#when-wolves-howl

No one seems to take notice of your panicked state but it doesn't quell your fear of your unknown location and loss of memory at how you got here. You notice a sign on the wall and frown. “Die Heilsarmee – William-Booth-Haus, Übergangshaus (The Salvation Army - William Booth House, Transitional House.” A homeless shelter.

You make your way towards a woman that’s holding a clipboard and looks to be taking the names of people coming and going. You greet her in German.

“Hallo” you greet, as kindly as you can. This woman may have answers. You can’t scare her off with your impatience.

“Hallo. You’re awake” she greets back, giving you a small smile.

“You know me?” you ask, becoming more confused by the second.

“Ja. You came in late last night and I've been keeping an eye on you.”

“Was I alone?”

“Nein. A man dropped you off at the front stairs and instructed that i let you stay here until you woke up. That was,” she checks her watch “seventeen hours ago.”

Seventeen hours ago? How is that possible? You barely slept more than six hours at the compound and even less when Natasha was next to you. Her own nightmares plagued her more than yours ever did, so when she was next to you, you'd just pull her against your chest and rub her back to allow her some peaceful hours of sleep. You didn't care if you didn't sleep at all. As long as she was okay.

Natasha. You need to contact her. She’s probably worried sick and when she finds you, you're in for one long ass lecture. That’s if Steve doesn't beat her to it. Wanda will probably beat them both to it though. Your best friend always loved to tease that she’s the better Avenger. You'd always fight her on it, but you knew she was right. After the crimes you committed while under the command of Strucker, ones that made Wanda’s and Pietro’s look like minor inconveniences, you’d say that you deserved the ‘worst Avenger award’. Allowing illegal human experiment to continue after you came out unscathed from the experiments, with a new set of super human abilities similar to Steve and Bucky, you knew you deserved that title.

Being with Natasha however, she never allowed you to believe that. Even if it was a joke with Wanda, she knew that you believed it deep down, so she would always remind you that it wasn't true. When you, Wanda and Pietro defected to S.H.I.E.L.D during the age of Ultron, Wanda and Pietro had each other and as much as you loved them as your best friends, it was Natasha who you found any form of comfort and reassurance from. Because she herself, understood why the demons inside your head didn't just live in the shadows of your nightmares. They lived in any reflection you caught yourself in. She understood that better than anyone, therefore, she understood you. You’ve loved each other ever since.

A hand waving in front of your face brings back to the moment and the woman speaks again.

“Are you okay?” she asks, delicately.

“Yeah I'm fine. Is there a phone around that I can use?”

“Not here. But if you make your way out these doors, along the alley way and out onto the main street, there is plenty around for you to use. Here.” She holds out her closed fist and deposits ten one Euro coins into your palm. You smile when you look back up to her.

“Thank you” you say, in the most appreciative tone you can muster. She smiles back at you and walks further into the building while you walk out the doors the woman pointed out. Following along the dark alleyway, you can hear what you think is the sound of busy streets and traffic and walk further towards the sound. You stop for a moment and take notice of more homeless people in the alley. Some lingering around garbage cans that are lit on fire for warmth and others sleeping in cardboard boxes. Looking down at yourself, you realise that you’re somehow without shoes. You take the best pair you can find from a man passed out. Also taking his jacket and a baseball cap and leaving him with his blanket, you try to cover yourself as best as you can. You don’t want to be recognised by anyone as an Avenger.

You suddenly find yourself thrown amongst sea of shoppers and pedestrians alike. Bright lights of shops, houses, hotels and restaurants almost blind you and it takes a few moments for your eyes to adjust. Focusing your vision, your eyes flicker to a white street sign with black writing. It confirms your suspicions.

Kurfürstendamm. You’re in Berlin. You’ve been here a couple of time for missions. Both with Natasha, After the first mission you both visited Café Kranzler and had the most delicious tasting coffee you've ever had in your life. That was your first date. After the second, you took her to the small Monbijoupark near Museum Island and told her you loved her. She kissed you so hard that she split your lip.

Dipping your hat and bringing the collar of your jacket upwards, you start walking down the avenue and find a payphone on the corner. Taking the coins the woman gave you, you push one into the slot and call Natasha’s personal phone that only you know the number to. Your brow furrows when you hear that it’s disconnected. You try her office phone. Also disconnected.

“What the fuck is going on?” you mutter to yourself. You try every other number you can think of. Every Avenger and their private phone. Some are disconnected and some are left unanswered. With two options and two coins left, you try the first. You and the twins would leave a message for one another if any one you were ever compromised while working for Hydra and leave a coded message on an answering machine so the others could find you. It was probably the only smart thing Strucker ever taught you. It’s also disconnected

“Fuck!” you yell into the receiver and slam your fist into the wall. It crumbles beneath your fingers but you quickly pull it back and into your jacket pocket to try to avoid further attention. With your last option, last nerve and last chance, you push your last coin into the slot and dial a number that you haven’t called in ten years.

A woman’s voice answers after three rings.

