#bruisedwing

Steve had been airdropped to the suspected hostage site by way of Ms. Marvel and the Avengers jet. Between the two of them they felt the current location and one other warranted an investigation. The super soldier had too easy of a time getting close to what seemed to be an entrance to a condemned warehouse. Its entire exterior was a grim, slate gray with signs of rusting here and there, although in the dark it wasn’t the most obvious attribute. What Steve did notice upon entry was that the interior had once been gutted out and reconstructed into a dark, maze-like prison. He was forced to choose between a steely, forked path as he continued watching his back. His shield-wielding fist clenched around its sturdy strap as he took his time, listening and watching each optional hall The far left merely held green, dimly lit bulbs, every few yards until the hall took a sharp turn. The center corridor was almost identical but it seemed to have a much farther end to it. The final of the halls was where he’d come in from. He was preparing to choose the center hall and double-checked the team tracking device cuffed at his wrist before making his move, but a faint scuff of a shoe stopped him. He looked up to find himself confronted with three bodies with muscular builds donning traditional Hydra soldier garb. The frontmost of the three advanced while the two flanking him brandished weapons; although they were quick to draw them, Captain America showed them exactly why he was also known as ‘The Super Soldier’. His gloved fist connected with the frontmost man, followed quickly by an unforgiving swing of his vibranium shield. He used the same shield to rid the other two of their weapons and quickly subdued them, fisticuffs. A sliding door revealed itself down the same hall where more masked and uniformed Hydra loyals poured out. Huffing one sigh, he muttered, “Didn’t wanna make this easy, huh?” Steve muttered in between another swing of his shield. The increasing numbers only further confirmed his and Carol’s suspicions--hostages were being held here and if he wasn’t quick, he might miss his opportunity to get them to safety.

Piotr rolled his eyes and looked up at the Hydra agent that was pacing in front of he and Nadia. “Hey! HEYYYY!!! I know you can hearr me. Jesus.” His patience was being tested and when he looked over to Nadia, Piotr frowned slightly. “Come on, girrlie. Vake up!” The girl he had been able to identify as Nadia Lee, the same person he had been speaking to online over knitting and her sister, was completely knocked out. “Hey! Listen! I have deal. Let the girrl go. Let the girrl go and I vill do anything you vant. She does not look vell!” When the Hydra agent chose to ignore him, Piotr sneered. “Vat do you vant frrom us? Ve have no money. Ve have nothing to offerr you. Let herr go! Come on! Vat is yourr name? Talk to old Piotr.” The agent had a migraine. He was sick and tired of the barking Russian with the annoying accent. “Jesus Fucking Christ does this dude ever shut up?” he mumbled to himself. He had already caught onto Piotr’s tactics and he was having none of it. As an ex-marine, this particular agent could take just about any amount of torture. Would he let the blonde go? No. Did she look sick? Maybe. Did he care? Definitely not. “None of your business, that’s what my name is. If you don’t shut up, I’ll make sure your little friend goes first. That way, you can watch it all in high definition before I take you out myself.” “Vell, None of yourr business, I think you forrget I’m about twice yourr size. I vould like to see you trry.” The agent was about to rebuttal when he heard some commotion through his intercom. “Could you repeat that?” he spoke into it and waited.

Nadia began hearing sounds, first as though she was underwater, then more clearly. She knew that if she opened her eyes, she would be able to see, but she waited, listening to the conversation while trying to keep herself grounded. She hurt---keeping her healing occupied was the only way to keep her out for long---but that wasn’t what frightened her. It was the knowledge that, by the sounds of it, she was a captive once more. At last she blinked open her blue eyes, taking in the surroundings. Piotr Rasputin---that was who had been speaking with the guard she still couldn’t identify. “I’ll be just fine,” she muttered in Russian, partly because it was the first language that came up after hearing Piotr’s accent, and partly in hopes that the guard wouldn’t understand. “What is going on?”

