At this point in time, the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division—better known as S.H.I.E.L.D.—didn't yet have its iconic helicarrier. The organization was still based out of a conventional building.
A tall, striking figure made her way swiftly through the corridors toward the heart of the base. It was Natasha Romanoff, and it had been a while since anyone had seen her around headquarters. Now, she was heading straight to the director's office.
Her brows were slightly furrowed. Nick Fury had summoned her with a serious tone—something big was going down.
"Natasha, we've found some leads on that bank robbery."
The moment she stepped into the office, Director Fury got right to the point.
"Leads?" she echoed, surprised. She'd expected a different topic entirely, but it turned out the investigation into the robbery had taken a turn.
"You remember those Hydra agents who jumped into the river during their escape?" Fury said, folding his hands over his desk. "Our field team found their bodies today. And guess what?"
Natasha raised an eyebrow but said nothing. She wasn't interested in guessing games—she wanted answers.
Fury leaned forward. "Two of them didn't drown. They were shot. Execution style."
Natasha's eyes narrowed sharply. That changed everything.
If they'd been shot before hitting the water, something had definitely happened between the heist and their escape. Something that wasn't part of the plan—something they hadn't anticipated.
Her thoughts flicked back to the scene. Just before she'd rushed toward the orphanage, she remembered hearing two gunshots. At the time, she'd dismissed them as unrelated—background noise during the chaos. But now, those gunshots seemed far more significant.
And she remembered exactly where they came from: the orphanage.
More specifically... there had been one person in the orphanage courtyard at that moment.
A boy with heterochromatic eyes.
Natasha's expression shifted as the realization hit her. She took a step back unconsciously, stunned.
Could that child... really have been involved?
She didn't want to believe it. Kurogai hadn't exactly left her with the best impression—but for a child to be the catalyst behind everything? It seemed impossible.
"What is it, Natasha?" Fury asked sharply, catching the change in her demeanor.
He had called her in because she had been on the scene that day. If anyone could piece together the mystery, it was her. Now, watching her reaction, he was convinced—she'd figured something out.
"I have a theory," Natasha said slowly, steadying her voice. "But it's hard to believe. Honestly, it sounds insane."
"Try me," Fury said. "Spit it out."
Natasha drew a deep breath. "The person responsible for the disruption… I think it might be that heterochromatic-eyed boy from the orphanage."
Fury blinked. "A kid?"
"I know how it sounds, but everything adds up." She began walking him through her account of the day, laying out what she saw—and what she suspected.
By the time she was done, Fury sat quietly, trying to process it.
Of all the possibilities, this was not one he'd expected. But when he lined it up with everything else—the anomalies, the shootout, the mole, and the exposure of a Hydra agent posing as one of theirs—it all traced back to that same child.
"Kurogai…" Fury muttered under his breath.
"What should we do?" Natasha asked, still unsettled.
"Whether it's true or not, I want him brought in—immediately. No harm is to come to him. Understood?"
"Understood," she replied with a nod, slipping back into her agent mode.
Moments later, Natasha departed S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters with a small tactical unit en route to the orphanage.
---
Meanwhile, in a hidden Hydra base, a man wearing gold-rimmed glasses was listening intently to a secure transmission. This was Daniel Whitehall, a senior Hydra operative, and he was receiving classified intel from a mole inside S.H.I.E.L.D.
As the message finished playing, a cold smirk formed on his lips.
"Leave it to S.H.I.E.L.D. to sniff out something interesting. A child? How curious," Whitehall muttered. "I didn't expect my adversary to come in such a small package... But it doesn't matter."
His gaze darkened. "Last time, I was humiliated. This time, I'll rip you apart."
His voice dropped into a growl as he turned to his Hydra soldiers.
"Deploy a team to the orphanage. Bring the child back alive—and burn that place to the ground."
With that order, both S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra locked eyes on a single location.
The orphanage.
And an unsuspecting boy named Kurogai was about to find himself in the middle of a storm far larger than he imagined.
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