Natasha thought that she would have been given a small break from what she went through in the isolation room, but she was wrong. The small bag of supplies that she had been given was a false sense of security, which she realized not even an hour later when a guard came into her cell. He looked her over and scowled that she needed to change into the clothes that were brought to her. Natasha gave him a look that was meant to say, 'make me,' and he promptly left the room. He returned a minute later with a bucket of water and unexpectedly tossed it on her. "Either freeze to death in those wet rags you are wearing or change...now," he demanded. Having little choice, she did as she was told when he left the room. Just as before, he returned again shortly after with several other guards this time. She was brought back to the room that she had woken up in after she had been captured and was chained up just like the other day. Fighting back against the guards proved to do little, especially when they had tasers. She stopped fighting and saved her strength for whatever Yuri had in store for her next.
The cold of the room she could handle, it was the waiting that was driving her crazy. The guards left her there after placing a cuff around each wrist and left the door wide open. She tried to slip free but she knew it would be no use, the open door taunted her escape and made her mad. The room looked exactly the same as before, her dried blood still coating the floor beneath her feet.
"Uggh, gross," she complained and then threw her head back in frustration.
"Gross?" a man's voice questioned from the open doorway. He smiled when she snapped to attention and analyzed him.
"Yuri," she stated though there was so much more that she wanted to say. She was almost afraid to, any small bit of information could be used against her and she had to keep her friends, and Thea, safe.
"Hello there dear sister, could I call you that? I mean we both called the same man, father. And that was before you took him from me."
Natasha watched as he entered the room and circled her like trapped prey. Calling her sister infuriated every fiber of her being, but she forced her stare to remain blank. She wouldn't even give him the satisfaction of a twitch to indicate that she was pissed. She would give this man nothing.
"So tell me, Natasha, what in the world had you following Miss Thea Grekov? Could she possibly mean something to you?"
Yuri stopped right in front of her and she forced herself to remain calm. She had the perfect shot to injure him somehow, but would her doing that give him some sort of idea? Thinking it would, she focused on some imaginary object behind him and completely ignored him.
"I see how you're going to play this," Yuri sighed. "I have all the time in the world to get what I want. I'm going to take this to the next phase but I need your cooperation. For one..." he trailed as he pressed his hand against her injured shoulder, "I want to know why your healing rate has slowed."
To be honest, Natasha wanted to know as well, but she wasn't going to let Yuri know that she knew just as much as he did. She forced away a shudder as his hands then trailed across her body, finding the cuts she had to make in the isolation room to keep her mind sharp. They found the bullet wounds, still raw but healing slightly more than the average human.
"Would you like to tell me?"
She wanted to smile when his brow furrowed in frustration, but she kept her face straight and just let him keep talking.
"Fine, don't tell me. I'm just curious because the serum levels are reading as the exact same as they day you were first injected."
Natasha had to bite her tongue to keep from looking at him in wonder, she didn't know that.
"But back to the girl, could she be the long lost product of Phase Two?"
Natasha could have kicked herself for letting herself slip, the fury that raged through her soul at the mention of a 'product' made her lash out. She delivered a kick so forceful that Yuri was knocked straight out of the room and onto his ass. He recovered quickly though and surged forward, grabbing her by the neck. She silently thanked him for keeping her feet free from chains and for him being too angry to realize this himself and brought them up between them, pushing him off and back onto the 'gross' floor. The glare he shot her before stomping out of the room made her grin this time in satisfaction.
He was gone for two minutes and when he came back, he had four guards with him, and two were holding up an unconscious girl, littered with bruises from a previous fight. She could have died right there as she realized who it was.
Yuri all but snarled at her in his madness. "Are you sure you don't know who this really is?" he asked as the guards threw her to the stone floor at her feet.
She couldn't confirm it, there was no way she would put her daughter in any more danger. "Nope. I only needed her for information, she means nothing to me."
"Oh," Yuri said disappointed, "then I guess we will have to ask her if you, dear sister, mean anything to her."
Natasha's heart began to race as Yuri instructed the guards to chain Thea's hands. She was then connected to the wall, but she still hadn't stirred. One of the guards then left the room and came back with a bucket of water. He was about to throw it on the girl to wake her up when Yuri stopped him and grabbed it himself. Instead of throwing it on Thea, he instead threw it on Natasha, soaking her to the bone once again.
Natasha just knew what was coming next, she had seen him glance at one of the other guards tasers. She ended up being right and grimaced as the taser made contact with her stomach. She felt the shock of electricity all over her body, accelerated by the contact with water, and surprisingly stopped a small cry from escaping her lips. As soon as it was over, she felt Yuri's hot breath tell her that it was for her little 'outburst' earlier.
He threw the bucket back at the guard who went and refilled it, and then woke up Thea with the freezing liquid before ordering everyone out of the room.
