SHE HAD WOKEN UP IN THE AFTERNOON AGAIN BECAUSE SHE WAS ALLOWED TO SLEEP FOR AS LONG AS SHE WANTED. She woke up voluntarily, rubbing her eyes as she looked towards the TV which she had left on, as she had been watching re-runs of the show she had watched in Steve's room. It was strange, her senses lowered to the point where she could drown out the noise, able to sleep for as long as she wanted. 

She wondered if it was nice. She wasn't quite sure.

She yawned, stretching, startling when a voice filled the room; JARVIS, as they had been formally introduced. "Good morning, miss. It is currently 12:36 p.m. There is lunch waiting for you in the kitchen, and you are requested in the training room once you are finished. Would you like me to direct you there when you are finished?"

She struggled to make a sound, though she found it was much easier than when she had first arrived. "No."

"Okay, miss, take your time, there is no hurry. Or so Dr. Banner says," JARVIS added, and she nodded to her empty room, stretching and laying back down for a few minutes, staring at the TV which was now playing an infomercial, as Steve had told her they were called, and she watched the two people advertise the clothing that sat on pure white tables.

When she grew tired, she climbed out of bed, debating whether she wanted to change out of her sweater and shorts. Deciding that, no, she didn't want to change, she made her way out of her room and into the kitchen, finding it strangely empty; she expected to find Clint drinking coffee straight from the pot, as he tended to talk about doing so on a regular basis.

She found a sandwich and small chip bag on a plate with a sticky note reading, 'Here's some grilled cheese to try, sorry I'm not there to see your reaction - Bruce,' and she felt herself smile as she picked it up, still unsure as to why, figuring that she could take it into the gym to see what they wanted from her.

JARVIS told her there was no hurry, but he specified that it was a statement coming from Bruce. She didn't want to upset Tony more than she already had.

Trying not to dwell on what would happen to her if she did, she made her way into the training room, deciding not to eat the sandwich until Bruce could see her, as he stated in the sticky note that he wanted to, so she figured that she would let him see.

She wanted to ask him about why she smiled at things she didn't quite understand, though she wondered if it was her subconscious; he mentioned that a lot when he talked about her and she pretended not to hear him.

When she stepped into the training room, she found everyone gathered inside, some training while others simply sat around, Tony and Bruce with tablets in hand, various machinery having been brought into the training room, placed haphazardly around, waiting to be used.

"Good morning," Steve said, he and Natasha turning to look at her even before she stepped into the room.

She nodded because she wasn't sure she wanted to speak and picked up the sandwich as she made her way over to Bruce who smiled, setting down his tablet to make his way towards her, his eyes trained on the sandwich.

She mimicked his expression, still unsure of whether she was successful, but nevertheless raised the sandwich to her lips, taking a rather large bite, her eyes twitching yet again and lips curling in a way she didn't quite understand, her tongue screaming though not necessarily from distaste.

"It's good," she said, as Bruce was still waiting for her reaction, and his smile widened as he laughed, glancing over to the others who were watching on, Clint giving her a thumbs up before turning his attention to Natasha who's suspicious expression had softened somewhat.

She looked around at the machines, tilting her head as she did, and while she opened her mouth to begin asking about them, it seemed that there was no need, as she was soon being led towards them by Bruce.

This was too much like her masters to be any sort of comfortable, and without thinking she had wrenched herself from his grasp, bolting back towards the door, only for Natasha to block her way, which caused her to skid to a stop, her entire body freezing, her heart nearly beating out of her chest.

If she was still on compliance, she would have reacted immediately, and there was no guarantee that Natasha would have still been alive, what with her track record, and the part of her that was left without compliance would've simply hidden in the back of her mind, trying to block out all that was happening.

But without compliance, she was nothing but afraid. 

"Relax," Bruce called out, moving towards her, moving carefully, his hands coming up higher when she whirled around to look at him, and she saw Steve motion towards Natasha behind her, which only made her look over her shoulder to find the woman at the ready.

"It's okay," Bruce said softly, reaching out towards her, though he didn't touch her, which she was grateful for, "Did you remember something?"

She nodded, shuddering as she wrapped her arms around herself, staring at the machines and the training room, her skin prickling as she felt the phantom sting of the needle in the back of her neck, faint flashes of her first times training echoing behind her eyes, just out of reach, but close enough to feel.

"We're not gonna hurt you," Bruce said softly, and she realized that, in her haste, she had thrown her plate which was now shattered, her sandwich on the floor.

