Just A Conversation (January 2012)

There was snow packed in tall mounds everywhere. It had been coming down in the past week and snow plows and salt trucks have barely been able to keep up with it. Even now cars had about 4 inches of snow on them and the sidewalk crunched as she walked to the corner then turned onto a smaller street. Cars and cabs and people heavily clad in cold weather coats, boots, hats and scarves moved quickly by her. A typical Wednesday morning for the busy city. However her senses caught a glimpse of someone who had shifted his eyes to her then back down to his phone as he waited there at a bus stop. Two women in front of a cafe wearing lined trench coats. One looked at her briefly then looked back toward the woman she was talking to. Tight faces who were not engaging in their leisure activities they wanted to convey to the world. Natalya knew the signs well. She did not recognize those people and they were younger. Likely newer SSB agents who should still be in training. As she passed by them a man opened the door to a bakery.

“Miss, hey miss? A woman inside asked me to flag you down,” he said. He had an apron on and a kind manner about him. He was older, badling and looked like a baker might. Inside there were several patrons and a mother breastfeeding her baby. She saw Tatiana who took a casual sip from her cup. Hot chocolate by the smell.

It was quite cold outside, but Natalya didn't care. She just needed to get out and clear her head. She didn't know what she was going to do and she was afraid of losing her best friend. She wasn't walking anywhere in particular. She just walked aimlessly down the busy streets. However, due to her years of training she instinctively watched the areas around her. She saw a young man sitting at a busy stop. His eyes shifted up to her and then he looked back down at his phone. Something about the way he looked at her made her uneasy. She kept walking through and as she walked by a cafe she spotted two women standing outside. One of the women looked at her and watched her for a moment before looking back at her companion. Natalya knew the signs well. She had been very well trained. She continued to walk though until a man stopped her as she passed by a bakery. Judging by his clothes he was the baker of the establishment and she knew without even asking him who it was who had asked him to flag her down. She slowly stepped into the bakery and saw Tatiana sitting at a table by herself drinking some hot chocolate. Natalya slowly approached her and sat down.

"Your new recruits are sloppy."

Tatiana had a bit of chocolate on her upper lip. She quickly dabbed at it with her napkin. She smiled, an honest warm smile when Natalya sat down. Tatiana never had a daughter and in a sick, twisted way, she considered Natalya as her daughter. A waitress came and deposited a cup filled with hot chocolate, a saucer and a spoon and napkin in front of Natalya. She smiled kindly and stepped away to see to other patrons.

Tatiana looked at Natalya. “It’s not drugged or poisoned if that is what your wondering,’ she said. “And yes, unfortunately, I must work with the tools I have. You and your Avenger friends have done alot of damage to us. More to Hydra but I’ve lost alot of agents to you and your friends, SHIELD, the CIA, MI-5...the BD (German’s Intelligence Agency) She shrugged. “What’s a girl to do,” she said with a smile.

“Malcolm Cross...now I would never have expected that. You of all people going for a man like that. “I haven’t been able to find one photo of him naked on the internet...not real ones anyway,” She said. Tatiana liked younger men and Natalya knew she had several at her beck and call, likely on speed dial. She just wasn’t right in the head. When Tatiana saw Natalya’s expression change she held up a hand toward her.

“Are you kidding? Malcolm Cross is in no danger from us. But...if you could arrange for a few photos…” She said offhandedly.

Natalya glanced at the waitress as she put down a cup of hot chocolate in front of her and stepped away. Natalya looked at Tatiana, but didn't trust her enough to actually take a sip...even if it did smell wonderful. She just sat there watching Tatiana across the table as she tried to figure out how she was going to get out of this. She wouldn't go back...she wouldn't.

However, when Tatiana mentioned Malcolm her worry for herself changed to worry for Malcolm. She shook her head at Tatiana's request for some nude photos. "No," she said firmly. "I don't work for you anymore and I never will."

“What if I told you that there has been quite the shake up in the SSB. Since Hydra is no longer our employer our leadership has changed. We have 10 locations around the world and you could live near any of them to work. Some of them offer luxury accommodations. There would be no more programming, no more psychic manipulation. Those projects have been disbanded and banned though I am sorry to see them go. You could take jobs you wanted with only 3 a year that would be required. There’s a considerable benefits package and you can...quit after any job you take,” she said though that brought a tightness to her eyes which meant she did not like it.

