Avenger or Assassin? (UNDERGOING HEAVY EDITING)

Confinement

{Steve}

I sat on the floor next to Natasha as she looked over my shoulder into oblivion. She didn't seem to notice she was rocking back and forth, slowly. I checked her heart rate. It was racing and irregular. She was breathing shallowly, taking small gasping breaths. I held her face. "Hey, Nat, you okay?" She didn't respond. She continued to rock back and forth. I placed a hand on her back and supported her.

"Nat, snap out of it," I said firmly. She shuddered and shook her head. "Cap?"

"Yeah, it's me. You okay now?" I asked.

"I think. What's going on with me?" she asked as I wiped her cheeks. She was so broken, so vulnerable. Where was the cold Russian spy I knew? The one who said love is for children? I pulled her to my chest, and she didn't resist like she usually did. She had never been a touchy person. She hated when people handed her. I understood why she hated medical. It was a place where they hurt her. It looked too much like the Red Room. Where they sterilized her, so she couldn't ever have children. Where they made her into someone who would hurt anyone with no hesitation.

Fury appeared from behind a desk. "Captain, I need you to take her to special Sector A. Room 41. Lock her in, remove most furniture. Hand cuff her on a long chain to the bed. Three meals a day."

"Wait, you're putting her in solitary confinement? You can't do that! She's unsafe, but she's still an Avenger. Our teammate," I argued.

"Until she stays in her identity, we need to keep her in confinement. She's unpredictable, Cap. We can't have someone like that allowed on all the levels. If she gets completely controlled, it's going to be hell trying to keep her from spilling info. She's deadly as it is," Fury said, stating it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Agents came to take her, with handcuffs and what not, but I brushed them off. "I'll do it myself," I said, and helped her stand up. She wavered in her step. I led her down to Sector A. She didn't say a word, just leaned on me and stared off at nothing. The tears had dried on her cheeks. I got down to her room, and set her against the wall. "Stay here. Unlike the rest, I trust you." She nodded, and I started taking out furniture till all that was left was a table, two chairs, and the bed. An agent showed up with a cuff and a chain that he connected to the bed with a mechanism that was obviously created so she couldn't unlock it.

He handed me the cuff and left. I walked up to Natasha and let her sit down. Carefully rolling up her pants leg, I attached the cuff, avoiding the cuts and bruises as best I could. There wasn't padding on the cuff, either. If I wasn't careful, it would slice her ankle open. "Hey, I gotta go now. Okay?" I said. "Pretty sure Fury will allow us to visit. If not I'll fight him for it."

She barely even looked at me. She still sat against the wall, not moving. Then she stared straight at me and gave me an almost imperceptible nod. Then she went back to staring at the bed. I left, locking the doors behind me. There weren't even windows in there. I was, well, furious with Fury. He wouldn't compromise. He was never like this. When I came back upstairs, all the Avengers were standing around.

"What are you all waiting for?" I snapped. "I locked her up. She didn't say anything to me. She's in solitary confinement, and if any of you have anything against it, go tell Fury! Like he's gonna change his mind!" I shouted. Then I stalked out of the computer area to my room in the Stark Tower. I changed and sat on the bed. Nat was basically my younger sibling, despite the fact that I could never top her hand to hand combat skills, or be as manipulative as her. She was the third highest ranking agent in S.H.I.E.L.D. behind Maria, Fury's second in command, and Fury himself. I bet the other Avengers felt the same way. I glared at the wall. Missions were going to be thrilling, just thrilling, without her.