❝You'll both be okay.❞

♡₊˚ ⴵ・₊✧⋆⭒˚｡⋆

Natasha

As I hurriedly exited the room, I was met by Fury, alarm present on his face.

"She said-" I started, to which he cut me off, saying, "I know, I heard every word, I was coming to get you out of there."

"You need to get whatever's in her out of her," I told him.

He nodded his head.

"I've called in Dr Banner and Dr Cho," he told me. "We have no idea what's in her, other than it could be dangerous. They'll-"

He was cut off by a scream from inside the interrogation room. Me and Fury exchanged a concerned glance, before opening the door and looking in, Fury stepping in front of me protectively.

Aurora was still sat at the desk, but she was rocking back and forth, wrists pulling against the cuffs keeping her in place. Her blond hair hung over her face, but I could hear her erratic breaths and I could partially see her red eyes, tears streaming out of them.

Fury quickly withdrew, to which I demanded, "She needs to be sedated or something. She's going to hurt herself if she stays in that state."

The director nodded gravely, and Commander Hill came running towards us.

"Hill!" he barked as she came towards us. "Get some sedative from the med bay!"

"Got some!" she called back, reaching us, holding a needle of sedative.

She put her hand on the door handle, but I grabbed her wrist.

"Wait, let me hold her. She's likely to try fight back," I offered, after hearing another pained yell from inside the room.

My heart was thumping in my chest by this point as I waited for Fury to give his permission. He simply nodded his head slightly, which was our cue to burst into the room. Aurora was shaking pretty obviously, muttering to herself, occasionally letting out a louder yell.

"Hold her head and chest still, I'll try to inject her in her neck," Maria told me, to which I nodded and approached Aurora.

I made sure she had seen me by walking in front of her, before approaching to the side.

"No, get away!" she snapped as I stood behind her.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, placing my arms around her chest.

As soon as my arms came into contact with her, she screamed and started fighting against me, thrashing herself around. I tightened my grip as she fought, trying my best to still her head by holding it against my chest, but she kept pulling it out of my grip. Eventually, when she ragged on the handcuffs a little too harshly, she let out a small yelp of pain, before slumping down. The electronics in the cuffs had reacted to the sudden movement, giving her an electric shock.

Maria acted quickly, sliding the needle into her neck and injecting her with the sedative. I caught the woman's body from falling onto the floor, then silence blanketed us. I looked at Maria to see a scared look in her eyes.

I looked at her questioningly, my stomach flipping with anxiety.

"She's so much stronger..." Maria whispered. "She's so much... scarier."

I couldn't do anything but try to console her verbally.

"Hopefully when Cho and Banner take out whatever's controlling her, she'll be back to her old self," I told her hopefully.

Maria simply nodded. The sound of an opening door made us both look over towards the door. Two of the medics appeared with a stretcher.

"Fury called us for Agent Eriksson?" one - a small, shy looking man - asked.

Maria cleared her throat and nodded.

"Yes, she's sedated for now, but it'll wear off soon," she replied, moving to uncuff Aurora's wrists.

When the metal moved to reveal her skin, I winced. Her pale skin was irritated and red, yet under the redness, I could make out scars, and relatively new cuts and friction burns. My eyes dropped to my own scarred wrists - handcuffs left a mark if used enough.

"Hey," a gentle voice beside me made me jump.

I looked to see Maria beside me, gently taking my wrist in my hand.

"I know it's tough for you right now, but don't go through this alone if you need to talk to someone," she told me with a reassuring smile. "I'm here for you. No matter what."

"Thanks Ria..." I murmured, glancing at Aurora.

She was being carried out of the room by the medics on the stretcher, still peacefully unconscious.

"I hope she'll be okay..." I told Maria quietly when the medics were gone.

"She will," she assured me, a strength seeping into her voice. "You'll both be okay."

♡₊˚ ⴵ・₊✧⋆⭒˚｡⋆

It had been three hours since Fury had called in Dr Cho and Dr Banner. Three hours of pacing back and forth, unable to calm my nerves.

"Nat, please, eat," Maria pleaded again, taking my wrists as I looked towards the med bay again.

"I can't," I replied, shaking my head. "I'll be sick."

"No you won't, you feel like you will because you haven't eaten anything and you're stressed," Maria's voice firmly replied. "If you don't eat, you'll feel even worse."

I sighed, struggling to keep my gaze on the brunette in front of me.

"Here," Maria pulled out an energy bar from her pocket. "Sit down and eat this."

She led me over to the row of chairs in the waiting room of the medbay and we sat down, side by side. Anxiety and a feeling of nausea clawing at my stomach, I took the energy bar from her and sighed.

"She'll be alright, they'll just be making sure there's nothing that could cause her harm," Maria told me, gently kissing my forehead.

I looked up at her with a small smile.

"Thanks," I whispered.

"No worries," she chuckled.

The sound of the medbay door opening made us both look over. It was Dr Banner. Heart beating hard in my chest, I asked, "Is she alright?"

He nodded, a look of relief on his face.

"Yeah, she's just waking up now, Cho and Fury are with her," he told me with a small smile.

"Oh thank god," I stood up. "Can I see her?"

Banner chuckled slightly.

"Give her a little space, I'll tell Fury you want to see her," he replied.

Seemingly spotting the unopened energy bar in my hands, he nodded towards it and said, "I'm sure Maria has been trying to get you to eat that. Listen to her."

"Exactly," she agreed. "I'm not letting you go in there until I know you've eaten."

I pouted and murmured, "Fine."

I didn't miss the amused glance shared between Maria and Bruce, but I pretended not to notice as I sat back down. A moment later, Bruce disappeared back into the medbay, and Maria sat down next to me, placing her hand on my knee comfortingly.