Natasha awoke some time later to the clanking of keys in the locked door. She sat up and scooted away from it so as not to be hit by its inward swing. She turned to face the person entering, still crouched on the floor. Her hair hung in tangled clumps that covered half her face and the look in her eyes was a mixture of anger and relief.
A tall, white-haired gentleman stepped into the room. His hair was a strange contrast to his smooth, youthful face and well-toned body. He wore a simple pair of black jeans and a white t-shirt. There were sturdy looking black boots on his feet. He was a striking figure and Natasha briefly forgot her predicament.
Just before the door swung shut behind the man, a bird flew in and zoomed past him. It landed on the bed near Natasha. For a moment she stared at it in horror. Then she screeched and dove across the room as far away from it as possible.
The man looked down at her and then back at the bird in amusement. "Well. That's an odd reaction!" He nodded toward the jet-black bird. "That stubborn creature has been fluttering up and down the hallway for god knows how long, trying to figure out a way to get into your room. He must have flown in an open window on one of the upper levels and then found his way down the stairwell."
She looked at him and then back at the bird in horror and fear. She was afraid to talk. It just hopped around on the cot looking at her, cocking its head from one side to the other. It only seemed curious, but she imagined it attacking her head and tangling in her hair. Her fear stemmed from the fact that it had happened to her. More than once. She seemed to have bad luck with birds. They liked to dive bomb her head out of nowhere for some reason.
"It's a raven," the man said.
She looked back at him and her face twisted into a scowl. "Who the fuck cares what it is? Who are you? Why have you brought me here?" Her voice was still hoarse from screaming.
After locking them both inside the room, he turned back to Natasha with a gentle smile. "My name is Anthony, Natasha. Believe it or not, I am a friend. You won't think so now but eventually you will come to accept me as one. I hope." He paused, but not long enough for her to cut in. "You are here because you possess a very special talent... an 'ability'." He glanced at the raven again as he spoke. "You have suppressed the good in you for so long and shoved it so far down that you don't even realize your power exists. It won't manifest until you become who you truly are and stop pretending. You have been poisoned. Altered and tainted almost beyond repair, but I believe you possess the strength of character to pull yourself up and out of it. If you do that, you'll find freedom."
"What the fuck are you talking about? Listen... Anthony? Is it? Listen Anthony... Why don't you take all that mumbo-jumbo you just spoke and, along with this disgusting bird, shove it up your ass! I want a phone call and an attorney. If you are a 'friend' like you say you are, you will treat me with fairness and justice according to the way the law sees it. When a person is accused of something they get to have proper representation. I want to call Harley. I want a lawyer. I want out of this stinking hole of a room! Now!"
She had begun to rise to her feet and was glaring at him in pure, unbridled hatred. She stood to her full height and looked down at him, trying to appear as imposing and threatening as possible.
................
Anthony returned her gaze without saying anything. He just studied her face. He wasn't the Oracle. He couldn't see inside her mind. He had dealt with other people like her, though, and he knew it wouldn't be impossible to break her free. It would be unpleasant at times, but it was certainly within the realm of his (and his team's) capabilities.
The bird had taken refuge in the bathroom on the sink. It perched there, preening its glossy, black feathers. It looked up every so often to eye Natasha up and down before returning to its preening.
"Why don't you have a seat while I explain a few things to you?" Anthony finally said, calmly gesturing toward the cot.
..............
Natasha realized that it wasn't a request when he stepped closer. He lifted her through the air and dropped her on her butt on the cot. She gasped as she looked up at him, shocked and horrified. "What the f---".
"Shut up for a moment, would you?"
She tried to finish her sentence, but she had suddenly lost the ability to speak or even open her mouth. She struggled for a moment and then gave up, realizing she wouldn't get her voice back until she became more cooperative.
He crouched down in front of her so that she had no choice but to look him directly in the eye. She glared at him in silence.
"Now. You need to listen to what I tell you because every word is extremely important. How well you accept what I'm saying and how quickly you adjust, adapt, and resign to it will determine just how long you will be confined against your will and how uncomfortable your experience will be. Do you understand?"
She stared at him hatefully.
"I expect a nod of the head or some inclination you understand me, or I will get up and leave you here alone. Maybe come try again later. Am I clear?"
Her eyes had grown wide at that point. She nodded her head this time, frightened he would leave and not give her any answers or, even more importantly, let her out.
"Alright then." He stood up and turned his back toward her. After a moment he swung back around and leaned against the door. "You believe that you are here as some sort of punishment for kidnapping the detective woman, but that is not really the case. See, Natasha... people like you and I must follow a different set of rules than normal people follow. We don't have judges, juries, lawyers, and courtrooms. We have telepaths, time travelers, empaths, and enforcers. Our rules are different because our powers are different. More advanced and more potentially dangerous. Not only to the normal people, but to ourselves and each other as well."
