---
For the first time in years, Natasha Romanoff couldn't focus.
The café encounter kept replaying in her mind. Ron—mysterious, powerful, invincible. His voice echoed in her thoughts, not because of fear, but because of how calm he was. No threats. No ego. Just cold truth wrapped in warm confidence.
She sat alone in her SHIELD apartment, staring at the classified report on her tablet.
> Subject: RON
Status: Unknown Entity
Power Level: Unknown (Potentially Cosmic)
Threat Level: Beyond Omega
Recommended Action: Observe. Engage only under extreme necessity.
Natasha swiped the screen away and sighed.
"I've faced gods," she whispered, "but he's not like them."
There was no thunder, no suit, no theatrics. Just one man who had nothing… and now, was everything.
---
Meanwhile, Ron stood atop the Empire State Building, his coat fluttering as the city lights twinkled below. Next to him, Aria silently observed the skyline. Behind them stood thousands of summoned warriors in alternate dimension space—hidden, waiting, watching.
"Do you think she'll come back?" Aria asked softly.
"She will," Ron said. "She's not just a spy. She's someone who's lived in shadows for too long. And now, for the first time, she saw light."
"You?"
"Maybe."
He closed his eyes, letting the wind carry his thoughts. His body was still evolving. At this point, he could crush mountains with a breath. His Immortal Form had made him unkillable. His System had gone beyond numbers now—it had begun adapting to the multiverse.
And yet, it wasn't enough.
Power was easy.
What he truly wanted... was connection.
---
The next evening, Natasha returned to the café.
She wasn't on a mission this time. She came in a casual jacket and no makeup, blending in like any New Yorker. But her heart pounded as if she were walking into a battlefield.
She found him again—Ron, same table, same coffee.
"You came back," he said, not even surprised.
"I'm off duty," she said. "Thought you might enjoy company."
He smirked. "Aria thought you'd come armed."
"I always am. Doesn't mean I'll use it."
She sat. Silence lingered for a moment, but not uncomfortably. For the first time, she felt like she could breathe around someone who understood how it felt to be betrayed by the world.
"I looked into your past," Natasha said. "You didn't exist before two days ago."
"I did," Ron replied. "But not in your world."
She stared. "Alternate Earth?"
He simply nodded.
"And you came here… for what?"
He looked her in the eyes. "To never be weak again. And to live without regrets."
Her breath caught.
For a man with infinite strength, he still carried a scar inside. And strangely, it called to her.
---