Sofia's office looked like a conspiracy theorist's fever dream had mated with a server farm and produced offspring that survived on caffeine and spite. Six monitors arranged in a semicircle, each displaying different data streams. Whiteboards covered three walls, dense with network diagrams, shell company hierarchies, and what appeared to be a flow chart connecting half the criminal underworld to a bakery in Queens.
"That can't be right," James said, pointing at the bakery.
"Money laundering front. They make terrible croissants but excellent fake receipts." Sofia didn't look up from her keyboard, fingers flying. "Been tracking financial flows for four days straight. Marcus brings me food. I eat food. I find bad guys. It's a whole system."
"When did you last sleep?"
"What day is it?"
"Sofia."
"Fine, I napped. Three hours ago. Or maybe yesterday. Time is a social construct anyway." She pulled up a new screen. "But look what I found."
James leaned closer, CFO instincts immediately parsing the financial data. His eyebrows climbed. "That's a lot of shell companies."
"Seventeen layers deep before I hit the first real name. Whoever hired those mercenaries knows how to hide money." Sofia highlighted a transaction thread. "But they made one mistake. See this payment routing through a Cayman bank? It pinged a server in Romania for exactly three milliseconds. Just long enough for me to grab a signature."
"You hacked a Cayman bank."
"Allegedly. In Minecraft. For educational purposes." Sofia grinned. "And that signature matches financial patterns we've seen before. Meridian Holdings moves money the exact same way. Same timing intervals, same routing protocols, same digital fingerprints."
"So it's definitely Hydra."
"Hydra-adjacent at minimum. Could be Meridian specifically, could be another front organization in their network. But the money ultimately flows from the same source." She pulled up another diagram, this one showing connections between various companies. "See, Meridian is just one head of the hydra. Pun intended. They've got real estate, private security firms, tech companies, pharmaceutical research. It's a whole ecosystem."
James studied the network, his analytical brain already calculating implications. "This is bigger than we thought."
"Way bigger. And here's where it gets fun." Sofia's fingers danced across keyboards. "I cross-referenced these shell companies against property records, business licenses, and federal contractor databases. Guess how many Hydra-connected organizations have federal contracts?"
"I'm afraid to ask."
"Forty-seven. That we can confirm. Probably more we haven't identified yet." She pulled up a list. "Defense contractors, IT services, facilities management, private security. They're embedded everywhere."
"Jesus." James sank into the nearest chair. "How deep does this go?"
"All the way down, James. All the way down." Sofia finally stopped typing, swiveling to face him. "But here's the thing that's keeping me up at night. These mercenaries? The ones who tried to kill David? They cost serious money. Professional operators don't come cheap. We're talking half a million minimum for a team that size."
"Meridian has that kind of capital."
"Sure. But why spend it now? We've been irritating them for three years. Why escalate to assassination now?"
James considered. "David's been more visible since the invasion. The Stark partnership, the federal contracts, all the media attention. Maybe they finally decided he was too big a threat."
"Maybe. Or maybe something changed." Sofia pulled up security footage from the night of the attack. "Look at the timing. This happened two days after the Ultron incident. After David, Tony, and Banner contained that AI threat. After David's powers were displayed in front of multiple witnesses."
"You think someone talked."
"I think information leaked. Intentionally or not." Sofia zoomed in on the mercenaries. "These guys knew exactly where David would be and when. They had his schedule, his routines, his security gaps. That's inside information."
"You're saying we have a mole."
"I'm saying we can't rule it out." Sofia looked genuinely pained. "I don't want it to be true. But James, they knew too much. Either someone on our team is compromised, or our systems are, or both."
James rubbed his temples. Four days ago they'd learned David had superpowers. Now they might have a traitor. "Have you told David?"
"Not yet. I wanted to verify before I started throwing accusations around. But yeah, we need to tell him. And Marcus. Today."
"What about the team?"
"That's the problem. If there is a mole, tipping them off could burn the investigation. But keeping everyone in the dark feels like..." Sofia waved vaguely. "Like exactly the kind of secret-keeping that just blew up in David's face."
"Damned either way." James stood, started pacing. It helped him think. "Okay. Here's what we do. You keep digging, but carefully. Don't let anyone know you're looking for internal leaks. I'll review financial records, see if anyone's had unexplained income or unusual transactions."
"Already started that. Everyone's clean so far."
"Good. Then we tell David and Marcus, get their input, and proceed carefully. No accusations until we have proof."
"And if the proof points to someone we trust?"
James didn't have a good answer for that.
Marcus found David in the South Bronx building, on the roof, staring at the city like it contained answers instead of just more questions. The sun was setting, painting everything gold and orange, and David looked exhausted in a way that sleep wouldn't fix.
