"Yo peeps, Dove is almost here," Darcy announced in the lab after she hung up the phone with him. "He's brought some of the old files he found while he lived at the base but he said there is nothing in there worth anything."
"You know..." Tony began as he moved away from Clint at the computer and towards Thor, "I still find it extremely weird that he chose the old Red Room base to live at. Who knows if he's really found anything or not, we would never know."
Darcy knew that he aimed his comment at her, but she chose to ignore it. Tony wasn't the only one that distrusted the ex-HYDRA agent, Clint was leaning towards distrust and backed up Tony a lot of the time. It was just in his nature but he trusted Nat, and if she trusted him, he would at least tolerate him while forming his own opinions. At least Clint had the common sense to keep his mouth shut and comments to himself when she was around. Darcy saw that Thor offered her a smile and she relaxed a bit. Things were still a little tense in the tower and the constant bickering was taking its toll on her. She almost wished that Bobbi would have another 'attack' so that they could check on Natasha.
Steve handed her a cup of coffee, but she had enough of caffeine for the morning, so she handed it to Loki instead who was now allowed out of his cell, but he had to have power dampener cuffs on. Loki gave her a thankful nod and she took her leave, joining Bobbi and Juliette in the adjoining room.
"Hey Barbie," she mocked as she entered and then plopped down on the bed that had been drug into the room. Bobbi was on a laptop clicking away furiously but from the look on her face, Darcy knew that she was getting no closer to finding Natasha and Thea.
Bobbi sighed and snapped the computer closed, "I told you to stop calling me that. Would you like for me to start calling you Sparky again?" she teased.
"Its actually starting to grow on me; go for it," Darcy said with a large grin.
"I can't win with you." Bobbi leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. She pinched the bridge of her nose and Darcy could tell that she had a bad headache. Instead of offering a painkiller to which she would refuse anyway, Darcy scooted closer and started to massage her shoulders. When Bobbi allowed it, she kept going and voiced her concerns.
"Its been almost two days..." she started, to which she felt Bobbi tense up again and then shrug her off.
"I know Darce'. I've tried to reach her on my own this time but I just can't get anything more than a feeling that she's still fighting."
Darcy slumped beside her. "Maybe they are giving her a break. It seems like you see her whenever she's being... whenever she is in an extreme situation."
When Bobbi nodded in agreement, Darcy told her about Dove's call. "Dove didn't find anything, he's going to be here any minute now."
"NO!" Bobbi all but shouted as she involuntarily cringed and leaped from her position, planting herself in front of Juliette sleeping in a makeshift crib in the corner of the room.
"What?! What's wrong?" Darcy shouted as she jumped up too, preparing to fight off whatever caused Bobbi to freak out like that. The fear and desperation in Bobbi's eyes screamed at her before it faded to confusion. Darcy saw no danger and wondered if the link between her and Natasha was going to show Bobbi something.
"What?" Bobbi asked as she looked around as if she didn't quite realize how she got there.
"Bob, are you okay?" she asked before calling for backup; this wasn't her 'normal' kind of attack they had all gotten used to. "Tonyyyy! I need you in here a minute."
By the time Tony made it to the room with Clint hard on his heels, Darcy had led Bobbi back to the bed and was forcing her to sit down. Darcy looked over at Tony and saw him glancing between Bobbi's wild looks to the baby and saw him rush over to her to check on her. When he found Juliette still sleeping, he rushed over to them and asked what had happened.
"I don't know, she just freaked out for a second. Bobbi, are you okay?" She asked the blonde again. She looked so confused and Darcy could see that she didn't really have an answer. "You need to sleep, you haven't slept in days. Please, let us give you something to help you relax..."
"I'm fine," Bobbi interrupted through gritted teeth. She didn't want any medications that could interfere with her seeing Natasha.
"Did you see Nat?" Tony asked, desperate for any information on their missing teammate.
"No, I don't know what happened, I just..." she trailed as she looked over to where Juliette was with concern etched across her features. "I don't know."
Darcy looked over at Tony and Clint and gave them a nod that she could handle it from there. When they reluctantly left, she felt Bobbi's forehead and found it to be cool. "I swear you would have a fever right now if all of this magic mumbo jumbo hadn't affected you." Darcy was concerned and on edge just like the rest of them. Whatever this was, it brought them no closer to any answers.
Bobbi sighed and leaned against the wall again. Darcy took this as a sign that she needed to rest and got up to leave. She had hardly taken a step though when she felt Bobbi almost violently grab her arm. She turned to look at her and saw the fire in her eyes again.
