Retrouvailles

The Interrogation: Nightmares

TW: nightmares, distressing themes, violence, and mentions electrocution.

No One's POV

After three nights of no sleep, mostly because she forced herself to stay awake more than anything, Ira finally allowed herself to fall asleep or exhaustion caught up with her. Either way she finally got the sleep she desperately needed— but it came with a cost, one that fortunately was found out by a friend rather than another member of the Avengers. When the redhead got down to the interrogation room the sun had barely risen over the horizon, meaning no one else in the compound would be awake yet and she'd have all the privacy she'd need to check up on her friend all by herself. She knew Ira finally fell asleep last night, she made sure that JARVIS, the compound's AI, kept an eye on the woman and would give her updates in the morning about her condition. And up until now there was very little to tell since she never fell asleep yet and most of the time she spent awake was in the presence of a guard or another member of the Avengers. So she didn't have the opportunity to let her walls down in a purposeful or subconscious way thus far, so when she finally fell asleep last night Natasha knew she had to go check the security footage before anyone else could see anything in it. Because if she could assume anything about her best friend then it could be the fact they share the same issue from time to time when they're asleep. It's the only time they can't control their emotions and it allows them to bubble to the surface whether they like it or not. So when she sees the hours long recording of Ira mumbling and jerking around in her sleep with cold sweats her heart broke at the sight of it. There she saw that one of the strongest people she knew reduced to someone so small and unrecognizable, someone that looked like could be broken at the simplest of touches. Not the same person who survived over a lifetime of horrors.

Seeing her like that made Natasha feel like they were back at the Red Room, and although that place was destroyed a few years ago by her own hands it still felt very real again, which is why she fell back into a role she once held with Ira easily. A protector. It's a role they both held equally but given the circumstances only Natasha had that power at the moment. So, instead of allowing her team to use the recordings they gained last night to their advantage she deleted the footage and used the few moments of peaceful sleep she had against them by putting the clips on a continuous loop. One that's so good not even Bruce or Tony could suspect anything wrong. Because although Steve woke up a little after she does it'd be very easy to pass doctored footage under his nose. While he might be up to date with technology after years of being on their team he's still very naïve about the scope of it's power. An imperfect loop can be explained away with a glitch in the system, and he'd agree with the excuse without any thought to it, but because of this he's not the one to check the footage in the mornings, and why her loop has to be flawless. Which is why when the two genius' come in a few moments later to check the footage her shoulders tense up out of nervousness. But her energy was wasted on that emotion, because after a few moments of watching it they let out synchronized huffs of frustration at the lack of information they attained. After days of her not giving them anything to work with they had hoped that her sleeping would give them something to give to Steve and Clint to work to their advantage— especially since it's a well known fact that Natasha has nightmares too. They thought, considering all of their similarities and the similar trauma they experienced, that their responses to said trauma would manifest in the same way. But they think it didn't and they walk out of the cramped room to deliver the news, leaving Natasha alone to celebrate her small victory. One that might be short lived if she ever gets caught. But one thing's for certain— she needs to know what's going on in her nightmares, and she'll need some help to do that.

Because from what she could gather the nightmare she had last night was about their graduation ceremony. That fact alone was enough to ground Natasha to her seat because that day has been tattooed into her mind since it happened. The Red Room graduation ceremony is simple if you don't count the part where you have to fight for your life almost everyday until you're eighteen years old before it happens. The ceremony itself takes place after a final test they put trainees through to prove their skills are perfected and that their operatives will be perfect and unbreakable in the field. And they consider the ceremony to reinforce that sentiment by taking away what they consider the biggest distraction. Children. Because the Red Room is a one of a kind place it's fitting that their ceremony fits the same horrible teachings by forcibly sterilizing all of their graduates. Normally this procedure isn't a problem for their operatives to face but every once and a while they are a few that fight back, and Natasha was one of them, much to their great displeasure. Because she fought back in a different way she thought that would've saved her from it happening. But, sadly, it still did. Natasha tried her best to fail the test on purpose but failed. They saw right through it and passed her regardless because the tests have been performed before on multiple occasions and all of those occasions' results were heavily recorded too. So they could tell right away she was messing up purposely. It made the ceremony that much harder for her to endure and it's why she still has nightmares about it. But because of the ones Ira is having she's assuming that the day left a distinct mark in her mind and she wants to see it for herself. Which means she'll need the help of one of her teammates and although it might be a long shot she has a feeling that Wanda might actually help her figure Ira's nightmares out.