Chapter 29 - The Worst Kind of Déjà Vu


Kate had finally broken the Hydra code she'd been working on, and to her annoyance, what she and her parents were seeing from Hydra wasn't a group scrambling after their losses with the whole Apocalypse fiasco and their losses when they'd tried to be part of the auction. Instead, they seemed to be consolidating power, and there was a lot of chatter about Latveria, of all places.

Knowing what Franklin had told Billy, that meant whatever Doom was working on had Hydra's attention too. But they were being careful not to put particulars in their chatter; the nitty-gritty was on physical paper and in conversations. Which meant they were putting their weight behind something they thought was important.

So, she asked May Parker to come with her on a quick reconnaissance mission. James was busy, and most of the college-age team members were in the middle of finals week. May had finished her finals early, so the two of them plotted a quick information-gathering trip, with Nate as backup in case anything went wrong- and as backup for David, who was clingier than usual since Chance was born.

May was determined to make up for how she had fallen apart when the department had grabbed everyone, so she was throwing herself into the investigation. But Kate knew too well how bad it could be if May didn't let herself breathe, either. So, she spent most of the mission needling her about Miles and how the two of them could barely even be on the same missions anymore for how distracted they were with each other.

"You two are hopeless," Kate couldn't help but tease May as they walked together. They'd landed in Bosnia about an hour ago but hadn't yet found any sign of the Hydra faction that was supposed to be causing trouble there. They saw evidence that Hydra had been there, but no actual Hydra soldiers. So, they planned to make one more sweep and then head home.

"Pot, kettle," May sang back.

"Oh, I know," Kate said. "I futzing got pregnant at eighteen. I'm the poster child for being hopeless. But you two?" Kate grinned widely. "It's honestly endearing how you can't focus on anything around him. You look like your mom, but that's your dad. I've heard the stories."

"So who is it you take after?"

"Dad says the reckless falling in love is all him, but I think he underestimates Mom, you know?" Kate said. "And I don't know anything about my birth mom, but the records I've seen say I look like her anyway - which is good, since everything I've found about my birth dad is evil."

"Well, hopefully, you have inherited something from him, then," said a new voice that May recognized but couldn't quite place - but Kate recognized it instantly.

"May, we have to go. Now," Kate said, grabbing onto May's hand without thinking about it, already in a sprint as soon as the initial shock passed. She knew Vojteck had escaped his Genoshan prison and disappeared, but she had honestly hoped that he and Katarina had clashed, considering the way Apocalypse had encouraged Katarina to indulge her worst impulses. She hadn't seen him in any reports, and she'd held onto hope that he'd simply been obliterated by Death, given the timing of his escape not long before Apocalypse.

She hadn't expected that they'd be that lucky, but she liked to play with hope every once in a while.

"Oooh, that's like hitting your elbow all over your body," May said, reacting to her Spider Sense and pushing Kate behind her on instinct when Kate was clearly uncomfortable. She made a face as blue energy blasted through where they had just been. "We can swing if you're up to it!"

"Please."

"Okay, madame," May said as she pulled Kate around with one arm and shot the string to get out. "I can totally web up his face to his butt if you get to safety."

Kate held on tighter. "You're starting to sound like Wade," she said, sounding almost like herself.

"Um, he's hilarious and a lot smarter than people give him credit for," May defended. "And ever since announcing that he's alive, he's been visiting my family all the time. I can't tell if Dad's thrilled or in despair."

"Same with my dad," Kate said. "Jimmy's going to lose his eyes for how many times he's been rolling them lately."

"You know your dad and mine are letting him get away with more teasing just because he almost died, right?"

"Obviously."

May set her down on a rooftop several blocks past where they were last followed. "Nate knows we're in trouble, right?"

Kate bit her lip. "I… can't reach him."

"Which means they knew we were coming and set up telepathic interference," May said, her eyes narrowed.

"Which means this is a trap," Kate agreed.

"Ugh. Of course it is." May was already headed toward the edge of the building. "Do you have weapons, at least?"

Kate smirked and reached behind her to what was basically a modified small of the back holster, snapping out a bow. "Do I have weapons," she laughed.

"Okay, great. You handle that, and I… am going to try to web that guy into a human donut and send the picture to Wade." May pulled her mask down as she swung, taking her changes in direction a little more artistically than either Miles or her father - always adding in a spin or a backflip unless she was just trying to cover ground.

She just had to go a little ways - and then she could be the irritating little spider and web the snot out of everyone. She really did love those mini-shooters.

But she only got seven or eight of them webbed to each other in compromising positions before she tried to take an easy shot … and nothing.

"May!" Kate called from a few buildings over. "Panic button's not responding either!"

"Okay, yeah, that makes sense," May said, folding over backward to avoid a hit. "They probably-" she dropped down and swept the feet out from under a green clad idiot. "-have a EMP? But that doesn't make sense." She'd turned Kate's way, ignoring the attacks around her until the last second - fully relying on her senses to duck and dodge and slam them into each other. "This tech is supposed to be totally impossible to crack unless-"

"Damnit all!" Kate shouted.

"That's the Summers coming out! Potty mouth!"