“You can work out in the field again, do what you were made to do,” She said and took another sip of her hot chocolate. “God i love this stuff,” she said as she wiped her face again.

Natalya crosses her arms over her chest as she listened to Tatiana. She knew how manipulative Tatiana could be and she had no intention of believing anything she said. Furthermore, even if what she was saying WAS true she would never willingly work for the SSB again.

“What I was made to do? That was assassinating people. You made me into a monster. It’s taken me years to even get to a point where I feel partially normal. I was nothing to you but a killing machine and I have no intention of EVER going back to that life.”

Tatiana shrugged as if she had expected that answer. “Well, I knew you’d likely have that attitude,” she said. It was then that Natalya felt...drowsy all of a sudden and she noticed that Tatiana didn’t lean over the table as she usually did. That and the hot chocolate that was set before her had the distinct scent of peppermint where hers did not. She had been duped. Peppermint was added to the hot chocolate to cover the scent of the vapor that was turning her muscles to water. She sagged in the seat.

“I can’t wait to put the ‘helmet’ back on you. When I’m done with you,” she whispered. “Malcolm won’t want you back!” She threatened.

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Logan had ran up to the main floor when he heard the elevator. He took it once it came back up and he didn’t even bother putting on a coat. He was relieved to have caught a glimpse of her crossing the street. There were so many scents and hers mixed into the mass of smells that mixed with everything else. He could do it if he concentrated and took his time, he knew her scent better than anyone else's. ‘Why did I do that!’ he thought to himself. He had been a complete idiot and he knew it. He loved Natalya and when Malcolm began to date her. No, when they became more serious, Jealousy and the fear that he was going to lose her hit him so hard it nearly drove him crazy.

Natalya hadn’t even realized that she had taken a sip of the hit chocolate until it was too late. Her muscles suddenly felt weak and the room began to spin. Thoughts of the ‘helmet’ we’re almost too much for her to bear. She tried to get up.

“No!”

However she only made it two feet before collapsing.

Natalya felt herself being dragged to a waiting, black SUV. She could form sounds but the drug was so strong only gibberish came out. She managed to struggle with those that held her, men in black suits that smelled of vodka and cigarettes. They closed the door. To her horror Tatiana held up a black helmet with an opaque visor. “Look Natalya...its portable now, isn’t that wonderful? She said. The two men had a hell of a time getting her arms down into the wrist clamps. She managed to get her knee up and almost kneed Tatiana in the chin. Tatiana looked pleased at that however until her ankles were clamped in as well. The felt the SUV begin to move as the helmet was put onto her head and turned on.

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Logan saw them drag her out and then he picked up speed. He saw the SUV pull out into the street but it wasn’t in any kind of a hurry. They had what they wanted.

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Her eyes lids were forced to remain open by tiny little gripper arms. Electrode leads extended onto her head and images began to flutter onto the visor screen. They were accompanied by sounds and electrical impulses. She was 9 years old and she had been given a small, black kitten. She was in her room and left alone for several days as she fed and played with the kitten. She had begun to think she’d be able to keep it but after a few more days they brought her into a room. They tortured her and gave her access to a button that would drive blades into the kitten as it sat, looking at her inside a small, glass aquarium. Each time she pressed the button the blades got closer. Each time she refused her torture became worse and more profane to her humanity. They made her sleep next to the impaled kitten for days before they finally removed it.

—————————————-

Logan appeared in the street just infront of the SUV. before they could veer away though he ran toward them on the drivers side. He slashed at that side and his claws bit into the engine, the tire, the driver, one of the men that held her and the rear tire. The SUV hit a parked car then tipped into its side. Natalya felt her body lean and jerk painfully in her restraints as the images continued.

Tatiana escaped the crash and order her men to defend themselves as she removed the helmet and began removing Natalya from her restraints. “I’m not giving you up so easily,” she said with a motherly smile as the men in the second SUV engaged Logan who had taken several gunshots and was crazy with ferocious anger toward them. “Natalya!” He yelled as he flung himself at the second SUV.

