Eternal Winter

XIII: Stratagem

December 26 2025

Area Classified

Clint pulled out another chair for James while Wanda grabbed some large pieces of blank paper and markers. A light rush of air touched Natasha's neck as the papers fell on the thick cut of crystal.

Clint folded his arms on top of the glass table, trying to find the right words. "We know that Trikov won't be in Kayly Кайлы since it has been compromised--"

Natasha cut him off. "Wait, we were in Kayly Кайлы?"

Wanda nodded. "He was smart to choose somewhere not too far from your abduction."

Natasha considered it smart but also strange. Something was not right about his choice of location.

James raked his wet hair. "You've actually never told us how you found us in the first place."

"Thank Nat for that. She placed a tracker in the Jeep that is only activated by the radioactivity of an extensive explosion." Clint responded. "It also activated the tracker she placed on herself."

"Luckily enough, they didn't search me down here." Natasha motioned her hand around her backside.

"Lucky you." James spoke to himself more than to Natasha.

"Before Natasha left, she told me no matter what, if this homing beacon," Wanda held up the small device. "goes off. To come straight; don't ever question it."

James held Natasha's hand under the table. "Samyy umnyy zhenshchina, kotoruyu ya znayu. (The smartest woman I know."

Natasha smiled. "Okay, so whats the plan?"

Clint looked at Natasha. "I was thinking that you had something in mind."

Natasha smirked. "Of course you did." She stood up. "Now where's the tech?"

Wanda stood up and they followed her to a locked room. Clint unlocked it with two soft clicks and they were greeted by the flickering lights of the computer screens. "That's more like it."

The room was filled with an impressive collection of machinery and equipment that made Natasha's heart skip a beat. There were four computer screens lined up next to each other, keyboards placed right in front of them. Scanners, trackers, homing beacons of all shapes and sizes. She never felt more at home in her life.

They all sat on the empty chairs while they watched Natasha's fingers dance off the screens and keyboards. "First, we need to narrow down his possible locations. Clint?"

Clint was already facing a computer screen. "On it."

"Wanda, track down any of Trikov's men. You've seen their faces so it shouldn't be difficult."

Wanda nodded in response.

"And what am I gonna do?" James grinned.

"I think you mean what are we gonna do." Natasha took James' hand and headed out towards their bedroom. Natasha pulled out a duffle bag full of artillery.

James looked disappointed. "I thought this was going somewhere else."

"What's better than playing with guns?" Natasha stroked a gun she placed on the bed.

"You're too good for me." He smiled.

"Yes. I. Am." She put her arms around him and kissed him.

"Can we just do this all day?"

"Not when we have work to do." She kissed him again then went back to inspecting the ordnance.

An hour passed by and Natasha and James finished examining and cleaning their artillery. The weapons were laid out across the white sheets, in order of size and damage.

Clint and Wanda eyed their screens attentively. Ready for any sign of Trikov's footsteps.

"Any luck?" Natasha said as she and James walked in with bowls of snacks.

"Nope." Clint sighed. "Once again, they disappeared like dust in the wind."

Wanda shook her head. "Nothing."

Natasha placed herself in the chair between Wanda and Clint. She contemplated at the screen in front of her. "I think we need to go back."

James' head jolted at the sentence. Anger and fear poured across his face like iced water.

Clint asked the question they were all wondering. "And what's there exactly?"

She turned to James who still had a horrified expression from ear to ear. She knew that he thought they would never step foot in that hellhole again but she also knew that something does not fit Trikov's choice of location. The air suddenly felt heavy around her.

"Something that shouldn't be." Natasha responded.

Clint stood up and headed towards the door. "Well, you're gonna need a ride." He opened the garage door and his smile grew as he pulled off the sheet that was hiding the car's identity.

Natasha put her hand to her mouth. "My baby."

Her fingers stroked the gleaming white paint of her Jeep. Not a single scratch or mark, no sign of it being almost obliterated by the explosion. She turned to Clint but he already knew what she was going to ask.

"Because she was at the back of the house she didn't take as much damage as she would have if she was in the front. Just a few scratches and dents but she's a survivor."

Natasha looked back at her Jeep. "Now lets get this show on the road."

Once they grabbed all their gear and changed into warmer clothing, they drove in two separate cars. Natasha's Jeep and Clint's white Hummer. Both bullet proof, loaded with artillery, and can withstand the strongest weather, from the scorching heat of the sun to stone-cold blizzards.

They were connected through radio, being able to communicate while on the road. Sick of the lack of privacy, James muted the radio. "So what are we gonna do once we get there?"

Natasha kept her eyes on the road and Clint's Hummer. "Search the perimeter, drive around the location to see if any of his men stayed, then inspect every room and every crack of the building."

"What are we looking for though? You were so vague back at the house."

Natasha tilted her head in James' direction. "Cause I don't know exactly what we are looking for. How can I possibly know what that devil could've hid down there?"

"We will figure out sooner or later then." James then turned the radio back on.

Clint spoke as soon as he let go of the button. "Why did you mute us out? Were you guys making out or something?"

"Something." James smiled.

Clint's laughed echoed throughout Natasha's Jeep until it was cut off by a rush of a snowy gust.