The elementary school bell rang at three o'clock sharp, allowing all the children to escape through the front doors. Sarah and James came scurrying down the stairs with their backpacks in tow, looking around for their father. Sarah looked nervously to James as she gave his blue jacket tug, "Where's Dad?"

"Sarah! James!" The two kids looked toward the parking lot and noticed Tessa waving wildly by her little blue car. She approached the kids tentatively, waving gently as she got closer, "I'm picking you guys up from school today. We're going to meet your father."

"Is everything okay?" James asked worriedly, taking note of how anxious the brunette looked.

"Yes. Of course, your dad just had to take off a little early. We're meeting him out at the lake. At your Uncle Tony's place." Tessa explained, offering the children a hopeful smile. "Come on, let's go."

Sarah and James looked to each other before James nodded, leading his sister behind Tessa to her car. They waved at Richard the security guard as they followed the strange woman. "See you later!"

"Where are your parents?" Richard asked, then directed his question to Tessa, "Who are you?"

"I'm a friend of the Ro- Carters. Steve asked me to pick up James and Sarah after school today." Tessa stuttered, but Richard wasn't impressed. She sighed, "I can call him if you'd like. Steve will tell you."

"Yes, please do, I can't just let children go off with strangers. Mr. Carter knows that... Mrs. Carter would know that." Richard corrected, one hand on his radio, prepared to make a call if need be.

Tessa groaned loudly and pulled out her cell phone, dialing the number that Steve had texted her from. "Steve, I'm sorry, I know this is a bad time, but this fool doesn't believe I'm supposed to be picking up your kids." Tessa thrust the phone into Richard's hand and he began listening to Steve tell him off on the other end.

After a couple of moments, he winced and handed the phone back to Tessa, "Go ahead. Just, have them call the school next time you're coming to pick them up, okay?"

"Can do, let's go kids. Dad's waiting." Tessa herded the kids into her car and ran around to the driver's seat, pulling her seatbelt across her before looking over her shoulder, "You guys ready?"

"Sure?" Sarah shrugged, not understanding why Tessa was being so dramatic about taking them to Uncle Tony's house.

Tessa gave a firm nod, then threw the car into reverse, "Alright, let's go."

Kayla changed into a sleek black dress that matched her choker. She pulled on thigh-high leather boots and slid a knife into the inside. She secured her phone into her cleavage, pulling up the front of her halter top dress. She replaced her black wig and swiped on dark plum lipstick before securing the photostatic veil over her face.

She sat on her bed, pulling the black choker Steve asked her to wear out of her briefcase. Even on weekend missions, she always took the band, because she knew Tony had a tracker in it along with the camera. Wherever it went, they could always find her. "Nat?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you help me clip this on?" Kayla called quietly as Natasha walked out of the bathroom wearing a long red gown with a slit up to her thigh. Kayla looked her up and down, trying to push the lump in her throat down, "You look nice."

"And you look nervous," Natasha replied, motioning with her index finger for Kayla to turn around so she could clip the necklace, "All you have to do is keep the Avengers occupied. Make sure nobody gets too close. Make sure nobody kills me."

"Please don't talk like that Nat," Kayla mumbled, turning around to face her friend after her necklace was clasped, "Don't go after him alone."

"I won't be alone. I'll have my family here to have my back." Natasha assured Kayla, pulling her into a loving embrace. "I just need you to keep an eye out for me and the rest of the team." Natasha looked down at the choker around Kayla's neck, waving into the camera, "Just like they are keeping an eye on us right now." Natasha opened up a small box and offered Kayla a small round sticker comm for her ear. "We need to get moving Kay. They'll be expecting us."

Kayla nodded as she inhaled, her chest rising and falling as she mentally prepared to see her team again. "Let's go."

"Daddy!"

Steve looked up and smiled as Tessa pushed open the cabin door, allowing Sarah to run and jump at her father. He caught her easily, hoisting her up to sit against his shoulder, "There's my little girl." Steve looked up and saw James walking in with Tessa. "Hey, Buddy."