Even drugged as she was, Natalya was a force to be reckoned with. A comment on just how powerful she really was. However, there were too many agents and she couldn’t overpower them. That didn’t stop her from trying though. Just seeing the helmet made her start screaming and thrashing. They managed to clamp down her arms and legs and then clamp down her head do it wouldn’t move as the helmet was put on her head. She began trembling almost uncontrollably and couldn’t close her eyes to block out the images. When she saw the black kitten she had been given when she was 9 she felt tears come to her eyes. She saw images of the dead kitten and remembered being tortured into impaling it.

Outside the SUV she heard a commotion and suddenly the vehicle slammed into another car and was flipped over onto its side. Natalya was jostled about, but couldn’t move. She felt the clamps being loosened and her being dragged from the SUV. As she was shoved into the SUV she saw Logan. However, she couldn’t get away from Tatiana.

Ruthlessly Logan attacked. Blood soaked his blue muscle shirt. Some was from the bullets and others were lines of blood from others from his claws. They shot him with some kind of electrical device and for a few moments that seemed to incapacite him. But he powered through the pain and managed to get a claw down far enough to cut the cable. Once it was cut the flow of electricity ended and Logan lunged toward the two men and impaled them.

Tatiana pulled Natalya from the wreckage but she knew a losing battle when she saw one. Logan was an unstoppable force without enough men to capture him. She pulled her knife from under her skirt.

“Well, it’s been a good run Natalya but I think its time I eliminate one of my oldest and largest mistakes. I almost had you again but this was a one time shot and I blew it. Guess what? You get to pay the price for my failure, isn’t that convenient?” She said as she was discussing a recipe with her. She slashed at natalya’s throat but Natalya managed to get her arm up in time. Her coat took most of the damage but the blade bit into her arm. It was very sharp. Tatiana came in again and with the same arm Natalya deflected her thrust though she managed to slash her shoulder. Blood oozed from the two wounds but Natalya began to feel her limbs again. The next time Tatiana came at her Natalya was able to grab hold of her wrist. She twisted and she heard the distinct ‘snap’ as she broke it. Tatiana cried out but with her offhand she caught the blade before she dropped it and slashed at Natalya’s hand. Tatiana came at her and put her weight into her next attack. Natalya was able to grab her arm but with the woman’s weight on it the knife drew closer and closer to her face. “I never allowed anyone to harm your face. I think I’ll remedy that right now!” She said as she grunted against Natalya’s growing strength.

As Natalya's strength returned she glared up at Tatiana and something inside of her just snapped. Tatiana's reprogramming had partially worked, but it had just awoken the more ruthless side of her. She was angry and upset and tired of being manipulated and hurt. She wanted to be free of Tatiana and the SSB...of their control over her...of her fear of them and the only way to do that was to kill Tatiana.

Natalya screamed out in anger and hatred and shoved Tatiana back. She twisted her other arm until it broke as well and grabbed the knife. All she could see now was shades of red as pure, unadulterated rage boiled up inside of her. She didn't hear the approaching police cars or see anything other than Tatiana.

"I hate you and what you've done to me! For once and for all I'm going to be done with you!"

She aimed the knife for Tatiana's heart, but Tatiana moved and she instead stabbed her in the upper left hand part of her chest. However, the blade was shoved in all the way to the hilt and Natalya twisted it as Tatiana screamed.

Suddenly, Natalya was hit by two tazers and within seconds she was on the ground.

The police have a special branch that deal with special humans and mutants. Natalya was shackled  in special shackles that were connected through an electromagnet. They used shock sticks to get her into their van. As she was brought in, she noticed that someone else was in there, Logan, covered in blood from head to toe. His hands were magnetically linked to the seat. He was about to ask her how she was or if she were hurt but he recalled what he had done and decided not to say anything to her as she was linked to her seat and strapped in. an officer tapped the side of the van as the doors were closed and the van took off toward the precinct. Logan looked at her, his eyes filled with shame and worry then he just looked at the floor. He could see that she was hurt and bleeding and he guessed that something had happened in the SUV but he didn't see it.

