Half an hour later,
Inside Tony Stark's villa.
"I don't quite understand. Steve went to arrest someone—why bring him to Tony's villa?"
Holding a glass of tequila, Lynn asked the question outright.
"To keep S.H.I.E.L.D. from catching wind of it."
Seeing his curiosity, Natasha explained, "You know Director Fury has ties to them, and I'm not sure how many Skrulls are actually inside S.H.I.E.L.D."
"So the only way to avoid S.H.I.E.L.D.'s surveillance is Tony's place."
"Exactly."
Tony nodded from beside them. "Ever since Coulson hacked my security and elevator right before the Battle of New York, I upgraded Jarvis's protection protocols."
"Now, if S.H.I.E.L.D. tries to take control of Jarvis, I get an alert instantly."
Lynn tried to hand over the file, labeled with information on Rick Davis, the construction worker, but Tony subconsciously spread his hands.
"Give it to me."
Pepper, who was beside them, took the information from Lynn and then placed it in front of Tony Stark.
"Don't get the wrong idea, Mr. Hall," she said with a smile. "Tony never takes anything directly from someone's hand."
"I understand that all too well."
Natasha slung an arm around Lynn's shoulder. "After the Battle of New York, we had a party. I was mixing drinks as the bartender, made one for him, and he told me to just set it down. Then he picked it up himself."
"I have no idea what kind of habit that is—like he's afraid other people's hands will contaminate him."
Tony only shrugged at her teasing. "Natasha, every genius has their quirks. Compared to those literary geniuses..." Tony thought about the night his parents died, but quickly suppressed the sadness, "I'm already doing pretty well. Anyway, speaking of that, have you all been keeping up with the online polls?"
"Online polls?"
His words immediately shifted everyone's focus.
With Steve still not back yet, Tony raised an eyebrow. "The internet is voting on whether our very own Captain Rogers will fall in love again—and finally lose his virginity."
"You know, in the last poll, over eighty percent of people believed Steve is still a virgin. Honestly? I agree."
Natasha stared at him, speechless.
"What? Aren't you curious?" Tony asked, confused by her look.
"Of course I'm curious. The result is that I lost twenty dollars."
Natasha pointed at Lynn. "He confirmed that Steve really isn't a virgin."
"Seriously?"
This time, not only Tony but even Pepper stared at Lynn with interest. "Captain Rogers really isn't a virgin anymore? When did he lose it?"
"Ahem."
Just as Pepper leaned forward with a bright, gossip-hungry look, Steve Rogers walked back in, dragging Rick Davis—the Skrull disguised as the construction worker.
The moment Steve cleared his throat, Pepper's face flushed red.
She hadn't expected the man they were gossiping about to overhear everything.
Pepper fell silent in embarrassment, but Tony Stark felt no such shame.
Ignoring Rick Davis's struggle in Steve's grip, Tony's eyes lit up. "Steve, so you really aren't a virgin anymore? When did that happen?"
"Oh, come on, Tony."
Steve gave him a helpless look, then shook his head. "We have real business to deal with."
"Fine."
Tony had Jarvis open the door to the underground lab, gestured for Steve to bring the man inside, and followed behind—quietly whispering to Lynn about when Steve supposedly lost his innocence.
With Steve's enhanced hearing, he caught every word.
But what could he do? With a teammate as nosy as Tony, the only option was to pretend he didn't hear it.
Inside the laboratory—
Ryan Davis, bound to a chair and struggling, glared at them. Steve was about to question him when the man spoke first.
"Why are you arresting me? I know you Avengers are superheroes who save the world, but does that mean you can just arrest people whenever you want?"
"I haven't done anything illegal. You can't treat me like this. Otherwise, I'll call the NYPD and report you for abusing your authority!"
At his so-called "threat," Tony folded his arms and shrugged. "You're free to do that. But look—this is the NYPD."
He pointed at Lynn.
Then Tony tilted his head. "You're something else, though. Living as Rick Davis for three years, going to work at a construction site every day."
"Tell me.. do all Skrulls enjoy building skyscrapers and digging tunnels that much? Why not stop calling yourselves Skrulls and rebrand as the 'Construction Crew Aliens'?"
Hearing Tony mention the Skrulls, Ryan Davis's pupils tightened.
He had no idea how the Avengers and this NYPD officer knew about Skrulls.
Damn it—who leaked the information?
Why did they even know his species existed?
"Mr. Stark, I don't know what you're talking about. Skrulls? I don't understand…"
"Your expression gave you away. You Skrulls are great at copying appearances, but without professional training, the tiny facial reactions still show when you're lying."
Natasha said this as she took the bottle of Truth Potion from Lynn's hand.
Seeing her approach, the Skrull panicked, leaning back in the chair as far as the restraints allowed. "What are you doing? Stop—no, don't—!"
Natasha poured the Truth Potion down his throat. Ryan Davis coughed violently, then stared at them in fear. "What did you give me? What did you do to me?"
"Truth Potion. I know normal truth serum doesn't work on you."
Natasha dragged over a chair, sat on it backward, and faced him. "What's your name?"
"Ensol Luke!"
The name slipped out before he could stop it.
The Skrull's eyes widened in shock as he instinctively clamped his mouth shut.
He hadn't expected to answer Natasha's question so easily, especially while still fully conscious.
Damn it! Why does this world even have something like Truth Potion?
He bit down hard on his tongue, trying to keep his mouth shut by force.
But it didn't take long for him to realize—resisting was pointless.
_______
(づ￣ 3￣)づ
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