"You okay?" Marcus asked, though he already knew the answer.
"Define okay." David didn't turn around. "I revealed my deepest secret to the team. Someone tried to kill me. And I can't shake the feeling that we're missing something big. So yeah, peachy."
"Sofia wants to meet. Says she found something."
"Of course she did. Sofia always finds something." David finally looked at Marcus. "How's Alexis?"
The subject change was deliberate, and Marcus appreciated it. "Good. We had dinner last night. Actual dinner, not just coffee. She told me about her classes, her friends. Normal stuff."
"That's progress."
"It's terrifying. I don't know how to be a normal dad. I know how to be a soldier. A security director. A tactical analyst. But just... a dad? No clue."
David's laugh was genuine. "Marcus, you've basically been a dad to half the Foundation staff. You'll figure it out."
"That's different. I can teach Tyler security protocols. I can't teach Alexis how to have a normal relationship with her absent father who was discharged for insubordination and disappeared into private security for five years."
"So don't teach. Just be present. Show up. Keep showing up." David turned back to the skyline. "That's what I'm learning, anyway. Showing up is half the battle. Sometimes more than half."
They stood in comfortable silence for a moment, two men carrying different weights but understanding each other anyway.
"We should head down," Marcus said eventually. "Sofia's in full conspiracy mode. It's impressive and slightly concerning."
"Her conspiracy modes usually are."
The secure conference room was becoming their crisis hub. David briefly wondered if they should just redecorate it with comfortable furniture and a coffee maker, make it official.
Sofia had triple-checked the room for bugs before letting anyone in. Now she stood at her laptop, looking like she'd aged five years in four days.
"Tell me you slept," David said.
"Tell me you're not secretly an alien." Sofia pulled up her findings. "Everyone lies, we all move on."
"Fair enough."
James closed the door, engaged the lock. "Before Sofia starts, we need to discuss operational security. What she found has implications for internal trust."
That got David's attention. "How bad?"
"Potentially very bad." James nodded to Sofia. "Show them."
Sofia walked them through it. The shell companies, the financial trails, the Hydra connections. The timing of the attack and the precision of the mercenaries' information. By the time she finished, David felt cold.
"You think we have a mole," he said flatly.
"I think it's possible. Maybe even probable." Sofia looked miserable. "I've been trying to find another explanation. Maybe they bugged our offices, maybe they hacked our systems, maybe they just got lucky. But David, they knew your exact schedule. They knew you'd be at that site, alone, at that specific time. We didn't announce that publicly. It was internal information."
Marcus was already in tactical mode. "Who knew David would be there?"
"Me, obviously. James and Patricia, because they manage the schedule. Tyler, because he coordinates construction. Probably the whole construction crew for that site. Maybe a dozen people total with direct knowledge, another thirty who could have figured it out from context clues."
"So we narrow it down. Look for , " Marcus stopped. "Wait. We can't investigate our own team without tipping off a potential mole. But if we don't investigate, they stay embedded and keep feeding information out."
"Catch-22," James said. "Classic counterintelligence problem."
David's mind was racing, considering angles. "What if we're thinking about this wrong? What if it's not someone on our team directly, but someone adjacent? A contractor, a vendor, someone with access to our systems or information but not on our payroll?"
Sofia nodded slowly. "That's actually more likely. Lower risk for Hydra, easier to place someone, harder for us to catch. Let me pull up our contractor list..."
She typed rapidly, and a new document appeared. Dozens of names. Construction companies, IT services, cleaning crews, food vendors, delivery services. Every person or organization that touched the Foundation in some capacity.
"This is going to take weeks to vet properly," James said.
"We don't have weeks." Marcus pointed at the screen. "If Hydra knows David has powers and is willing to spend half a million on a hit squad, they're not done. They'll try again, probably soon. We need to identify the leak and plug it now."
"Or," David said slowly, an idea forming, "we use it."
Three pairs of eyes turned to him.
"Explain," Marcus said.
"They have someone feeding them information. We know that now. So we feed them false information. Make them think I'm going to be somewhere at a specific time. Set up a trap. See who takes the bait."
Sofia's eyes lit up. "Controlled leak. We tell different people different locations, see which information makes it back to Hydra. Classic canary trap."
"Risky," Marcus said. "If they figure out we're running a counter-operation, they could go underground. Or escalate."
"They're already escalated," David pointed out. "They sent professional killers. It doesn't get much more escalated than that."
"He's got a point." James pulled out his phone, already calculating. "We'd need to coordinate carefully. Make sure the false information seems legitimate. And we'd need someone watching each location to see if anyone shows up."
