ΣΙΓΜΑ and Avengers Phase I

Chapter I: You Get the Big Guy

Out in what seems to be the middle of nowhere, a tall building sits. The building looks abandoned and is still going under construction. It is still nighttime, and the moon is the only source of light on the inside and out.

Inside the building on the top floor is a group of people. A red headed woman is tied up in a chair, sitting right in front of a large construction hole in the floor. A Russian General stands in front of her with his hands behind his back. One of the General's thugs stands between them and backhands the woman on the side of her face.

Feeling the pain but not breaking down, the woman looks back at the Russian General. On the inside, the General is annoyed by the woman's lack of cooperation. He smirks at her pain and speaks in Russian, "Eto ne to, kak ya khotel, chtoby vecher proshel. (This is not how I wanted the evening to go.)"

Keeping up her act as a little damsel in distress, the woman replies, "YA znayu, kak ty khotel, chtoby etot vecher proshel. Pover'te mne, eto luchshe. (I know how you wanted this evening to go. Trust me, this is better.)"

The Russian General steps forward once. "YA khotel by znat', pochemu oni otpravili vas na perevozku, vitrazh i drugiye sluchaynyye predmety. (I'd like to know why they sent you to carry out the carrier, a stained glass, and other random items.)"

The thug who previously hit the woman grabs her chair from the back, and tilts her backward over the edge. She becomes a bit scared so she replies, "YA dumal, chto general Sokholot otvechayet za eksportnyy biznes. (I thought General Soholob was in charge of the export business.)"

The woman is put back down and the thug moves out of the way. The General walks up closer to the woman. "Soholob? Vasha reputatsiya dovol'no progressiruyet. Znamenitaya Chernaya Vdova. I vse zhe, eto ne chto inoye, kak yeshche odno krasivoye litso. (Soholob? Your reputation is quite a progression. The famous Black Widow. And yet, she's nothing more than another pretty face.)"

The Black Widow, more commonly known as Natasha Romanoff, calms down now that her chair has all four of its legs back on the ground. "Ty deystvitel'no dumayesh', chto ya khoroshen'kaya? (You really think I'm pretty?)"

The General walks over to a little side table that has a case on it. He opens the case, revealing a bunch of tools. "Nam ne nuzhen Lermontov dlya peredachi tankov. Skazhite yemu, nu... (We do not need Lermontov to transfer the tanks. Tell him, well...)" The man picks up a pair of pliers and the thug holds open Natasha's mouth. Then, in English, the General finishes, "You may have to write it down."

Natasha struggles in her seat for a minute before someone's phone starts to ring. An awkward silence settles in as the other thug of the General answers his phone. "Yeah?" The thug listens for a second then turns to the General. "Eto dlya neye. (It's for her.)"

The General snatches the phone and yells, "Teper' vy slushayete ochen' vnimatel'no - (Now you listen very carefully-)"

On the other end of the phone Agent Coulson cuts off the Russian General. "You're at 114 Solenski Plaza, third floor. We have an F22 eight miles out. Put the woman on the phone or I will blow up the block before you can make the lobby."

The General pulls back the phone and looks at it before giving it to Natasha. She holds it between her shoulder and her ear, since she's tied down. Agent Coulson's voice is urgent. "We need you to come in."

"Are you kidding? I'm working!" Natasha decides in her mind that Coulson can't make her get out of this no matter what he says.

"This takes precedence." Natasha sighs at Coulson's insistence.

"I'm in the middle of an interrogation and this moron is giving me everything." Black Widow looks at the General as she speaks.

"I don't give everything?" The General looks between his thugs, asking more than telling.