Fangs of the HYDRA - Marvel: Earth-USB Saga (Part 31)
Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2026 4:18 am
Hi, all. Here's the latest chapter of the Marvel saga. Apologies for the delay; I'll try to have the next one posted a little faster.
Character references, when applicable, can be found in the second post.
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Natasha surveyed the scene, an impassive look on her face.
Barely an hour ago, the warehouse she was wandering through had been the site of an attack – an efficient and methodical attack, by the looks of it. She walked carefully down the hall, checking the various rooms in the secret basement beneath the ordinary-looking structure.
The warehouse was the hideout of a minor criminal organization called Black Spectre. Natasha had not heard of them before, recalling no mention of them in SHIELD’s record files. Somehow, though, they had apparently gotten their hands on the Chaos Cube – only to now see it stolen from them in turn.
Whoever had orchestrated the attack on Black Spectre had done a good job. At least a dozen agents in the organization were unconscious, and some looked in quite bad shape. They had been shot – not with bullets, but with poison-tipped darts. The poison had not yet killed anyone, although the victims would have a long road to recovery.
Natasha picked up one of the fallen darts and examined it. It was dark green in color. Her eyes narrowed.
“Hey, ‘Tash…” Kate jogged up to her. “You’d better come see this.”
Since escaping from the AIM hideout, Natasha and Kate had used the info they had sent to SHIELD – and, unwittingly, to an enemy mole within SHIELD – to track the location of the Cube. The precise location was difficult to pinpoint, but reports of explosions and gunfire in the vicinity of the warehouse had narrowed the search quickly.
Natasha followed Kate to a closet situated in a side hallway. Kate opened the door, allowing Natasha to peer inside.
Lying on the floor of the closet were two women, both unconscious. They were tall and of athletic build, one a light-skinned woman with a short blonde ponytail, the other a dark-skinned woman with bowl-cut black hair. Both were bound and gagged with silver duct tape.
The most important factor of these women, however, was their underwear. As a master infiltrator, Natasha rarely paid heed to the undergarments of the women she mugged, considering it an irrelevant detail in her quest to obtain a disguise. But the underwear of these two women was peculiar… and familiar. Green sports bras and boyshorts with black lining, with each bra cup emblazoned with the logo of a skull and several tentacles.
Natasha’s eyes narrowed. “HYDRA.”
“What does this mean?” Kate asked.
“Two things,” Natasha replied. “One, HYDRA is now in possession of the Chaos Cube. Two, a pair of outsiders – likely women – have infiltrated their ranks.”
“Yelena?”
“She would probably be one of them.” Natasha eyed the silver duct tape. “And this binding material looks remarkably similar to the sort used by Silvija Sablinova.”
“Yelena… teaming up with Silver Sable?” Kate raised an eyebrow.
“There have been stranger partnerships,” Natasha responded.
“So how do we track them down? Does SHIELD or the Avengers database know where HYDRA’s location is?”
“Unfortunately, HYDRA changes its base of operations quite frequently,” Natasha answered. “But if my hunch is correct… we may be able to track down Silver Sable – and through her, HYDRA, Yelena, and the Cube.”
“How so?”
“With any luck, Silver Sable Security has ways of keeping tabs on their boss,” Natasha answered.
Kate understood. “Scorpia! She’s our lead.”
Earlier that evening, Kate and Natasha had watched as Elaine Coll, the supervillain-on-probation known as Scorpia, had been loaded into an ambulance with a police escort.
“Elaine should be able to track down her boss,” Natasha nodded. “Once we know Sable’s location, everything else should fall into place.”
“Except… Elaine’s fast asleep, isn’t she?” Kate remembered. “Yelena hit her with five knockout darts. She won’t wake up until tomorrow at the earliest.”
“Indeed.” Natasha thought for a moment. “But we should be able to get the information from Claire Acosta.”
“Who?”
“Silver Sable’s second-in-command. I believe we spotted her as Elaine was being loaded into the ambulance.”
Kate nodded, remembering the woman with the auburn ponytail who had been yelling at the police in Scorpia’s defense. “Oh yeah… her girlfriend, wasn’t it?”
“If they are indeed lovers, I expect Claire will not leave her side,” Natasha nodded. “Let’s track them down. And we need to move quickly – every second that HYDRA has the Chaos Cube is a second that puts millions of innocent lives in danger.”
*****************
Claire Acosta was furious.
She had tried explaining to the police and the SHIELD officers at Avengers Campus – explain that Elaine was on parole and that she was on the hunt for Yelena Belova, a known fugitive.
But it had been no use. Yelena had escaped and Elaine was deeply unconscious, sleeping off the effects of multiple knockout darts. Claire had threatened to call her lawyer, but the SHIELD agents had ignored her. They recognized Elaine as Scorpia, a notorious supervillain, from their data files, and simply decided to take her into custody.
Now Elaine was asleep in a bed at a secure Manhattan hospital, surrounded by SHIELD security. Once she woke up, she would be interrogated, then likely sent back to prison for violating her parole and re-donning the Scorpia costume.
Claire scowled at the thought as she tightly gripped the steering wheel of her car. They can’t do this!
Sure, Elaine wasn’t perfect, and could be downright annoying at times. But she had done nothing illegal that night. All she did was put on her costume.
Her… rather alluring costume.
Yes, though Claire hated to admit it, she found Elaine to be quite lovely in her form-fitting Scorpia outfit. She had always loved the sight of a woman in a skintight bodysuit, and Elaine’s curvy figure in particular took her breath away.
Elaine’s personality, however, was a different story – since the scorpion-themed mercenary had started working for Silver Sable Security, she and Claire had clashed and bickered on several occasions. It was only once Claire learned about Elaine’s physical attraction towards her – particularly her shapely posterior – that she had begun to look past the woman’s verbal stings.
One thing led to another, and eventually the two mercenaries had grown quite intimate. Even as Claire continued to find Elaine’s personality to be quite obnoxious, she had to grudgingly admit the woman knew how to show her a good time. An embarrassing moment some weeks back when Silver Sable had discovered them together in a closet had not deterred the two women from finding the time to satisfy their urges with each other every now and then.
So Claire could not let SHIELD take Elaine away from her. She needed to get her out. And she could not wait for the justice system to slowly turn things around.
She needed to act now.
She pressed her foot to the gas as she headed for the hospital.
*******************
Alisande Morales was having a quiet night on duty.
The SHIELD agent had been assigned to watch over Elaine Coll at the hospital. It had proven to be quite a boring assignment. Despite several hours passing since Elaine had been loaded into the ambulance, the woman known as Scorpia was still fast asleep.
It was after midnight now, and Alisande needed a drink.
A tall, fit Latina woman, Alisande Morales had tanned skin, brown eyes, and shoulder-length black hair. She wore the typical uniform of SHIELD field agents: a black one-piece jumpsuit that zippered up to her neck, grey shoulder pads, grey gloves, grey metal bracelets, and matching calf-length protective armored boots. An equipment belt was strapped around her waist, sporting several pouches and a holster for her gun.
A SHIELD agent for a little over five years, Alisande typically worked the day shift, but she was always ready to fill in at nights. To her mind, super-heroism ran in the family – her cousin Miles was secretly one of the masked heroes known as Spider-Man, although few people outside of SHIELD’s intel community (which kept tabs on all superheroes around New York) knew that.
Alisande stepped into the lobby, which at this hour was quite empty. SHIELD had relocated most of the other patients to other hospitals, for their own safety. The on-call nurse at the front desk had dozed off.
Alisande approached the soda machine and surveyed the options on display. Did she want a fizzy drink? An energy drink? These were complicated decisions…
So focused was she on the soda machine that she did not hear the hospital doors down the hall quietly slide open.
Claire kept quiet as she slipped into the hospital. She peeked around the first corner and saw the female SHIELD agent standing by the soda machine.
Well, hello, darling…
Her heart immediately began to race. There was no question that, even from the back, this SHIELD agent looked quite fetching in her skintight jumpsuit.
Still, Claire forced herself to focus. She was here to find Elaine. Her own libido could wait for the moment.
She noticed a fire extinguisher hanging on the nearby wall, and smiled. Just what I need…
She approached the SHIELD agent from behind quietly, extinguisher in hand. Alisande still had not made up her mind about which drink she wanted.
“Maybe I’ll just get a Punch,” she said out loud.
Claire couldn’t resist letting such a good setup line pass. “If you insist.”
Alisande turned in surprise. “Wha—oouugghh!”
She briefly saw stars as the extinguisher connected with the side of her head. Then her world went black, and she slid to the floor.
Claire glanced around, and saw that the night nurse was still asleep. Whew!
She glanced down at the unconscious SHIELD agent.
She remembered how, at the Hutton Brickyards gala a few weeks ago, she had been ambushed by a woman in disguise as Scorpia. She had woken up stashed inside a crate along with three of her fellow mercenaries, all bound and gagged and stripped to their underwear.
Hopefully, you’ll be more comfortable than I was, she mused.
Bending down, Claire grabbed Alisande’s underarms and dragged her into a nearby changing room.
The room was empty, luckily. Claire shut the door, then wasted no time in relieving the slumbering SHIELD agent of her gloves, boots, and belt. She unzipped the woman’s jumpsuit and eased it off her. Beneath the SHIELD uniform, Alisande wore a pink camisole top and vanilla-white panties.
Claire searched some nearby lockers and found some grey duct tape. She taped up Alisande’s wrists and ankles, then smoothed a strip over her mouth. With some effort, she left the agent inside one of the lockers, which was just tall and wide enough to accommodate a woman of her size.
Claire changed out of her regular clothes and into the SHIELD uniform. She zipped up the jumpsuit, pulled on the gloves and boots, and snapped the belt and holster around her waist.
She caught a glance of herself in the changing room’s floor-length mirror, and struck a pose.
She had to admit, she looked good in this outfit.
I wonder if Elaine will like it… Claire grinned at the thought. I have a feeling I’ll be keeping this uniform.
Then she headed off to find Scorpia.
******************
The Quadcopter touched down just outside the looming HYDRA base, deep in the mountains. A rocky outcropping cleverly concealed the entranceway.
“Get a move on!” the mission leader commanded as the HYDRA troops filed out of the aircraft. “Get inside and return to your quarters. I’ll get the Cube to the labs!”
The troops hurried to comply, filing into the entranceway.
Two women in standard green snake-themed uniforms brought up the rear.
“We’re inside,” Silver Sable whispered as they stepped down the sleek metal corridor.
“Thanks for the observation,” Yelena replied dryly. “I can see how you became a team leader.”
