The 'Odessa Star' finally sailed into a busy port on the Adriatic coast. The air felt colder here, sharper, smelling of factories and a faint hint of pine trees. Jon got off the ship when it was foggy and early in the morning, just another face blending in with all the dockworkers and cargo. He was in Eastern Europe, a few hundred kilometers from Sokovia.
The rest of his journey was a blur of local buses, cramped trains, and long walks. He was super careful to stay hidden. The land slowly changed from busy coastlines to rolling hills and old, thin forests. Finally, he started to see the big, strong-looking buildings of Sokovia. The city, still healing from old fights, had scars, but also signs that people were rebuilding, showing a quiet strength.
He found a small, simple guesthouse on the outskirts of the capital city. He paid with cash and told a simple, believable story about being a tourist. The room was plain, clean, and most importantly, private. He finally had a base of operations.
His first job was to use the secret contacts he had. These contacts, which he found in Obadiah Stane's mind, led him to a secret, almost invisible group of people who were good at making fake papers and hiding computer trails. It took days of careful, secret talks using hidden messages, but finally, a meeting was set up in a quiet, out-of-the-way cafe.
The cafe was a grungy little place, tucked away on a dark side street in Sokovia. It had old wooden tables, chipped cups, and a faint smell of stale coffee and cigarette smoke. Rain streaked down the grimy window, making the streetlights outside look like blurry blobs. This was where Jon met Silas. Silas wasn't some flashy spy from a movie. Nope! He was just... there. Average height, average build, wearing a faded, plain grey jacket and dark pants that screamed 'I'm nobody special' He could vanish into any crowd like a whisper. His face was totally forgettable, but his eyes? Oh, his eyes were something else! They were like tiny, super-sharp cameras, always watching, missing absolutely nothing. He just sat there, totally still, as Jon, who was using a little magic to make his voice sound deeper, explained his big request. Jon wanted a whole new life on paper: a new name, a birth certificate, passport, social security number, bank accounts, even a made-up school history. Silas just listened, his face a total blank slate, not a single twitch. He barely said a word, just gave a slow, quiet nod now and then. His silence was super professional, but also, honestly, a little creepy, like he knew all your secrets.
"This won't be cheap," Silas finally said, his voice low and rough, like gravel.
"I've got money," Jon replied, sliding a thick envelope of cash across the table. It was just a small part of his stash, but enough to show he was serious.
Silas picked up the envelope. His fingers were surprisingly quick, like a magician's. He weighed the money in his hand. A tiny, almost invisible smile touched his lips. "It'll be done. Give me three weeks. I'll tell you what to do next."
Three weeks. Jon used this time to get even better at his magic. He explored Kamar-Taj's giant, old library by using the Mirror Dimension when he wasn't practicing his fighting skills in the guesthouse. He also started quietly watching the local government and powerful people, looking for anyone useful for his future plans. Most importantly, he worked hard to find and secretly peek into the minds of military guys he'd learned about from Obadiah Stane's memories. He was searching for any secret Hydra stuff or hints about super-soldier experiments that might lead him to Wanda and Pietro.
From time to time during these three weeks, Jon would open a portal back to New York. He wasn't just waiting around, he was setting up his new life. His main goal was to find a dream house, a secret place far from busy towns, away from curious eyes and nosy neighbors. He needed a real super safe hideout, a spot where he could work without anyone noticing. At the same time, he started talking to Ghostwire, his "go-to guy" from New York, to get his new identity ready. This would let him open bank accounts and sign leases without the government getting suspicious. When Ghostwire spoke, his voice was always a low, gravelly rumble, distorted by a voice changer. It wasn't just hard to tell who he was, it sounded like a warning, rough, serious, and hinting that you really didn't want to mess with him. Jon had already created a fake story for himself in Sokovia, a cover for his cover, a false trail that sounded totally real, even if it was made up. He needed two identities for a clever reason, like having two different costumes for two different roles. The Sokovia one, created by Silas, was actually the stolen identity of a recently deceased person who looked just like Jon. This was his perfect fake past. It was a believable, real identity, just not his own, making it super important for misdirection. If anyone, any organization, ever tried to dig deep into his background, they'd find this very real, but stolen, Sokovian identity. They'd believe it was his true past, sending them on a wild goose chase far away from his real plans.
But for his real plans in New York, to open businesses, make money, and live openly without trouble, he needed a completely separate, brand-new identity. This New York identity, which Ghostwire was creating, would be built using that fabricated Sokovian past as a reference point. It would make him seem like someone who had left Sokovia to start a new life here, a perfect cover for his presence in the US. This New York identity had to be totally clean, with no weird gaps or suspicious connections. He couldn't just pop up out of nowhere with a ton of cash. He needed a solid history, a paper trail that looked completely normal to banks and government agencies. This way, he could operate in the open, building his company and influence, while his fake Sokovian past kept any unwanted attention far, far away. It was a risky move, a lot of work, but he knew it was the only way to get the freedom and resources he needed without being constantly hunted.
