Red Room

RR 61 The Birdcage

When she got to the lab, she saw Bucky already strapped to the table, but with a new accessory this time. He had a metal cuff on, similar to the one she had that Loki and Tony had designed to pull her out of the 'time machine'. Her eyes were then drawn to his knuckles and saw that they were raw; he had been fighting. Looking at the two Triad that were leading her to a table next to him, she finally noticed that they were sporting a few bruises. She thought they couldn't bruise easily. Glancing back over to Bucky, their eye contact told each other that they were thinking the same thing, this was their chance. Just as she was about to make her move, a snap of cold metal ensnared her wrist and she realized that she had been cuffed too.

Shit, she thought, but she would have to worry about that later, whatever that was. They were going to get out of here. As the grip on her arms tightened and they led her to the table next to Bucky, she snapped. She snapped when she saw the third table being wheeled up by a guard, and she knew that it was going to be for Ksenia. They were going to bring her in after her and Bucky were being drained because... they were too weak to have grabbed her earlier.

She stopped walking then and froze. Somehow, the grip on her arms got just a little bit tighter and all seven of the guards took a few tense steps forward with their tasers drawn. She steadied her furious breathing and tried focusing on her pulse. If adrenaline was the key to making her stronger, she was going to have to master controlling it now rather than later. The small cracks of a smile formed in the corners of her mouth as she felt her pulse speed up as her excited heart beat just a little bit faster. Everyone in the room seemed to hold their breath until Natasha disrupted the silence in a flurry of movement.

She dropped her weight and the grip on her arms released in the confusion. Her best bet was to distance herself from Ana and Arina right now, at least until she could get Bucky out of his restraints. There was no way she could take everyone out by herself, and taking the time to get Bucky out wasn't going to be an easy option. So, she fought her way over to him and did her best to at least get his hands free so he could do the rest himself.

Guards who were unlucky enough to get close to her were thrown towards Ana and Arina to keep them off of her while she got Bucky's hands free. When she got that task done, she focused the rest of her attention back to the crowd around her. The room froze as Bucky rose behind her after freeing the rest of his body from the table. Natasha half turned to see the beginnings of a smile form on his lips as he stepped up beside her. She also could have sworn that she saw doubt flicker in the eyes of Ana and Arina. As the remaining guards steeled themselves for the fight, Bucky unleashed his fury and together they worked on the very skilled men. In the end, Natasha and Bucky came out ahead and went after the two Triad members. Bucky had pulled a grenade from the belt of one of the men and after pulling the pin and throwing it at the two women, he grabbed Natasha and flipped over the desk behind them, hurling Natasha over with him in an effort to take cover. The resulting explosion knocked Ana and Arina out much to their surprise, and the flurry of burning papers stunned Natasha for a moment. Bucky grabbed at one that landed next to him and scanned over it for a moment before showing Natasha and peeking his head over the desk.

Natasha scanned the document and smiled when she saw their location. It was somewhere in the Kolyma mountains in a base code named The Birdcage. When she realized that she had no way of letting anyone on the outside world know though, she crumpled the paper and threw it behind her as they rose and hurried from the lab. They burst from the room while they still had time with Natasha shouting at Bucky amidst the chaos of burning files and sparking equipment. They had surprised two guards outside the door who had come as backup but quickly took them down as they headed out of the danger behind them.

"A left here is where I think an exit is," Natasha said almost out of breath. "Im getting Ksenia first but you can..." she trailed off when Bucky simply glanced to where she pointed out the exit but remained hard on her heels. "...Or you can follow me," she finished in surprise at his decision. Natasha retraced her steps and in their hurry almost ran into another group of guards. Bucky grabbed her and pushed her into a small alcove in the wall, hiding themselves in the shadows with their bodies pressed together. The guards rushed passed, clearly on their way to find them with their weapons ready. With Bucky now pressed against her, she couldn't help but feel a tinge of fear. How would he react to meeting Ksenia? Would his mind snap and he hurt her? The coldness of the hallway seeped back in when Bucky moved back into the light and she snapped back to attention, following him for a moment before taking the lead again.