The surgery lasted over three hours, but Doctor Strange's skilled hands finally pulled Black Widow back from the brink of death.
"Thank you! Thank you so much! Give me your bank account, and I'll transfer you five hundred million dollars tomorrow!" Qin Xiao said with genuine sincerity.
"Don't thank me. Once I'm in the operating room, I give my all to save lives. Even though I didn't want to come here, your friend claimed to be a special agent from some department. If I called the police now, could they even arrest you? You threatened to chop off my hands and kill my girlfriend earlier." Doctor Strange stared intently at Qin Xiao, clearly still seething over the earlier threats.
"Honestly, I don't know. But even if they did arrest me, it wouldn't do you any good. You could get revenge in another way—money, or maybe a good beating?" Now that Black Widow was out of danger, Qin Xiao finally felt comfortable enough to joke.
"Forget it. My fists aren't as hard as a wall, and my bullets aren't as fast as a bullet. Since the police can't touch you, and I have no interest in money, you owe me one. If I ever need your help in the future, you have to help me, no questions asked."
Doctor Strange's response was quite clever.
For an intelligence agent, Qin Xiao's superhuman physique and strength were far more valuable than money, especially since Qin Xiao didn't need money himself.
Qin Xiao smiled and gave him his phone number.
"The patient needs rest. I gave her a sedative. You should probably wait a few hours before seeing her again. And don't forget to pay for our wall!"
Doctor Strange hurried away. He had to work the next day, and as a surgeon, he needed to be well-rested and fully focused to do his job properly. This was also why he only accepted surgeries during working hours.
Though it sounded rather unsympathetic, it made perfect sense.
By the time Black Widow opened her eyes, the sky was already light. Qin Xiao was sitting on the stool by her bedside.
His eyes were vacant, and he was rocking back and forth gently, cradling his head in his hands.
He clearly hadn't slept much and was terribly bored.
He looked slightly dazed and cute, and Black Widow grinned.
For some reason, she suddenly wanted to kiss his cheek.
Being with this boy always made her forget all her troubles and rekindled her childlike innocence.
Black Widow gently gripped the bed rail, trying to sneak up and kiss Qin Xiao.
But as she shifted her weight, a sharp, tearing pain shot through the wound on her back.
"Ah!" she cried out.
Qin Xiao immediately sat up, his face lighting up. "You're awake?"
"Yes!"
Her attempted surprise attack had failed. With Qin Xiao's help, Black Widow slowly sat up to a half-sitting position.
She noticed water and flowers on the nightstand, along with a hot dog that looked like it had been bought some time ago. Clearly not Qin Xiao's breakfast or late-night snack.
"Did you buy this for me?" Black Widow remembered telling him she was hungry for a hot dog just before the accident.
"That's right. I remembered you saying you were hungry last night. The hot dog cart must have been terrified. I couldn't find him, so I bought this one downstairs at the hospital. It's pretty good—I tried one first!"
"Who eats a hot dog right after waking up from an injury?" Black Widow said, taking a sip of water from Qin Xiao's hand.
"Feeling good is more important than anything. If you don't like it, I'll get you something else. Anything you want!"
"Then I'll have this hot dog!" Black Widow's lips curved into a smile, as radiant as a girl on her first date.
"Wow! Wow! Wow!"
"I bet we came at the wrong time," Tony said. "If we'd been a few minutes later, they would have definitely kissed. Maybe they even would have done something on the hospital bed, turning tomorrow's headlines into a scandal."
Tony was speaking, and behind him stood Hawkeye, whom they hadn't seen in a long time, as he had been on a mission.
"I was actually on vacation at home with the kids. But Laura heard you were injured and told me to come check on you immediately. These were picked by her own hands last night!"
Hawkeye held a bouquet of wildflowers in various colors, hand-picked by his wife.
Black Widow and the entire Hawkeye family were very close, their relationship similar to that between Rhodey and Tony. In Chinese terms, they were like two families with a long-standing bond.
"Thank Laura for me. I'll come over for dinner soon."
Their arrival instantly livened up the hospital room. Before long, Coulson arrived as well. Qin Xiao gave him a meaningful glance, and Coulson shook his head slightly.
Since they couldn't find any leads on the ambush for now, they decided to first address the thorn in Black Widow's side.
Qin Xiao found an opportunity to discreetly pull Hawkeye aside.
"I want to know what really happened in Budapest."
Although Hawkeye hadn't been around the group much lately, he had heard about Black Widow and Qin Xiao.
Hearing Qin Xiao's question, Hawkeye sighed softly and began recounting his first encounter with Black Widow.
At the time, Black Widow was still working for the Red Room. During an intelligence gathering mission, she crossed paths with Hawkeye from S.H.I.E.L.D.
Hawkeye had the opportunity to kill her, but he knew that all Red Room female agents were trained from childhood to be controlled and brainwashed. He therefore strongly urged Black Widow to surrender, join S.H.I.E.L.D., and work together to take down the Red Room.
However, S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't simply accept an enemy agent based on Hawkeye's personal judgment. They required proof of loyalty—a blood oath.
The task was to kill the Red Room's leader, Dreykov!
To escape the Red Room and evade their pursuit, she had to join S.H.I.E.L.D.
Black Widow, desperate to leave the Red Room, planted a bomb in Dreykov's home. But just as she was about to detonate it, Dreykov's young daughter, Antonia, returned.
The opportunity was fleeting; dealing with Dreykov would never be so simple again.
So, with a heavy heart, Black Widow detonated the bomb.
Unfortunately, Antonia died in the explosion, but Dreykov survived.
While this operation earned Black Widow S.H.I.E.L.D.'s trust, the blood debt of an innocent girl remained the thorn in her heart.
Budapest was merely the name of the safe house where Hawkeye and Black Widow carried out their assassination mission; it had also become their operation codename.
"So you're saying she knew that girl was innocent, but to completely break free from the Red Room, she personally pressed the button and killed an innocent girl, right?" Qin Xiao confirmed.
"You have no idea how terrifying the Red Room is. I understand that, but her actions, Qin, you can't imagine..." Hawkeye quickly spoke up for Black Widow, fearing Qin Xiao might misinterpret the situation.
"No! You misunderstand. I was just confirming if this was the blood debt that's been haunting her. I don't care about that girl's life—that wasn't her fault!"
Having received his confirmation, Qin Xiao pulled Hawkeye toward the hospital room.
After a few steps, Qin Xiao suddenly seemed to recall something.
"You mean that Dreykov—the leader of the Red Room—didn't die, right?"
-----------------------
Completed English PDF of this fan-fic on my Patreon shop if you want to support and own the full fan-fic in one go. Just grab the PDF and binge the entire story from start to finish!
Guys, I've uploaded some High Quality english translated fanfic on my Patreon shop! Feel free to check it out-if you're interested, you can grab a copy and support me there.
Here are a few titles of recently uploaded fanfics:
New Addition
" Marvel: Awakening Abstract Abilities at the Beginning "
" Marvel: Fused with Broly at the Start "
" Marvel: Starting as the God of Destruction "
" Superman in Marvel—Will I Get a Copyright Warning? "
" Marvel: Starting by Loading the Homelander Template "
" Marvel: Becoming an Emperor Through Lottery Draws "
" Marvel: Awakening the Power of a Million Stars at the Start "
" Marvel: I Am the Leader of the Mutant Race "
many more are available 140+
Your support means a lot-thanks in advance, legends!
patreon.com/SuperTL
(End of Chapter)