"I'm worried about you, Tony!"
Blake looked at Tony's bloodshot eyes. "How long has it been since you last slept, Tony?"
"How long? Over seventy hours? Definitely not four days yet. I've just been enjoying myself recently. You know, I like being in my workshop, I—"
Before Tony could finish, Blake knocked him out with a single slap.
"Oh my God, what happened? Did you just knock Tony out?"
Natasha walked into the room, looking at Tony lying on the floor and Blake retracting his hand.
"This guy hasn't rested for over three days. Get him a psychologist, darling. I think he might have some depression or anxiety issues!"
As Blake spoke, he casually opened a portal and tossed Tony onto his bed.
"I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"
Natasha nodded to show she'd handle the arrangements and then said, "Good news first! Since I just finished watching that idiot Dutland's video and I'm in a good mood, let's keep it that way a bit longer."
Speaking of Dutland, Natasha chuckled, cupping Blake's face and giving him a gentle kiss.
Because of this jealousy incident, Blake had acted as if he were a lovestruck teenager. Strangely enough, Natasha adored this side of him.
"The good news has to do with that idiot. After he released that video, the French authorities revoked their warrant for you. Remember the time when Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' CEO offered a massive bounty on your life? That was because you killed his only son. But in the end, the other executives in the conglomerate stopped him."
"Sounds great. French police aren't after me anymore, and those damn Japanese guys aren't causing me trouble. But honestly, none of that bothers me. You know, none of it is a threat to me. So what does this have to do with that video? Did I scare the French police with what I did to Dutland?"
Blake was puzzled about how Dutland's video could be related to this.
"Dutland's case made all intelligence agencies reassess you. Now, to every government and intelligence department, you're seen as a lunatic—highly capable but entirely unpredictable. None of their conventional methods work on you."
"In simple terms, when someone has a conflict with you, they don't think you'll act like a respectable bigshot by negotiating, haggling, or worrying about your reputation. Instead, they're convinced you'll take action—kill someone, drive them insane, or publicly humiliate them!"
"Any of those things are completely unacceptable to those well-dressed elites. After the S.H.I.E.L.D. incident, the U.S. government originally planned a hearing to make things difficult for us. But now, they're too scared..."
This caught Blake off guard. He didn't expect pranking Dutland would intimidate so many people.
The key wasn't Blake's personality but his lack of any sense of belonging to the Western world—or the U.S. government—as a native of China.
If this had happened in China, Blake would have handled it within the boundaries of the law—as long as no one deliberately targeted him.
Though the news sounded good, Blake didn't care much about it.
"Alright, let's call that good news. Now, the bad news—unless it's you telling me you've fallen for someone else, I can handle anything else!"
Blake grinned and pulled Natasha into his lap.
"The bad news involves Tony and Cap. Here, take a look. This is a file from Hydra's database. When I decrypted it, I kept a copy before deleting it."
Natasha handed the folder in her hand to Blake.
The moment Natasha mentioned it, Blake already had a good idea of what it was about.
He opened it, and sure enough, it was about the Winter Soldier, Bucky.
The folder detailed how Bucky's mind was controlled, along with the various missions he had carried out. Most of it was manageable, but the key was the mission report from December 26, 1991.
At that time, the Winter Soldier caused a car accident, killing Tony's parents and stealing five vials of the super-soldier serum from Howard Stark's car.
This was also connected to the five super-soldiers Blake had encountered earlier, activated by Francis and kept in a secret Siberian base.
"I thought about completely destroying this information before, but that would be too unfair to Tony. However, from a rational perspective, we all know that Barnes is innocent. It was Hydra who killed them. I understand the pain of being controlled by others," Natasha said.
She turned around and sat face-to-face with Blake.
"I remember Peggy telling me once that before becoming Captain America, Steve had lost both his parents, and Bucky was the only person in his life. I don't know what to do. This could tear our team apart."
Natasha had hesitated for a long time. No matter what course of action she considered, this issue seemed exceptionally hard to resolve.
"I know giving this to you puts you in a tough position, but I really don't know what else to do!"
Natasha wrapped her arms around Blake's neck, murmuring softly.
As Blake's woman, she knew how close he and Tony were. But at the same time, she deeply understood the helplessness of having blood on one's hands while under someone else's control.
After regaining his free will, Bucky had voluntarily asked to be confined in a cell, showing how unbearable it was for him to face the things he had done. He feared hurting others again if he were released.
If it had been the old Natasha, she might have immediately destroyed the documents, handed them over to Tony, or simply kept the secret to herself.
She certainly wouldn't have passed the problem on to someone else. Perhaps Blake's presence had gradually softened her into embracing a more tender, feminine side.
This change didn't escape Blake's notice. As a man with a slight tendency toward traditional masculinity, Blake was pleased. No matter how difficult the situation, he wouldn't let Natasha shoulder the burden alone.
"Don't worry. Leave it to me. I'll handle it," Blake said, gently ruffling Natasha's hair with a sigh.
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