"I can handle digital surveillance," Sofia said. "Cameras, traffic monitoring, anything with a signal. But we'd need physical eyes too."
"I'll coordinate that." Marcus was already planning. "Small teams, discrete. We don't move unless we have confirmation."
"And if they send another hit squad?" James asked.
David smiled, and it wasn't entirely pleasant. "Then I'll be ready this time. With backup. And maybe we'll finally get some answers."
They spent the next three hours planning. It was meticulous, detail-oriented work that required thinking like both the hunter and the hunted. Sofia suggested four false locations, each with different tactical profiles. Marcus assigned surveillance teams. James calculated costs and made sure everything looked legitimate from a financial perspective.
By the time they finished, David's head hurt and his coffee had gone cold, but they had a plan.
"We run this tomorrow," Marcus said. "Give each mark different information in the morning, see who bites. Sofia, you're monitoring all digital channels?"
"Every signal, every camera, every cell phone ping within a mile of each location. If someone so much as texts about these sites, I'll know."
"James, you'll be in the control room with Sofia?"
"And maintaining normal operations so nothing seems off. Patricia thinks I'm reviewing quarterly financials all day. Which I actually need to do, so convenient cover."
"David, you'll be at the real site with security. Not alone, understood?"
"Understood." David hesitated. "What about the team? Do we tell them?"
"Not yet," Marcus said. "If there is a mole and they get spooked, we lose our chance. Once we identify the leak, we bring everyone in. But until then, operational security takes priority."
It made sense. David hated it anyway. "We just got done with the whole 'no more secrets' thing."
"This isn't the same," James said. "This is protecting the team while we neutralize a threat. We tell them as soon as we can."
"Besides," Sofia added, "technically you're not keeping secrets. You're just being strategically selective about information distribution timing."
"That's literally the definition of keeping secrets."
"No, keeping secrets is when you don't tell people important things. This is when you don't tell people important things yet. Completely different."
"Sofia's relationship with honesty is complicated," Marcus said.
"My relationship with honesty is perfectly healthy. I just also believe in tactical information warfare."
"Same thing."
"Is not."
David watched them bicker and felt something ease slightly. Whatever was coming, they'd face it together. Even if "together" currently meant keeping things from people they cared about. Again.
His phone buzzed. Tony Stark, texting: "Heard you had excitement. Lunch tomorrow? Got some toys you might like."
David replied: "Busy tomorrow. Rain check?"
"Your loss. The toys are cool. Like really cool. Missile-deflecting cool."
"You can't just text about missile-deflecting technology."
"Just did. Also, Banner says hi. He's worried you're not processing your feelings."
"Tell Banner I'm processing fine."
"He says that's exactly what someone not processing would say."
"Tell Banner he's a smartass."
"He knows. It's his second-best quality."
David pocketed his phone, shaking his head. His life had gotten so weird that casual texts from Iron Man felt normal.
"Stark?" Marcus asked.
"Wants to have lunch. Also, Banner's apparently worried about my mental health."
"He's not wrong," Sofia muttered.
"I'm fine."
"Sure. And I've been sleeping normal hours. We're all very healthy and well-adjusted."
Marcus stood, stretching. "Alright. We've got a plan. Everyone clear on their roles?"
Nods all around.
"Good. Get some rest. Tomorrow might get interesting."
"Interesting is one word for it," James said. "Potentially catastrophic is more accurate."
"Your optimism is inspiring, James."
"I'm a CFO. Optimism is when I project only moderate disaster instead of complete catastrophe."
They filed out, each carrying pieces of tomorrow's operation in their heads. David lingered, looking at the whiteboards covered in Sofia's conspiracy diagrams. Somewhere in that tangle of shell companies and money trails was the person who'd tried to kill him. The person who'd sold him out.
And tomorrow, they were going to find out who.
He pulled out his phone again, opened the group chat with the team. Tyler had posted a photo of a perfectly aligned rebar grid with the caption "Chef's kiss perfection." Isabella had shared an article about community-led disaster response. Sarah had sent a medical journal link about battlefield triage innovations.
Normal stuff. Regular Foundation business. People doing their jobs, trusting each other, building something that mattered.
David hoped to god none of them were the leak. Because if someone on this team had betrayed them, it would break something fundamental. Something that might not be fixable.
He typed a message: "Great work today, everyone. Proud of what we're building."
Responses rolled in. Heart emojis from Isabella. Thumbs up from Tyler. A gif from Sofia of someone doing a victory dance. Professional acknowledgment from Patricia.
His people. His team. His family, whether they knew it or not.
Tomorrow they'd spring the trap. Tomorrow they'd find answers.
Tonight, he let himself believe that everything would be okay.
It was easier than considering the alternative.