𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙷𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝙱𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑

The Price of Freedom (Pt 4)

My head jolted forward in distress as I didn't know where I was. I tried to recall the events in the past few hours, and that's when I remembered what had gone down. Boy, I was really in for it if I ever got back. Dealt with two options. Neither of which sounded pleasant.

I looked to my wrists, and to no one's surprise, I found myself cuffed in shackles. And another thing, a collar that almost went unnoticed to me. An annoyed sigh left my lips and I scanned around the room to look for potential threats. When I didn't immediately find anyone residing in the room with me, it lowered my nerves slightly knowing that no one currently was witnessing my current state of vulnerability. But not enough to fully let my guard down.

My gaze trailed back to the shackles bounding my wrists and ankles. I tried wriggling out of them, but, man were those bound tight. The only thing left to do was wait. That, and pretend, which actually might prove useful.

Time passed by and eventually I began to 'doze' off. Not really, but I assumed my captors were waiting for a moment where I didn't present any visual hostility. And to that assumption, I was indeed, correct.

My head was lazily drawn to my side, making it seem like I had fallen asleep in an awkward position. When I heard someone walk boldly towards me, I thrashed my head forward, successfully knocking the person in the face, enough to make them fall backwards on their ass. I slightly snickered when I watched the person clutch their nose. And to my amusement, that person just so happened to be the Captain.

A brusque smirk crossed my mouth as he looked at me with a hint of sadness. But oddly enough, there was not a single trace of anger or annoyance in the Captain's eyes. Just...sadness? It momentarily confused me. If it were me who had been hit in the face, I'd be pissed with whoever did it, but he just looked guilty for some reason. I couldn't figure out why either.

As the question pondered in my mind some more, I was met with a very unpleasant shock delivered from the collar. Even though it was tiny it felt like my brain was being fried. I jolted forward in slight agony before I witnessed the Captain shout, "Natasha, shut it down!"

Immediately the electricity stopped pulsating through my veins and I slightly slumped forward in exhaustion, heavy pants leaving my mouth. I refused to look up at the Captain, though I was grateful that he made it stop. I'd never give him the satisfaction of letting him see my gratitude.

Someone else entered the room and it made me tense up when I realized who it was. Winter. The cold plated footsteps were impossible to forget. I know I failed my mission, but now the question was, what was the fate of me?

I was so out of it that I failed to notice how close he'd become until I heard the Captain's weak attempt to warn his friend. "Buck, be careful, she's still aggressive." He didn't seem to care all that much.

My eyes trailed to his icy blue ones, and the only thing I saw behind them was regret, and relief. Slowly two arms wrapped around me. One being prominently more colder and heavier than the other. I let out a breath I hadn't known I had been holding in. This felt so...foreign. I didn't attempt to resist. There was no point, after all, I was at their mercy.

He stayed there for a moment until eventually he whispered something quiet so only I could hear. "С тобой все будет в порядке, Блэр. Я обещаю." (You'll be alright, Blaire. I promise.)

With that, he got up and left the room, the Captain following him shortly after. But not before he sent me a sympathetic glance from over his broad shoulder.

This routine went on for a couple days. It was a couple hours later after the first encounter that my restraints were unlocked and that I was able to freely roam the padded room. Though the shock collar was still stationed around my neck. I was given meals around every six hours. But I don't think I touched any of them out of suspicion.