Civil War: Rewritten

Chapter 13: Past Horrors

Hey. I have to go for a while, some unfinished business. Don't bother looking for me. See you soon. -Nat

"Shit," Tony mumbled as he did his best to decipher her note.

"Hey, Mr. Stark!" Peter greeted as he walked in, a bit confused. Tony was in the common room on the couch and not his lab, per usual. "What's up?"

"Nat left and I'm not sure why," Tony responded.

"Well, are we going to find her?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, because knowing her, it's probably dangerous without backup," Tony rubbed his chin. "Doesn't help she's a damn good spy."

"Is it a mission, maybe?" Peter hoped. "Like a last-minute one she never told you about?"

"Doubt it, she hasn't worked with SHIELD in years, not since she found out about Hydra and then leaked all the files," Tony responded. "And as far as I'm concerned, she hasn't worked for anyone else since."

"Oh," Peter looked down in defeat. "So, what are we gonna do?"

~Meanwhile~

"How did this happen?" Nat anxiously asked as she took a shot of vodka.

"I don't know," a blonde woman responded. "But I kept getting notes from them."

"Yelena, so did I. You're not special," Natasha rolled her eyes. "How the hell did the Red Room get restarted?"

"Well, excuse me," Yelena defended herself. "Miss Avenger, shouldn't you be the one with the resources?"

"No, because of the Sokovia Accords and SHIELD collapsed years ago," Nat hid her face in her hands.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Yelena waved her hand. "We have to shut it down, though. Any ideas?"

"Not really," Nat responded. "Who even restarted it?"

"Beats me," Yelena shrugged. "I say we go in and blow shit up."

"I-," Nat gave her a look. "We are so screwed now."

~Back in NY~

"Hey, uh, can we check her files?" Peter asked in realization. "Maybe that'll give us a clue."

"She can be picky about that stuff," Tony tried to protest. "But yeah, okay. If she kills us over it it's your fault."

"Ok, cool," Peter shrugged.

"Kid, what?" Tony gave him a weird look as he pulled up a hologram. "Well, here's the ones from SHIELD."

"Oh, didn't she leak those a few years back?" Peter asked and walked over next to Tony. "That was badass."

"Agreed," Tony said and began skimming the files. "Hm, not much so far. Just about her and the Red Room."

"What's that?" Peter's eyebrows furrowed.

"Uh, Soviet assassination program," Tony vaguely responded as his eyes dilated as he read the horrible treatment his friend dealt with.

"What is it?" Peter anxiously asked as he watched Tony's face drain of color.

"It's just," Tony began to respond. "She was taken from her home and mentally and physically abused and-"

"WHAT?" Peter interrupted and began to read the files. "Oh my god! Who would do that? I-"

"Hey, hey, hey," Tony collected himself to calm Peter down. "Keep focused on helping her, okay?"

Peter nodded and took a deep breath. He continued to read the files from behind Tony's shoulder, horrified at what had happened to one of his favorite mentors. "This Red Room is in Russia, right?"