Silvija frowned. “Stop getting snippy. This isn’t a game. One false move, and these HYDRA thugs will shoot us where we stand.”
Yelena rolled her eyes. “I won’t give them the chance. I’m the Black Widow, remember? These people don’t scare me.”
“Regardless,” Silvija said briskly, “we should retrieve the Chaos Cube fast. That man who said he was transferring it to the labs… where did he go?” She glanced around, looking for their target.
“Just a wild guess, but he probably went to the labs,” Yelena replied.
Silvija fixed her with a glare – although with her mask on, it was difficult for anyone to make out her eyes.
“Then let’s get to the labs. Come on!”
They broke away from the other HYDRA troopers, who were too preoccupied with preparing for a rest in their quarters to notice the two women disappear from their group and hurry down a side hallway.
“These disguises won’t be of use to use much longer,” Silvija observed. “They probably won’t allow low-level soldiers into the laboratories.”
As if on cue, a voice called out behind them. “Where do you two think you’re going?”
Silvija and Yelena froze, then slowly turned.
A woman stood behind them, a frown on her face. She had light skin, shoulder-length blonde hair, and a voluptuous figure that she clearly wasn’t shy about showing off. She wore a light green uniform dress with a low-cut V-neck and a short skirt, with the letter “H” decoratively written over it in yellow, as well as short light green boots. A brown equipment belt was strapped to her trim waist, and large round glasses adorned her eyes.
“I asked you a question,” the woman demanded.
Silvija adopted her best attempt at a polite tone. “Sorry, we seem to have gotten lost. You are…?”
“Dr. Betty Swanson, microbiologist at HYDRA,” the woman replied proudly. “Formerly an AIM scientist, but I switched allegiances once I realized HYDRA had more ambition.”
Yelena rolled her eyes behind her mask.
“But enough about me,” Dr. Betty said seriously. “You two should not be roaming the halls unsupervised. Do I have to report you to Madame Hydra?”
“That won’t be necessary,” Silvija replied, keeping her gaze fixed on Betty as she made a discreet gesture to Yelena.
Yelena understood and, wordlessly, began inching her way more closely to Betty.
“We just got a bit lost,” Silvija explained. “If you’ll point us in the direction of our quarters, we’ll be on our way.”
“Your quarters should be in that direction.” Betty turned to point down the main hall. In doing so, she exposed a vulnerable spot on the side of her neck.
“Now hurry up, or I’m going straight to your section leader – urgh!”
She froze in sudden confusion, as Yelena’s neck chop hit home.
“The only place you’re going is dreamland, babe,” Yelena grinned.
The next moment, Betty fell right into Sable’s arms. She was out like a light.
“That was easy enough,” Sable nodded. “Looks like these HYDRA scientists are easy pickings.”
Yelena felt vaguely insulted at the dismissive way Silvija had downplayed what was – in her own opinion – a solid knockout. But she didn’t let it show.
“So I assume one of us will need to wear her uniform,” she observed as Sable dragged the sleeping Betty to a nearby storeroom.
“You’ll wear it,” Sable replied. “You resemble her more closely, with your short blonde hair – and with those glasses, no one will be able to tell the difference. Your cleavage is a little too small for the uniform, but hopefully the fabric is adjustable.”
Yelena frowned. “My cleavage can do just fine, thank you.”
It took a bit of effort to separate Betty from her uniform, and somewhat less effort for Yelena to slip it on.
As she secured the belt around her waist, Silver Sable used some of her remaining silver duct tape to bind and gag the real Betty. The slumbering scientist, stripped to a yellow tanga bra and light green briefs, didn’t make a sound.
“I assume you’ll want a disguise, too?” Yelena asked as Sable slid Betty inside a brown packing crate.
“Of course. Preferably something that shows a bit less skin...”
*****************
It took about ten minutes for them to find a target that Silver Sable was satisfied with.
The woman was tall and athletically built, with light skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair that she had tied back into a ponytail. One of her strands of hair was dyed pink, and hung over the right side of her face as a sort of signature look. She wore a white shirt beneath a black vest and black pants, but a red cape draped over her shoulders obscured much of her figure. Still, as she walked it became clear that she sported white gloves with red gauntlets, red shoulder pads, as well as matching calve-length red boots and kneepads. A brown belt with pouches was clasped to her waist, and a holster was strapped to her thigh. A glass visor, held in place by a metal construct, obscured most of her face.
Watching her from a crack in the closet door, Yelena gave a low whistle. “Now that’s a heck of a uniform.”
“A valuable one, no doubt,” Sable nodded. “And with a valuable uniform comes increased access and freedom of movement. On top of that, she looks to be just about my size – and that visor over her face will obscure my identity. Come on, let’s mug her.”
Yelena rolled her eyes. “I still think we could have jumped that brunette in the lab coat who was standing outside the tech room… Would’ve saved some time.”
“I told you, she was too short for me to convincingly wear her clothes,” Sable replied, irritated. “Now enough prattle. Wait here.”
The elegantly dressed HYDRA woman had reached an elevator. She lifted her visor to better see the security keypad on the side of the door.
Silver Sable saw her chance. She crept stealthily up behind the woman, then leaped at her, closing the gap in an instant. She covered the woman’s mouth with one hand, then held a small, sharp object to the woman’s neck, just above the metal harness, with the other. It was a chai – a three-pronged, crescent-shaped silver blade that functioned as one of her signature weapons.
“Don’t move a muscle,” Sable whispered. “All I need is a slight motion to open your jugular. I see that,” she added, noting immediately that the woman was reaching for her holster. “Don’t try any tricks, I’m a professional.”
The woman scowled, but kept still.
“Good girl.” Sable removed her hand from the woman’s mouth, but kept the blade an inch from her throat.
“Now turn around and walk towards that closet.”
“I don’t know who you are,” the blonde replied. “But I hope you know that you’ll never leave this building alive. You signed your death warrant the moment you set foot into HYDRA territory…”
“Save the lectures and move.” Sable gave the blonde a slight push to start her walking. The woman tensed, but obeyed.
Once they had entered the closet, Yelena shut the door.
“What’s the passcode to enter the labs?” Sable demanded, not moving the weapon from the woman’s neck.
The blonde grit her teeth. “This is useless. You and your friend are as good as dead…”
“And what do you think you’ll be if you don’t answer me?” Sable tightened her grip on the woman’s arm.
The blonde tensed again, feeling the sharpness of the blade brush against her neck. “…4-6-8-3.”
“Much appreciated.”
Sable struck the back of the woman’s neck with the metal base of the chai. The blonde grunted and fell unconscious to the floor.
Yelena nodded, impressed. “Nice work. For a girl who goes on deep-cover missions dressed in bright silver, you’re smarter than you look.”
Sable decided not to spend time discerning how much of a compliment that was. “I grew up in Symkaria… A brutal European nation for a young woman without a home. I had to learn how to be tough from an early age. How to scare others into giving me what I want.”
Yelena identified with this more than she cared to let Sable know.
Looking to change the subject, she knelt down beside the unconscious HYDRA woman and examined her ID pass.
“Veronica Eden…” She couldn’t help but chuckle.
“What’s so funny?” Sable asked.
“First Betty… now Veronica,” Yelena explained. “It’s like we’re in a comic book.”
“Maybe in some other universe,” Sable replied. “Now stop clowning around and help me strip this woman.”
With the two working together, stripping Veronica Eden of her uniform proved an easy task.
Once Veronica was down to her purple triangle bra and cerulean bikini panties, Yelena used some grey duct tape to bind and gag her, then dragged her behind some shelves.
Sable slipped into Veronica’s costume, gloves, and boots. She tied the cape around her shoulders and fitted the visor over her head.
“I’d say this is a good fit,” she noted.
“You could stand to shed a few pounds in the backseat, but otherwise, yeah.” Yelena stood up and dusted herself off. Then, before Sable could come up with a retort, she continued. “We ready to find that Cube now?”
Sable closed her mouth and nodded.
*************
Natasha and Kate’s motorcycles roared down the nighttime streets as they approached the hospital.
“How far is it?” Kate asked. “I’m low on fuel.”
“Not far now,” Natasha replied. “We should be there in a matter of—”
Her words were interrupted by the sound of a blaring siren.
A burglar alarm had just gone off at a nearby jewelry store.
The next moment, a figure burst from the bank, flying over Natasha and Kate’s heads. A lithe female figure, dressed in a full black bodysuit and leather balaclava, along with purple torso armor, arm-length gloves, thigh-length boots, and an eye mask. Most importantly, she sported a pair of artificial wings which were right now giving her the gift of flight. In each of her gloved hands, she clutched a string of pearl and diamond necklaces.
“Beetle,” Kate sighed. “When will you learn, Janice?”
She turned to Natasha. “I’ll catch up in a minute. Just need to do the superhero bit.”
Natasha nodded and hurried onward. Kate halted her cycle and drew her bow.
The woman in the Beetle suit was quite high in the air and already getting smaller. But Kate had hit plenty of miniature targets over the years.
She let the arrow fly.
It sailed through the air, striking the spot just between Beetle’s wings where her power pack was situated.
Immediately, Beetle’s wings began to sputter. They slowed, then began flailing about. Beetle went into a tailspin, twirling not-so-gracefully to the ground.
The armor would be enough to protect her from serious injury, Kate figured, but she’d still be too dazed to put up a fight.
Kate pulled her cycle up to the fallen Beetle, who was indeed dazed, lying on the ground and groaning.
“Out for a little midnight jewel theft, Janice?” Kate asked.
“Kate?” the dizzy voice beneath the mask said, a bit muffled. “What’s the big idea?!”
Kate’s eyes widened. She recognized that voice.
She reached out and pulled off Beetle’s mask. The woman’s long white-blonde hair spilled out.
“Felicia?”
Felicia Hardy winced and rubbed the back of her neck. “Nice to see you again too.”
“What are you doing in Beetle’s costume?” Kate demanded. “And why were you robbing that store?”
“Would you believe I was testing their burglar alarm?”
“Felicia…” Kate moved a hand threateningly to another of the arrows in her quiver.
Felicia raised her hands. “Geez, okay! Settle down, Katniss. Can’t a girl be tempted by a few shiny baubles?”
“Where’s the real Beetle?”
“Last I checked, she was all tied up and getting an involuntary suntan on the roof of the Ritz-Carlton. I gave her a valuable life lesson about not trusting people she meets on dating apps, and in return she let me ‘borrow’ her costume for the evening.”
Felicia groaned as she rubbed the spot where she had fallen on her behind. “I originally just planned to rob her dad – ol’ Tombstone rakes in the big bucks as a mob boss – but the local jewelry store on Fifth caught my eye, and I decided to pick up some glittering goodies… After all, people would just blame Beetle, right? I sure didn’t expect one of you goody two-shoes superheroes to show up.”
