An Imperfect Weapon (November 2005)

Richard Deloren was an Opec Executive. In recent months Opec has been given the green light to begin exporting Oil to parts of Europe and the Ukraine that until now had gotten all of their oil from the Russian oil companies.Gazprom, Rosneft and the other 4 Russian oil companies, the largest in the region, stood to lose billions. The SSB were tasked with stopping this from happening and so far they have been unsuccessful in finding any dirt on Deloren who was instrumental in sealing this deal. In lieu of this failure the SSB decided to go a different route and so Natalya Sokolova was brought in to deal with the situation. Several documents had been drawn up that Richard Deloren would be forced to sign. They would detail his dissenting opinion on this change and also seal Opec in a deal with Venezuela which would tie up logistical resources that would have otherwise made the Russian deal work. Natalya had done her research on Richard Deloren and knew he would not succumb to the usual appetites of power hungry, middle-aged men. There was little chance that she could use sex and her body to get what she needed and so instead of the carrot she had to pull out the stick instead.

His wife Joan wept quietly as she laid on her side. She was tied by her hands and feet and her mouth had a large rubber ball in it and duct tape over her mouth. His daughter Olivia was only 10 years old but she was tied up in the same fashion. They were both side by side on a small daybed that sat in Richard’s office in his very nice and spacious luxury home in New York City. Natalya laid out the documents and even supplied the pen for him to use for his signatures. Everything so far had gone according to plan but when she had struck the girl and began tying her up images flashed in her mind.

Olivia had long, wavy blonde hair and blue eyes and for a moment Natalya saw herself as she looked into Olivia’s fearful eyes. She was hung naked by her wrists. The rusty, metal room was damp and water dripped down from the ceiling here and there about the room and had formed puddles in the dirt that made the floor. Water dripped onto her head and despite everything she could do she couldn’t move enough to stop it. She felt her sanity wane as she hung there. Her punishment for failing to do what Tatiana told her to do. She had tried to obey but she just wasn’t strong enough or big enough. However in Tatiana’s mind there was no such thing as excuses. She had endured the beatings and could do nothing to shield herself from the blows that bruised her flesh. They also padded their hands and devices they used to hurt her. There could not be a mark left from any punishments and oddly she preferred the beatings compared to the helmet. Just seeing it drove her into a violent panic. She heard a key in the door and her mind snapped back to the mission at hand.

Tears fell from Olivia’s eyes and to her surprise when Natalya reached up to her face she felt wetness on her right cheek. Had she actually shed a tear? That had never happened before! She was going to kill them after the documents were signed and make it look like his wife had done it all. As she thought about killing the girl though a cramp appeared in her stomach and she knew what it was...guilt.

Even though Natalya was only 26 years old she had more experience and more training than any other SSB agent that was twice her age. She had been born to do the work she was doing. She had been specifically created for it using the Super Soldier Serum. This was the only life she had ever known. Tatiana had started early with Natalya's training and brainwashing to turn her into the killer she was today. Torture, physical and mental abuse, rape, and 'the helmet' had all been used to try and create the perfect SSB agent. When she had turned 17 her training had been complete and she had been sent out on solo missions. Natalya had been the perfect agent for almost 9 years. Then, she had met Chris, a luxury real estate agent from New York, and her entire life had nearly changed. Chris had been the only man she had ever fallen in love with...at least she thought she had fallen in love with him. Tatiana had later convinced her that she had not actually fallen in love...but that he had manipulated her into thinking she had fallen in love with him. Natalya had gone AWOL with Chris and had ended up at a luxury resort in St. Barts where Tatiana had finally tracked her down. Her 'reprogramming' had involved 'the helmet' and had been long and torturous. Tatiana tried to erase her memories of Chris, but it hadn't worked. Natalya wasn't the same woman she once had been, although she didn't know it. Natalya tried to become the same agent she had been before Chris, and that involved finding Richard Deloren and getting him to sign documents relating to Opec's exportation of oil to parts of Europe and Ukraine that the SSB was trying to halt. After realizing that sex was not going to work on Richard, Natalya decided to use fear and his family against him instead.

