"No!" I screeched, running over to Maria's body.  "Why did you do that?"  S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't on our side, but killing one of their agents was just inhumane and... evil!  Hydra was pure evil.  Tears poured down my cheeks as I searched frantically for where the bullets hit her body.  But, I found no blood.  Confused I felt the agent's chest, but nothing red and cold stained my fingers.  "...What?" I gasped, confused.

A hand softly touched my shoulder.  Oliver's deep blue eyes met mine as he said, "Elissa, it was just tranquilizers."

"Tranquilizers?" I repeated.

Oliver explained, "Meant to knock her out for a while, she won't remember what happened."

Lifting my head up, I questioned, "She's not dead?"

"No, Elissa," Ollie answered.  "But we have to hurry if we want to get out before her associates find her.  The Hydra officer managed to hack into her phone- he found the location of their hotel."

"Where is it?"

Oliver grinned and said, "It's ours.  They've been under our noses this whole time!  Room two-zero-seven."

"We have to report back to Hydra," our pretend father said.  He placed the phone near Maria.  "Let's go," the officer ordered, so we snuck out a back exit of the gala, and were met with the frigid, frosty air, and a black limousine awaiting our arrival.  The back door opened for us and we were met with Rumlow, dressed for combat.  I was always a bit scared of him ever since he stabbed me with that stick on my 'initiation' night, so sitting across from Rumlow felt quite threatening.  I tried to scrunch my body up against the side of the car, as far from Rumlow as possible.  Oliver, who was sitting next to me, clutched my hand and mouthed, "It's okay,"  Instantly, I felt a bit calmer.  Luckily, Rumlow was oblivious to all of this, as he was banging on our limo to tell the chauffeur to start driving.  I took advantage of this, and held onto Oliver's hand as long as possible.

Once we were off, Rumlow didn't hesitate to make conversation.  "Well done, Officer Becker," he chuckled, giving our fake father a name.  "And of course, kids- we couldn't have done it without you."  

My first praise from Hydra, I thought, and a sly smile crept across my face.  For some reason it felt good to be complimented, even if it was from the most malice organization on the planet.  

"What's our next plan of attack?" Becker inquired, drawing my attention back to the task at hand.

Rumlow looked at Oliver and I.  "You two are done for now," he said.  "The other spies are going to handle it from here.  I expect you to be packed and ready to return to the base at o-seven hundred."

Leave?  I wasn't ready to leave, I had only tasted luxury and freedom for a few short hours!  An impulsive thought told me to protest, but a gentle squeeze of my hand from Ollie told me to stay quiet.  For the entire car ride back to the hotel, I stared glumly out the window.  

The city seemed to light up in the dark of night, and the towering skyscrapers were purely mesmerizing to look at.  It brought a lump to my throat to think of how I would have to say goodbye to all of these tomorrow morning for who knows how long?  When the car stopped, I dragged myself up the stairs and inside my hotel room willingly, although I was actually at gunpoint.  The pretty princess dress along with my heels came off, and I folded them neatly in my suitcase.  I decided to leave the hair that Lara did for me, though, because I wanted to remind myself of this night.  Once that was all over, I gazed out the window of my hotel room at the city of lights.  "I felt pretty tonight, Papa." I whispered, glancing up at the sky illuminated by a full moon.  A small smile crept across my lips as I told my father, "I had fun, it was great,"  All of me yearned so much to see him again.  

A tear trickled down my cheek as I choked, "Ich liebe dich, Papa." 

I wanted a reply, but I was not expecting to get one.  My name was called, but the voice sounded hollow and far away.  However, I was startled and cried out, "Papa?"  I whirled around my room, half expecting to find a ghost with my father's face to appear, but no one else was there.  Then, I heard a soft knock, coming from the upper walls.  I traced the knocking noise straight to a vent was on the wall above my bed.  "Who is this?" I asked rather loudly.

"Sh!" the voice said harshly.  "It's me, Oliver.  Can you let me in?"

"Ollie?" I echoed, climbing up on the bed.  My fingers worked fast and I yanked off the cover of the vent, which allowed Oliver to climb out and land safely on my bed.  "What are you doing here?" I whispered, "You could get us killed!"

Oliver looked excited as he replied, "Hydra's mission for us may be complete, but our actual mission is far from over."

"What do you mean 'our actual mission?'"

My friend explained excitedly, "Remember what I told you?  There's a person in this very hotel that will give us boarding passes to their boat- it's our ticket outta here!"  

How could I forget that?  I guess during the mayhem and excitement of the gala, the thought of planning our escape never crossed my mind.  The whole experience left me overwhelmed, and I was too absorbed in tasting freedom that I completely forgot about Oliver and I's ulterior motive.  I felt rather stupid, and admitted, "I'm such an idiot, Ollie.  I completely forgot."

Oliver appeared shocked at my negligence, but quickly said that we had no time to waste if we wanted those boarding passes.  I grabbed my weapons and peeped through the keyhole of the doorway.  Several Hydra officers were patrolling the hallway.  "Shit, Ollie!" I hissed, beckoning my friend over.  "We can't go through, Hydra's everywhere."