"It is!" Kate shot back. "Especially because I'm swearing about Tony! That security breach where the Department got his tech…"

"That dastardly Stark and his villainous mustache!" And just like that, May was back to her ducking and dodging routine.

"Oh, hush!" Kate laughed, shooting two arrows at once. "Seriously, that breach must have been worse than we thought - or else Hydra picked over what little Wanda and Scott left of the Department…"

"Or it's ongoing-" May missed one hit from a guy that could have passed for Colossus's little brother - and went flying. She hit the side of a brick building entirely the wrong way and fell the half dozen feet into a crumpled heap.

"Oh shoot," Kate whispered. She shot another couple Hydra soldiers and used a grappling arrow, meaning to get to May - but someone banged into her halfway through her ziplining. She went flying too - and crashed backward through a window, landing badly and getting the wind knocked out of her.

She lay there for a long time, trying to get her breath back, but she was seeing stars. She heard footsteps coming her way and tried to fire her Widow's Bites, but they didn't work after Tony's weird EMP thing had gone off. And her bow had clattered out of her hands, so she didn't have a chance to try something else before a could Hydra soldiers had grabbed her and quickly, roughly, tied her hands behind her back.

Knowing whose voice she'd heard only moments ago, Kate could feel her mouth going dry as she tried to pull away from the Hydra shoulders. They'd gotten the drop on her to tie her hands, but as soon as they pulled her upright, she shoulder checked one of them and then kicked him into his buddy, stumbling backward and out of the room.

She hadn't gotten a good look around the room before she'd been accosted, and she had a feeling Hydra had aimed her at that building on purpose, considering how run-down it looked. The lighting was dismal and kept flickering over her head, leaving too many shadows for her to know for sure where everyone was. Not to mention the many apartments down the hall.

Still, she made a run for it, not surprised when one of the apartment doors opened. She'd been watching and listening for doorknobs, though, so the first thing she did was kick the first Hydra soldier through the door high - breaking his nose in the process.

She smiled grimly as he fell backward into his buddies, temporarily making a bottleneck in that doorway. And by that point, she was at the stairs, so she just got on the railing to slide down, practically riding sidesaddle until she hit a turn and had to jump off again. It was faster than trying to run while her head still hurt.

She hit the ground floor and could hear Hydra soldiers shouting in the stairwell. She heard metal clacking and threw herself through the door to the ground floor just as someone sprayed bullets overhead, hissing when one of them grazed her despite her quick thinking. It wasn't anything immediately problematic, but it was off-putting to suddenly have a line across her left arm.

Kate didn't trust the front door, so she broke through a window of one of the unused apartments and jumped out to the side alley, pausing to grab some of the broken glass to clutch it in her tied hands so she could work on getting herself free while she reoriented herself to try to find May again. She forced herself to slow down her breathing so she wouldn't get caught just for being loud and then peeked around the corner - only to find herself staring right into the barrel of a Hydra weapon.

Instinctively, she ducked around the corner again - which was a good call, because the Hydra weapon took just a split second to charge up with a whine before it discharged, and Kate could see the end of the next building over sparking with some kind of energy.

Kate definitely didn't want to find out what that was about firsthand.

She scrambled backward as about three Hydra soldiers came around the corner. One of them was holding the Hydra weapon, while the other two had normal-looking guns. And all three of them had their guns trained on Kate.

She glanced to either side of her, but she didn't see an avenue for escape. And so, with her chest heaving, she simply grinned up at the approaching soldiers, even as she kept taking steps backward, hoping that she would see an opening if she changed up the scenery. "Hey, guys," she said conversationally, sawing the edge of the cut glass against the ropes around her wrists; she could actually feel them starting to give way to her efforts. "You wouldn't happen to have seen my partner? She's got a big spider on her uniform. Can't possibly miss her."

"Freeze," one of the Hydra soldiers said, and Kate rolled her eyes at him.

"You're just a big meathead, aren't you?"

"I said freeze," the soldier said, and Kate did actually stop … because she had finally cut through the ropes around her wrists.

Kate waited until the soldiers stopped as well before she let her eyes drift shut - only for a second - and whispered a soft, "I don't feel good."

Just as Kate had expected, the sudden change threw the Hydra soldiers off their game. They were prepared for her to sass back at them, but the second she showed weakness, they hesitated and then moved forward, no longer strict in their orders as she put a hand to her head to shield her eyes and leaned against a wall.

And put her hand in her quiver.

She didn't have her bow anymore, but she did have some arrowheads, and that was all she needed. She threw a smoke bomb arrowhead at the three soldiers and took off running in the opposite direction, skidding around the corner and letting all her breath out in relief when she saw May - who was still unconscious but thankfully not in Hydra custody yet, though that might have just been a lucky break, since she seemed to have fallen behind a broken old gate, making an obstacle the Hydra goons must have decided they didn't have time to deal with while they were still trying to pin Kate down.

Kate heard a sound behind her and spun to see more soldiers headed her way. She reached into her quiver to grab a putty arrow that would pin all the soldiers' feet to the ground and pulled her hand back for a good throw-

But someone reached through the open window of the building next to Kate and grabbed her arm, stopping her momentum and startling her nearly out of her skin - especially when she looked over to see Vojteck grinning just inches from her face.

