Vienna, Austria

Spring 2015

Even as she pulled her headphones out, keys already in her hand, Nina was tugging her phone from her pocket to check—again—for any missed messages or calls.

Still nothing.

Not that there realistically would have been anything anyway.

When her mom had texted her the night before, she had said it might be a couple days. And when she said that, it usually was a couple days before Nina heard from her again. It was the way things were with her mom. But that never stopped Nina from hoping to hear from her anyway. She couldn't help it. Nina and her mom were all the other had. It had been that way for as long as she could remember. No matter that Nadine always insisted there was nothing to worry about, Nina couldn't help but worry.

And it was always the worst in the first twenty-four hours.

With a sigh she tucked her phone back into the back pocket of her jeans—again—before letting herself into the front foyer of the apartment building she and her mom had lived in for the past several years.

For the longest time, Nina had believed they would never stay in the same place for long. The pair of them had moved around Europe every year or so, bouncing around wherever her mom found work. It wasn't until Nadine had made the decision to open up her dance studio that they had finally settled down. Not that Nina's mom ever really seemed settled. She was always moving around, taking trips and travelling for work. Her mom was a restless soul, Nina had decided, no matter that she never really seemed happy about it. She was always happiest when she came home to Nina and the little life they'd made in Vienna.

But as much as Nina liked living in one place, part of her had begun to miss the excitement of moving around too. She'd never really been one to connect deeply with kids her own age. She'd just never felt like she belonged among them, even before she reached her angsty teenaged years. It was probably, in part at least, because of all the moving when she'd been young, which certainly hadn't helped. It wasn't like she wasn't capable of making friends. She just never seemed to really connect with any of the kids she grew even marginally close to. She was certainly far more naturally friendly and easy-going than her mom. In her whole life, she wasn't sure she'd ever really noticed Nadine having any actual 'friends'. Colleagues, maybe, friendly acquaintances, but no close friends. Not even any boyfriends. Her mom was, when left to her own devices, a very private and solitary person. But then in a blink she could be the most personable, charming and friendly person Nina had ever met.

She supposed her own ability to 'turn on' her own friendliness whether she wanted to be personable or not was something she'd inherited from Nadine, or at least picked up. As easygoing and friendly as Nina could be herself, she still preferred solitude or her mom's company. It was normal for her.

It was safe.

Her mom made her feel safe. It was an odd feeling that had followed her around ever since she was a child. She only ever felt truly safe around her mom. Even capable as she was of taking care of herself—Nadine had made absolutely certain of that early on—it was a feeling that never entirely diminished save when she was with her mom. Perhaps it came from the fact that her mom had been the only real constant in her life. Who knew?

As she reached the floor their apartment was on, Nina was already flicking through her keys for the right one to unlock the front door, letting her backpack fall from her shoulder to the crook of her elbow as she put the key in the lock, her other hand reaching around to pull out her phone again.

But just as she was about to turn the key in the lock, the back of her neck was abruptly prickling as the sound of unfamiliar footsteps sounded behind her. Unease was suddenly flooding through her as the bottom seemed to drop out of her stomach, a distant, anxious part of her mind recognizing that the footsteps belonged to at least three different men. It also recognized that they were closing in on her.

Turning, her eyes confirmed what her ears had told her, flicking between three men in dark, nondescript clothing that neither drew attention nor would hinder any movement. With a flash of apprehension, she realized she hadn't heard them follow her up...meaning they had been waiting for her. Panic flared through Nina, and with a jerk she swung her bag around into the face of the man stepping closer. With a grumbling sound, he batted the backpack away, snatching hold of it and wrenching it from her hand. As he did, Nina's muscles were already coiling to make a run for it.

But before she could even take the first step, a large hand was closing around her upper arm, the grip painfully tight as another of the men yanked her almost off her feet as he pulled her closer to him. With a dull, cracking thud, her phone fell to the floor.

With the efficiency of those who had done this before, the other two men immediately turned for the stairs Nina had just climbed, one looking around warily as he covered their exit, the other grabbing hold of Nina's other arm, helping to speed her along, making Nina's attempts to drag her feet pointless.

No matter the desperate protests and anxious questions falling from her mouth, they paid her little mind, seemingly unconcerned that someone could hear them kidnapping her—they were kidnapping her!—save a hard shake to unbalance her so she would stop dragging her feet and start down the stairs.

If anything, that made her even more fearful. What kind of kidnappers weren't concerned with being caught in the act? Her heart thrummed with terror, feeling like it was about to hammer right up her throat.

Every instinct in Nina screamed to resist, but as they tugged her down the stairs, she forced herself to hold off, the small voice in the back of her head that sounded an awful lot like her mother reminding her to be smart, to plan...to take advantage.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs and ducked around to head for the back of the building, Nina caught sight of a dark SUV waiting outside as the third man went ahead of them to prop open the door. It was then that the man to Nina's left let out a half-hearted huff, glancing over to his companion over Nina's head.

"For all that we were cautioned about this one, she really isn't putting up much of a fight. You're sure this is the one we're after? I was expecting, well, more." Nina nearly bristled, but she forced herself to remain calm, working on getting her still racing pulse back under control. She needed to keep her head. On her other side, the first man harrumphed, glancing down at Nina with an expression bordering on disdain. She could only look back at him with wide, frightened eyes...not entirely affected. But as he looked away, he appeared to relax minutely, the tension across his shoulders loosening as he answered his friend.

It was what she'd been waiting for.

"He said the girl, so we got the girl. Why he wants her or what he's intending to do with her once we get her back to the base is—" With a sharp jerk, Nina had twisted herself free from one hard grip and, turning under the second guy's arm, whirled to slam a hard kick into the back of his knee before using all of her weight to shove him into the wall to their right.

