"Why should I apologize for the monster I've become? No one ever apologized for making me this way."

NADINE

"Enjoy the rest of the festivities, everyone! We will resume our fight club in a few minutes."

Nadine didn't have time to process anything that was happening.

The moment her adrenaline finally released her from the haze, she had already been dragged out of the fighting ring and through the prison she'd just been in. Next thing she knew, she was blindfolded all in an attempt to impede her from memorizing a way out. And she couldn't, not this time. Her senses were all over the place and her mind couldn't seem to escape the ring. Her actions replayed in her head over and over, Bucky's wide eyes as he watched her almost kill the man searing into her memories.

He was afraid of her, she was sure of it.

When the blindfold was removed and the men let go of her, she found herself in a room that continued the old glamour theme of their location. It was decorated with portraits of people she didn't recognize and had a mix of vintage decor -like the small chandelier that hung in the middle- and some modern furniture. Dante and Taj were were tied to chairs, four men standing behind them, while Kaia and Emilia immediately stood up from their places on the red velvet couch. Unlike their male friends, neither of them looked hurt and mostly looked relieved that Nadine was alive. "So, I guess you won?"

"No, little Emilia," Kristina spat, making her way across the room to grab something. "She did not."

When she held a napkin towards her, Nadine stared at it, dumbfounded and suspicious all at once. What was her angle?

"For the blood," the Russian-American woman said in contempt at Nadine's lack of trust. But she couldn't blame her for being wary. This whole event was just proof that Kristina still enjoyed testing her, so it was hard to believe that she wasn't trying to get Nadine to let her guard down. There was always a catch with Kristina, she just hadn't figured out what.

Regardless of her motives, Nadine accepted the napkin, pressing it on her aching knuckles in silence until she finally couldn't stand the tension in the room. "Alright, I'll bite. What's it going to take to free them?"

"Always so direct." Kristina walked over to a small bar, placing two glasses on the table as she looked around for what Nadine could assume was alcohol to make drinks. If she remembered correctly, Kristina always liked a good negroni sbagliato. "There is a rare, powerful crystal sphere. Said to be alien. I had it, but my former right-hand man, Nikolai, now has it. I want it back."

And we're back to the alien technology. Great.

"Really, Kristina?!" Emilia screeched, making Kristina cringe at the shrill tone as she poured campari into a glass. Definitely making herself a negroni. "Dante's life depends on a magic 8 ball?!"

"Um, excuse me, my life depends on that magic 8 ball as well," Taj pointed out. His eye was swollen shut and he seemed to be in pain every time he blinked.

"We know, Taj."

"Is this really because of that sphere?" Nadine questioned, hoping she'd misheard and she didn't have to bargain that thing with the Bratva. It could be anywhere in the world right now.

"Originally, no," Kristina held out a clear drink, a piece of lime decorating the glass. "You still enjoy a gin and tonic, yes?"

Nadine narrowed her eyes at the drink. "You really expect me to just trust that you didn't poison that?"

"If I wanted to poison you I would have done it already," she retorted. "But I only drugged you."

And that made it better, how?

Regardless of how she felt, Nadine accepted the drink, even if she was in no rush to down it like she did with the champagne. Kristina seemed satisfied at the somewhat progress they'd made, clinking her negroni with Nadine's glass. "Anyway, the plans changed. So, now my proposition is this: get the sphere and you free your friends. Simple."

Except that nothing was ever that simple with Kristina; there's always a catch. Nadine knew, Nadine knew that it involved her head. No matter how much she tried to hide behind the good will, Kristina wanted revenge. Nadine did kill Jameson, after all.

But so long as it was only Nadine...

"Let's say I accept-"

Kaia gave her a look. "-Nadine."

She ignored her, gaze set on Kristina. "Do you swear to free them? Unharmed?"

"I will free them. Unharmed? Debatable." Kristina pinched Dante's cheek, which caused him to hiss and try to bite her hand, much to the Russian-American's amusement. "They did put up a fight. If you complete mission, I will not kill them, but if you do not, I will send them to Siberia."

"Why do you even want that thing?" Emilia questioned, her glare set on the other woman. She always loathed Kristina, and knowing her intentions to keep Nadine and the alien sphere within her clutches was most likely not amusing to her. "It doesn't sound like much."

"Because she wants power," Nadine answered.

"No," Kaia countered, eyebrows furrowed in thought. She could almost see the gears turning in the French woman's head. "It's more than that."

Kristina walked towards Kaia, tilting her head to the side as she studied her, a smirk evident on her features. Kaia held her gaze calmly, her poker face never betraying whatever emotions she must've felt at being within killing reach of a Russian mob boss. "I like you."

"Get away from her," Dante tried to escape from the men, but they held onto his shoulders with solid grips. "I swear to God, Kristina-"

"-Why would I hurt her if she is correct?" Kristina replied in a matter of fact tone. She seemed almost offended that Dante would suggest such a thing as Kaia's murder. "The possibilities are infinite with that sphere. Nikolai intends to remove me from my position with it and I cannot let that happen."

"Nadine," Kaia was insistent. "Do not do this."

"What else do you think we can do, Kaia?"

"We could just fight our way out," she replied in a matter of fact tone, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Kristina laughed. The sound was grating, like she hadn't laughed in a while and was rusty. "You against these men? How arrogant. Do you really think you can go against them?"

Nadine looked around. There were men at the door, most likely guarding outside the door as well. Then to her right, there were four men hovering over Emilia and Kaia.  There were two behind her, and the ones controlling Dante and Taj. They were all on edge and ready to use their weapons if needed be. She was right. How were they going to fight without risking the others's deaths? She only had one more card to reveal: the bombs she'd given Natasha and Kaia to place all over the building.

Time to bluff.

"Well," Nadine started, casually taking a small sip of her drink. The ice melted, so the gin was already losing its flavor. "When you have bombs ready to blow the whole place down, you get pretty confident."

Kristina's smile fell into a hard gaze. "You are bluffing."

"Try me. I dare you," Nadine replied, her smirk never faltering. "The bombs were placed on a two hour mark and so far thirty minutes have passed. If I were you, I'd let us go before the minutes go down."

In reality, she didn't know if the bombs were active or not because she'd left that up to Kaia and Natasha. Seeing as Kaia was indisposed, the only one who was left was the Widow. So really, there was no way of knowing whether or not they'd be dead in the next few minutes or hour.

"I could just kill you," Kristina threatened, snapping her fingers once. The goons all brought out their weapons, the tension in the room getting worse.

"Won't stop the bombs," Emilia countered in an almost bored tone. Her clenched hands said otherwise. "Only ones that can stop them are us."

Kristina motioned for the men to point their weapons at Dante and Taj. She was growing desperate, Nadine could tell. "I will kill them."

She waved her hand at Taj and Dante to get their attention. "You guys don't care about dying, right?"

"Actually-"

"-We're gonna die, anyway," Dante cut him off, the fire in his eyes reassuring Nadine that he trusted her plan. "Let them burn."

Nadine smirked. Though she was terrified this would backfire and she'd be leading them to their deaths, she finally felt like she had the upper hand. "Your choice."

Kristina opened her mouth, but whatever she was cut off by a sudden beeping. Whatever she was about to say was forever lost when the wall and the door to Nadine's left exploded, sending everything into complete chaos.

_______________________________

A/N: Not my favorite chapter, but I hope y'all enjoyed it at least :)

Any thoughts on Kristina? I'd love to hear theories of what she wants to do -or has already done- with that sphere.

Thank you for reading!