HOLDING BACK THE TEARS

Four walls. Four walls that enclosed Ileana in a box she couldn't escape from. She was handcuffed, shivering, and she really needed the bathroom. She'd cry if the fury fuelled glare from the man wasn't weighing her down. The only time she'd been free of this weight was when the doctor was sent in to stitch up her arm, who just shook her head at the fact that she remained in hand cuffs the entire time. Her interrogator waited for a crack, his silence making her vision blur more. 

Don't cry. 

Don't cry. 

Don't - damn it. 

A small tear leaked from the corner of her eye, trailing down her cheek and dripping off of her face. Ashamed, tried to dry her face off of her shirt, craning her neck. Any excuse to not see the man in front of her, judging her. He hadn't spoken a word since they both came into the room, and it set her nerves on edge more than it would've done if he screamed at her. Even if she wanted to fill the silence, she couldn't. 

The balding man sighed deeply, dropping a file in front of the quaking girl. He opened it, exposing all of the confidential information to the girl who couldn't gossip away their secrets. Not that he knew that. 

He pointed to one of the many pictures attached to the file, jabbing his finger into the picture so hard he left a dent. Ileana gulped, feeling fear and peer pressure drag her eyes down to the photograph, taking in her one true friend. "The man you're canoodling with has killed over a hundred people. And that's in the last decade." 

Ileana couldn't tear her eyes away. In the photo he seemed so... Inhuman. As though he was a robot swallowed in human skin. His face was hidden from sight, but she knew without thinking that he never smiled during his time as the Winter Soldier. He had told her who he was, what he'd done - it seemed so different seeing what it had transformed him into. 

"During his time of being hunted down, he's gone solo. That is, until you." The man removed his finger off of the photo, pulling a chair up and sitting before her. He folded his arms, gaze fixed on her. "What makes you so special?" 

Ileana scoffed, letting out a small sniffle. A smile broke out onto her face, and she shook her head. How wrong the man was, to think she was special. To think that the Winter Soldier chose her because she was special. No, he chose to hang out with her because she showed him kindness and forgiveness, unlike many other people on the planet. It made her a good person; not special. 

The man cocked an eyebrow, leaning back in his chair. An involuntary squeak squeezed out of the chair, yet neither of them paid attention to it. "Do you have anything to share, Ileana Popescu?" 

Her grin instantly fell. The pure menace in his voice drained all of the happiness out of her body, and anxiety quickly took it's place. She bit her lip, shaking her head. Her dark, greasy locks swayed to cover her face, but they couldn't block the intensity of the man's glare. "Do I need to repeat my question?" 

Her bladder pressed down further, begging for a release. Tears again sprung to Ileana's eyes - she couldn't even tell them she needed the toilet. She tried her hardest to them at bay, blinking rapidly, and yet all it did was encourage them to charge forward. 

"Is something wrong Miss Popescu? Cat got your tongue?" 

Her head snapped in his direction. Fury brewed within her, and without a regret, held up her cuffed hands and stuck her middle finger up at him. She imagined the attempt was pitiful - she was still shaking, tear tracks wound their way down her face and her lip refused to stop wobbling but she didn't care. If she couldn't give him a piece of her mind, she could at least flip him the bird. 

The man chuckled, the laughter coursing throughout his body. He bent at the waist, hands slapping his knees as the laughs grew more hysteric. Somehow, he managed to speak between the gut wrenching laughs. "You think that's funny? If anything, it's pathetic." 

The man was playing with fire. She may not have had a superpower that would make him regret anything and everything he said, but she also had some training with the notorious Winter Solider. Was the man a fool enough to think that he wouldn't have thought that Ileana would've ended up in this situation? 

A smirk curled up her face, and she leaned forward. She beckoned him forward, watching with satisfaction as curiosity ate at his common sense. He complied, his face coming closer and closer to hers. 

She threw her head forwards, pouring all of her strength into one hit. 

Whack. 

He flew out of his chair, tumbling to the ground, becoming as small as Ileana felt moments ago. He moaned in pain, rubbing at his forehead in hopes that the pain would go away. It wouldn't. 

Ileana felt the impact of it straight away. The pounding headache that immediately followed, with the small stream of blood flowing steadily from her head. Crimson dripped into her eye continuously, blinding her. 

It was worth it. 

The door slammed open, a man who had an air of authority came storming in. "What the hell is going on here?" 

The man scrambled to get to his feet, hissing his complaints. "You wouldn't believe it Rhodes! This chick just attacked me!" 

Rhodes sent him a disbelieving look. "I'm sure she did it for no reason." 

The man scoffed, leaning on the wall for support. "Well, she is friends with that Barnes. Who knows what she's capable of?" 

Ileana smiled.

"I'm not a fool, I was watching the CCTV. The poor girl was distressed because you know nothing about this line of work." Ileana's jaw dropped. "I think you need to see a doctor about that," Rhodes pointed to the man's head, where a colourful bruise was already forming. 

Begrudgingly, the man left the room. As soon as he left, Rhodes relaxed, easily grinning at the girl at the table with the guts to head butt her interrogator. "I'm sorry, some of the interrogators here are brutal. Do you want me to bring someone in to look at your head? It looks pretty painful." 

Ileana shook her head, regretting it instantly. Her headache grew worse, and the world began to spin. Desperately, she grabbed her head in her hands, hoping like an idiot that the pain would go away. 

"Hey, hey, I'll get someone to help with that. In the time being, can you try not to head butt anyone else?" 

Despite her pain, Ileana found the energy to smile, and she nodded. Perhaps S.H.I.E.L.D wasn't as bad as everyone said.