Steve was quiet for a moment, then asked, "But… won't there be civilians at that meeting? People who don't deserve to get hurt? Why can't we warn them first?"
Natasha shook her head right away. "We can't. Not for this."
Steve frowned. "Why?"
Natasha leaned forward. "Because that meeting is supposed to be secret. Only Dawn Watch leaders and a few trusted members know about it. But Black Ridge already knows the time, the place… even how many people will be there."
Liam's added. "So someone inside Dawn Watch told them."
Natasha nodded. "Yes. There's a traitor in Dawn Watch. Someone is giving Black Ridge information. That's the only way they could know something this private."
Steve let out a slow breath. "So if we warn Dawn Watch…"
"They'll change everything," Natasha said. "The meeting time, the location, the whole plan. And Black Ridge will figure out someone warned them. And since we're the new 'kids' trying to take over our father's place… they'll blame us."
Liam rubbed his forehead. "And then our cover is gone."
Steve's jaw tightened. He clearly hated it, but he understood.
Natasha continued, "If we warn Dawn Watch now, we lose everything—our cover, Black Ridge's trust, and our only chance to protect Dawn group. They'll still be attacked later, just without us there to help."
Steve nodded slowly. "Alright… I get it. If we want to stop Black Ridge and keep civilians safe, we need to walk into the trap with them and stop it from the inside."
Liam nodded back. "Exactly. We let Black Ridge believe we're helping them. Then we take them out before they can hurt anyone."
Natasha's voice softened, but stayed firm. "It's not the cleanest plan. But it's the only one that keeps Dawn Watch alive."
Steve took a deep breath. "Then we do it right. No civilians die tonight. Not if we're there."
Natasha and Liam both nodded.
She then straightened a bit and turned to Liam. "One more thing. Can you speak Sokovian?"
Liam nodded without hesitation. "Yeah. I was was stationed here for years."
Natasha looked relieved. "Good. That helps a lot."
Then she turned to Steve.
"And since you don't speak the language… you're going to be our mute older brother."
Natasha continued calmly, "Your mask has an auto-translator built in, so you'll understand everything."
Steve nodded without saying anything. He didn't seem bothered—just distant.
Liam noticed it again.
'He's off today,' Liam thought. 'Too emotional. Too tense.'
He wanted to ask what was bothering Steve, but decided to wait. There was something else that bothered him more right now.
He turned to Natasha.
"Natasha… why didn't Fury send Banner or Tony with us? With them, we'd find HYDRA's base in a day. This would've been so much easier."
Natasha shook her head. "Banner's helping Fury track down missing Chitauri tech that got stolen. And Tony… well, Tony's looking for the Siberian base you mentioned. He wouldn't leave that trail even if everyone begged him. He's… focused on finding the Winter Soldiers, who killed his parents."
Liam listened, but something still didn't sit right. He narrowed his eyes, looking straight at her.
"That's not the only reason, though… is it?"
Natasha didn't answer. She didn't have to.
Her silence said everything.
Liam leaned back slowly. "Fury doesn't trust this mission. Not fully."
Natasha finally met his eyes. Still silent. But now Liam understood.
"And he thinks the sceptre being moved," Liam said quietly, "is just HYDRA waving a shiny toy to pull the Avengers away from something else."
Liam continued, his voice lower now. "So Fury only sent three people. Two who are the best at staying alive and me," he finished with a humorless smile. "The expendable one."
Natasha didn't deny it.
She didn't sugarcoat it either. "Director sent you because you're the only one who can blend in here. You know the streets, the people, the way things move in Sokovia. And you're the only one who has up-to-date information on HYDRA's operations. That's why you're here."
Liam didn't get angry. He just nodded, accepting the truth. To Fury, he was nothing more than a wild card at best. And as much as Liam wanted to smack that bald head of his, he couldn't complain....not when he had used Fury the same way Fury was using him now.
"Doesn't matter," he said quietly. "Trap or not… we're still ending HYDRA."