"Juliette is not safe here." She warned ominously before releasing her grip on the young girl's arm. Just before Darcy got the chance to ask her what she meant, a new voice had joined the others in the lab. She stole a glance around the corner and saw that Dove had finally made it back. Looking back to Bobbi one more time, she found her flipping her laptop back on, acting like none of the past minute had even happened. What the actual hell, she thought as she slipped from the room to press Dove for even a shred of information.
Meanwhile, in an undisclosed location, the new Red Room hell continued for Natasha and Thea. Natasha's jumpiness had calmed greatly since the meeting with Yuri's Triad of previously deceased ex-Red Room members, especially since Natasha had started healing a little more quickly. It had been two days and they had heard nothing from them or Yuri; only the few agents allowed into their cell to bring them their provisions. Natasha didn't know how much longer they were going to allow the two women to stay in the same room together, so she spent her time drilling Thea with as much information as she could about how Ivan would think, act, and work. If Yuri was anything like her old tormentor, she wanted Thea to be ready for anything that he would throw at them. She went over experiments and drilled her on ways to keep her mind strong. Natasha told her to never interfere again if Yuri had his attention on her, no matter how brutal it would look. She told her that her only weakness right now was Thea. She was somewhat relieved when Thea assured her of the training HYDRA had put her through. It was a little more brutal than SHIELD training but at least she would be ready for anything to come.
As Natasha and Thea sparred for what seemed like the dozenth time that day, no warning came when the door seemed to blast open. In less than 10 seconds, the faces of Yuri's Triad entered and reached Natasha first, knocking her violently to the other side of the room. They then rushed Thea, who was still stunned at the violent entry, and grabbed her, dragging her mercilessly from the room. It took Natasha a moment to recover after slamming into the wall, and she made it to the door just as it slammed closed in her face, leaving her alone in the room with no idea what was going to happen to Thea. She screamed insults through the thick metal, both in English and in Russian, to get them to forget Thea and take her instead. No one came back for an entire hour. Natasha was filled with dread, they had taken her daughter, again.
At the end of the hour, Natasha was pacing back and forth with her mind running wild. She tried to remember her training, stay calm and think of a plan, but with everything that had happened since discovering that Thea was Ksenia, she was having trouble doing that. The worry she had for Thea and even Juliette bubbled to the surface as she tried to distract herself with ways on how to make Dove pay if he ever showed up here with the child. She finally calmed herself down enough but it was in vain, Yuri entered her room, this time more calmly than the entry that took Thea.
"Come with me." He demanded and turned to leave. He expected her to follow but she had planted herself still, not moving an inch. When she didn't move, he quickly snaked around her and wrenched her arms behind her back.
Natasha's shoulder screamed at her as she tried to protest but she eventually gave up and let Yuri force her into the hallway and to wherever he wanted to bring her. She only hoped that it would be to Thea. There was no telling what they could have done to her in that hour. The whole way there, she had no blindfold on. This worried Natasha slightly because that could mean two things; either she would be killed at the end of their experiments, or they were in such a remote location that no one would ever be able to find them. In any case, she memorized the route and used her eyes to look at everything. She wasn't sure what exactly what Bobbi would be able to see and if she could see her right now, maybe she would find something to help them.
The twists and turns of the damp and cold hallways eventually led them into a large rounded room. It was lit by torches and a ring of fire encased the space, no doubt to cause fear in the Avenger. Yuri had to know of the fear, though she had to focus because right in the middle of the large room, was Thea. She was lying on the ground, clearly hurt, with the Triad surrounding her.
Fierce emotion overcame her then and she tried to wrench herself from Yuri's forceful grasp. She hurled insults across the room in fluent Russian at the women who used to be her sisters, before she was forced to kill them of course. She pulled so hard in Yuri's grasp that his footing started to slide in her efforts, so one of the Triad, Arina, left her position and joined Yuri in holding her back away from Thea. That was enough then to root Natasha in place.
The remaining Triad picked and exhausted Thea up between them and Natasha could see her injuries. Yelena and Ana barely had a scratch on them, but they had enough to tell Natasha that Thea didn't go down without a fight. "What did you do to her!" she growled through gritted teeth. The grip on her arm lessened for a moment when Yuri let go but Arina picked up the slack. Natasha discovered that they were very strong so she stopped struggling so she could assess the situation they were in. As Yuri walked to where Thea was being held, Natasha tried to talk to Arina.
