"Karl, let's go."
"Oh— right." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "You look so beautiful I… lost focus for a moment."
May's lips curved into a half-smile.
"Really? Then let's go."
She gently took his arm, and together they stepped outside.
Not seeing his motorcycle, May led him toward the street to hail a taxi. Their destination was a romantic Western restaurant in Manhattan.
Karl didn't realize that after acknowledging her feelings, May had decided not to hide behind excuses anymore.
Tonight, she intended to face them.
Twenty minutes later, they arrived.
Soft lighting, quiet music, and candlelit tables filled the restaurant. It was unmistakably a place for couples.
May glanced nervously at Karl.
Karl paused for only a moment, then offered a gentle smile.
He understood.
After they were seated, May ordered for them. Silence settled between them.
Her palms were damp.
She had told him she needed to run errands.
Instead, she had brought him here.
"Karl… would you call this a date?" she asked softly.
He tilted his head.
"That depends," she added quickly, trying to sound playful, "on how you see it."
Karl met her eyes.
"I would consider it an honor, beautiful lady."
A faint breath escaped her lips.
"I thought you might refuse… I'm much older than you."
"Age isn't a problem for me."
He paused, then stood.
"Wait here a moment."
Karl stepped outside and walked to a nearby flower shop.
After browsing, he chose a bouquet of violets.
Their meanings were many, but one resonated with him most:
eternal beauty and enduring love.
When he returned, he handed the flowers to her.
The violets perfectly matched her purple dress.
He sat down and said softly:
"May your beauty endure forever."
May felt warmth bloom in her chest.
"Thank you… I love them."
Moments later, their food arrived.
While Karl ate, May discreetly searched the meaning of violets on her phone.
When the result appeared—
eternal beauty and love
—her heartbeat quickened.
She glanced at Karl.
He was focused on eating, unaware of her discovery.
May set her phone down and quietly resumed her meal, her heart lighter than it had been in years.
After dinner, they left the restaurant.
May slipped her arm through his.
They walked in comfortable silence before settling on a park bench beneath softly glowing streetlights.
She rested her head on his shoulder.
"Karl… do you know how lonely it feels," she began quietly, "to carry everything alone for so long?"
He listened without interruption.
Her words flowed — grief, responsibility, fear, exhaustion, and the quiet courage required to endure it all.
By the end, her voice softened into something deeper than confession.
It was trust.
Karl turned toward her and spoke honestly about what he felt — the warmth, the admiration, the calm he found in her presence.
Then he kissed her.
She responded immediately, wrapping her arms around his neck.
The world seemed to fall silent around them.
When they finally parted, she rested her forehead against his, breath unsteady but peaceful.
"Shall we go home?" she asked softly.
"Yes."
They returned to Queens.
Peter was still at school.
The house was quiet.
Inside, the stillness wrapped around them like a cocoon.
They embraced again, their movements unhurried, tender, and filled with the quiet certainty of two people choosing comfort in one another.
For Karl, it marked the first time in this life — and the last — that loneliness held any claim over him.
Later, he lay beside her as she slept peacefully, her expression calm and unguarded.
He smiled.
He had felt a warmth unlike anything he had known before.
Ten minutes later, Karl stepped quietly outside and walked toward a nearby alley.
Inside the house, over two hundred shadow ninjas remained hidden within the darkness. If danger approached, they would immediately extract May into the Shadow Realm while others intercepted the threat.
Karl paused in the alley.
Cold spread across the ground.
Two men in black suits stood frozen in ice.
A shadow ninja had reported surveillance activity while Karl was inside.
"S.H.I.E.L.D.?" he murmured.
He released the ice and had the shadow ninjas strip the unconscious men.
One bore a HYDRA tattoo.
Karl's eyes hardened.
"So HYDRA has noticed me too… I need to grow stronger."
He considered eliminating them.
Instead, he stepped into shadow.
If HYDRA discovered their compromised agent, it would cause internal friction.
If S.H.I.E.L.D. found him first, it would save Karl the trouble.
Either way—
the board was shifting again.
Karl disappeared into the Shadow Realm.
...…