They spent the next hour going over every detail of the plan. Entry points, exits, how to position themselves, signals to use, how to take out Black Ridge's men fast without hitting a single civilian. They repeated it again and again until each of them could run it in their heads without thinking.
Eventually, the room grew quiet.
There was nothing left to prepare.
Now all they could do was wait for midnight.
Liam leaned back in his chair, eyes drifting to the dim ceiling. But his mind wasn't on the mission anymore. Instead, it wandered to two people who mattered more than anyone in this entire country.
Wanda and Pietro Maximoff.
Two names that would change the world later, but right now, they were just trying to survive in a broken country.
'If the timeline is still the same,' Liam thought, 'they don't have powers yet.'
Wanda might have her chaos magic deep inside her, buried and asleep, waiting. In his previous world, there were theories that the missile that landed near her home didn't explode because she unconsciously used her magic as a child.
Pietro on the other hand was still normal and had no latent ability like Wandas
Liam breathed out slowly.
He wondered where they were right now. What they were doing.
He sighed and closed his eyes and let his mind settle.
Time passed.
The hours slipped by in silence.
And soon, midnight arrived.
As the three were waiting, a soft buzz came from the table.
Natasha checked her phone. "That's the signal," she said quietly. "Black Ridge's men are on the move. They're heading to the meeting spot."
Liam sat up and Steve stood and put on his jacket, his mood better than before.
Natasha pushed the masks toward them, the ones which they had removed after arriving here. "Remember once these are on, we're not Avengers. We're three siblings trying to take over our father's old place. Act like it."
Liam put on his mask. It shifted on his skin until he looked like someone completely different.
Natasha checked Steve's mask and tapped the translator. "You should understand everything now."
Steve nodded. "Good. Just tell me if I look like some kind of thug."
Liam smiled. "Cap… you look like a guy who hasn't slept in days. You'll fit in perfectly."
Steve gave a small exhale that might've been a laugh.
Natasha adjusted her coat and tucked her weapons. "Fast and quiet. No mistakes."
Both of them nodded at that, fully committing to the mission.
A moment later, they stepped outside together.
The streets of Sokovia were dark and empty. The buildings looked tired. Fog drifted through the air like the city itself was trying to hide.
Liam couldn't help but feel that he was in some haunted movie setting and a ghost was gonna ceep out on them from somewhere.
Natasha checked her watch. "Black Ridge's men are two blocks from here."
Steve rolled his shoulders. "Then let's go say hello."
They moved quickly through the quiet streets, sticking to the shadows to avoid drawing attention. After a few minutes, they spotted a group of rough-looking men standing near a half-broken streetlamp.
Black Ridge.
One of the men noticed them and waved them over. He had a thick coat, a scar across his cheek, and eyes that didn't trust anyone.
"You three," he said in Sokovian, looking them up and down. "You're the children of Mikhail Varin, yes?"
Liam stepped forward and nodded, playing the role. "Yeah. We're here for the job."
The man smirked, showing a missing tooth. "Good. Then keep up. You fall behind, we leave you behind."
The Black Ridge men then started walking toward the old warehouse district.
Liam and the other two followed the group through the dark streets. The same man who had spoken earlier slowed down until he was walking beside them. He glanced at Liam first, then at Steve and Natasha.
"If you three want to take your father's place," he said, "you will lead tonight's mission. We will stay behind you and fire when needed." His voice was cold and careless. "Don't worry. The group we're hunting doesn't have real weapons."
Liam raised an eyebrow but didn't disagree with him. "Okay," he said quietly.
The man continued, "You only need to kill four people. Important ones."
He stopped walking, reached inside his coat, and pulled out a small envelope.
He opened it and held out four photographs.
Two men.
Two women.
Liam stepped closer, trying to get a clearer look with help of the flashlight, but the moment his eyes landed on the faces, he was surprised.
Because two of those faces belonged to the very people he had just been thinking about.
Wanda Maximoff.
Pietro Maximoff.
The man snapped the envelope shut. "These four die tonight. Do you understand?"
***
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