Smith leaned back in his chair, his tone carrying casual curiosity. "These chemical compounds, they can't control people through simple air exposure, can they?"
Melina shook her head firmly. "Not even close. If airborne transmission worked, Dreykov would already control half the planet."
She gestured toward her tablet. "The conditioning requires surgical implantation. Neural interfaces installed directly into the brain's basal ganglia. Which means as long as Dreykov can incapacitate someone, knock them unconscious, sedate them, capture them, he can make them his."
John Wick's expression darkened. "That's terrifyingly efficient. You could compromise entire organizations that way."
Smith's response came utterly unbothered. "If that's the extent of it, then there's nothing to worry about. I'll handle them when the time comes."
Melina stared at him, trying to reconcile his casual dismissal with the reality of facing dozens or hundreds of chemically-controlled super-assassins. Even Alexei, enhanced by super-soldier serum, would die if sufficiently outnumbered and overwhelmed.
Alexei stood abruptly. "Melina, can I speak with you privately? Just for a moment."
He moved toward the bedroom without waiting for acknowledgment. Melina hesitated, then followed, closing the door behind them.
Left in the living room, Smith turned to Natasha. "You've met the people you needed to meet. Confirmed the information I provided was accurate. So let's stop wasting time with reconnaissance and planning."
His voice carried quiet authority. "We assault the Red Room directly. Extract your sister Yelena. Eliminate Dreykov. No elaborate infiltration, no drawn-out operation."
Natasha considered the proposal, then nodded slowly. "I'll need to determine the base's location first. Once we have coordinates, we move immediately."
Smith's smile carried knowing amusement. "You're not planning to notify SHIELD?"
Natasha's eye roll was eloquent. "Do you think I can trust them after everything we've learned? Who knows what other operations they've compromised or enabled? I'm starting to seriously suspect SHIELD provided Dreykov with the neurological research in the first place."
She gestured toward where Melina had gone. "Did you hear her earlier? The Red Room's operations in America apparently rival their Russian presence. That doesn't happen without support."
In the bedroom, Alexei described Smith's rescue in vivid detail, the bullets bouncing off harmlessly, the flight without visible propulsion, the blasts that vaporized fortified positions. He painted a picture of capabilities that defied conventional understanding.
Melina listened with growing incredulity. "Are you experiencing some kind of post-imprisonment psychosis? Or are you deliberately trying to deceive me?"
"I'm completely serious," Alexei insisted. "I don't know Smith Doyle's background. Don't know if he's affiliated with SHIELD or operates independently. But tell me, in all your years conducting Red Room operations across the globe, have you ever encountered a human being with capabilities like I've described?"
Melina shook her head slowly. "Never. Not even rumors of something similar."
"Then we have a choice to make," Alexei said. "Last time, I chose to follow Dreykov. He rewarded that loyalty by imprisoning me. This time, I'm choosing to believe Natasha. And I'm telling you, Smith Doyle is invincible."
Melina studied his face, searching for deception or delusion. "You're absolutely certain your description isn't exaggerated?"
Alexei thought back to Smith's casual comment about the avalanche, how stopping it would've been simple, just not worth the environmental damage. "My description probably captures less than one percent of his true power. And I don't think he's SHIELD at all."
He leaned forward. "I could sense it, when they heard SHIELD's name, both Smith and John Wick showed indifference. Almost contempt. Like the organization was beneath their notice."
Melina absorbed that, her strategic mind working through implications. If Alexei was telling the truth, if this Smith Doyle really possessed power on the scale described, then maybe destroying the Red Room wasn't suicidal fantasy after all.
"Organizations like the Red Room shouldn't exist," she said finally. "They corrupt everything they touch. But..." She paused, choosing words carefully. "An operation this significant can't remain secret. Half the intelligence community will know within days. Are you prepared for that kind of exposure?"
"Better exposure than letting Dreykov continue." Alexei's voice carried absolute conviction. "We're doing this."
