---
"Agent Romanoff."
Nick Fury's voice echoed sharply through the SHIELD surveillance room.
Natasha didn't look up immediately. Her eyes were glued to the frozen frame of the satellite footage—the moment Ron had immobilized Loki without touching him. The God of Mischief, who once challenged the Avengers, was now... humbled.
"Yes, Director?" she finally replied.
"You've been watching that feed for three hours. I need a report, not obsession."
She turned slowly. "This isn't obsession, sir. This is preparation."
Fury crossed his arms. "Preparation for what?"
Natasha hesitated. "For someone who can't be stopped by anything we've ever known."
---
Later that night, Natasha sat on the rooftop of her private safe house. The city's noise buzzed below, but her mind wandered—again—to Ron.
Not just because he was powerful. That would've been easy to ignore.
But because he was real.
She remembered the way he looked at her—not with lust, not with control, but with understanding. As if he knew what it meant to be betrayed, broken, and still survive.
She hated that part of herself still longed to feel something. But here he was—walking through her walls like no one else ever had.
And he never once asked her to stay.
That made her want to.
---
Ron stood on the balcony of his skyscraper tower, eyes closed, body glowing faintly beneath his shirt. The system's passive stat growth had reached absurd levels now.
> [Current Stats: Undefined – Beyond Numerical Limit]
[Summons: 1,050,000 and counting]
[World Dominance Threshold: 12.4% Achieved]
But his mind wasn't on domination tonight.
It was on her.
He had faced gods and crushed a thousand enemies already in this world, yet Natasha made his heart feel something unfamiliar. A spark. A thread of warmth in the void of infinite power.
Aria stepped forward behind him.
"Supreme One," she said softly, "the spy woman—Agent Romanoff—she's watching. She comes here often, in silence."
Ron didn't open his eyes. "Let her."
"Should we invite her in?"
He smiled faintly. "No. If she ever wants to walk beside me, it must be by her choice."
---
At that very moment, Natasha stood across from the tower on a nearby rooftop, staring at the man radiating power like a living star.
She bit her lip.
"What the hell am I doing…" she whispered to herself.
And yet, her body moved on instinct.
She leaped.
A perfect arc through the night.
Ron turned before her feet touched his balcony.
"I knew you'd come," he said.
"I didn't."
"You're here anyway."
She looked at him.
"You're dangerous."
"So are you."
For a moment, silence reigned between two of the deadliest beings on Earth.
Then, Natasha finally asked, "What happens if I stay?"
Ron stepped closer, his voice low and steady.
"Then you'll never be alone again."
---