Natasha watched as Thea immediately came to, pulling at her chains in an attempt to figure out what was going on. She made contact with Yuri's eyes first, and the hatred in them told Natasha that the two had some sort of history. She could tell that the girl was about to speak, but her wandering eyes caught sight of Natasha and horror reflected in them. The look that she gave her had told her that Thea had also figured it out somehow, that they were family. Before Thea could even say a word, Natasha quickly shook her head 'no', in an attempt to keep her from spilling what they had just discovered about each other.
Yuri then turned to Natasha and joined her at her side, and then looked Thea up and down before speaking. "We are gathered here today to try and get some answers..." he started before getting cut off by Thea.
"Pfft, good luck," the girl said with a small laugh before turning serious. "There is no way I'm going to tell you a thing after what you did to my family."
Yuri smiled and repeated, "oh your family?" while looking from Thea to Natasha next to him.
Natasha could almost see Thea's mind working, and she smiled when Thea dodged his presumption by making it seem like she had no idea what was going on.
"Yes," she said, "my family. You've been after us for years, Yuri Petrovitch. You killed my mother, my father, and for all I know my brother as well."
Yuri's face fell. That wasn't exactly what he wanted to hear, but it was true. "I see," he said as he looked to the blood stained floor sadly. "But were they really your family?" he asked as he looked up with a new smile on his face.
"Let me tell you two a story," he began as he watched Thea's face fall. "Once upon a time, there was a princess who lived in a castle. The princess was taught many things and she loved her father dearly. Her father also loved her very much and gave her a gift one day. This gift later turned his daughter into an ungrateful wench and caused a great sadness in the king. He then went to a magical wizard and asked him how he could ever be happy again. The wizard then created a magic seed and told him to give it to the princess, that it would make him happier than ever before, so he did. But man was he wrong. The princess grew the seed and loved it more than she loved her father, so she took it and ran far away. The king sent his knights after her so he could take the gift back, but eventually, the gift broke. The princess was so mad that she killed all of the knights and then killed the king too. The end"
All while Yuri told his story, Thea kept stealing glances to Natasha. She noticed the tears she fought to keep back and then she finally understood. Natasha was never after her in malice, hell, she probably didn't even know who she was based on their encounters. Anatoli had it all wrong, but what happened?
"At least we thought that was the end," Yuri continued as he now stood in front of Thea. "Now I want you to tell me, does that woman," he said as he pointed to Natasha across the room, "does that wench mean anything to you?"
Yuri was already smiling in triumph, believing that Thea would confirm the theory he had been after for all of these years.
"Nope," she said, and his face fell. He knew he wasn't wrong, he just wanted them to say it. He wanted to break them just like his father had once broken Natasha.
"Fine," was all he said before turning his back to her. "I have other ways of making you talk."
Yuri had hardly finished his sentence when he rounded on Thea and knocked her to the floor with a strength Natasha hadn't seen in him before. It couldn't be the serum, she remembered destroying the last of it. What if it's what he's been working on these last few decades, in the dark. Her thoughts we cut off when Yuri rained more blows onto Thea.
"Stop!" Natasha yelled in vain as she watched the girl try to defend herself the best she could while bound. After what seemed like forever, Yuri stopped and sauntered over to Natasha.
"Stop?" he asked while eyeing Thea at the same time as she shakily got to her feet. "Is there anything you would like to tell me?" Natasha's eyes shot over to Thea and was met with a shake of her head, telling her that she could handle it. "Yeah," Natasha said, "you have something on your lip." Yuri went to touch his lip and in the same moment, Natasha threw her head forward and headbutted him, splitting his lip open in the process.
Yuri let out a roar and promptly grabbed his knife from his belt, slicing it across Natasha's chest in the process before turning to Thea once again in a single fluid motion. Natasha managed to grab onto the chain above her and pull her body up, using her legs to knock the knife from Yuri's hand. He scowled back at her as she dropped back down and half turned towards her before giving her a wicked smile, and going for Thea once again.
Yuri managed to pin Thea to the wall and hit her in the stomach once again, knocking the wind from her. Yuri let her go then and she promptly crumpled to the floor. When Yuri went to kick her, Thea grabbed onto his foot and pulled, causing his other foot to slip in the water that covered the floor. Triumph flashed in Thea's eyes when he fell, and she used her cuffs to wrap around his neck. Natasha could tell that Thea was a moment away from strangling him to death when a guard barged in pointed a gun at Thea's head to let him go.
Thea didn't budge, and the choking sounds of the man in her grasp didn't faze her. When the guard cocked his gun back, she didn't even flinch, instead, she looked up at the man and dared him to pull the trigger. Natasha couldn't take it anymore, she knew that Yuri wouldn't kill them, but would a desperate guard?