Natalya was visibly trembling. Her face was pale and her eyes were wide. Her pupils were still dilated from the drug Tatiana had slipped her. She knew deep in her heart that part of the reprogramming had worked and she was worried that she might hurt someone she cared about. She stared straight ahead as she broke the silence that filled the space between Logan and herself.

"Do you remember that promise you made to me when you first brought me to the Tower? I made you swear that if Tatiana should get her hands on me and change me back that you would kill me. I think you may have to Logan...I think you may have to kill me."

Logan looked up sharply. “What!?” He asked in surprise. “Fuck you say? How did she get to you? How!? In the car?” He asked when she nodded Logan began to look around wildly. He needed to get out of these restraints. “You’re not going to kill anyone. THat’s not who you are anymore god damnit!” He growled. “And it looked like you hurt Tatiana pretty badly. She doesn’t have a hold on you,” He added.

He grunted and bent the shackles just enough so that when he extracted his claws he cut into the locking mechanism and they fell to the floor. He then moved up to her and cut hers off. “Are you well enough to make the jump?” he asked as he moved back to the doors.

Natalya could feel the battle between her old self and her new self waging violently in her subconscious. Any small thing could set her off and set off a chain reaction that would be devastating. She was coming unhinged...the walls were starting to break down.

She was still trembling and bleeding from the wounds Tatiana had caused during their fight. She wasn't sure if she was well enough to make the jump or not, but she just nodded silently. She was desperately trying to hold herself together. What she needed was a quiet...dark room. All the noise around her was only adding to her distress.

Logan sliced the door lock and the door swung open. When they jumped out they both rolled and came up running away from the van. The van came to a stop behind them as they ducked down a side street and then another street that led to an alley. He could tell the blood loss was getting to her so he sliced open a locked door and he shut it behind them. It was dark inside here and smelled like drying paint, plaster, plastic and dust.

They went up a flight of stairs and it looked like a group of cubicles in an office building. THey moved into the kitchen and eating area and Logan moved up to the sink and rolled out several pieces of paper towels. He folded them up and asked her to hold it against her arm. He wrapped her hand and did the same to her other cut. He could see her eyes, they looked wild and worried.

“Stay with me Natalya, we just need to stop this bleeding then we can go back to the tower,” he said. He recalled what she taught him to say early on the last time she had begun to break through her programming. “Natalya, Assess your physical condition,” He asked. “Verbally please,” He added because if he didn’t she’d do it silently otherwise.

Natalya hit the ground hard and rolled. She rolled on her wounded shoulder, causing the wound to open up even more and blood began to flow out of it faster. She saw the van come to a stop as they realized that their prisoners had escaped. Natalya followed Logan as he sliced open a locked building door and ushered her inside. He took her up a flight of stairs. Natalya moved almost mechanically. She was still trembling as he took her into a kitchen and began to try and stem the bleeding from her wounds. She stared ahead and appeared to be almost catatonic. When she spoke, she only said one thing.

"Black kitten...black kitten..."

Logan cringed and murmured to himself. “Not the black kitten...again,” He said. He had heard that story before, He had heard of them all. In a way, he shared her tortures and her rapes and her sins. She had entrusted them to him and in doing so, had healed. Logan was the only person who could take those horrors and shove them aside. He didn’t judge her for them and he didn’t pity her because of them. Natalya was his friend and obviously Tatiana had gotten to her somehow. The black kitten event was an early one in her reconditioning so he hoped that it only went so far. He could work with that. He shifted and touched her chin.

“Hey, Natalya...heyyyy!” He said trying to get her to look at him. “Stay with me woman,” he said. “That happened when you were nine,” He said.

Natalya still didn't look at Logan. She was still teetering on the edge. Logan would know that he would need to remind her of the woman she had become...to jog her memory with a happy story.


Meanwhile, Isabella was with Tony in their office space. She had been trying to work, but Tony was successfully distracting her from her work. He had started out by kissing her neck and, though she had tried to ignore him, she had eventually given in and they were now heavily making out as Tony's hands began to run down her back towards her butt. Suddenly, though, she heard the unmistakable voice of their chief of security come through their comm links.

"I tried to stop them, but they are on their way up!"