“Dispatch.” You sigh in relief.

“This is Agent Y/L/N, agent number 49912517.” You breathed out the number as easily as your own name. Maria assigned it to you your very first day at S.H.I.E.L.D academy and you could never forget it. “Calling for extraction. Code word: Nelson.”

“Connecting.”

The line rings once.

“This is Fury.”

“I just woke up in Berlin. i don’t know how I got here or how long I’ve been here.” you say shakily, trying to keep your voice as normal as possible.

Fury says nothing. You think maybe he’s hung up.

“Hello?”

“Get to the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf safe house as soon as possible. Do you remember where it is?”

“Yeah, of course” you answer in confusion. Fury had sent you and Natasha to set up the safe house when a Hydra commander wanted to defect to S.H.I.E.L.D four years ago. He should know that you remember it because the two of you and the Hydra commander spent a whole month trapped inside because of the strong Hydra presence in Berlin. You couldn't leave and risk being seen or the defecting agent being killed on sight so you had to wait it out until it was safe to be extracted. Fury essentially lost his two best agents at the time.

By the time you bring yourself out of your memories, you realise that Fury has disconnected the call and you make your way to the safe as fast as possible.

Arriving at a dingy two storey pub, a few blocks away, you walk inside to find the pub empty, except for one person. A man you don’t recognise, sits on a stool reading a newspaper. He pays you no attention and continues reading as you walk up to him and speak.

“Nothing can cure the soul but the senses” you begin the code phrase in German, that will allow you entry to the safe house.

“Just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul.” the man says still not looking at you, ending the phrase and pointing to staircase at the end of the bar, “I will inform your superiors of your arrival.”

You acknowledge the man with a nod and hastily make your way up the stairs and into the room. You lay down on a bed in the corner of the room and close your eyes and go over everything that’s happened in the last couple of hours. You woke in a homeless shelter after sleeping for seventeen hours, in Berlin after being dropped off by an unknown man, with no recollection of how you even got to Berlin in the first place. No one is answering your calls. Not even Natasha, the love of your life. You hope she's okay. You need her to be okay. If you lost her, you don’t think you could survive,

As if on cue, the door opens and Natasha walks through door, keeping her eyes on the ground. It takes you almost ten seconds to actually realise its her. Her hair is longer than you remember, falling past her shoulders. She's not even wearing her mission suit. She wearing what she always called ‘civilian clothes’. A denim jacket, white shirt and black jeans. She’s even wearing sneakers. Natasha doesn't wear sneakers. She doesn't look up from her attention on the ground. But you don’t care in this moment because she is the most beautiful thing you ever seen. You scramble to your feet as fast as possible and throw yourself into the arms of your girlfriend and latch on as tightly as possible, without hurting her, which she reciprocates. Your enhanced senses are overwhelmed with everything that she brings into the room. Her lavender shampoo. cherry blossom perfume. You can even smell her strawberry chapstick. But what overwhelms you the most, is the thunderous beating of her heart.

“What the hell is going on, baby?” you ask quickly, wanting an answer right away. Natasha feels your breath against her neck and shudders at its contact. It’s been so long for her. “I woke up in a goddamn homeless shelter and I have no idea how I got there. The last thing I remember is seeing you and Clint fighting off some Hydra assholes when we were in Bulgaria and then I woke not knowing what the hell was is going on.” You pull away from her wanting to see her face but she still doesn't look at you. You cup her face and bring it up to meet your eyes. Her green eyes, which were always your favourite shade, are now red and bloodshot. She's been crying. Hard. You can tell that she's trying to keep more tears at bay. She takes your hands from her cheeks and lowers them between you. You frown at her actions and she notices but she motions towards the bed.

“Sit down. Please” she says, raspier than usual and you knows it because of the crying. You’ve never seen her like this. She scared but you follow her directions and take a seat. She grabs a chair from across the room and sits opposite you.

“Nat, what is going on? Why are you so upset?” Your tone is almost pleading. Natasha looks up form her knees and looks you in the eye and takes a deep breath.

“That day in Bulgaria, you were supposed to retrieve intel inside the warehouse about more Hydra locations around the world.” You nod, but stay silent. Tears start to stream down her face. “Clint and I. We were keeping the soldiers at bay to give you enough time to grab the intel and get out but-“ A sob escapes her lips before she can finish her sentence. All you want to do is pick her up and hold her tight but you refrain because a sick sense of dread begins to form in your stomach. Whatever Nat has to say, you're not going to like. “The warehouse exploded.” You frown again for what seems like the millionth time today, Even with your superhuman strength and durability, your forehead is starting to hurt. But with the next words that slip out of Natasha’s your frown instantly vanishes. “You were in the building.”

You shake your head in disbelief. That’s not possible.

“We thought you were dead. I thought you were dead.” Nat whispers, as more tears stream down her cheeks. You keep your eyes on her, too afraid to even blink. Too afraid to move a muscle. You can’t even react to her words. The dread in your stomach makes itself a home there and you know it’s not going away any time soon.