"Thea, let him go," she coaxed. It took a few moments until Thea looked at her in confusion. "Let him go," she said again. Finally, Yuri started gasping for air when the chain around his neck loosened and he pulled himself free. The guard helped him out of the room and the two women remained in silence because Yuri could be heard arguing with the guard. A gunshot rang out and startled them, and Natasha knew instantly that Yuri had killed the guard in frustration.
Yuri returned a minute later with a new guard and looked like he had gone mad. For the second time that night, Natasha became afraid, not for her, but for Thea. "Someone is going to have to pay for that," he said viciously. "Since no one is willing to talk, it's time for a punishment." His cold eyes looked from Natasha to Thea, and then back to Natasha. Their eyes met and Natasha's body lost all feeling when he pointed to Thea, choosing her for the punishment. He knew that he could use Thea to hurt her more than any blade ever could. With a rush of inhuman speed, he made it to Thea and plunged his knife, still coated in Natasha's blood, into her shoulder. Thea wasn't expecting it and did her best to defend herself when the guard stepped in and held her in place. Natasha screamed for Yuri to stop as he littered Thea's body with blows and gashes. She screamed like she never had before to get him to focus on her, to leave Thea alone and give the pain to her instead.
The abuse stopped then and Yuri rounded to face Natasha. "What did you say?" he asked with malice. "I said that I'll take it, leave her alone," she pleaded with unfamiliar tears streaming down her face. If anyone could see her now, they would scowl at how broken she was. She hadn't felt this kind of despair since the night Ksenia was born.
"Natasha, no," Thea called out as she spit out a clot of blood. "I can handle it; I've been trained for this sort of thing."
"I know you think you can," Natasha called over, "but something isn't right, he isn't right," she finished as she gave Yuri a knowing look.
"So you've noticed," he said with a small grin, though he didn't offer any sort of explanation as to why he was so strong and fast.
Natasha could tell that Thea had no idea what she was talking about and tried to protest, but Yuri now had his sights on Natasha.
He signaled to the guard to leave and Natasha watched as his hand disappeared into his pocket. Her hands were then released from her cuffs and she realized that he probably had some sort of automatic switch. The door to the room then slammed shut and the dim light overhead made the shadows on Yuri's face dance in a way that looked almost identical to Ivan Petrovitch. He stood between her and Thea and then without warning, he lunged. Natasha saw it coming and dodged, turning to get in a hit but her hands never made contact. Yuri had somehow ended up behind her and slashed his knife across her back. Natasha hissed in pain and tried to turn to him, but strong hands gabbed both of her arms and slammed her into the wall next to Thea.
Thea tried to reach him, but he was just out of her grasp and she watched as Natasha fought to move from her pinned position. "Why not just let her take the pain? Why take it for yourself?" he asked Natasha as he readjusted himself to grab both of her hands in one of his. In his other, he used the knife and brushed it across Natasha's cheek. Thin beads of blood dripped down as she struggled. "I thought you would heal quicker than this," he said, disappointed when her healing rate wasn't comparing to his notes on her; he would just have to experiment. The knife was then brought across her back once more and then Natasha collapsed to the floor when he hit her in the temple with the knife's bloody hilt, and she was now in Thea's reach. She hit the ground hard and laid stunned. She tried to gather her thoughts as blackness threatened to pull her under when a voice pulled her back into the light.
"Stop!" Thea pleaded as she positioned her body over Natashas, "I'll take it, leave her alone!"
No she won't, Natasha thought as she pulled herself up and moved in front of the pleading girl. She shook away the fuzziness in her brain and glared at Yuri. Through bloodstained teeth, she threatened him to not touch Thea. Yuri laughed and Natasha could see that he wasn't even trying to hurt her yet. Over her shoulder, she whispered protectively to Thea, "don't you tell him a damned thing, no matter what he says or what he does. They can't kill me."
In a flash, Yuri slid forward and grabbed Natasha by the throat and quite literally threw her across the room. She hit the wall hard and not only felt, but heard her ribs crack. There was no time for recovery when Yuri grabbed her once again and lifted her into the air before slamming her back to the ground onto her back. The grip around her neck tightened but she fought back, wrapping her legs around his and causing him to fall. She winced as she rolled over and straddled him, raining blows to wherever she could. When all he did was smile at her during the blows, she realized that he had been pretending before. When she head-butted him in the nose earlier, kicked him from the room, split his lip...he let it happen as he tried to get a feel of her.
"Fuck," she muttered when the light in his eyes faded and quite literally turned black. With a sweep of his arm, he caught her in the chest and she was carried backwards, her back hitting the door and the clang echoing around the room. From that moment on, Natasha went into a haze and did her best to defend herself. After several more minutes, she finally collapsed as her body gave up.
