Obsidian Widow
Bucky and Natasha in a DS9 AU. Also at AO3.
It’s late when Natasha finally gets back to her room. A long evening working the Dabo tables, followed by a late dinner with Julian which inevitably led to an even later night in Julian’s quarters, and she’s exhausted. She’s not paying much attention, which is probably why she doesn’t realize she’s not alone until she’s in the bedroom. She draws in a sharp breath when she hears movement, but he’s got her arms behind her back and a hand over her mouth before she can call for security.
Natasha bites down on his hand, but he laughs, hot breath in her ear. He pulls her toward the wall and slams her head into it, and as she fades into blackness she catches a glimpse of him -- tall, dark hair, cybernetic arm -- and he looks almost familiar.
***
Natima Romak has been a member of the Obsidian Order practically since birth. She was raised by Enabran Tain himself, in the years when he was still just a high-ranking operative, trained in the arts of interrogation, assassination, and espionage.
Still, somehow after all these years, all the times she has gone undercover, it is a shock when her neural reconditioner is deactivated and her memories return, but her body is still that of an alien.
Her head aches when she sits up, and she catches a glimpse of red hair and green eyes in the mirror -- a face that is hers and yet not. “How long was I out?” she asks, turning to face the extraction agent.
“Not long,” he says, tucking the reprogramming tool back in his bag. “Maybe an hour. The shuttle will be in transporter range again in 36 hours. Will that be enough time to complete the mission?”
Natima smiles in reply; James has been on enough missions with her that he already knows the answer. He is, in fact, the perfect person to get her off the station, because he doesn’t need extensive surgery to appear human. He already is. The interrogation and reprogramming of James Barnes was the stuff of legend in the Obsidian Order, and was in fact what Tain founded his career on. It was the thing that kept him in power despite his association with Garak.
Natima looks at him now and remembers another time, another place. An interrogation chamber, rivulets of blood running across the floor. James’s hand wielding a tiny, razor-sharp knife. A man screaming out everything he ever knew. It was, quite possibly, the most elegant thing Natima had ever seen.
James’s eyes run down over her body. “Human is a good look on you,” he says, reaching out for her.
***
When Natima’s ridges and scales are back in place, she is debriefed. The stolen biomimetic gel is being transported to the Order’s headquarters, and all that is left is to decide what to do with the information she’s brought back. She recites everything she’s learned, and as a precaution they run a neural replicator over her to make a searchable backup of her brain. She is fairly certain she knows what the next step will be.
James is the perfect candidate to send into Section 31.
This entry was originally posted at http://marmolita.dreamwidth.org/2724.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
It’s late when Natasha finally gets back to her room. A long evening working the Dabo tables, followed by a late dinner with Julian which inevitably led to an even later night in Julian’s quarters, and she’s exhausted. She’s not paying much attention, which is probably why she doesn’t realize she’s not alone until she’s in the bedroom. She draws in a sharp breath when she hears movement, but he’s got her arms behind her back and a hand over her mouth before she can call for security.
Natasha bites down on his hand, but he laughs, hot breath in her ear. He pulls her toward the wall and slams her head into it, and as she fades into blackness she catches a glimpse of him -- tall, dark hair, cybernetic arm -- and he looks almost familiar.
***
Natima Romak has been a member of the Obsidian Order practically since birth. She was raised by Enabran Tain himself, in the years when he was still just a high-ranking operative, trained in the arts of interrogation, assassination, and espionage.
Still, somehow after all these years, all the times she has gone undercover, it is a shock when her neural reconditioner is deactivated and her memories return, but her body is still that of an alien.
Her head aches when she sits up, and she catches a glimpse of red hair and green eyes in the mirror -- a face that is hers and yet not. “How long was I out?” she asks, turning to face the extraction agent.
“Not long,” he says, tucking the reprogramming tool back in his bag. “Maybe an hour. The shuttle will be in transporter range again in 36 hours. Will that be enough time to complete the mission?”
Natima smiles in reply; James has been on enough missions with her that he already knows the answer. He is, in fact, the perfect person to get her off the station, because he doesn’t need extensive surgery to appear human. He already is. The interrogation and reprogramming of James Barnes was the stuff of legend in the Obsidian Order, and was in fact what Tain founded his career on. It was the thing that kept him in power despite his association with Garak.
Natima looks at him now and remembers another time, another place. An interrogation chamber, rivulets of blood running across the floor. James’s hand wielding a tiny, razor-sharp knife. A man screaming out everything he ever knew. It was, quite possibly, the most elegant thing Natima had ever seen.
James’s eyes run down over her body. “Human is a good look on you,” he says, reaching out for her.
***
When Natima’s ridges and scales are back in place, she is debriefed. The stolen biomimetic gel is being transported to the Order’s headquarters, and all that is left is to decide what to do with the information she’s brought back. She recites everything she’s learned, and as a precaution they run a neural replicator over her to make a searchable backup of her brain. She is fairly certain she knows what the next step will be.
James is the perfect candidate to send into Section 31.
This entry was originally posted at http://marmolita.dreamwidth.org/2724.html. Please comment there using OpenID.