She motioned towards the machine with a jerky raise of her chin. "What are those for?"

"We want to test your abilities, see what they did to you," Tony said, stepping forward, and she took a step back, crossing her arms over her chest defensively.

"We're not gonna hurt you, I promise," Bruce said softly, motioning towards the grid platform in the center of the room, "It's non-intrusive, we're not gonna touch you or anything, and all you need to do is go against some dummies."

"I went primitive, thank Bruce for this," Tony called out, wrinkling his nose at the dummies which were resting on stands in the center of the grid platform.

She looked towards Bruce who gave her a comforting smile, motioning for her to approach the grid, and she sighed, hanging her head as she made her way over, stepping inside, only to jump when similar grids formed walls around her, keeping her inside, even as she tried to leave.

"You can leave any time, but for everyone's safety, you're gonna be inside," Tony explained, fiddling around with the tablet in his hand, not even looking up, "So we're gonna start slow until you get yourself oriented. This is purely offensive, but once you start, the dummies will go on the defensive, but you won't get hurt unless you hurt them, but the objective is to get to that key that they're guarding."

Suddenly, a holographic key appeared, floating towards the other end of the grid, floating above the ground, an arm's length above where her head could reach, the dummies all blocking her way, still lifeless and still.

"You sure we should be doing this?" Clint asked, especially towards Bruce, "You know better than anyone not to provoke something dangerous."

"You can back out at any time," Bruce repeated, though he glanced over to Tony who caught his eye, the man moving to lower the settings on the dummies.

She tried to remember all that she had learned, which had been more than a lifetime's worth of knowledge, falling into a crouch, and she noticed Natasha stiffen in her peripheral vision, which meant that she had to be doing something right.

At least, right in her masters' view, which most likely meant it wasn't right at all.

Nevertheless, when the dummies rose to life, she tried her best, unsure of what to do as they simply fell into a position of defense, and she didn't know how she was supposed to attack them. So she simply stood there, not feeling right about hurting any of them.

Then the dummies started to move towards her.

She tried to steady her breathing as she stumbled backward, hitting the grid wall, and the dummies closed in on her, though not so fast that she wasn't able to surge forward at the last second when her mind finally registered the clear opening they have saved for her; if she was on compliance, she would've found it instantly, though the chances of her getting cornered in the first place would've been slim.

She fell forward, crawling away and stumbling to her feet, only to be caught by a dummy. It's hold on her wasn't strong, but enough to send her into a panic, kicking and struggling, trying to throw herself off, nearly screaming as all the dummies began to close in.

From an outsider perspective, she could've easily gotten away, there was no reason why she didn't, Tony had set their strength to the lowest setting, practically nonexistent, but it didn't take a genius to see the pure fear that coursed through her entire body.

"Tony!" Steve called, and the older man immediately shut off the dummies and the grid, everyone rushing over to help, only to back off once they remembered how she had reacted to the dummies closing in on her.

"You're okay," Bruce said softly, kneeling to help her up, only to find her softly whispering from where she was curled up, her forehead pressed against the floor.

"I don't want to...I don't want to..." she whimpered, and the team all shared a worried look, Tony looking more pained than the others, dragging the dummies away from her, his hands shaking.

She tried to breathe as memories flashed before her, memories that she hadn't had until just now. 

○ ○ ○

She was small, clearer-minded than she had been for most of her life, and she could still take in the room before her. It was the training room, but not as filled as before, empty and bare, but instead of the usual training partners she had for the majority, they were people.

Real, breathing people. They were much bigger than her, but they were kneeling. They were skinny, their clothes hanging off them, dirty and grimy, their eyes bloodshot and red with dark circles under them, and they looked terrified, yet resigned, no longer putting up a fight.

The last image that flashed in her mind was being shoved towards them, the people screwing their eyes shut, before her eyes were cast towards the ground and she could feel her entire body aching, her throat sore as she screamed, the sound of yelling echoing through her ears as she stared at the lifeless body of one of the people, the others crying, huddled in the far end of the room.

"Do it! Comply! Do it!" one of her masters screamed, and she couldn't remember his face, but she could hear his voice.

"I don't want to!" she sobbed, her voice small and pained, gasping for air, "I don't want to!"

○ ○ ○

When she was finally calmed down, she found Bruce reading in the chair right beside her, though she wasn't in her room. Instead, she was in the lab, hooked up to various wires, and she tried to sit up, to get away, but he placed a hand on her arm, shushing her softly, holding up his hands placatingly when she jerked away from him.