"We aren't going through the hallway,"

"But how-?" I questioned, but Oliver was already halfway up through the vent.

In the vent there was no light anywhere.  It reminded me of my first night with Hydra, the cramped walls and the lack of sight made my breathing laboured, and my palms sweaty.  Neverless, I persisted, not just for myself but for Oliver as well.  Freedom was what we wanted, and this was our key.  We crawled through the ventilation system for what seemed like hours, and just as I tasted vomit in my mouth, Oliver stopped.  Bumping into his foot, I nearly spat out my puke, but caught myself in the nick of time.  Panting like a dog, I asked, "Are we close?"

"We should be here," Oliver responded quietly, "Come see,"  He shuffled to the side to reveal a slotted vent.  I peered through but saw nothing but the warm lighting of the hotel.  "This has to be it," Oliver said assuringly, "I counted room numbers, this should be the room if my information is correct."

I declared, "We should open it."  Then, I proceeded to pull out my knife, and with the dim lighting from below me, I managed to use the knife's blade to unscrew the lid of the vent.  Quietly, I dropped onto the carpeted floor below, followed by Oliver.  Only problem was, we weren't in a hotel room.  "Shit!" I cried as a person clad in a Hydra uniform turned around, and I held my knife with the blade facing forward, ready to attack.  But, she looked stunned to see us and raised her hands in surrender, her almond shaped eyes filled with terror.

"Lara?" I said.

Oliver asked, "You know her name?"

"Please don't ask, and please don't hurt her." I said, lowering my weapon.  "She was the nicest a Hydra soldier's ever been to me."  

"That doesn't make her good!  She's still a Hydra soldier!"

Then Lara spoke up, saying, "No.  I'm not Hydra."

"What do you mean?" Oliver murmured bitterly, still in distrust.

Lara drew in a breath and said quickly, "I was taken away too.  Only I've been with them longer than you.  And I know you're trying to escape, I want to get out too."

"You want to escape with us?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.  

Oliver quickly pointed his knife at her and said, "No!  How do you know she's not making this up to trick us so we'll get punished later?"

"It's okay, Ollie," I replied gently, pulling his arm down.  I don't know how, but there's something about the wisened look in her eyes that made me know that I could trust her.  

Lara merely nodded.  "I'll hold off Hydra, you get me a boarding pass as well."

In disbelief, I gasped, "You know about the boat?"

Lara nodded again and replied, "Go!  I will pretend you were never here if you get me a boarding pass."

Oliver tugged at my sleeve and told me, "We have to go, our room is at the end of this hall."  He pratically dragged me for I continued to look back at Lara, in shock.  "Let's hope this Lara person is trustworthy," Oliver muttered, but I had a feeling in my gut that Lara could be a new possible ally. 

Breaking into the hotel room wasn't that difficult.  I used my knife's blade to pick the lock.  We burst inside, and two men in their twenties immediately pointed guns at us.  "Jesus," one said with a thick accent, "They're just kids.  Don't shoot."

"Ain't it past your bedtime?" the other teased, smirking like the Cheshire Cat.

"You have boarding passes," Oliver said boldly, but I could tell by the way his back quivered that he was nervous.  "We want three boarding passes to America on your boat,"

The one with the accent walked up to us and looked us up and down with squinting eyes.  "You want outta Russia, I suppose, for whatever reason.  Okay.  We can make that happen, but it's gonna have to come at a cost.  A couple years of service to Crimson Night in return for your safe passage and protection to America is a fair deal." he stated.

"You two are old enough to start working for us, you'll be good material.  Who's your third party?" the other asked.

I wrung my hands together and said, "She's... not here."

"Not here not gettin' a pass," replied the one with accent.

"No, no you have to get her a pass!" I pleaded, "She has to come with us, please, we are trying to escape evil people!"

The accent guy snapped, "If you keep up the racket, none of you will be getting passes."

Oliver grasped my hand and shook his head.  I had to stop talking, I wasn't making the situation better, and I had to listen.  When I didn't listen to Papa, Hydra kidnapped us both, and when I didn't listen to Oliver, I was punished.  "Fine," Oliver said, "Give us the two boarding passes."

The other man smirked again and responded, "That's more like it.  Give 'em what they want, Randy, two passes!"  Randy, the one with the accent, turned around and rummaged through a black bag.  He returned carrying two pieces of crisp, white paper.  Randy handed them to us and explained, "These are your passes.  Protect them with your life, if you don't have one you won't be getting on any Crimson Night boat.  We arrive every three months at the small town off the coast of Siberia to pick up shipments.  In English it's called Fisher's Peak.  Show these passes to a crew member, they should let you in."

"Fisher's Peak," echoed Oliver.

The other man warned, "Now, if y'all two brats tell anyone about our talk, Crimson Night will find you.  We won't be merciful just 'cause you're kids."

I nodded, but I wasn't listening.  My heart fluttering with excitement, I clutched the paper to my chest, for I had found my key.