Hermione nodded, her expression as serious as could be.
"Of course I do. Isn't that common knowledge?"
Natasha froze completely.
She glanced at Steve beside her, who looked just as baffled.
"Even wizards know about Hydra?"
Has Hydra really become that famous? Has word spread throughout even the wizarding world? she wondered frantically.
Before she could work it out, Hermione paused, her brow furrowing in confusion.
"Wait, Hydra is enormous. How could it hide inside S.H.I.E.L.D. without being discovered?"
"Because there are so many of them," Natasha said. "They've already taken control of S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Impossible!"
Hermione looked even more shocked. "There's only one Hydra. How could there be a whole group?"
Now Natasha was confused too.
"Hydra is a group! It always has been. They're at the Triskelion right now."
"Impossible!"
Hermione's brow furrowed even more deeply.
"Your headquarters is tiny. How could Hydra possibly fit in there?"
Natasha: ???
Just as Natasha began questioning reality, Steve, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up, sounding tentative.
"Wait..."
He looked at Hermione, then at Natasha.
"Are you two... talking about the same 'Hydra'?"
Natasha suddenly caught on.
She looked at Hermione and asked cautiously, "Hermione, this Hydra you're talking about... which kind do you mean?"
"What do you mean, which kind?" Hermione asked, as though the answer were obvious. "The nine-headed Hydra. Isn't there only one?"
"As far as I know, Zeus subdued it near Olympus ages ago. How did it get to Earth? And into your S.H.I.E.L.D., no less?"
Natasha: "..."
Steve: "..."
"You mean the Hydra from mythology?" Natasha sounded torn between exasperation and despair.
"What else?" Hermione raised an eyebrow.
Natasha covered her face.
They hadn't been talking about the same thing at all this entire time!
Natasha was about to explain exactly what she meant