Izetta drew a strain of blood from Tessa's arm, examining the contents before labeling the vial. She looked up at her husband with a tight lip, "The infection is spreading."
"Can you create more of it for the convention?" Osvaldo asked slowly. He typed away on his computer, occasionally looking over his shoulder to make sure nobody was listening. "We only have a couple more hours before we have to plant it if we want things to go according to plan."
"I'm not so sure I want things to work out that way." Izetta said sadly, looking down at Tessa in guilt. The brunette's hair clung to her sweaty face as she breathed heavily, hooked up to breathalyzers to keep her alive. Izetta studied her patient without looking up at her husband, "The children are gone. This was all for nothing."
"Then we don't need her." Osvaldo said coolly, wrapping his arms around his wife as he pressed a kiss to her shoulder blades, "Tell the doctors you can't do anything more and let the infection run its course."
Izetta moved her head to toss her ponytail over her shoulder, finally looking away from the girl, "If we do that, then we've officially broken the vow we took as doctors. We'll have taken somebody's life."
"The goal is to take many lives, it's that or we lose our own. She won't give us another chance. We take refuge with the Enchantress or we take our chances against the Avengers. That was the deal she made. We just have to finish this." Osvaldo assured his wife as his pager buzzed. He read it quickly, pushing his hand through his dark curls, "I have to go. Wrap it up. I'll meet you in our lab in an hour."
Izetta nodded, looking down at Tessa. With her husband gone, she allowed herself a brief moment of vulnerability, to speak truthfully in the cold world Hydra had pulled them into, "I'm so sorry. I wish it didn't have to be this way- It's not fair, but we live in a world bigger than us humans now. I'm sorry you have to be the first to fall." Izetta latched up her medical bag and walked out the door, but not before giving Tessa one last sad glance.
Matthew Ellis appeared from his suite in a navy suit with a yellow tie. His wife grinned and straightened it before smoothing down the satin fabric, "You look very nice, darling. I'm proud of you for coming all this way to support the President's initiative. I'm sorry you'll have to attend alone."
"Well, you have more important things to take care of." Matthew beamed as he looked at James and Sarah, settled into the couch watching a movie. He kissed his wife and bid her farewell, leaving for his meeting at the United Nations.
"Where's he going?" Sarah asked genuinely as she cleared her throat. James shushed her and rolled his eyes, focused on the film ahead of him. Sarah set down her colored pencils and sketchpad to give the older woman her attention as Sandra sat in the chair beside her.
"He's going to present an initiative from the President of the United States. It's a way to help vet people better, make sure they have good intentions... They are trying to snuff out Hydra."
"Hydra isn't real. It's just a myth." James mumbled, never looking away from his show. Sarah swatted his arm, then turned back to Sandra, waiting to hear more.
Sandra's story was done though, and she was curious about what James meant, "Why do you say that, James?"
"Hydra. Captain America. A secret society hidden within the world's most prestigious espionage agency? Sounds like propaganda." James answered, looking over to Sandra for a moment. She was captivated by his green eyes. It was like looking into her daughter's eyes. James saw the way she looked, lost in thought, and shrugged. He turned back to his movie, "Things like that don't happen in real life. They happen in the movies and in the comics, but real life isn't so exciting."
"Not exciting is a good thing." Sarah mumbled, wringing her hands together as she spoke through clenched teeth.
"Naw, I want to be a super hero. I want to be like the Avengers. I met Spider-Man once, he was so awesome. I want to be like that! Like Thor- or- or Captain America!" James said, getting more excited before remembering himself. His mood sobered and he kicked at the carpet with his socked foot, "Dad would never allow it. He never lets us do anything fun."
Sarah rolled her eyes and turned to Sandra, preparing to defend her father, "Yes he does. James's idea of fun is being bad and breaking the rules. That's why Dad doesn't let him do anything fun."
"No, he won't let me do anything. 'James, don't do this! James don't touch that! If you kick that wall one more time, you'll be grounded!' All he does is work and sit around, he wouldn't know adventure if it bit him in the a-"
"James!" Sarah scolded and Sandra stared at him with wide eyes, shaking her head to silently chastise the boy. He realized his error and sunk into the couch, snapping his mouth shut and keeping it that way. With her brother quiet, Sarah continued her conversation with the woman she didn't realize was her grandmother, "So this new initiative, it'll try to find out who is working for Hydra?"