They should have done their homework. At her mother's insistence, Nina had been learning a range of martial arts and self-defence skills since she was a kid—her mom had always insisted she know how to defend herself. And she was good; she was fast and she was stronger than she looked. She was no helpless little girl.

Neither of her captors had been expecting it. In a heartbeat she was free of both of them, spinning to land a hard knee to the first guy's sternum. With a wheeze, he doubled over. She was already turning back to the second guy again, landing a dazing kick across his face.

But she'd almost forgotten about the third guy. As she turned and made to dash for the stairs back up to the main foyer, another set of arms closed around her torso, pinning her arms and nearly lifting her off the ground, startling a surprised gasp from Nina. But being grabbed from behind was nearly the first lesson from Self-Defence 101. She instantly let her body go loose, dropping like a stone in the guy's grip. Predictably, the move unbalanced him, and before he could recover Nina was twisting again, shimmying her arm free to elbow him sharply in the face. His nose cracked loudly in the enclosed hall, and almost immediately blood started pouring from it. With a pained bellow, his arms loosened further, one instinctively flying up to his face. It was enough that Nina was able to wrench herself free and bolt back toward the front of the building, vaulting over the second guy where he was still slumped on the ground.

She almost made it too, but not before the first guy had recovered enough to come at her again.

Around her, her would-be kidnappers were starting to growl and bark at each other, but Nina paid what they were saying little mind, instead focusing wholly on getting away. If she could just get out the front door, she could lose them in the maze-like streets and alleys of the part of the city where she and her mom lived.

But getting away meant trying to keep track of and escape three grown, highly-trained men who were more than likely mercenaries of some kind. All of whom were trying to grab her.

She'd had the element of surprise at first, but that wasn't going to last much longer. She needed to get away as quickly as possible.

Dodging out of the way before lashing out with another sharp kick, she held off the first guy long enough to duck past the third's second attempt to grab her, making another bid to escape.

But then a hand latched around her ankle, wrenching it out from under her. With a startled cry, Nina went down, her teeth snapping together even as she landed hard on the floor, forearms and elbows skidding painfully across the roughened tiles. As the second guy grabbed at her again, his grip pinching at her leg as he just barely missed getting a hold, Nina pushed herself around with a mewl of pain, kicking awkwardly out at him. Somehow, she managed to catch him across the face, causing him to jerk back, letting go of her ankle. In an instant she was scrambling up again, barely noticing the ache that burned up her arms thanks to the adrenaline surging through her.

Just as she was reaching her feet, one of them managed to grab her again, his hand snarling in her jacket. It pulled another cry from Nina as she was wrenched backward again, throwing her off balance, making her head spin, as the third guy yanked her arm back behind her even as his other arm clamped around her shoulders.

As he did, the first guy was righting himself to come at her from the front. Grabbing onto the third guy's arms and using his grip on her for leverage, she swung her legs up to drive them into the first guy's chest. It was an awkward kick, her legs not quite making it where she had aimed, but it was effective nonetheless. Then it was a matter of throwing her weight forward as best she could, her swinging legs helping to strain her captor's grip on her. It was just enough to loosen his hold and she was determinedly twisting free again, forcibly ignoring the way she stumbled as her feet landed on the uneven floor again...she hadn't noticed the floor being so uneven before.

As she staggered upright, she fought against the sudden wave of dizziness that threatened to disorient her; she must have hit her head when the one guy pulled her feet out from under her, she thought absently. But she couldn't think on it for more than a split-second as another one of them came at her; she couldn't quite tell which one, he was moving too fast, blurring before her eyes. She just barely managed to dodge out of his grasping reach, overbalancing to land on her hands and knees as she did so. Regaining her feet was difficult this time, sending a surge of panic through her. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Blinking rapidly to try and clear her suddenly fuzzy head, she lashed out again at the shape she saw coming at her out of the corner of her eye. But her hours—months...years, really—of training were beginning to devolve as her limbs no longer seemed to be doing quite what she wanted them to.

It wasn't enough as one of them grabbed her again, one hand clenched around her wrist as the other locked around her waist. Beginning to grow desperate as terror flooded through her at the way she was suddenly incapable of properly fighting back, Nina resorted to clawing and kicking wildly at the man holding her, writhing and twisting as she struggled to get free. The haze beginning to seep across her senses was beginning to grow stronger, but she wasn't about to give up. She needed to get away. She had to!

The man holding her bellowed as her nails managed to swipe harshly across his cheek as she twisted again in his grip. With a snarl he jerked her around, landing an awkward blow against the side of her head even as a sharp prick glanced into her neck. One of the other men was laughing, but Nina could barely see straight enough to figure out which one, though she still scrabbled desperately against the arm clamped around her torso.

"No wonder Strucker wants this one," one of them laughed, his voice seeming to waver in and out of range even as Nina finally realized she'd been drugged, "one dose is usually enough to knock a grown man on their ass, and here this little wisp of a girl is still fighting against a second." The one holding her nearly growled at his companion's amusement. Nina snarled as she felt herself beginning to move, struggling as hard as she could even though her wavering consciousness made it hard to focus.

"Strong too," the other offered, his voice faintly garbled, "Def'nitly not a normal girl. I know men in our unit who don't hit as hard." The first one that had spoken chuckled humourlessly even as Nina felt her awareness slipping away as whatever they'd dosed her with finally managed to do its work.

"Well, I suppose we shouldn't really be surprised; Strucker did say she was likely Enhanced."

And Nina's world went dark.

A/N: Thanks for reading!

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