Wanda was not as moved as she had imagined, despite Loren's impassioned words.
It felt strangely familiar—Baron Strucker had spoken in much the same way when he first recruited her and Pietro.
And what had that gotten them?
He'd turned them into test subjects, forcing them to endure inhumane experiments. They'd nearly died.
Now, hearing Loren echo those same idealistic promises, Wanda's gut twisted—not with inspiration, but suspicion. She'd grown immune to pretty words wrapped in grand designs. This young man standing before her felt like another manipulator, albeit one who'd saved her life… and offered to save her brother.
And that was why she remained.
Gratitude, not trust, bound her to him—for now.
If Loren had known her thoughts in that moment, he might've grinned and said, "You've got a good eye for people!"
Because the truth was, he was weaving grand promises. He was carefully constructing an image of himself: powerful, reliable, indispensable. He'd gone to great lengths to extract her from Hydra's grip—not out of pure altruism, but because he saw value in her. Not just her beauty, but the potential slumbering within her: Chaos Magic.
In this universe, mutants didn't exist—just like in the MCU. That meant Wanda wouldn't develop her powers naturally. To awaken her true potential, Loren would need the Mind Stone. But that was a problem for another day.
Right now, only one promise mattered: Kill Baron Strucker.
He'd made it to her himself. If he couldn't deliver on that, nothing else he said would mean a thing.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a barrage of gunfire erupted outside the dungeon. Wanda tensed instantly—every instinct screaming danger.
Loren placed a calm hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. That's my team."
As if on cue, the gunfire ceased.
Heavy, synchronized footsteps echoed down the corridor. The dungeon door swung open.
Two silver-haired women strode in—elegant, lethal, and utterly composed. Behind them marched a column of masked figures in black tactical gear, their movements eerily precise. Between two of them, they dragged a bloodied, half-conscious man: Baron Wolfgang von Strucker.
The women bowed slightly.
"Target eliminated," said the first—2B.
"All hostiles neutralized. Only Strucker remains," added A2.
"Your orders, sir?"
Loren nodded. "Good work."
Wanda stared, stunned.
All of them? Gone? The base housed hundreds of Hydra agents—elite operatives, enhanced soldiers, even Winter Soldiers. She knew their strength firsthand. A conventional military strike force would've needed days, maybe weeks, to secure this place.
Yet Loren's team—no more than thirty people—had swept through like ghosts.
And now Strucker himself lay broken at their feet.
Before she could process it, Loren turned to her, eyes steady. "I said I'd help you get revenge. Consider the first promise kept."
He held out a dagger—its blade already stained with enemy blood. "His life or death is yours to decide."
Wanda's hand hovered over the hilt.
She'd never wanted to be a killer. She'd joined Hydra to punish Tony Stark, the man whose weapons killed her parents. But in her pursuit of vengeance, she'd spilled innocent blood too. The guilt had festered, twisting her resolve—until she tried to walk away.
That defiance had earned her and Pietro a cell… and a lab table.
She hated Strucker. Truly.
And yet… he had taken them in as children. Fed them. Sheltered them—before turning them into experiments.
Seeing him battered and broken, part of her hesitated.
Loren read her silence perfectly. "Still feeling grateful?"
"He was kind to us once," she whispered.
"Kind?" Loren scoffed. "He owned you. For over a decade, you bled for him. And the moment your brother became useful, he strapped him to a table like livestock. That debt was paid in suffering long ago."
He gestured toward Pietro, still unconscious on a nearby cot, bruised and pale. "Look at him. That's the kindness you're mourning?"
Wanda's breath hitched. Her brother's face—so still, so hurt—ignited something cold and sharp inside her.
Without another word, she seized the dagger.
And plunged it into Strucker's heart.
He gasped once—then went still.
Loren smiled. "Good. You did the right thing."
"Did I?" she asked, voice trembling as she stared at the corpse.
"Ask them," he said, nodding to his team.
In perfect unison, 2B, A2, and the masked operatives gave a single, solemn nod.
"Yes."
Visit patreon.com/ShiroTL to gain access to 40+ chapters