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"She misses you," Baron Strucker said with a smile. "And I know you miss her too, don't you?"
"Hand over the item and you two can be together." Strucker flicked his fingers.
"Of course, here you go." Pietro tossed the lead box over.
Strucker raised a hand to catch it, then tore the lid open impatiently.
Inside, the pure version of Compound No. 5 glowed a faint, ghostly blue.
He shot a glance at Dr. List beside him.
The doctor stepped forward, gingerly drew a sample with an ultra-thin pipette, and fed it into the precision analyzer beside him.
"Beep—beep—beep—"
Several long seconds passed.
"Energy signature matches." The doctor turned, eyes blazing fanatically. "Molecular structure shows immense bio-activity… Baron, it's genuine!"
Greed flashed across Strucker's eyes and vanished.
"Excellent, Child of Miracle." Strucker rose, a satisfied smile spreading. "You've proven your worth. Now go reunite with your sister."
He pressed a button; a side door slid open.
"She's on sub-level B3."
Pietro didn't hesitate; he spun and left.
As he passed the table holding the serum, his fingers twitched, but he forced himself to keep walking.
First priority: confirm Wanda's safety… Sub-level B3, isolation room.
The access card beeped; the hermetic door hissed aside.
Wanda looked up.
The instant she saw the silver blur, her wary gaze melted.
"Pietro!"
She flung her book aside and rushed him.
Pietro caught his sister, feeling her real warmth; every risk had been worth this moment.
"Are you hurt? Did they do anything to you?" He checked her frantically.
"I'm fine—they just made me read and ran tests." She shook her head, then searched his face anxiously. "Did you finish the Baron's mission?"
"Yeah, it's done. And I'm getting you out."
Pietro gripped her shoulders, resolve steeling his eyes.
"Go where?" she asked, puzzled.
"Listen, Wanda—I found a place. A home."
"A place with dignity, freedom, and… a bunch of weird but reliable partners."
"No more hiding in sunless burrows, no more being lab rats for these Nazis."
"We can live under the sun, free."
Wanda stared, uncertain. "A place like that really exists?"
"Trust me, you'll love it!" Pietro grinned.
She didn't know what he'd endured this past year, but she saw the light in his eyes—light she'd never seen in Sokovia.
That light was something entirely new.
"I believe you." She nodded.
"Good."
Pietro exhaled in relief.
"Now I need to retrieve something—something I borrowed. I have to return it."
If he didn't get the serum back, Pietro would never forgive himself—Homelander might not say anything, but his own conscience would.
Besides, leaving it with HYDRA would be catastrophic.
"Wait here—two minutes."
He kissed Wanda on the forehead.
"Whoosh—!"
A silver streak—he vanished.
Using his memory of the Base layout, he skirted patrols and slipped back into the lab.
The blue vial sat on the central display platform.
No one in sight.
Too easy.
Alarm bells rang in his head, but he had to risk it—he trusted his speed.
He darted forward, snatched the vial, and flashed a triumphant grin.
"Hah—Baron, this is too precious; I'll keep it safe for you."
Spinning on his heel, he prepared to bolt.
"BZZZZ—!!!"
The room's gravity field twisted violently.
Countless hexagonal energy nodes flared across the floor.
Pietro felt his legs turn to lead, each weighing thousands of pounds.
Argh!"
Caught mid-sprint, gravity seized him; he crashed down and the vial flew from his grasp.
"Ooooh…"
A languid male voice drifted in from the doorway.
The lab doors opened.
Strucker strode in with a squad of soldiers.
"As expected."
He looked down at Pietro sprawled like a dead dog.
"Stray mutts raised on the streets can never be house-trained."
With a gesture he magnetically retrieved the fallen blue tube.
"Thought you were fast?"
Strucker stepped over the gravity-crushed speedster.
"This is the Gravitonium Matrix—built especially for you."
"Let me go, you bastard!" Pietro thrashed, unable to rise.
"I'd planned to forge you into HYDRA's sharpest blade."
"But since you won't obey…" His gaze turned cruel.
"…we'll pickle you instead. Your genes should make fascinating research."
"Weee-ooo—!!!"
A shrill alarm wailed through the castle.
"Sir! Intruder detected!"
Strucker's face darkened. He spared Pietro one last glance, then hurried out with his men.
Left alone, Pietro pounded the floor in despair… Twenty minutes earlier.
Sokovia, HYDRA Research Base—a medieval castle carved into the mountain.
Howling wind muffled the sound of two figures landing.
Natasha and Clint, clad in white snow-camo, glided through the icy forest.
"Two sentries, three o'clock," Clint murmured, compound bow drawn.
"Copy."
Natasha ducked, using snowdrifts for cover, and closed in.
"Ffft—"
A silenced arrow pierced the left sentry's throat—no scream.
Simultaneously Natasha sprang, legs scissoring the right guard's neck—crack.
"Snap."
Both sentries dropped.
Perfect teamwork.
"Advancing."
They skirted patrol routes and slipped inside via a ventilation duct.
The décor screamed World War II industrial coldness.
Thick cables and blinking server lights lined every corridor.
"Hold up…"
Passing a huge lab, Natasha stopped. Through bullet-proof glass she looked down into a vast detention area.
Not ordinary cells—individual transparent isolation pods.
Inside were young people.
One slammed against the glass, skin armored in scales;
another huddled while grains of sand orbited him; a third stared blankly, muttering tongues no one knew.
"Those are…" Clint frowned. "Supers?"
Natasha clipped a decoder to the console; seconds later profiles scrolled across her wrist display.
She scanned them, her expression darkening.
"Damn…" she muttered.
"What?"
"These…" She jabbed at the photos. "…are on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Avenger Expansion roster."
"What?"
"After Fury saw Vought's talent show he created a covert project," Natasha said, voice trembling with anger. "He scoured the globe for latent supes, put them on an observation list—codename Secret Warriors. They were meant as Avenger reserves."