Liam and Natasha stayed quiet for a moment, giving Steve time to calm down. When his breathing finally evened out, Liam leaned back and spoke.
"Alright," he said. "Next thing. Natasha… these face masks we're wearing and who exactly are we supposed to be? And do these identities help us get close to any militia?"
Natasha let out a slow breath and slid a thin folder across the table. "Yeah. I finished the covers before you two landed."
She tapped the papers.
"We're a family. Three siblings. Steve's the oldest, I'm the middle child, and you," she pointed at Liam, "are the youngest."
Liam nodded. "Okay… siblings. So what's the story?"
Natasha explained it simply.
"We weren't raised in the capital. We grew up far from here, in a town way past Delgado Ridge. Small place. Poor. Lots of trouble. After our mother died, we lived with our aunt for years."
Steve listened quietly, his jaw tight but more grounded now.
Natasha flipped the page.
"When Steve, our oldest brother, turned sixteen, our father left. Just walked out. Said he was going to find work in the capital. He never came back. We stayed with our aunt until she passed a few years ago."
Liam frowned. "So he just abandoned all three of them?"
"Pretty much," Natasha said. "He cut ties. Didn't send money. Didn't write. Nothing."
She turned another page.
"But here's the part that matters for the mission. Once he reached the capital, he joined one of the militias. And not a good one. He became part of a violent group. The kind that shook people down, controlled routes, and sold weapons."
Liam blinked. "So our fake father was a criminal."
"Yeah," Natasha said. "And his name still means something down here. People remember him. Not fondly, but strongly. Enough that no one will question why his 'kids' suddenly appeared in the city now."
Liam scratched his jaw. "And they'll assume we're here to… what? Claim whatever power he left behind?"
"Exactly," Natasha replied. "Here, no one returns because of nostalgia. They come back to grab whatever they think belongs to them."
Steve nodded slowly. "So joining a militia won't look strange."
"Not at all," Natasha said. "In fact, with this cover, people will practically expect it."
Liam leaned forward, thinking. "Okay… but our father was part of a bad militia. The kind we're trying to avoid. I don't want to join his group. I want us to join one of the good ones, the ones actually helping people."
Natasha nodded. "That's fine. With our cover, we can easily say we don't want to follow in his footsteps. In this country, plenty of children try to distance themselves from the crimes of their parents."
Steve looked between them. "So we show up as the kids of a man with a bad reputation… but choose to start fresh with a better militia? How would anyone even believe us?"
Natasha didn't flinch. "Because trust can be earned, Steve."
Steve leaned in a little. "How?"
Natasha tapped the table lightly with her finger. "I found a way. But before that let me tell you guys something. I reached out to the militia our 'father' used to be part of. The Black Ridge Front."
Steve asked as he sipped the coffee from the cup. "What did they say?"
Natasha's voice lowered. "They told me that if we want to take over our father's old routes, supplies, and his spot… we have to prove we deserve it."
Liam frowned. "Prove how?"
Natasha coughed a little," They want us to kill a few leaders of one of the good militia called Sokovian Dawn Watch. Black Ridge doesn't like them. Dawn Watch keeps some streets safe. Helps families. That hurts Black Ridge's business."
Liam muttered, "That's crap…"He shook his head. "Why would they ask three newbies to take out leaders from a major group? They're clearly trying to fuck with us."
Natasha didn't deny it. "Exactly. If we refuse, we look weak. If we agree and mess up, we're dead. And if we somehow succeed, the Dawn group will come after us… and Black Ridge will dump us the moment it gets risky."
Liam let out a sharp laugh. "Also how do they expect us to do that? Walk in with rocks? Throw a few stones and hope we crack a leader's skull? Come on."
Natasha shook her head. "No. They're not that dumb. And that's why it's a setup. Black Ridge aren't sending us in alone. They informed me that they would send at least ten of their guys with us.
