Red Room

RR 61 The Birdcage

"Are you really sure you're okay?" Ksenia asked Natasha as the two ran escape scenarios while they did a light workout.

"I'm fine, 'Sen, we need to be ready for anything," she responded as Ksenia ducked a swipe to her head. They were doing a light spar session as well to keep their energy up after having been cooped up in the small room for the past few days. Natasha had recovered a considerable amount but she still wasn't where she wanted to be. Her headaches had mostly passed and the dizziness went away the day after she woke up after the whole spinal fluid drain. She flinched as Ksenia's fist barely made contact with her abdomen but it was her own fault, her whole body felt sore. She was still stuck in her head after her dream a few nights ago. She felt like she was back at the tower and in Loki's arms. Everyone looked good, almost how she remembered them, save for their tired eyes. If she was to bet on it, she knew that it was probably real and due to her connection to Bobbi...if she was even still alive. She couldn't be sure, she really was missing her team more than she ever had.

"Hey, you okay?" Ksenia asked as she saw the far away look in Natasha's eyes. When her mother stopped the session and sighed in frustration, she knew she was thinking about her team again. "Do I have to be the adult one here and tell you to keep your chin up? We are getting out of here. You are going to get back to your team, and I'm going to get back to Juliette. And then we are going to figure out where to go from there."

Natasha smiled at her thankfully. "I know, I know, it's just that things keep..." she started before being cut off by company at the door. Their eyes shot over to the sudden intrusion and saw Arina and Ana standing there with guards behind them.

"No," Ksenia protested when they shoved her back and attempted to take Natasha into custody. "She's just now getting over what you assholes did to her last time! Give her a break!" she yelled until one of the guards used the butt of his gun to try and hit her in the temple. She grabbed the gun and used it to pull the guard towards her, where she skillfully kneed him in the groin and then jammed her elbow into his back as he doubled over, breaking his spine and instantly killing him. Natasha almost mirrored her although she managed to knock two guards down compared to Ksenia's one. By the time the ordeal was over, several more guards had surrounded the both and took their turns tasing Ksenia until she crumpled to the floor. The whole time, Natasha was trying to fight her way towards her but the grip Arina and Ana now had on her forced her towards the door. She was proud of getting some good blows on the two Triad members but she was concerned that she was able to affect them at all. In her experience over the past few weeks, they were usually untouchable; something was off with them.

She didn't stop struggling out in the hallway until she saw every guard who had entered the room, besides the ones they had killed, leave. A shaky sigh of relief left her and she took comfort in the fact that Ksenia could have endured much worse. "I take it Yuri wants to do another drain?" she asked, trying to distract herself from the look on Ksenia's face when she went down.

"Among other things," Ana said in an almost shaky breath. Natasha almost missed it, something was going on with the Triad today. "He won't be joining us today, he has some unfinished business after the death of your former teammate. Agent Morse I believe it was?"

No, she realized in horror as she came to the conclusion that Dove must have finally done his job. It had to have happened in the last few days. Or maybe she had succumbed to her injuries which allowed her to see the agent in her 'dream'. Thoughts on what she was going to do to Dove when she got out of here gave her a temporary distraction as they marched towards the lab.

"As soon as you are done, your little spawn is next," Ana threatened while digging her nails into the skin on her shoulder.

They needed to get out of here, things were lining up almost perfectly and she thought that today could be their chance. Something was off with Arina and Ana, and she only hoped that Yelena was with Yuri. When she saw Bucky in the lab, she would have to give him a signal. She could NOT go through another drain and be there to protect Ksenia at the same time.