"Hey, Dad. How's it going?" James asked suspiciously, seeing Tony leaning against the table innocently, giving the boy a short wave.

"It's going." Steve strained out, bopping his head back and forth as he pulled his boy in for a one-armed hug with his free arm. "I'm glad you guys are here. Morgan's upstairs. You guys should go play. Tell Aunt Tess thank you for driving you out here."

"Thanks, Auntie Tess!" Sarah cooed as Steve set her down. The seven-year-old ran up to and hugged the short brunette before darting up the stairs, wheezing to a stop at the top. James looked at Tessa, then his dad then thanked the woman before following his sister easily upstairs.

Once the adults heard the door slam shut, Tony quickly brought up the hologram screen playing the feed from Kayla's necklace as she walked into the ballroom. Tessa's breath caught in her chest at the sight, a room filled with beautiful, dangerous people. Her friend was there. "This... this is unreal."

Tony turned to Tess with a piqued brow, "So you're rolling with the Rogers now?"

She opened her mouth, then closed it, swallowing her words and instead turned back to the feed, "So what do we do now?"

"We watch. And we wait. We prepare to help them in any way we can." Tony answered as Steve placed a headset over his head, pulling the mouthpiece closer to his lips before hitting the on button near his ear, "Kay, you hear me?"

"Yes." She muttered under her breath, pushing her chin back so her voice went straight down. Steve couldn't even recognize his wife with her heavy southern accent. "I hear you."

Steve nodded as Tessa leaned against the banister of the stairs, watching the video with wide eyes. Steve looked back over his shoulder at the brunette, then to Tony, "We're here Kay. Whatever you need."

Kayla didn't answer. She turned and smiled, greeting a passing agent as Natasha led the way through the crowd toward the stage. As Kayla followed the Black Widow, the camera showed Steve, Tony, and Tessa everybody in the room. Tony tapped away on his screen, pulling information to the side as Tessa watched intently, "What are you doing?"

"I'm scanning everyone in attendance and getting all the identities that I can. Any and all information we can get gets us closer to flushing Hydra out and shutting them down. We can see if anyone interesting is here." Tony explained mindlessly as he worked, focusing on what he did as Tessa observed.

Tessa felt her stomach churn at the footage, knowing that Kayla was in danger. And Bucky would be riding into it soon. The worst part was that nobody knew what was about to happen. Even Kayla seemed in the dark. All she knew was that she was walking into a trap for her friends.

Steve clenched his hands onto the kitchen table while his eyes were glued to the screen. Schmidt was going to be there. With his wife. Without him.

"Attention everyone! Attention everybody!" A beautiful redhead woman who stood at least six feet tall walked up to the microphone on the stage. She wore a leather black skirt and matching jacket. She screamed Hydra to Kayla, and it made the super-soldier squirm in her boots. "You're all here for a reason- you are the best of the best. You've proven your loyalty to Hydra and its cause. Here we are, at the tip of the iceberg. Everything is about to change. We are about to create a new order, a new world. A world where nobody threatens us. We are in control. We will no longer hide in the shadows. Because we... we will be the light."

As she finished her speech, the lights in the ballroom went out, plunging everything into darkness. What Kayla and Natasha didn't realize, was that the darkness spread beyond the Seattle hotel. All of Seattle fell into darkness, and then all of Washington, and then the midwest and eventually all of the United States were in the dark. The traffic lights went out. The emergency breakers came on. Everyone across the country was in the dark.

"Stark!" Steve barked as he looked around, unable to see anything. He heard Morgan and Sarah shrieking upstairs and the sound of Pepper's heels clicking in the darkness to check on the children. Steve tapped the headset to turn it on, "Kay! Kay are you there?"

"We're here. Everything's dark." Kayla whispered, kneeling onto the ground as people shuffled around, trying to figure out what was happening. "You see anything?"

"Power is out here. You think it has anything to do with you guys?"

"Probably," Kayla grumbled as she bumped her head into a table. She shuffled under the table, waiting to hear more from Steve or for the power to return. "I don't suppose we have an ETA on the cavalry?"