Soon enough, the three weeks passed. Jon got a secret package with his new identity papers from Silas. A new name, a new history, a complete paper trail that would let him live a normal life in this world. It was a big step, a solid start for all his plans.
With his new identity ready, Jon focused on his next big goal: finding Wanda and Pietro. He looked at the mental maps he'd made from the shady military bigwigs in Obadiah's mind. One general, a guy named Volkov, had a faint thought connected to a secret group. This group seemed to be secretly helping with some of the smaller explosions and trouble happening in Sokovia. It wasn't Hydra directly, but it was a lead.
Following this faint trail, Jon used his stealth and telepathy to sneak into the bad guys' local hangouts. He found their safe houses, their meeting spots, and their low-level workers. Through them, he uncovered who was funding them: a bunch of shady weapon sellers and black marketeers. And among those funders, he found a surprising, but not totally unexpected, connection: one of them was actually a Hydra agent. This agent was a guy who looked like he spent too much time staring at spreadsheets. He was average height, with thinning hair and tired eyes that seemed to sag. He wore the kind of plain, boring clothes that made him invisible in a crowd, like a grey sock in a pile of grey socks. He moved with a quiet, sneaky efficiency, more like a bored office worker than a supervillain, but make no mistake, he was a Hydra agent, a small cog in their big, evil machine.
Jon subtly influenced this agent, not by telling him what to do directly, but by carefully placing mind whispers in his head. These whispers would make the agent accidentally reveal what he knew to other Hydra members, or even just think about it when his guard was down. It was a super careful game. High-level Hydra officials, Jon knew from his "movie knowledge," often knew about super-powered people and their crazy experiments. He couldn't risk directly reading their minds, that might warn them he was there. So, he used a sneaky, roundabout way, planting questions and little nudges that would make them reveal information during their own conversations or when they were just thinking to themselves.
Over several more days, by secretly nudging conversations and thoughts among various government and military officials who were secretly Hydra, Jon pieced together the puzzle. He finally found Wanda and Pietro Maximoff! They were indeed at a secret Hydra lab. The mind whispers he caught proved they had totally volunteered for the experiments, driven by their profound grief and burning desire for revenge against Tony Stark. The twins were closer than ever to becoming the super-powered people he remembered, and now, Jon knew exactly where to find them.
The Hydra base was a giant, harsh-looking building, half-buried into the side of a rocky mountain on the empty edge of Sokovia. Jon, wearing his cloak and moving through the Mirror Dimension, watched the area around it like a ghost. Wanda and Pietro were here, somewhere inside its steel and concrete maze. Pietro, with his lean, athletic build and short, stark white hair, moved with a restless energy, even when he was standing still. He looked like he was vibrating with pent-up speed. Wanda, on the other hand, was a total head-turner. Her striking green eyes seemed to hold all the secrets of the universe, and her long, dark auburn hair framed a face that was sharp and intense. Even in her simple, practical clothes making her effortlessly alluring. Those clothes hugged her curves in a way that showed off her toned, athletic figure, a subtle, undeniable sexiness that was impossible to miss. And her full, expressive lips? They just drew your eye, often set in a determined line. When Jon first saw her, it was like a jolt of electricity. Her beauty was magnetic, pulling him in with an unexpected force that made his own heart beat a little faster. It was a powerful mix of curiosity and, well, a lot of undeniable attraction. They were near the base, not quite inside it, but being secretly watched. The Hydra agents watching them were carefully picked. These guys thought they were just guarding a boring government science lab, and the twins were just some kids in a military research program. They had no clue about Hydra's truly evil plan, or about Wanda's growing mind-reading powers, which made them perfectly blind to her subtle influence.
Jon knew he couldn't just walk up to them. Wanda's powers, even though they were new and untrained, were growing fast. A direct approach might make her new mind-reading powers react wildly, showing his presence and possibly leading to a huge, messy fight. He needed a distraction, a perfect moment to pull Wanda into a spot where cameras couldn't see her, away from the watchful eyes of the clueless Hydra guards.
Hours passed in a tense wait. He watched their daily routines, their movements, waiting for the perfect moment when everything lined up. Finally, a chance appeared. Pietro was out of sight for a moment, and Wanda was standing near a part of the outside where a large, overgrown rock formation created a natural blind spot for the surveillance cameras. It was a tiny window, but enough.
Jon focused his will, sending a tiny mind-push into Wanda's mind, a gentle, almost invisible urge, like a sudden thought of curiosity, pulling her towards the blind spot. Wanda paused, a tiny frown on her face, like she felt a weird, unexplained tug. She looked around, a quick flash of suspicion in her eyes, but her powers were still too new to figure out what was going on. Shaking her head slightly, she started walking, pulled by that strange feeling, towards the big rocks.
