"You pushed him down a flight of stairs?" Daniel laughed.
"It was only a few," Peggy replied, "And I believe he preferred that to being shot in the head."
"You still got way too much pleasure out of it," Jack grumbled. Daniel couldn't help but crack a smile. Even though they were trapped here, they knew how to take care of each other.
"So what happened then?" Daniel asked.
"You and I got into a shoot off with the other three guys while Peggy fought the assassin," Jack said.
"You fought her by yourself?"
"It's not like you weren't helping," she said, "I would probably have been shot if it weren't for you two."
"Just tell the rest of the story," Jack said.
"Right… so you were covering me and I was fighting Black Widow downstairs…"
Peggy had thought Dottie had been a good fighter, but not someone Peggy couldn't handle. This woman though… this woman was better than anyone Peggy had ever fought before, and she had fought a fair amount of people.
Her hits were fast a precise, and every blow was meant to be damaging and even deadly. But Peggy soon understood her style. Her aim was to knock put, and Peggy couldn't let that happen. If she was knocked unconscious then the woman could take her quickly with no struggle. One hard hit to the head, and Peggy was done for. So she guarded her face and head and fought mostly on the defense.
Peggy saw the frustration on the assassin's face. She wasn't used to her targets picking up a fight. She hoped it was only a matter of time before the woman grew too impatient and became reckless. She just hoped her opportunity would come before all her energy was spent.
With every blocked kick, Peggy could feel herself becoming weaker. Her countermoves became slower and less precise. The assassin's seemed to become the opposite. While Peggy was weary, she was still focused. She hoped that Sousa and Thompson would deal with the other men soon and help her.
Peggy blocked blow after blow aimed at her face, but she wasn't sure how much longer she could hold out. She could feel bruises already beginning to form on her arms from where she was taking the brunt of the assassin's kicks. Peggy prayed that she wasn't breaking any bones.
She tried not to focus on the sounds of shots coming from above her, but she wondered if one of her friends had been killed with every bullet that went off. It was then that the assassin decided that hand to hand combat wasn't working and she pulled a dagger from her belt.
Peggy froze. She had never been much good with knives, and fighting without a weapon of her own was a good way to get herself killed. The woman gave Peggy another venomous grinning, realizing that she now had Peggy beat, before coming at her with the knife.
Peggy managed to block a few stabs before the knife pierced her arm. Blood started to flow at an alarming rate and Peggy had no choice but to try and draw her gun.
"Help!" she called, praying that one of the agents would be able to help her.
Jack was almost out of bullets and he had only managed to take down one guy. Thankfully, the other two had been lousy shots and neither him nor Daniel had been hit either. But that wouldn't matter when he had no ammo left to fight with and no way to get close enough for hand to hand combat. He was running on borrowed time and Daniel knew it too.
"Help!" a muffled voice came from below them. Both of the agents took cover and looked downstairs. They could see what was happening, but couldn't really stop it. Peggy was still fighting the assassin, but looked like she knew she would lose soon.
"Can you get the shot?" Daniel asked.
Jack shook his head, "They're moving too fast, I might hit Carter."
"This is bad, Thompson," Daniel said.
Jack only nodded grimly in response before pointing his gun hesitantly at the scene below him. He was a good shot, but if he missed- or hit Carter instead, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. He had too much innocent blood on his hands already without adding hers to the mix.
Souse seemed to sense this and said, "Help her, I'll cover you." Thompson gave him a look of appreciation before descending the staircase.
"About time" Peggy commented when she saw Jack running down the stairs.
"Would you rather I go?"
Peggy was going to reply when she saw the glint of silver telling her that the assassin was going back on offense. All she could do was look at Jack pleadingly before dodging for her life. Jack held out his gun, but Peggy knew that he would never be able to get off a safe shot. The woman was staying too close to Peggy, and one misfire and she'd be just as likely to be shot as the Russian. Jack knew it too and re-holstered his gun to opt for fist fighting.
He wasn't sure what to do. Last time he had fought a Black Widow, he had lost, miserably. And by the looks of it, this assassin was even better than Dottie. He and Carter soon fell into a rhythm of her covering him while he landed a few blows on her. The knife became less worrying and they began gaining ground on the woman. At one point, Jack even landed a punch straight to her face. Rather than weakening her though, she became more filled with rage. Her attacks became faster and more painful.
Peggy cried out as the woman landed a powerful kick to her face, and Jack was just distracted enough that the woman managed to kick him hard against the wall. He hit his head with enough force that for a moment, his vision became black and the next moment, he was looking at the ceiling and he hearing Peggy's straggled cry from across the room. He stood up quickly to see that the assassin was holding Peggy by the hair with the knife pressed against her throat.
As Jack attempted not to pass out again, he heard another commotion from upstairs. He got so caught up in fighting with Carter that he had almost forgotten about Daniel fighting on his own. He heard a loud crash before the other two Russians joined the assassin downstairs.
Peggy struggled to push aside the feeling that the worst has happened and Daniel was dead. Her head was throbbing and she could taste the blood dripping from her nose.
She listened as her remaining assailants talk in rapid Russian. They were using code words, but Peggy figured out that Daniel had been knocked unconscious but was still alive. Peggy struggles against the woman's hold on her, but it was too tight to break free. She stared numbly at Jack, who knows he couldn't doing anything without getting any of them hurt.
Peggy listened carefully as they discussed what to do with Thompson and Daniel. She let out a sigh of relief when she heard that they didn't intend to kill them. They didn't have time for a body dump and leaving the corpses of two agents would raise too many questions. Of course, they were still in danger, but they would all live another day.
The last thing Peggy heard before she was hit over the head is Jack crying out to her.
"They chloroformed me after you, and then I woke up here," Jack commended.
"So we have no idea where we are?" Daniel asked hopelessly.
"Russia," Peggy said without hesitation, "Probably somewhere near the coast considering how warm it is."
"You really know Russia like the back of your hand, don't you," Jack said with admiration.
"I did," she said, "It's been a while since I've needed to use my knowledge."
"Do you think we're in the same place we were on the mission?" Jack asked.
"I doubt it," Peggy replied, "they probably moved as soon as we left."
"Great, then no one knows where to find us," Daniel said.
"Right," Peggy replied as she shook her handcuffs again, but it was no use. They were made from sturdy steal and had no chance of breaking.
"Can to you maybe slip your and through?" Jack suggested, "They're pretty small."
"No, Thompson, I cannot slip my tiny, feminine hand through the tightened handcuff," she said with irritation, "I might be able to if I broke both my wrists."
"Let's use that as a last resort," Daniel said,
"Then what do we do?" Jack asked
"We wait," Peggy replied before the trio lapsed into silence