Red Winter

Chapter Ten - Hesitate and You Die

And so they go in, the knife team composing of Clint, Sam, Bucky and Wanda, sneak into the mansion from the river at the back to retrieve the girls while the hammer team of Steve and Natasha draw out Anya's little army by kicking their way in through the front door.

"There's only two of them," one of the guards says arrogantly at the sight of Steve and Natasha making their way through the courtyard.

"Idiot!" another guard remarks. "That's Captain America, he's worth ten fighting men and that's Black Widow and she's not just a woman."

And so Steve and Natasha fight their way through the guards and into the mansion where they find Anya standing at the top of the staircase, waiting for them with her creepy curly smile. She's wearing her blue coat that seemed to mesmerize Natasha before.

"Hello, sister. Nice of you to bring a friend."

Natasha doesn't respond. She's too angry to play Anya's game.

"We're here for the girls. Let them go," Steve demands.

"Why bother, Captain? This is their home," Anya mockingly replies.

"No, it's not!" Natasha yells and runs up the stairs to Anya. 

Steve looks puzzled as Anya doesn't show any intention of running away from Natasha. Instead, she opens her arms, welcoming Natasha's fury. He's about to warn Natasha when a hoard of guards come attacking him all at the same time, some firing their guns, some flinging their fists at him.

Natasha goes for Anya, tackling her down on the floor. Anya falls backwards as Natasha stands looming over her. "Stop this, Anya. Just let us take them and I'll leave you alone." 

Instead of responding with another of her menacing sass, Anya stands up and lunges at Natasha with a blade in her hand. Natasha deflects it and throws a punch that sends Anya back pedaling against a wall. "You know you're no match to me," Natasha warns her.

"I know. But he is," Anya replies with a smile.

Natasha's brow furrowed as a big black shadow loom over both her and Anya. Anya runs out of the way as Natasha turns around to see a huge man tower over her. The man grabs her by the neck, choking her. Natasha tries to pry his grip from her neck but he's way too strong that he manages to lift her a couple of inches from the floor.

Steve sees Natasha and the man but he can't do anything because he's still dealing with five to six men at the same time, not to mention there are at least a dozen more surrounding him, waiting for their turn.

Natasha's lungs are screaming underneath her ribs as the man's humongous fingers cut out her air supply. Pooling her strength down on her legs, she kicks the giant man hard on the balls and the moment he leans over in pain, Natasha throws her knees at his chin, giving him some sort of an uppercut. Natasha feels his grip loosen and she immediately gulps for air. He comes for her again but this time, Natasha's prepared and she unleashes the Black Widow on him.

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Bucky watches with fascination as the two guards standing by the chain-link fence bordering the mansion from the river, obediently open the back gate to let them in. He turns to his side and sees Wanda doing her magic. As soon as they step in on the other side of the fence, he and Clint knock the two guards down unconscious and tie them to a post. They crouch as they walk across the backyard, from the fence towards the back door, ducking and hiding behind anything they can find to avoid the cameras. They wait for a few minutes until they hear gunshots from the other side of the mansion.

"That's it, that's our cue. They're in," Clint signals them and they all enter the back door. Once inside, they lie low for a bit as guards pass by near them. They retreat back into the shadows until the guards are gone. Bucky looks around and Sam senses his anxiety as rounds of gunshots continue echo in the other side of the mansion.