of the exit, grabbing her arm. She tensed under the touch, freezing in her move.
"Last warning, Harlovsen. One wrong move and the whole deal is over."
She nodded and breathed in as he let go of her and opened the door. Katta inhaled as she felt the fresh air waving over her skin when she stepped outside. They faced a vast inner courtyard with grass all over it.
She noticed the surveillance cameras filming the whole place.
"Now talk," Bucky said, watching how Katta carefully examined her environment. She nodded and took a seat at a bench. She started kneading her hands, something he'd seen on her repeatedly when she seemed in thoughts.
"It was during our last mission that Olaf's mind malfunctioned, and he suddenly broke free from the H.Y.D.R.A control. Without any warning, he was thrown back into reality and faced with a hard decision. He could either rely on what he'd been preached the last decades and thought was true - or revolt." Katta swallowed upon the memory. If Olaf had decided any differently, she would likely still be working for H.Y.D.R.A. Barnes cleared his throat, ripping her from her thoughts.
"Eh, yes. Back in the base, he acted as if everything was normal, slowly working against the institution by manipulating their experiments and security systems. One by one, he prevented us from being again controlled in the vicious circle. When the last of us had awoken from their H.Y.D.R.A self, we burned the institution down with no survivors." Her voice trembled a bit as she remembered the situation.
Bucky sat next to her and looked down. He had fought with nightmares about his time at H.Y.D.R.A but didn't even remember the details about his missions. Katta, on the other side, seemed to have a clear memory of everything that had happened.
"You're doing it again," she remarked without looking at him.
"Doing what?"
"Being pitiful doesn't suit you, Barnes." Katta got up and walked back inside and towards her room.