After the girl showered and changed into some clothes he lent her, the pair went off to the supermarket.

Hadrian stood in front of the frozen items section, inspecting two kinds of butter in both hands.

Standing nearby, donning a dark gray hoodie and a baseball cap on her head, the Black Widow stared at her male companion impassively with her hands on the pushcart's handlebar.

Although he was occupied in deciding which butter he should take (it's an important decision to make since it'll be for tonight's dinner), he noticed how she would glance around occasionally.

There were only a handful of people in the area they were in, ergo Hadrian was not sure why she seemed a bit tense.

"These people are just ordinary civilians. Why act skittish, little spider?" He asked in Russian with a sigh, almost casually as his attention was still on the two items in his hands.

"They're staring." She deadpanned as she stepped closer to stand beside him, one hand on the pushcart's handlebar to prevent it from straying.

"At you? Makes sense… since you're acting a little silly." Hadrian needled, lifting a single brow in amusement.

"Not at me. At you, you buffoon." She growled softly, annoyed.

Hadrian blinked in surprise.

He then took a quick glance around them to see whether it was true.

The redhead was right.

Even though he was dressed in the simplest attire he had in his luggage (a black coat with silver cuffs and a gray hoodie, a white shirt with long sleeves, black pants, and a pair of black slip-on shoes) and a black mask that covers the lower half of his face, some people would actually turn their heads to look at him while walking passed them.

Hadrian was a bit confused.

Most of the stares came from both genders, with young females winning only by a handful.

He sensed nothing malicious from them though, simply curiosity and admiration (he has no idea what was there to admire about him).

Sighing in his mind, he faced the redhead with a smile, despite her not seeing it anyway.

"They're just staring. You get used to it." He said to her with a helpless shrug.

He turned back to the two butters in his hands, leaving her a bit stumped at his casual behavior.

The redhead snapped out of her reverie, leaning closer as she recalled some of the words he said in the penthouse.

"Earlier, you said 'next assignment'. What do you mean by that?" She asked in a low tone, watching his face for any hint of his true thoughts.

"I think the question you're looking for is whether I'm a freelance mercenary or not," Hadrian said as he turned around and gently deposited the two butters to the side of the cart.

In the end, he was unable to choose between them.

"Are you one then?" the girl asked, green eyes still scanning his face closely.

Hadrian turned to her with raised brows.

"I'm not freelance." He answered.

"Oh..." was all she said, looking down briefly at her feet.

Feeling a gaze upon her, the redhead looked up and was surprised to see him staring at her.

"What?" she asked, feeling a bit conscious for some reason.

"Nothing, just come closer." He urged, calm and unhurried.

"Huh? Why?" she asked, insistent, brows furrowed in confusion.

Instead of answering, Hadrian slowly leaned in and lifted his right hand.

She tensed for a slight moment before she looked on in confusion as he simply pointed at her.

"The lady behind you wants to get a yogurt, and you're in the way," Hadrian said with a straight face, sounding a bit amused.

"…"

The redhead blinked once and then turned around.

Sure enough, there was an old lady with a young woman beside her (most likely a relative), waiting patiently for her to move aside.

Hadrian smiled and shook his head as he was treated to the sight of a flustered-looking redhead, muttering a soft apology to the pair.

The girl may be good at handling her emotions, but it was fun to see a different side of her.

...

----------------------------------------

...

After a near hour of grocery shopping, the pair went to a nearby restaurant for lunch.

The restaurant was decent.

It was decorated with comfort in mind, albeit stylish and a bit luxurious on the side.

The staff were polite and respectful, mindful of their duties, something that Hadrian privately approves of. The food was also decent, good enough to satiate their hunger.

Even though he was unfamiliar with Russian cuisine, it was a nice change of pace from the usual foods he ate daily.

The two of them had just finished eating (Hadrian's treat, of course), and were relaxing in their respective seats.