"They won't hurt you, they're not here. You're safe," he said softly, and she tried to relax, copying his breathing when he told her to, taking a deep breath, holding it, and letting it go.

She shuddered as she felt herself begin to cry, turning on her side, feeling tears freely falling as she curled in on herself, and Bruce reached over, pulling out a blanket and draping it over her, and she immediately tugged it around herself, still shivering.

"I'm gonna get you something warm to drink and some food, is that okay?" Bruce asked, and she nodded, still crying, and he gave her a sad smile, brushing her hair out of her face before stepping out of the lab.

She turned onto her back, her entire body seizing as she sobbed, the phantom pain lingering as the sound of the screams filled her mind which filled in the blanks and gaps that she hadn't remembered, her stomach turning in disgust as the face of the dead man lingered in the back of her mind.

She had stared at that face for hours, or so her mind told her, and it had broken her in, as her masters liked to call it.

She heard the lab doors open and turned her head, expecting to find Bruce, only to see Tony, who immediately faltered when he caught sight of her, averting his gaze as he made his way to the monitors, his shoulders up to his ears, his entire body tense.

She continued to cry as she hid under her blanket, shivering as she waited for Bruce to return, unable to close her eyes for long as she saw the face of the man, gagging as the image, causing Tony to turn around, looking at her with an unreadable expression.

If she was able to read his expression, she would find the guilt that hid just beneath the surface as the man made his way over to her, sighing as he leaned forward on the bed, not touching her, just letting his presence soothe her in a way that another's presence had soothed him all throughout his childhood.

"You're not bluffing, huh?" Tony asked, leaning forward, bracing his arms on the cot, "Romanoff and I were skeptical, because we had to be, and Cap was too. We didn't think everything had come from that drug."

She pointed towards her head, still crying. "I was hiding. The entire time, I had to watch, I didn't—I didn't want to. I didn't." She didn't realize she was pleading with him until she heard it in her own voice.

Tony looked shattered, sighing as he leaned his head forward groaning. "Listen, it wasn't fair of me to be so cold to you, but I mean...can you really blame me? You came in saying you wanted to kill the most important people in my life."

"But I didn't want to," she pressed, and he nodded, his hands clasped together.

"I know," he said, sighing as he raised his hands to rub his eyes, "I know, I know...listen, sweetheart, I'm sorry, but I get it. And I agreed with it before and nothing's changed, we're gonna make sure you get through this. You don't deserve to take the fall after what those assholes did to you."

She shuddered, opening her mouth, "My masters—"

"Don't call them that," Tony said sharply, his eyebrows furrowed, "No one's your master. No one can tell you what to do but you."

She shifted uncomfortably, averting her gaze from him, and he tapped the table next to her lightly to get her attention, not a part of her body like she expected him to. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to meet his eye.

"If you're gonna be living here," he began, causing her to freeze, but he held up a hand as he continued, "If you're gonna be living here, we're gonna be setting up some ground rules. No double-crossing, no leaking anything to the press, no being mean to JARVIS, and you gotta speak your mind. That's for you only, everyone else can keep their mouths shut."

She furrowed her brow as she tried to keep up and he rephrased. "Whatever you're thinking, I want you to say it. Trust me, it's freeing when you're finally able to just say what you feel instead of constantly worrying about how others are going to react. No one can hurt you now. Say it."

She opened and closed her mouth, unsure of what he wanted, and he raised an eyebrow, inclining her head towards her. 

She looked around, taking in the mess of the lab, a mess that only could've been made by him, snacks littering the tables along with tablets and machinery, everything in a chaos only understood by those familiar with its layout and usage, foreign to all those looking in, and he seemed to be the exact same way, what with his neatly done hair, yet tired, dark-circled eyes, and a smirk that seemed to be hiding much more than what could be seen.

She tilted her head, forcing herself to speak. "You're..." she searched for a word, "Weird."

Tony's smile nearly lit up the whole room. "Perfect."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

So to clear this all up, because no one commented on it because no one really reads this nor comments, but I wanted to clarify that the reason Tony was never really fond of her was because she tried to kill his family, you know? He didn't trust someone who was dead set on taking away the people he cared about, and he knows she wasn't in control, but he was wary.

This is something I wanted to do with her character, I've never written characters like this, and I don't really read many characters like this, but I wanted to show that the her that was under the effects of the training and the drugs is super different than who she is, because she had seen what she had done, she's incredibly pacifistic in actuality.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!