Staring at the burning remains of the villa, Steve Rogers tightened his grip on his shield, a trace of melancholy flickering in his eyes.
"Detective Lynn Hall… is he dead?"
Hearing the weight in his voice, Natasha—still lying weakly in the car—recalled the images of the future she'd seen when the resonator first activated.
"He's a hero."
Before she could answer, Steve continued, "No matter how he described himself—greedy, lustful, gluttonous, lazy—he gave his life for this Earth."
"So he deserves to be honored, even if no one ever knows what he did."
Watching Steve's solemn expression, Natasha finally said softly, "I don't think Lynn would die that easily."
"He loves life too much. There's no way he'd leave such a beautiful world behind—especially with so many beautiful women waiting for him. I don't believe an explosion could kill him."
Steve frowned at her words and was about to reply when a familiar, relaxed voice drifted over.
"That's right, seems Natasha knows me best."
Both of them instinctively looked up.
There stood Lynn, his clothes a bit tattered but otherwise perfectly fine, one eyebrow raised with that same teasing grin.
Steve exhaled deeply and lowered his shield. "It's good to see you alive."
"Of course I'm alive," Lynn said with a smirk. "But from now on, I'm staying away from you superheroes... It's way too dangerous hanging around you people."
Opening the car door, Lynn saw that the two still couldn't move. He started the engine and drove off, saying casually, "Oh, by the way, when you two report back to S.H.I.E.L.D., you're definitely going to file this whole incident, right?"
"Of course," Steve replied, adjusting his posture in the seat. "With how big the scene was—and more than a dozen researchers dead—there's no way this can be covered up."
"How about a compromise, then?"
Turning his head toward them, Lynn smiled. "Could you maybe leave my name out of the report? Or just… skip over what I did? I'd rather not end up under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s microscope. That kind of attention would ruin my peaceful life."
Natasha and Steve exchanged a glance.
Natasha finally spoke, "Alright, I won't include you in the report."
"But," she added, leaning forward slightly, "can you tell me about your abilities?"
Resting her chin on the back of the driver's seat, she smiled at him. "When we came out of that villa, even Steve lost all his strength... You were the only one who could still move freely—and you even managed to blow up the resonator."
"So I'm really curious, Lynn. That blue vial you threw earlier—it actually slowed down the horned demon. That's no small feat."
Her voice softened, teasing slightly as she tilted her head closer, her face only inches from his. "Tell me, are you a wizard… or an alchemist?"
Her faint perfume drifted into Lynn's nose.
"I'm not a wizard or an alchemist," he said with a half-smile. "But you could think of me as… a potion master... As for other abilities, I don't have any."
"Hmph."
Natasha clearly didn't believe him, but seeing that he had no intention of saying more, she didn't push it. Everyone had their secrets, and prying into someone else's was impolite—even for a spy.
Leaning back in her seat, Natasha suddenly turned to Steve. "By the way, you still haven't told me who won our bet."
"What?"
Steve, lost in thought about how to write his report while keeping Lynn's name out of it, blinked and asked reflexively, "What bet? Who won?"
"The one about whether or not you're still a virgin."
Steve froze.
Faced with Natasha's bright, mischievous eyes, he stayed silent for a long moment—then turned his head to look out the window.
That silence said everything.
Natasha grinned, pulled twenty dollars from her pocket, and handed it to Lynn. "Looks like you won."
Lynn didn't hesitate—he pocketed the twenty dollars without a shred of shame.
"Natasha, next time there's a bet with cash involved, make sure to invite me. You know, NYPD salaries aren't exactly stellar."
"I know, I know," Natasha said with a smirk. "Otherwise, those hotel rooms your dates take you to wouldn't always be paid for by them, right?"
"Hm?"
Hearing that, Steve perked up like he'd just caught a juicy bit of gossip. He turned to stare at Lynn in surprise.
Catching Steve's look through the rearview mirror, Lynn replied without missing a beat, "That's called love."
"Ha—love, right," Steve muttered, rolling his eyes.
About a hundred meters from the villa, as the magnetic field gradually weakened, the numbness in their bodies began to fade.
Once their strength returned, even Steve visibly relaxed.
Natasha adjusted her Widow's Bite, glancing at Lynn. "So, Lynn, since you call yourself a potion master… do you sell those potions?"
She was clearly referring to the blue potion that had slowed down the horned demon. If she had access to something like that, it would make her missions far easier.
Steve seemed just as intrigued, his curiosity piqued by the idea of those strange potions.
"Of course," Lynn said easily. "For old times' sake, I can sell you some."
"But the price isn't cheap. The raw materials are hard to come by—I have to spend a lot of time collecting them. And the refining process is tricky; failures happen often."
"No problem!"
Before Lynn even finished, Natasha cut in quickly. "Trust me, if S.H.I.E.L.D. lacks anything, it's definitely not funding. I can file a request under equipment replacement and use that budget to buy your potions."
Steve, standing beside her, raised an eyebrow. Is that even allowed?
"Alright then," Lynn continued. "Right now, I can make healing potions—they rapidly restore stamina and mental focus. Then there's the slow potion, which I used earlier. And potential potions—after drinking one, your strength and speed double for about an hour, though you'll crash hard for half an hour afterward."
He paused, thinking. "Aside from those, I have a few others as well. Which ones do you want?"
Natasha didn't hesitate. "Ten bottles of each to start."
"Deal."
Lynn's eyes lit up at Natasha's quick agreement. "Alright, but let's get one thing straight—these are for your personal use. If you hand them over to S.H.I.E.L.D. for analysis, that's fine. Just don't say you bought them from me. I have zero interest in being put under twenty-four-hour surveillance—or worse, ending up as some lab rat."
"Of course," Natasha said with a nod and a faint smile. "I'm planning on a long-term partnership with you anyway."
She then turned to Steve.
"Count me in too," Steve said earnestly. "Those potions could come in handy during certain missions."
Looking at Natasha, he added, "And when it comes to funding, my equipment replacement budget will definitely be larger than yours."
Well, that was true enough. If Captain America filed an equipment request, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s logistics department probably wouldn't even blink.
After all, who would dare suspect that the famously upright Steve Rogers would ever fudge his expense reports?
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