The groceries were left in the car's trunk, which was parked by the side of the restaurant.

Idly watching the girl drink coffee (to his slight bemusement) for a few moments, Hadrian turned his gaze to the large window that had a direct view of a clothes shop located across the street.

Glancing between the girl and the shop, an idea came to his mind.

The girl lifted an eyebrow when she noticed him rummaging through his pocket.

"What are you doing?" she asked curiously, placing the cup gently into its saucer.

"We're already here, so you might as well get some things done." Hadrian mused aloud.

Then. he placed a stack of fresh and crisp Russian rubles with a thousand bank notes each.

"Here, take this and buy yourself some new clothes. You can keep the rest if there's any left."

"…"

It was quiet for a few moments as the girl simply stared at the stack of bills with a blank expression before turning her gaze up.

"You're just going to give me all this to buy clothes?" she asked, sounding skeptical.

"Yes, why not?" Hadrian said, lifting one elegant brow for emphasis.

He sighed when he received (another) glare from her instead of a 'thank you'.

"Look, I'm getting sick and tired of seeing those tears on your pants and the t-shirt you wore earlier. It had been a relief for me to see you wear that hoodie, but it's not enough. It's also not hygienic to wear the same clothes all over again after a shower, okay? For my peace of mind and your sanitation, use that money and buy yourself some clothes. Now, does that satisfy you?" Hadrian said with a raised brow.

Instead of responding, the girl's green eyes narrowed.

Her face observant as she tried to ascertain whether he had a hidden agenda or was simply being whimsical.

"This is not some trick to leave me behind, is it?" she asked, looking at him suspiciously.

"Of course not." Hadrian scoffed at the idea.

He glanced to the side with a slightly frustrated expression.

"Dios mio (My god), I give her some money, and this is what I get in return? What an ungrateful kid." He muttered dryly, unbothered by the annoyed glare that was sent his way and pointedly ignoring the fact that his own body was originally younger than hers.

Sighing, he turned back to her and continued.

"Look, if you're that worried, you can just go to that shop across the street. I'll wait for you here. Promise."

"Promises mean nothing." She said in a monotone, brows furrowed.

"Mine does." Hadrian returned, smiling when he met her surprised gaze. "Now go."

Reluctantly, she looked to where he was pointed and saw a luxurious-looking clothes shop in the distance.

Green eyes turned to the stack of money near the edge of the table, then moved back to the male sitting across her.

Her lips twisted into a small frown as her mind soon came to a decision.

"…hmph."

Hadrian nodded in satisfaction as the girl grabbed the money, stood up from her seat, and walked (stomped, more like) to the entrance of the restaurant.

"Just don't take too long. Maya's alone at home, after all." He called after her.

To which he received a small but quick glare from the girl before she was out the door.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Exhaling through his nose, Hadrian leaned back in his seat to relax, left foot bouncing out of idle musing.

"…"

Then, he stilled as he quickly recalled that the girl was a trained young assassin in the making, armed with sharp knives and a bit temperamental.

Hadrian suddenly wondered why it had been a good idea to send a young girl of that caliber to a luxurious clothes shop, alone.

Shrugging, he smiled wryly.

He picked up his tea and took a sip, ignoring the nervous fluttering in his gut as he waited for the girl to finish shopping.

'Well, I'm sure it'll be okay… I hope.'

...

----------------------------------------

...

Throughout the entire affair, Hadrian watched the girl pick and choose what she liked.

When he saw her surrounded by clothes and the shop attendants (who looked kind and polite enough to her), it seemed like she was just a cute young girl living a normal life in the city, not someone who had been harshly trained to become an assassin or of some kind.

There was no doubt in his mind that the girl was a child soldier.

No teenager that young would behave and think like she does.

From time to time, Hadrian had to pause in his musing to smile and wave at her whenever she met his gaze across the street.

The girl was a perfectionist.