Piotr watched the Hydra agent suspiciously and was interrupted by Nadia finally coming too. He was happy that she was up and when she spoke in Russian, his eyes widened a significant amount. “You speak Russian? This is great. That idiot doesn’t understand it. Trust me. I’ve already called him numerous, questionable names. Are you okay? Well, I was off getting coffee at the bodega when I heard screams. It was you and I rushed out to see if there was something I could do and then next thing I know, I’m in the back of a van with you. Took five of these assholes to bring me down though.” He grinned at the memory. “They knocked you out but kept me conscious. Bad mistake on their part because I know I’ve been driving them up the wall the whole way here. Purposely of course. Something is happening because this guy over here doesn’t even notice you’re awake yet.”

Nadia nodded. “Rusty but passable, I hope.” In other circumstances, his comment about the name calling would have elicited at least a smile, but today there was no trace of one. A part of her brain was turned off---she couldn’t let herself feel what was happening, to think about what could happen, or to worry about anyone else. She would fall apart. Survival was priority. A bitter laugh escaped her; after years of effort to become Nadia, her mind had slipped back to De-12 so easily. “They knew what to do to knock me out, or made a very lucky guess. Yes, I’m fine, nearly healed.” She looked over to the guard, and since he hadn’t noticed she was awake anyway, sat up and stretched. “Hmm. Whatever is happening, hopefully it’s something we can make an opportunity from.”

Piotr kept an eye on the guard as Nadia spoke. He wasn’t ignoring her. He just wanted to make sure the guy didn’t turn around to keep his word about hurting her. She was just a kid after all. He kept on in Russian “No. It wasn’t a lucky guess. They know to use more men on me. They know to knock you out. They know.” He had to think quickly and the more he thought about how they ended up here, the angrier he became. “They’re not going to like me when I’m mad, Illyana…” He paused a moment and shook his head. “I mean...I….we need to act fast. Don’t worry. I will get you out of here. They were stupid enough to leave us with one guy.” He laughed dryly. “This guy is as good as gone. Just follow my directions. When he stops talking into his com, I’m going to strike. Are you well enough to run? I won’t be too far back. I only need a few minutes with him but you need a head start.” Finally tearing his gaze away from the agent, Piotr looked over to the girl that reminded him so much of his sister; blonde, blue eyed, young. He hadto protect her. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

Nadia nodded in agreement that it was not luck or coincidence and pretended she didn’t hear him call her a different name. Nadia and Illyana were both common enough Russian names, so it was entirely possible that he just forgot, but the way he stuttered afterwards made her think it might have been something else. She made note to remember in case it was relevant later, but there were more pressing things on her mind. “Nor I. I’m not worried; I’ve survived against worse odds, but thank you.” She wasn’t about to agree to follow his directions, though. “Yes I am, but why do you think I need a head start? And what makes you believe this is the only one? It would make no sense, given what they know about us.” The metallic lines on her body shifted, thinning in some places and thickening at her forearms, where she formed a curved blade extending a half foot past her fist on both arms, intending to be prepared for anything. “Yes, I’m sure,” she reiterated---at least she was physically.

Piotr admired the young girl’s bravery. Headstrong just like his sister. “Not worried?” He smirked. “Alright, alright. I believe you. I’m sorry... you remind me so much of my sister.” He had to get that out there. “And I know you want to see yours. Jubilation is lovely and I have had the pleasure of meeting her. I want to make sure you two see each other again but I do believe you when you say you have survived worse odds. I can see it in your eyes.” He took a deep breath before answering her question “I just wanted to make sure you get out of here. Even if I don’t. You need to go. You have a family waiting for you.” He looked up at the Hydra agent and frowned. “I don’t think he’s the only one. Like I said, I was attacked by many. But I think he’s the only here and you seem very bright, Nadia. You can get yourself out of here.” Piotr watched Nadia and nodded. “Okay.” Thankfully, they hadn’t picked up on his problems with vibranium. That would have been a problem. Standing up slowly, he stood behind the agent and tapped his shoulder. “None of yourr business? I have question; Vhy don’t ve play things my vay, eh?” Before the man could turn around, Piotr reached for the gun in his holster and held it up. “Tsk tsk. Verry irresponsible. Vat do you think Nadia? Should he go? Should he stay?” He didn’t point the gun at the agent and simply unloaded it, dropping the ammo to the floor before tossing it to the side. He wouldn’t need it anyway. The agent, completely startled by what was happening, held his hands up in surrender. “Let’s not be harsh, Piotr. That’s your name isn’t it?” “Oh! Now you carre about names? Sorry. Patience is overr.” He looked over to Nadia and nodded before tackling the man to the floor easily and reaching for the keys in his pocket. Piotr tossed them to Nadia and then looked down at the agent with a grin. “Dis vill be so much fun!”