"Naw sweetheart, that's all Nat. All you have is us." Tony called into the mouthpiece before being pushed away harshly by Steve. The soldier had a pretty easy time seeing in the dark with his enhanced vision, but that didn't help his wife much. He noticed Tessa holding onto the banister, and carefully reached toward her, startling her.

"Sorry, sorry, are you alright?" Steve asked, holding Tessa by the shoulder, "I know this must be scary for you."

"I'm a little spooked, but I'll be okay," Tessa mumbled into the darkness, reaching her hand out and finding something firm and hard. After a couple of seconds, she realized it was Steve's chest and pulled her hand back as he chuckled, "I'm sorry Steve."

"No, it's fine. Thank you for everything you've done today. Take a seat, hold tight. We'll get this sorted out." Steve gently grabbed her upper arm and gently pulled her down to the wooden steps. She sat in the darkness, knowing there was nothing she could say or do. Only wait.

Only wait.

Kayla closed her eyes, focusing all of her senses on what was happening outside the table she hid under. She heard muffled talking and could smell the slight odor of burning. After a moment, she heard the heavy footsteps of boots on the wooden floor. She opened her eyes, seeing the slightest orange glow emitting from outside the tablecloth. "Steve."

"What is it, Kay?" Steve asked as he pressed against the headset, holding a flashlight in his free hand as Tony worked on getting his emergency breakers working. Everything was knocked out.

"He's here."

Steve's hand fell, taking the light with it. Tessa heard a soft curse leave the billionaire's mouth as a spark shot out from the breaker he played with. A moment later, the lights flickered back on, and cheering was heard from the children's room upstairs. Tony and Steve shared a look before Tony asked Friday to bring the camera feed back up.

"Kayla. Kayla, we have power, do you?"

"Yes." She whispered, her voice shaking as badly as her body as she peeked out of the tablecloth. "He's on the stage."

Steve watched the video feed with Tony at his side and Tessa peering past them from the stairs, trying to catch a glimpse of the terrible man who was behind Hydra. What they saw would haunt Tessa's dreams for the rest of her life. The tall, bony man in a floor-length leather jacket stood before the crowd with spread arms. Kayla's jaw quivered as she realized his face was once again gone, and a terrible red skull was in its place.

"Welcome to the new world!" Schmidt called out, and the crowd cheered loudly before they began chanting 'Hail Hydra'. Kayla looked around for Natasha, but couldn't find her disguise anywhere. She was alone. Her eyes were brought back to the stage when Schmidt slammed his cane into the ground, causing the room to silence. Schmidt's eyes scanned the room, and Kayla hid behind the tablecloth again, peeking through the smallest crack she saw the Red Skull looking up toward the ceiling with a smirk. "Hydra will control the nations. There will be no more flags. No more heroes. Just order." He stared around the room, taking in each and every one of his loyal followers. "I looked Thanos in the eyes. I gave him the ultimatum that made him cry. If I can bring tears from the man who killed half the universe... don't you want to see what I can do?"

The crowd murmured, and Kayla felt a tear trickle down her face. Her chest rose and fell roughly as she tried to steady her breathing, but dread had already settled into her heart. "Steve. Steve, I'm so scared."

Tessa clenched the banister as she sat on the wooden stairs. All she could see was the black of the tablecloth, but she could sense the pressure in the room. Tessa understood Kayla Rogers for the first time in the seven years she'd known her. She finally understood why she lied, and why she hid to protect her family. And now Tessa was watching her hide under a table from a madman with no backup or help that she knew of.

Suddenly, Kayla heard the familiar ting of vibranium and pulled the cloth aside to see Captain America slamming Red Skull into the stage. The room erupted into gunfire as the Avengers arrived, throwing the room into chaos. Kayla somersaulted out into the clearing just in time to dodge an arrow that zoomed past her head. She stopped and turned, seeing a purple-clad Hawkeye aiming another arrow at her. She jumped out of the way before being kicked hard in the gut by nothing. "What the actual hell?" She groaned as she held her stomach and rolled to her side. A brunette girl appeared before her, wearing a suit similar to Ant Man's. Kayla whimpered as the girl looked down at her, then shrunk and took off flying, taking out other Hydra agents.