“Guess it’s a night of bad luck for the Black Cat.” Kate slapped a pair of handcuffs on Felicia’s wrists.
“Hey! What’s the idea?” Felicia frowned. “I thought we were friends… We took down Orchis together!”
“I don’t make friends with criminals,” Kate replied. “Besides, last I checked, you mugged Wasp for her uniform, didn’t you? You must have a thing for insect-themed flying armor suits.”
Felicia frowned. “Wasp never proved that was me.”
Kate grabbed her shoulder and pulled her upwards.
“Hey! Watch the merchandise.” Felicia frowned. “I assume you’ll be footing the bill for the suit, since you busted the power pack.”
Kate rolled her eyes. At that moment, Natasha’s voice came through over her earpiece.
“Kate, are you there? Did you take care of the situation?”
“I’m fine, Natasha… Just reconnecting with an old acquaintance.” Kate grimaced. “Just gonna drop her off at the police station, and I’ll meet you at the hospital.”
Felicia looked surprised. “Natasha? As in, Black Widow Natasha? You’re working with the Infiltration Queen?”
“We’re on an important mission,” Kate replied. “The Chaos Cube is probably too important for me to stop and apprehend you, but what’s done is done.”
At this, Felicia’s eyes lit up. “Did you say… the Chaos Cube?”
“Forget I said that. It’s nothing a common criminal needs to concern herself with.”
Felicia frowned. “I prefer the term ‘classy cat burglar,’ thank you.”
“Whatever. It’s all the same once you’re in handcuffs.”
“You mean… these handcuffs?”
Felicia grinned and held up the cuffs, which no longer secured her wrists.
“How did you… Hey!” Kate was too stunned to react as Felicia cuffed her to a lightpole.
“Trade secret, Arrowgirl,” Felicia grinned.
“Uncuff me this instant!”
“I will… as soon as you tell me a bit more about why you’re chasing the Chaos Cube…”
Kate scowled.
******************
Alisande’s uniform was just the ticket Claire needed. Disguised as she was, the other SHIELD agents hardly noticed her. A quick salute was all she needed to get past the two men guarding Elaine’s hospital room.
The inside of the hospital room was empty, save for the woman lying on the bed. Elaine was still deeply asleep, just as she had been when Claire first saw her being loaded into the ambulance.
Claire grit her teeth. No way would she allow the bumbling SHIELD bureaucrats to take Elaine away in handcuffs as soon as she regained consciousness.
Elaine in handcuffs… Claire couldn’t help but smile at the thought. Her mind was already dreaming up ideas for their next illicit encounter…
She quickly forced herself to focus. “Okay… how am I going to get you out of here while you’re fast asleep?”
Claire glanced around the room, and her eyes fell upon the fire alarm in the corner.
Should she…? The main question was whether an alarm would cause the SHIELD agents to run elsewhere, or to run into the room, or to stay put. Still, she didn’t have much choice.
She approached the fire alarm cautiously, then reached out for it with trembling fingers.
“I’d advise against that, Ms. Acosta.”
“Jesus!” Claire spun around, instinctively grabbing her sidearm and pointing it at the woman who had just spoken.
Natash’s facial expression was calm and controlled, yet in her measured tones there was an undeniably threatening air. “Put the gun away, Ms. Acosta. I’m not here to hurt you.”
Claire’s eyebrows raised. “B… Black Widow? What are you…?”
“Put down the gun,” Natasha repeated firmly. “You’re in enough trouble as it is, Ms. Acosta… Breaking and entering, breach of custody… and I assume that SHIELD uniform you’re wearing was not acquired through honest means.”
Claire glanced down at her uniform, then back up to Natasha. “I… I…”
She lowered her weapon. “Please, I just want Elaine to be okay…”
“Elaine will be taken care of,” Natasha replied. “I will see to it that she gets fair treatment. But first, I need you to help me locate your boss.”
“…Silver Sable?”
“Indeed. I have reason to believe she’s mixed herself up in some deadly danger involving HYDRA, a dangerous weapon, and a young woman who has taken my mantle as the Black Widow. I need to locate her immediately.”
“I… I suppose I could trace her…” Claire began. “But her signal beacon needs a password to access… and Elaine was the last one to change the password.”
Natasha frowned. “You’re not serious.”
“Sorry, but… until she wakes up…” Claire glanced with concern at the sleeping Elaine. “There’s just no way to find Silver Sable.”
“Well, there must be some way to—”
“Hey, gals!”
Natasha and Claire both whirled, to see the lithe, black-clad figure who had just entered through the window.
“Black Cat?” Natasha scowled.
“Yes, it’s me!” Felicia grinned. “The bold, the beautiful, the… Hey!”
Natasha grabbed Felicia by the collar and lifted her off the ground.
“What are you doing here?” Natasha demanded.
“You know this woman?” Claire asked.
“By reputation,” Natasha replied. “A proficient criminal and sneak thief…”
“Again, I prefer ‘classy cat burglar,’ for what I assume are obvious reasons,” Felicia replied. “Now let me go! You’re wrinkling the suit.”
“I don’t think so,” Natasha said stoically. “I’m aware of who you are, Felicia Hardy. And how you mugged my friend and teammate, Janet Van Dyne, a few months ago…”
Felicia answered quickly. “That wasn’t me. They never proved it.”
“I’m sure I could get you to confess…” Natasha tightened her grip on Felicia’s collar. Felicia gulped.
At that moment, Kate’s voice clicked in Natasha’s ear.
“Natasha, are you there? Black Cat handcuffed me to a pole… I just got free now. I think she’s headed your way.”
“Indeed, Kate… I have the felonious feline in hand.”
“Felonious feline… that’s got a nice ring to it,” Felicia mused. “Now can you put me down? I want to help!”
“Why would I trust you to help us?” Natasha asked.
“Because… I know how to track down the Chaos Cube.”
Natasha raised an eyebrow.
“I stole it once myself,” Felicia explained. “Back when it was in Kingpin’s possession. I infiltrated the big supervillain gathering he organized and grabbed it. Sold it to SHIELD in exchange for Nick Fury’s promise to get the police off my back for a while.”
“Is this supposed to make you sound trustworthy?” Natasha asked.
“My point is, I had some time to study the Cube,” Felicia quickly added. “Got a sense of its inner workings. I could probably track it down if…”
“Excuse me,” Claire interrupted.
Natasha and Felicia glanced at her.
“As much as I love to watch two women in skintight black leather argue with one another, can we focus on my problems for a moment?”
Felicia stared at her. “And you are…?”
“I’m the woman who needs Elaine awake and free of police custody!” Claire said indignantly.
“Elaine? Oh…” Felicia glanced over at the bed. “You mean Scorpia. What happened to her?”
“Knockout darts,” Natasha replied. “I need information from her, but she’s fast asleep, and I don’t know any way to wake her up.”
At this, Felicia brightened. “I might know a way.”
She approached the bed. “I interrogated Scorpia once before. Just have to hit the right… note.”
She cleared her throat, and began to sing.
“Meeee-mories! All alone on the paaaave-ment!”
Natasha stared at her in shock.
“I remember a time I knew what happiness was…”
“What are…?” Claire started to ask.
The next moment, Scorpia’s eyes flew open.
Her hands immediately went to her ears. “Stop! Make it stop!”
She blinked, suddenly. “Wh… what?”
She looked around. “Where’s Yelena? And where’s my costume? And… where am I?”
Natasha turned to Felicia in shock. “How did you do that?”
Felicia shrugs. “Elaine hates my singing and she hates the music from Cats. There’s no amount of knockout darts that could make her sleep through that.”
Claire ran over and hugged Elaine. “You’re awake! I can’t believe it…”
“Hey, easy! My neck is sore…” Elaine rubbed the back of her head. Still, she couldn’t help smiling slightly at Claire’s embrace.
Then she noticed Black Widow standing over her. “Oh great. Come to finish what your blonde sidekick started?”
“Yelena is not my sidekick,” Natasha replied. “But I need to find her, and I have reason to believe she’s allied herself with your employer, Silver Sable. Do you know how to reach her?”
Elaine looked at Natasha in confusion. She then glanced at Claire, who nodded.
“Just give her what she wants… Maybe she’ll leave us alone.”
Elaine thought for a moment, then nodded. “Give me my phone.”
Claire handed over the special phone that Elaine used as part of Silver Sable Security. Elaine entered a few numbers and watched the screen.
She frowned. “That’s weird…”
“What is?” Natasha pressed.
“I’m not getting a signal from Sable… Usually she has a homing beacon that lets me triangulate her signal in case of danger, but… nothing. It’s like someone’s blocked it out.”
Natasha frowned. “This is serious. If my suspicions are correct, both Yelena and Silver Sable are in great danger.”
“Sounds like millions of people are in danger, if HYDRA has their hands on the Chaos Cube,” Felicia chimed in.
Natasha frowned at her. “You say you have a way of tracking the Cube?”
Felicia smiled. “I might.”
“And what do you want in return?”
“Well… it’d be nice if you and your fellow Avengers stopped harassing me for something that no one ever proved I did to the Wasp.”
Natasha fixed Felicia with a steely glare. For a moment, Felicia’s cool façade broke, and she looked uncomfortable.
Finally, Natasha nodded. “Deal. But only if you deliver.”
Felicia’s smiled returned. “I always deliver.”
Natasha headed for the window. “Then let’s go. Time is of the essence.”
She leaped out the window.
Felicia chuckled. “I like this woman already.”
She hurried to follow, jumping out the hospital room window herself.
Elaine and Claire were left alone, and somewhat surprised.
“Did the Black Widow just… forget about us?” Claire asked.
“She must think I’m not important enough to deal with,” Elaine replied. “Especially since I’m stuck in a hospital room and still feeling kinda woozy.”
Claire frowned. “Well, I came all this way, and I’m not stopping now. I’m getting you out of here.”
“How?” Elaine asked. “I’m stuck in a hospital gown, and there are SHIELD agents scattered all around the building. Did you bring my Scorpia suit?”
“Unfortunately, no… SHIELD must’ve confiscated that as well.” Claire brightened. “But don’t worry, I’ll get you some new clothes.”
She approached the door to the room and opened it.
The hallway right outside the room was empty. Another stroke of luck – Natasha had probably waved the nearby SHIELD guards away before entering the room. However, they were still likely guarding the lower floors. And unlike Black Widow and Black Cat, Claire wasn’t too skilled in the art of leaping windows and jumping rooftops.