She let out a high-pitched sound but didn't throw the putty arrow - because he was too close to her, and the last thing she wanted to do was end up getting stuck to him. But that also meant that she was thrown off her rhythm, so when she got around to trying to hit him with her free hand, he'd had plenty of time to prepare and caught that hand too.

"Oh, hi," she said in a breath when she couldn't yank her hands back. She tried to use her knees, but he'd anticipated that much, at least, and pulled her nearly off her feet so that she lost her balance and couldn't try that trick.

"I see you for two seconds and already you're trying to hit on me."

"If you have to read into things to inflate your ego, that's your business," she shot back - a second later than she usually would.

"I thought you would appreciate a bit of clever banter."

"What do you want, Vojteck?" she said, too freaked out to banter back.

"Several things," Vojteck said, his grin turning crooked. "But for the moment, you to come with me."

"Thought you said the hitting on you joke was just for banter," Kate said. She yanked hard on one arm, but he had an iron grip and responded by pulling her closer.

"We'll discuss your role shortly. In a more comfortable setting," he said.

"No thanks."

"I'm afraid I can't take no for an answer."

"And yet, I've got a baby at home, so… that's more important than your ego trip. You understand, I'm sure," she said, though she could feel bruises forming where he was holding her tight.

"Certainly. Yet, that doesn't change anything."

Kate sighed out her breath - and then stomped on his foot. She'd moved fast enough he hadn't seen it coming, but when the end result was that he dug his fingers into her wrists tighter, she let out a sound of pure frustration. "Come on," she said, almost cajolingly. "Whatever this is about, forget about it. Please."

"I can't. Aside from the fact that I don't want to, I have a partner to keep happy. Letting you go now would be less than ideal."

"Fine." Kate met his gaze and then dropped her full weight - nearly toppling him. He managed to keep his grip on her, but she did pull him that last little bit over so that he hit the ground. And once that happened, she did have the space to knee him between the legs, finally getting her hands free so she could scramble away from him.

She got a few feet before the brick close to her head exploded with a gunshot, and she glanced over to see one of his guards pointing his gun at her, his expression making it clear that first shot had been a warning. And she wasn't close enough to any alleys or corners to try to duck away, either.

Still, as she put her hands up, she couldn't help her satisfied smile when Vojteck took a good couple minutes before he wanted to stand up again. But she didn't get to say anything sassy to him, because while one guard kept a gun on her, another got her hands secure again, and they practically marched her away from him.

She couldn't help but mutter, "What, scared I'll neuter your boss?" while they headed out, but that just got her a good pistol-whipping, and she had already been a little off from hitting the building earlier. So she spent the rest of the march to the Hydra transport trying very hard not to lose her lunch.

The world stopped spinning after she had been seated for a while, though she could hear others getting into the truck around her while she waited for the world to settle. But before she could get a good idea of what was going on, she felt the bite of a needle in her arm and let out a soft almost-sob before she passed out.


May was pretty sure the only reason she was still alive was her Spider Sense, and even with that, she was barely keeping herself together. Despite her best efforts, she'd taken some good hits from Hydra weaponry, and she was running on pure adrenaline.

And then, Hydra had packed up and left, and May couldn't raise Kate on the comms… or find any trace of her.

This was so bad.

The worst part was that she couldn't raise anyone else on the comma or get her panic signal to cut through whatever Hydra had thrown in their way to stop them. And she was worried about what happened if she passed out.

This was so bad.

She kept hitting her comms, even knowing they were fried, but eventually, she had to stop and reorient herself and gauge whether she had any phone numbers memorized that would help.

She had them all in her phone, but it was dead…

This was so bad.

Panicking, she tried knocking on a few doors to see if anyone would let her use a phone - or the internet, since she needed to look up a phone number. But Hydra had been there long enough that no one was willing to risk opening the door to her.

Her chest was heaving as she tried to figure out what to do.

And all she could think of to do was keep an eye on the skies. The team back home knew she and Kate had gone on an intel run. It wouldn't be long before someone noticed they'd dropped off the radar.

She just had to hang in there until backup arrived.


When Kate woke up, she could feel and hear the soft hum of something mechanical, and her ears needed to pop. She sat up slowly, blinking hard to try to force herself into observation, somehow not at all surprised to find herself on what had to be a private jet decked out in Hydra symbols and deep greens.

She was still handcuffed, but only by one hand at the moment. One cuff was around her right hand, and the other was attached to a bolted-down end table beside the long, green couch someone had laid her out on. She gave it an experimental tug, but it absolutely wasn't going to budge for her - not that she had expected anything less.

Her head was still spinning and her mouth still tasted wrong - and she was still panicked from the sensation of being drugged by Hydra - so she was trying to focus on data collection. She was on a plane, she was trapped, and Vojteck was not far from her, sitting at a table and reading something on a tablet while he ate a steak dinner that did honestly smell amazing.

He seemed engrossed in what he was doing, and he hadn't reacted to Kate's experimental tugs on her cuffs, so Kate had to hope that he didn't know she was awake yet. Which gave her time to recover her wits and go into damage control mode rather than reacting to the fact that she'd been caught and drugged by Hydra again.