Combine it with caution, the result would be a cute, a bit hot-tempered, young teenager whose habit was hiding small knives anywhere she could on her person.

Hadrian didn't know what kind of deities he had upset in the past, but even he was forced to admit that his life just got weirder the moment the girl came into his life.

BRRR

BRRR

The silent vibrations of his holo-phone snapped Hadrian out of his thoughts.

With practiced ease, he pulled out the wireless earbuds from their charging case, placed one of each in his ears, and pulled the holo-phone out of his coat pocket using the other free hand.

Looking at the screen, the name of the caller made his brows rise in surprise.

Pressing on the green icon, he accepted the call.

"This is rather unexpected, opa," Hadrian said by way of greeting.

From the other side, he heard a deep chuckle rumble through the earbuds.

"Is it? Then you're getting soft, enkel." Zelretch remarked.

Hadrian scoffed in amusement.

"Why did you call?" He asked dryly, getting straight to the point.

"Heard some interesting news concerning you… and a girl." Zelretch said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

Bright cyan eyes involuntarily glanced at the clothes shop where he met the red-haired girl's gaze by chance.

Smiling, he gave her a small wave.

He huffed in amusement when he only got an adorable frown from her before she turned away, distracted by one of the attendants speaking to her.

"What about it?" Hadrian returned, almost challenging, after some time of silence.

"You're not fooling around there, are you?" Zelretch asked in a playful tone.

"Of course not. I'm merely keeping my promise to Elsa while waiting on the next mission." Hadrian answered, voice turning a bit stern in tone.

"Oh… and here I thought that you would finally loosen up. Guess I should set those rubbers and contraceptives aside then." Zelretch sighed, sounding almost disappointed.

Glaring at the holo-phone for a few moments, Hadrian was annoyed by the burst of laughter from a certain magician that echoed in the earbuds.

"Jests aside, care to tell me the reason why there's a girl hanging around in your temporary base of operations?" Zelretch asked.

Despite the lack of visual image, Hadrian can easily imagine the raised brow.

Knowing that the old magician would find out, sooner or later, he had decided to come clean.

"Because she wants to return a favor." The mage in disguise answered.

"Oho? A favor, you say?" Zelretch repeated in a suggestive tone.

"Whatever it is you have in mind, stop it, right now." Hadrian deadpanned.

"Muhehehe~" was the old magician's weird giggle.

Sighing, he frowned and swept his hair back, a subconscious reflex whenever he was nervous.

"It's not like that. The girl just didn't want to be in debt to anyone, or me for that matter. I helped her out just a bit, and she wanted to return the favor. Even though I said it was fine and that I didn't need it, she was quite insistent. Stubborn too, that girl."

"Hmm… interesting. What's her name?" Zelretch asked. His curiosity was piqued.

"I don't know," Hadrian said simply.

"… What?"

Hadrian smiled at the old magician's belated response.

"She didn't tell me her name, but she did tell me an alias she was using," Hadrian said in a musing tone.

"And that is?"

"Black Widow," Hadrian revealed.

"Black Widow? Like that deadly arachnid?" Zelretch said, amused.

"That's the one," Hadrian confirmed with a genial smile.

"Huh. Strange lad… to use an alias after a venomous spider." Zelretch commented, sounding intrigued.

"Strange is the word for it, all right." Hadrian agreed, taking a moment to sip on his tea.

"Hmm, so how long do you intend to keep this girl around?" Zelretch asked, going back to his previous question.

"Just until after the next mission. I'm letting her stay in one of the guest rooms in the penthouse for now. After the next assignment is done and over with, she would be free to leave." Hadrian explained.

"And what happens if she doesn't want to leave you, enkel?" Zelretch asked, his tone light and amused.

Hadrian chuckled, finding the question amusing as it was unrealistic.

"I doubt that. The girl is a bundle of surprises. Not only is she stubborn and a perfectionist, but that girl also has a bit of a temper and a high streak of independence. I'm sure she would love nothing more than to see the favor's repaid and be on her merry way. She seems quite capable of looking after herself, so why would she want to stay?" Hadrian countered in a logical tone.