What’s she's saying has to be a joke right? This can’t be happening. “Fury asked me to come and talk to you. Even though I'm no longer with the Avengers or even S.H.I.E.L.D, he thought it was safer it you saw someone familiar first.” Safer? You would never. She's not with The Avengers or S.H.I.E.LD or anymore?

“I would never hurt you” you whisper and Nat almost misses it, but you know she heard. She may no longer be a superhero but she’ll always your spider. Nat begins to wipe at her face and nods in agreement at what you've said, when you notice it. A gold band sits on her left ring finger. Instantly, the frowns returns because you sure as hell didn't give it to her. The one you have for her sits in Wanda’s draw at the compound. You were planning on giving it to her on your anniversary, which would've been a few days after you returned form Bulgaria.

“What is that?” you ask, afraid of the answer. Your eyes don’t leave the ring. She notices what you're talking about but ignores the questions and looks at her knees.

“Y/N, ever since that day in Bulgaria, you were dead. You died in that explosion.” she says, looking up at you once again. Her eyes pierce your and it almost hurts to look at her but you can sense that she has one more thing to say as she chokes back a sob. “You’ve been dead for nearly three years.”

That's when you allow one single tear to fall.

Chapter 2

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Thanks for reading to anyone who made it this far. I know it finished on a cliffhanger so it could possibly be a multi chaptered story, depending on how its received. I already have the entire story planned out.

@therunawaykind @8bitscarlet @wolferine @lil-gamer @httpjupiterbby @traveler-at-heart @5-puthyyy @rebeliz777 @wellsayhelloaagin @maximoffsdetka @maximotts @vancityfire13 and i couldn't forget my reading buddy @holiday-house-of-m

@messedupfan I should've added you in the first place. I'm sorry. You're actually one of the biggest inspirations 💕

Thanks for inspiring me you guys!

You know she's telling the truth. You've been listening to her heartbeat ever since she entered the room and not once has it ever faltered. The tell-tale signs of a lie. Then again, she is a master of manipulation. Would she? She was sent here because Fury figured she was the 'safe' option. For you to see someone familiar. Where's Wanda then? Even with Natasha's extensive list of abilities, you could disarm her in two seconds flat. Maybe thirty seconds. Not that you would. You'd definitely give Steve and Bucky a run for their money. As strong as they both are, you're more agile and able to move a lot quicker.

You could also do the same to Wanda in hand to hand combat, but she'd have you on your knees begging for mercy while she picked your brain apart with her magic. She's the only one who could truly stop you.

"So you got married?” Of all the questions you want to ask, you couldn't help let those words escape you. She nods slowly. You put your hands on your hips and look back to the ceiling, desperately trying not cry. Who the fuck is she married to?

You don't have it in you to ask.

"Where's Wanda? Why didn't she come?”

"I don't know. Like I said, I'm not an Avenger or an agent anymore. I chose not to stay in the loop of the inner workings of missons or the lives anyone. I still speak to Clint occasionally, but no one else" she answers quickly, almost like she's ashamed. "I'm actually a professor of Russian Literature at NYU." Your lips pull upwards for a moment at the memory of the pile of books that Natasha used to keep beside the bed. Pushkin, Turgenev, Chekhov, Dostoyevsky. Despite her hatred of the way she was raised in Russia, she couldn't deny herself of reading the classics.

Your lips immediately release when you're brought back to the moment at the sound of feet shuffling. As you focus, you recognise them as boots. Six pairs. They're surrounding the building. You can also hear multiple clicks and know that it's fully automatic weapons turning off their safety switches. You're about to get ambushed. You guess you have about two minutes tops until they're raiding the pub. Keeping your composure, you finally turn to Natasha and find that she's risen from her chair and is standing a couple of feet away from you.

You can't help but love her. She's so goddamn beautiful and is the only reason you exist. But she's lying to you. Her coming here, it was never about a safe option. Fury sent an ops team with her, fully locked and loaded. You understand though. An Avenger goes missing for three years, presumed dead and then wakes up in a foreign country, with no recollection of those years. There's more red flags here then Chinese airport. But you have no answers. For all they know, you could be compromised. You're not though, are you? Maybe S.H.I.E.L.D has been infiltrated, again. Right now, the dread inside you begins to build up again and your gut instinct is telling you not to trust anyone. Not even the red head beauty in front of you. You still hold out your hand for her to take though. You offer her a small smile as a peace offering and she takes your hand in hers. You rub your thumb against her knuckles and savour the moment. You probably won't get to ever touch her again after what you're about to do.

"I remember when you used to bring me coffee to wake up. Not news about a missing chunk of my life" you say with a chuckle. You look her directly in the eyes and she is looking straight back at you, her eyes full of curiosity at your intense stare. She's about to respond when you harshly yank her forward by the wrist and slam your head against hers. She goes to collapse but you catch her in time and carefully place her on the bed. Looking down at her, you push her red locks away from her face and admire her one last time.

