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(no subject)

Who: Natasha Romanoff
Broadcast: Fleedwide
Action: Iskaulit to start with
When: 16 Nov

Video

[The broadcast is brief and obviously accidental. A young girl's face appears on screen, confused and tense, then almost at once her brows draw down and together in an intense frown. Her expression is dark and thoughtful as the feed shakes, then cuts out entirely.

For those paying attention, the corridors off the Islaulit can be identified behind her before the transmission ends.]

Action

[When she wakes up, a young Natasha finds herself in what appears to be a small dance studio. Unfamiliar, but not too shocking. The mirror, the barre, the wood flooring, are all things she's accustomed to. It isn't where she expects to be, but it is somewhere she would expect to wake up in a general sense, in a general way.

Waking up somewhere strange isn't completely shocking either.

It's not until she ventures out into the rest of the Iskaulit that she starts feeling out of her depth. She can't place where she is, even where she might be. There's no outside. The structures are nothing like she's scene before. The computers are completely alien to her. The people are worse. She avoids them, of course. At least at first. Sneaking through shadows and hidden corners, in ducts if she's lucky enough to find access. She observes what she can, trying to work together the situation as she can, applying what training she can. But how much she can do is limited.

Tiny spy is out of her depth.

Which is what forces her to come out of hiding. (Maybe that was the point?)

When she finally lets herself be approached, she's already determined to put on a lost, scared face. It's for the best. That way people will underestimate her. Trust her more. It's a good plan.

The expression might not be entirely fake, though, and she can't entirely hide her suspicious skittishness. The end effect isn't entirely unlike a stray cat begging for food.]

((OOC: Augment glitch? Come play with smol murder ballerina.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

What kind of negative effect?

[She doesn't like that. Doesn't like the idea of someone in her head, putting information there or changing her perceptions.

The aversion shows.]

« Temporary insanity. The last person who tried fainted before it could be dislodged. »

[ Needless to say, even in his most negative of moments, he's never attempted it himself, although the thought did pass through his mind after the glitch. ]

[Natasha makes a huffing sound. She can't argue with that being a strong deterrent.]

So that's it? We sit around biding our time? We can't escape and we can't get our kidnappers out of our heads?

« Not an ideal situation, but there are worse to be had. »

[ He gives her a pointed look. The Red Room and HYDRA's programs aren't for the faint of heart, and most don't make it through. ]

[The pointed look isn't lost on her, though its meaning might be. She considers it's implications, once again wondering if this is a test? A challenge?]

[ Everything is a test. Even the things that don't seem like tests are always one in disguise. ]

« Have you run into any civilians, yet? »

And people who claim to be.

[At least some of them really have been, though.]

I've run into spies too.

Edited 2016-12-22 22:47 (UTC)

« I'm sure you have. The Fleet is full of all kinds. »

[ Witches, over-powered soldiers, spies, vampires, regular people.. ]

I am sure it is.

[One more reason not to trust it.

After another short pause.]

Did you bring me here for a fight?

[ His brow goes up, and Bucky's head tilts to one side curiously. ]

« It's quiet and there is a lack of people. I don't need to fight you. »

[ Doesn't need to, but there's always a want to stretch his abilities. Not that there's much stretch fighting a child. She's not an ordinary child, though. ]

[She's not an ordinary child, and she seems to find it hard to believe that's all. No ulterior motives. No tricks.]

That is a strange answer. It doesn't mean you won't.

« I'm not about to control your decisions. »

[ If she attacks him, sure, he'll put her in her place. If she doesn't, it's just as well. ]

[She's thinking about it. She's really thinking about it. If only to prove that this isn't all a bluff. Her response is a huff, snide in a way that would normally get her punished.]

That would be a first.

[ He does nothing more than raise an eyebrow at her with a tilt of his head. ]

« Join the club. They're not here to control you. It takes time to sink in, but it's true. »

[Perhaps it really is true. Natasha can't believe it, though. She's sure there's someone watching, someone judging her performance here.

When she decides to attack, she tells herself it's because this has to be a test. Because they have to be seeing how she'll respond to the temptation of freedom—and because she doesn't think he believes that they have those choices either.

That's her reasoning, and it's a convenient cover for the fact there's frustration behind her when she lunges at him, throwing her small body at his head and trying to pull him off balance toward his bionic arm. If she's right about it being out of commission, it might give her an advantage.

She needs all the advantage she can get.]

[ Child, please. He's only taken by surprise for half a second, but she's already trying to use his weight and decommissioned arm against him. He'll let her pull him down, instead of trying to fight the fall, he goes with it, aiming to throw her off balance, too.

Even with one arm, grappling will be easy enough. She may find that he's a lot stronger than he looks, and he can definitely take more than a few punches from a teenage warrior. All he really has to do is get her pinned. ]

[Natasha may have made a tactical miscalculation. She was right about his arm at least, but she wasn't expecting him to be as tough as he is, and while she's good at this for a child, she doesn't have the experience or the efficiency yet that she'll show as an adult.

She does fight like an ally cat, doing all she can to avoid getting caught. It won't last but... she wasn't necessarily expecting to win anyway.]

[ Yeah, sorry. Supersoldiers aren't known for being delicate, a hard fact Natasha is learning in the moment. He doesn't expect anything less than her fighting for her life as if her passing the test depended on it. ]

« You're going to get hurt. Stop it. »

[ It takes longer than it normally would, the arm only serving as a cumbersome weight, but he does get her pinned. ]

[She makes him work for it, right up until the point where it's clear she's lost.

She stills then, but it's tense. She's not sure what's going to happen next.]

I'm not afraid of getting hurt.

[ He expects nothing less of a Black Widow- they're not ones to take being beaten lightly. Or at all, but really at her age, she's no real match. ]

« Maybe you should be. Don't be too quick to judge your advantage. »

Why? I wasn't wrong.

[She wasn't right either, obviously. But his arm is out of commission. The strategy was good.]

« And how did it work out for you? »

[ It wasn't a bad strategy, but she was clearly not expecting the strength that didn't match his build and the clear disability. ]

[Her chin comes up, defiant despite her position.]

I'm not dead, am I?

[And she doesn't expect him to actually hurt her. Maybe she misjudged his strength, but she doesn't think she misread that.]

« No. What about the next time? »

[ When it's not him and it's not a test. Bucky gets up, taking a few steps away, though he continues to pace. Keeps moving if she tries it again. When she tries again. ]

[She watches him, staying down when he walks away. She's not done. Especially not when he asks her that way. It feels like a lesson, and it's easy to let him be a teacher. He's much like her teachers.

Though he's been kinder than most of them.

Now she knows what she's dealing with.]

Next time, I'll know how strong you are. And how much you can take a hit. I'll account for it.