Which was, admittedly, a very hard fact to overlook, but she was doing her best not to freak out about it.

She shifted slightly to try to look around the corner of the couch to see who else was on the jet, but when she did that, it finally clicked for her that she could feel the leather of the couch against her legs - and not just at the hip holes.

Any stealth she might have had went out the window as she gasped and looked down at herself, staring in panic and horror at the deep green dress she was wearing - backless and with a slit that went all the way up her thigh, which was why she could feel the leather of the couch.

She sat up fast, her chest heaving, feeling exposed and violated and remembering all at once everything that had happened the last time Vojteck had her prisoner. And before she could even catch her breath, before she could swallow down her panicked tears, she heard Vojteck chuckle and looked up to see him watching her, smirking all the while.

"Do you like the dress?" he asked. "Picked it out myself."

"Tell me who put me in it so I can throw them out of the plane," Kate said, her voice pinched.

Vojteck broke into a wide grin as soon as she said that, setting down his tablet to give her his full attention. "That's what I like to hear," he said. "And I'd love to see that, though I doubt that, as you are, you could throw anyone out of a plane outside of an active threat or fight. You've lost a lot of the work I put into you."

"On purpose."

"I'm sure." Vojteck set his fork down and then tossed her the dinner roll on his plate, which she caught one-handed on instinct. "Still, as I said, I put a lot of work into molding you-"

"Just stop." Kate tossed the roll back at him. "Stop. Stop acting like anything about this is normal. Stop acting like it's reasonable that you're sitting there telling me you worked hard to traumatize me. I hate when you do that."

Vojteck dodged the roll and then let her fume at him, though his smile was getting wider with every word she said. And once she'd said her piece, he got to his feet, crossing the distance so that he was standing in front of her - but not quite close enough that she would have been able to hit or kick him. "Kate," he said, and the tone he was using shifted to one much harsher, so suddenly that Kate immediately dropped his gaze and winced. "If you'd prefer my sister's or my mother's methods, then we can drop these pleasantries entirely. It's up to you. I have my preference, of course."

Kate could feel her breath tight in her chest before she squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to look up at him - only to realize that he was much closer now. "No, I don't…" She swallowed, the words dying in her throat.

Vojteck tsked and, before Kate saw it coming, drew back and backhanded Kate hard enough that the gold ring he was wearing on that hand left a mark. "Let's get something straight," he said, his eyes flashing. "I didn't survive my mother's upbringing - I didn't rise to this position - by wasting opportunities. I had an Avenger at my beck and call, a bargaining chip, an assassin and a bodyguard. I know exactly how to bend you to my will, Katherine, and I will do it again. The only choice left to you is how hard you will make it for yourself before you find yourself desperate to please me."

For an instant, Kate thought about responding by spitting in his face. But he was pontificating and throwing around threats, and she was handcuffed to an end table. She could provoke him when it would better benefit her, pick her battles. Bide her time. If she got herself into too much trouble too fast, her recovery would only be harder - because she knew Nate would find her before too long.

So, instead, she wiped her mouth and cleared her throat. "I get it," she said quietly. She looked up to meet his gaze as he watched her expectantly. "And for what it's worth, I actually agree with you. I'd also like you to not be horrible. It's just off-putting."

Vojteck held her gaze for a good, long time before he smirked and walked past her, going to a compartment above the couch to pull something out. Kate could already feel her throat going dry, but she couldn't see what he was doing, even though she could look over the back of the couch.

She was truly starting to panic when he pulled down a small box, not at all trusting it. It was long and thin and could too easily have been a long syringe.

"It's almost time to meet my partner," Vojteck explained. "And as he's royalty, I thought it best that we both look our best." He snapped open the box and turned it around so that she could see a necklace inside. It was gorgeous, with a golden chain and an ivory pendant, with something inscribed on it. He took it out and let it fall through his fingers, starting to smile. "Turn around; you obviously can't put it on yourself."

Kate narrowed her eyes. "Look, we've just had a conversation about this, but I don't trust you to turn my back to you."

"Of course you trust me," Vojteck said dismissively. "Think back to your first question when you woke up. You asked me who put you in that dress. It never once occurred to you it was me. You felt safe enough when you were still groggy; you're only being difficult now."

Kate blinked at him, genuinely taken aback by that fact… because he was right. As much as she and Rachel had worked to undo his conditioning… there was still a part of her that trusted him, despite knowing better.

Vojteck sat down directly behind her and let the necklace dangle in front of her for a moment before he clasped it around her neck. And the second the pendant fell onto her chest, she couldn't stop the gasp as it felt like the pendant burned itself onto her skin, though it wasn't hot to the touch when she grabbed it with her free hand, trying to tear it away from her chest. She couldn't move it - but at least the initial burning sensation had faded after only a few seconds.

"... the futz?" Kate gasped.

Vojteck chuckled in her ear, grabbing her by the arm when she tried to elbow him and instead pulling her hard while she was off-balance, so that her shoulders were against his chest and his chin was on her shoulder. "You think I haven't learned from my sister's mistakes? I'm fighting magic with magic." With the hand that wasn't holding her arm, he gently trailed the line of the embedded necklace. "You're not going anywhere, Katherine. What a lovely little shield you'll make as I ascend."