Thea had watched in horror and was amazed at how well Natasha handled the abuse. She finally understood what she had meant when she said that 'he wasn't right.' She had never seen someone that strong before, and she knew that Natasha had an idea of what it was based on how she had fought; her techniques had been more defensive. She would have had the upper hand if Yuri hadn't been so strong...and fast. Natasha was fast, but Yuri had been faster and he also had a weapon. The whole time, Natasha had tried to keep herself between her and Yuri, despite her protest.
After what felt like an eternity for Thea, Natasha was left in the middle of the room, just out of her reach as Yuri stood over the Avengers broken form. He looked at Thea's tear streaked eyes and she could see just a hint of concern behind his cold smile. He's worried that he went too far...Natasha was right; he can't kill her. "I already knew the answer," he told her. "This horrible excuse of a Red Room assassin is your mother. DNA samples do not lie, but it seems as you do."
He seemed like he wanted her to say something, but she wouldn't. She wanted him to leave, to get out of the room so she could make sure Natasha was okay because she looked BAD. When she didn't say anything, he continued. "There are many things that I already know about you two, and things that I don't. I want the story...I want the missing pieces as well as your cooperation to fill in those blanks. It's up to you and my dear sister to finish this puzzle that has been bugging me since I was a child, so that we can move on to the next phase of the program. And if you don't..." he trailed as he looked down to Natasha at his feet, "If you don't, I will repeat this process over and over and over until one of you break." As he started to leave the room, he warned her that rescue would not be coming. "Welcome to the Red Room little spider," he called as he pulled open the door. "Oh, and one more thing," he called. "Your child will be joining us soon; it's only a matter of time."
He slammed the door shut and laughed manically as she threw every insult she could think of at him through the thick metal. Her fear grew as she realized he now knew about Juliette. She forced down those fears with the thoughts of her being with Natasha's teammates...safe. Pulling herself together, she focused back on Natasha...her mother.
"Natasha?" she called out. She couldn't reach her even while straining against the chains. Her outstretched hand was barely even three feet away from her shoulder. A puddle of crimson surrounded the injured woman and it seemed to be growing with each passing minute. "Natasha wake up!" she pleaded as she tried to stretch even further but it was no use. Her wrists started to bleed as she struggled against the chains and just as she made up her mind to try dislocating her thumbs to slip the cuffs, they released her, just as Natasha's cuffs had earlier.
She crawled over to the injured woman and froze, she didn't quite know where to lay her hands on the badly damaged body. "Natasha," she called gently as she decided to push a strand of hair from a cut on the red heads face. When the assassin didn't stir, she gently shook her by the shoulder and jumped when Natasha slightly recoiled from the hand that had touched her. Thea watched as she struggled to open her eyes and when she finally did, the relief that flooded across Natasha's face made her relax slightly.
For Natasha, it felt like forever had passed as she laid on the cold blood-stained floor. She felt cool hands touching her body as they unknowingly ignited pain underneath them. Her shoulder felt as if it had been obliterated, which was probably the case, but she couldn't be so sure yet, she would have to assess that later. Waves of pain wracked her body as she struggled to wake up. What did he do to you... she heard as another cool hand brushed against her face, this time gently. Thea! She realized as she finally kept her eyes open and struggled to get up. It was a pitiful excuse of an effort to move as she realized that she just...couldn't. She had to be strong, to show Thea that everything was going to be okay, but she was just so broken.
She felt Thea trying to thwart her efforts, though she barely had to even try. "Stop, Natasha...just try not to move," she heard her say. The pain wracking her body threatened to pull her under again as her adrenaline wore off, but she just had to make sure Thea was okay.
"Are you okay?" she choked out pitifully as she noticed the knife wound to Thea's shoulder. She attempted to reach out and assess it but what felt like an explosion from the pain knocked her back down and she couldn't help herself from crying out in pain.
"Mom!" Thea let slip in her worry. That name kept Natasha from passing out in that moment. It startled her but brought back a little clarity to her fuzzy mind. Thea was talking again, and she strained to focus.
"Why did you do that?" she was saying, "I could have taken that punishment, you already looked like he had dragged you through hell when I saw you."
Natasha smiled at her and reached forward again, this time already expecting the pain but fighting through it. Saving her the trouble, Thea grabbed her hand and eased it back down, but didn't let go. "I made you a promise," Natasha whispered as the blackness sawm back into her vision, "before you were even born, that I would protect you with everything that I had." The effort Natasha put into forming her words broke her out into a coughing fit as her broken ribs screamed at her. She groaned as the taste of copper coated her tongue and her world spun, forcing the black abyss to pull harder at her.
"Stop," she heard Thea whisper through the roar in her ears, "save your strength. I know they won't kill us, but you need to rest...please mom, just rest."
That was the last thing Natasha heard as the darkness finally won. She felt so close to death, but she had something to keep fighting for, she had to keep fighting. For the first time in a long time, she prayed that she would wake up.