The sun set in the west.
Calver Lake was extremely quiet. A gentle breeze blew across the lake, stirring up ripples and brushing against the riverbank, awakening Natasha who had fainted on the grass.
Natasha slowly opened her eyes, staring absentmindedly at the orange-red sun.
The next second.
As her pupils quickly focused, she leapt up from the grass, swiftly assuming a classic combat stance.
But…
The surroundings were empty, except for the yellow Corolla she had just crushed, and Bruce Banner lying in front of a demolished vacation cabin, condition unknown.
Wait a minute.
Bruce Banner?
Natasha came to her senses, quickly running to Bruce, who was drenched and wearing only high-quality shorts, lying on the cracked ground. After confirming Bruce had a faint breath, she hurriedly took out an injector from her pocket and jabbed it directly into Bruce's chest with a snap.
The effect of the injector was immediate.
Just as Natasha removed the needle, Bruce Banner's tightly closed eyes snapped open.
The next second.
"Ah!"
Bruce Banner sat up abruptly from the ground, his face filled with terror, his mouth wide open, gulping for air.
Watching Bruce come back to life, Natasha couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
After a while.
Bruce's breathing gradually steadied, and his terrified expression started to calm.
Natasha helped Bruce to sit under a tree, broken two-thirds of the way up. Once Bruce was resting against the tree, she began to ask him what had happened.
"What happened?"
"..."
Bruce didn't speak, his brows tightly furrowed, as if trying hard to remember something.
Natasha didn't press him. She waited for Bruce to recall, while subconsciously touching the back of her head as if she remembered something.
In her mind, once again flashed the eyes she saw when she fainted.
After all…
Those were a pair of perfect pie chart eyes.
Who was she?
Natasha wondered.
At this moment.
Bruce, his eyebrows furrowing, looked down at his own arms, exerted some pressure, as if confirming something, then looked up at Natasha, thought for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "Hulk is dead."
Natasha, coming back to her senses, widened her eyes at Bruce, as if she hadn't heard clearly, or perhaps couldn't believe this answer.
After all…
That was Hulk.
"Hulk is dead!"
Bruce Banner repeated, recalling the fragmented memories in his mind: "He dragged Hulk to the bottom of the lake. Hulk couldn't get rid of him and was forcibly suppressed at the lake bottom. He seemed to not need to breathe and just like that, killed Hulk at the lake bottom but… did not choose to kill me."
There was an indescribable tone in his voice, even a peculiar feeling towards this killer of Hulk.
How should I put it?
Hate?
Not exactly.
Because no one hated Hulk more than he did, even after the battle in New York, where he and Hulk chose to reconcile, and he thought he could freely control his transformation into Hulk, it didn't mean he completely accepted Hulk.
Let's put it this way, if he had a choice, he would still hope not to become Hulk again.
After all, Hulk destroyed everything he once had, made him leave his girlfriend, and forced him to hide in Bharat, where even the air was toxic.
But now the dream had come true; someone had really helped him kill the Hulk inside him.
So, from this perspective, Bruce couldn't be more grateful, how could he hate?
It's just…
Speaking of gratitude?
Bruce Banner frowned slightly, feeling something peculiar.
He couldn't explain what exactly this feeling was.
But one thing was certain.
"Hulk is dead."
"Killed by that one called Hawk."
"I'm very sure of that."
Bruce took a deep breath, clenched his fists under Natasha's gaze, but could no longer feel the impending transformation into Hulk like he used to.
His heart even felt a bit lost, as if something was missing.
Natasha listened to Bruce's confirmation and fell into silence.
At this moment, a shrill ringtone echoed from the grass nearby.
Natasha was startled at first, then realized and quickly got up, running towards the source of the sound.
Sure enough.
It was her fallen phone.
Natasha picked up the phone from the ground, looked at the incoming call on the screen, took a deep breath, and answered the call.
"Director."
"Natasha."
S.H.I.E.L.D. Three Feathers Headquarters.
Nick Fury, in a black trench coat and an eye patch, highly recognizable, stood with arms akimbo in the command center. With Natasha's voice clearly emanating, he immediately inquired.
"Estimated time of arrival in Tennessee."
