Silhouette in the Dark

II.

                                                                  [2012]

She could hear voices, but she couldn't tell if they were real or in her head. Surely, they had to be real. She strained to hear words, but all she could hear was the constant murmuring, just quiet enough that she couldn't hear what the man was saying. The sound of footsteps accompanied a louder, more hurried mutter. It was the doctor who had worked on her. She would know the sound of his footsteps and his nasally voice anywhere.

The other voice confused her. It had only started recently, about the time the doctor finished working with her. He must have a new patient now. The accent was different, from what she could tell, and the voice was deeper. The voice of a soldier. Something about it brought comfort to her. Perhaps because it brought back memories of her brother. "When I get out of here, I will find him. I will see him again." She promised herself that every day, and it kept her going during this dark time.

The doctor was grabbing things, papers from his desk. She couldn't see him from where she sat, but she could hear his panicked breathing. The ground began to rumble as an explosion sounded in the distance. She sat up. Something was happening. Were they under attack? She longed for a window in her room to know what was going on, but the doctor had insisted she be kept in this dark room instead. "It will be better for you as you recover." That's what he had told her. Not that she believed him.

The explosions were growing closer. Alarms sounded from the other side of the compound. This was definitely an attack of some sort. The doctor's footsteps receded now, rushing out of the room... but now there was a new pair approaching. She had never heard this person before. It was a man. She could tell by the emotion in his voice that he knew the mutterer. The murmurs had stopped. They were talking.

Realization struck. This wasn't just any attack. This was a rescue operation! She pounded the wall, wishing her throat weren't so dry. She longed to call for help, to scream and shout until the man in the room next to her heard her cries. The banging of her fists on the hidden door would have to do. Surely, he could hear her. She would be set free! The doctor wouldn't be able to hurt her anymore.

Instead, she listened as the footsteps faded. He was gone. She leaned against the wall and sank to the cold, stone floor. Empty sobs racked her body, slowly being faded out by a series of new explosions, drawing ever closer. Then, without warning, there was a flash of light and heat, and everything went dark.

She sat up in a sweat, sure that the room was caving in on her. No. She wasn't buried under the rubble of a munitions factory; she was safe in her room. She laid back against the pillow and stared at the bland whiteness of the ceiling. The dream had brought to mind memories she had long since given up on burying. It took too much energy trying to forget her past.

She turned onto her side and glanced at the clock. Almost dawn. There was no point in going back to sleep. As she stood and began her morning routine, she allowed the memories to continue playing out in her head. Waking up beneath the stone and metal, dazed and bleeding. The guards who found her and took her to the doctor whom she hated so. Her release into the woods behind their hideout. The memories stirred no emotion within her, until she remembered the headline. That one made her angry. No, not just angry—furious.

Brave Soldier Sacrifices Life to Save Countless Others. It had screamed at her from the front page of the newspaper, taunting her new discovery of the identity of the man who left her to suffer. He was gone, buried in an icy grave. Her only hope of finding him was extinguished. Now, she stood in front of the mirror, studying the fire that had reignited in her eyes. "Now I've found him. And it's time to make him pay."

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It was nice to have some relaxation time after taking down a homicidal maniac from another planet who wanted to take over the world. No, not another planet, another 'realm.' Thor wouldn't be pleased to hear her say planet. The spy chuckled to herself and resumed typing away at the keyboard.

Just a couple months' prior, Natasha Romanoff had been on the streets of New York City, in the thick of a battle against Thor's adopted brother Loki and his alien invasion task force. Now, she was enjoying a favorite pastime of hers while she had some spare time between missions—hacking into whatever files she could get her hands on. Today, she figured she'd look at old S.H.I.E.L.D. intel, just to see what other threats might come against the newly assembled Avengers. Learning that there really were other realms and beings who came straight from the pages of a mythology book opened a whole new world of possibilities.

As the files appeared on her computer, Natasha mindlessly scrolled through them. There were files on the six heroes who had saved the day in NYC, of course, but it seemed S.H.I.E.L.D. had their eyes on a few others around the globe. She smirked when she saw the word 'Wakanda' in one of the files. That was a poor nation of farmers and merchants. No one important enough to be an Avengers-level threat could come from there.

Finally, a file appeared that caught Natasha's eye. She was just getting ready to take a sip of hot coffee when it popped up on her screen. The coffee was instantly forgotten, and her eyes widened at what she was reading. She placed the mug down, a little too hard, and spilled some coffee on her desk, but she didn't even notice. She continued to scroll through the document as she pulled out her cell phone. After a few rings, the person on the other end picked up.

"Steve? There's something you ought to know about."

Steve's voice was groggy, as if she had just woken him up from a nap. "Something?"

Natasha held the phone against her ear with her shoulder and began entering a decryption code to see the rest of the file. "Well, not really. More like... someone."