"I'm sorry baby. I guess I'm a liar too." You said you wouldn't hurt her. " I love you, Natalia. Always" you whisper. You place a kiss on her cheek and then stand up straight. Turning to the door, you once again focus your hearing to what's on the other side. The boots have entered the pub and are making their way through the first floor. You have about twenty seconds until they break this door down. Taking a deep breath, you begin to stretch your limbs and crack your knuckles. It's time to meet the boots. You grab the door handle and rip it off its hinges. You were never one to be quiet during missons. No point in trying now.

Stepping through the threshold and towards to the top of the stairs, you halt and look down. Six red spots are on your chest, the result of the S.H.I.E.L.D Alpha team pointing their rifles at you. You wouldn't expect anything less from these soldiers. You trained them after all. Besides the Avengers and Natasha, they became a part of your extended family. Going out for beers and playing darts after training could be the highlight of your week after coming back from gruelling missions. Even Natasha and sometimes Wanda or Pietro would tag along at times and kick Campbell’s ass every time while you and the other soldiers just laughed at his frustration.

Raising your hands in mock surrender, a sick smile forms on your face.

"Hi boys" you say, in a taunting tone. One of the soldiers steps forward and keeps their gun trained on you. You wonder if the magazines contain hollow point bullets. They're not enough to kill you, but to incapacitate you for a while at least at this distance. He takes off his helmet and lowers his mask. You see his eyes soften for a moment but quickly change back to their previous stoic nature.

"Agent Y/L/N. Keep your hands where we can see them. We don't want to, but we'll take you in by force if we have to" You laughed at his command. You taught this group everything they know. You didn't want to hurt them but you will of you have to.

"Still as bossy as ever, Campbell" you say as you take your first step down, hands still raised in the air. Everyone tightens their grip on their weapons. You continue with another step when Campbell takes a warning shot that flies straight past your ear. "Still a lousy shot too." You dare to take one more step down when he starts to shout at you.

"Do not take another step!"

"No, I didn't do anything" You quickly jump over the railing of the stairs and land hard on your feet. The six agents move a fraction of second after you and start spray bullets towards you, which you manage to avoid except for one that grazes your shoulder. You growl at the pain and pure rage begins to bubble inside of you. Moving as quickly as you can, you barge through the soldiers and they fall down like bowling pins, groaning. Quickly reaching for the nearest rifle, you secure the strap of it around your torso. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Campbell jump to his feet and advance towards you. You spin around just in time to dodge his fist and instead grab it and bend it behind his back. He screams out in pain as another soldier who you can't identify, slam the butt of his rifle into the back of your leg.

You drop to one knee with a grimace and feel the solider wrap his arm around your neck. Your windpipe is momentarily closed against the force but your anger is only fuelling your movements as you grip the soldiers arm and flip him over your shoulder, his back hitting the floor with a crack. Picking up another rifle at your feet, you whip it it across your bent knee, effectively snapping it in half. The remaining soldiers start to circle you, lasers pointed at your forehead. They're too close for you to make a move. You're strong, but not enough to survive a bullet to the head. Campbell pushes his way inside the circle to stand in front of you, pressing the barrel of a rifle to your head and a finger hovering over the trigger. You don’t dare look away.

“Stop!’

You look over your shoulder and see Natasha descending down the stairs quickly, widow bites wrapped around her wrist. There’s your spider. Where the hell was she hiding them? She steps in front of Campbell and pushes the barrel of his rifle towards the ground. Despite not being a hero anymore, her authoritative nature is still present.

“Nat?” Campbell questions firmly, looking away from you to her face. Did he just call her by her fucking first name? He’s never called her by her first name in all the years that you've known him. It was alway Ms. Romanoff and it was out of respect for the both of you.

Is he - ? Watching his eyes bore into her is making you feel queasy. You’re tempted to rip his head off his shoulders. Literally. With a squeeze to his shoulder from Nat, Campbell and all of the soldiers back off at her glare and exit the pub. Still on your knees, Natasha turns around and looks down on you, her widows bite emitting a soft glow. You know they're read to launch at a moments notice.

Your hands fall lifeless to your sides when you see the purple bruise forming on her fore head. Your heart clenches painfully and it hurts more than any bullet would, slice of a knife, any time Dr. List would put your brain into a blender. It’s almost impossible to hold back your tears. You can tell Natasha is trying to do the same.

“Please don’t make this harder then it needs to be, Y/N. You know what kind of bullets they have loaded. Fury gave them orders to shoot to kill if necessary” she pleads, with glassy eyes.

“I refuse to be locked up again, Natasha. I spent the better part of twenty years being locked up and my brain and body endlessly mutliated by Strucker and Dr. List. Do you really think S.H.I.E.L.D won’t do the same to me when I can’t give them answers? I may have been gone a while but even before I disappeared, things were never the same with S.H.I.E.L.D after we found out its deep corruption with Hydra. Cut off its head and one more shall take its place. I don’t trust anyone right now, Let me go so I can find out wha the hell happened to me” you spit out in a venomous tone and Natasha winces at it. You let your head fall to your chest and shake it in disbelief at your current situation.