"Arina, please... It's me!" Natasha was able to get Arina to look at her but there wasn't even an ounce of recognition in her eyes. "Please, that is my daughter over there. Don't let Yuri do to her what Ivan did to us; help me." Natasha hated begging but she hoped it would be enough to get Arina to come to her senses. Instead, the blank expression in her face told her that it was no use, and she was then forced to her knees onto the ground. "You can't even begin to imagine the things I will do to Dove if I ever see him again. Your nephew will never be safe if you so much as touch a hair on Thea's body ever again," she threatened cruelly. She put venom in her threat and the grip on her tightened painfully in retaliation. There was no reasoning with her old comrades, she didn't know them anymore.
She forced herself to look back at Yuri who had Ivan's malicious glint in his eyes. Thea made eye contact with Natasha and she saw that she was bracing herself for what was to come next. Longing to be over there and protect her took over Natasha's body as she started to fight to get back to her feet. She wasn't going to strategically hold herself back anymore. They could kill her for all she cared so long as Thea was safe.
"Natasha don't," Thea called to her weakly. "That's what they want..." she warned weakly before Ivan cut her off with a blow to her face. Natasha could see him pulling a blade from his back holster, and that was it for her; the last straw for Natasha. She didn't care what Ivan would do to her. She would rather face death again than to see Thea hurt. Something overcame her as Yuri started his big speech, but his words fell deaf to her ears as a roaring sound took over her hearing. Her vision started to cloud over to where all she could see was Yuri, and she felt Arina tense behind her. A huge surge of adrenaline seemed to take over her body as she wrenched herself out of Arina's clawed grasp, leaving bloodied lines trailing down one of her arms, and hurled herself across the room in a blink of an eye. She felt like Natalia again and embraced the feeling.
Yuri was caught off guard as the red head flew at her and tackled him to the ground. She was mere seconds from snapping his neck with her newfound strength when the two women holding Thea in place dropped her, and rushed Natasha, barreling her off of their mentor and sending her sliding across the stone floor. She couldn't even feel her skin tearing against the rough surface, the only thing she felt was the overwhelming need to kill Yuri while she had the chance. The chance vanished though when in the blink of an eye, Ana and Yelena grabbed her and forced her back to the ground and onto her knees again. One of them had her arms pinned behind her back since she wouldn't stop struggling and Yuri could see that they were having a hard time keeping her in place, but that wasn't what delighted him.
Through her blood lusting gaze, Natasha saw that Yuri had gotten up and was...smiling? Her adrenaline grew as he grabbed Thea by the arm and wrenched her up from the floor, and held his blade to her throat. This time, Natasha felt something...off...with her body. She paid it no mind as her fury seemed to reach a peak as she struggled to break free from her position.
From Thea's point of view, she had never seen Natasha so...enraged. She could understand it though; when they had dragged her away from Natasha earlier, they threw her into this room and told her about Dove. He was tasked to kidnap Juliette and bring her to this place of horrors. Yuri went into detail about some of the experiments they were going to put her baby through, and she herself snapped. She was no match for the three Red Room assassins of Yuri's but they told her of todays goal; to bring out Natasha's healing abilities, and to see if Thea could absorb them. At this point in time, they had already achieved one of the goals.
Thea was filled with wonder when she saw Ana and Yelena struggle to hold Natasha in place. It grew even more when the scrapes from her being thrown across the floor started to fade before her eyes. Previous wounds from Yuri's 'punishment' days ago faded and Natasha didn't even bat an eye, she was too focused on Yuri who was holding onto her at the moment to register what was even happening to her body. Thea snapped out of it when Yuri yanked her forward and towards Natasha who started to calm with every step closer Yuri brought her.
"Now," Yuri announced, still delighted in the change that had taken place in Natasha, who still had not registered her now healed body. "Now I want you to see if you can mimic Miss Romanova's abilities." Thea was stopped a few feet from her mother and was forced to toucher her. She could see that Natasha was growing confused as she calmed down with Thea's close proximity, though she was clearly on edge with Yuri holding onto her.
"Quickly, before she loses it or that god gets in," Yuri called to a man that seemed to have suddenly appeared in the room. Thea saw him press a button on a contraption he held in his hand and a whirring noise seemed to echo throughout the entirety of the compound they were being kept. She felt her abilities return, they had been dormant ever since she woke up after being kidnapped by Echo from the snowy woods where she had given Agent Morse her child before being taken. Not wanting to anger Yuri any further for the sake of Juliette, she summoned the power she had last gained and...fire fell from her hands? When had she come into contact with someone who could summon fire? In the end, it didn't matter. Yuri sighed and gave the man a nod to power the shield back up. As soon as the button was pressed, Thea hit the ground after being shoved down and felt her power bury itself to where she couldn't reach it.