They returned to the living room, settling back into their seats. Melina fixed Natasha with a serious look. "You want to know where Dreykov operates? Where you can find him to kill him?"
Natasha nodded. "I'm going to kill him. Dismantle the Red Room completely."
Melina's gaze shifted to Smith Doyle, reassessing him with everything Alexei had told her. Bulletproof skin, flight capability, energy projection rivaling rocket launchers. What kind of enhancement produced results like that? What serum or procedure could create something so far beyond the Red Guardian?
But regardless of the mechanism, if he truly possessed that power, then maybe, just maybe, Dreykov's evil could finally be ended.
"Dreykov's base isn't on land," Melina said. "He operates from a sky fortress. An entire facility hidden in the clouds, constantly moving to avoid detection."
She pulled up data on her tablet. "I was there recently, left less than a week ago. I can provide approximate coordinates, but the base won't stay in that location long. The longer we delay, the less accurate my intelligence becomes."
Natasha's mind immediately conjured SHIELD's helicarrier, the massive flying aircraft carrier she'd glimpsed during classified briefings. If the Red Room possessed similar technology, then SHIELD's involvement seemed even more certain.
If anyone tried to tell her now that the Red Room had no connection to SHIELD, she'd laugh in their face.
"How do we infiltrate a flying fortress?" Natasha asked.
Melina smiled slightly. "I have a method. Simple, actually. I report to Dreykov that I've captured you. Given his obsession with you, the Black Widow who escaped, who defected to his enemies, he'll absolutely dispatch extraction teams immediately."
She gestured between herself and Natasha. "We swap appearances. You disguise yourself as me, I disguise myself as you. They take 'Natasha' to the base for conditioning surgery, except it's actually me. Meanwhile, you infiltrate using my identity and clearances."
Her expression turned grim. "But there's a problem. You've been exposed to Dreykov's chemical conditioning before, Natasha. Even if it's worn off over the years, residual compounds remain in your system. The moment you're in close proximity to him, those compounds will reactivate. You won't be able to harm him directly, your body will refuse to obey."
Smith interrupted before Melina could elaborate further. "We're not using infiltration. It's unnecessarily complicated and puts Natasha in a compromised position."
He looked at Melina directly. "Just give me the approximate coordinates. That's all I need."
Melina glanced at Natasha questioningly.
"Listen to him," Natasha said. "If Smith says there's a better way, there's a better way."
Melina processed that blind faith, then nodded slowly. "My original plan involved placing a tracking beacon on whoever infiltrated, allowing backup to fly directly to the base's location. If your flight altitude and range are sufficient..." She paused. "But you're suggesting something more direct. A surprise assault rather than infiltration?"
"Exactly," Smith confirmed.
Melina pulled up a map on her tablet, marking a region of airspace over the Ural Mountains. "Last known position was here. The base moves on a circuit, but it stays within this general area for operational reasons, proximity to supply lines, communication relay stations, defensive positioning."
She highlighted the zone. "Your search area is approximately two hundred kilometers in diameter. The fortress hides in cloud cover, usually between six and eight thousand meters altitude. Visual detection will be extremely difficult."
What Melina couldn't know, couldn't imagine, was that Smith didn't need visual confirmation. The Scouter could scan that entire volume in minutes. At high altitude, the concentration of power signatures above baseline would make the Red Room facility stand out like a beacon.
Forty-point signatures clustered in the sky? That was his target.
Smith stood. "Then we have everything we need. Prepare whatever equipment you're bringing. We leave within the hour."
Melina stared at him, trying to reconcile his casual confidence with the magnitude of the task. But Alexei was already moving toward the armory, and Natasha's expression carried absolute certainty.
Maybe, just maybe, the Red Room's reign of horror was about to end.
And maybe SHIELD would finally face consequences for whatever role they'd played in enabling that horror to continue.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Writing takes time, coffee, and a lot of love.If you'd like to support my work, join me at [email protected]/GoldenGaruda
You'll get early access to over 50 chapters, selection on new series, and the satisfaction of knowing your support directly fuels more stories.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~