The moment she stepped into the shadow of the rocks, out of sight of the nearest camera, Jon acted. He wove an illusion, a shimmering curtain of magic that made the air around her wobble, hiding his true intention. Then, with a swift, silent movement, he conjured a portal, pulling her into the crazy, broken world of the Mirror Dimension.
Wanda gasped, her eyes widening as the familiar world around her twisted into impossible, broken-mirror shapes. The sudden change was shocking, confusing. Before she could fully understand where she was, before her new powers could lash out in confusion or fear, Jon showed himself. He stood a good distance away, his Cloak of Subtle Weave pulled up to hide his face. He made sure there was enough space between them to stop an immediate fight. He stayed silent, letting her try to understand the impossible situation.
Wanda didn't wait long. Her eyes, even in the distorted light of the Mirror Dimension, burned with a wild, burning energy. "Who are you?!" she demanded, her voice echoing strangely in the fractured space.
Jon's voice, changed by magic, was low and calm, cutting through her rising panic. "Do you wish to know," he asked, his words carefully chosen, "who the real perpetrators are behind your parents' death?"
Wanda's thoughts, which had been a whirlwind of confusion and anger, suddenly froze at Jon's question. Then, a huge, angry fire lit up inside her. Red magic, still wild and crazy, burst around her hands, crackling like angry lightning. She lunged, a silent scream of rage building in her mind, her magic lashing out at the cloaked figure before her.
But for Jon, her attack was almost painfully slow, easily anticipated. Before her chaotic magic could even fully coalesce, he moved. With a smooth, practiced move, he conjured a shimmering, rainbow-colored dome of magic around her. It wasn't a barrier to deflect, it was a cage designed to suppress. As the dome solidified, Wanda screamed, not in pain, but in sheer, agonizing frustration. Her crimson energy flickered, sputtered, and then disappeared, totally gone inside the shimmering walls. Her powers, her growing super strength, were gone.
The sudden loss of her magic, a part of her very being, sent a wave of shock through her, followed by a huge feeling of being totally helpless. Her shoulders hunched, and her body tensed, a clear sign of her super uncomfortable. She struggled against the invisible walls, her fists hitting uselessly. Tears of rage and confusion welled in her striking green eyes, her lower lip trembling slightly. It was a scary feeling, like losing an arm she didn't even know she had until it was gone. For Jon, this was a risky move, using a lot of his own magic to keep it going, but it was the best way to make her truly understand his power, to make her feel completely unable to do anything in this moment.
He just stood still, not moving, his face hidden in the shadows of his hood. He didn't try to make her angry, didn't say anything else, just a silent, steady presence. Slowly, painfully, Wanda's struggles began to calm down. The first burst of anger and panic faded, replaced by tiredness, then a cold calm. She stood hunched slightly, her shoulders still tight, staring at him. Her eyes still burned with a fierce intensity, but now they held a desperate, questioning look, waiting for him to speak.
Jon's voice, still calm and magic-changed, broke the silence. "Do you truly not wish to know about it?" he asked, his words echoing slightly in the Mirror Dimension. "Are you happy to live in lies, not knowing who truly took your family from you?"
Wanda snorted, a bitter, dismissive sound. Her eyes, even without magic, still held fire. "Why should I believe someone who won't even show their face?"
Jon remained silent for a moment, letting her words hang in the air. He didn't need her to believe him yet. He just needed to plant a small seed of doubt, a way for her to find her own truth. "You don't have to believe me," he stated, his voice showing no emotion. And then, with a sneaky mind power, he began to project.
Into Wanda's mind, a flood of information poured, names, ranks, and addresses. Not just of the low-level Hydra agents he'd found, but the shady government bigwigs, the politicians, the army bosses, the secret bad guys from the terrorist groups, and the exact Hydra agents he'd identified. He showed her the connections, the sneaky lies that linked them all, the whispers of their involvement in the very attacks that had orphaned her. It was a big, and raw download of info.
"You have the power to know for yourself," Jon stated.
And with that, he cut off the connection to the Mirror Dimension, releasing her. One moment, Wanda was trapped in the broken, impossible reflections with the cloaked stranger, the next, she was standing back beneath the overgrown rock formation, the familiar, though plain, perimeter of the Hydra base around her. The air was still, the cameras still blind to her presence, but her mind was no longer calm. It was a whirlwind of names, faces, and chilling connections, a new, terrifying reality laid bare. Jon knew that telling her things that totally went against what she strongly believed and understood would just push her away. Instead, he had simply given her the tools, the choice to either look for the truth he offered or to ignore it as something not real. He had made sure nothing about his own identity, his face, his true voice, was revealed. If things didn't work out, he would remain a mystery, a quiet memory in her past.
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