I'll Be Back For You [NatXReader]

Chapter 10 - TIMEHEIST!!

A/N: There is a TRIGGER WARNING in this chapter. Please - if you need to... PLEASE Skip it. It's brief and marked clearly.

-Lok

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POV: Y/N

Year 5: 2023

Nearly five years to the day from the Snap, I could feel the stress of the memories of those that were lost. I sighed, not being able to focus on training. I left the training room and headed towards the front doors.

"Friday, can you tell Nat that I will be going for a walk? I have my cell phone on me if she needs anything." I asked, as I got close to the door.

"Message received and passed on, Ms. Romanova." Friday answered back.

"Thank you!" I opened the door and headed out, needing to just escape for a bit.

I walked from nearly noon until just after sunset. I sent a few text messages to Nat, saying I was on my way home. After turning on my location, I shoved my cell phone in my jacket pocket and began my journey back home to the compound.

"Hey good looking..." a voice called from a dark alley on my left. I ignored the voice, only to have a hand grab onto my wrist. "I said, hey good looking."

I faced the voice, spotting a tall man, muscular and heavily tattooed. It was the tear-drop tattoo under his eye that had me hesitating. My entire body tensed, my flight, fight or freeze sense immediately settling on freeze. My body began to feel stiff and heavy, cold and numb.

"What are you doing out here all alone?" the man asked, stepping close to me. I could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"I'm headed home, to my spouse and child." I answered, keeping my voice as level as I could. "Let me go, sir."

The man squeezed harder, tugging me into the alley. As much as I had been training, he was stronger. He took off his belt and bound my arms behind my back. He pulled out a knife and cut my clothes away, leaving me shivering in the cold. Grabbing a scrap of my jacket, he shoved it in my mouth, silencing any screaming I could have done.

-- TRIGGER WARNING: Sexual Assault/Violence --

I clenched my eyes shut as his hands roamed my body. With my hands bound the way they were, there was nothing I could do. His rough fingers traced over every inch of skin that he could see. I flinched as he touched me in a way that only Nat had, this set him off. He began to beat me, his fists connecting with my stomach, chest and head. I fought the dizziness and overwhelming urge to pass out, when I heard my phone ring. Nat's ringtone specifically. I couldn't fight the tears. I wanted to scream out for her. Without warning, his hands went lower on my body, invading in a way that I didn't want. The cloth in my mouth muffled the sound of me begging him to stop.

Fifteen minutes, that's what it took for the man to finish what he wanted to do. As he pulled his clothes back on, he used the knife and slit across my throat, the blood bubbling up. I couldn't tell how bad it was, but the blood was flowing freely, soaking the ground around me. Without a care, he ripped his belt off my arms. I felt one of my arms snap.

-- END TRIGGER WARNING --

I waited, pretending to be lifeless, until he was long gone. I reached for my phone and saw the four missed calls and multiple texts. It was the last one that got me concerned. Nat said she tracked my phone and was on her way to find me. I typed out our special code for needing help, getting our confirmation code back with a number - 2. She was two minutes away at the most.

I heard her car long before I saw it, I managed to pull what little clothes that he hadn't shredded. I covered my lower body, not wanting Nat to know what happened. I'd take this secret to the grave. I didn't want her to know that he had done what he did.