Billy knew Kate was on a mission, but he had just finished his hardest midterm and texted her about it, as promised, to let her know that he could breathe again. She and America were planning to take him out to celebrate as a group of Summers-in-laws… as soon as America got back from the mission she was running dealing with a teenager who needed rescuing from an angry mob and Kate got back from dealing with Hydra.

He wasn't expecting, then, to see three dots dancing that let him know there was about to be a response, because he knew Kate wasn't back yet.

Hello, Billy. I need a word. -V

Billy had been expecting a tease, not… He stared at the message for a long time. Where's Kate?

With me. Come say hello, came the response. Alone, of course.

Billy rolled his eyes when he saw the text. "Yeah, that's likely," he said. "IwishKatewashere," he said.

And nothing happened.

He narrowed his eyes. He'd been a bit slower on some spells, and yeah, his power level wasn't fully back up to snuff after everything with heaven and hell, but that was a simple spell. It should have worked. "IwishIwaswhereKateis," he tried - but couldn't get that to work either.

Which meant something magical was blocking him.

You're not alone; why should I be? Billy replied, his eyes narrowed. Who's your new magical partner?

Why don't you find out?

Billy narrowed his eyes further. Send me coordinates.

In a moment. Keep in mind that there is a timer on this generous offer.

Generous? So far all you've said is that you've got Kate.

I could have kept that to myself.

So what do you want? A pat on the back? You said you want to talk, so let's talk. I'll come get Kate, yell at you, and we'll part ways.

Sounds divine. Provided it all goes your way.

It usually does, in my experience. Besides, don't you owe me for killing your sister for you? Billy gripped his phone tighter. You should give me back my best friend for that alone. Even made sure she died again when she came back.

And I thank you for that. Enough dramatics. I know it's your specialty but I do have other things to do. On the tails of that text came the coordinates and a reminder to keep it to himself.

By that time, Billy had fully fallen for Vojteck's trap. He was so frustrated by not knowing where Kate was and not having anywhere to go that the second the coordinates came through, he didn't even think to check where they went to before he wished himself there - only to swear when he realized that he was surrounded not just by Hydra but by some royal trappings that announced, obviously, that he was on Doom's property.

And there, just feet away, was Kate, wedged between two big Hydra goons, wide-eyed when she saw Billy appear. And to Billy's alarm, she was in a Hydra-green dress, and he did not like the implications.

"You know this is a trap," Kate said in a breath, then doubled over when the soldier on her right hit her in the stomach.

"Hey," Billy said, taking a step toward Kate - or, at least, he tried to. He ran almost face-first into some kind of invisible barrier, and when he looked down, he saw that he was standing in the center of a circle with runes drawn all the way around it. "What the heck."

"Welcome to Latveria, Son of Chaos. I find myself less than impressed with your lack of forethought."

Billy waved him off. "Yeah, yeah, hold on a second. I'll get around to you. Why are you in an evil villainess dress?" Billy asked Kate.

"Not my idea," Kate said.

"You don't even look like yourself," Billy said. He was aware, somewhere in the back of his mind, that it was odd Doom was taking his brush-off so well, but when he tried to gesture toward Kate and her dress, he suddenly realized that just moving his arm was… exhausting. He frowned and looked down at the circle he was trapped in, realizing that the runes were glowing brighter the more exhausted he felt. "Kate? What's going on?"

"I don't know," she said, her eyes wide as she watched Billy go down to one knee. She put her hand to her pendant, but the runes on that didn't match the ones on the ground. She didn't think her presence was making things worse for him, but…

"Sarkissian, leave us," Doom said, though there was no dismissive gesture that usually would have come with a statement like that.

Vojteck glared at the misnaming but didn't immediately move. "Don't forget our deal. I still need one wish."

At that, though, Doom barely turned his way. "You think I am incapable of remembering such a request?"

"You can't even remember my last name," Vojteck shot back.

"If you prefer I call you by the weaker option, then I shall."

"I would prefer it, actually."

"Remain if you wish to interfere with the forces in place that are beyond your understanding." Doom turned his focus back to Billy. "It makes no difference to me, but it may disrupt any wish that might apply to you later."

"Fine," Vojteck said, all but rolling his eyes - and then glaring at Kate when she snickered at him.

"Always finding a way to play second fiddle, aren't you?" Kate couldn't help but say.

Vojteck rolled his eyes and took her arm in a tighter grip, nearly dragging her off her feet with a hard tug as he pulled her out of the doorway and shut the door behind them, already hissing threats in her ear before the door was shut.

By that time, Billy had fallen to his hands and knees, though once the door was shut, he did look up at Doom. "I thought you didn't like Hydra. That's what my mother told me after the last time you worked with them," he said, though he was panting, and he felt ill.

"Your mother was correct." Doom watched him carefully for a moment. "sometimes, however, the ends can temporarily justify the means."

Billy shook his head. "So, you've got me - what happens to Kate?" he asked.

"She'll have to manage her own way out of his grasp, but then she'll be given safe haven here."

"Can't you - you know she's got a baby at home, right?" Billy asked.