Still, she wouldn’t need to be. The elevator at the end of the hallway pinged, and a nurse stepped out.
The nurse was a tall woman of average build, with an olive skin tone, black eyes, and stringy brown hair that was tied back into a bun. She wore dark green scrubs and white sneakers. A stethoscope was draped around her neck, and she wore a small gold cross necklace. Her nametag read “Sonya Focarile, RNS.”
Sonya was glancing at her clipboard as she strolled down the hall. Claire waved at her.
“Excuse me! Nurse. Over here, please!”
Sonya looked up, noticing Claire’s SHIELD uniform. “Agent? Is something wrong?”
“I need your help. Please hurry!”
Sonya approached the doorway. Claire stepped back and allowed her to enter the room.
The nurse was surprised to see Elaine sitting up in bed. “Oh! The doctors said you would sleep through the night…”
Elaine grinned. “I won’t. But you will.”
Claire looped an arm around Sonya’s neck, cutting off her oxygen.
Sonya struggled, kicking out in desperation. Her arms flailed wildly.
“Little help, babe?” Claire called. “She’s stronger than she looks.”
Elaine got out of bed and hurried over. She grabbed Sonya’s legs and lifted them off the ground.
The nurse could only struggle helplessly as her means of leverage disappeared. Her reflexes slowed, as did her breathing.
Finally, she flopped limply unconscious in the arms of her two muggers.
Claire smiled. “That was a lame quip. ‘I won’t, but you will’.”
“Hey, I’m still woozy from the drugs. Write your own material.”
Then Elaine looked down at Sonya. “So, I suppose I get to play nurse?”
They carried the sleeping Sonya over to the bed and liberated her of her scrubs and sneakers.
Beneath the uniform, Sonya wore a plain eggshell-white triangle bra and matching briefs. A bit of pink trimming along the panties was the only color.
“Guess we’ll cover her up to preserve her boring underwear,” Claire chuckled.
Elaine gave her an odd look. “And you say my quips are lame…”
She dressed quickly in Sonya’s uniform. Meanwhile, Claire used some white medical gauze to bind and gag the real nurse, then covered her beneath the bed’s blanket. Anyone glancing in the room would assume that Elaine was still in her bed, fast asleep.
“Time to get out of here,” Claine announced as she finished tucking the real nurse in.
Elaine looped the stethoscope around her neck. “I want my suit.”
Claire nodded. The very thought of seeing Elaine in her figure-hugging Scorpia suit again made little hearts dance before her eyes.
“We’ll get my suit back,” Elaine continued as they exited the room. “And then we need to find the boss.”
Claire nodded. “I’ll send out a bulletin to all members of Silver Sable Security.”
******************
Veronica’s passcode did the trick.
Within minutes, Yelena and Silver Sable were walking through the laboratories deep in the bowels of HYDRA’s headquarters.
“Keep an eye out,” Sable whispered as they passed a row of doors. “The Cube could very well be in one of these rooms…”
“It could be in any of those rooms, too,” Yelena nodded ahead at a set of doors further down the hall. “We can’t go around snooping everywhere. We need a quick way to…”
She was interrupted by the sound of a woman’s scream.
Yelena and Silvija exchanged a glance. The scream had come from one of the experimental rooms they were passing.
They peeked through a crack in the door.
The room was filled with an abundance of scientific equipment – test tubes and beakers and various electronic devices. But the most eye-catching aspect of the room was right in the middle: a metal table, to which was strapped a frightened-looking young woman.
The woman appeared to be about twenty years old, with light skin, a cherubic face, and dark shoulder-length hair. She wore nothing apart from a set of HYDRA-themed bra and panties, similar to the ones worn by Betty.
The only other occupant in the room was a female scientist, who was currently in the process of filling a syringe with a glowing green liquid.
The scientist was a tall and slender Indian woman, with tanned skin and black hair tied into a single long braid which draped over her right shoulder. She wore a white lab coat over a long black dress and black slip-on shoes. Gold earrings dangled from her ears, and a pearl necklace encircled her neck. She wore a bangle on each wrist – a smooth one on the left, a ribbed one on the right.
“Please,” the young captive begged. “Please let me go… I’m so sorry.”
The scientist chuckled. “Don’t be so upset, Camilla… Most girls your age would love to be in your position. Just think, if this experiment goes as planned, you’ll have superpowers!”
She squinted at the syringe. “And if it doesn’t go as planned… well, HYDRA has appreciated your service.”
From the doorway, Sable’s eyes narrowed.
“I recognize that woman in the lab coat… Dr. Nitika Gaiha. She worked for Orchis – had a hand in developing their biological weaponry.” Sable frowned. “She must have escaped when Orchis collapsed… Joined ranks with HYDRA to continue her twisted experiments.”
Yelena wasn’t really listening. She was watching as Camilla squirmed helplessly on the table, as Dr. Gaiha approached her.
“Please… I just want to go home, please…”
“The Cube’s not in here,” Sable whispered to Yelena. “Let’s go.”
But Yelena didn’t budge.
She stared at Camilla, the frightened young woman who was, to HYDRA’s mind, little more than a pawn.
Dr. Gaiha brought the needle close to Camilla’s neck. “Hold still, dear, this will only hurt for a moment…”
The door burst open.
A startled Dr. Gaiha looked up to see Yelena standing in the doorway, brandishing a gun.
“Drop it,” Yelena snarled.
“But… who are…?”
“I said drop it… unless you’d rather inject yourself with it,” Yelena replied. “Frankly, I don’t care either way. But don’t you dare lay a finger on that girl.”
Dr. Gaiha set the syringe down and raised her hands.
Sable entered the room. “Yelena, what are you…?”
“Help that girl get free,” Yelena replied, gesturing to Camilla.
Sable glanced back and forth from the scientist to Camilla to Yelena. She looked like she was about to argue.
But she stopped herself upon seeing the expression on Yelena’s face.
She drew a chai from her belt and approached Camilla. The scared young woman shrank back, before it finally dawned on her that the Sable – despite her disguise – was not a HYDRA agent, and that she intended to cut the ropes which bound her.
Ten minutes later, and it was an angry Dr. Gaiha who found herself bound, strapped to the very table on which she had previously trapped Camilla. The Orchis-turned-HYDRA scientist lay on her back against the cold metal, her wrists and ankles secured with brown leather straps, while a strip of white adhesive tape covered her mouth. She wore nothing apart from a black bandeau bra and purple high-cut panties.
Camilla’s facial expression was calm, almost docile, as she eased her feet into the scientist’s black shoes. She had already donned Dr. Gaiha’s black dress and white lab coat.
Granted, the clothes were a little big on her, but there was nothing else readily available, and Yelena had wanted to calm Camilla’s nerves by dressing her as quickly as possible.
“Thank you,” Camilla said softly. “You saved my life.”
“No girl deserves to be treated that way,” Yelena replied. “As an experiment, as a… test subject.”
The very thought of it brought up memories – long-suppressed memories of a brief, unfortunate period from her time in the Red Room.
She quickly pushed these memories back to the rear of her mind. She couldn’t let that cloud her judgment… Her loyalty was still with her mother country. It had to be.
“Who are you?” Sable asked Camilla. “What was this… doctor… planning to do with you?”
“I’m… a HYDRA agent,” Camilla explained. “Or… I was. I failed Madame Hydra, and she decided to teach me a lesson by turning me into one of the group’s… test subjects.” She shuddered. “If you hadn’t come along…”
“Let this be a lesson,” Sable interjected. “If your own boss was willing to turn on you, maybe you should choose a different career.”
“Let her be,” Yelena cut in. “Can’t you see how scared she is?”
Sable found Yelena’s defense of Camilla intriguing. “All right. But she’s safe now. Can we get back to business? We need to find that Cube!”
“Right, right.” Yelena thought for a moment, then turned to Camilla. “How well do you know these corridors?”
Camilla looked surprised for a moment. “Er.. pretty well, I think. Why?”
“Because we need someone to guide us around. And since the good doctor over there…” She glanced over at Nitika, who growled behind her gag. “…has her own problems to deal with, I’d say you’re the only one we have.”
Camilla nodded. “Okay.”
“Good,” Sable interjected. “Now let’s hurry up. This visor is starting to irritate me.”
The three women exited the lab office and shut the door, leaving Nitika to struggle against her bonds.
“Which way to the HYDRA vault?” Sable asked. “They’ve got to have one of those around.”
Camilla pointed towards a corridor on the left. “That way.”
Yelena and Sable immediately began walking, with Camilla a few paces behind.
“Aren’t you glad we rescued her?” Yelena whispered.
“What possessed you to stop and help that girl, Belova?” Sable asked. “You don’t strike me as the empathetic type…”
“Maybe there’s more to me than you think,” Yelena replied. “The important thing is that we’ve found someone we can trus—”
Her words were interrupted by the sound of a blaring siren.
Whirling, Yelena and Sable saw Camilla standing next to the wall, her hand pressed firmly against an intruder alarm.
“What are you doing?!” Yelena was mortified.
Camilla grinned wickedly. “I’m getting back in Madame Hydra’s good graces.”
Yelena seized her by the collar. “We saved your life! This is how you show your loyalty?!”
“I am loyal to nothing,” Camilla replied stoically, “except to the organization that exists to throw the world order into chaos. Hail HYDRA!”
Silvija grabbed Yelena’s shoulder. “We need to go. Now!”
“Better listen to your friend,” Camilla cackled. “You’re living on borrowed time.”
Yelena punched Camilla in the face, sending the girl to the floor. The HYDRA agent was laughing even as blood ran down her nose.
“Belova, we need to run!”
She ran. Yelena ran, her head swimming, a mix of anger and shock and betrayal. She could hear Silver Sable beside her, ordering her to find an exit, but her vision was clouded.
It was only a matter of moments before six HYDRA agents brandishing very deadly-looking weapons were upon them. “FREEZE!”
They were surrounded. Instinctively, Sable reached for one of her chais… but a gunshot a hairsbreadth from her hand made her think twice.
“Drop your weapons and get down on the floor! You are now prisoners of HYDRA!”
Yelena’s ears were ringing… or maybe that was the alarm. She tried to think, tried to clear her head… but all she registered was the blur of motion as the butt of a gun sped towards her face. Then everything went dark.
Character references, when applicable, can be found in the second post.
----------------------
Natasha surveyed the scene, an impassive look on her face.
Barely an hour ago, the warehouse she was wandering through had been the site of an attack – an efficient and methodical attack, by the looks of it. She walked carefully down the hall, checking the various rooms in the secret basement beneath the ordinary-looking structure.
