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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟑
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐖'𝐒 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐄

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The three agents escorted Charlie through various hallways that looked so similar that she thought they walked down the same one multiple times. That continued for what felt like an eternity to the girl until they stopped in front of an eerie metal door. One of the men who hadn't spoken pulled a keycard from his belt and scanned it against the pad before the door slowly slid open. After her eyes scanned the small room for a quick moment, the Barton girl was pushed inside the room without any car from the agents behind her.

Her attention was instantly drawn to a device that looked like a lie detector sitting in the center of the table. The confusion within her quickly faded when she saw the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo printed on the side. It wasn't long after that when she finally recognized the object sitting in front of her, making her blood run cold.

"We had to piece it back together using a copy of the blueprints after you and your friends destroyed the original. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it," the leader of the trio smirked as he ran his hand over the device before his eyes landed on Charlie once again, "isn't funny how something you helped design is going to be used against you?"

"Hilarious," the Barton girl scoffed before the two other agents grabbed her arms and dragged her over to the seat next to the table.

Her head began to spin as she was forced to sit before her wrists were cuffed to the arms of the chair. The two of them then began to attach the wires from the device to her temples and to the back of her neck. Once they were finished, they double-checked the cords to make sure they were correctly placed before they took their places next to their leader.

"I would tell you how it works, but I'm sure you already know," the man said before pressing a button to turn on the machine and setting it to human, "now, I'll ask you again, where is the rogue HYDRA agent?"

"I don't know any rogue HYDRA agents," Charlie answered, making a green light flash on the device before a smirk formed on her face.

"What about Alexandria Easton? Do you know where she is?" he asked with a hint of irritation in his voice as his gaze continued to bore into the Barton girl's eyes.

"I know an Alexander Upton but I don't think he worked for HYDRA," the archer responded while avoiding the question and keeping the light from turning red.

"I don't care if you know an Alexander Upton. Do you know Alexandria Easton?"

"There is no one in my life that I call Alexandria Easton."

Charlie's gaze stayed glued to the man sitting in the chair in front of her. She watched the annoyance on his face grow, which only made the grin reappear on hers. The two of them continued to stare at each other in silence for a long moment. That was until a more sinister-looking smile appeared on the man's face. "Where is Alexandria Easton?"

The Barton girl's mouth stayed sealed as she tried to think of an answer that would satisfy the monstrosity that she helped to design when she first started working for S.H.I.E.L.D. When the timer on the side of the device slowly got closer to zero, panic began to course through her veins. It wasn't until it hit the three-second mark that she said the only thing she could think of that could keep her from feeling any pain. "I don't know."

As soon as the last word left her mouth, the light on the machine turned a menacing red. Pain was sent throughout every inch of her body while she kept her lips sealed. After somehow managing to keep her screams at bay for what felt like an eternity, the discomfort slowly faded. Charlie started to breathe heavily in an attempt to regain her bearings, which was the only sign she gave to her interrogator that she felt anything at all.

"Where is Alexandria Easton?"

"I don't know."

Another pulse went through her body and the urge to cry out was stronger but she still managed to fight it. This occurred for the third time then the fourth. He asked so many times that Charlie began to lose count as the jolts of pain continuously went through her. Her brain felt like it was fried while her heart seemed like it was about to fall out of her chest. Sweat beaded down her face as her breathing quickened to a pace she never thought was possible.

Charlie couldn't recall ever being in this much pain in my life, which was exactly why she and her team destroyed their invention in the first place. When he asked one more time and the pain came once again, the Barton girl gave in and let the loudest scream she could form break free and fill the air around her. Unknown to her, the Maximoff twins were in the next room over and heard her distress as if she was standing right in front of them.

"This is the last time I'll ask nicely," the agent told her while ignoring the agitated look on the girl's face as his hand returned to the switch on the device, "where is Alexandria Easton?"

"Okay, okay. I'll tell you," Charlie sighed before taking a deep breath. As she took in as much air as she could, she knew she'd have to word her response perfectly to buy her as much time to regain any sort of strength she could. "I did meet her and I did help her...but I cut ties with her before I met up with Steve and Sam. She did tell me one thing before she left, though."

"What did she say?"

The Barton girl's eyes stayed glued to the man in front of her as she took in all of his features. An eerie silence surrounded them once again as her thoughts flowed through her head like a raging river. Charlie's leg unconsciously twitched before she realized that they never cuffed her legs to the chair. A small smile appeared on the girl's face, causing confusion to appear on the man's. The next thing he knew, the Barton girl kicked him as hard as she could in the shin. While the two other agents rushed to lock her ankles to the chair, Charlie sent the agent who was holding his leg a smirk before a laugh escaped her lips.

