Emma, after undoing her Ghostfreak transformation, stepped out of the bathroom, making sure no one had seen her. She returned to the place where Morgan was waiting, but to her surprise, she wasn't there.
"Where did she go? She told me she'd wait here," Emma complained as she looked around.
She searched around the nearby exhibition booths and glanced toward the recruitment area, but Morgan was nowhere to be seen.
"Hsss, hsss... Emma, here."
Hearing the whisper, Emma turned toward the sound and found Morgan hiding beside a wall, peeking around the corner as if trying not to be seen.
"Morgan, what are you doing here? I was searching for you everywhere," Emma asked.
"Let's leave here. If we stay any longer, we'll get caught by the army."
Before Emma could ask another question, Morgan grabbed her hand and led her into the crowd.
"What happened? Why would the army be searching for you?" Emma asked quietly.
As they walked through the crowd, Emma looked around. Everything seemed normal, with soldiers patrolling the Expo grounds just as before.
"No one seems to be searching for you," Emma said.
Morgan let out a small sigh of relief.
"That's good then. It didn't go as I thought."
"What happened?" Emma asked.
"Didn't I tell you? I was waiting near the recruitment booth while keeping an eye on the scientist. One of the soldiers became suspicious because I was standing there watching everyone. He came over and started asking me questions. At one point, he even asked for my ID. I told him I didn't have it with me, and after asking a few more questions, he finally let me go. But I noticed he kept glancing at me every now and then. I didn't think it was safe to stay there any longer, so I slipped into the crowd and left before he decided to question me again."
"Oh, that was bad," Emma said thoughtfully.
"Won't Steve look for us if we leave without telling him?" Emma asked as they walked away from the Expo, suddenly remembering.
"Don't worry about that. After I left, I met Bucky on the way and told him we'd found our parents and were leaving. I asked him to tell Steve. He didn't suspect anything. What about you? Did you see the scientist inside?" Morgan asked.
"Yes." Emma then told Morgan everything that had happened inside, including everything she had overheard.
"What do you think?" Emma asked.
Morgan stopped walking and closed her eyes for a moment, thinking through everything.
"There are two possibilities," she finally said. "The first is that he's using someone else's identity. But I don't think that's likely. This is a military project. They would've checked his background carefully."
Emma nodded.
"So... the second one?"
Morgan opened her eyes.
"I think he arrived here before us. Maybe the time tunnel threw him back at least six months earlier. That would've given him enough time to build a new identity and gain everyone's trust."
"I think so too," Emma agreed. "That sounds more likely."
"Yeah. With his future knowledge and technology, creating a fake identity wouldn't be impossible. But that alone wouldn't be enough." Morgan frowned. "Someone must have helped him."
Emma blinked. "Helped him?"
Morgan nodded. "Think about it. He shouldn't have any records in this time. No birth certificate, no address, no school records... nothing. Yet somehow he got into one of the military's most secret projects. Someone with power must have trusted him... or maybe he's working with an organization that's helping him."
Emma's expression became serious.
"So we're not just dealing with him..."
"No," Morgan replied quietly. "We're also dealing with whoever is standing behind him."
Morgan paused for a moment.
"And when I fought him before, I injured him. But today..." She frowned. "There wasn't a single injury on him. That's when I started wondering if he had some kind of super healing ability."
"So he really did arrive earlier..." Emma murmured.
Morgan nodded.
"It would also explain why Uncle Jack and Aunt Gwen still haven't shown up. If I'm right, the time tunnel didn't throw all of us out at the same time. We entered together, but we were thrown into different points in time."
Emma stayed silent for a moment before clenching her fists.
"Then we have to stop whatever he's planning. If he succeeds..." She looked toward the military buildings in the distance. "Steve might never become Captain America."
"Yes, let's get some rest tonight and investigate him tomorrow," Morgan said.
"Yeah, I'm feeling so tired after everything that happened," Emma said sleepily.
Soon, they found a small hotel to spend the night.
A bell above the door rang as they stepped inside.
An elderly man behind the front desk looked up from his newspaper.
"Good evening. We'd like a room for the night," Morgan said politely.
"The owner adjusted his glasses before looking the two girls over."
"Where are your parents?"
"They..." Morgan hesitated for a second. "They're not with us right now."
The old man frowned.
"Then where are they?"
"They're... busy."
The owner slowly shook his head.
"I'm sorry, young ladies. I can't rent a room to children traveling alone."
"But we have money." Emma placed several bills on the counter.
The old man glanced at the money before gently pushing it back.
"It's not about the money."
He looked at them seriously.
"If something happened to you, the police would be asking me questions tomorrow."
"I'm afraid you'll have to leave."
Emma let out a tired sigh as they stepped out of another hotel.
"I'm sorry," the owner called after them. "No parents, no room."
The door closed behind them.
Emma kicked a small pebble across the sidewalk.
"That's the third one."
Morgan looked up at the dark streets.
Night had already settled over New York.
Rows of streetlights cast a warm yellow glow across the sidewalks as only a handful of cars occasionally drove past. Most shops had closed for the day, their windows dark, while only a few restaurants, bars, and hotels remained open. The crowds from the Stark Expo had long since disappeared, leaving only scattered pedestrians hurrying home through the cool night.
Morgan frowned.
"...This is bad."
Emma crossed her arms.
"They won't even take our money."
"They keep asking the same questions," Morgan said.
"'Where are your parents?'"
"'What's your home address?'"
"'Do you have any identification?'"
Emma groaned.
"We can't answer any of those."
Morgan nodded.
"We're children... and we're alone."
"During wartime," she added quietly.
"The government is already worried about spies and enemy agents. Two girls with no parents, no address, and no identification are bound to attract attention if we keep wandering around at night."
Emma scratched her head.
"So... what now?"
Before Morgan could answer, she caught movement in the reflection of a shop window.
Three men were walking several meters behind them.
Not close enough to be obvious.
But not far enough to be a coincidence.
Morgan's expression became serious.
"...Emma."
"What?"
"...Keep walking."
Emma immediately noticed the change in Morgan's voice.
Without turning around, she asked softly,
"...What's wrong?"
Morgan kept her eyes on the reflection in the glass.
"I think we're being followed."
A/N: The Patreon version is already updated with 20 advanced chapters. If you'd like to read ahead of the public release schedule, you can join here:
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