❝He's in my head and I can't get him out.❞

♡₊˚ ⴵ・₊✧⋆⭒˚｡⋆

Aurora

"Why don't you use your powers?"

The question came without warning.

"Because," I told the director. "I don't see reason to."

Fury's eyes narrowed.

"But you could've easily escaped with your powers. Manifestation. Telekinesis. Extreme strength. You could've killed the guards that come into your cell before they had the chance to close the door."

I sighed, looking at my hands.

Don't dare break.
I'm trying!

"Aurora, look at me."

I kept my gaze fixed on my lap.

"Aurora."

Fury lifted my chin with his index finger so I met his gaze.

"Coulson wouldn't want you to keep denying the help we're trying to give you," he told me.

This statement sent a stab of fury and distress through me.

"He's not dead, stop acting like it!" I spat. "He's alive, he's just biding his time!"

"Aurora, you're in denial," Fury told me.

"No!" I replied, raising my voice dangerously. "He's alive, you're trying to make me crack, break, but I won't!"

You're breaking, you're not weak! Stop!

"I know you don't believe it, but it's true," he continued calmly, his eye watching me carefully.

"It's not true!" I yelled, standing up, wrists pulling painfully on the cuffs. "He's alive, he's at The Hub or something of the like, he isn't dead!"

Stop being weak!

By now I had lost control of myself. I couldn't help it. Grief, fury and denial were surging through me, and I needed to let them out.

"You liar!" I shouted, holding back tears. "You're trying to lie to me, trick me but you can't! You know you can't! Stop pretending you can!"

Fury had stayed seated, putting on a mask of calm, however I could suddenly see alarm in his eyes.

"You pathetic, foolish liar!" I almost screamed. "I hope you go out there and never come back, you call yourself good yet you try to deceive me! You call your organisation something good yet you hurt me and make me wish I wasn't here!"

Fury had gotten to his feet by that point, face betraying unmasked alarm, disturbance and mild terror. He just stared at me, almost as if he was unable to speak or move. My previously rapid breaths were slowing down as I realised what I had said.

Opening my mouth, no words came out. I stuttered the beginning of an apology, but I couldn't get the words out as I realised with horror what had actually come out of my mouth.

"Nick I-" I almost choked on my own words as I sat back down, staring up at him with undisguised shock.

It took the director a moment to regain himself before he turned and left the room, slamming the door harshly behind him so I flinched.

Good girl, you weakened him.

I shook my head harshly. I didn't want to weaken him! I didn't want to say what I said! Dropping my head with horror, I tried my best to blink away the tears that had gathered in my eyes, however a couple escaped and rolled down my face. Regret was eating at me, and I found with desperate anguish that all I wanted to do was run out of the room and wrap Fury in a hug like I could do when I was only fifteen.

But I couldn't.

Natasha

Seeing the woman make Fury feel so strongly was a shock to me. I watched as he left the room, clearly shook, and how Aurora hung her head. I couldn't help but be hit by a pang of sympathy for her. She looked ashamed of herself, the way she presented herself.

She was vulnerable.

Moving away from the one-way glass, I left the room and walked the few steps down the corridor towards the interrogation room. My hand hovered over the door handle.

"I wouldn't," a voice behind me warned. "You saw how she affected Fury. And you know how he hides his feelings."

Turning around, I was met by Commander Hill's concerned gaze.

"I can handle her if she decides to try hurt me," I assured her gently. "She's vulnerable, and being alone won't help her. If I can get her to talk, I might be able to get something out of her that would help us."

"And what tells you that?" Hill inquired, walking over to me and taking my hand gently.

"This morning, I had a nightmare," I admitted. "It was one I thought I had gotten rid of. I went to check on Aurora, and she's not a bad person. Even now, she's trying to do good. Whatever's stopping her, she's still trying. She's fighting back."

Doubt lingered in the commander's eyes.

"Maria, please, trust me," I murmured. "I was in her position once. Granted, I didn't have her history, but I'm the one person she can relate the most to."

Maria's worried blue gaze searched my face for a few moments longer, before she finally nodded her head.

"Be careful Nat..." she whispered, before letting go of my hand and turning, walking down the corridor with an authoritarian briskness.

I watched the woman until she was out of sight, then I placed my hand on the door handle. With a deep breath, I opened the door and stepped in.

Aurora

The sound of the door gently opening made me instinctively tense up. I furiously blinked the tears away from my eyes, but kept my head down. I heard the door shut, and footsteps came towards the table.

Breaths quickening slightly, I stared down, not looking up.

"You're better than I thought," an observant voice commented.

I immediately recognised it to be that of Natalia Romanoff.

"I lost control," I replied through gritted teeth. "Tell me what about that is 'better'."

"You're better than him," the agent replied without hesitation. "Whatever influence he has in your head, you're beating him."

Don't listen to her. You're my puppet. You always will be.

"No I'm not," I denied. "I'm loyal to him."

"You're not," I heard the woman say. "You're really not."

"What are you here for?" I asked harshly.

There was a moment's silence before Natalia replied solemnly, "I didn't want you to be alone."

"Alone?" I questioned in a whisper.

"You don't deserve to drown in your thoughts like that," she told me. "I thought I'd keep you company."

I kept my gaze down, secretly scared of what I'd see if I looked up.

"I might not be able to get you to talk, and that's fine," Agent Romanoff said, and I heard the sound of the chair opposite me being pulled back, telling me she had sat down. "I'm not here to interrogate you."

Nodding my head briefly, I stayed silent.

"Do you want anything?" the red-head asked. "Food, water?"

I looked up at her with a short, dry laugh.

"It's not like I could eat or drink anyway, is it?" I inquired, tugging at the handcuffs so they made a clinking sound.

The woman smirked, sitting back in the chair.

"You could. You just might not be able to use your own hands," she replied, her green eyes glinting with humour.

"Ew," I commented shortly. "Äckligt." (disgusting)

"If you say so," she chuckled, and for a moment, I felt an odd feeling of being at... home?

You can't break.
I'm breaking.

"Natalia?" I inquired.

Her face dropped at her name.

"Don't call me that," she told me.

I blinked, confused.

"But that is your name, no?" I asked.

"It used to be," she replied. "It's Natasha now."

"Oh," I nodded. "I'm sorry."

She covered her upset with a chuckle.

"Don't worry about it, you couldn't have known," Natasha told me. "What were you gonna say?"

I took a deep breath.

I'm breaking.
I'm cracking.

"It hurts," I told her, my voice involuntarily cracking.

Natasha's emerald eyes flashed momentarily as she straightened up.

"What hurts?" she questioned.

"My head," I replied, struggling to keep my voice from shaking. "He's in my head and I can't get him out."

"Dreykov?"

I nodded, breaths picking up again.

"I want him out but he won't go!"

"Do you know how he's controlling you? Is it conditioning?"

"No, in my arm, there's something and it's controlling me, I don't know how, but my head hurts. He won't get out of my head. I can't get him out of my head!"

Natasha nodded her head.

Kill her now.
Kill her.
Rip her apart from the inside out.
I,
Want,
Her,
DEAD.

Shaking my head roughly, I felt a wave of fury overcome me as I tried to fight against the urge to break out of these cuffs and slit her throat.

Agent Romanoff quickly got to her feet, nodding her head.

"I'll get someone, they'll help you, I promise," she promised, before rushing from the room.