"You've got a pretty unusual tag after your name. The man even Death herself can't have. Kind of handsome, actually."
Inside the quiz chatroom, Aoi Shun blinked at the private message from the Black Widow.
"Yours is unusual too. 'Stop arguing, I'll jump.'"
He thought for a moment, then replied.
"Who knows. But according to the Ancient One, those tags carry special meaning, maybe even point to our future."
Phone in hand, she messaged Nick Fury the current location of Wanda and Pietro while continuing to chat with Aoi.
By the Marvel timeline, Wanda and Pietro were at most thirteen or fourteen. They had lost their parents at eight, drifted for years, seen too many bad people, and learned to be wary. Even so, they were still kids.
With Natasha's gentle coaxing, empathy, and sisterly warmth, the twins gradually let their guard down and revealed where they were.
When it came to extracting information, Natasha was a pro. In barely two hours she had their identities and location. With that secured, she turned her attention to Aoi.
Stephen Strange? Please. Like Tony Stark, he wore his arrogance like a tailored suit. Maria Hill had already pulled his file.
"If your tag says the man Death cannot have, does that mean you can never die?"
After sending Fury the intel, Natasha privately asked Aoi in the chat.
"No idea. I'm just a regular guy right now. I can't see the future."
Whether to reveal his location and let S.H.I.E.L.D. find him had pros and cons. For the moment, Aoi wasn't ready to be found. Natasha's sudden friendliness was obvious enough: get close, build rapport, then pull his details.
He knew how nosy S.H.I.E.L.D. - no, Hydra-infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. - could be. If they wanted to dig, he might as well have some fun. Anything they learned would be what he allowed them to learn.
He checked the time and headed downstairs.
He had lived in this world for three years. Not rich, not poor, but he could support himself. Legal or not, his little shop covered the bills.
...
Sokovia, inside a Hydra base.
"Sis... I mean, sister... did you tell that woman named Natasha exactly where we are?"
In the small room, Pietro glanced at Wanda, who sat hugging her knees, lost in thought. He was older by a minute, yet she always made him call her big sister.
Fine. If it made Wanda happy, he could be the younger one.
"Yeah. I told her."
Wanda nodded. "I don't know if she's a bad person, but she doesn't feel like one."
"I can't be sure why she kept steering the conversation to where we are."
"But Pietro, this might be our chance."
Chin on her knees, Wanda's voice thinned with helplessness.
"Since our parents died, we've been drifting. Sometimes we couldn't even find enough to eat."
"Every time I saw kids cuddling up to their parents, I wished ours were still alive."
"Then they brought us here. We have beds and food, sure."
"But most of the kids who came with us died on operating tables and in labs. I don't know when it will be our turn."
She lifted her head and looked at him.
"I don't want to die - not before we avenge our parents."
"That Natasha who messaged me wants to know where we are and everything about us."
"Maybe this is the only chance to get out of this miserable place. I want to gamble."
"Those experiments will reach us sooner or later. Instead of waiting in fear to die on a slab, I'd rather take the risk."
"And I don't feel like she's a bad person."
She lowered her head again and curled up, chin on her knees.
Pietro stepped forward and hugged her, heart aching.
"It's okay. I trust your instincts."
He patted her back, voice soft and steady.
"We've suffered enough to know you're usually right. If not for that amazing intuition, we'd have died a hundred times since we were eight."
"Right or wrong, I'm with you. Always."
"In this world, we are each other's only family."