It had not taken much effort to get into the house. She had been able to easily subdue his wife Joan and his ten year old daughter Olivia. They were both hogtied and gagged, but as Natalya waited for Richard to arrive home she glanced over at Olivia. For a split moment flashes of herself being tortured by Tatiana resurfaced in her mind. There were many memories that were too terrible for her to remember and were buried deep inside of her mind. However, recently some had begun to resurface. She suddenly became aware of a wetness on her cheek. She raised her right hand and touched it and realized that she had shed a tear. What the hell was happening to her? She couldn't even remember the last time she had cried. Then, she remembered the beatings that would happen when she had cried as a child. She had quickly learned to hold back her tears.

She heard a key in the door and heard Richard walk in. He called out for Joan and Olivia, but they didn't answer. Natalya had the door to the office open and she stepped behind it so he wouldn't see her when he stepped in. As he stepped inside and saw Joan and Olivia tied up she closed the door behind him and stood there so he couldn't get out.

"If you want your wife and child to live I would suggest that you do everything I am about to tell you Mr. Deloren."

Richard worked hard and long hours. The son of a wealthy businessman he got to his position through shrewdness but not everything he did was on the up and up. He was probably one of the more honest of his kind out there but on occasion he did things that even he considered...unsavory because he thought he had to to get ahead and stay ahead of his peers. His large black briefcase held his laptop, papers from work as well as other things and in his other hand he held the mail that was in their mailbox. He whistled as he set down his briefcase and unlocked the front door than pocketed his keys and picked up his briefcase again. He looked at the first envelope, all white with the indentation of something thin and rectangular inside. ‘Bah, another credit card offer’ he knew, like he needed anymore of those!

He looked around but he didn’t see his wife or his daughter. He continued further inside toward his office so he could deposit his briefcase, the mail and discover where his family was hiding. Probably upstairs because he saw his wife’s SUV in the driveway. His face was still down as he looked at the next envelope but as he heard something odd his head rose up as he entered his office. Shock and fear filled him as he saw his wife and his daughter hogtied and gagged! Before he could do anything the door shut behind him and he found himself staring down the barrel of a pistol. He dropped the briefcase and mail instantly and raised his hands up in a non-threatening manner. His heart began to race as his body filled with adrenaline and his face was a mask of fear.

“Wha...what...do..do you want?” he managed to get out but only just.

Natalya kept her face neutral, though she was internally smiling because she liked seeing the fear in Richard's eyes. However, she then felt that strange gnawing at her gut. It felt like her insides were being twisted into pretzels. She ignored it though and kept the gun leveled at Richard. It was fully loaded and cocked. She clearly wasn't playing around and meant business. Though she was extremely beautiful she knew how to handle her weapons and remained in full control of the situation.

"The papers on the desk, you will sign them...all of them."

Richard has no choice bit to glance over at the desk. Hope rose in him and then he turned back toward the woman. He wondered if he could overpower her. She wasn't all that tall but she dis look as if she was in the pique of fitness. The point of hwr not wearing a mask to hide her identity though made the bile in his stomach want to rise up into his throat.

“Why? Its clear to me you’ll just kill us all anyway,” Richard said bitterly. Upon hearing that olivia began to panic. Tears streamed down her cheeks and her muffled wails sounded terrible in the confined space of the office. Joan, the girl’s mother pivoted toward her daughter in an obvious attempt to comfort her but the girl’s wails just continued. She saw Richard’s eyes change just then. He intended to try something desperate and risk his own life to save his family.

Natalya had hoped that Richard would just comply with her. Instead, he seemed to be hesitating and looked as if he might try something desperate. Natalya knew then that she needed to maintain power and show him that she wasn't joking around.

