Natasha didn't put down the wine glass in her hand; instead, she leaned back, holding the glass, turning her head away, but she could see Bucky's chiseled profile in the reflection on the metal decoration beside her. Her throat moved slightly.
Bucky was very handsome, but unlike all the handsome guys in The Avengers or S.H.I.E.L.D. What was most attractive about Bucky was his wild and decadent aura, making him look like a vagabond, or like that stray dog drenched and sitting in a cardboard box under the eaves on a rainy day.
Compared to cats, Natasha preferred dogs because dogs could be tamed. She relished the process of the chase and conquest, rather than some neurotic and erratic probing. She didn't want a lover; she wanted a submissive suitor.
Loyalty was a good quality, and if both sides possessed it, it would certainly be wonderful but also equally dull; if only one side had it, it would obviously be a tragedy—but some people live off tragedy.
When Natasha put down her glass, it made a crisp "clang." She slightly lowered her head, tucking in her chin, and looked forward from above her eyes like a predatory snake; while Bucky slightly raised his head, then tilted it to look at Natasha from the side of his eyes. His hands were clasped together on the table, like prey bound. When their eyes met, it was definitely not just one of them with their mind blank, thinking with hormones.
They both stood up one after the other. Bucky quickly signed his name on the bill. Natasha already walked away briskly around the screen, without stopping. Bucky didn't seem to be in a rush to chase her. He swiped his card, walked quickly down the stairs, just as a silver flash passed at the corner.
The distance between the two was gradually closing until the car in front of them made an unlocking "beep" sound. Natasha suddenly stopped, and Bucky almost bumped into her.
Natasha turned around, her two slender arms moving faster than a snake. By the time Bucky sensed it, the touch already spread across his back. Natasha's red lips were just inches away; he had no reason to refuse. One hand wrapped around Natasha's slim waist.
The screen was cut off. Everyone called out in unison. Jarvis tilted his head and said, "We need to respect their privacy."
"What do we do now?" Wanda scratched her head and said, "Neither of the two scenarios the doctor mentioned happened. They were supposed to part ways unhappily, but somehow ended up together again. So should we interfere with their date or not?"
"Now is the last chance," Jarvis spoke again, "Once they get to the hotel, it will be impossible to separate them."
"I think we've underestimated the situation a bit," Pepper said, "Looking at them, they might not even make it to the hotel."
Steve slapped his forehead: "We need to go immediately! If Natasha really intends to act, at least we can still get Bucky to the hospital!"
Everyone stood up, moving orderly and swiftly, as professionally as SHIELD agents. They got into two cars, with Steve leading and Wanda driving behind.
The good news was, the two of them didn't intend to settle the fight in the underground garage; the bad news was, the nearest hotel was only a five-minute drive away, and the underground garage didn't allow outsiders in.
At the hotel entrance, Wanda pulled Jarvis to the front desk. They booked a room and then quickly got in the car, drove into the underground garage, and finally found Bucky's car at a parking spot in the East District.
"Quick, quick, where are they staying, Jarvis?"
"We can't intrude on their privacy," Jarvis said, "It's too personal, we can't... wait. 1801!"
Wanda dragged him into the elevator. Once inside, he hesitated and said, "Didn't you say we can't spy on them?"
"I just checked the SHIELD's lethal force weapon records. This morning at 6:30, Natasha took a carbon-fiber tactical dagger, a strong anesthetic, and an S4M silent pistol."
"Hiss..." Wanda gasped, glanced at the slowly ascending elevator. She grabbed Jarvis's arm, and with a flash of red light, they appeared in front of room 1801.
"No! Wanda!" Jarvis quickly pulled him back, "If we don't go in, Bucky is a lover; if we go in now, he'll become a hostage!"
Wanda realized, softly patted her forehead, and said, "So what do we do? But maybe Natasha took those things just for self-defense?"
"Darling, she's a super cyborg. Does she need those things for self-defense?"
"But Bucky is also... do you think he brings an arm to bed?"
"Even if he wanted to, Natasha wouldn't let him. Missing an arm doesn't affect anything."
"But he's facing the Black Widow after all..."
"Do you expect a man to have any vigilance at such a time? How do you think other targets died at Natasha's hands?"
Wanda scratched the back of her head vigorously and said, "What do we do now?"
Jarvis glanced around, then led Wanda to the end of the hallway. The two of them flew out of the window, circled around, and came to the outside of room 1801's window.
They didn't go straight to the outside of the glass but stopped on the side wall. Jarvis extended a hand, and a nanobot jumped from his palm. He placed the robot on the balcony, and it climbed through the window cracks inside.
Just ready, Steve descended to this floor via a rappel rope, stopping beside Jarvis.
"I absolutely have no intention of prying on them. But Nick told me Natasha took weapons and anesthetics. I'm very worried about Bucky's safety. I swear if there's no movement in a while, I'll leave immediately."
Just as he finished speaking, a muffled groan came from the room—Bucky's, sounding slightly pained.
