II: The Girl Who Ran: Little Monsters

XI: Autumn

Tatiana sat in the rafters, observing the fight below. Helmut had already left the observation room in the back. Snowy and Steven were working together perfectly. They had a seamless and beautiful dynamic.

Her attention was drawn to the fight when she saw Anthony-- she'd had to ask her contact what his actual name was-- aim a whistling bird at Snowy's face. "Come on, Snowy, I taught you better than that." Snowy grabbed Anthony's arm and twisted it. Anthony fired, and Tatiana felt the structure underneath her shake. She stood on the small platform she was waiting on. It swayed to the side, then fell. Tatiana grabbed a pole and hung onto it, waiting to hit the ground.

The impact was jarring and it took a moment for Tatiana's vision to clear. She moved the debris off of her body and checked for injuries, none of which made themselves known. She could see Snowy on the edge of the rubble. He stood almost immediately, and Tatiana heard Steven command, "Get out of here!"

He ran out of her line of sight and she sighed, tuning out the sounds of the fight. Bars closed her in on all sides, like a cage. She bent the bars aside until she was able to step out of the debris. Light blinded her eyes and she rubbed them. She looked up for the source and saw that somebody had opened the top of the tower, where they used to launch aircraft. Tatiana's eyes adjusted quickly and she hummed as she picked her way around the debris to get out. She'd already gathered the things she'd wanted from the compound. Files and money hung at her side in a soft leather satchel that had been discarded. Her beloved old rifle, осень (Autumn), was strapped to her back. The rifle had been specially made for her back in 1946, and the only thing she disliked about it were the three dime-sized seals above the trigger.

One was the red skull and tentacles of HYDRA. The one beside it was a pale green skull set above an infinity sign, with two stars on either side of the skull. The last one was higher than the others, making a triangle. It also featured a-- rotting-- skull, but with two vines entwined with a set of scales, all in white. Tatiana had never asked about them, she just took the rifle and had been grateful she had something to defend herself with.

Tatiana was snapped out of her thoughts by something falling by her feet. She stared at the silver star on Steven's shield for a long while. She picked it up. It was light, and she threw it up on one of the walkways. No doubt Steven would need that later, but she had no intention of getting involved with this fight. This seemed to be Steven and Snowy's burden to bear. But she could get their getaway plane ready. She glanced upward just in time to see the huge doors hinges explode, and the door slammed shut.

Tatiana hurried to the corridor, jogging down the hallway and down the stairs. She didn't stop until she was outside. The cold air cleared her mind. She noticed that, at one point, half of one of her pant legs had been torn away, revealing the old bandage that was just barely clinging to her thigh. The cuff of her hoodie was singed, and a cut on her wrist was bleeding as well. She was sure she smelled horrible, after all, she hadn't showered or changed clothes in four days. She shivered in the wind and sprinted to the open plane that sat near the entrance. A one-person jet rested beside the plane, and Tatiana briefly wondered, who else was in the compound? She breathed a sigh of relief as she reached the plane and shut the door.

Her knee finally gave out, and she fell onto the floor, staring at the ceiling lights. The floor was as cold as marble. She hauled herself up and crawled around in search of a first aid kit. Her search was rewarded with a huge clear, plastic container full of medical supplies. She ripped the bandage off of her leg, taking half of the scab with it. She dabbed it with an alcohol pad, then wrapped it up again. It wasn't fist-rate nursing work, but it would have to do. She heard a muffled gunshot in the distance and frowned. Snowy, Steven, and, as far as she knew, Anthony did not have any guns with them. Maybe Helmut had brought one with him?