"Yes. That can be dealt with as well. One step at a time, my boy."

"It's just - she's my best friend, or I wouldn't even be here-"

"I know all of this."

"Right, yeah, of course. Almost forgot who I was talking to." Billy could feel his arms shaking as he tried to hold himself up. "Iwishthiswouldstop," he whispered, but it didn't work - not that he expected it to. If anything, the runes glowed brighter, and he felt worse. "What's happening?" he asked. He really did feel like he was going to be sick.

"I'm siphoning off your power," Doom told him frankly. "Precautionary, of course."

"And then?"

"And then we can come to an agreement."

Billy frowned, still feeling ill. "What kind of agreement?"

"Concerning your future, of course. If you continue to follow this path, you'll need a more practiced hand to guide you in your work."

"It's a generous offer, really. But I like learning with my mom," Billy pointed out.

"She isn't going to push you properly. She's been too busy protecting you."

"Still, I'm still learning from her," Billy said. He closed his eyes, and the room felt like it was spinning. "Sorry. I can't talk right now. I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Don't fight it and it should go easier. We'll talk again soon." With that, Doom strode across the room to take a seat where he could watch Billy fade, until, finally, Billy simply passed out.


Nate had already been in motion when Kate and May went dark on their mission. He'd waited long enough that they should have reasonably been able to get a signal out if they were okay, but he was already reaching out to the others to let them know the intel-gathering mission had gone south.

Storm was more than willing to watch David for him as he mounted what he was sure was going to be a rescue, while Scott was already prepping the jet and Annie was asleep with Chance in the bassinet nearby (and no one who valued their lives was going to wake her, either). Remy and Bobby had just gotten back in town, too, so Nate grabbed them on the way to go get their missing members.

Scott pushed the jet fast, too. He didn't need to reach out telepathically to know that Nate was worried. It was Kate, and it was Hydra. And as much as she threw herself into trying to stop Hydra out of her own personal vendetta, they both knew that Hydra had been a lifelong problem for her and that after she had come out publicly with her story, she'd put a target on herself.

Nate's foot was tapping, and his eyes were glowing as he reached out ahead of them, hoping to pick up Kate or May telepathically before they had to conduct a search. Obviously, he was reaching out to Kate the most, trying to look through the bond they already had, but seeing as there was no answer there, he'd take any proof that the girls were okay.

They were nearly to Kate and May's last coordinates when he found May - who was freaking out.

It was a trap! she practically shouted at Nate as soon as she realized he'd found her.

Where's Kate?

I don't know! May's panic was all over her projection. I don't know! They took her and disappeared; I don't know where she went and this is so, so bad!

"Nate?" Scott prompted him, frowning when he saw Nate go completely still.

"They got separated," Nate said. "May says Hydra left with Kate."

Scott narrowed his eyes. "Tell me where."

Nate sent his dad the correct coordinates and pressed his mouth into a thin line, going back to reaching out for Kate in the vain hope that she had escaped after May saw her taken. But given the players, he was getting angrier and angrier the longer the silence went on.

Nate didn't even wait for his dad to set the jet down; he opened the side door and telekinetically pulled May into the jet so that Scott could turn them around fast and start looking. And it turned out to be a good call; May was showing every inch all the bruises she'd accumulated during the fight, and she was obviously hurting.

"What happened?" Nate demanded as Remy took May's hand to calm her down when she was obviously a mess.

"It was a trap, and I'm pretty sure it was a trap for Kate," May blurted out, her eyes wide as she met his gaze. "We ran into Viper's least-favorite child."

"You ran into Vojteck?" Nate thundered back, his eyes glowing brighter. "Where is he?"

"I don't know," May said. "I barely got away myself, and he left before the rest of the soldiers." She looked miserable. "I'm sorry. I know this guy-"

"Don't tell me what you know about him," Nate said. He paced several times in a small circle as the rest of the jet fell silent. "We have to find her. Now."

And sitting just a foot away from Nate, Remy was glad for the years of practice trying to keep Sinister out of his head and his personal business away from Charles and Jean. Because if Nate had bothered to push his way in, he would have seen the thought foremost in his mind: that Remy had let Vojteck go in the first place.

He'd hoped that Vojteck would have gone to confront his sister and, if nothing else, draw attention to the fact that she was alive again. He'd even hoped that Hydra would have divided loyalties, seeing as it was a sexist organization. Instead, Vojteck had decided to lie low and slowly, carefully, worm his way back into power.

And now Kate was paying the price. And Remy knew the history there.

Bobby raised an eyebrow at Remy and squeezed his hand. "You okay?" he asked under his breath.

Remy easily put on his best smile and waved Bobby's concern off. "We bes' see to Miss May."


As soon as Billy was aware enough to realize he had passed out, he woke up fast - and then immediately regretted it, because his head was swimming. He felt worse than he'd felt after the strictest of team practices when Storm had forced them to do hand-to-hand. Everywhere was sore.

Weirder still was the fact that Doom had put him up in, apparently, the diplomatic wing. The bed was huge and comfortable, the fireplace was cozy, and Billy didn't trust any of it.

Especially when the door opened to admit Victor von Doom himself, and Billy straightened up.

