Natasha also sighed, more anxious than the others but powerless to help. Then she asked, "How is Shiller? Does he need his medication?"
"He brought his own medicine," Batman from the Prime Universe said. "That bottle contains a high concentration of sedatives, which would be good for his current mental state. If he wakes up, give him the bottle and let him take a few more puffs. A good sleep will do the trick."
After the three Batmen had left, Natasha thoughtfully looked at the drug bottle in her hand.
She walked into the room, finding the bedroom curtains drawn with only one lamp casting a dim shadow on the wall.
It was surprisingly quiet here. The chaos and bustle of the floor below seemed unrelated, so Natasha moved a chair to the bedside and sat down, Shiller was sleeping deeply on the bed.
Natasha began to reminisce. Her life span was much longer than average, and so were the fragments of her memory, which made them particularly complicated when she looked back.
But it was nothing more than the bright sunny summer in Stalingrad, the cold and bleak autumn in the Red Room, the dry and biting spring in Moscow, and the long winter in Siberia.
The memories after coming to New York always seemed blurry - missions, parties, battles. Days that should have been marked deeply by their tension, seriousness, and brushes with death instead flickered like ripples on the water, never really sinking in.
Every girl who had come from that land lost those sacred, serious, solemn, and tragic things. In the days that followed, even the ever-frozen ground became the most memorable part.
Natasha's thoughts wandered aimlessly, slightly detached, until Shiller began to stir awake.
Natasha stood up to prop up his pillow, then paused for a moment before handing him the spray drug bottle and asking, "Are you okay? How do you feel?"
Shiller, with his eyes still closed, shook his head to indicate that he was alright. His blood made his heart beat strongly again, and his mind was exceptionally clear. Obviously, Batman had injected him with some sort of healing agent that temporarily alleviated his physical pain.
Shiller turned to look at Natasha and showed a surprised expression. Natasha was startled, then realized that she might have completely lost control of her emotions, at least for that brief moment.
Then she smiled and said, "You're responsible for the results of your treatment, Doctor. Is it what you wanted, to make a female agent so emotional?"
"It is my honor."
This made Natasha realize it wasn't Greed who was speaking, so she sat back in her chair and said, "I heard about Oliver Queen's story from a young girl called Black Canary. He did that under your influence, didn't he?"
"I'm afraid not," Shiller turned his head away, his gaze diffuse as he looked at the ceiling and said, "She was destined to do so. Each one of us is like that, ultimately making astonishingly similar decisions when it's time to decide."
Natasha's attention started to drift again, but Shiller turned back to her and added, "But I must admit, it's also one of the results of my treatment, just like you said, I'm responsible for the consequences of my treatments."
"You're here to help Oliver, aren't you?"
"Suppose so, but I don't think he needs my help."
"He's in danger now," Natasha said. "Where did that guy glowing green go? He seemed strong."
"Very perceptive, Miss, but he has more important things to do. Pacifying the public and rescuing people are important, but we can't let the mastermind behind this get away."
"Superman went as well?"
"The two of them are together. More importantly, though Clark doesn't recognize everyone, he can't fail to recognize Batman. He knows there are three Batmen here, which is more than enough for any catastrophe."
"I'm afraid there's more to it."
"Clark is very angry, he certainly has reason to be. Although he's not human, he stands more with the human race than most do. He can't allow people to act with such impunity."
"Then the mastermind behind this is in trouble."
"Of course."
The two fell into silence. The expression on Natasha's face gradually shifted; she seemed to be under no pressure, yet it was as if she was just about to snap that tightly stretched string.
"You were just about to throw away my medicine?"
That sentence became the final straw that broke the camel's back. Natasha exhaled deeply, completely sinking in. With her hands braced on the edges of the chair, she looked down and said, "It was only a thought."
"You were almost about to put it into action because you know, as soon as I lose control, all the damned agents and drug traffickers on this ship are done for. You can't wait for them to die right in front of you, the more miserably the better."
Natasha's Adam's apple moved dramatically up and down, the muscles of her neck trembling slightly. After a long silence, she spoke with her eyes closed.
"I was born a decade after the October Revolution, a prodigy agent personally marked for greatness by Stalin himself, a witness to the most glorious era of this country and then watched firsthand how it fell."
"When I found myself caught in this tide, I realized I could hardly go against the current. I was sad and desperate, thinking this might just be the inevitable end of this path."
"But maybe because I've lived too long, I've witnessed more events, remembered more details than others. I'm very clear about how certain events that should never have occurred actually happened."
Natasha spoke almost through clenched teeth, "You might think if I'm so loyal, why did I come to America and choose to stay? It's because I hate traitors even more than the adversaries."
"They should have stayed there to rot, to disappear, while I witness it all from across the ocean. Seeing them carried into coffins, eventually nailed to the pillar of shame - for a long time, that was the only reason I lived."
"I must admit, when I heard that the world's trajectory was not the same, I didn't feel much of a surprise." Natasha shook her head, "Because although it meant that country could drag out its existence, it also meant that some criminals would be elevated to heights they do not deserve, even spending their later years in peace, and that's the disgrace of a father."
"But…" Natasha took a deep breath, "When I heard about what happened in Mexico, I... didn't know how to describe it."
Natasha's Adam's apple moved again as she said, "People are always disappointed, yet they never give up hope. When the flames are extinguished in one piece of land, they ignite again in another. It fills me with deep sadness and leaves me at a loss, wanting to cry."
"Someday, they will have their father, their struggle will one day allow them to kiss the land beneath their feet with nothing but love and no complaints, which hits me even harder and is indescribable."
"But those things that should never happen are still happening," Natasha's tone was filled with murderous intent. "And Oliver Queen... he will never be their father because he is too cowardly."
"Another group of people across the ocean has already proven to them with their lives and the future of a tribe that weakness leads nowhere. If he can't accept blood on his hands, always thinking of indirect solutions, then they can only tread the old path."
"Whether he kills people or not is not important, but he must shoulder the price of these lives and then understand, facing traitors, this is the only solution, the only..."
Natasha's hands tightly grasped the leather on the chair, and when she finally broke free from her emotions, she saw Shiller looking at her with a smile in his eyes.
That smile was like the one from a faded, yellowing photograph stashed in Natasha's memory of an old friend when they were still in Minsk, under the bitterly cold blue sky of early winter, and the dry, yellow leaves of the shrubbery underfoot, with the wind reddening everyone's faces.
Shiller raised his arm, looked at the aerosol bottle in his hand and said, "Do you know what's inside this?"
"Batman told me it's a sedative."
"And do you know why I need a sedative?"
Natasha looked at Shiller and shook her head.
Without warning, Shiller lifted his hand, and the spray drug bottle was thrown straight out of the window.
"You'll soon find out."
Natasha was dumbfounded.
"You..."
Shiller's smile softened.
"Now, run, lady."