"Hmm… sounds to me like you just met your match." Zelretch pointed out in a teasing tone.

"…"

Hadrian paused, aware but pointedly ignoring the chuckles from the other side of the line.

Blaming his grandfather's moment of eccentricity, Hadrian took a deep breath to regain his composure.

"I doubt it. And if it happens…" Hadrian looked at the clothes shop and caught the color of deep red hair in the distance. "… it's a problem for the future me to deal with."

"Hehe, then I'll be sure to tell the future enkel 'I told you so'."

The old magician just had to have the last word in.

…

----------------------------------------

…

Natasha Romanov felt confused.

The last 24 hours had been a blur to her; it almost gave her a headache just recalling every single thing that happened to her during those hours.

For several years, Natasha was living a rough life.

After escaping that place, she wandered around the country from one place to another, all while trying to remain low-profile as she possibly could to avoid the eyes of her former masters.

She had no shelter to return safely to, causing her to sleep in abandoned buildings and in the streets to keep herself warm from the cold, unforgiving temperature of typical Russian weathers.

With no one to rely on but herself, she had no other choice but to become independent and find her way to sustain her own needs, particularly sating her hunger and finding weapons to defend herself from others.

The streets were not exactly kind to anyone, especially to those of her age.

Trying an honest job was not an option for her, given her past and what she was trained for.

So, she searched for the ones that she was confident to accomplish, intent on making use of the skills and knowledge that her mentors drilled into her in the past.

But it was not easy.

Natasha was forced to realize this, quickly.

It was already difficult enough to get proper jobs since she was still considered young, and the ones who would accept her were idiots she had to contend with out of necessity.

The last job she had ended up nowhere at all, and she was compelled to defend herself against incompetent imbeciles, who deserved every bit of pain they got from her favorite knives and offensive maneuvers.

Now, fast forward to the present, her life suddenly changed to the point that Natasha wondered if she was dreaming.

Never in her life did she think that a single meeting with a strange, masked man garbed in black would change her whole world in a drastic manner.

At first, she had been wary and cautious, just as she would act to most people.

She had the right to be, considering the man was a highly capable fighter.

She remembered what he did to those thugs with great clarity, and those strange weapon of his made the entire fight quite memorable for her.

He exuded a powerful aura, unrelenting and ominous, seemingly beyond human.

So yes, she had every right to be wary.

And then, he showed her a different side of himself that day also.

Despite his intimidating appearance, he treated her with kindness and gentleness, two things that clashed with what she had initially thought of him at first.

When he walked away, Natasha followed as she couldn't stop the feeling of being in debt – the anger at herself for being in that situation, again – and, quite literally, mustered up the courage to repay him in any way she could.

She had nothing to repay the debt, therefore she settled for a favor instead.

She was even prepared to use her body to get it done, just as she was 'trained' for in the past.

But unexpectedly, after relenting to her stubbornness, the masked man simply accepted and carried her around without mentioning the favor she owed to him.

When he carried her around, he had been delicate and mindful of her sprain, which Natasha found a bit odd since they hardly knew one another yet he treated her as if she was fatally injured anyways.

From the car ride and up to that luxurious penthouse of his (she still cannot believe he owned that place), the man had been nothing but respectful and gentle with her.

Natasha had been always on guard, ready for any sign of hostility and hidden agendas.

But it was starting to become tiresome to maintain such constant vigilance when the man did nothing of the sort that she had seen and expected from most people.

Then, Rey returned to the guest room with a tray of delicious food without a mask.

That was the first time Natasha was stunned by silence.

Natasha had been told that she was beautiful – that she would grow up more beautiful.

She had heard of it plenty of times, often enough that even she had to accept it, along with the painful experiences that she was forced to endure because of it.

