A Complicated Web

Chapter Sixty Three: Message

It didn't take long for the alarms to start sounding and Kally was more than ready for it as she took up her metal batons and faced the door. The refrigerator had filled with dark smoke and she felt more than confident that any samples in there were thoroughly contaminated, and therefore useless. A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she saw shadows through the frosted glass of the window in the door.

Her muscles felt almost relaxed as she shifted her weight to balance more securely, her knees bouncing just a bit in anticipation. Part of her wondered if this was how it had felt when she'd automatically gone into fighter mode back at Stark Tower. Part of her said yes, the other wasn't so sure. It was still a relatively hazy memory, but that didn't matter. She was about to find out firsthand, in total control instead of being on autopilot.

The door handle jiggled. She'd managed to buy herself a bit of time by locking it from the inside. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to work with in the room. Nothing too great in the chemical department, at least not that she hadn't already used. She supposed she could throw a microscope or two, but that didn't seem all that great of a defense. So, instead, she'd filled her pockets with what medical implements she could find: scalpels, hemostats, and the like. If nothing else, they'd make great projectiles. And thanks to the outfit Loki had provided for her, she had a lot of pockets.

The bolts on the door jamb rattled as someone rammed into the door from the other side. This was getting interesting. How long would it take for them to break the door down? Or would it be more prudent to try and find a way back into the vent? Chances were good they'd figure out where she went either way, unless she could create a smoke bomb or other means to obscure the cameras. Or just take out the cameras. Kally found she liked that idea best.

Looking around, she saw a fire extinguisher, the kind that shot out a sort of pressurized powder. That would do nicely, she decided as she removed it from the wall. Now all she had to do was pinpoint all the cameras, move a few things so she could reach the vent again, and let the stuff fly.

Pinpointing the cameras wasn't hard. It was moving stuff so she could reach the vent that took some doing. The majority of the furniture in the room consisted of lab tables and chairs. But, after using one of the chairs to reach the cameras so she could knock them out, she managed to get a table in position near the wall in question. To that, she added several chairs. All the while, she could hear the shouts and poundings from outside as whoever was out there tried to get in. She also took the opportunity to push another table to block the door. Those things were solid and took more effort than she was used to using, but she didn't break a sweat, which was nice.

For good measure, Kally took a second fire extinguisher she found as well, putting the both of them inside the vent so she could have easy access to them. Then, as carefully as possible, she eased herself up into the air shaft. The procedure took more doing than she cared to admit, possibly since she'd already expounded a lot of energy rearranging the furniture. Several of the chairs fell to the ground, which was just as well. It made it a little more difficult for them to reach the vent.

Just as everything seemed to be going to plan, Kally felt a sharp stab of pain in her thigh. With a hint of impatience, she inched her hand down her leg and felt in the pocket there. One of the hemostats had jabbed through the skin and into her flesh when she'd turned. It was now jammed between her and the vent wall. It took some doing but she finally was able to pull the slightly bent metal out, leaving a trail of blood behind. From the looks of it, it had gone a good inch into her leg. There wasn't enough time to go back down and rummage in cupboards, hoping to find a bandage, so she decided it could wait until she was clear and able to move around more freely.