The real question was where he knew her from.
She had never seen this sloppy-looking man in her life.
On the other hand, Eric could not stop cursing internally.
.
..
…
This can't be happening.
It can't be HER. Not here. Not now.
I must be drunk. Or dead. Or worse: dreaming something I can't afford.
Eric blinked several times, trying to force his brain to click into place.
But the woman beside him was still there, completely real, moving in a way that seemed not to disturb the air at all.
Her gaze, sharp as a scalpel, slid across the bar, over the customers, over him.
She looked like she was searching for a target.
"S-sorry," Eric stammered, shifting aside.
She did not reply. She simply dropped a phrase to the bartender:
"Vodka. Neat."
What was the deadliest Avenger on the planet doing in a trashy bar that sold reheated beer?
As he watched her discreetly, the system emitted a faint buzz through his dead phone once more.
> [Presence of classified entity detected: Omega Level]
Recommendation: Maintain distance.
Reason: Lethal risk 99.7%.] <
Excellent. Fantastic.
I get an incredible, efficient system… that warns me to stay away from a woman I already know I should stay away from.
Natasha took the glass, but did not drink.
Her eyes shifted toward Eric for barely a second, long enough for him to feel as if a probe had scanned his soul.
And in that instant, he knew it.
She suspected him.
Most likely his "I've-just-seen-a-living-myth" expression had given him away, or maybe Natasha Romanoff had simply mistaken him for someone else.
Something he knew was impossible.
Eric swallowed.
Don't talk, Eric, he told himself.
Don't make eye contact. Don't breathe weird. This woman could kill you with a napkin and two teaspoons.
But his thoughts took a strange turn.
…Wow. She's even more beautiful in person.
No. Focus. She's a spy. This is not a date. She's not going to ask for your number.
I think.
Natasha finally spoke.
"You've been staring too much. Are you waiting for someone?"
Eric felt his heart drop straight into his stomach.
"N-no. I just…. I'm just a guy drinking alone."
She evaluated him for two more seconds, as if she could read his lies, his weaknesses, his bank history, and his childhood just by looking into his eyes.
Then, finally, she smiled slightly. A minimal gesture. Dangerous.
"Good. I don't like curious people."
Eric lowered his gaze…. straight to the magical envelope.
When he looked up again, Natasha was still watching him. The envelope, like everything else around them, seemed to go unnoticed by her.
Perfect. The worst day of my life mixed with the weirdest system imaginable.
And Black Widow is analyzing me like I'm part of her damn mission.
Realizing that no one else besides him could see the envelope, Eric tried to hide it.
But just as his fingers brushed against it, the system decided to betray him in the most vile way possible.
A sharp beep.
A blue flash.
And the envelope began to vibrate.
Natasha turned immediately. Her eyes narrowed.
"What is that?"
Eric wanted to answer something, anything, but the envelope opened on its own. A card emerged, levitating between them.
This one was different.
Its edges glowed with an intense orange hue, like compressed fire. The holographic surface displayed a rocky landscape, a black mountain beneath a purple sky.
> [CARD ACTIVATED: "Future" – Subject's Death: Natasha Romanoff] <
The system spoke inside Eric's mind, but the floating card was visible to both of them.
"What the hell…?" Natasha whispered.
Without warning, the card projected an image in front of them. A solid mirage, sharp and vivid, like a memory that belonged to no one there.
Eric saw Natasha's expression change in seconds.
First, alert.
Then confusion.
The vision unfolded.
In it….
She and Barton appeared to be arguing about something important.
["This isn't true. Maybe he's making it up," Barton said.]
["No, I don't think so," her holographic self replied.]
"What the hell is this?"
Natasha grabbed Eric by the collar.
To his surprise, everyone in the bar, if it could even be called that, stared straight at them.
Even the music stopped for a few moments.
At least Eric realized that, aside from the two of them, no one else could see the hologram that filled much of their vision, just like a sixty-five-inch screen.
At least it's in high definition, Eric thought with grim amusement as he watched the iconic scene of Black Widow's death.
Analyzing the scene, Natasha evaluated every detail.
She also realized that no one else besides them could see the strange phenomenon.
But time continued to flow normally, and any reaction she made would still be visible to the people around them.
With that in mind, she pulled Eric closer, as if afraid he might escape, and after giving him a hard, murderous look, she returned her attention to the vision.
The hologram seemed to pause. Noticing that it once again had their full attention, it resumed playing.
Natasha took note of that as well.
["Just because he knows your father's name?" Barton said.]
["And I don't," she replied.]
["Thanos left this place with the gem, but not with his daughter. That's not a coincidence."]
Natasha did not understand what was happening, and she hated that feeling. But she held back and kept watching the hologram.
["That's right," Clint let out a sigh.]
["We'll do whatever it takes," Natasha said in the video.]
["We'll do whatever it takes," Clint repeated the same line.]
["If we don't get the gem, they'll all stay dead." Natasha stood up and approached Barton.]
["Yes, I think we both know who it has to be."]
["Yes, we do," Natasha replied.]
[Barton took her hands gently.]
["I'm starting to think we're talking about someone else, Natasha," Barton said.]
["These past five years I've been searching for one single thing, to get right here. The only thing that mattered to me was bringing everyone back," Natasha said.]
["Nat, don't start showing your soft side," Barton interrupted her.]
Watching everything unfold, Natasha felt a tight knot form in her throat as she saw her interaction with Barton.