From Bad to Worse
In the seventeen hours or so that's passed since Natasha asked Rush to bring her to his superior, she has had ample time to regret that decision. Back then she had near unlimited access to the ship, now, there's a guard outside her door and a floating bowling ball -- which is apparently a camera -- following her around. With the exception that Earth is being contacted on her behalf and that she's been given a second ration of food (useful since the first stands where she left it in the room that's been deemed "not secure enough" for her), her position has hardly improved.
Rush wasn't kidding when he said that the balance of power was complicated. Of course, what it mostly manifests as -- as far as she can tell -- is two grown men bickering with each other like schoolyard boys. Colonel Young seems like a competent enough soldier, but Natasha takes an instant dislike to him when she learns that he wants to take her weapons and lock her up. The resulting argument gave her a headache that has yet to fade.
Thankfully, Camille Wray -- who turns out to be a no-nonsense woman who's just as tall (or short, depending on where you're standing) as Natasha -- negotiates a sort of compromise which allows Natasha to stay armed and with limited freedom, as long as there's a guard and one of the bowling-ball devices following her at all times. Somehow, Wray and Rush manage to convince the Colonel to keep Natasha's presence a secret from the rest of the crew, at least until they've gotten more information on her. That doesn't matter much to Natasha, it makes no difference to her either way, but the Colonel's promise to get in touch with Earth does.
But after that, it all becomes a waiting game. It would be so much easier if Natasha could simply sleep through it. But every cell in her body trembles with tension. She's in an unknown place, surrounded by strangers; her trust issues won't let her sleep. So she assembles and disassembles her guns fifteen times each. She does yoga on the bare metal floor, leaving her body tired but not raising a sweat.
Finally, as her Lady & the Tramp watch tells her she's approaching the wee hours of the morning, she gets a couple of hours of fitful sleep out of sheer exhaustion. But she wakes too soon and she's left once more with her thoughts.
Now, what seems like an eternity later, the door to the sparse quarters she's been assigned opens, and there's Rush, wearing the same thing he was yesterday. But then again, so is she. She hasn't seen him since her guard escorted her to her new quarters and she finds herself strangely relieved when she lays eyes on his gaunt form on her threshold. Out of Young and Rush, she certainly prefers the latter. She sits up sharply in the bed, and follows his every movement with keen eyes. For all her efforts to stay neutral, there's a sense of eagerness as she asks, "Did they get through?"