Captain America: Age of Chaos

Opening Up

Clara got Natasha to her apartment. Natasha walked in and just sat on her couch.

Clara looked at her. "Do you need anything?"

"Agent... I don't need you help. I'll figure this out on my-"

"Bullshit!" Clara yelled. Natasha looked at her tiredly.

Clara just shut the door of the apartment and stormed over to Natasha. "I know you're Captain America, I know... I understand that. But! You are also Natasha Barnes. You are a human who has been controlled and treated like garbage for far too long." Clara said as her rant started.

Natasha just looked at her, with no energy left in her.

"I am one of the people who want to protect you. For fuck sake it's my job to protect you! Let me do that! Let me be your right hand!" Clara said as she looked at her.

"Let me take care of you."

Natasha just kept her eyes on her. "What will it take for me to make you go away..."

"Nothing."

Natasha stood up and stood in front of her. "Zima and I are not stable..." she started.

Clara looked at her. "... she has full reign right now. What will you do if Zima becomes a problem when you're here..." Natasha said looking at her through her hair.

"I'm going to help her too." Clara said as her words shook slightly.

"You think you can help the person who has murdered thousands, even a president, dictators..." Natasha said seriously.

Clara simply stood there and looked at her. She didn't waver one bit. "I can..."

Natasha chuckled slightly and sighed as she walked to her room pulling her shirt off. "Fine..."

Clara watched her close the door. How could a human being be so... stubborn to the point they wouldn't want help.

Clara didn't understand. She simply just tidied up the apartment.

Natasha came out of her room a little while later. She stayed in there for a while hoping Clara would leave, but all she saw on her couch was Clara sitting on the couch looking through her phone.

"I thought you'd leave." Natasha said as she noticed the living room a bit cleaner. There wasn't much to even clean considering there was only a couch, a chair, coffee table and a tv.

"Nope. Especially since earlier you were trying to freeze yourself to death..." Clara said as she put her phone down and looked at her.

Natasha looked at her and then back at her hands. "Sorry for my outburst earlier."

"It's okay. But... we need to talk." Clara said as she patted the couch beside her.

"I need you to tell me about your time in Hydra. I know it's going to be hard, but it's the only way for me to understand how to attempt to help you." Clara said with a soft smile.

Natasha sat down and didn't even look at Clara. She didn't even know where to start.

"Uh... well." Natasha picked at her fingers. "They took me when I was really young. I was with them for ten years." she said recalling it.

"They trained me in everything you could possibly imagine." Natasha said.

"How did they get you to be a weapon?" Clara asked.

Natasha held her head. She was feeling for something. She then reached over for Clara's hand and placed it on her head. "What you're feeling is a scar... they electrocuted our brains so much that it left scars on the electricity entry points." Natasha said as her mind drift back to when they would.

Natasha cried out as blood trickled down her face. The Hydra agent turned off the shock.

"That's enough. Take her back to her cell."

"It would get so bad to the point we couldn't even walk back to our cells..." Natahsa said.
Natasha carefully moved her hand.

"The shock is what tears you apart. They then reprogram your mind to respond to an activation code. And this is after they wipe your mind completely."

"Your name..." natahsa laid there with her eyes blank.

"I...I don't know..."

"Good."

"I didn't even know who I was for a very long time."

Clara looked at her heartbroken.

"They sent me on missions where I would do mainly assassination work..." a single tear went down Natasha's face as she looked at Clara.

"I remember every person I killed." Natasha looked back at her hands and sighed.

"It took them years to put me back together. They had to find the puzzle pieces, make new pieces, everything. They had to deal with Zima, they had to deal with my outbursts, etc." Natasha sighed and stood up as she walked over to the window.

"I tried to end things, but it's harder to die when you're a super soldier. But eventually... I found my life again, and pushed through."

She heard Clara walked over to her and stop behind her. Natahsa couldn't bear to meet Clara's gaze.

Clara walked over to her and hugged her tightly. Natahsa stood there as tears formed even more in her eyes.

Natasha hugged her slightly and stared at the ground. Clara held her head gently. "I'll protect you... "

"You're only saying that cause it's your job." Natasha said.

Clara tightened the hug. "It's because I'm your friend."

Natasha just let the tears fall at that.

Madam stood in her office. John watched her glare at a map of the city as she impatiently waited for someone.

"Who are you waiting for..." he said annoyed.

"A friend." She said as someone walked into the office. Madam looked at him. "About damn time..." she said.

"Sorry. The agent was a bit chatty and was enjoying coffee just a bit too much."

"Good. John, meet Oliver. Our inside man for SHIELD and Agent Carter."

"Oh I love spies." John said sarcastically.

"Oh don't worry... he will get us the results we want. He's my best agent since Zima. He will do wonderfully. Won't you?"

"Yes ma'am. I promise."