Isabella pulled back and looked at Tony before responding. "Who is?"

"The police! They're looking for Logan and Natalya!"

He snapped his fingers. “Natalya! Do you know who I am? “I’m Logan, I spared your life, remember? I spared your life and protected you from SHIELD. You repaid me by kicking my ass day after day in the gym. Steve Rogers, Kate Blackwell, Tony and Isabella Stark and Serena. Do you remember Serena?” he asked.

Tony got up and moved to the intercom. “Steve, help Isabella, the police are here, head them off, i’m going to go look for Logan and Natalya,” Tony said. “Go...go, ill be back soon,” he said and ran to the lab to get into his suit.

The police and 2 detectives came up from the elevator. Steve jogged up beside isabella. “Hello officers, can I help you?” Steve asked. “We’re looking for Logan and Natalya Sokolova. We have witnesses to several deaths and they escaped our van,” the detective said. “If you know who they are, you should have brought them here,” Steve said. “The Chief wanted them brought in, are they here?” he asked. Isabella would know they had no warrant, not this quickly.

Natalya heard the names and they echoed in her brain. She knew them...she knew them all. They were people who loved her...who cared about her and wanted her to be safe. They had taken her in and given her a second chance.

Tears slowly came to her eyes. "I...I remember showing Serena how to properly break a guy's nose if he's harassing her."

Isabella nodded to Tony and quickly walked out to head off the police and give Tony time to find Natalya and Logan. Steve met her at the elevator. She stood there quietly at first and let Steve speak, but then she looked at the officers as they tried to get past them and look through the Tower.

"You have no warrant and no right to trespass."

“I think maybe you should call the mayor Isabella, let him know that Officer Gaines and Detective Jones from the 12th Precinct is harassing you,” He said. “Wasn't Frank attend our Christmas party?” Steve asked.

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“Yes, yes Natalya. Do you remember Malcolm Cross? We met him at the bar and he forfeited the pool game so you got what you wanted,” Logan said. “You walk around naked around me all the time and I bring you beer and make you pancakes...You love my pancakes,” Logan said.

Isabella looked at Steve and then nodded. "Yes, he did with his wife Audrey. He loved the mini quiches I made. His wife even asked for the recipe. We should have them over again soon."

Officer Gaines' upper lip quivered and he finally relented. "Fine, we're getting the warrant and coming back. And just keep in mind that harboring a fugitive is an arrestable offense."

He turned and left with the others.

Isabella looked at Steve with worry in her eyes. "What the hell happened?"

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At the word 'pancakes' Natalya cracked. The tears rushed out and began streaming down her cheeks as she began to sob. She leaned against Logan as her sobs wrecked her body. She had stopped the worst from happening, but now it would be a long recovery again.

Tony landed near where the police were conducting their investigation. Steve was on the phone with the police chief while Isabella was on the phone with the Mayor. Something strange was happening, normally the police gave the Avengers a wide berth but something was odd about them taking Logan and Natalya in. Several police and police cars were at the scene and 2 black SUVs, one tipped onto its side were there. Several bodies were covered and 2 EMS truck with EMS personnel treating 2 men were there as well.

“What happened here chief?” Tony asked. The officer in charge came over. “We’re not really certain, bystanders have said that the police were here but we’ve only just arrived. We’re trying to find out which precinct it was but we’re not having any luck on that. These men don’t have any ID at all,” he said. The two people being treated were bystanders. It was also odd that Logan and Natalya’s wrist comms were taken and the police, if they were police, Tony wasn’t so sure now, didn’t contact them.

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“Those police...I could be wrong but they didn’t smell right. They knew who I was and yet engaged me. I know at least one of them that won’t be walking anytime soon,” he said as he held Natalya to him. “I’ve got to get you back to the tower...back to...Malcolm,” he said but it was not easy to say and he didn’t even know if she remembered what he had did to cause her to leave like that. In the end this was all his fault. The thought of losing her, of having her taken from him had ignited that spark within him again. The desire to protect her, to love her and for them to be closer than they were. Those thoughts sounded selfish in his ears though. God knows how far she’s been set back. All that work, all that time...ruined!. Oh he was going to find the SSB, however many there are...and make them pay for this.