The warehouse was the hideout of a minor criminal organization called Black Spectre. Natasha had not heard of them before, recalling no mention of them in SHIELD’s record files. Somehow, though, they had apparently gotten their hands on the Chaos Cube – only to now see it stolen from them in turn.
Whoever had orchestrated the attack on Black Spectre had done a good job. At least a dozen agents in the organization were unconscious, and some looked in quite bad shape. They had been shot – not with bullets, but with poison-tipped darts. The poison had not yet killed anyone, although the victims would have a long road to recovery.
Natasha picked up one of the fallen darts and examined it. It was dark green in color. Her eyes narrowed.
“Hey, ‘Tash…” Kate jogged up to her. “You’d better come see this.”
Since escaping from the AIM hideout, Natasha and Kate had used the info they had sent to SHIELD – and, unwittingly, to an enemy mole within SHIELD – to track the location of the Cube. The precise location was difficult to pinpoint, but reports of explosions and gunfire in the vicinity of the warehouse had narrowed the search quickly.
Natasha followed Kate to a closet situated in a side hallway. Kate opened the door, allowing Natasha to peer inside.
Lying on the floor of the closet were two women, both unconscious. They were tall and of athletic build, one a light-skinned woman with a short blonde ponytail, the other a dark-skinned woman with bowl-cut black hair. Both were bound and gagged with silver duct tape.
The most important factor of these women, however, was their underwear. As a master infiltrator, Natasha rarely paid heed to the undergarments of the women she mugged, considering it an irrelevant detail in her quest to obtain a disguise. But the underwear of these two women was peculiar… and familiar. Green sports bras and boyshorts with black lining, with each bra cup emblazoned with the logo of a skull and several tentacles.
Natasha’s eyes narrowed. “HYDRA.”
“What does this mean?” Kate asked.
“Two things,” Natasha replied. “One, HYDRA is now in possession of the Chaos Cube. Two, a pair of outsiders – likely women – have infiltrated their ranks.”
“Yelena?”
“She would probably be one of them.” Natasha eyed the silver duct tape. “And this binding material looks remarkably similar to the sort used by Silvija Sablinova.”
“Yelena… teaming up with Silver Sable?” Kate raised an eyebrow.
“There have been stranger partnerships,” Natasha responded.
“So how do we track them down? Does SHIELD or the Avengers database know where HYDRA’s location is?”
“Unfortunately, HYDRA changes its base of operations quite frequently,” Natasha answered. “But if my hunch is correct… we may be able to track down Silver Sable – and through her, HYDRA, Yelena, and the Cube.”
“How so?”
“With any luck, Silver Sable Security has ways of keeping tabs on their boss,” Natasha answered.
Kate understood. “Scorpia! She’s our lead.”
Earlier that evening, Kate and Natasha had watched as Elaine Coll, the supervillain-on-probation known as Scorpia, had been loaded into an ambulance with a police escort.
“Elaine should be able to track down her boss,” Natasha nodded. “Once we know Sable’s location, everything else should fall into place.”
“Except… Elaine’s fast asleep, isn’t she?” Kate remembered. “Yelena hit her with five knockout darts. She won’t wake up until tomorrow at the earliest.”
“Indeed.” Natasha thought for a moment. “But we should be able to get the information from Claire Acosta.”
“Who?”
“Silver Sable’s second-in-command. I believe we spotted her as Elaine was being loaded into the ambulance.”
Kate nodded, remembering the woman with the auburn ponytail who had been yelling at the police in Scorpia’s defense. “Oh yeah… her girlfriend, wasn’t it?”
“If they are indeed lovers, I expect Claire will not leave her side,” Natasha nodded. “Let’s track them down. And we need to move quickly – every second that HYDRA has the Chaos Cube is a second that puts millions of innocent lives in danger.”
*****************
Claire Acosta was furious.
She had tried explaining to the police and the SHIELD officers at Avengers Campus – explain that Elaine was on parole and that she was on the hunt for Yelena Belova, a known fugitive.
But it had been no use. Yelena had escaped and Elaine was deeply unconscious, sleeping off the effects of multiple knockout darts. Claire had threatened to call her lawyer, but the SHIELD agents had ignored her. They recognized Elaine as Scorpia, a notorious supervillain, from their data files, and simply decided to take her into custody.
Now Elaine was asleep in a bed at a secure Manhattan hospital, surrounded by SHIELD security. Once she woke up, she would be interrogated, then likely sent back to prison for violating her parole and re-donning the Scorpia costume.
Claire scowled at the thought as she tightly gripped the steering wheel of her car. They can’t do this!
Sure, Elaine wasn’t perfect, and could be downright annoying at times. But she had done nothing illegal that night. All she did was put on her costume.
Her… rather alluring costume.
Yes, though Claire hated to admit it, she found Elaine to be quite lovely in her form-fitting Scorpia outfit. She had always loved the sight of a woman in a skintight bodysuit, and Elaine’s curvy figure in particular took her breath away.
Elaine’s personality, however, was a different story – since the scorpion-themed mercenary had started working for Silver Sable Security, she and Claire had clashed and bickered on several occasions. It was only once Claire learned about Elaine’s physical attraction towards her – particularly her shapely posterior – that she had begun to look past the woman’s verbal stings.
One thing led to another, and eventually the two mercenaries had grown quite intimate. Even as Claire continued to find Elaine’s personality to be quite obnoxious, she had to grudgingly admit the woman knew how to show her a good time. An embarrassing moment some weeks back when Silver Sable had discovered them together in a closet had not deterred the two women from finding the time to satisfy their urges with each other every now and then.
So Claire could not let SHIELD take Elaine away from her. She needed to get her out. And she could not wait for the justice system to slowly turn things around.
She needed to act now.
She pressed her foot to the gas as she headed for the hospital.
*******************
Alisande Morales was having a quiet night on duty.
The SHIELD agent had been assigned to watch over Elaine Coll at the hospital. It had proven to be quite a boring assignment. Despite several hours passing since Elaine had been loaded into the ambulance, the woman known as Scorpia was still fast asleep.
It was after midnight now, and Alisande needed a drink.
A tall, fit Latina woman, Alisande Morales had tanned skin, brown eyes, and shoulder-length black hair. She wore the typical uniform of SHIELD field agents: a black one-piece jumpsuit that zippered up to her neck, grey shoulder pads, grey gloves, grey metal bracelets, and matching calf-length protective armored boots. An equipment belt was strapped around her waist, sporting several pouches and a holster for her gun.
A SHIELD agent for a little over five years, Alisande typically worked the day shift, but she was always ready to fill in at nights. To her mind, super-heroism ran in the family – her cousin Miles was secretly one of the masked heroes known as Spider-Man, although few people outside of SHIELD’s intel community (which kept tabs on all superheroes around New York) knew that.
Alisande stepped into the lobby, which at this hour was quite empty. SHIELD had relocated most of the other patients to other hospitals, for their own safety. The on-call nurse at the front desk had dozed off.
Alisande approached the soda machine and surveyed the options on display. Did she want a fizzy drink? An energy drink? These were complicated decisions…
So focused was she on the soda machine that she did not hear the hospital doors down the hall quietly slide open.
Claire kept quiet as she slipped into the hospital. She peeked around the first corner and saw the female SHIELD agent standing by the soda machine.
Well, hello, darling…
Her heart immediately began to race. There was no question that, even from the back, this SHIELD agent looked quite fetching in her skintight jumpsuit.
Still, Claire forced herself to focus. She was here to find Elaine. Her own libido could wait for the moment.
She noticed a fire extinguisher hanging on the nearby wall, and smiled. Just what I need…
She approached the SHIELD agent from behind quietly, extinguisher in hand. Alisande still had not made up her mind about which drink she wanted.
“Maybe I’ll just get a Punch,” she said out loud.
Claire couldn’t resist letting such a good setup line pass. “If you insist.”
Alisande turned in surprise. “Wha—oouugghh!”
She briefly saw stars as the extinguisher connected with the side of her head. Then her world went black, and she slid to the floor.
Claire glanced around, and saw that the night nurse was still asleep. Whew!
She glanced down at the unconscious SHIELD agent.
She remembered how, at the Hutton Brickyards gala a few weeks ago, she had been ambushed by a woman in disguise as Scorpia. She had woken up stashed inside a crate along with three of her fellow mercenaries, all bound and gagged and stripped to their underwear.
Hopefully, you’ll be more comfortable than I was, she mused.
Bending down, Claire grabbed Alisande’s underarms and dragged her into a nearby changing room.
The room was empty, luckily. Claire shut the door, then wasted no time in relieving the slumbering SHIELD agent of her gloves, boots, and belt. She unzipped the woman’s jumpsuit and eased it off her. Beneath the SHIELD uniform, Alisande wore a pink camisole top and vanilla-white panties.
Claire searched some nearby lockers and found some grey duct tape. She taped up Alisande’s wrists and ankles, then smoothed a strip over her mouth. With some effort, she left the agent inside one of the lockers, which was just tall and wide enough to accommodate a woman of her size.
Claire changed out of her regular clothes and into the SHIELD uniform. She zipped up the jumpsuit, pulled on the gloves and boots, and snapped the belt and holster around her waist.
She caught a glance of herself in the changing room’s floor-length mirror, and struck a pose.
She had to admit, she looked good in this outfit.
I wonder if Elaine will like it… Claire grinned at the thought. I have a feeling I’ll be keeping this uniform.
Then she headed off to find Scorpia.
******************
The Quadcopter touched down just outside the looming HYDRA base, deep in the mountains. A rocky outcropping cleverly concealed the entranceway.
“Get a move on!” the mission leader commanded as the HYDRA troops filed out of the aircraft. “Get inside and return to your quarters. I’ll get the Cube to the labs!”
The troops hurried to comply, filing into the entranceway.
Two women in standard green snake-themed uniforms brought up the rear.
“We’re inside,” Silver Sable whispered as they stepped down the sleek metal corridor.
“Thanks for the observation,” Yelena replied dryly. “I can see how you became a team leader.”
Silvija frowned. “Stop getting snippy. This isn’t a game. One false move, and these HYDRA thugs will shoot us where we stand.”
Yelena rolled her eyes. “I won’t give them the chance. I’m the Black Widow, remember? These people don’t scare me.”
“Regardless,” Silvija said briskly, “we should retrieve the Chaos Cube fast. That man who said he was transferring it to the labs… where did he go?” She glanced around, looking for their target.
“Just a wild guess, but he probably went to the labs,” Yelena replied.
Silvija fixed her with a glare – although with her mask on, it was difficult for anyone to make out her eyes.
