The couch wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but it wasn't her bed or her room or the dreaded desk in the corner. Thus, it would suffice. The compound was designed differently from the tower in the sense that it was less for living in than as a base of operations. But there were still several bedrooms, the one common room, and a kitchen. Besides that, it seemed that the billionaire had hired the same interior designer for all of his buildings.
All of this meaning, there weren't many places to practice relaxing. In an effort to properly do so, her "phone", the thing that could only contact her parents or alert any Avenger who was earthside that there was trouble, was charging far away so as not to be bothered with incoming texts from either of them. Weren't they saving the world or some nonsense?
Much closer than the aforementioned device was the book in her hands and the music player softly playing some form of Celtic genred song. Her first fiction book that she'd ever started to read was not disappointing as of yet. It was a German translation of The Hobbit. So far, stories seemed to be an interesting concept that she may be willing to indulge in in the future… wait. What was that? The music was playing quietly beside her. But there was something more.
… and companions, come join me in rhyme. Come lift up your voices in chorus with mine...
Heartbeats. Several. No. Ten exactly. Footsteps. They were weighted down. Whoever was here was armed - well armed. In the middle of the compound on this floor and moving fast.
Looking around for a moment, Nadia assessed her options before giving a smirk and returning to her book with her back to the door.
...for we may or might never all meet here again...
xxx
It, predictably enough, had been a trap and everything was going to hell. Tony was down, no severe injuries but his suit and access to Friday were completely inoperable. Nat had been shot but was managing to protect Stark from their hidden spot. Clint was pinned back to back with Steve as Wanda helped Sam flip and dodge the energy beams that were flying towards him.
Who knew taking down a weapons facility for a 'freedom movement' would be just this difficult? They had known it would be but not this much. The so called freedom fighters facility was an organization that regularly supplied known terrorist and war mongers with heavy weaponry. The place had crossed a certain line, however, when it transferred from regular old heavy weaponry to energy weapons and soon revealing they were much better protected than they had seemed. Unfortunately, how well they were guarded was hidden better than even Natasha's intel could get them.
"Nat," Steve called into the coms, "Pull back with Stark and get yourselves out of this shit! Get to the quinjet and prepare to bring it to the extraction point."
"Language!" Even at this moment Stark couldn't help it.
xxx
The door burst open and the boots came tramping in. By the sounds of it, they had arrayed themselves across the room. By the smells of it, Nadia smiled, they were terrified.
"Isn't ten mercenaries just a little bit overkill for one, little girl?" Okay, maybe little girl was a bit of a stretch.
"Come with us, Subject Three," The leader, in the middle of the group and smelling far less afraid than he should be, said, "You know who wants you."
She recognized that voice and that scent. He was skilled, but not overly so. Better at torturing than fighting. Smelled like a trash can most days.
"Are you too scared to even say the Weasel's name now, Trash Panda?" She slowly set the book on the floor beside her and turned the music off, using her other hand to grasp the knife between the cushions of the couch.
"Any sudden movements and you'll be swiss cheese, bitch." Ah, yes. He hated that name she'd given him. Probably part of the reason why he enjoyed the torture portion of his job.
Bring her in but don't hesitate to kill if necessary. Good to know. Nadia gripped the underside of the couch, using her strength and a shove to flip it over.
As expected, Stark was not only a rich man who flew around in a tin can but was a smart and rather paranoid man as well. The bullets ripped through the padding but stopped at the steel reinforcements hidden within.
Time to have some fun.
Slipping the kitchen knife into her pocket, Nadia brought the couch up as a shield and ran towards the group.
xxx
"Rogers, we have to abort and get to the compound immediately." Natasha's voice came over the coms. Steve, Clint, and the rest had successfully gotten out of the hotspot and were making for the extraction point with no pursuit. The facility was more interested in preserving their products than hunting down those trying to attack them.
"Why?" He huffed over the line, supporting Sam as the man hopped forward. His landing had been on the rough side and had resulted in a broken ankle. Wanda was bringing up the rear, ready to thwart any potential attacks while Clint led the way farther ahead.
"The compound is being attacked." Her voice was hard, barely hiding the underlying worry.
Tony's voice came next, hiding his panic less so, "The securing system caught their movements and the entry before some form of virus destroyed any of Friday's security measures. They didn't attack Friday herself but the electricals and the mechanics of…"
But Steve wasn't listening. The compound was being attacked. Nadia was there. They were at least a 6 hour flight away. They'd been set up. It must have been.
Shit.
xxx
The glorious sound of something large crunching the bones, and mashing the flesh of several bodies was better than the music. Blood spraying everywhere from her knife opening up a man's throat was merely an added bonus.
The couch had crushed three and swept most of the others out of the way as they dove for cover. No good reason to waste time surveying. Nadia slid towards one of the heavily armed goons, ducking under him and slicing deep behind his knees before whirling to use him as a shield for the new barrage of bullets from a few clustered behind the island.
While they were well armed, they didn't have the best protection either with only bulletproof vests, helmets, and some form of military level clothes. Not the easiest to kill them but far from difficult.
Arching high into the air, the body still between her and the incoming bullets, Nadia landed behind them.
"Hey, boys," Her training slipped out before she could stop it, a feral grin on her face, "Mind if I get by ya real quick? Need to get to Sam's cookie stash." Maybe some of her training was right, the spike of terror that set their hearts racing was definitely a plus.
xxx
"Are the cameras back up and running?" Steve asked, they were almost there. Going in blind was not optimal.
"They always have been." Tony replied, looking distracted as he tapped away on a tablet, "Everything except the mechanics was working. None of the emergency measures would have been able to be put into place beyond alerting me. This was no stealth operation, Rogers."
"Why haven't we been watching then?" He tried not to snap but it wasn't easy when he had no idea what had happened.
"Because, somehow the only thing that Friday could do was contact me. Scratch that. Fuck." He didn't look up from his tablet, "I don't have access to anything. Fuck!"
So they were going in blind. Great.
xxx
Sam, with an emergency boot for his ankle, and Wanda were keeping surveillance on the outside of the compound. Tony was scanning the place with Nat and Clint was here with Steve. Each team was covering half the compound working from top to bottom.
There were no signs of fighting or even any form of destruction. It was as if nobody had been there. Then, nearing the door to the common room, there was blood. A bloody handprint to be exact. Someone had definitely been hear. But were they still here was the question.
"Do you hear anything?" Clint asked, barely above a breath, bow ready as they stopped outside of the doors.
Steve looked confused, "Yeah, but it's just music I don't hear anyone in there."
"Well, let's find out then."
The door was kicked open and - there was nothing. Not a single thing out of place or a splash of blood to be seen. The kitchen practically gleamed, the floors were spotless, and the living room area only had Nadia lounging on the sofa, back to them.
Closer inspection revealed blood stains and bullet holes all through it.
"How'd your mission go?" She got up, turning around revealing a smear of blood on her cheek. Something told him that it definitely wasn't hers.
Glancing at the couch she said, "Sorry about the mess, couldn't find any fabric cleaner."
A/N ~ The song lyrics given are "Here's a Health to the Company" by the Longest Johns.
Thank you again to everyone who has reviewed! It really does motivate me to keep writing this. :D