"Where's Kate?" he demanded. If he'd had his powers, he would have made his cape fly out behind him and made his eyes flash, but all he could manage was a very, very slight glow to his eyes.

"Elsewhere, for the moment," Doom said, stopping about a foot into the room and crossing his arms.

"You can't leave her with him," Billy said, sitting up straighter, faster. "Please. I get that you've got a plan for me, but Kate's been through hell with him. You have to know that."

"Then I suggest you listen," Doom said, cutting across him before he could get himself too spun up.

"Sure, when Kate's safe," Billy said. "I'll listen to whatever you have to say. Or you can keep pushing me and find out what happens when a god gets angry." He hated to pull that card, especially because he was deeply uncomfortable with America worshiping an iteration of him. But he'd done magic in a collar before. It was a fair warning, he figured.

But Doom just drew himself up. "I intend to see exactly what you are capable of, Son of Chaos."

Billy narrowed his eyes and pointed at Doom, but the spell at the end of his finger fizzled.

"Now then," Doom said, his smug tone evident in every word. "You will lend me your power. I will return it to you when I am finished with it. Your friend will find her own way out, and then, she will have shelter here. And as for you." He tipped his head toward Billy. "You are stunted where you are. There is much I can teach you."

"No thanks."

"You don't have a choice in this for now." Doom turned on his heel to leave. "Katherine will stay here until I am finished. As a show of good will, I will provide her the means to escape that Hydra idiot. And you will help me end a long feud."

"I won't help you with the Fantastic Four."

Doom waved his hand. "A longer-standing feud than that," he said and walked out the door, leaving Billy glaring at the sparks at the ends of his fingernails and wondering what that had even meant.


Nate had wasted no time in reaching out for more help once they realized what the score was. He was so busy looking for her, he hadn't taken a moment to see why Remy was looking like that, or to notice that Bobby was taking extra care of him. All he knew was that this was obviously an all hands on deck situation and Rachel and America were currently out of reach on some wild adventure in a dimension that was populated with kittens.

But the Avengers were still a thing. And so was his team of X-Men … and while Scott was sure to dive in headfirst to help, Nate realized quickly that maybe it might be a good thing that his big brother was overseas with Iron Man. Not like they wouldn't have every opportunity to look a little closer than everyone stateside was capable of.

And besides, he wanted to tell his brother what was happening so he could properly freak out … and then either help or get home to help. Either way, there was more to be done than Nate could handle alone and he really didn't want to anyhow.

Natasha and Clint were already on a revenge streak, hitting Hydra as hard as they could and trying to find where Vojteck had disappeared to. Steve was on a different revenge streak entirely, but still with the same results. Betsy was looking on Cerebro. Remy and Bobby had disappeared to follow their own leads. Wanda was working up a seeking spell - and was worried when that failed. Tommy was running down any leads he could.

But still, Nate wanted nothing more than his big brother, and he nearly melted in relief when he heard James pick up on the other end.

"James, Kate's missing," he blurted out. "She and May went on an intelligence-gathering mission, and May came back more bruise than skin and saying Vojteck took her. We have to find her - now."

James took a moment to process before he started to move … already pacing in his hotel room as he pulled at his tie and considered how best to go forward. "Okay, what do you know? I didn't have that little idiot on my bingo card or I would have hunted him down by now. Who's he working with? Is it Hydra? Wait … if it was Hydra, Aunt Nat would have that pinned down… what can I do to help?" He'd already fired up his laptop and was ready to start breaking into whatever he could. "I'm getting into some satellites, so … do you know what area he was operating out of?"

"The intel mission itself was in Eastern Europe but it was a trap, so I can't guarantee that's where he's set himself up. That's where he figured he could get a small enough team to ambush." Nate shook his head. "Kate was the one who broke the code that led them there. It feels targeted. And you and I both know if he's targeting her…"

"Alright," James said slowly. "Ill break into her work to see what she was into exactly, and maybe we'll get lucky. We're not too far from there … we're just in Monaco…"

"Please," Nate agreed instantly. "I know you've got that stop in Latveria with Tony in a couple days. Franklin mentioned it last time he was here trying to coordinate again; he's freaking out wondering why Doom asked you guys over. Maybe see what Doom knows if we don't find her by then. Kate mentioned Hydra and Latveria were posturing against each other. He hates them; he might know what they're up to better than we do since we can't officially spy in his country."

"Yeah, apparently Dr. Doofus has some kind of man crush on Tony. Should be worth a laugh if he proves to be worthless."

"Yeah, if its funny enough, beam it my way once you're out of his telepathic shields. With any luck, I can share it with Kate and cheer her up after this." Nate shook his head and sat back. "Just tell me there haven't been any demon sightings lately, because believe me: I've been worried about Hydra being a misdirect or team up. Vojteck wouldn't think twice about making a deal, you know?"

"No demon sightings here," James promised. "I keep expecting that alarm spell to go off when I'm on a panel, though."

"I'll bet." Nate ran his hand down his face. "Kate's mom is letting Tony know whats going on. Watch him for another heart attack, huh?" He was obviously just moving down a list of things he needed James to hear, using that list as an anchor when he was scared for his wife.

