"Why did you help us?"
In a café in the Queens district, four people shared a table. Across from Wanda, Leonardo was calmly sipping from his cup when he heard the question.
"Well, you guys... or you, to be exact, are very important. Or you will be. So important that we'll need your help at some point."
"Is that all?"
Wanda asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That's all. I help you and your brother avoid years of suffering, and in return, you help me in the future. It's a good deal, don't you think?"
Leonardo replied, waving the matter off with a casual gesture.
"There was no need to do it so soon. Even if you needed me, you could have waited until I was in a worse situation. Besides... housing, paperwork, education... you're providing all of that. It's not really necessary, is it?"
Leonardo sighed at her clear distrust.
"Listen, I know you don't trust me. And you have good reasons not to. But not everyone wants to hurt you. Besides, all I asked for was your release. Natasha was the one who took care of everything else."
Wanda turned to look at the woman sitting beside her.
Natasha Romanoff had rescued them and was now their legal guardian, taking care of everything they needed to live in a foreign country at their age.
In the week they had been living together, Wanda and Pietro had seen beyond her cold façade. Natasha was kind, patient, and although they didn't completely trust her yet, they knew she took her responsibility very seriously.
"I don't trust you... but I don't like owing favors. I'll hold up my end."
Wanda simply said before falling silent. Then Leonardo turned his attention to Natasha.
"I don't understand why taking care of kids is necessary for you to trust me."
"You'll understand in the future. Don't worry. You just need to take care of them for six months."
Leonardo paused before adding with a light smile:
"Oh, but it's only six 'mandatory' months. If you get attached, you can keep taking care of them."
Natasha frowned, visibly annoyed, and Leonardo quickly tried to calm her:
"Besides, you wanted Hydra's location, and I helped you capture a council member, didn't I?"
The agent crossed her arms and stared at him before asking:
"Are you sure you don't know where the others are?"
"It's not about finding the leaders. There are countless lower-ranking members scattered all over the world. Even if we capture the top brass, they would just be replaced. To destroy Hydra... we have to eradicate them completely."
Leonardo kept a firm tone, but the truth was darker than he let on.
Hydra wasn't just a secret organization. It was something much older.
Something not even human.
---
~ S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier ~
Nick Fury was sitting in his office, listening to Natasha's report.
"You know this is the worst time for you to take a vacation, right?"
"I know. But if we want his help, I have to personally take care of those two for six months."
Fury watched her silently, evaluating the situation.
Laplace had been clear: only Natasha was to look after the Maximoffs. No SHIELD involvement, no support agents. Natasha, and no one else.
'It's a message'
Fury thought.
'He doesn't want SHIELD near them.'
Finally, he spoke:
"Fine. You're off any SHIELD operation for six months. We'll only call you in an emergency. Make sure you take good care of them."
"Understood."
Natasha replied before leaving. Fury remained thoughtful.
He didn't understand the real purpose behind Laplace's request. Why take care of children? What was the point?
But it didn't matter. If they wanted his help, they had to follow his terms.
Besides, there were other, more urgent concerns.
First, Leonardo had warned that someday Natasha would die sacrificing herself for Clint Barton.
And second, something Fury hoped wouldn't happen too soon:
An alien invasion.
---
~ HYDRA Base ~
"Damn it... damn it!"
Pierce pounded the table furiously.
Where once several council members had sat, now only he remained.
HYDRA's structure was collapsing. The remnants would be hunted down, and rebuilding the council would take years. He was furious: at the governments, at SHIELD, but mostly, at Laplace.
He had unleashed all this chaos.
Pierce knew Hydra wouldn't be destroyed so easily. Its roots ran deep. It would survive.
But Pierce himself... he was now a fugitive criminal.
All the influence he had built was crumbling before his eyes.
'Should I ask for help? No... I'm not that desperate yet.'
He knew there was an even higher structure within Hydra.
A circle that answered directly to its true leader.
He could call for aid, and they would likely fix his situation... but he would never risk it unless it was a last resort.
Why?
Because, in Pierce's own words, "they're a bunch of lunatics."
Fanatics who worshiped their leader as if they were part of the same being.
They spoke in singular. They finished each other's sentences.
They acted as one mind.
Pierce had seen them once. That was enough to understand that, for them, anything unrelated to their 'mission' was meaningless.
Hydra had created the council precisely to keep them away from daily management.
All their time, all their lives, were dedicated to fulfilling that mission.
And the scariest part was that this was, indeed, the very purpose for which Hydra had been founded.
If Pierce interfered, he would be eliminated without hesitation.
Everything — absolutely everything Hydra did — was to achieve that end.
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80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)