She glanced at Olivia and considered aiming and firing at her and just missing her by a few inches, but she hesitated. She for a moment panic started to rise up within her. What was happening?! This wasn't like her at all. She knew she needed to do something. Richard must have sensed her hesitation because he suddenly attacked her. She hadn't been prepared for it and for a brief moment he got the upper hand, but then her training kicked in and she threw him to the ground. She picked up her gun and aimed and fired. She hit him right between the eyes. She then looked over at Joan and Olivia who were both screaming through their gags. Their eyes were wide with horror and their faces stained with tears. She had no other choice. She had to kill them both. Two more shots rang out in quick succession and as Natalya stood there in the center of the three bodies she felt physically sick. She vomited into a trashcan and realized she was shaking almost uncontrollably. Full panic enveloped her and tears began to stream down her cheeks.

She fled the house and disposed of her cell phone. She knew there was a tracking device in her left arm. She needed to get it out. She began to walk quickly away from the house and she spotted a veterinary clinic. It was closed and she quickly disabled the security system and picked the lock. She walked to the back and found a scalpel. She laid her arm down on one of the tables with her palm facing up and carefully sliced into her flesh. She reached in and pulled out the tracker. She then used a needle and thread to stitch up the wound. As she did she began to cry again as she realized she felt lost. She thought back to Chris and how happy she had been with him. She could still remember staying with him at his apartment in the city those first few days after they met....

It had been a wonderful few days though Chris did have to leave for a time to attend a meeting. Natalya was alone in his apartment. A large, luxurious place high above the New York cityscape. After she had done a bit of snooping she had come to the conclusion that Chris was unlike any man she had ever known. He was honest, kind, respectful and earned every penny he made. He had no skeletons in his closet, none and was remarkably humble besides. As a lover he was better than most of the men she had been with but she suspected that her growing emotional attachment to him made making love to him...pleasurable and fun.

Last night Chris had come home to her with a dress. A fairly form fitting red gown that shimmered in the light. She looked at herself in the mirror and held her hair up to see how it might look for him like that. Just thinking about how he was going to react upon seeing her in this made her smile. No man had ever been able to do that to her, never. He cooked for her by his own hands, read her Shakesspear and poetry as she relaxed and laid on his lap while he ran his fingers through her hair. Chris just felt...right to Natalya in every sense of the word. How many times had she looked at the clock? She had lost count as she laid sprawled out on his huge bed as she waited for him. What was he going to bring her today? More importantly, what was he going to cook for her? She tilted up her head and looked at the clock again then sighed and laid her head back down onto the bed. Her lips turned up into a smile as she thought about how to present herself to him when he came through the door.

She clipped off the excess stitches then poured alcohol onto the wound and bandaged it. She tested the movement of her arm as she took another look around the animal clinic. On the wall there were all kinds of photos of people with their pets and all of them wore smiles on their faces. Just normal people living their lives and loving on their pets. It was all too much. Memories of pain and torture warred with memories of kindness and the love of a man that barely knew her. She looked down at her hands now covered in her own blood as tears dripped down onto her soiled cheeks. She had just murdered a child. Why had she done that? She looked into the stainless steel paper towel dispenser on the wall near her. Her reflection was warped and she saw that her makeup had ran. What she saw was a monster and as the guilt of what she had just done hit her, she slid down onto the floor as she began to weep.

SHIELD had gotten a tip off that Natalya was being sent to deal with Richard Deloren regarding the Opec oil export deal that had been reached. Maria had brought a shirt that SHIELD knew belonged to Natalya to Logan for him to get her scent. It was believed that she would corner him in his home. Logan would use the shirt to get Natalya's unique scent when he reached the area.

Natalya thought for half a second about running to Chris...to beg him to help her. She missed him...she missed feeling loved and safe and wanted...not just because she could kill but because she mattered. However, if she went to Chris then Tatiana would kill him this time. She couldn't do that to him. She suddenly felt utterly alone. She was a monster....a heartless killer. In her anguish and despair she began to destroy the clinic. She overturned tables and chairs and swept bottles off of counters. All the while she had no idea that her life was about to change forever...

Logan watched the helicopter take off as he shimmied down the rope to the street. He wait a moment before he sniffed the air and his mind pucked up the swirl of color that resembled a thought that resembled the scent that was in his head. The wind took something away from it but it also added a pattern that he identified as the woman in which he sought.