“Do you trust me?” she asks. You know she’d never turn. She spent too many nights in your arms with your shirt soaked in her tears. In your opinion, it was better for her to drown in her own tears than the blood of her victims. As time passed in your relationship, the pages of her ledger were starting to return to white, the crimson slowly fading. But at this moment in time, the circumstances of your situation was too suspicious to even trust the woman you love. Not while you're on your knees in front of her, at her mercy.

You respond with actions rather then words by scoffing and lifting your head to look up at her. You point at her widow bites and then to the door the soldiers just left through the pubs exit. She understands your non verbal answer and gives her own response in a way of a single tear escaping her eye.

“I’m sorry” she whispers, allowing her tear to fall. It’s like a sick slow motion game that you're forced to play over and over again. A lone tear falls from the eye of the person you love most in the world and if you don’t catch it and beg them to take to back, it will be your fault that the tear fell in the first place. This is must be the kind of shitty games they play in purgatory.

“YA tozhe, prekrasnyy pauk - (Me too, beautiful spider)” you mumble under your breath. You know she heard because her breath hitches but it gives you a one second window of distraction to make the move to your feet. Before your brain can even comprehend your own thoughts, Natasha has already released two widows bites that hit the middle of your chest.

You’ve been electrocuted before. It was one of Dr. Lists favourite techniques to demand obedience and it hurt like a mother fucker. You can still sometimes feel your sore throat because of the screams you released every time. You've even been hit with one of Nat’s bites accidentally before but it was different this time.

With these bites currently attached to your chest and the electricity currently spitting out of them like wildfire, you can’t even make a whimper. Your jaw is locked tight and your limps seem to be in a state of entropy. Somehow, your melting brain makes a note of taking all of Tony’s suits and crushing them into a disc like shape and making your own shield like Steve. You know the advancements to Nat’s bites are his doing.

Natasha falls to her knees and now matches your height. You can tell she wants to reach out but it would result in her being electrocuted too and by the way your body is being held by the electricity and the force behind them, she’d probably die. You can feel as the bites start slowly powering down but you still can’t move your body. As the discs fall to the ground, so do you, landing harshly on your side.

The paralysis that encapsulated your body also diminishes and it feels like your whole body has been set on fire. With all the strength you can muster, you lower your head and look down at your body and see two scorch marks on your chest. Wisps of smoke rise from them and the smell of burnt flesh pierces your nostrils. It definitely smells like purgatory in here. If your jaw wasn't cemented shut, you would vomit from the stench. With exhaustion starting to creep up on you, you lay down flat on your back groaning in pain. Not just physical pain but the mental and emotional torture you were currently being subjected too rivalled that of the hot poison Dr. List forced into your body. You've thought about him more times today than you have in years. You hope to see him once you finally pass from purgatory and on to hell. Hydra piece of shit. Maybe that’s what you’ll always be as well?

The road to hell is paved with the images of Natasha marrying someone that isn't you. That road seems to be your only direction when you see the glimmer of her ring out of the corner of your eye. Seeing it makes you glad that thousands of volts of electricity coursed its way through your body and was able to distract you more even a moment to forget the whole day happened. As much as it hurt, it was a lesser pain than knowing she's sharing her life with someone that isn’t you. You bite your tongue at the thought, tasting the copper flavour all too quickly and you realise your jaw as unclenched.

Natasha can tell that your body is too weak to fight against her advances so she sits on the ground and slowly cradles your head into her lap.

“Don’t. Don’t touch me” you whimper softly. She can see the tears building up in your eyes but you're too tired to keep them at bay. She takes your face in her hands and wipes the tears away with her thumbs. One of her own falls onto your forehead. You can feel the coolness of her ring on your cheek but it feels like you're being burnt all over again. She pulls your face back to look at her. Your eyelids are feeling heavy as you to surrender to the darkness, hoping to never awaken from this nightmare. You’re ready for your place in hell. It was about damn time anyway.

Emerald eyes are the last thing you see before exhaustion overtakes you.

Chapter 3

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“That’s not true” With the force you just used to roll your eyes, you're pretty sure you just saw your brain.

“I don’t care. Apparently I don’t have a girlfriend anymore, so you and I will only speak to each other when necessary. Got it? Good.” You stand up and walk towards the door, leaving no room for Clint to speak further but he decides he wants to piss you off even more.

“She never stopped looking for the people that did it, you know? Not for a single second.” Clint explains. He still hasn't moved from his spot against the door and with you standing directly in front of him, you think to test the soundproofing of the room by throwing him across it.

“I don’t want to hear it, Barton” you spit out. You listen in on Clint’s heartbeat and it’s as steady as a rock. He’s not scared of you and he shouldn't be. You wouldn't hurt him, no matter how much you wanted him to shut up.

“She just went about it a little smarter than Wanda” The mention of your best friends name in any negative context has you wanting to take the knife you know is tucked into his boot and take both of his thumbs. See how good he can shoot the pointy sticks then.