"Yes. It's quite... advanced. A lot of people won't like it, but we've come to terrifying times. We have to protect ourselves and the people we love. I lost someone very important to me- someone important to Matthew and I, because of Hydra. We don't want that to happen to anybody else." Sandra said firmly, willing herself not to cry. She could see her daughter in the children in front of her. She felt angry and sad that she'd missed them grow up and she felt devastated that they didn't know who she was to them. But Sandra Ellis knew she couldn't tell them. She couldn't put them at risk by giving them the idea they were more than they realized. They didn't know who their father really was. They probably didn't remember their mother to realize who she was either.
Sarah took in the information, letting herself fall back into the couch and grabbing her sketchpad from the side table, "I'm sorry. I hope whatever he's presenting today gets the support it needs. It sounds really important."
James and Sarah shared a look, and Sandra just nodded sadly as she stared ahead at the television with them, wiping sweat from her brow, "It really is."
"Hello! Welcome! Here, have some water."
The attendees of the United Nations Conference signed in and accepted the bottles before entering the meeting hall to begin the proceedings. Eighty-seven countries were presenting their ideas and plans for a better world over the course of four days. Ideas for dealing with Hydra, and famine, and violence, and kidnapping. The world was coming together to try and make a better future. No more galas. No more 'get to know you' parties. Straight to business.
The scene still made Kayla uncomfortable as she manned the registration table. Her long red hair was pulled back into a sight bun at the nape of her neck, and she wore dark blue glasses that shielded her brown contact-covered eyes. She smiled sweetly at the politicians from around the world, some she'd met in the past, but nobody recognized her. She'd occasionally turn to look at the two security guards on either side of the main doors, seeing them laser focused on their job, even though the blonde man would occasionally blush when he caught her looking at him.
"Matthew Ellis, signing in."
Kayla's blood shot cold through her body as she pushed the sign in paper toward her father, keeping her head down as she typed away on her computer. When he reached down to sign the sheet, she allowed herself a brief glimpse of him, taking in how deep his wrinkles had gotten and how frail he was beginning to look. It had been almost ten years, and Kayla had missed out on everything. Kayla had added to the pain and suffering of those years. But she couldn't come back from the dead again. It might kill him.
"Thank you." He said nonchalantly, pushing back the paper without giving her a second look. Once he walked away, Kayla let out a long breath, looking toward Steve and Bucky in warning. The men each gave a firm nod, telling her they saw him, but did nothing else about the matter. She continued greeting the men and women cordially, but Kayla's focus always kept wandering back to the man who's heart she had broken twice.
Not long after, the conference began and Kayla was able to relax, sitting in the back and making sure nothing alarming happened. Three hours went by uneventfully with Steve and Bucky positioned in guard uniforms by the doors. After four and a half hours, the conference was called to a close for the evening. Kayla sighed, ready to go back to her dirty hotel and sleep, one day closer to getting her kids back and going home. Steve faltered a little, feeling tired after standing at attention for hours with a rifle in his hands. Bucky tried to hold back a smile, feeling just fine as his best friend showed his age more than he did.
As the people began to rise and stretch, a loud cough was heard from the crowd. Kayla didn't think anything of it until she began to hear groaning. She looked up and realized many of the people were still sitting, some massaging their heads, some trying to stand and falling back into their chairs. Kayla looked to Steve and Bucky, seeing the confusion in their eyes as well. Steve handed his rifle to Bucky and approached the nearest woman showing signs of distress. Steve knelt down to talk to her, then looked up to Kayla with wide eyes. "I think they've been poisoned." Steve said quietly, his voice breaking through the com for the first time in hours.
Bucky quickly shut the doors, effectively locking everybody inside as the head speaker from Geneva took to the stage again. "Everybody remain calm! We'll have a doctor on the scene in a couple of minutes. For the time being, everyone must remain here until we can be tested."
Kayla looked around frantically, seeing an older woman nearby wobble before passing out into the arms of the man next to her. Kayla rushed over and helped lower the woman, seeing her forehead drenched in sweat. "They have the same symptoms as Tessa."
"The Medranos." Bucky finished, looking around the room, but they were nowhere to be seen, "You said they were called in to look at Tess. They'll be called here as well."
"But if they created the virus, they won't cure anyone. They are the specialists who will get called in. They'll say there's no cure. These people will die." Steve said into his earpiece as he backed away from the woman. He looked over to his wife, meeting her eyes as they began to water beneath her glasses. She looked over her shoulder, seeing her father leaning against the wall, panting for breath.
Steve wanted to comfort his wife. To tell her they'd figure this out, like they always figured something out. He wanted to tell her they'd save her dad. But Steve didn't want to give her false hope, and he didn't want to make promises he couldn't keep. They had to stop the Medranos, but as of now, they were quarantined in the United Nations Office until further notice.