The vet clinic was in shambles. Natalya had torn the place apart and she laid amongst the refuse as she mourned the innocence that hsd been taken from her. Logan considered himself a decent stalker but Natalya knew...someone was near as her senses went into overdrive. Suddenly Logan crashed through a glass window and the chase had begun.

Natalya suddenly sensed that someone was near. She barely had time to stand up before a man came crashing through the window. Natalya jumped to her feet and ran out of the clinic. She started to run through the streets. Natalya was fast and agile and Logan would be able to tell as he chased after her that she had had some gymnastics training as well. She glanced back over her shoulder and saw him still coming after her. Unfortunately, she crashed into an innocent bystander. She managed to get onto her feet and she grabbed the man and held onto him as she put her gun against his head.

“Come any closer and I will kill him.”

Getting a good look at her now Logan would see the wild look of desperation in her eyes. She was like a trapped, injured animal. Logan would see her hand trembling as she held the gun.

Once he caught her scent is mind could see the swirls of it in the air like a translucent tendril that led him into the clinic. He had an idea of what to expect, a woman of athletic build, long, dark hair and dark eyes. She could be wearing a wig though or being in a disguise of some sort but his nose would see through all of that. Logan had always been considered the ‘unknown’ Avenger. He didn’t like people taking pictures of him, he never went to photo ops and he always stepped away from the press. He wasn’t considered the most attractive man nor was he particularly tall. In fact he was about average height with a thick, stocky build. He was also quite hairy, with dark, coarse hair all over his body. Part of why the name ‘Wolverine’ made perfect sense.

He began to take in more oxygen as he picked up speed. He needed to find out if she was armed. Logan never carried firearms and the only thing he did have was the neural shock device that would disable the remote kill switch that the SSB had embedded into her spine. He could do nothing about the cyanide tooth though if she even had one. That he would have to figure out when the time came. If bringing her in alive was even possible. He leaped and crashed through the front window of the clinic. He saw her stand up behind one of the counters and then the chase was on.

She was faster than he, quick and agile. She moved like Steve moved but even Steve tired out before Logan did. His healing mutation replenished his energy reserves as he used it so Logan almost never needed to stop exerting himself unless he wanted to. She ran down the main street and then ducked into a side street then ran along the front of a strip mall. It was very late so there weren’t very many people out and about. A good thing Logan thought. He had got a good look at her face and he had seen the wild desperation in her eyes. He hadn’t expected that. Wild desperation and was that fear that he saw? He didn’t expect someone with her reputation to even feel fear. As he chased her he began to wonder if SHIELD had been truthful about her at all. He had good reason to believe it was at least possible. He caught movement in the shadows ahead of her and from a tall hedge a jogger in an orange hoodie plowed right into her.

“Come any closer and I will kill him.”

Logan slowed as he approached her and then stopped and held up his hands. “I’m unarmed Natalya,” Logan said as he tried to catch his breath. His heart beat quickly do to the chase and being this close to her finally was...well invigorating. He felt no fear, Logan never did. The jogger, a young man from what Logan could see looked terrified and he whimpered as she held her pistol up to his head. “This man means nothing to me,” Logan said and lowered his hands. “I only have one question for you,” Logan said.

Natalya's mind was racing as fast as her heart was. Her mind had managed to break through the wall that the SSB had put up, but what was beyond that wall was terrifying. Her mind was overwhelmed with terrible, horrific memories...nearly all of the things that had been done to her were...inhumane. She didn't even know who she was anymore. She was just a monster that had been created to kill. She didn't mean anything more to Tatiana than that. She was an experiment gone wrong and she knew that they would find her and kill her...or worse...put her back in the chair with 'the helmet'. She didn't want to go back...and yet a part of her did. There was still a small part in her mind that was effected by the brainwashing and that one part still believed that she needed to return to Tatiana. How could she live without her?

