A man in all black tactical gear stood beside the tall man with the shield. He had long brown hair pulled back from his face and something about him looked eerily familiar.
She studied the man beside him. He shouldn't look familiar. She felt herself get distracted and reprimanded herself.
"Hi." The blonde man put his shield on his back and knelt down to try to meet her eyes. "I'm Steve."
She watched him quickly stand back up as a man with a metal body came into the room followed by a redheaded woman.
"What's wrong?" The metal man asked. Then he saw her. "Oh."
"Who broke the cuffs." The woman pointed to the broken handcuffs hanging from the girl's wrists. She turned a raised brow to the girl and repeated the question in Russian, then German.
The girl pretended to not understand.
"Nat." The dark haired man said softly. He held out the file the doctor had been writing in.
"Anything interesting?" The metal man asked, turning.
The dark haired man handed a page to the woman. His lips pursed into a flat line.
The girl watched as the woman read the page.
"Well?" The blonde man asked. She gathered that he and the metal man didn't read Cyrillic.
"Apparently she's ours." The dark haired man said.
"Anastasia?" The woman said as she read, before hissing to the dark haired man with a sharp nudge to the ribs. "Romanova."
The girl looked up, almost involuntarily, briefly catching the redhead's eye.
"Do you speak English?" The metal man asked, glancing down at the girl.
She did. She ignored him.
"She does." The woman said. The girl scowled.
"Awesome. Your name is Anastasia?" The metal man looked down at the girl. He pronounced her name like an American.
"Yes sir."
"Who broke your cuffs?" The woman asked, lifting her gaze from the paper to meet the girl's.
The girl didn't answer.
"Anastasia. I'm Steve. This is Tony, Natasha, and Bucky." The blonde man knelt in front of her. "Can you tell us what was happening here? We can't help you if we don't know what's going on."
"How's the Headmistress these days?"
"What." The girl's head snapped up, cursing her outburst.
"Madame B. Haven't seen her in a while." The redhead, Natasha apparently, glanced at her from over the file she had taken from the man, Bucky.
"How do you know the Headmistress." That was stupid. She was always too curious. The Headmistress had told her it had been what had gotten her mother killed, curiosity.
"Oh we go way back." Natasha rifled through the file pulling out paper with a photograph clipped to it. She removed the photograph and handed it to the girl. "See, that's me."
"Natalia Romanova." The girl whispered.
"Yep."
"You are dead."
"Guys... not to break this up," the metal man, Tony, started. "But we really do need to get out of here."
"Shh." Steve hissed, nudging him. "Anastasia, do you have a jacket?"
"A jacket?"
"A coat?" The man clarified, glancing towards Natasha for assistance.
"Why?"
"There's a foot of snow outside and you're wearing shorts?" Tony shrugged.
"Viktor took my coat when we arrived."
"Viktor?"
"My handler."
Bucky noticeably stiffened at the word. She took note.
"Do you have shoes?"
"In the training room."
"Ok, Tony why don't you go try to find a coat and I'll grab the shoes." Steve nodded as Tony departed. Then he looked towards Natasha and Bucky before leaving himself. "You two good here?"
Natasha ran a hand along the metal table before hoisting herself up to sit on a cabinet leaving Bucky standing in front of the door.
The trio was silent. The girl watched as the adults watched her. Headmistress said to always be observant.
Natasha began rummaging through the doctor's bag, as Bucky continued to leaf through the files. She pulled out a capped syringe and a vial and watched as the girl's eyes widened and the child recoiled.
"Do they give this to you?"
"Yes." The girl stood straighter.
"Glad to see they haven't changed." Natasha snorted.
Bucky raised an eyebrow.
"Serum."
"Serum?" Tony walked back into the room carrying a large coat. "No luck with your coat kiddo, but uh, I don't think they'll mind if we borrow."
Natasha handed him the vial and took the jacket as Steve entered with a pair of children's tennis shoes which he placed on the table.
"That what I think it is?"
"Put your shoes on Anastasia? And the coat?" Natasha asked.
The girl knew it was an order. She complied.