"So," Yuri concluded. "Your power doesn't work under the shield when its up, but hers, does," he finished, looking back over to Natasha. Natasha had finally calmed down and Thea could see that she was becoming a little shaky, and that she had stopped fighting against Ana and Yelena.
From Natasha's perspective, she looked herself over and growled to Yuri who had by now pulled Thea away from her. "What did you do to me."
"Me?" Yuri challenged though he was only teasing. "I didn't do anything to you."
Arina, who had been standing a ways back assumed Yuri's position next to Thea, and Yuri then walked back up to Natasha who couldn't help but flinch when he touched her cheek. He pulled his hand away for a moment, only to bring it down onto her temple seconds later. She felt the blood run down her face but she didn't have the energy anymore to even wipe it away. She felt as if the past few events of the night had all of a sudden sucked every last ounce of her energy from her body. She managed to look back up to him and could feel his gaze flash to the cut on her temple, which had not healed as quickly as she had before. He sighed, and then brought out a needle to which Natasha tried to shrink away from. There was no way she would allow him to bring it any closer, but either Yelena or Ana, she didn't know, pushed her to the ground and held her there to where she couldn't even move an inch.
"Bastard!" She yelled as the needle was then pushed into her arm and the contents of it emptied into her body. It only took a few moments before she felt her energy start to return in a burst of adrenaline. She was released from the ground and now no one touched her. The mystery man had somehow gotten ahold of Thea in the process and was now shielding them from her with a wall of fire, just out of reach as Natasha jumped to her feet. She felt a slight tingle then, and felt the blood stop flowing from her temple; she had healed again. She was left in wonder for only a moment when all three of the Triad rushed her and pummeled her to the ground once again.
Natasha fought her hardest against them, using every one of their old weaknesses against them, but it didn't work. She held them off for a few minutes until Yuri ordered them to stop. She gained another few cuts, bumps, and bruises but overall, she was fine, though she knew the women were holding back. As soon as they backed off though, Natasha turned her anger towards Yuri and went for him, though she felt her energy fading. Her steps slowed, and her body told her no more.
Everyone watched as the furious Avenger fell to her knees but still tried to get up again. She almost managed before Yuri walked over to her and gave her a promising smile. "Don't worry, little spider. You will have your chance soon enough." He finished by grabbing her and throwing her into Thea, who barely managed to catch her before they were both sent sprawling onto the floor. Exhaustion filled Natasha's senses before her own body refused her orders to stay conscious as the adrenaline abandoned her veins, and darkness pulled her under.
Meanwhile, by the time Natasha had even stepped foot into the room rimmed with fire, Dove had already set his plan in motion to kidnap Juliette. He wasn't expecting Loki to be there though, and his uneasiness grew around the god.
"So, you mean to tell me that you have found absolutely nothing, even with all of your connections?" Tony asked Dove as they caught up.
Darcy caught the tail end of if as she entered the lab just after his arrival. "Tony...just stop, please?" she asked already sounding defeated. He did, but probably because the once bubbly Darcy was as solemn as ever and it unnerved him.
"I've tried getting into contact with some people as well as going over the files left at the old Red Room base, but there was nothing," he continued. "I've brought some of the old files, but like I said, there really isn't anything in there." He tried to hand it to Tony but he flat out ignored him and went to pout at his computer.
"What are we supposed to do?" Steve asked this time. No one could even make eye contact with him, they always came up with some sort of plan but at this point, it was as if there was absolutely nothing they could do to find Natasha and Thea. The only shred of hope they had right now was Bobbi's link, but that was very unreliable since they still couldn't get a location.
"I'm trying my hardest," a new voice added in as Bobbi joined them in the lab and leaned against the table Tony was sitting at.
"We just have to keep looking," Dove offered and gave Bobbi a small nod. "Now, Tony," he tried again as he forced the file into his hands, "there were several mentions of a base in Samara."
Tony took the file and dramatically popped it open before sighing and closing it back. "And there are several mentions of that base being abandoned years before the Red Room collapsed. Anything else, Bird?"
Darcy watched Dove sigh but not admit defeat just yet. He looked for Clint and caught his eye and Darcy smiled when Clint crossed his arms and tilted his head, just like he always does when he gets deep into thought. She couldn't help but smile when he walked over to Tony and took a look at the file.
"You know this is all we have, Tony. There could be something there, hell, Nat may even be there. Don't you owe it to her to at least take a look?"
Tony knew that Clint was right, he just hated having to follow Dove's lead. "Fine, but chocolate bar stays here," he ordered and watched as Dove threw his hands up in surrender, agreeing with him. "We need to split up, I don't want to leave the tower unprotected."