“Ah,”Nadia said when Piotr mentioned his sister. That could definitely explain the earlier name switch. “We will see each other again. I’m very hard to kill.” She smiled sadly, knowing he wasn’t the first---nor would he be the last---to see hints of her past in her eyes. “I will get out of here---and so will you!” she said indignantly. “I’m not just going to run; I don’t take orders anymore.” It was a little more than she meant to say, so she continued on as though it hadn’t happened. “Well I’m glad you realize that, and yes, I am bright, but---” Nadia watched him stand and tap the agent’s shoulder. She sighed and prepared herself for whatever would happen next. She caught the keys and ran to the door, unlocking it as quickly as she could and looking back to see what Piotr was doing. She decided that if he didn’t hurry up and knock the agent out completely, she would be slashing his throat in short order, because they didn’t have time to wait for the other agents to notice their escape attempt. “Hurry!”

This was probably too easy and Piotr was starting to realize that. When he heard the door unlock, he simply punched the agent in the jaw, knocking him out instantly. He would have loved some more time in the ring so to speak but Nadia’s rush was probably for the best. They didn’t have time and if their suspicions of there being more agents was true, they had to act fast. Piotr stood up and stood beside Nadia noticing the short supply of agents. Where were they? Perhaps it had something to do with whatever Agent asshole was trying to figure out. Still in Russian, he looked over to Nadia “I have no idea how to get out of here. I was blindfolded so I can’t even begin to tell you where the exit is.” He looked around and spotted a door. Piotr pointed to it “It’s worth a try.” There was no other way out and he took the chance, walking beside the young girl and once he reached the door, Piotr turned the knob slowly. Almost immediately after, an alarm went off and he cursed himself before looking back at Nadia to apologize. “Let’s go!” He ran as fast as he could with no actual destination in mind. He just knew they had to get out of this maze. After a few minutes of running, Piotr heard some voices and ran a hand over his face. It was now or never. Within seconds, his whole body turned into steel and once he was in his armored state, Piotr stood almost a whole foot taller and was now twice his own body weight. “So...I have secrret.” He finally spoke in English once more but before he could say anything else, Nadia and Piotr were surrounded.

Nadia was relieved to hear the sound that told her the agent was now unconscious. She visibly cringed at the word ‘blindfold’ but nodded in acknowledgment. Getting out would be a guessing game, but she reminded herself it wouldn’t be the first time she successfully escaped a building without the vaguest idea of where she was. It was possible, albeit unlikely. Again she nodded, finding silence more comfortable as they approached the next door. Her heart rate spiked as the alarm went off and she struggled to keep her breathing somewhat even in the face of the urge to panic. She ran, not quite able to keep up with Piotr’s longer strides, but caught up as he stopped, and to her surprise, transformed into a metal colossus. “Nice,” she muttered in English. Nadia took a fraction of a second to take in the agents surrounding them, then launched into an attack. The moment before the blade extended from her right forearm would have made contact with an agent’s neck, she remembered her training---not from the facility she grew up in, but from the Xavier Institute---and swung with her left fist instead for a non-lethal blow. The second of hesitation gave the man time to fire his weapon, hitting her in the side. Now more angry than before, she continued her attack, ignoring the blood spilling from the already healing wound.

Piotrthought about his training in Danger Room during his time at Xavier’s. Think quickly, Piotr. He saw Nadia zoomed past him and attack one of the agents. Whoa. She was right. He walked through the group of agents, waving his arms in different directions to push them to the side. When Nadia was shot, Piotr stopped what he was doing and he felt the anger rise within him. “Hey!” This time, he grabbed hold of an agent by the throat and picked him up. “Now. You hearr me. Let us thrrough or I vill take carre of this man.” He kept his grip and it made the others stop and stare. Not in the mood to negotiate, the other agents began firing their weapons at Piotr. The bullets bounced off his armor and he looked over to the man he was holding up. “You made terrible mistake.” Piotr wasn’t a killer and he tossed the agent to the floor and then walked forward. “Yourr fighting is futile!” And he scooped up Nadia into his arms bridal style to run as fast as his legs could carry him.

