Steve watched the aircraft shrink into the white horizon, the engines fading until only the cold wind remained. He then turned to the other two.
"Let's finish what we started."
Liam nodded. "Yeah. Let's end this."
They mounted the bikes again. Steve took the lead and Liam drifted a little behind, letting the cold air clear his head. This time he was the one who was driving and Natasha sat behind.
Liam's mind drifted as he drove.
Apart from meeting Wanda and Pietro, this whole trip had been… boring.
He was tired of hiding what he could really do. Tired of fighting with limits. Tired of pretending to be a normal man when he could end these militia thugs in minutes if he wanted to.
Thankfully now all this undercover shit waas over.
Natasha had updated him and Steve every night with what Fury was doing — purges across S.H.I.E.L.D., black-bag extractions, silent raids, undercover units flipping HYDRA cells one by one. HYDRA was being destroyed from the inside out.
They were already on the losing end.
All that was left were the scattered bases, the violent leftovers, the cornered animals still lashing out.
If Liam was being honest, he wanted to go back to New York as soon as possible. There were things waiting for him there. Next steps. Next moves. The Blue Wheel. The Hydra purge. His long plan.
But first… this.
He slowed the bike as they neared the cracked industrial district where Black Ridge operated. Smoke drifted from a warehouse, shouting echoing between broken concrete slabs.
They dismounted the bikes and moved without hesitation, slipping between piles of broken concrete and rusted metal. No more scouting, no more patience, no more pretending. They were done with being careful.
An hour later, it was over.
Black Ridge was crushed. Crimson Wolf was broken. Fifty men between the two groups lay unconscious, disarmed, or sprawled across smashed crates and concrete. They quickly took away there firearms and properly secured all of them before calling the cops, the good ones that Natasha's informant had told them about.
After tha the trio drove away from the militia district, dust and cold wind swallowing their tracks as they headed toward the outskirts—toward the hidden canyon where their Quinjet was parked.
But before they turned onto the long road out of the city, Liam slowed and called out, "You two go ahead. I'll be back in a jiffy."
Natasha leaned slightly forward on the bike behind him, her lips pulling into a crooked smirk. "Going to meet that girl?"
Liam didn't bother pretending otherwise.
Natasha arched an eyebrow. "Seems like you're interested in her."
Liam gave a nonchalant shrug. "Who wouldn't be?" He paused, then added with a rare, honest tone, "Besides, I owe her a proper goodbye."
Natasha smirked even wider. "Right. A goodbye."
Steve cleared his throat. "Natasha."
"What? I'm just observing," she said with mock innocence.
Liam rolled his eyes but didn't deny it. "You guys go ahead. I'll catch up."
Natasha swung one leg over and hopped off Liam's bike without argument. She climbed onto Steve's instead, settling behind him.
"We'll meet you at the ridge," Steve said. "Don't take long."
"Won't."
The three shared a brief nod—the kind that didn't need words, the kind earned through fights and blood.
Then Steve revved his engine and sped off with Natasha, the two of them disappearing between the fractured buildings.
Liam watched them go for a second.
Then he turned his bike around.
No hesitation.
No second thoughts.
He drove straight toward Wanda's house.
--
Liam reached the small Maximoff house in minutes, the engine cooling with a soft metallic tick as he parked. He walked up the steps and knocked twice.
The door opened after a moment.
Wanda stood there, surprised. "Viktor? You… came back already?" She looked past him, expecting to see Stefan or Nadia. "Your aunt lives far from the capital. Did something happen?"
Liam stepped inside when she moved aside, but he didn't answer—not yet. He waited until the door shut behind him. The house went quiet.
He just looked at her for a moment, taking in her confusion, her concern, the trust she didn't even know she showed.
Then he exhaled quietly.
"You wanted to know my story, right?"
Wanda blinked, caught off guard. "I… yes. But you don't have to tell me right now. Your family—"
Liam didn't let her finish.
His hand moved to his jawline, pressing the subtle latch on the face-changing tech. With a soft hiss, the false skin dissolved like mist, revealing his real features underneath.
Wanda gasped, taking an instinctive half-step back. Her hand rose slightly, not in fear but shock.
The man standing in front of her was not Viktor.
His voice, when he spoke again, was deeper, clearer—his real voice.
"I'm not from here," Liam said. "I'm from the United States."
Wanda stared, breathing a little faster as her mind raced.
"And Stefan and Nadia…" Liam continued. "Those aren't their real names either. They're Steve and Natasha."
She swallowed as he tone held an accusation towards him. "So you three… lied about everything."
Liam shook his head. "We lied about our names. Not about what we came to do."
He stepped further into the light.
"We came here on a mission. To find a base belonging to a dangerous organization that thrived in the chaos." His expression hardened. "HYDRA. They experiment on civilians. On desparate and strong willied people like you. On children."
Wanda flinched at the word children.
"Such a group can't be allowed to grow," Liam said. "Our organization sent us here to stop it. And now that our task is over… we're going back."
She stared at him, gripping the back of a chair to steady herself. "So… everything these past days… all this time… you were searching for them?"
Liam nodded once.
"And you succeeded?"
A beat passed.
"Yes. The base is destroyed. Their leaders are dead."
Then Liam added, "And the other two militias? Black Ridge and Crimson Wolf? They won't bother you anymore. We dealt with them."
Wanda's eyes widened. "Dealt with… how?"
"They're finished," Liam said simply as he didn't want to explain. "They won't threaten Dawn Watch again."
Silence fell between them.
Not awkward.
Not tense.
Just… weighty.
Wanda's voice softened. "You could have left without telling me any of this."
"I know," Liam said. "But you deserved the truth."
Her expression shifted—conflict, understanding, a bit of hurt at the deception, but also gratitude. "So the man standing in front of me… is Liam."
"Yes."
"And Viktor?"
"Just a mask."
Wanda studied him with a level gaze, searching for who he really was beneath the layers.
Finally, she whispered, "Thank you. For telling me. And for helping us. Dawn Watch owes you more than you know."
Liam looked away for a moment, as if the words were heavier than he expected. "Just doing what needed to be done."
"And after today… you're leaving."
"Yes."
Wanda's eyes lowered for a moment, but when she looked up again, she was composed. "Then I'm glad you came back before you did."
Liam nodded once.
He still had something more to say—
and Wanda could feel it.