“Move out of my way, before I make you move out of my way’ you warn. Clint steps aside and before you walk out the door, you take once last glance at the nightstand drawer. You never want to see that velvet box again. You make your way back to the dining room but all that remain are Bucky , Pietro, Steve and Tony. The mess in the dining room has been cleared and the four men have gathered around the kitchen bench. You walk up to them, feeling calmer then you were minutes ago. Being around people that you trust does that to you.

“What’s happening with Wanda?” you ask immediately. All men turn to you with frowns on their faces.

“What do you mean?” Tony asks.

“She’s been in there for a goddamn year. We have to get her out of there. Right now.”

“Y/N, do you not think we've tried? I’ve had lawyers who are still working today to free her, politicians, other billionaires like myself to try and help her but our President isn’t budging. The President of Germany wanted someone to take the fall for the casualties in Berlin so our President had to do whatever it took to keep these peace between the U.S and Germany. The German President wasn't willing to admit that Hydra agents were in the area either, so it came down to Wanda’s arrest. We were lucky that the German government even allowed Wanda to come back to the States” Tony explains. You understand why your President and Germany's President need to be on good terms but that doesn't help your best friend who has been rotting in a cell for the last year. But it’s not good enough. Not by a long shot. You hear F.R.I.D.A.Y announce that a visitor has arrived but a name isn’t mentioned. They must have an access card. You need yours back. Steve steps forward and places his hand on your shoulder.

“Y/N, I know how much you care for Wanda. Believe me, I know what it’s like not having your best friend when you need them the most. But we can’t go against the President. The Accords fell through because we managed to convince the U.N that we were able to keep ourselves in check. We have abide by those rules. If we don’t- ”

“I don’t care Steve. She doesn't belong there. She is not a villain and I wont let anyone treat her like one. She’s been through enough and at this point, so have I. If no one can or is willing to help her, I'll get her out myself. She may also be the only one who can help me get my memories back” You see both Bucky and Pietro smirk behind Tony and Steve and you try to keep your own smirk under control. Those two were the worst influences before you disappeared. You know they’d help you if you wanted to break Wanda out of The Raft.

“That won’t be happening” You turn to the voice speaking and see Everett Ross and Maria standing there with a team of armed men behind them. Looks like you’ll need to turn on enhanced hearing on while you're in the compound. You quickly eye Maria and she mouths an ‘I’m sorry’. So much for a couple before Ross came knocking. “You’ll be coming with us Y/LN.”

“I don’t think so” you said, not bothering to care about his sudden appearance. But then again, you needed something from him, so you had to give him something in return. He raised his eyebrows at your defiance and motioned for the armed when to move towards you. You raised your hands in surrender and decided to make a deal. “I will come with you, but I want to see Wanda first. Right now.”

“Not a chance. You’re lucky I don't just arrest you here and now. Director Hill is also lucky I didn't arrest her for aiding and abetting a fugitive” scoffed Ross. He had a scowl on his face that could rival Bucky’s.

“I’m not a fugitive. I've done nothing wrong. Excuse me for not wanting to held against my will with vibranium handcuffs. Look, I understand your skepticism about me. I’m questioning everything about myself right now as well. But I want to see Wanda right now. After that, I’ll surrender to you. You can run whatever tests you want on me to see if I've turned back to Hydra. I haven’t by the way, but if it makes you feel better to poke around my brain, then I’ll do it. If you don’t, then it won't end nicely and you’ll never see me again.” Your challenging tone makes Ross close his eyes tightly and shake his head while he thinks for a moment.

“Fine. I’ll get you in this one time. After that, you're back to Washington for testing.”

“No. We’ll do it here. I don't trust you or any of your doctors. I only trust two people with my brain and that's Tony and Bruce.”

"Deal. But I'm bringing in my own Doctor. Take it or leave it.” Ross bargained. You mumbled out a ‘whatever’ as you walked past him and towards the jet he took to get here. You were finally going to see Wanda.

———

The journey to the raft was quick and before you knew it, you saw the prison rising from the depths of the ocean. It made you feel sick that Wanda was inside. She had been treated like a villain nearly her whole life but you both, along with Pietro changed for the better. You never wanted to be on the wrong side of the law, you just wanted to live in a better world than the one you grew up in. Now she was locked up like an animal. You’re back now and the only reason she's in prison is because she thought you had died and her grief got the better of her.

Stepping off the Quinjet, you follow Ross and two armed men into the prison. After a security check, you’re led through a dark hall and come to end arriving at a surveillance room. You ignore Ross when he speaks to the security officer, instead searching the monitors

Looking around the at the monitors, you recognise some of the prisoners. Some the Avengers had put in the cells and some you had a personal hand in. You can’t see her so you turn your head to Ross to ask, but he’s already looking at you and points to a separate monitor. It shows multiple camera feeds. You think it must be the more dangerous prisoners and your assumptions are correct when you see her in corner of the screen. She's being kept in a room by herself in glass box with little ammenities. A bed, toilet and sink. The bare minimum for probably the most dangerous person here. She’s sitting on her bed reading a book so you can’t see her face but you’d recognise her anywhere.