He knew it was obvious, because they'd seen their dad do it a million times. And the worst part was that the excuses in his head for not letting himself fall apart were the same ones his dad used all the time. He couldn't fall apart. He was a dad and he was needed and he didn't have the time or the luxury.

"That's the plan," James agreed. "I've been watching him anyhow, but I'll make sure he doesn't push too hard. I can do that part."

"Right." Nate nodded. "Let's find her fast, huh? I don't… I can't do this without her," he said, if only because he was talking to his big brother… and because he still, months later, had to wake up and check that she wasn't dead after so long believing the department's lies.

"We'll get her back- wherever she is."


James had been trying to keep his cool when it came to everything Nate had said. Yes, Kate probably had managed to find herself some kind of trouble with the Hydra mess she was investigating. That was the easiest explanation for everything, after all.

But for as hard as he was looking for her using all of Tony's vast resources, he kept getting distracted by the fact that he hadn't heard from Billy in a while. He knew Billy was doing midterms and studying himself crosseyed between tests. The past week had been accented with oddly spaced out phone calls, voicemails, and yes, even the occasional text when Billy wasn't so tired of studying that he had the focus to text instead of just calling to tell him how things were going.

But it wasn't until it was clear that Kate was in trouble that James started looking at his phone from time to time … wondering where that check in from Billy was. The two of them were super tight, after all. Even if Kate was screwing with Hydra, she'd have at least been in touch with Billy for teasing reasons.

Waiting for the satellite to pass overhead, James reached for his phone to compulsively check again to see if there was anything through any of the various messaging apps they all used, but nothing was showing that he hadn't seen since he checked ten minutes before.

What's worse, he could almost feel his family on the other side over his shoulder as he looked through his phone, but he wasn't quite ready to ask for help when he could figure it out himself. Besides … they were supposed to be on demon duty … and the creep was hard for them to track, too … he couldn't just ask them to redirect their efforts just because he was getting edgy.

But, he could absolutely send Billy a text to see if he could reply. Have to check in while I have a second and no one's breathing down my neck - how is the testing going?

To James' surprise, he saw three dots start dancing only a couple minutes after he sent his text before a reply came back: Just finished a four-hour test review the TA ran. Got extra credit for attending, which should help with the final grade. How's the tour?

James frowned hard when he saw the response. "That ain't Billy," he said to himself. The corner of his mouth tightened up as he considered it. The girls are a little out of control. That never failed to get some kind of laughable response.

Yeah? What's the story this time?

James scrunched up his nose. Where were the jokes? More of the usual. You up for a visit?

The three dots danced again. Rain check? I can't feel my brain after that review session.

"Since when?" James grumbled to himself. He didn't even know how to reply to that, and in lieu of anything to tip this person off _since there was no way this was Billy Maximoff turning down an invite for a date - he went for the one thing he himself never did in texts and answered with a shrugging emoji. And then immediately closed his eyes to try and focus to see if anyone on the other side was close by enough to help.

"That definitely isn't the boy you love," Noh confirmed for him.

"Any idea where he is?" James asked.

"With Kate," Noh said. "I'm not quite sure where that is, actually, but I was…" He trailed off and blushed. "I've been worried that Azazel may come looking for him to see what else his power can do. So I saw when someone reached out to him via Kate's phone."

"Wait."

"I don't want you to lose him, and everyone has been focused on the hunt and on Azazel himself that I thought he could use a second pair of eyes," Noh tried to explain. "And frankly, trying to look out for Mia is hard when her father still glares at me for breaking her heart by dying."

"No, he definitely needs the second set of eyes," James agreed. "Okay. Can you try to find him? Please. Kurt will get over it … she's doing a lot better now."

"Yes, I know. And I'm glad. I don't want her to mourn me," Noh agreed.

"That's too bad because she's going to," James said with a frown.

"I know." Noh waved his hand. "We can talk about this later. I simply meant that I'd prefer our memories to be joys and not weights. A philosophical discussion of mourning can wait. I'll go look for Billy," he said, putting a hand on his heart.

"Thank you," James said. "Ill keep looking here. I just need to know who's ass I have to kick - and maybe where.."

"I'll reach out to you as soon as I have anything," Noh promised.

James let out a breath of relief, taking the moment to force himself to relax a little before he went back to the computer - and texted Nate while he was at it. Okay. I've got a few strings pulled. I'll let you know where I'm going and who's getting the shit kicked out of them. But there is progress. Promise.

Any progress at all is good news. Kate's mom and dad just got back from a mission; had to bail when Clint got shot. He's okay, just…

Clint.

Yeah, that. There was a long pause. Thanks for keeping me in the loop. I feel like I'm losing my mind the longer she's gone.

You'll need to put that in the vow renewals.

Yeah, it'll match her jokes about shotgun weddings, I'm sure.

I'll give you another update as soon as my spy comes back to me.

Which spy? Nate asked after a long, shocked silence on the other end.

One that isn't hunting.

Surprised there's any left, considering.

Well … there are a few that stick to certain people anyhow - they always do. As much as possible. And there are a few that have several interests that has them bouncing while those that are on the warpath march on.

Huh. Well, thank your spy for me.

I'm sure he'll be tickled for the thought.