Chapter 38 – I was too naive
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Hello, dear readers! Here's chapter 38!
I just got back yesterday evening from my brother's place, so that's why the free chapter arrived today.
Anyway, see ya next week!
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‘Demian Mikhailov, along with his three perks, his cultivation path and his loved ones, will have to grow his power in a complicated world, filled with superhumans, crime syndicates and other mysterious beings.’
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The Highlands, New Jersey, USA.
Ben's P.O.V.
An hour went by as Ben kept being pummeled. What was unfortunate was that not once was he able to land a clean hit on the attractive redhead. The man did not feel any frustration though. After all, he was plainly aware that, with the difference in physical prowess, there was no way he could catch up to her movements. At least, as long as his raw power stayed the same.
There was one thing he could do, however, and that was to refine his techniques and increase his reaction speed, to push both of them beyond what was normally possible for a normal human. Indeed, one should not forget that he ceased to be normal as soon as he broke through to the Novice Rank if he was ever normal at all before that.
In any case, for each blow he received and hit he missed, he could feel himself improving a little. It was not like a Level upgrade, but he kept getting a tad faster, stronger, etc. Despite each progress being quite small, it started to add up after the whole hour. If he could do it more often, he even felt that he could reach or even overcome the woman in relatively little time.
Around 8 P.M., Nat declared. “We should stop here. We've already been at it for an hour and the others are probably getting impatient outside.” Nodding his head, the silver-eyed man replied. “Sure! Thanks for the spar. We should do it often. I've learned a lot from it, after all.” With her usual mischievous smile, she retorted. “Why not? As long as I'm not busy with a mission. I don't mind coming over for dinner.”
While chatting together, the two walked toward the ring's exit, with Ben limping a bit from his numerous light, but painful, injuries. Once outside, they were welcomed by his family's anxious voices, the two women even examining every visible inch of his body, clearly trying to assess the extent of his injuries. Their reactions of worry made him feel warm and loved, drawing a small but happy smile on his face.
Patting gently on May and Mady's shoulders, he declared. “Don't worry about the bruises. They're just superficial injuries. By tomorrow, it'll be gone.” Most likely because of their trust and the fact that he did not have any serious-looking wounds, the group seemed to relax, before May turned toward Nat with a slight frown, mirrored by Madeline behind her.
“Did you have to be so heavy-handed, Nat? It wasn't a death match.” Her words made the smile on the female agent dim a little before she let out a helpless sigh. “You don't understand, May. This is nothing compared to what he'll have to go through in the future. By sticking to Ben's side, you've chosen to leave the normal world. For everyone's sake, you should change your mindset, or you guys are bound to suffer.”
Pausing for a second, she added while gesturing toward Ben. “Plus, look at him. This guy got shot a few times yesterday and he was completely fine by this morning. Do you really think a few punches and kicks can hurt him that much?” Her words brought a few chuckles from the man in question who specified.
“It did hurt very much. But the injuries are just skin deep. Nothing serious. And like Nat said, I'd rather get beaten up 'safely' by her now than get killed out there by some psycho with superpowers.” His words seemed to have convinced her as the anger she was transmitting through the bond swiftly disappeared.
Shaking her head, she lowered it for a brief moment before looking back up to the redhead agent and stating. “You're right. I still have to adjust a bit... All of this is a bit confusing for me...” As Ben was about to hug her, someone was faster than him. Madeline, who was silent throughout the previous conversation, circled her arms around the petite woman and pulled the back of her head between both of her sizable breasts while setting her chin on the top of the other woman's head.
Her actions made Ben speechless, but he decided to keep his opinion to himself. “It's fine, May. Even if it takes some time, we'll get used to it. We're in this together anyway.” Madeline declared before the raven-haired woman replied while gently patting the tall woman's hand. “Thanks, Mady.” With a warm smile on her face, the blue-eyed redhead replied. “You're welcome. Shall we go eat dinner, then? It's getting a bit late.”
Following her words, everyone left the Underground Level to move to the first floor. While the adults took care of the meal, the children set the table in the living room. While the preparation was underway, Ben asked Nat. “I forgot to ask earlier, but why is Barton not here? Is he on a mission?”
Shaking her head, a happy smile appeared on her face at his question. “No. He actually broke through!” It took a second for him to understand her implied meaning before he exclaimed. “Are you saying he finally reached Novice Rank?!” She nodded her head repeatedly, showing her excitement at the news.
“Exactly! From what his wife told me, he was so angry about yesterday that something seemed to have clicked and he reached the next Rank.” Chuckling at her explanation, he replied. “Good for him! It was long overdue! I'm sure he should be ecstatic. Let me send him a message.” Swiftly grabbing his phone from his pocket, the raven-haired man sent Barton a congratulatory message for his achievement, telling him to bring his family to his place so they could celebrate.