A small smile forms on your face but it instantly disappears when you see the collar around her neck. You know what it does and how it makes her feel. It’s not the first time she's worn it. But it will be the last. You look at Ross again and he sees the fury in your features but doesn't say anything. You know they won't remove it if you ask. He tells you to follow the guard to Wanda’s cell.

When you reach the cell room, you tell the guard to wait outside the door. He reluctantly does when you give him a firm look that says you aren't taking no for an answer so he leaves. You turn around and slowly walk towards the cell. She’s still reading her book but doesn't look up to your foot steps that end in front of her. You take in her appearance and notice a few things. She’s definitely underweight with sunken eyes and her signature crooked smile is no where to be seen. Your heart breaks for her. Her long red hair sits past her shoulders but it doesn't have the same shine that you remember. She doesn't belong here. You try to ignore the blinking light on the collar around her neck.

“Tell Ross, I have no energy to use my powers today. I haven’t recovered since the last time.” You frown at Wanda’s words while she turns the next page of her book. Her voice is tired and sounds weak. You're ready to break her out of here right now. You hold your hand against the glass and push hard, to test it’s stability but it doesn't even make a creak. Reinforced. She probably thinks you're one of the guards.

“Wanda” you whisper out. You can already hear her heartbeat start to quicken at the sound of your voice Her hand stops mid page turn but she doesn't look up. Instead, she puts her book to the side and closes her eyes tightly and repeatedly shakes her head. You repeat her name but she won’t look at you. She puts her hands over her eyes and you can see tears start to fall down her cheeks. You can’t help but cry either. You've only been back a few days and since you couldn't have the one redhead you wanted, your other red head was next in line. Not that she's a second choice. You just want your best friend back. You know how to comfort each other. You fall to your knees to try to get her to look at you. Both of your hands rest against the glass.

“Wanda, please look at me.” you beg. Wanda presses her hands tighter to her ears and you can hear her heart beat louder than ever. You can hear her muttering under her that you're not real. That she's being tricked.

“Stop, Please stop. Tell Ross I’ll do whatever he wants. Just please stop this. I can’t.” Her voice is dripping with anguish but you need to snap her out of her out if it or she's going to have a panic attack. You decide to bang your fists against the glass as hard as you can. The glass shakes a little under your fists but but doesn't move from its hinges. You hear the door to the cell room swing open and see Ross and his two men charge through, weapons at the ready but you put a hand out to stop them. You tell them you have everything under control so they leave. You know they're still on the other side of the door. You turn back to Wanda and try harder to get her to look at you.

“RED!” you scream as loud as you can. Wanda whips her head up at the sound of her pet name that you always called her and meets your eyes. They widen at your figure but you can still see the disbelief in them. Wanda stands from the bed and slowly walks towards the glass keeping you separated and kneels down to match your height.

“Y/N?” you nod at your name with a small grin on your face.

“It’s me Wanda. I swear.” you promise. Wanda just stares at you with curious eyes but you know she's analysing all of your features. She's not sure if it’s really you and not some sick game that Ross is playing to make her use her powers for whatever reason. If she thinks it isn't you, then she could have an outburst and destroy the whole building. Even with the collar around her neck, she's more powerful than anyone realises.

“Prove it” she demands. Her brows are furrowed in frustration because she can’t read your mind. She wipes at her face to clear the tears that have halted for the moment.

“What?” you question in confusion.

“Prove it. Tell me something only Y/N and I would know” she demands again. If she can't read your mind, she’ll ask personal questions. You understand. You rack your brain for the hundred of memories that reside in your brain, whatever is left of it. You choose one that stands out in particular.

“The day after Strucker experimented on me, you gave me your water because I had spilled mine all over ground. You knew the guards wouldn't give me more. You became my best friend that day” you say wholeheartedly. You smile at the memory. In a way, she saved you that day. Wanda’s eye soften at your words and you know she believes you. Her hands comes up to cover her mouth as she release deep sobs. You put your hand to the glass and nod at her to do the same and she does instantly.

“I don’t understand. W-what is going on? They pulled your body from the explosion” she stutters out. She’s just as confused as you are at this whole situation. You take a deep breath and stand up while Wanda just stares at you. You press a button on your watch and render the security camera useless and then quickly sprint to the cell room door and break the handle off it, effectively locking you in. You immediately hear Ross and the other men begin to pull at the handle on the other side and yell for you to let them in.

"What the hell are you doing?" Wanda asks loudly but you shush her as you return to and back to crouch down at her level.

