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Lyon realized that Natasha wasn't joking, so he put away his playful attitude.
"Alright, no need to be so serious. I was just joking around, and I take back what I said earlier that was a bit disrespectful."
He then waved to Dum-E, "Dum-E, come over here and pour this lady some more coffee."
This time, it was Natasha's turn to be surprised.
"You're apologizing to me? This... honestly, you're nothing like what I expected."
"Apologizing? No, I think you've misunderstood. I'm not apologizing. I'm just maintaining my composure. At the very least, I don't make jokes about serious matters out in the open," Lyon clarified.
Natasha looked at him with a puzzled expression. "You actually said that... I mean, you're really different. You're nothing like a Stark!"
"Perhaps it's because I was also influenced by an education outside of the Stark family?"
Lyon raised his cup and clinked it against Natasha's. "But no matter how much you compliment me, it's not going to help."
"You broke in here, attacked me, and I let bygones be bygones to save you. But now you've got ulterior motives, so just a verbal apology won't cut it."
"…You're right," Natasha said with a smile, taking a sip of the hot coffee. "But I truly meant that compliment. What you said just now—I've never heard anyone with so much influence speak like that before. It does come across as very refined."
"Thank you for the compliment. It's part of my personal branding," Lyon said with a shrug.
"That kind of branding must be very attractive to young girls," Natasha said, her eyes curving into a smile.
"Maybe... So, should we talk about you and the issue with the Red Room?" Lyon put down his coffee cup.
"What do you want to talk about?" Natasha no longer leaned against the counter. "If this is the compensation you're asking for, I'll tell you everything."
"I have only one question. How were you fully controlled by the Red Room a year and a half ago?" Lyon asked the question that had been weighing on his mind for a long time.
He still couldn't let it go.
After all, it related to how he understood the universe he was in.
And his treatment of Natasha was based on this goal.
"How I was controlled..." Natasha held her coffee cup, her expression somewhat dazed, and also struggling.
For her, it seemed like something horrible that had happened a long time ago.
During the time she was controlled, she had committed too many blood-stained crimes.
In comparison, even the days when she could barely act on her own will seemed far better.
To recount her experiences from that time felt like tearing open wounds from the inside out. It was worse than charging into a hail of bullets.
But after a moment of struggling, she began to slowly recount her story.
"When I was a child, I received training and modifications in the Red Room. They brainwash all the girls," Natasha began.
"But I managed to hold onto my will through the brainwashing."
"So when I found an opportunity, I tried to rebel. And then, I failed."
There was such emptiness in Natasha's eyes as she stared at the swirling coffee in her cup, but her gaze seemed to reach back into the past.
"In order to prevent something like that from happening again, they didn't just rely on brainwashing anymore. They started using chemicals to control us."
"...That's how it went," Natasha said it as simply as someone might describe putting an elephant into a refrigerator by saying you just open the fridge and place the elephant inside.
Lyon focused on the key point. "With your abilities, why did you fail to rebel?"
In the original timeline, Natasha should have met Hawkeye around 2006, launched an attack against the head of the Red Room in Budapest, Hungary, and eventually defected to join S.H.I.E.L.D.
But now the situation was completely different.
"The Red Room's influence is beyond imagination. Widows are spread across the entire world—it's something individual strength cannot fight against."
Natasha's shoulders slumped as if they had lost all support. "About two years ago, I was attacked by Hawkeye from S.H.I.E.L.D. That was a good opportunity. I tried to use him to connect with S.H.I.E.L.D."
"But..." She suddenly lifted her head and glanced at Lyon.
"It actually has something to do with your family," Natasha said.
"Me?" Lyon asked.
"In 2006, Stark Industries released groundbreaking electronic products. The Red Room reverse-engineered the technology and used it to enhance their internal systems," Natasha explained, tilting her head slightly. "So when I was trying to connect with Hawkeye, the entire process was being monitored, and I had no idea."
"At that time, the communication devices I used only had basic anti-surveillance functions."
"How could I have imagined that the Red Room's communication technology would undergo such a rapid explosion in just a few months?"
Lyon's mouth twitched. It turned out that Natasha had been caught because she was behind the times.
In the Marvel Universe, civilian technology was far behind military technology.
In 2006, Tony Stark, inspired by Lyon's ideas, brought a lot of military-grade technology into the development of consumer electronics.
During that period, Stark Industries was holding product launches almost every day.
For an entire month, Tony accelerated the development of global civilian digital devices by at least ten years, pulling them out of a technological lag.
