The Widow's Daughter ✔︎

Chapter Fifteen

Kellen and I used to watch these old spy movies when we were younger: stories about brave, beautiful undercover agents who would, using their powers of intelligence and seduction, trick the enemy operative into becoming on their team. Then they'd break into secure military compounds and recover whatever they needed - usually a bomb or something - and get out within a matter of minutes safe and sound and with the bad guys locked up or dead.

Unfortunately, real life isn't like that.

Natasha, Clint, Bruce and I stumbled up the steep peak of Mount Gestola, ice-cold wind tearing through our hair and our throats whenever we opened our mouths to speak. I shivered; the frozen gale whipping through my crimson-red locks, giving the slightly spooky illusion of blood in the snow. I peered through the snowstorm ahead to see the peak of the mountain half-illuminated by the sun, the other half shrouded in darkness and harsh steel walls. "There's the base!" I yelled, coughing as a gust of ice tore through my throat.

Bruce looked at me through his dark goggles. "We need to get to shelter!" he called.

That is exactly what we did. After about ten more minutes struggling through icy hell, we managed to find a small cave in the side of the mountain. The wind was whistling outside and pale, glassy stalactites made from ice hung from the mouth of the cave. Clint had made a fire and we were all huddled around it like little old women. About forty metres up was the hidden entrance to Ivan's base, which Tori had described. Natasha and Bruce were talking softly together in French and I was sitting in the corner, staring into the flickering flames of the fire, knowing that in but a few hours, I would be running for my life in the heart of Ivan's base, the place where I had lost everything, the place I hated with all my heart, to save the sister I once knew and a hundred girls I had forgotten.

"Hey, kid," said a familiar voice.

I turned around to see Clint sitting next to me, warming his hands by the fire. "Hi Clint," I said. "You okay?"

"The real question, Kira," sighed Clint, "is, 'are you okay?'"

I couldn't bring myself to say yes, so I just stared into the flames and whispered my answer. "No."

Clint smiled at me softly and took my hand, just like Natasha always did. "My daughter, Lila... she's about your age. When she was a little kid, she got bullied in elementary school. So, I pulled her out of that class and moved her to a different school. She was happy in her new school, and for awhile, everything was good." He sighed. "But, her brother still went to her original school, and every afternoon, she would have to go back, and face the kids who bullied her, and stand up to them to get her brother." He squeezed my hand tighter. "In a way, she's kinda like you."

"But, in my case, instead of bullies, there's undercover Russian operatives who torture and train girls to become killers," I said. "A bit of a difference."

"Not really," Clint said, and I looked up, shocked. "They're just bullies, Kira. Just super powerful, super horrible bullies who need to be taught a lesson. You gotta stand up to them, kid, and teach them that lesson yourself." 

I smiled at him. "Thanks, Clint."

"Anytime, kid," he said as he stared off into the dancing flames. "Anytime."

(I hoped there wouldn't be another time, to be honest, because rescuing your long-lost sister from highly-trained Russian assassins isn't something you want to do on a regular basis).

"OK, everyone," Natasha said firmly, looking at all of us in turn, "Banner and I have made a plan."

I frowned at her. "We already have a plan. Tori's plan."

Bruce shrugged. "Our plan comes from the same roots as Tori's, it's just a little bit... more complicated, we'll say."

Clint visibly gulped.

"So, we'll go into the base the way Tori described. We'll go down the mine shaft and cross the laser field and get into her dormitory. Once we get Tori, we'll split up into two teams: Kira and Clint will take the defensive - they'll get Tori and the girls out safely. Be prepared for resistance, guys: these are kids who are trained killers and, if they remember Kira at all, they'll probably try to..." Natasha made the head-cutting motion with her fingers. "...So be careful. Any girls who offer too much resistance going or try and kill you or try and tell Ivan or whatever, just knock them out with a sleep dart. Clint, you still have your stash?"

Clint grinned. "Obviously. What do you take me for, a savage?"

Bruce continued. "Nat and I will take the offensive, but only once all of the girls are out. We'll be the ones seeing to Ivan and making sure that neither he, nor any of his operatives, will ever harm anybody, ever again. We'll remove Ivan from the process and then ourselves but lock all the doors, then destroy the base. Using rapid combustion and excessive external pressure, it will burst and shatter violently."

"Huh?" Clint and I looked at Bruce weirdly.

Nat rolled her eyes. "It'll blow up."

"Ooooooohhhh."