“Then let’s get to the labs. Come on!”
They broke away from the other HYDRA troopers, who were too preoccupied with preparing for a rest in their quarters to notice the two women disappear from their group and hurry down a side hallway.
“These disguises won’t be of use to use much longer,” Silvija observed. “They probably won’t allow low-level soldiers into the laboratories.”
As if on cue, a voice called out behind them. “Where do you two think you’re going?”
Silvija and Yelena froze, then slowly turned.
A woman stood behind them, a frown on her face. She had light skin, shoulder-length blonde hair, and a voluptuous figure that she clearly wasn’t shy about showing off. She wore a light green uniform dress with a low-cut V-neck and a short skirt, with the letter “H” decoratively written over it in yellow, as well as short light green boots. A brown equipment belt was strapped to her trim waist, and large round glasses adorned her eyes.
“I asked you a question,” the woman demanded.
Silvija adopted her best attempt at a polite tone. “Sorry, we seem to have gotten lost. You are…?”
“Dr. Betty Swanson, microbiologist at HYDRA,” the woman replied proudly. “Formerly an AIM scientist, but I switched allegiances once I realized HYDRA had more ambition.”
Yelena rolled her eyes behind her mask.
“But enough about me,” Dr. Betty said seriously. “You two should not be roaming the halls unsupervised. Do I have to report you to Madame Hydra?”
“That won’t be necessary,” Silvija replied, keeping her gaze fixed on Betty as she made a discreet gesture to Yelena.
Yelena understood and, wordlessly, began inching her way more closely to Betty.
“We just got a bit lost,” Silvija explained. “If you’ll point us in the direction of our quarters, we’ll be on our way.”
“Your quarters should be in that direction.” Betty turned to point down the main hall. In doing so, she exposed a vulnerable spot on the side of her neck.
“Now hurry up, or I’m going straight to your section leader – urgh!”
She froze in sudden confusion, as Yelena’s neck chop hit home.
“The only place you’re going is dreamland, babe,” Yelena grinned.
The next moment, Betty fell right into Sable’s arms. She was out like a light.
“That was easy enough,” Sable nodded. “Looks like these HYDRA scientists are easy pickings.”
Yelena felt vaguely insulted at the dismissive way Silvija had downplayed what was – in her own opinion – a solid knockout. But she didn’t let it show.
“So I assume one of us will need to wear her uniform,” she observed as Sable dragged the sleeping Betty to a nearby storeroom.
“You’ll wear it,” Sable replied. “You resemble her more closely, with your short blonde hair – and with those glasses, no one will be able to tell the difference. Your cleavage is a little too small for the uniform, but hopefully the fabric is adjustable.”
Yelena frowned. “My cleavage can do just fine, thank you.”
It took a bit of effort to separate Betty from her uniform, and somewhat less effort for Yelena to slip it on.
As she secured the belt around her waist, Silver Sable used some of her remaining silver duct tape to bind and gag the real Betty. The slumbering scientist, stripped to a yellow tanga bra and light green briefs, didn’t make a sound.
“I assume you’ll want a disguise, too?” Yelena asked as Sable slid Betty inside a brown packing crate.
“Of course. Preferably something that shows a bit less skin...”
*****************
It took about ten minutes for them to find a target that Silver Sable was satisfied with.
The woman was tall and athletically built, with light skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair that she had tied back into a ponytail. One of her strands of hair was dyed pink, and hung over the right side of her face as a sort of signature look. She wore a white shirt beneath a black vest and black pants, but a red cape draped over her shoulders obscured much of her figure. Still, as she walked it became clear that she sported white gloves with red gauntlets, red shoulder pads, as well as matching calve-length red boots and kneepads. A brown belt with pouches was clasped to her waist, and a holster was strapped to her thigh. A glass visor, held in place by a metal construct, obscured most of her face.
Watching her from a crack in the closet door, Yelena gave a low whistle. “Now that’s a heck of a uniform.”
“A valuable one, no doubt,” Sable nodded. “And with a valuable uniform comes increased access and freedom of movement. On top of that, she looks to be just about my size – and that visor over her face will obscure my identity. Come on, let’s mug her.”
Yelena rolled her eyes. “I still think we could have jumped that brunette in the lab coat who was standing outside the tech room… Would’ve saved some time.”
“I told you, she was too short for me to convincingly wear her clothes,” Sable replied, irritated. “Now enough prattle. Wait here.”
The elegantly dressed HYDRA woman had reached an elevator. She lifted her visor to better see the security keypad on the side of the door.
Silver Sable saw her chance. She crept stealthily up behind the woman, then leaped at her, closing the gap in an instant. She covered the woman’s mouth with one hand, then held a small, sharp object to the woman’s neck, just above the metal harness, with the other. It was a chai – a three-pronged, crescent-shaped silver blade that functioned as one of her signature weapons.
“Don’t move a muscle,” Sable whispered. “All I need is a slight motion to open your jugular. I see that,” she added, noting immediately that the woman was reaching for her holster. “Don’t try any tricks, I’m a professional.”
The woman scowled, but kept still.
“Good girl.” Sable removed her hand from the woman’s mouth, but kept the blade an inch from her throat.
“Now turn around and walk towards that closet.”
“I don’t know who you are,” the blonde replied. “But I hope you know that you’ll never leave this building alive. You signed your death warrant the moment you set foot into HYDRA territory…”
“Save the lectures and move.” Sable gave the blonde a slight push to start her walking. The woman tensed, but obeyed.
Once they had entered the closet, Yelena shut the door.
“What’s the passcode to enter the labs?” Sable demanded, not moving the weapon from the woman’s neck.
The blonde grit her teeth. “This is useless. You and your friend are as good as dead…”
“And what do you think you’ll be if you don’t answer me?” Sable tightened her grip on the woman’s arm.
The blonde tensed again, feeling the sharpness of the blade brush against her neck. “…4-6-8-3.”
“Much appreciated.”
Sable struck the back of the woman’s neck with the metal base of the chai. The blonde grunted and fell unconscious to the floor.
Yelena nodded, impressed. “Nice work. For a girl who goes on deep-cover missions dressed in bright silver, you’re smarter than you look.”
Sable decided not to spend time discerning how much of a compliment that was. “I grew up in Symkaria… A brutal European nation for a young woman without a home. I had to learn how to be tough from an early age. How to scare others into giving me what I want.”
Yelena identified with this more than she cared to let Sable know.
Looking to change the subject, she knelt down beside the unconscious HYDRA woman and examined her ID pass.
“Veronica Eden…” She couldn’t help but chuckle.
“What’s so funny?” Sable asked.
“First Betty… now Veronica,” Yelena explained. “It’s like we’re in a comic book.”
“Maybe in some other universe,” Sable replied. “Now stop clowning around and help me strip this woman.”
With the two working together, stripping Veronica Eden of her uniform proved an easy task.
Once Veronica was down to her purple triangle bra and cerulean bikini panties, Yelena used some grey duct tape to bind and gag her, then dragged her behind some shelves.
Sable slipped into Veronica’s costume, gloves, and boots. She tied the cape around her shoulders and fitted the visor over her head.
“I’d say this is a good fit,” she noted.
“You could stand to shed a few pounds in the backseat, but otherwise, yeah.” Yelena stood up and dusted herself off. Then, before Sable could come up with a retort, she continued. “We ready to find that Cube now?”
Sable closed her mouth and nodded.
*************
Natasha and Kate’s motorcycles roared down the nighttime streets as they approached the hospital.
“How far is it?” Kate asked. “I’m low on fuel.”
“Not far now,” Natasha replied. “We should be there in a matter of—”
Her words were interrupted by the sound of a blaring siren.
A burglar alarm had just gone off at a nearby jewelry store.
The next moment, a figure burst from the bank, flying over Natasha and Kate’s heads. A lithe female figure, dressed in a full black bodysuit and leather balaclava, along with purple torso armor, arm-length gloves, thigh-length boots, and an eye mask. Most importantly, she sported a pair of artificial wings which were right now giving her the gift of flight. In each of her gloved hands, she clutched a string of pearl and diamond necklaces.
“Beetle,” Kate sighed. “When will you learn, Janice?”
She turned to Natasha. “I’ll catch up in a minute. Just need to do the superhero bit.”
Natasha nodded and hurried onward. Kate halted her cycle and drew her bow.
The woman in the Beetle suit was quite high in the air and already getting smaller. But Kate had hit plenty of miniature targets over the years.
She let the arrow fly.
It sailed through the air, striking the spot just between Beetle’s wings where her power pack was situated.
Immediately, Beetle’s wings began to sputter. They slowed, then began flailing about. Beetle went into a tailspin, twirling not-so-gracefully to the ground.
The armor would be enough to protect her from serious injury, Kate figured, but she’d still be too dazed to put up a fight.
Kate pulled her cycle up to the fallen Beetle, who was indeed dazed, lying on the ground and groaning.
“Out for a little midnight jewel theft, Janice?” Kate asked.
“Kate?” the dizzy voice beneath the mask said, a bit muffled. “What’s the big idea?!”
Kate’s eyes widened. She recognized that voice.
She reached out and pulled off Beetle’s mask. The woman’s long white-blonde hair spilled out.
“Felicia?”
Felicia Hardy winced and rubbed the back of her neck. “Nice to see you again too.”
“What are you doing in Beetle’s costume?” Kate demanded. “And why were you robbing that store?”
“Would you believe I was testing their burglar alarm?”
“Felicia…” Kate moved a hand threateningly to another of the arrows in her quiver.
Felicia raised her hands. “Geez, okay! Settle down, Katniss. Can’t a girl be tempted by a few shiny baubles?”
“Where’s the real Beetle?”
“Last I checked, she was all tied up and getting an involuntary suntan on the roof of the Ritz-Carlton. I gave her a valuable life lesson about not trusting people she meets on dating apps, and in return she let me ‘borrow’ her costume for the evening.”
Felicia groaned as she rubbed the spot where she had fallen on her behind. “I originally just planned to rob her dad – ol’ Tombstone rakes in the big bucks as a mob boss – but the local jewelry store on Fifth caught my eye, and I decided to pick up some glittering goodies… After all, people would just blame Beetle, right? I sure didn’t expect one of you goody two-shoes superheroes to show up.”
“Guess it’s a night of bad luck for the Black Cat.” Kate slapped a pair of handcuffs on Felicia’s wrists.
“Hey! What’s the idea?” Felicia frowned. “I thought we were friends… We took down Orchis together!”
“I don’t make friends with criminals,” Kate replied. “Besides, last I checked, you mugged Wasp for her uniform, didn’t you? You must have a thing for insect-themed flying armor suits.”