Nadia heard Piotr’s threat and had no reason to believe he was bluffing. The bullets bounced off of him and she tried without success to avoid being hit by any of them---her fury towards her captors continued to rise---and she was surprised when he tossed the agent down, but it paled in comparison to the surprise she felt when Piotr scooped her up. Nadia screamed. “What are you doing?! Put me down!” Out of instinct, she struggled and slashed at him as he ran, but her veins had no affect on his metal exterior, and although he was extremely fit, Piotr had a lot more muscle. Waking up in captivity, fleeing, fighting, getting shot...through all of it, she kept it together. All of it had been painfully familiar, but not enough so to break her down, so it was perhaps unexpected that it was that moment tears began to stream down her face. Despite Piotr’s noble intentions, the feeling of fighting against someone with no effect was more painful than the bullets. “Please!”

Piotr took deep breaths as he looked around for a place to hide until he came up with a plan. Until they came up with a plan. It wasn’t until he spotted a vent that he felt Nadia fighting against him. To his confusion, the girl was now crying and they weren’t exactly happy tears. He didn’t understand but he knew it had something to do with him carrying her so when he noticed that she was uncomfortable and unhappy with him, he put her back on her feet. Illyana kept her distance after he saved her from the tractor. Somehow, this was bringing back those memories and Piotr took a step back, retracting his organic steel to turn into his human self again. “Nadia...I…” He spoken in Russian, his features softening and he kept a safe distance. “Are you okay? We’re safe. I am so sorry if I made you feel otherwise.” Maybe it was too much for her. Maybe she saw him as a monster like Illyana once did. Maybe it was the pain from her injury which he wished he could just take a look at. “There is a vent there. Right behind you. We can hide in there. Until we no longer hear those agents.” He cringed when he heard the combat boots once more. “I don’t want to attract any more of them. Please? Once they’re all out of the way, we’re going to get out of here together, okay? Please do not cry.” He stepped to the side and pointed to the vent so she knew he was only going towards her to open it up. When he was sure Nadia had realized his intentions weren’t bad, Piotr knelt down and pulled the screen from the vent. “Do you trust me, Nadia?” Piotr held out his hand for the girl, keeping his nerves in check but his ears perked.

As soon as he set her down, Nadia backed up until she hit the wall. Even as the organic steel disappeared, she trembled. She tried to answer Piotr, but no sound came out of her mouth for several seconds. “Yes, I’m okay,” she replied, although she knew that with a hole in her---albeit a quickly closing one---he was unlikely to believe the words. Unable to make eye contact, her gaze remained on her feet. “Please don’t do that again.” Nadia sniffled and tried to stop the tears as he asked. “I trailed blood,” she said, “They’ll probably guess where we are. I should just fight them. I can take care of it.” She looked from Piotr, to the vent screen he held, to his outstretched hand and shook her head timidly, lips pressed together. She trusted very few people, and Piotr Rasputin was not yet one of them.

Piotr kept his patience. He was always a patient man. “Alright. I won’t do that again.” He looked down at the floor and did in fact spot the blood that Nadia was trailing and it only made him worry more about her. They had to get out. They had to get out now. Her tears made him feel useless as if he had no solution for their current predicament. Slowly rising up again, he nodded once. “That is completely fine.” She didn’t have to trust him but he needed to get her out. Leaving the screen to the side, he rubbed his chin before pinching the bridge of his nose. Where would they go? And the only thing that came to mind was to hide behind the wall before turning a corner and hope the incoming agents wouldn’t try anything. If they did, if they found them, he’d beg for her to wait until he took care of them. She was already hurt and even though he admired her bravery and she was just as stubborn as his baby sister, Piotr couldn’t stand it if Nadia became a casualty of whatever the hell any of this was. Not knowing what else to say or how to word it, he stepped back and pointed towards the wall so that she could understand that they’d have to hide for now. “We’ll have to be quiet.” He removed his hoodie and handed it to her. “Put pressure on that wound.” And when he heard the boots again, Piotr rushed beside her to hide, holding in his breath and feeling nervous mostly for the young woman. She had a family. She needed to get back. Hopefully Julian wouldn’t hate him for this. And right when he was about to jump out to attack the three agents, he stopped when he saw them go inside the vent he had initially thought of hiding in. Seizing the opportunity, Piotr swiftly grabbed the screen he had left to the side and placed it back on the vent. “Let’s go, Nadia!” They only had a few minutes before the agents figured out what had just happened and he kept running through the maze they were in, turning corners in hopes they’d find an exit. He looked over his shoulder to make sure the young woman was alright. He turned around to ask her when someone bumped into him. Without thinking, Piotr was ready to turn back into his armored state and combat again but to his surprise, when he turned around, the man before him was no Hydra agent and he let out a sigh of relief. “M frriend. She needs help.”