Natalya tightened her grip on the jogger. Up close Logan would be able to see just how beautiful Natalya really was. She was beautiful in pictures, but in real life she was gorgeous...even as disheveled as she was. She had an exotic, mysterious look. She was alluring, but the pain in her eyes was real.

"If you're going to kill me then just do it," she told Logan, ignoring his statement that he had a question for her.

Despite Natalya’s threatening words Logan found her to be...gorgeous. Even with her distorted makeup, disheveled hair, dirt and grime on her face and hands she was still a knockout. Logan’s mouth curled up into a grin, though he didn’t even realize it. “I have something for you but I will only give it to you if you release him,” Logan said then raised his hands again. “I’m going to reach into my pocket,” Logan said and then slowly drew out the device.

It was cylindrical with a button on one end. It was made out of surgical steel and had a very distinct look and shape to it. He held it up. “The SSB can kill you remotely. This little baby can disable...whatever it is in your spine that could allow them to do it,” he said and shrugged. “I’m not a tech guy so I don’t know how it does what it does I only know that it will,” Logan explained. When he saw her press the gun harder into the man’s temple Logan stopped grinning like a fool and his face took on a dangerous look as the man whimpered even louder.

“Look lady, I’ve never been called a patient man, in fact far from it. And if you shoot him there is only one way this is going to end,” Logan said in an irritated rasp.

Natalya watched the man suspiciously as he began to reach into his pocket. What he pulled out she didn't recognize at first. However, when he told her it would disable the device in her spine that the SSB could use remotely to kill her she was suddenly rather interested. She needed to get that device and get away from this man. There was unfortunately only one way to do that. In one quick motion she pulled the gun away from the jogger's head and shoved him away from her. She then reaimed her gun with great precision and accuracy and fired...at Logan's head. As he dropped to the ground she rushed over and grabbed the device and hit the button. She felt a small, almost electrical sensation in her spine and then nothing. She pocketed the device and then started to walk away. Unbeknownst to her, Logan's body could heal itself...and quickly. She suddenly heard him groan and as she looked over at him she saw his eyes open and him sit up and look at her. How the hell was that possible?! Then she realized that he must be a mutant with healing abilities. Then, she saw the metal claws and she knew she was in trouble. She bolted and ran down the street. She found a construction site and she ducked into it. It was a mostly finished building and she began to run through the hallways.

Half crazed with anger Logan got up and began to chase her again. Natalya led him toward a construction site. The large building was in differing stages of completion but in many areas there was plastic that was hung from the ceiling, exposed window frames and walls and office equipment still in its packaging all over the place. He chased her up the metal stairs until he no longer heard her footsteps on the metal. She must have ducked into a hallway he thought as he reached the next stairwell. He began to run up the next one then stopped when her scent began to get weaker the further he moved up. He walked back down and knew he was on the right level. The chase had given him time to cool off but he was still angry. This woman murdered alot of people and that was not lost on him at all. She essentially murdered him too but his skull was coated in a remarkable metal called Adamantium.

“You can’t run from me Natalya. Where ever you go I will find you. Athletic as you are you will eventually run out of steam. They sent me to kill you no matter what but I could have done that already if I really wanted you dead,” he said as he slowly walked down the hall. Logan didn't understand why he drew this out like this. The thought that he should be done with her warred with the haunted face he saw, and her eyes. Desperate eyes that made a small part of himself mourn for a little girl who had her innocence stolen from her. “And you know you deserve death for what you’ve done. I read your file you know, something I almost never do,” Logan said as he peered into an office. She wasn’t in this one though, he knew that much and continued on slowly.

“What they did to you was inhuman. Taking a little girl and subjecting her to rape, torture and violence in order to make you into a weapon. An imperfect weapon as it turns out,” Logan said as he stepped across the hall and looked into another office. Nope, not there either, he turned back to the hall. “The way I see it you have 3 choices. You can kill yourself right here and now. Run until you’re killed, or let me bring you in. Incase you were wondering, I do not work for SHIELD,” Logan said as he came up to 2 offices across from one another. He stood in the hallway and faced forward though he knew which one she was in. To give her an opening he turned away from the one she was in and exposed his back to her.