"Estimated…"
Natasha opened her mouth, then looked at Bruce Banner leaning against the tree, his expression inexplicable—somewhat happy, somewhat lost, and somewhat angry—then realized.
"Director, Hulk was killed."
"..."
Nick Fury's expression froze instantly.
His solitary eye involuntarily contracted a bit.
Standing next to him in S.H.I.E.L.D. combat uniform, Commander Maria Hill also paused at Natasha's words.
"What do you mean Hulk is dead? Bruce Banner is dead?"
"No, Dr. Bruce Banner is still alive, just Hulk is dead."
"..."
Hulk is dead, Bruce Banner isn't?
These words bewildered both the Director and the Commander of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Nick Fury snapped back to reality, his dark face etched with seriousness: "Report in detail."
Natasha acknowledged and began by recounting her meeting with Dr. Bruce Banner at the airport.
She talked about how they smoothly arrived at the vacation cabin, Dr. Bruce Banner had settled his luggage, and just when they were ready to head back to the airport for Tennessee, Hawk, claiming to be Banner's sister seeking revenge, appeared.
She further described how Hawk, who seemed to be under twenty-one years old, battled Hulk to a standstill, even dragging Hulk into the lake and, from there, killing him.
She didn't hide anything, reporting everything honestly, including being knocked out by Gwen.
As Nick Fury and Maria Hill listened to Natasha's tale in the Three Feathers command center, they felt utterly numb.
Especially upon hearing that Natasha was knocked out by a girl also under twenty-one, Maria Hill couldn't help her mouth twitch.
Nick Fury's breath also paused for a moment.
Good heavens.
The famed S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent, the super spy codenamed Black Widow, knocked out by a girl under twenty-one?
This must be a joke.
Natasha keenly noticed the pause in breathing on the other end of the call: "Sorry, Director, Commander, everything happened too suddenly; I didn't have time to think it through."
Upon reflection, she'd indeed been careless.
How could a stranger girl just coincidentally appear here at this time?
But at the time, she had just woken from the shockwave, her head was still muddled, and Gwen appeared weaponless, seeming no threat at all.
The result…
Future embarrassment loomed.
Thinking about the embarrassing incident she'd have to carry forward made Natasha's mood slightly melancholy.
At that moment, Maria Hill's voice rang out again.
"Do you think the girl who knocked you out and Hawk are working together?"
"Absolutely."
Natasha nodded affirmatively, then seemed to recall something, frowning slightly.
"But…"
"Speak."
Nick Fury's voice was deep.
Natasha recounted what Bruce had just told her, after Hulk's death, Hawk could have drowned him at the lake's bottom but instead chose to rescue him.
Including herself.
Natasha at this point remembered something Hawk had said.
"The wrath has its head, the debt has its owner."
"What?"
Maria Hill seemed confused, not catching this sudden mutter from Natasha.
Natasha regained composure: "Commander, Hawk initially stated his goal was Hulk, seeking revenge."
So…
Is this why they didn't kill Natasha and Bruce Banner?
Quite principled.
Maria Hill mused.
But Nick Fury clearly had other thoughts.
"Ha."
Nick Fury scoffed coldly: "Natasha, you said he called out your name and knew S.H.I.E.L.D. upfront?"
Natasha snapped back.
"Yes."
"That's fear, not wanting to make enemies with us."
"..."
Natasha fell silent.
Maria Hill gave Nick Fury a sideways look, furrowing her brows slightly.
She didn't quite agree with Nick Fury's view.
They understood Hulk's prowess, secured from high altitude in glass cages but couldn't be killed.
Let alone a Hawk who managed to kill Hulk.
Maria Hill pondered, just as she was about to voice her dissent, Nick Fury spoke again.
"Does Hawk's name stand only as Hawk, with no other details to locate him?"
"...wait a moment."
Listening to Nick Fury's words, Natasha froze briefly, unconsciously scanning around until she spotted the flattened Corolla's license plate in the distance: "Director, we found a car that seems to belong to them."
Nick Fury perked up upon hearing this.
"GW521!"
"Run a check!"
Nick Fury immediately instructed a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent responded and began typing on the keyboard.
...