Steve was about to rush onto the balcony when Jarvis stopped him. He said, "That clearly wasn't the sound of injury, nor an anesthetic injection. I have a nanobot. If there's a real problem, it'll send me information."
Steve just hung on the wall, too embarrassed to look inside. He decided that if any inappropriate sounds occurred, he'd leave immediately. But after waiting for a long time, Natasha made no sound at all. Another pained cry from Bucky followed.
Steve was really confused: What on earth were they doing inside? This whole process didn't seem to have any steps where the male would feel pain, right?
To distract himself, Steve picked up his phone for a glance. He initially just wanted to check the time, but he found that a group chat had already heated up with discussions.
"I'm surprised at your surprise." Shiller clearly replied to some message, saying, "Some of you should remember what happened when we went fishing. I'm not saying anything happened between us, but something definitely happened then."
"I completely remember." Nick sent a long string of frowning emojis, saying, "I didn't think what I needed was safety gear, but another kind of safety gear."
"I absolutely don't mean to reveal anyone's privacy," Stark rarely replied in the group chat, "but I must let you know, Natasha's evaluations of me are clearly mixed with too much of his personal subjective standards. Frankly, it's obviously his fault."
"Tell us more."
"Tell us more."
"Tell us more."
"Alright." Stark sent several clapping emojis and then said, "I'll say it again, there's absolutely nothing inappropriate here, I'm just conducting a serious academic discussion. Our esteemed Lady Natasha is extremely aggressive in this regard, hardly considering his partner's feelings. The marks he left on my neck didn't fade for two months. This really isn't my fault!"
"Wow."
"Wow."
"Wow."
"Next, let's have a professional psychiatrist analyze this." Stark tagged Shiller, saying, "So what was going on between you two at that time."
"I've already said, there's nothing between the two of us. Aside from both being kind of dead, everything is perfectly fine."
"So Natasha has special quirks?" Steve replied very straightforwardly.
"Strictly speaking, it's no longer just quirks." Shiller replied.
"I'm more curious about what the daggers, guns, and anesthetic are for?" Wanda replied in the group, "If she wants to kill him, the anesthetic is unnecessary; if she just wants to knock him down, a gun might not be needed either. Why would all these items appear together?"
The group was still discussing, but Steve was starting to struggle because he faintly smelled blood.
"No warning from the robot yet?" He looked at JARVIS.
JARVIS shook his head. Wanda tried to stop Steve but was a step too late. Steve had already landed on the balcony, forcing the other two to catch up.
Just as they opened the balcony door, the door outside the room was knocked on. Apparently, the others had also smelled the blood and were preparing to break in.
When both groups rushed into the room, they found no one in the suite's bedroom. A "squeak" was heard as the bathroom door opened, and Bucky, wrapped in a towel, with dripping hair, walked out of the bathroom, his face as dark as the bottom of a pot.
"What are you guys doing here?!!" Bucky practically roared.
Steve opened his mouth but didn't know how to respond. He clearly smelled blood on Bucky, but Bucky didn't seem injured and appeared to be quite furious for having his good moment ruined.
"We can explain." Steve said, "But first, you smell like blood. Are you okay?"
Bucky wiped his face vigorously and looked at Steve, saying, "I was doing great until you guys barged in suddenly!"
"Sorry, we were just worried about you." Wanda stood up without the slightest intent to evade, full of apologies, saying, "We found records in S.H.I.E.L.D. about Natasha carrying weapons. We didn't think those weapons were dating essentials, so…"
"You thought she was going to kill me?" Bucky waved both hands near his head, saying, "Did you guys collectively get drunk?! Or did you hit some illusion toxin?!!"
"We're really sorry, but we were genuinely worried about you." Wanda said earnestly, head lowered, "It's good to know you're alright."
Looking at the room full of people, Bucky took a deep breath, saying, "Isn't it possible that I'm the one amongst you who knows Natasha the earliest, and also dated her once decades ago? Do you really think Natasha back then was a pure innocent little girl? Or that we just held hands for strolls during the day and went home separately at night?!! Do I need you to remind me of the risks of sleeping with the Black Widow?!!"
The room full of people was so taken aback by his roar that they stepped back a pace. Everyone present clearly felt somewhat embarrassed. Steve was no idiot; even seeing some of the droplets falling from Bucky's robe were light red, he could only press his lips together, full of apology, and leave.
After gathering downstairs, Wanda scratched his head again, somewhat puzzled, saying, "Oh right, how could I forget? They already dated long ago. The young Black Widow must have been even wilder, and the fact that Bucky's survived till now means they're peas in a pod. What were we worried about?"
"I've been meaning to say." JARVIS folded his arms and sighed, saying, "Have you noticed, one person who participated throughout this ordeal, played a significant role, and almost single-handedly led the situation, conveniently wasn't present at the most awkward moment?"
The others exchanged glances.
"'Shiller' has been removed from the group chat."
"'Shiller' has been removed from the group chat."
"'Shiller' has been removed from the group chat."