Natalya has no plan. She was just running. This wasn’t the way she operated. She always had a plan of what she was doing or where she was going but right now she was just running blindly. She scrambled up the stairs to get away from the man chasing her and randomly selected a room on the fifth floor to hide in. Natalya didn’t hide. This wasn’t like her and she didn’t know what was happening to her. She was scared and half crazed with panic.

She heard the man start to walk down the hallway she was in. She remained quiet but oddly she found herself listening to what he was saying. She had assumed he was SHIELD, but he said he wasn’t. She didn’t know if she could believe him though. She held the gun in her hand and was considering just killing herself. She heard the door open and looked over and saw him step in. She was clearly hesitating and looked very unsure about whether she could trust him or not.

Logan was her only way out of the office and her delay in answering him only got his back up. “You’re only way out is through me,” Logan said in an angry rasp. His patience had come to an end and he extended his claws. As he did the sound of metal on metal filled the room. “I can smell your fear Natalya, so far I’m disappointed. I expected a real fight. All I’ve seen so far is a pathetic, sniveling little girl!” Logan said as he taunted her.

Logan’s words suddenly caused something to snap in Natalya. She knew the gun wouldn’t work on him so she tossed it aside. She charged full speed at him. She saw his expression change to surprise as she jumped up and leg grappled him. She twisted around and threw him to the ground. When he started to get up she did a leg sweep and he landed on his back. She glared down at him. “Still think I’m pathetic?”

Before Logan even moved Natalya was on him and then he felt a rush of air and his vision saw the ceiling and then the floor and then the ceiling once more as he fell onto his back. It hurt to hit the floor so hard but his body quickly adjusted itself and he got back up to his feet as if nothing had happened. As he tried to punch her she blocked and hit him with her hand in his nose, forearm to the side of the head and then her elbow to his left eye in quick succession. She kneed him in the stomach then groin which forced out the air in his lungs and forced him to double over then struck his throat with the edge of her hand as if it were a blade. She felt the cartilage there crack and he fell onto one knee as he held his throat. Blood gushed from his nose all over his hands that cupped his ruined throat. He felt Natalya look over him as his body began to heal itself though with his head down she wouldn’t be able to see that.

With a furious growl he lunged up into her and headbutted her in the face. As he grappled her his legs continued to push them forward and together, using her body he broke through the unfinished wall. Their bodies crashed through the wooden studs together and they landed together hard onto a desk wrapped in plastic. Dust and debris filled the air and their damp and bloody faces and clothes were covered in it. He only got one punch in before she flipped them off of the desk. He landed onto his feet only because Natalya kept hold of him. She only did that so she could kick him and she sent him flying through another wall where he landed hard onto the floor. He saw her stalk up toward him and she spat to the side, a stream of blood that hit the floor. She held her side as she approached him then shifted her hand away. Maybe she couldn’t beat him into submission but if she choked him long enough...would he die? She wanted to find out but when she was close enough Logan sprang up and extended his claws toward her. Natalya dodged back then to the side and then back again as Logan slashed crazily at her and got to his feet. He retracted them again as he punched her hard in the chest and the blow sent her flying backwards and through another wall. Natalya landed hard and rolled into another desk. Logan wasted no time getting to her again and though she tried to get up he grabbed hold of her shirt and hauled her up then struck her again. Again and again he hit her, powerful arms and fists like small anvils connecting to her jaw, her cheek, her nose and then her cheek again. She could see the fury in Logan’s eyes, a hot fury that had boiled over. Once again he acted as if he wasn’t hurt at all and his hand shifted up to her neck and she saw the metal claws suddenly pop out of his fist that was reared back and ready to end her life. Logan growled like some furious animal as her hands instinctively went to her throat to try to pry off his hand that began to constrict her airway.

“So...how does it feel!?” Logan growled in a raspy voice. His mouth was drawn back in an angry snarl. His brown eyes were fierce but there was no fear in them only white hot anger.