She continued after taking a sip of her own coffee. "They even gave a time and place. Dawn Watch is holding a small planning meeting at midnight. About twenty people. Old abandoned warehouse near the textile yards."
Steve's expression dropped as he suddenly asked her. "Dawn Watch…what kind of group are they?"
Natasha looked at Steve whose mood had started to worsen again and answered after a second or so, "They're mostly civilians, neighborhood kids, older people. People who want to help. Most of them don't even have real weapons...maybe a pistol or two."
Natasha watched Steve carefully, expecting him to get fired up again about civilians being targeted. But instead, Steve's voice came out calm, too calm.
"So let me get this straight," he said quietly. "Black Ridge wants us to go with them. They'll handle the killing with guns… and when it's done, they might turn those guns on us. Then they frame the whole thing like we all died fighting each other."
Natasha nodded once. "Exactly. And afterward, they take our father's old routes, his contacts, everything. Then they hand the position to someone they actually trust."
Liam snapped his fingers. "So we turn it on them."
Both Natasha and Steve looked at him.
Liam leaned forward. "We do what they asked...we go with them to the meeting tonight. But instead of helping them kill Dawn Watch, we take Black Ridge out. All of them. Right in front of the Dawn leaders."
Steve nodded in agreement at that.
Liam continued, "That way, Dawn Watch sees us stopping the real killers. They'll trust us. They'll take us in. And we get inside the only militia that actually helps people."
He pointed at Natasha. "This was the plan you were hinting at earlier, right?"
Natasha let out a small breath and gave a faint smile. "Yeah. But we'll have to sell it hard. Not trust, that's too much to expect. We just need them to believe we're not their enemies."
Steve ran a hand through his hair, the frustration finally breaking through. "HYDRA contacting Dawn Watch…" he exhaled, leaning forward, elbows on the table. "How long would that even take? Days? A month? Two months?" His jaw tightened. "And what makes you think HYDRA would pick our militia to approach? They could pick any of the twenty others in the city."
Liam frowned, the realization hitting him harder than he expected. "Damn… that's true." He rubbed the side of his face, annoyance sharpening his voice. "So it might take forever if we're waiting for HYDRA to show themselves."
His shoulders slumped as he muttered, "Why is Fury making this harder than it needs to be? He could've sent Banner. Or at least his Ghost Unit. Or Hill's people. Someone who actually tracks HYDRA for a living." He sighed. "Does Fury even want the sceptre back?"
Natasha didn't dismiss his frustration but she didn't provide an amswer that as she herself had the same question too. But one thing she learned while working for SHIELD is that to never question the orders of Fury and she had no reason not to.
She just sighed, "Steve's right. There's no guarantee HYDRA will bite, not immediately." She tapped the table again, thinking. "But we're not relying on just one path." She looked at both of them. "I'll keep tracking HYDRA on my end. Quietly. Through my informants. I won't let them see the pattern."
She leaned back. "Meanwhile, we join a militia. We help people, we build trust, and we push ourselves closer to anyone HYDRA might be watching."
Steve nodded slowly. Liam nodded too.
Natasha folded her arms. "Then it's decided."
***
POLL AGAIN!
Who should be the MC's romantic interest in the fanfiction?
(Choose one!)
1) Natasha Romanoff
2) Wanda Maximoff
3) Carol Danvers (Personally a huge no)
4) Jane Foster (Thor will fuck you up)
5) Pepper Potts
6) Hope van Dyne (Wasp)
7) Sharon Carter
8) Peggy Carter
9) Gamora
10) Nebula
11) Mantis
12) Valkyrie
13) Sif
14) Yelena Belova
15) Kate Bishop
16) Jessica Jones
17)Darcy Lewis
18) Jemma Simmons
19) Melinda May
20) Daisy Johnson
21) Bobbi Morse
22) Monica Rambeau
23) Aunt May (if you dare)
24) Frigga ( again… if you dare)
25) Ancient One
26) Hela
27) Agatha Harkness
28) Christine Palmer
Choose Wisely
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