A Different Call

Not How I Wanted to Meet My Ex

Bobbi's P.O.V.

I had been at Hydra for a few months when Sunil Bakshi approached me just as I was getting ready to start my duties for the day.

"Ms. Morse?" I heard Bakshi say. The man was hard to get a read on but I got the feeling that there was something bothering him.

I turned my attention toward Bakshi. "Did I do something wrong, sir?" I asked, trying to play the innocent card, or at least as innocent as one could while working within Hydra.

"No, no, not at all Ms. Morse, in fact, I was hoping I could get your help on a particularly difficult task that I am working with. Consider it a promotion. Now come with me."

I followed the Hydra agent through the building's sterile-looking hallways as he led me to the lower floors. I was wishing that I was with anyone except Bakshi. I knew that I needed to get on the man's good side in order to complete my mission, but there was something about him that just gave me the creeps. He reminded me of those kids that would use a magnifying glass in the summer to try and catch ants on fire but would then deny it completely if their parents asked about what was going on. Hopefully though, I would only have about a week left of working with him before I could finally get out of this rats nest.

"If I may ask sir, what is it you need help with?" I figured that having Bakshi talk would make this journey feel less like I was about to be walked to my own execution.

"We acquired a SHIELD agent and are trying to get them to talk but nothing is working. I thought that you might be able to get into their mind and help me break them."

I had to bite the inside of my cheeks to keep from speaking out. I still felt horrible about having to release the locations of SHIELD safe houses, I didn't think I could bear causing harm to a fellow agent.

"Why me though?" Bakshi gave me a look of shock so I quickly recovered myself. " I mean there are hundreds of other ex-SHIELD agents why me?"

"Well, most of them, if we're being honest, are barely a step above clubbing carrying Neanderthals and from what I have read, you were rather popular within SHIELD. I thought that you might have some connection with our visitor that could help speed along the interrogation process."

So maybe I was wrong, maybe it would have been better if I had suffered this walk in silence.

"Ah, here we are," Bakshi said, stopping at a steel door with a smile of his face.

The moment that I stepped into the room and saw that was awaiting me my stomach dropped, and my blood froze in my veins. I shifted my eyes so that I was looking at the floor rather than the site in front of me. I had seen plenty of different forms of interrogation, from both sides as well, but the sight in front of me caused bile to rise in the back of my throat.

"As you can see, we've tried a variety of ways to make him talk, yet none have managed to make him talk, well beyond screams that is. Why don't you examine him and see if you can glean any useful information to help us."

I stepped forward to the body that was hanging from the ceiling by their wrists, toes barely scraping the floor, though based how he was violently shaking I was surprised that he was even managing to stay on his toes. The pool of water and what I could only imagine were various other bodily fluids must have made the balancing act even more difficult. Well, that explains why he isn't answering any of their questions. It's pretty difficult to give a response when you can't even hear what is being asked of you.

I took in the various cuts and burns that littered his emaciated body. It seemed like they even took care to cut around where his bones started to stick out from under his skin, mainly his ribs and shoulder blades. I ran my hand gently over his torso, trying to block the view from Bakshi. The difference between and now and the last time I had seen the agent naked because of course Hydra wouldn't even give him something as simple as underwear, was as stark a contrast as night and day.

It was once I made my way up to look him in the face that I broke inside. His face was more black, blue, and red than his normal lightly tanned complexion, but the look of his grey-blue eyes, which were framed by protruding cheekbones that matched the state of the rest of his body which were only made more prominent by the swelling from around his nose and eyes, was something that no amount of torture could change. The wide-eyed look of shock and betrayal in them though was something that I was not used to and something that I didn't want to see again. There was something else I could see in his eyes though, or more lack of something....hope.

"So, do you have any recommendations?" Bakshi asked, stepping close enough to me that I swear I could feel his body heat radiating off him.

"I might have some ideas," I replied, tapping on the body in front of me as someone might do on a table when they're trying to solve a particularly hard crossword puzzle. I just hoped that Bakshi wasn't good enough at Russian Morse code to realize what I was actually tapping out.

I'm so sorry Clint.

I then turned to Bakshi and offered suggestions, hating myself more with every word that came out of my mouth.

A.N. I'm also going to be playing a little fast and loose with injuries and their recovery times in the next few chapters.