"Kayla? Kayla are you okay?" Steve yelped into the comms, sparing a glance up the stairs to make sure his children weren't listening, "Please answer me."

"I'm fine. Just got taken out by the newest member of the Avengers. Cassie, right?"

"Something like that," Steve answered with the slightest hint of a chuckle. "Stay down for a minute. We're scanning the footage of the scene."

"They are good at what they do," Kayla mumbled, rolling onto her ass to take a better look around. She saw the new Hawkeye and Scott Lang's daughter fighting Schmidt's redheaded guard. A loud clang caught Kayla's attention and she looked up to see Sam engaging in hand to hand combat with Schmidt before being knocked aside by a blast of his power. Kayla rose to her feet slowly and turned, looking up at the monster on the stage only a few feet away. He didn't notice her, but he paused for just a second, his eyes glowing yellow before he turned, but she was already gone.

Kayla ran through the room in pandamonium as the Hydra members pulled guns from who knows where and began shooting toward the Avengers. She heard the rapid-fire of a machine gun and felt the tear of a bullet through her shoulder, knocking her to the ground.

"Kay!" Steve cried out, only able to see the ground, "Kay, what happened?"

Kayla gasped and pushed herself to her feet, twirling around to see the Winter Soldier with his gun aimed at her. Kayla deflated a little and groaned, "That's what happened."

Realization dawned on Tessa in slow motion as she took in what Kayla was seeing. As Kayla accepted it with resignation, Tessa understood with a newfound sense of horror. The man who had wooed her so sweetly just days prior was a killing machine. Any and all sweetness was gone. Tessa saw the Winter Soldier for the first time. "Oh God..."

"Kayla, drop your veil, they don't know it's you." Steve barked into his headset, his eyes scanning the hologram as his wife faced off against his best friend.

"If I do that Schmidt could recognize me. Then I'm dead for sure." Kayla hissed, running full speed toward Barnes. Her voice changing tech was damaged and the heavy accent gave way to her own voice. "I just have to keep them busy."

"No, you need to keep them focused on Hydra and away from you and Nat!" Steve answered back but his wife was going to do it her way.

Bucky aimed his gun at Kayla as she charged him at super-human speed. He tilted his head ever so slightly, realizing she was too fast. He dropped his arm, lowering his gun as she slid to a stop, landing a hard punch against his cheek. He looked back, giving her a knowing smile and nod. He sent a sloppy hit toward her and missed as she knelt down and swept his legs, then took off running.

Tony narrowed his eyes as static broke through. "Friday, what's that noise?"

"She's got another comm on her sir."

"Get me audio for that one too!" Tony ordered, turning to Steve, "Barnes gave her a comm from the other side."

"I've got eyes on Schmidt, I'm going after him!" A voice cut through the audio, and Kayla recognized it the moment Stark did. Deeper, older, but still the same life to it.

Kayla skidded her boots to a stop and took off sprinting in the other direction as she saw Spiderman swing across the ceiling toward the exit. The web-slinger dodged bullets with ease before hitting the ground and taking off on foot out of the ballroom doors into the main hotel. Kayla felt the sting of the bullet hole in her shoulder as she pushed herself harder to catch up with Peter. Once outside the ballroom, the hotel was in just as much chaos. Guests were running in terror, trying to get away from the gunfire that echoed throughout the halls. Police officers were trying to contain the madness, ushering everyone out as a SWAT team made their way toward the ballroom.

"Parker, I'm still engaging Schmidt, one of us is chasing a decoy!" Sam's voice cut through the comms, and Kayla stopped in her tracks to spin around. She tried to figure out where Peter's target was as he hung from the ceiling, aiming his arm toward someone in the crowd. Without warning, whoever Peter was chasing turned and shot a heavy-duty blaster at Spiderman, severing his web and hitting the hero in the process.