The corners of Nadia’s lips twitched into a nearly imperceptible smile of gratitude. She watched him look at the drops of blood and it turned to a grimace. “Sorry,” she muttered, slipping back into the habit of unnecessary apologies and guilt, in this case for getting shot, that second of delay consuming most of her mind. “I can handle them, really,” she said, although she doubted anything was going to convince him now that she knew he thought of his sister when he looked at her. What if it was Jubilee trying to convince her that she could go fight HYDRA? With that in mind, she followed his lead, accepting the hoodie and hiding spot. “It’s practically healed,” she whispered stubbornly, although she applied pressure anyway. Nadia had to refrain from laughing at the agents closed in the vent as they ran away, struggling to keep up with Piotr, but not lagging too dangerously far behind. One turn behind, she heard him run into someone before she saw it, and had her veins transformed into claws and ready to strike by the time she saw who it was. Thankfully, Piotr’s large frame was between her and the Avenger, and she paused before any harm could be attempted. She blinked several times, looking back between Captain America, Piotr, and the hall behind her for signs of their pursuers. After a few more blinks, the situation sank in and she let out a huff directed at Piotr. “I do not!”

The number of Hydra soldiers for the size of what was perceived to be a condemned warehouse on its outside, hadn't quite overwhelmed Steve yet but he was growing a little tired of them pouring out of the halls; it was getting him nowhere for seemingly the longest time. Eventually, he bested the barrage and made progress down the hall, stamping an item from his cuffs along the walls every so often. He encountered another few agents but quickly dispatched them with some strong dropkicks and a fierce throw of his shield not unlike a boomerang. With the right timing and a raise of his fist, the vibranium device returned to him and he continued on, listening and moving with both caution and haste. Someone or multiple someone's who weren't affiliated with Hydra were being held here--he and the rest of the team were certain of it. In his search, he had stopped inside a now abandoned room that looked like a makeshift office. A desk and a few chairs were spread about it with manila folders and a tablet left on the desk but he could barely make anything out in the darkness of the space. It wanting to activate his Stark-made exit strategy yet, he reached for his side pocket and produced one of Bruce's ideas--although not original in concept--a miniature flashlight. For a moment, he flipped through a couple of the folders and skimmed dossiers on what he assumed were hostages being held--one name sounding of Eastern European origins while the other name held no clues for origins as a whole but both shared a common past--The Xavier Institute. He couldn't get past the passcode on the tablet but took it for Stark to decipher later. After shutting off his light and storing the findings in a bag between his back and where his shield normally hung, he left the room. Just as he was about to take another hall, however, he had come face to face just a few inches taller than himself with a similar build to himself and Thor--something the super soldier had yet to see before. He hesitated, putting his guard up with the initial thought that this might be a Hydra test subject but whether or not they were friend or foe, he couldn't be sure. Upon hearing the thick Russian accent leave the tall man's mouth, although his guard remained up, Steve's brows furrowed while he attempted to quickly glance past the man in the dark hall for whoever it was that needed help. He opened his mouth to ask the man to move but soon heard another voice argue a need for help. Stepping out of his readied stance, he asked, "Are you two hostages and are there more of you being held here?"

Piotr shook his head at Nadia’s response. Of course. Stubborn. He turned around to check on Nadia once more and noticed her wound now healed. Amazing. “Therre--” Piotr turned around to face Captain America. “Therre arre morre. I do not know how many.” He held out his hand towards the super hero. “My name is Piotrr Rasputin at yourr serrvice. Thank you verry much.” He felt relief knowing he and Nadia were going home. “Let us know if we can help in any way.”