Rogue Shadow

Chapter 8 - Fallen

Chapter 8 – Fallen

07:20 Sunday, 8th October 2017

The first conscious thought Nat had was that she was lying on a cloud; unbelievable softness below her with warmth pressing down from above. She never wanted to move. Where was she again? Nat traced her memories back as far as she could remember. A dull numbness overcoming her as the memories flooded her senses. The Ryans were attacked. She ran away. No survivors. All her fault. The man from the forest! Eyes snapping open with a start, Nat forced herself not to panic at the medical design of the room.

Taking a few shaky breaths to steady her nerves, Nat pushed the covers off her legs and sat up. She was in a slightly different colouration of the same clothes as before, meaning she was almost definitely still with Wilson. Okay, she could deal with that. The room was almost pitch black, save for the light coming from a screen. A steady rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor was the only sound she could make out. Nat crawled to the edge of the bed and slid her feet to the ground. As she stood up, a section in the dark wall across from her opened up, light flooding in through the open door. Slade Wilson stood in the entrance.

"You really need to eat this time, kid."

With nothing else to do, Nat rose to her feet, pulling the needle out of her arm and unstrapping the device around her bicep and followed Wilson out of the room and down the hall, ignoring all the alarm bells going off in her head as she went. Natasha set her mind to autopilot as she walked, allowing her mind to wander.

Why she got strange vibes off this man, she didn't know. They weren't 'immediate danger' vibes either, more like a cautionary warning or something. He didn't seem evil, per se, but he had this dark aura surrounding him. Blackness surrounded his heart. She felt as if her mind was trying to warn her, that there was something familiar about the man, something far more than just the Shadow that had watched over her.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the clinking of glass and wood. She blinked twice, startled, and saw a plate of food on the table before her. Nat saw Wilson standing beside her out of the corner of her eye. It took a few moments for her to register that he was waiting for her.

Sliding into the seat, she decided to eat now and ask questions later, Natasha remained silent as she ate for the first time in almost two days. She cautiously tried the meal (chicken with rice and veggies), and after concluding that she wasn't going to die from food poisoning, Nat hungrily devoured everything on her plate.

Unable to continue to sit in silence with nothing left to do any longer, Nat place the fork she had been twisting in her fingers on her now clear plate. Wilson finally turned his attention to her.

"Better?" he asked. Natasha nodded mutely, unable to voice her questions. Rolling the words over in her mind, she finally mustered up the will to ask what had been eating at her since it happened.

"Where am I?" she finally asked, voice barely above a whisper. She kept her eyes averted.

"Someplace safe."

"That's not an answer and you know it." She said, anger rising in her chest. She hated being treated like a child. After everything that she had been through you'd think that they would have the courtesy to treat her like an adult. "Tell me where I am."

"It is not important."

"Like hell, it's not – you kidnapped me!" Natasha jumped out of her seat, hot with rage at this man. "Who the hell are you? I'm supposed to be under the protection of Agent Henderson. And if something happens to him, I'm meant to go to HQ."

"Kid-"

"You say you're here to protect me, but you won't even tell me where I am! How do I know you're not working with HYDRA? How do I know you didn't kill the Ryans and blow up the car? If you expect me to just sit here like an obedient little dog who obeys your every command, then you're freaking delusional."