"We don't have a lot time, Red. I swiped it from Tonys office before I came here. A little device that disrupts the security footage for ninety seconds" You point to the watch with a cheeky grin. "Basically, I woke up in Berlin two days ago and I have no memory of the past three years. I don't know what the hell is going on. I was taken to S.H.I.E.L.D HQ and Maria told me that the CIA want to know where I've been this whole time because they've pretty much taken over S.H.I.E.L.D and the compound but I have no answers Wanda. I don't know what to do" you explain quickly. Wanda digests your words but they've rendered her speechless so you continue. “Nothing is the same anymore. Fury is gone, the CIA is working with S.H.I.E.L.D and the Avengers under the orders of The President, you're in here and Natasha got married. It’s all-”

“She got married?” Wanda grits out through her teeth, interrupting you. You nod at her and then look down at your hands, begging yourself not to cry over that. “Hey, look at me” You do with tears shimmering in your eyes. “Natasha Romanoff doesn't deserve you.” You show a small smile at the protectiveness of your best friend.

“She was the one who brought me in” you say in a sad whisper. You see Wanda’s jaw tighten but you look at her with reassuring eyes. “I’m okay, Red. I’ll cry about it to you later. Right now, I just needed to see you and let you know that I’m here. I’m alive and I'm getting you out of here.” Wanda just frowns at you and shakes her head at you but you look to watch your watch. Thirty seconds until the cameras are back online. The bangs on the door continue but you ignore them.

“No Y/N, I belong in here. I killed those people. I don’t want you to end up in here either”

“I don’t believe that you did. You're innocent.You’re not a murderer. But right now, I need you with me Wanda. Besides Pietro, theres no one else I trust more than you. Well maybe you a little more than

Piet” Wanda’s eyes light up at the mention of her brothers name and she giggles at what you said. “I need your help to figure out where I've been and what I was doing. I can’t do it without you”

“You can’t just break me out of here. They’ll find you. Find us.” Wanda pleads with you. She won't go on the run and neither will you. It would lessen any chance of you finding out where you've been and you won't let Wanda be seen as villain any longer.

“I’m not breaking you out of here but I am getting you out. I promise. Just give me a couple of days and you'll be out of here. Okay?” You've never broken a promise to each other and you're not about to start now. Your watch begins to beep at a five second timer.

“You said you woke up in Berlin. When I was there, I found something -“ Wanda is cut off by the timer off the watch so you signal her to be quiet. She nods in understanding. You walk over the door and grab the handle from the ground and shove it back in its place and pull the door open like nothing even happened. Ross and his men are still on the other side looking furious. Ross shoves past you to look around the room but sees nothing out of place. He instructs the guards to remove you from the room. They try to move you by your shoulders but you stand firmly in your place. They don’t match your strength, not by a long shot. You turn back to Wanda and see her tears have returned. But you smile at reassuringly.

“Do you trust me?” you ask in Sokovian. You know only Wanda will understand.

“Of course” She smiles at her native language.

“Then two days. You'll be free and that fucking collar will be gone. Be strong for me please” Wanda nods at your words. She trusts you. She always did.

“I missed you” Wanda barely whispers. She knows you'll hear it.

“I missed you too, Red. See you soon.” you say with a wink. You allow the men to finally escort you from the room and back to the monitor room and easily shake yourself from their hold. Ross follows you in and looks pissed off.

“What were you saying to Maximoff? What was that language? Sokovian?” Ross asks angrily.

“I was catching up with my best friend, Director. I told her that I missed her. She hasn't seen me in three years.” you retort just as angrily. You’re finding it really hard to keep your composure and not take everyone out and grab Wanda and make a run for it. Ross huffs at your answer and tells the guards to take you back to the quintet. Before you step on, Ross grabs you by the elbow and spins you around.

“Bright and early Y/LN. I kept up my end of the bargain, it’s time for you too keep up yours. Myself and a doctor will be at the Avengers compound to begin our own testing. I don’t exactly have much faith in Banner’s results. I want to see the testing and results myself” Ross tells you with a hint of a twisted smile upon his lips. You roll your eyes at him and then step onto the jet alone, noticing Ross and his men staying behind. You don’t care to ask. Taking a seat at the back of the quintet, you take out the phone Tony gave you before you left and dial one of the few number programmed into it.

“Strongest Super Soldier speaking, how can I help you?” grunts out Bucky. You chuckle at the lie he just told.

“I’m sorry, I don’t believe I'm speaking to myself.” you reply casually and Bucky laughs at your reply.

“What do you need?” he asks.

“I’m going to need your help with something and if we’re found out, we’ll probably end up in jail or on the run for the rest of our lives” you explain cautiously. You rather be on the run than in jail. You could little more comfortably that way.

“Eh, I was frozen for a few decades, I can handle jail but I’d prefer to run” You snort a laugh at Bucky reading your thoughts. “You’re getting Wanda out, aren't you?”

“How the hell did you guess that?” you ask bewildered at how this grandpa of a man knows you so well.

“It wasn't hard to guess. I’d do it for Steve” You smile at the thought of their friendship and how it like yours and Wanda’s. “So how are we doing it? Sneak into the Raft? Take out the guards? The usual? I’m assuming we'll need Pietro”

“We’ll need Piet. But no, we won't be doing any of that’ you reply firmly.

“What then?” Bucky asks.

“We’re going to blackmail The President” you answer, ending the call.

Chapter 5

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