Locked Within Their Labyrinth

Family Gathering

"We have a hit. Strike get ready for deployment." It had been months since Shield was declared dead and already they'd made massive progress. Hill marched into the briefing, files in one hand coffee in the other. She set the coffee on the table and surveyed the room. Bucky was sliding knives into hidden sheathes whilst Steve strapped on his tactical gear. Barton flexed his biceps as he pulled back the string on his bow, testing the tautness. He swung his quiver over his shoulder and holstered a gun at his hip. He joined Steve and Bucky as they stood waiting for orders.

Hill wordlessly handed them the debriefing pack. They made their way towards the hangar whilst fitting the comms into their ears with practised ease. "I'd get Stark on this. Maybe a few others, the rookies could do with some field training." Steve shook his head.
"If Nat is really as unstable as it says then we don't want anyone that could set her off and jeopardise the mission. We're familiar with her and she may hold back a little." Maria nodded.
"Ok but if you're outnumbered or things go downhill I'm calling. I trust your judgement cap but doesn't it seem a little bit odd, I mean she's been silent for weeks and now suddenly she's out in the open stealing vibranium of all things. It just a seems off."
"Duly noted ma'am." She just sighed and let them continue.

Natasha stood surveying the transaction. At first their dealer had been uncooperative but with a little bit of persuasion he was happy to give her his whole stock. She watched her men strain under the heavy crates and kept eyeing her exists warily. With a deal this big there was bound to be trouble on the way. She patted her glocks soothingly before snapping at her lackeys to move faster. They scurried like ants in an attempt to appease her.

As the plane engaged stealth mode and slid smoothly through the air Steve turned to face his team. "Remember the only reason Shield gave us this op was because they thought that we could beat her. However we know differently, so far she hasn't shown a shred of remorse and her body count climbs higher each day. There's no denying her betrayal has hit us hard, so now it's our job to hit her harder. Under no circumstances are we to let her escape, understood?" They nodded.

Steve was suffering the loss of his partner but his moral compass and loyalty was destroyed when she stabbed them in the back. Clint had lost his partner and best friend, his sister in arms. He'd entrusted her with the secret of his family and now because of her treachery they'd been moved into witness protection, protected even from him. There was a quiver full of arrows waiting to be unleashed. Bucky had lost his wife, his partner and his anchor to the world. Before he'd had shady morals, now he had none. His nightmares became progressively worse and each body that turned up on their doorstep stabbed another hole into his heart. He wanted closure. He wanted her gone. He wanted revenge. His metal arm twitched in anticipation.

The jet glided smoothly over the isolated factory. They needed to keep it in the air incase of a hasty evacuation. Steve dropped the door and they lined up waiting. The light turned green and they jumped.

Natalia checked her watch before nodding at one of her henchmen. He signalled for the workers to get the last of the vibranium loaded so they could move out. Natalia felt uneasy at the silence from Shield. To reassure herself she left her post and made the rounds around the factory.

Clint perched on the catwalk, waiting for caps signal. He and Barnes were invisible to the workers below but both cringed at the captains head as he poked it out and looked around awkwardly. He raised his hand and Clint loosed an EMP arrow that short circuited the wiring and shut off the lights. He heard the tell tale thud of Steve's shield as it found its targets.

Natalia growled at the loss of light. Swearing in Russian, she stalked towards the mains electricity box. No doubt it was Barton behind this. She popped her joints in preparation for the inevitable fight that was coming as she sliced the arrow and disconnected the EMP. Light flooded the floor and exposed the three agents. She coughed to get their attention as they squinted and blinked.

They turned to face her, all the lackeys having been successfully taken down. She was unamused. Her arms were crossed and she was leaning against the rusted rail. "Well well well. Took you boys long enough."
"Romanoff, stand down you are hopelessly outnumbered." She quirked an eyebrow.
"Am I?" She swung herself over and dropped to the floor gracefully. "You only knew Natasha, what happens when you meet Natalia?" Bucky and Clint shifted uneasily whereas the captain just looked confused.
"You're the same person?"
"Oh no Rogers, we're very different."

She sprang forward and took out Barton's kneecaps. He folded to the floor and tried to shoot her but was met with the snapping of his bow. Steve hurtled his shield towards her but she nimbly dodged and proceeded to send a flurry of kicks and punches at his unprotected abdomen. She was pulled off by Bucky and thrown backwards. She slid across the floor and grinned.

Over the comms Maria's voice crackled to life. "Captain? Captain do you copy? I'm sending in Stark. " Natalia glared at the captains wheezing form before cracking Bucky across the face and lithely slipping between the ancient machinery and disappearing. Bucky turned his head to the side and spat out coppery blood. He tried to follow her but wasn't nearly as agile or as flexible as her. He growled as he lost her in the jungle of metal and shadows. He swiped a hand across his nose and glared at nothing in particular.

"This is Barnes, Romanoff has vacated the building." He checked an alert on his mission phone thingy. "It appears she's also stolen our jet. However we've secured the vibranium and a number of Hydra personnel. I'm sending you our coordinates now. Barnes over." He rolled Steve onto his front and helped him up. Barton was using his broken bow as a makeshift crutch and hobbled over.
"Well we sucked."
"Yeah," Bucky agreed. "That pretty much sums it up."

A/N I've had writers block. Enjoy this shitty thing. :)