Felicia frowned. “Wasp never proved that was me.”
Kate grabbed her shoulder and pulled her upwards.
“Hey! Watch the merchandise.” Felicia frowned. “I assume you’ll be footing the bill for the suit, since you busted the power pack.”
Kate rolled her eyes. At that moment, Natasha’s voice came through over her earpiece.
“Kate, are you there? Did you take care of the situation?”
“I’m fine, Natasha… Just reconnecting with an old acquaintance.” Kate grimaced. “Just gonna drop her off at the police station, and I’ll meet you at the hospital.”
Felicia looked surprised. “Natasha? As in, Black Widow Natasha? You’re working with the Infiltration Queen?”
“We’re on an important mission,” Kate replied. “The Chaos Cube is probably too important for me to stop and apprehend you, but what’s done is done.”
At this, Felicia’s eyes lit up. “Did you say… the Chaos Cube?”
“Forget I said that. It’s nothing a common criminal needs to concern herself with.”
Felicia frowned. “I prefer the term ‘classy cat burglar,’ thank you.”
“Whatever. It’s all the same once you’re in handcuffs.”
“You mean… these handcuffs?”
Felicia grinned and held up the cuffs, which no longer secured her wrists.
“How did you… Hey!” Kate was too stunned to react as Felicia cuffed her to a lightpole.
“Trade secret, Arrowgirl,” Felicia grinned.
“Uncuff me this instant!”
“I will… as soon as you tell me a bit more about why you’re chasing the Chaos Cube…”
Kate scowled.
******************
Alisande’s uniform was just the ticket Claire needed. Disguised as she was, the other SHIELD agents hardly noticed her. A quick salute was all she needed to get past the two men guarding Elaine’s hospital room.
The inside of the hospital room was empty, save for the woman lying on the bed. Elaine was still deeply asleep, just as she had been when Claire first saw her being loaded into the ambulance.
Claire grit her teeth. No way would she allow the bumbling SHIELD bureaucrats to take Elaine away in handcuffs as soon as she regained consciousness.
Elaine in handcuffs… Claire couldn’t help but smile at the thought. Her mind was already dreaming up ideas for their next illicit encounter…
She quickly forced herself to focus. “Okay… how am I going to get you out of here while you’re fast asleep?”
Claire glanced around the room, and her eyes fell upon the fire alarm in the corner.
Should she…? The main question was whether an alarm would cause the SHIELD agents to run elsewhere, or to run into the room, or to stay put. Still, she didn’t have much choice.
She approached the fire alarm cautiously, then reached out for it with trembling fingers.
“I’d advise against that, Ms. Acosta.”
“Jesus!” Claire spun around, instinctively grabbing her sidearm and pointing it at the woman who had just spoken.
Natash’s facial expression was calm and controlled, yet in her measured tones there was an undeniably threatening air. “Put the gun away, Ms. Acosta. I’m not here to hurt you.”
Claire’s eyebrows raised. “B… Black Widow? What are you…?”
“Put down the gun,” Natasha repeated firmly. “You’re in enough trouble as it is, Ms. Acosta… Breaking and entering, breach of custody… and I assume that SHIELD uniform you’re wearing was not acquired through honest means.”
Claire glanced down at her uniform, then back up to Natasha. “I… I…”
She lowered her weapon. “Please, I just want Elaine to be okay…”
“Elaine will be taken care of,” Natasha replied. “I will see to it that she gets fair treatment. But first, I need you to help me locate your boss.”
“…Silver Sable?”
“Indeed. I have reason to believe she’s mixed herself up in some deadly danger involving HYDRA, a dangerous weapon, and a young woman who has taken my mantle as the Black Widow. I need to locate her immediately.”
“I… I suppose I could trace her…” Claire began. “But her signal beacon needs a password to access… and Elaine was the last one to change the password.”
Natasha frowned. “You’re not serious.”
“Sorry, but… until she wakes up…” Claire glanced with concern at the sleeping Elaine. “There’s just no way to find Silver Sable.”
“Well, there must be some way to—”
“Hey, gals!”
Natasha and Claire both whirled, to see the lithe, black-clad figure who had just entered through the window.
“Black Cat?” Natasha scowled.
“Yes, it’s me!” Felicia grinned. “The bold, the beautiful, the… Hey!”
Natasha grabbed Felicia by the collar and lifted her off the ground.
“What are you doing here?” Natasha demanded.
“You know this woman?” Claire asked.
“By reputation,” Natasha replied. “A proficient criminal and sneak thief…”
“Again, I prefer ‘classy cat burglar,’ for what I assume are obvious reasons,” Felicia replied. “Now let me go! You’re wrinkling the suit.”
“I don’t think so,” Natasha said stoically. “I’m aware of who you are, Felicia Hardy. And how you mugged my friend and teammate, Janet Van Dyne, a few months ago…”
Felicia answered quickly. “That wasn’t me. They never proved it.”
“I’m sure I could get you to confess…” Natasha tightened her grip on Felicia’s collar. Felicia gulped.
At that moment, Kate’s voice clicked in Natasha’s ear.
“Natasha, are you there? Black Cat handcuffed me to a pole… I just got free now. I think she’s headed your way.”
“Indeed, Kate… I have the felonious feline in hand.”
“Felonious feline… that’s got a nice ring to it,” Felicia mused. “Now can you put me down? I want to help!”
“Why would I trust you to help us?” Natasha asked.
“Because… I know how to track down the Chaos Cube.”
Natasha raised an eyebrow.
“I stole it once myself,” Felicia explained. “Back when it was in Kingpin’s possession. I infiltrated the big supervillain gathering he organized and grabbed it. Sold it to SHIELD in exchange for Nick Fury’s promise to get the police off my back for a while.”
“Is this supposed to make you sound trustworthy?” Natasha asked.
“My point is, I had some time to study the Cube,” Felicia quickly added. “Got a sense of its inner workings. I could probably track it down if…”
“Excuse me,” Claire interrupted.
Natasha and Felicia glanced at her.
“As much as I love to watch two women in skintight black leather argue with one another, can we focus on my problems for a moment?”
Felicia stared at her. “And you are…?”
“I’m the woman who needs Elaine awake and free of police custody!” Claire said indignantly.
“Elaine? Oh…” Felicia glanced over at the bed. “You mean Scorpia. What happened to her?”
“Knockout darts,” Natasha replied. “I need information from her, but she’s fast asleep, and I don’t know any way to wake her up.”
At this, Felicia brightened. “I might know a way.”
She approached the bed. “I interrogated Scorpia once before. Just have to hit the right… note.”
She cleared her throat, and began to sing.
“Meeee-mories! All alone on the paaaave-ment!”
Natasha stared at her in shock.
“I remember a time I knew what happiness was…”
“What are…?” Claire started to ask.
The next moment, Scorpia’s eyes flew open.
Her hands immediately went to her ears. “Stop! Make it stop!”
She blinked, suddenly. “Wh… what?”
She looked around. “Where’s Yelena? And where’s my costume? And… where am I?”
Natasha turned to Felicia in shock. “How did you do that?”
Felicia shrugs. “Elaine hates my singing and she hates the music from Cats. There’s no amount of knockout darts that could make her sleep through that.”
Claire ran over and hugged Elaine. “You’re awake! I can’t believe it…”
“Hey, easy! My neck is sore…” Elaine rubbed the back of her head. Still, she couldn’t help smiling slightly at Claire’s embrace.
Then she noticed Black Widow standing over her. “Oh great. Come to finish what your blonde sidekick started?”
“Yelena is not my sidekick,” Natasha replied. “But I need to find her, and I have reason to believe she’s allied herself with your employer, Silver Sable. Do you know how to reach her?”
Elaine looked at Natasha in confusion. She then glanced at Claire, who nodded.
“Just give her what she wants… Maybe she’ll leave us alone.”
Elaine thought for a moment, then nodded. “Give me my phone.”
Claire handed over the special phone that Elaine used as part of Silver Sable Security. Elaine entered a few numbers and watched the screen.
She frowned. “That’s weird…”
“What is?” Natasha pressed.
“I’m not getting a signal from Sable… Usually she has a homing beacon that lets me triangulate her signal in case of danger, but… nothing. It’s like someone’s blocked it out.”
Natasha frowned. “This is serious. If my suspicions are correct, both Yelena and Silver Sable are in great danger.”
“Sounds like millions of people are in danger, if HYDRA has their hands on the Chaos Cube,” Felicia chimed in.
Natasha frowned at her. “You say you have a way of tracking the Cube?”
Felicia smiled. “I might.”
“And what do you want in return?”
“Well… it’d be nice if you and your fellow Avengers stopped harassing me for something that no one ever proved I did to the Wasp.”
Natasha fixed Felicia with a steely glare. For a moment, Felicia’s cool façade broke, and she looked uncomfortable.
Finally, Natasha nodded. “Deal. But only if you deliver.”
Felicia’s smiled returned. “I always deliver.”
Natasha headed for the window. “Then let’s go. Time is of the essence.”
She leaped out the window.
Felicia chuckled. “I like this woman already.”
She hurried to follow, jumping out the hospital room window herself.
Elaine and Claire were left alone, and somewhat surprised.
“Did the Black Widow just… forget about us?” Claire asked.
“She must think I’m not important enough to deal with,” Elaine replied. “Especially since I’m stuck in a hospital room and still feeling kinda woozy.”
Claire frowned. “Well, I came all this way, and I’m not stopping now. I’m getting you out of here.”
“How?” Elaine asked. “I’m stuck in a hospital gown, and there are SHIELD agents scattered all around the building. Did you bring my Scorpia suit?”
“Unfortunately, no… SHIELD must’ve confiscated that as well.” Claire brightened. “But don’t worry, I’ll get you some new clothes.”
She approached the door to the room and opened it.
The hallway right outside the room was empty. Another stroke of luck – Natasha had probably waved the nearby SHIELD guards away before entering the room. However, they were still likely guarding the lower floors. And unlike Black Widow and Black Cat, Claire wasn’t too skilled in the art of leaping windows and jumping rooftops.
Still, she wouldn’t need to be. The elevator at the end of the hallway pinged, and a nurse stepped out.
The nurse was a tall woman of average build, with an olive skin tone, black eyes, and stringy brown hair that was tied back into a bun. She wore dark green scrubs and white sneakers. A stethoscope was draped around her neck, and she wore a small gold cross necklace. Her nametag read “Sonya Focarile, RNS.”
Sonya was glancing at her clipboard as she strolled down the hall. Claire waved at her.
“Excuse me! Nurse. Over here, please!”