It was as if, overnight, the world went from flip phones to smartphones. Even holographic projections began appearing on screens.
Lyon remembered how Obadiah had complained back then, saying that Tony was draining the well dry. He thought technology should be released bit by bit to maximize profits.
"Well, modern technology is like that… it explodes out of nowhere in strange ways," Lyon said, taking a sip of coffee to cover his awkwardness.
Natasha shot him a resentful look. "If Stark Electronics had been founded just six months later, I might have been able to escape or even destroy the Red Room."
"…You're right," Lyon replied, continuing to drink his coffee. "Even though it sounds unreasonable, we can still blame Tony for creating that subsidiary."
It turned out the problem wasn't with the world.
It was him—his butterfly wings had stirred up a tornado in Hungary.
The butterfly effect really could mess with the timeline…
Lyon was at a loss. He couldn't understand why the timeline had changed so much, yet no one had come to confront him.
The Time Variance Authority wasn't after him, and neither was the Ancient One.
This left him bewildered.
However, from what he could tell, the world still seemed to be the one he was familiar with from the movies.
At least, as long as it wasn't the comic universe, he could consider himself lucky.
"What happened afterward?" he asked, pressing Natasha for more details.
"After my defection plan was exposed, I was quickly surrounded by other Widows and captured, then brought back to the Red Room."
"After being imprisoned for half a year, the Red Room used various chemical substances to control me."
"I had no choice at all. For more than a year now, although I still retained my own thoughts, there were so many different voices in my mind. I couldn't tell which one was truly me."
As Natasha spoke, she quietly turned her face away, wiping her cheek while her back was to Lyon.
"In... in just over ten months, the number of people I've killed surpasses those I've killed in the past decade."
She continued, "Some were little boys who couldn't even walk yet. Some were ..pregnant women, and others were powerful figures of great influence."
"Even now, my hands are stained with blood." Natasha lowered her head, making it impossible to see her expression.
Lyon instinctively wanted to offer comforting words.
But clearly, Natasha wasn't looking for comfort.
Her inner strength far surpassed that of most people.
Yet, the stronger she was, the deeper her guilt tormented her conscience.
In fact, if Lyon hadn't demanded this information as her compensation, Natasha would never have revealed her past under any circumstances.
Even in the movies, with those Avengers she considered family, Natasha never mentioned her experiences in the Red Room.
That was a deeply hidden wound she kept buried in her heart.
Compared to reopening those old scars, she would have preferred Lyon to ask for retribution as compensation, even if it meant breaking her limbs.
"So, what are you planning to do next?" Lyon signaled Dum-E to refill Natasha's coffee.
"Thank you." Natasha expressed her gratitude to Dum-E before looking at Lyon.
"If possible, I hope I can ask for your help."
"I'm not trying to drag you into this endless war, but... could I ask you to create some inhibitors for me?"
With some hesitation, Natasha continued, "Or perhaps just a formula, so I can help free the others. I promise I'll find a way to repay you for your effort."
Lyon stroked his chin. "Inhibitors aren't too difficult, but..."
"It sounds like you're planning to free some Widows first, then gather enough people to wage war on the Red Room?"
Honestly, he would love to see someone cause trouble for the Red Room.
After all, Tony had just revealed the Arc reactor and that the armor was made in the Stark Industries, and yet the Red Room had the audacity to send Black Widow to infiltrate his home for a kidnapping.
If they dared to do that now, Lyon could only imagine what the Red Room might do once Tony officially announced to the world that he was the Iron Man himself at tomorrow's press conference.
For a force so intent on courting death, Lyon's choice was clear: he wouldn't let the Red Room see the light of day tomorrow.
That said, since Natasha's goal was to destroy the Red Room, it aligned with his intentions, so Lyon didn't mind lending her a hand.
Natasha straightened her posture. "Yes, that's my plan. Mr. Stark, please believe me, I will—"
"Just call me Lyon," he interrupted. "After sharing so much, we should at least consider ourselves friends, right?"
Natasha paused for a moment and nodded. "Lyon..."
"Now, listen to me." Lyon tapped his fingers on the table.
"Your plan is sound, but carrying it out won't be easy."
He continued, "First, you'll lose contact with the others, and once you start making your moves, other Widows will go silent as well. The Red Room will catch on quickly, and when that happens, you'll be in a very dangerous position."
Natasha shook her head slowly. "I know, but I have to do it. It's my... responsibility."
"Responsibility..." Lyon mused. "Hearing that gives me an idea—a win-win—no, a triple-win solution!"
'I might finally get a sexy and capable assistant!'
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