Natalya began to truly think he was going to kill her. Blood dripped from her mouth and nose and her face was swollen already from where he had hit her. His hand was around her throat and he began to constrict her airway. She gasped and fought against him as she tried to pry away his hand. Then, her eyes saw the three metal claws extend. They shone in the fading light outside and Logan would see her eyes suddenly look up into his. Logan would know in that moment that Natalya wasn't a heartless killer. She was an abused, brainwashed woman who had been the result of an experiment. None of this was her choice. She had been forced into the life of an assassin. There was good in her. It just needed to be released. She needed to be shown a different path. She needed someone she could trust...someone who would protect her...not use her. Her eyes seemed to be begging him...pleading for help. Suddenly, she lost consciousness and became limp in his grasp.

Logan saw her eyes roll up into her head and he sighed and let go of her throat. He retracted his claws and just looked at her. He had pummeled her pretty good but he had seen it again, that desperation in her eyes like a wild animal that had been kept too long. He would not feel sorry for her. The list of those she had killed or wounded was very long. Politicians on down to the homeless miscreant. She didn’t kill indiscriminately but if anyone got in her way for any reason...she took them out without asking.

“Isabella I’m calling you because Tony is going to lose his shit when I tell him I captured Natalya Sokolova. And she’s not what everyone thinks,” He said. He carried her on his shoulder. He called for a pickup but it would take time for Happy to get to his position. “We all read her file and I think something has happened to her. She felt fear and desperation. A cold blooded killer would never feel that,” He said.

Isabella had been finishing up making dinner when her comm link went off. She was the only one in the kitchen and as she listened to what he said her eyes grew wide. The woman was still alive and it sounded like Logan was planning to bring her back to the Tower. She had a strong suspicion that neither Tony nor Steve was going to be happy about that. She didn't want Logan to bring her here either, but clearly that was Logan's intention. She was quiet a moment before speaking.

"What exactly do you need me to do?"

“I need you to prepare a room for her. The one next to mine I think. I need restraints and The reinforcements on the doors activated. I’ll take full responsibility for her,” Logan said. “Maybe set up some microwavable food in that fridge and bottled water. I’m thinking that this isn’t going to be an easy transition,” He said. “We can all talk to Steve and Logan and Kate when I get there and get her settled. Isabella, I couldn’t kill her. And I’m not giving her to shield. I made this choice and I’m going to follow it through. If you aren’t willing to help me then I’ll go somewhere else,” He said.

Isabella sighed and rubbed her eyes. Tony was going to flip. This was not going to be pretty. "I'll prepare a room for her." She was quiet for a moment before speaking again. "But Logan, if she comes anywhere near Serena I'm going to kill her."

She turned off the stove and went to go prepare the room next to Logan's. She did as he requested. She brought in some restraints and activated the reinforcements on the door. She put some food in the refrigerator as well as some bottled water. Serena was currently at a study session with Peter, Harry, and Ned and Kate and Steve were training. Tony was out, but would be home shortly. She heard the elevator and looked over to see Logan step out with Natalya draped over his shoulder. She was clearly unconscious and looked like she had taken a bit of beating from Logan. "I've got the room ready."

Logan brought Natalya in and both he and Isabella decided to clean her up. She handled the makeup and hair while he dealt with getting her undressed. He tried not to think of her body as a man would think of a woman’s body but he was a man and quite alive. She was beautiful with soft skin, nice, firm breasts and enough curves to keep her in the realm between athletic and buxom though more on the athletic side. When he washed her privates he didn’t look and used a washcloth in order to keep some semblance of decency. The thought of violating her...knowing how much she had been violated made him feel sick to his stomach and thus, he was able to keep it more ’clinical’ than anything else. When Tony got home Isabella had to go and get dinner together. She loaned Logan some of her clothes and he dressed Natalya in white jogging pants and a hot pink t-shirt. He put her into the bed to rest than went into his own room to clean up for dinner. Eventually everyone else came home and they were all there at dinner though everyone watched him as if he had a story to tell. Logan hadn’t offered anything though and he just ate quietly as their impatience soon won them over.