"We are powerful in ways that some people couldn't even imagine. Which is why, my dear girl, we do not have the option to be evil. We are not given that choice. Our purpose here is to protect the innocent and promote what is right. We eradicate those who seek to cause harm to innocent creatures. We are here to rid the planet of cruelty and bring back balance. Unfortunately evil has all but destroyed the good of the human race. Do you know what that causes?"
He looked at her, watching the emotions cross her face. She was listening intently. Good. "It causes human evolution to slow down and come to a stop. It then begins to reverse itself. We stop progressing and begin regressing. Hatred and jealousy. Greed and conceit. These are the products of a lower life-form than the one we aspire to be. Evil is simply a result of our species not evolving and ascending the way we were meant to. It is unbalanced. Why? Because evil goes forth, rapes, pillages, spreads its seed without conscience. Good protects, befriends, and only will enter when invited to do so. That makes it seem as though goodness is weakness, but that is far from true. Purity IS strength. Just because there is more of something doesn't make it stronger."
He walked over and crouched down in front of her, again forcing her to look directly into his eyes. "That is where we step in. If we don't, our species... humankind.... will be reduced to ashes quicker than you can blink your eye. It takes effort and there is resistance, but that won't last forever. Humans have the inclination to fear and hate what they do not understand, but eventually evolution (if allowed to progress) will eliminate that flaw. We can progress, unhindered by hate, greed, vanity, and fear."
Natasha realized that the ability to speak had been returned to her at some point, but she chose to remain silent. This guy was emptying out a lot of information on her all at once. She tried to keep up. She believed him when he'd said it was important and that her understanding it would make things easier on her. She thought, if she just cooperated with them, maybe they'd allow her to go home.
"I realize this is a lot for you to take in all at once, but I assure you that it's very important and has everything to do with you. Again he glanced over at the raven then back at her. "You are one of us. That makes you our responsibility. What you do from here on out has to be according to our code. Whether you want to be or not, you are meant to be a hero."
She looked stared at him in shock.
"Unfortunately you fell into the possession of a snake," he continued. "A man who is pure evil. He has twisted and corrupted you. Why don't you ask yourself something while I go and round up some dinner for you? Why don't you stop and think about why it is, really, that you wanted so badly to take him down. To see him suffer. Think about that for a bit. I know you're hungry. I'll be back in about half an hour and you can give me your thoughts while you eat something."
He chuckled as he rose from his crouched position in front of her. "Consider it your first homework assignment," he said lightly. "See you soon, kid. Don't worry. The worst will be over before you know it. We've got to detox you. Won't be fun but it’s necessary."
With that he turned and unlocked the door, slipped out, and locked it again.
Natasha stared at the door until a rustling caught her attention from the bathroom and she turned to look at the black bird still perched on the sink. She stared at it for a long while. Her mind was blank. Her emotions were blank. She just stared.
Slowly she tuned back in and her first coherent thought was Anthony's question for her before he left... Why did she want to see Harley suffer? That was easy! Wasn't it? She wanted him to suffer like he made other people suffer! She wanted him to feel the pain he caused. She wanted him groveling and begging for mercy like he had made her do on so many occasions. Like he had made many other people do, too. People who weren't as strong as she was. Some of whom had been too physically weak to live through his abuse, or too mentally fragile to remain sane. She wanted to break him, but most of all she wanted to stop him. She wanted to end him. She didn't want him to continue torturing people and killing them, or making them into what she had become.
Her mind was reeling and without knowing it she stood to her feet. She was breathing deeply and her heart was racing. There was a look of such determination and hatred. Suddenly a "squawk" sounded right in her ear and she jumped, shocked to find that the raven had flown over and perched on her shoulder. The "squawk" snapped her out of the trance she seemed to have fallen into. She fought off the urge to violently shake the creature off of her shoulder. Instead, she shoved her fear down deep and kept Anthony's words in mind. If she wanted to evolve, she needed to overcome the evil she had become and rid herself of corruption. When she accomplished that, she would have super-human powers!
"So you want to be on my team, huh, bird?" She looked at the raven from the corner of her eye. Maybe she was mad. Insane. Now she was talking to a bird. She didn't care anymore. It let out a small chirp and leaned over to peck her face gently before turning its attention to its own feathers. She didn't even flinch.
She laughed a small, hollow sounding laugh and then sat down on the cot to await her dinner.
Edited.
(A/N: Please don't forget to vote. What do you think of Natasha?)