Chapter Text
The air was thick with the scent of gunpowder; Natasha’s hands shook as she unloaded the last of her ammo into an unsuspecting HYDRA agent. The man fell to the ground with a sickening thud. Natasha limped past the body and opened a door that read ‘supplies’ on a shiny silver plaque. The room was basic, with no windows and filled with desks and printers. Natasha crawled under a small wooden desk that would allow her the ability to see who had entered the room without them seeing her.
Usually when missions go south, Maria or Natasha would radio in and request immediate extraction. Unfortunately on this particular mission long distance communication had been compromised, all frequencies were being jammed. Luckily, their hand held radios were still functional up to a three hundred metre radius. Natasha adjusted her frequency to the secure line she had set up after long-distance comms had gone down.
“This is Agent Romanoff, calling all remaining operatives. I’ve just taken down an Agent in the south-west corridor. There is an empty room down here. It’s nothing fancy, just desks and printers. We can lay low here and come up with a plan of action. I’m all out of ammo so I’m not much use for storming the armoury right now,” Natasha cleared her throat and waited for some sort of response, this entire mission was a mess.
HYDRA had known they were coming and Natasha had seen far too many good agents go down. Natasha was deep in thought, plotting her revenge against HYDRA as the radio in her hand crackled into life.
“Agent Hill, confirming that all remaining operatives are to convene in the south-western corridor in approximately thirty minutes. Take care not to be followed.” Maria’s voice was controlled; Natasha could only imagine how angry Maria was right now.
Maria had received an anonymous tip off about a warehouse near the docks being a HYDRA facility. The team had done their homework before infiltrating the warehouse, all the information checked out. There were watchtowers and guard patrols, not too heavily armed yet they still carried enough firepower to have something worth protecting.
When the team first set foot in the warehouse, they had lost five agents in a gunfight against a small army of HYDRA agents. There was no questioning it, S.H.I.E.L.D had been set up, HYDRA had been expecting them.
Natasha fiddled with her radio and tuned it to Maria’s private line; words of comfort can go a long way in these situations.
“Hey babe, how are you holding up?” Natasha’s voice was hesitant, unsure of whether she really wanted to know the answer to that particular question.
“I have three bullets left, four if we are including the one currently lodged in my shoulder. I’m pretty sure I’ve broken a couple of ribs but…” There was a pause in the conversation as Natasha heard Maria take a deep breath and exhale slowly.
“I don’t think I’ve punctured anything, which is always a plus. Are you okay? Are you hurt? I would have stayed with you but I couldn’t risk being caught in the crossfire. We have lost at least six agents, five when we first entered and I lost Mortimer about twenty-five minutes ago. He took a bullet to the thigh and bled out before I could do anything.” Maria sighed in frustration, Natasha was almost certain the woman was pinching the bridge of her nose. It was a bad habit of Maria’s, especially when she was feeling stressed.
“Don’t you worry about me; it takes more than a couple of HYDRA agents with terrible aim to take me down. I’m glad to hear you’re okay though; this mission went south the moment we got here. They knew we were coming. I know you’re not going to want hear this but…”
“You think we have a mole on the team? I may have to agree with you on that one. There is, however, a strong chance the mole has already been dealt with since arriving here. HYDRA are infamous for covering their tracks with blood. We’ll talk more about this once we have rallied the troops, or at least what’s left of them. Stay out of sight until someone with ammo arrives, okay?”
“Of course, I’ll let you know if our little rendezvous point becomes compromised in any way. Fingers crossed Bobbi made it through, she will be a useful asset in whatever we decide to do next. Stay safe, I love you.” Natasha bit down on her lip and found herself blinking back tears; she turned off the radio before she could hear if Maria responded.
Natasha had toyed with several different plans in her mind. None of them had favourable chances of getting them out alive. Natasha knew that, since it being an anonymous tip, S.H.I.E.L.D had not legally approved the mission due to various government restrictions in place. The team had all signed waivers and accepted that this mission was very much a long shot. If it were to go wrong, and it could not have gone more wrong, S.H.I.E.L.D could not be relied on to swoop in and save the day. This could end badly.