Darcy started to get excited, she was itching with having something to do and a trip to Russia sounded amazing. When her name was called, she smiled with glee but only for a moment.
"Clint, Darcy, Pigeon, you stay here with Bobbi and keep the kid safe..."
"What? Darcy interrupted, "Let me go with you, if Nat is there then I want to be there when you find her..."
"Darcy, not now," Tony warned which made her fume. "Thor, Steve...and Loki, you guys are with me.
"Wait," Loki interrupted, "You want me...to go with you."
"That's what I just said now wasn't it?" Tony said with an eye roll and looked to Thor. "You get to babysit him."
Thor nodded while Loki sulked. Being cramped in a jet with Tony was the last thing he had on his list of fun things to do.
"Clint, I need you to hold things down here, okay?" Tony asked. Clint nodded in agreement before splitting off with him to go over plans.
Darcy was still fuming when Loki came up to her and fiddled with his cuffs. "I don't suppose he will take these off do you?" he asked. Before she could respond, she heard Bobbi's breath catch and looked over to her gripping the table she was leaning against until her knuckles turned white. She wasn't shaking, or making any noise at all, it looked as if she was either frozen in pain or lost in seriously deep thought. No one else noticed and just before she could give a warning or rush over to her, Loki started yelling for someone to take the cuffs off, and he meant now.
"TAKE THEM OFF!" he yelled towards Tony who all but turned his back on him. "TAKE THE CUFFS OFF NOW!"
At this time, Darcy made it over to Bobbi but no one else had noticed yet since they were distracted by Loki's yelling.
"NOW, TONY..."
"If you don't put a sock in it I'm going to put you back in your cell!" Tony yelled back as Loki started to advance on him. He braced himself to get hit but Loki stopped in front of him with desperation in his eyes. Looking over Loki's shoulder, he noticed Darcy trying to get Bobbi to respond and then it hit him. "Oh shit!" He hit the button in his pocket and before the cuffs even hit the floor, Loki had disappeared.
Everyone advanced towards Bobbi now as she had started to shake by this point. Every now and again pain flashed across her features before disappearing again and then the room just seemed to stop. "Wait..." she whispered before she came out of it with confusion splayed across her features.
"What happened?" Darcy asked as everyone gave her some room.
"I don't... I don't know. I couldn't see anything, but I felt so much rage, so much hate. Something big happened though I'm not sure what. I tried to see but it was like the connection was choppy. I think she's okay though, I felt pain but either she pushed it from her mind or it wasn't anything serious because if seemed to disappear moments later."
The room grew quiet as they all realized that they still had nothing to go on. The air felt heavy in the room as they all struggled to stay hopeful.
A sudden rush of air then stirred around the room before a voice boomed out from behind them. "You are not putting those contraptions on me EVER again." Loki was back, and it didn't look good.
"Loki...Did you find her?" Thor asked though he already knew the answer.
A look of pure anger as well as despair was thrown at Tony so forcefully that he had to take a step back. The pain that was in that gaze took everyone by surprise, Natasha's absence was taking a toll on him.
"No," Loki spat through gritted teeth as he answered Thor's question and started to move towards Tony. Thor and Steve had to grab onto him to keep him from attacking Tony as pure anger took over his body. "I did not find her...because of you, Tony Stark. I felt her, I felt her and I couldn't get to her because of those DAMN CUFFS. I could have been in there and gotten them both out of there in less than a second. Instead, I landed in the middle of that pitiful excuse of a hotel where she was taken. And guess who else I felt there with her?" He turned to the person who was holding him back on his right side and made sure to make him feel as worthless as he did right now, "Mr. Barnes."
Steve looked from Loki to Tony and saw the look of regret in his eyes. He refused to let his anger take over though and continued his hold on Loki.
Tony took a look around the room and saw the looks of disgust everyone had on their faces. This was their one chance they had to get in there and get everyone out and they had blown it; no, he had blown it.
"Isn't this where we first started?" Darcy asked in the most precise way to make Tony feel like shit. "Isn't the whole reason this mess started was because you, Tony Stark, have no trust in people?"
Before Tony could even get a word in, Darcy turned her back on him and motioned for Dove to help her move Bobbi back to the room so she could rest. He looked back to Loki then and saw that a few tears had slipped from his eyes and he was trying to hide it behind his raven black hair. He had stopped fighting so Thor and Steve released him and he immediately went to the bathroom where not even seconds after, they heard the sound of a fist shattering the mirror. Clint came up to him and gave him a clap on the back, but not even he could look him in the eye at the moment. Even Steve and Thor had sauntered off and wouldn't look him in the eye.
"What have I done?"