Widow's Shadow

IX: Supply Closet

January 17 2027

Karlsruhe, Germany

James and Natasha waited two short seconds before walking out of the elevator, just as they expected they were once again welcomed by the lovely guards of KIT's underground system. The two assassins leaned against the mouth of the elevator, their faces showing a hint of boredom. Confusion and the strong scent of fear hung tightly to the air around the guards. Their eyes darting back and forth to their fellow coworkers and to the two people in black.

Natasha tilted her head to James. "Expected at least five more guards to welcome us." Her Widow Bites began to glow the color of boiling blood. "What a shame." The devil's smirk painted on her lips as James went in for a punch.

Not even a second in and two men were already down, a tall man dove in for the typical mundane attack, a punch in the face. Natasha grabbed his wrist before he could touch her skin. She clicked her tongue in disappointment. "Now why do all you guards go for the fist in the face? Not creative at all." She then twisted his wrist, causing him to flip over onto his back. James ducked a few batons before sliding his leg below their ankles, three men lost their balance and fell onto of each other. Seeing them getting up Natasha kicked one in the head while James kicked the other two.

They looked around before pulling the unconscious guards into a filtration room and grabbing another guard uniform. The uniforms in the secret facility were different from the university guards', to indicate who should be there or not. They ran into a supply closet on the left side of the elevator, they shut the door ever so lightly and switched the single bulb on. The light bounced around the room as the wire swayed. They both put on the uniforms over their suits and glanced at each other, a naughty grin grew on James' lips.

"Back in a familiar place huh?" James obviously talking about the supply closet. "We had enough time in one of these to create at least twenty seasons of Game of Thrones."

"Only you would know that." Natasha tapped his chest lightly as she put on a pair of what looked like reading glasses. The glasses had the tiniest cameras on both sides, it cannot be seen by the naked eye or identified by any scanner or computer. "But as much as I want to, we don't have time for fooling around." Natasha's lips were close to his, enough to make his heart pounce. Her flirtation taunting him, making him go insane.

"You owe me some time in a supply closet." James winked as he opened the door slowly, checking for anyone or anything before both of them walked out.

The corridors were filled with hushed footsteps and muffled voices sealed behind closed doors. Guards stood at their posts, staring blankly at the white walls that faced them every night. Some would turn and watch as they passed by, their eyes following them until they left their view. James and Natasha would sometimes nod their heads to others but would mostly keep their heads straight. However, they could see everything as they pass by. The rooms, their numbers, the amount of guards standing beside each door. Taking note of the areas with more guards and the locations of the security cameras.

They checked each level, the ding of the elevator echoing in their brains to the point where they began to hear it everywhere. Finally, they got onto the fourth floor, doing a sweep of what seems to be the largest level with the most corridors, rooms and security. Their suspicion grew with every footstep they took.

After they memorized the underground levels, they recognized their leveling. The top floor was the basics: paperwork, simple experimentations, organization of the test subjects' physical and mental work and everything in between. The next two floors are for weapons testing and subject training, where the guinea pigs are taught to fight and kill like soldiers. The fourth floor is for transfusion of the Winter Soldier serum, increasing of the dosage until they become the perfect soldier. Lastly, the bottom floor, which they weren't able to get into. They were told by one of the guards that this is the cell holdings of the test subjects, to not add suspicion they left the floor with no more questions or searches.

They went back to the elevator, images and video footage of each floor already downloaded onto her laptop. Now they just needed to go back to the top floor and get some information on the initiative. The elevator dinged for what seemed like the millionth time, pissing James off, before reaching the top.

"We need to do this quick before they notice the footage is on loop. It's already been ten minutes, I've been pulling current footage when we aren't in frame and looping when we are in frame." Natasha said.

"Now how the fuck can you do that without actually being behind a screen?" James said in confusion.

"I created a Trojan Horse. I added our faces into the system so once it identifies us it switches the footage for an older one." Natasha smiled.

James gave her a look, enough for Natasha to get it. "What? You think I haven't done this kind of shit before? That bug has been my best friend for long time."

"Glad to see I have competition." James grinned before the elevator doors opened to the top underground floor. They walked out and headed straight for the filing room, where apparently guards were needed the least on this level. They stood in front of a nearby room and waited until the coast was clear, once the four guards were the only thing in sight Natasha and James walked towards them.

Uncertainty spilled across the men's faces as they got closer and closer and closer. James showed his brightest smile a second before banging two of the guards' heads together, knocking them out in an instant. Natasha knowing that the other two would either pull out their walkie-talkies or guns wrapped her thighs and upper arms around both necks and twisted herself; causing their necks to crack and bodies to fall on the smooth grey tiles.

Then with their gloved hands they entered the jackpot, pulling the collars of the unconscious and probably dead guards in with them. Shelves upon shelves of subject files, injections, amounts of dosages and what they are being dosed with. Natasha captured as much as she could through glasses.

Shock filled her eyes with the information that flowed into her brain. James stood out in the corridor in front of the door, keeping a look out. Part of Natasha was happy that he didn't see this right now. All the information could trigger something and she can't deal with that at this very moment.

Or ever.

Did he go through all this? Did they stick needles in every possible place? Injecting chemicals that felt like acid eating at your insides? Being strapped down for what could be hours of open surgery just to check the progress or failure?

The idea of James going through that made her stomach turn in a way that hasn't happened in a while. Not wanting to take up more of their precious time, she closed the file in her hands and placed it exactly where it was kept and walked out to find James still there.

They then headed back to the elevator and took it to the floor above ground. The quick trip up was silent, James sensed what she was feeling and she knew it too. It wasn't easy to hide pain from him, especially when they went through so much of the same things. They both could understand each other based on the visible and invisible scars that was written across their faces and bodies. Tattooed forever in deep black ink was their life story that can only be read by the other.

Getting out of the building was easy, they gave a quick goodbye nod to the guards at the gate then walked discretely back to the unfinished building where they left their motorcycle and equipment. They couldn't leave any trace of their presence cause the second they leave. The whole underground system is going to be known.