Back on Earth, the Avengers had found Hydra inside S.H.I.E.L.D.
The revelation had shaken everything. Trust was broken. Alliances were tested. And for the past couple of months, they had been raiding Hydra bases all over the world hunting down the remnants of an organization that should have died decades ago.
At this moment, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, and Steve Rogers were working together, taking down another base.
It was a facility hidden in the mountains of Eastern Europe concrete walls, cold corridors, the smell of old blood and newer secrets. Hydra operatives had fortified themselves inside, but fortifications meant nothing when Captain America was kicking down your front door.
Natasha moved through the chaos like smoke.
She dropped from the ceiling, wrapped her legs around a guard's neck, and twisted. He was unconscious before he hit the ground. She rolled, came up with his gun, and fired twice—two more guards down, their weapons clattering against the floor.
Beside her, Steve Rogers was a force of nature. His shield ricocheted off walls, hitting three targets before returning to his arm. He didn't stop moving. Didn't stop pushing forward.
Clint Barton was stationed up high, picking off anyone who tried to flank them. His arrows flew silently, finding gaps in armor, finding throats, finding the exact spots where Hydra's defenses broke.
Within minutes, the base was theirs.
Natasha stood over the last unconscious operative, breathing steadily. Her tactical suit was smeared with dust and someone else's blood. Her hair had come loose from its tie.
She looked up at the sky through a broken window.
The sun was setting behind the mountains, painting everything in shades of orange and red. It was beautiful. Peaceful.
She thought of white hair. Of a stupid nickname. Of someone who would have just blasted open the front door and walked straight into the base without a plan.
She smiled.
It was small. Barely there.
But it had a worried look underneath it.
Clint landed beside her, his bow folding onto his back. He watched her for a moment, then leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.
"You're still thinking about the kid, aren't you?"
Natasha's expression didn't change. "What? No. And he's not a kid."
Clint raised an eyebrow. "That wasn't my question."
She looked at him. He was smirking that annoying, knowing smirk that meant he'd already decided he was right.
"I was thinking about the mission," she said. "About Hydra. About the next base."
"Uh-huh."
"I was."
"Sure you were."
Natasha turned away from the window. "You're insufferable."
"You've mentioned that." Clint pushed off the wall and fell into step beside her. "But you didn't deny it."
"Deny what?"
"That you were thinking about him."
Natasha didn't answer.
Clint took that as a victory. "He's been gone a while. Three months, right? Almost four?"
"Three months and two weeks."
Clint's eyebrows rose. "You're counting?"
"I'm observing."
"That's not what counting means."
Steve walked over, wiping dust off his shield. His expression was focused—still in mission mode. "The data cores are secured. We found a list of other bases. Hydra's been busy."
"How many?" Natasha asked.
"Too many." Steve looked at her, then at Clint. "We should head back. Brief the others."
Clint nodded. "I'll call for extraction."
As he walked away, he glanced back at Natasha one more time.
"Three months and two weeks," he muttered under his breath. "Definitely counting."
Natasha pretended not to hear him.
Later in The Avengers Tower the common room was quiet when they arrived.
Tony Stark was at his workstation, holographic screens floating around him, his fingers dancing through data streams. He didn't look up when they walked in.
"How'd it go?" he asked.
"Productive," Steve said. "We found a list of bases. Maybe a dozen still active."
"A dozen," Tony repeated. "That's it?"
"For now. Hydra's good at hiding."
Tony finally looked up. His face was tired, more tired than he let on. "Yeah. They are."
Bruce Banner was in the corner, reading something on a tablet. He glanced up when Natasha walked past, then looked back down.
Natasha sat on the couch, her body still humming with leftover adrenaline. The mission was over. The base was clear. But her mind wasn't settling.
Three months and two weeks.
She checked her phone.
No messages.
She wasn't sure why she kept checking since he was in space.
The Next Day in The Briefing Room the team gathered around the table.
Steve stood at the front, pointing at a holographic map of Europe. "Hydra's been using old S.H.I.E.L.D. bases to hide their operations. We've hit seven in the past two months. But there's one that keeps coming up in their communications."
He zoomed in on a location in Eastern Europe.
"Sokovia."
Tony frowned. "Sokovia? What's in Sokovia?"
"That's what we need to find out," Steve said. "Intel suggests Hydra's been running experiments there. Weapons development. Something big."
"How big?" Natasha asked.
"Unknown. But they've been pouring resources into it for years."
Clint leaned back in his chair. "So we go in, kick down the door, and see what they're hiding?"
"Basically," Steve said.
"Sounds like a plan."
The doors to the briefing room opened.
Everyone turned.
Thor walked in, his cape sweeping behind him, Mjolnir at his side. His expression was serious, more serious than usual.
"Brother," Tony said. "You're back. How was Asgard? Did you bring souvenirs?"
Thor didn't smile. "I have come to help you find what you seek."
Steve tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
Thor stepped up to the table. "Loki's scepter. Hydra has it. And if they have been experimenting with it for years…" He paused. "The results could be catastrophic."
The room went quiet.
Tony stood up slowly. "Wait. Loki's scepter, the thing that mind-controlled people? That scepter?"
"The same."
"And Hydra's had it this whole time?"
"It appears so."
Steve's jaw tightened. "Then we need to move faster."
"I agree," Thor said. "The scepter is not a weapon to be trifled with. It contains power that even I do not fully understand."
Tony crossed his arms. "Well, that's not terrifying at all."
Natasha looked at the map. At Sokovia. At the base hidden somewhere in those mountains.
She thought about what Eli would say if he were here.
"So we go in, blast the doors, and take the thing. Easy."
She almost smiled again.
Then she stopped herself.
Elsewhere, Deep Space
, Far from Earth, far from the Guardians, far from anyone who knew his name
Eli floated in his pod.
The stars stretched around him, endless and cold. The Milano was gone. The Guardians were gone. He was alone, jumping in and out of the quantum realm, hurtling toward a blue planet that he should have returned to months ago.
He looked at the ring on his finger (which I kinda hate now so might distroy it in the next chapter, ohh and the whole "are you a girl" thing will never be mentioned again). The white cherry blossom. The fragment of a dead god's skull.
Not yet, he thought. Not until I have to.
He closed his eyes.
The pod flew on.