Sonya looked up, noticing Claire’s SHIELD uniform. “Agent? Is something wrong?”
“I need your help. Please hurry!”
Sonya approached the doorway. Claire stepped back and allowed her to enter the room.
The nurse was surprised to see Elaine sitting up in bed. “Oh! The doctors said you would sleep through the night…”
Elaine grinned. “I won’t. But you will.”
Claire looped an arm around Sonya’s neck, cutting off her oxygen.
Sonya struggled, kicking out in desperation. Her arms flailed wildly.
“Little help, babe?” Claire called. “She’s stronger than she looks.”
Elaine got out of bed and hurried over. She grabbed Sonya’s legs and lifted them off the ground.
The nurse could only struggle helplessly as her means of leverage disappeared. Her reflexes slowed, as did her breathing.
Finally, she flopped limply unconscious in the arms of her two muggers.
Claire smiled. “That was a lame quip. ‘I won’t, but you will’.”
“Hey, I’m still woozy from the drugs. Write your own material.”
Then Elaine looked down at Sonya. “So, I suppose I get to play nurse?”
They carried the sleeping Sonya over to the bed and liberated her of her scrubs and sneakers.
Beneath the uniform, Sonya wore a plain eggshell-white triangle bra and matching briefs. A bit of pink trimming along the panties was the only color.
“Guess we’ll cover her up to preserve her boring underwear,” Claire chuckled.
Elaine gave her an odd look. “And you say my quips are lame…”
She dressed quickly in Sonya’s uniform. Meanwhile, Claire used some white medical gauze to bind and gag the real nurse, then covered her beneath the bed’s blanket. Anyone glancing in the room would assume that Elaine was still in her bed, fast asleep.
“Time to get out of here,” Claine announced as she finished tucking the real nurse in.
Elaine looped the stethoscope around her neck. “I want my suit.”
Claire nodded. The very thought of seeing Elaine in her figure-hugging Scorpia suit again made little hearts dance before her eyes.
“We’ll get my suit back,” Elaine continued as they exited the room. “And then we need to find the boss.”
Claire nodded. “I’ll send out a bulletin to all members of Silver Sable Security.”
******************
Veronica’s passcode did the trick.
Within minutes, Yelena and Silver Sable were walking through the laboratories deep in the bowels of HYDRA’s headquarters.
“Keep an eye out,” Sable whispered as they passed a row of doors. “The Cube could very well be in one of these rooms…”
“It could be in any of those rooms, too,” Yelena nodded ahead at a set of doors further down the hall. “We can’t go around snooping everywhere. We need a quick way to…”
She was interrupted by the sound of a woman’s scream.
Yelena and Silvija exchanged a glance. The scream had come from one of the experimental rooms they were passing.
They peeked through a crack in the door.
The room was filled with an abundance of scientific equipment – test tubes and beakers and various electronic devices. But the most eye-catching aspect of the room was right in the middle: a metal table, to which was strapped a frightened-looking young woman.
The woman appeared to be about twenty years old, with light skin, a cherubic face, and dark shoulder-length hair. She wore nothing apart from a set of HYDRA-themed bra and panties, similar to the ones worn by Betty.
The only other occupant in the room was a female scientist, who was currently in the process of filling a syringe with a glowing green liquid.
The scientist was a tall and slender Indian woman, with tanned skin and black hair tied into a single long braid which draped over her right shoulder. She wore a white lab coat over a long black dress and black slip-on shoes. Gold earrings dangled from her ears, and a pearl necklace encircled her neck. She wore a bangle on each wrist – a smooth one on the left, a ribbed one on the right.
“Please,” the young captive begged. “Please let me go… I’m so sorry.”
The scientist chuckled. “Don’t be so upset, Camilla… Most girls your age would love to be in your position. Just think, if this experiment goes as planned, you’ll have superpowers!”
She squinted at the syringe. “And if it doesn’t go as planned… well, HYDRA has appreciated your service.”
From the doorway, Sable’s eyes narrowed.
“I recognize that woman in the lab coat… Dr. Nitika Gaiha. She worked for Orchis – had a hand in developing their biological weaponry.” Sable frowned. “She must have escaped when Orchis collapsed… Joined ranks with HYDRA to continue her twisted experiments.”
Yelena wasn’t really listening. She was watching as Camilla squirmed helplessly on the table, as Dr. Gaiha approached her.
“Please… I just want to go home, please…”
“The Cube’s not in here,” Sable whispered to Yelena. “Let’s go.”
But Yelena didn’t budge.
She stared at Camilla, the frightened young woman who was, to HYDRA’s mind, little more than a pawn.
Dr. Gaiha brought the needle close to Camilla’s neck. “Hold still, dear, this will only hurt for a moment…”
The door burst open.
A startled Dr. Gaiha looked up to see Yelena standing in the doorway, brandishing a gun.
“Drop it,” Yelena snarled.
“But… who are…?”
“I said drop it… unless you’d rather inject yourself with it,” Yelena replied. “Frankly, I don’t care either way. But don’t you dare lay a finger on that girl.”
Dr. Gaiha set the syringe down and raised her hands.
Sable entered the room. “Yelena, what are you…?”
“Help that girl get free,” Yelena replied, gesturing to Camilla.
Sable glanced back and forth from the scientist to Camilla to Yelena. She looked like she was about to argue.
But she stopped herself upon seeing the expression on Yelena’s face.
She drew a chai from her belt and approached Camilla. The scared young woman shrank back, before it finally dawned on her that the Sable – despite her disguise – was not a HYDRA agent, and that she intended to cut the ropes which bound her.
Ten minutes later, and it was an angry Dr. Gaiha who found herself bound, strapped to the very table on which she had previously trapped Camilla. The Orchis-turned-HYDRA scientist lay on her back against the cold metal, her wrists and ankles secured with brown leather straps, while a strip of white adhesive tape covered her mouth. She wore nothing apart from a black bandeau bra and purple high-cut panties.
Camilla’s facial expression was calm, almost docile, as she eased her feet into the scientist’s black shoes. She had already donned Dr. Gaiha’s black dress and white lab coat.
Granted, the clothes were a little big on her, but there was nothing else readily available, and Yelena had wanted to calm Camilla’s nerves by dressing her as quickly as possible.
“Thank you,” Camilla said softly. “You saved my life.”
“No girl deserves to be treated that way,” Yelena replied. “As an experiment, as a… test subject.”
The very thought of it brought up memories – long-suppressed memories of a brief, unfortunate period from her time in the Red Room.
She quickly pushed these memories back to the rear of her mind. She couldn’t let that cloud her judgment… Her loyalty was still with her mother country. It had to be.
“Who are you?” Sable asked Camilla. “What was this… doctor… planning to do with you?”
“I’m… a HYDRA agent,” Camilla explained. “Or… I was. I failed Madame Hydra, and she decided to teach me a lesson by turning me into one of the group’s… test subjects.” She shuddered. “If you hadn’t come along…”
“Let this be a lesson,” Sable interjected. “If your own boss was willing to turn on you, maybe you should choose a different career.”
“Let her be,” Yelena cut in. “Can’t you see how scared she is?”
Sable found Yelena’s defense of Camilla intriguing. “All right. But she’s safe now. Can we get back to business? We need to find that Cube!”
“Right, right.” Yelena thought for a moment, then turned to Camilla. “How well do you know these corridors?”
Camilla looked surprised for a moment. “Er.. pretty well, I think. Why?”
“Because we need someone to guide us around. And since the good doctor over there…” She glanced over at Nitika, who growled behind her gag. “…has her own problems to deal with, I’d say you’re the only one we have.”
Camilla nodded. “Okay.”
“Good,” Sable interjected. “Now let’s hurry up. This visor is starting to irritate me.”
The three women exited the lab office and shut the door, leaving Nitika to struggle against her bonds.
“Which way to the HYDRA vault?” Sable asked. “They’ve got to have one of those around.”
Camilla pointed towards a corridor on the left. “That way.”
Yelena and Sable immediately began walking, with Camilla a few paces behind.
“Aren’t you glad we rescued her?” Yelena whispered.
“What possessed you to stop and help that girl, Belova?” Sable asked. “You don’t strike me as the empathetic type…”
“Maybe there’s more to me than you think,” Yelena replied. “The important thing is that we’ve found someone we can trus—”
Her words were interrupted by the sound of a blaring siren.
Whirling, Yelena and Sable saw Camilla standing next to the wall, her hand pressed firmly against an intruder alarm.
“What are you doing?!” Yelena was mortified.
Camilla grinned wickedly. “I’m getting back in Madame Hydra’s good graces.”
Yelena seized her by the collar. “We saved your life! This is how you show your loyalty?!”
“I am loyal to nothing,” Camilla replied stoically, “except to the organization that exists to throw the world order into chaos. Hail HYDRA!”
Silvija grabbed Yelena’s shoulder. “We need to go. Now!”
“Better listen to your friend,” Camilla cackled. “You’re living on borrowed time.”
Yelena punched Camilla in the face, sending the girl to the floor. The HYDRA agent was laughing even as blood ran down her nose.
“Belova, we need to run!”
She ran. Yelena ran, her head swimming, a mix of anger and shock and betrayal. She could hear Silver Sable beside her, ordering her to find an exit, but her vision was clouded.
It was only a matter of moments before six HYDRA agents brandishing very deadly-looking weapons were upon them. “FREEZE!”
They were surrounded. Instinctively, Sable reached for one of her chais… but a gunshot a hairsbreadth from her hand made her think twice.
“Drop your weapons and get down on the floor! You are now prisoners of HYDRA!”
Yelena’s ears were ringing… or maybe that was the alarm. She tried to think, tried to clear her head… but all she registered was the blur of motion as the butt of a gun sped towards her face. Then everything went dark.
I love how you built on the gag Claire has a weakness for girls in skintight body-suits to give her more personality.
(Must be because I usually write this kind of comments in several go, and keep editing them afterwards. I probably wrote the beginning of my idea, moved on to something else, and forgot to finish that part.) What I wanted to comment is that the epilogue of Circus Tricks (during which Felicia steals the Beetle Armor) is a bit vague when it comes to the timeline, but it's supposed to take place a few days or even weeks after the events of Circus Tricks - "some time later" to quote the exact sentence - whereas the Black Widow saga takes place in the immediate aftermath of Circus Tricks. So technically all the Black Widow arc takes place before Felicia steals the armor. (Granted the detail doesn't change much in the grand scheme of things, since neither Janice nor the Beetle Armor will play a key role in the plot, as they were just an excuse to rope Felicia into the plot. The situation would've played out the same had Felicia been wearing her usual costume.)