"She said screw you!"

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Charlie didn't know how many hours had passed since this "interrogation" started. What she did know was how many breaks they had to take so that the machine wouldn't destroy her head. Ten. They had to take ten breaks.

During that time, they had to give the girl water and a bit of food so she wouldn't pass out on them. They threatened to bring in other members of her team to interrogate, but she convinced them that none of them knew where or who she was. Which was true for all of them, except for her father and the Twins. Every time she answered one of their questions, Charlie had to word it just right to make sure she kept their names out of it so that they wouldn't have to go through the pain that she was experiencing.

"I'm getting tired of asking the same questions and not getting an answer," one of the men who had been silent this whole time said.

"I'm getting tired of hearing them," Charlie scoffed before looking up to have a glaring match with him.

"Let's take another break. Get her water and some food. We don't need her passing out again," their leader told them as he rubbed a hand down the side of his face before letting out a sigh.

The other two agents quietly exited to refill the bottle and find something for the Barton girl to eat to keep her awake. When the door closed behind them, the archer looked back over at the one remaining to find him staring right back at her.

"I honestly didn't think you were this strong," he muttered just loud enough for Charlie to hear, forcing her to hold back another scoff as she continued to stare at the man in silence, "can I ask you something?"

"With the machine on or off?" she questioned with a quirked eyebrow.

The man hesitated for a moment before bringing his hand up to the device and turning it off. "Why is this girl so important to you?"

"Do you have any family?" Charlie asked him, receiving a nod in return while the agent continued to study her, "then you how important they are and that you'd do anything to protect them."

"She isn't your family."

"Family is more than blood."

The only response she received was a scoff before he turned the machine back. Once he saw the green light flash, he went over to the small TV in the corner. While he watched whatever game was on, Charlie let a small sigh pass over her lips. It wasn't long after that when she glanced up at the lone camera in the room without thinking, only to find the red light off. An unexplainable wave of emotions ran throughout her body as the Barton girl thought of all the reasons why that would be.

Her attention was soon drawn away from the camera and towards the opening door to see the two other agents walking in with food and water. They instantly rushed to give it to Charlie and made sure she ate and drank everything. Once it was completely gone, their leader turned off the TV and walked back over to them. The Barton girl's eyes stayed glued to him as he sat back down in the chair across from her before his hand reached for the switch on the machine and changed it to enhanced.

"You can't be serious?" Charlie asked while trying her best to hide the fear in her voice as she looked up to meet his eyes once again.

"We're all getting tired of sitting around and waiting for you to crack when that's obviously not happening," he told her as he leaned back in his chair while his colleagues continued to stare at the girl with emotionless looks on their faces, "we all just want to go home."

"I'm not an enhanced. Using that setting could kill me or cause me brain damage at best."

"Then I suggest you answer truthfully. Where is Alexandria Easton?"

His question hung in the air while Charlie stared at the three agents for the longest time. She thought about Alex's scared face when she didn't know where the Barton girl was taking her. How lost and defeated she was when the archer first met her. How far she had come to be the person she wanted to be and not someone she was built to be. Charlie couldn't let anyone take that from her.

"I don't know where she is."

The Barton girl closed her eyes and waited for the pain. But it never came. After feeling nothing for the longest time, Charlie slowly opened her eyes to see the three agents all messing with the now lifeless device they had been using to torture her. The next thing any of them knew, a loud bang came from right outside the door, causing the Barton girl to jump out of her skin while the three guards just stared at the metal door.

Charlie's attention stayed glued to the steel as it slowly began to open before relief washed through every inch of her body at the sight of Steve, Sam, and Clint standing behind it. Before the agents could make a move, they were taken down by the three Avengers. While Sam used the extra cuffs to lock the three men to a bar on the wall, the Man Out of Time and the Barton man rushed to Charlie's side.

"Are you okay, Charlie?" her father asked as Steve broke open the handcuffs on her wrists and ankles.

"I am now," the Barton girl responded with a small smile on her face before she tried to stand, only for her  to crumble into her father's arms, "how are Pietro and Wanda?"

"A little weak from whatever those straitjackets were for but they'll survive."

As soon as Clint finished his words, the smile on his daughter's face slightly grew as a few tears streamed down her cheeks before darkness greeted her like an old friend.

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