A/N: Thanks for reviewing!

I'm gonna leave the past behind, I've had enough, I'm breaking free

Waking up was painful, like she'd been dead. Or nearly. Something heavy was on top of her – the table. She pushed it aside with difficulty, and was aware of broken porcelain littering the floor. A bomb? Anna! She looked around frantically in the wreckage of the room – it was fortunate that they were on the top floor, so there was a limited amount of debris to fall on them. The chairs were strewn around, most broken, and the door was gone. She spotted Anna under one of the more unaffected chairs and hurried over.

"Anna! Wake up," she hissed as she pulled the chair aside. To her immense relief, the woman began to stir, grimacing.

"Natalia?" she coughed out, looking around in shock.

Natasha pulled her friend into a sitting position and took in their surroundings. "It looks like the bomb went off in your office."

"Good thing we were out here, then," Anna replied sardonically.

Sparing a smile, Natasha turned to look for a way out of the room. "Who knows your schedule?"

"Too many people, Nat. I wasn't careful enough." The tone of Anna's answer was just like Natasha remembered it being in the Red Room, when she'd made an error and had to explain it.

"Were you supposed to be meeting with someone before I interrupted you?" she pressed as she pulled her Glocks out of her purse, having found it in the rubble, and tossed one to Anna.

The latter caught it easily, though she winced slightly at the sudden movement. "I'm sure the schedule's full, as always. I told Adrienne to cancel everything when I heard it was you at my door."

"I'm flattered," Natasha responded, glancing at Anna, who nodded. Both got silently to their feet and headed for the doorway. Much of the ceiling and walls had fallen around them, but that portal was more or less intact. Enough to get out of here, back to the elevator. Natasha led the way, though she could see her friend's change in vocation had not made her rusty. Working in tandem, they moved forward silently, on guard for further attack. It was unlikely that someone had left a bomb and an assassin, but it never hurt to be too careful. They traversed the twenty yards to the elevator, Natasha reflecting that it seemed an infinitely longer distance going this way than it had before, and both of them froze when the apparatus made a gentle ding.

After a quick look in Anna's direction, Natasha ducked behind the nearest cover, a chair, and checked to make sure her friend had done the same. The doors opened, and the woman from before stepped out. Adrienne, Natasha supposed.

"Ms. Eddis?" the woman asked, looking shocked enough that Natasha did not expect she had been a part of the plot. Not that she should be ruled out, of course.

"I'm here, Adrienne," Anna said, glancing Natasha's way before standing up. When Adrienne didn't make any attempt to finish the job started by the bomb, Natasha stood up as well, though she kept her gun at the ready.

"What's going on?" Adrienne wanted to know, considerably startled by the sight of the two armed women.

Ushering her assistant back into the elevator, Anna pushed the button for the ground floor and let out a sigh when the three were safely on their way. "Seems I have an unsatisfied customer. Good thing my friend and I were in the conference room instead of my office."

"Yes," Adrienne replied in the ensuing silence, looking dazed. "Yes, well, your one o'clock canceled anyway, so you haven't missed anything."

"Who canceled?" Natasha asked sharply.

The assistant looked from one to the other before answering. "Mr. Ulyanov, of Gynacon."

A strangled laugh escaped Natasha, prompting a vaguely offended look from Adrienne and a curious one from Anna. "Well, I'm sure I'll meet with him later. In the meantime, I think I'll be taking the afternoon off. I'm sure the authorities will want to get in my office, but please also schedule a contractor as soon as possible to repair the damage," Anna ordered.

"Yes, ma'am. Where can I reach you?" Adrienne questioned, pulling out a tablet from her suit pocket, poised to take down information.

After visually consulting with Natasha, Anna gave her assistant a grim smile. "I think I'll be calling you when I get the chance." The elevator opened, and the three women strode across the front lobby. Adrienne opened the front door, Natasha slipping out first with a broad smile at the guard. He looked startled by her no doubt ruffled appearance, and more so when Anna appeared in the same condition.

"Anything else, ma'am?" Adrienne asked.

"Probably, but I think I'd like to get off the street as soon as possible. Keep your phone on, expect it to be an unavailable number. I'm sure I can trust you to keep things running as smoothly as possible until I return?"

"Of course."

Anna nodded, then turned to Natasha. "Lead the way."

Before she could do so, the guard stopped them. "Ma'am, are you sure you're alright with her?" he wanted to know.

"Yes. Don't tell the police you saw us leave, and certainly don't tell them you let my friend in the front door."

"But, ma'am," he began.

Anna stood at her full height, managing to stare him down from several inches below his eye line. Natasha hid a smile; she couldn't remember the girl Anna had once been having the strongest of backbones. It was nice to see this side of her. Of course, Natasha reasoned, to have survived the Red Room meant Anna was made of sterner stuff than most anyone on the planet. Particularly given their recently reduced number.

"Sorry," the guard mumbled, looking at the ground.

Satisfied, Anna strode away confidently, ignoring the police cars that were arriving. Natasha caught up with her and decided it was time to make a phone call.

Though it took a few taxi rides with considerable doubling back, the two of them made it safely to Natasha's hotel. In the meantime, they had stopped to change into more suitable clothing; or rather, less suitable. Anna's dress and Natalia's jeans were traded for sundresses, and the women entered the hotel with enough giggles to imply they'd been enjoying their vacation fully despite it being long before five o'clock. They attracted attention, but not the kind that would lead the trouble later; people were generally blind to details when it came to a group of girls. Conversely, it would have been easier if there were more of them to avoid notice, but Natasha felt relatively confident about their charade.

Finally, they reached the safety of Natasha's room, and both immediately sobered.

"You knew that would happen?" Anna questioned.

It wasn't accusatory, which was gratifying. "I suspected," Natasha replied as she did a thorough sweep of the room while Anna waited by the door.

"I see."

"Look, I didn't think my timing would be so good, or I would have brought it up earlier."

Anna sighed. "I knew it wasn't a social call. I just thought you came for information on one of my clients or something."

"Well, if that's an option, I'm sure I'll appreciate it in the future. But, no, I came for you, my friend," Natasha said, finishing her search and briefly taking Anna's hand.

Smiling, she moved further into the room and took a seat near the closed window. "You always were surprisingly sentimental."

"Was I?" Natasha asked, taken aback.

"Well, you know, for one of us. Particularly about that one instructor we –" Anna stopped herself, eyes wide.

Natasha drew up a chair next to her. "What is it?"

"I… I know they didn't want you to remember that. Do you, though?" she asked softly, searching Natasha's face.

"Yes. I've… had reason to remember."

Anna frowned a little, clearly not getting a good read. "What reason?"

Glancing away, Natasha cleared her throat. "I moved in with him recently," she answered, deadpan. When she saw the look on Anna's face, she laughed. "He's quite changed from then. As are we all. Perhaps you can visit some time."

"Perhaps," Anna echoed, bemused.

"More pressingly, it seems that we are being targeted," Natasha began, before being interrupted by the buzz of her phone. She pulled it out of her purse and smiled.

"Who is it?"

"Help."