She was not vain. She was simply accepting the fact in how people viewed her.

She had seen other people with their own types of beauty before, and even she acknowledged that about them.

But that man, Rey, was on an entirely different league.

Everything about him was flawless.

From his glossy ash gray wavy hair, his symmetrically beautiful face, the alluring shape of his slim yet athletic physique, and all the way down to his perfect feet.

There were literally no flaws in sight.

He was what people would categorize as an 'impeccable perfect beauty'.

That was not even counting his kind and thoughtful nature, or even his powerful and charismatic presence that seemed to just draw people in.

He was an exceptionally good-looking man, albeit with hints of feminine beauty on his face.

Seeing him without the mask for the first time, Natasha couldn't help but stare at the sharp contours of his countenance.

She had an up close and personal view of him as he attended to her sprained ankle last time before leaving the guest room to give her some privacy and a much-needed rest last evening.

It was embarrassing to admit, but for the first time in a long while, she felt her heartbeat wildly.

And surprisingly, it was not because she was in any danger.

But, this strange feeling, it was dangerous for her regardless.

'In more ways than one…'

Natasha sighed, closing her eyes momentarily as she put her clothes back on.

Currently, she was inside a spacious dressing room of the shop that Rey recommended to her.

The clothes she purchased were already inside their respective bags, waiting for her on the far side corner of the room.

She had bought a lot, but there was still a lot of money left in her pocket, despite the unusually expensive price tags of the items she chose.

Still, apart from a new pair of black jeans and shoes she was now wearing, Natasha found herself wearing the same hoodie she wore before entering the shop.

Maybe because it was comfortable and kept her warm that convinced her to continue wearing it.

The young redhead took comfort from that as she picked up her purchases and exited the dressing room.

"Thank you for shopping. Do come again, dearie." A kind woman said to her.

Nodding to the polite and kind-looking female attendants that assisted her, Natasha exited the luxurious shop and grimaced lightly as she felt a gentle but chilly breeze pass her.

She glared at the darkening skies briefly before looking around for a certain someone.

For several seconds, she felt a nervous flutter in her gut as she searched for that familiar figure across the street.

Fortunately, the feeling did not last long as she found those unforgettable pair of bright cyan eyes set on a gorgeous countenance, whose amused expression could easily be seen even with a black mask covering his lower face.

She had expected him to still be in the restaurant.

But instead, Rey had decided to wait for her outside the clothes shop, so she wouldn't need to cross the street again.

As she walked in his direction, Natasha forced the muscles on her face to remain nonplussed.

She was successful, for the most part, but inside –

THU – THUMP

THU – THUMP

– she was betrayed as she could feel the vital organ within her right chest beating faster than it normally does.

The heat rose to her cheeks, but Natasha can easily blame that on the cold weather.

Once she stopped in front of him, Rey made a light noise and lowered the mask down to his chin as he inspected the bags held in both of her hands.

"Hmm… seems like you had fun." He commented with a dimpled smile.

Natasha scoffed, but there was nothing negative behind it.

She had to look away for a moment though, lest she gets hypnotized by his lips or blinded by his pearly whites.

'Ugh, even his teeth are perfect…'

"Well, you're the one who forced me to do it." Natasha deadpanned, after taking a few moments to regain her composure.

"True, and I'm glad you did." Rey conceded with a slight nod. "Shall we go?"

"Sure."

After depositing her clothes safely in the trunk with the rest of their purchases, Natasha watched Rey settle into the driver's seat after closing the door and putting on the seatbelt.

"You know, I'm surprised that you're still wearing that hoodie, despite all the things you bought today." Rey commented as he started the car.

"It's comfortable." Natasha said casually, leaning back in her seat.

Hadrian shrugged.

"I suppose…"

The rest of the journey to the hotel was spent mostly in silence.

But, for the first time in years, Natasha felt strangely relaxed with someone nearby.

'It's not a bad feeling…'