Clint answered him quickly, saying that he would come in a few days once he had his cultivation in order. The news lifted his mood greatly, almost vanishing the dull pain coming from his aching bruises. Turning back to help the others, it only took a few more minutes before the simple meal was ready and everyone started to eat together.
Around an hour later, the meal was ingested, and the plates and utensils were cleaned and put away. The kids were then quickly sent to sleep since it was still weeknight. Not that it mattered much now that they would not follow a normal school schedule, but May and Madeline insisted on it despite the older kids' protests. Since Ben also agreed that keeping an organized schedule was the healthy thing to do for them, Peter and MJ's protests ended up for naught.
Once the kids were in their room, the adults moved to the living room's comfortable sofas. The ocean, visible through the picture window, seemed to merge with the night sky and only the waves hitting the beach relentlessly allowed Ben to distinguish the two. With many thoughts whirling in his mind, Ben silently admired the beautiful scenery in front of his eyes, while the others chatted softly together.
His pondering, however, was cut short when he heard Nat saying to Kate and Andrew. “I forgot to tell the two of you earlier, but James Wallace Jr had an unfortunate accident in the hospital he was sent to. The poor man choked on his food and passed away quickly after. What a tragedy.” Unlike her 'caring' words, the cold smile on her face and the sarcasm in her voice made sure that everyone knew what really happened.
As soon as she shared the news, Kate and Cross froze for a brief moment before the blond woman burst into tears while the green-eyed man looked like a burden was lifted from his shoulders. “Thank you, Ms. Romanov.” He expressed in a serious tone as he took Kate in his embrace, the latter hugging him back while crying silently.
With some pity in her eyes and a warm smile, as she gazed at the two, she replied. “Don't worry about it. I hate that kind of scum the most.” Pausing for a second, her smile turned mischievous as she added. “Also, I didn't do anything. It's an unfortunate accident, remember?” Those words brought a small chuckle from the man while the woman in his arms seemed to calm down a bit.
However, it still took a few minutes before her tears completely dried up and she could look at the female agent, with her eyes puffy from crying. “Thank you very much, Ms. Romanov. I owe you a lot.” Waving her thank you away, she retorted. “As long as you can go on well with your life, it'll be the best repayment to me.”
Shaking her head vehemently, Kate declared. “No. I'll remember it forever.” Natalia did not choose to deny this time since it was apparent to everyone that she would not be able to change the other woman's mind. Instead, she turned toward Ben and said. “Let's get to the main reason why I came tonight.” Her words drew a few puzzled expressions from everyone around except the silver-eyed man.
Nodding his head, he said. “The sniper's body's disappearance.” Nodding back, she replied. “Exactly.” The others frowned at their exchange, while Marco asked. “Didn't you send him to SHIELD?” Turning her face toward him, Natalia responded. “I did. But the body vanished on the way and the agents I sent to deliver it were found knocked out in the van serving as transportation.”
With a pondering expression, Cross stated. “Then that means that your theory about the man named Rumlow is most likely true.” “Yes. I'm not entirely surprised that it was taken away, to be honest, but still. It could've given us more leads to follow. Now, the only thing we know is that the man had a tattoo similar to the Ten Rings' goons.” She replied.
Scratching his short beard, Ben declared. “Then that's the lead we'll follow. Whether or not their headquarters is around New York or even in the US, an operative like that needs on-ground support.” Besides Nat, all of the others looked at him with questioning gazes. Chuckling wryly, the man added. “I'll explain myself. The guy had a high-quality sniper rifle and had facial surgery.”
Pausing for a second, he continued. “The former can't be bought in the local Walmart. To get it, you need money and influence. Something that a random terrorist doesn't have. As for such a complete facial surgery, you probably need as much or even more money. You also need to find the right surgeon, but that's not too big of a barrier with the internet nowadays.”
Shaking his head, he pondered for a brief moment before claiming. “And that's just the most obvious thing. You also need money for food, clothes, accommodation, some kind of fake ID, etc. The fact that we couldn't find the guy in SHIELD's database is clearly a big red flag anyway. That means no official identity in the world, and that's, obviously, extremely suspicious.”
The other looked enlightened at his explanation, with May commenting in amazement. “I didn't think you could get so much info from a rifle and some plastic surgery.” “Ben's amazing!” Madeline remarked. The other had a similar expression, but he had to admit to himself that seeing his wife and the other woman that he was attracted to look at him with such a face, made him feel great.
Of course, no one but May could guess what he was thinking about, as no trace of his inner thoughts could be seen on his face. Actually, the only reason why May could feel his emotions was through the Soul Bond. After all, as a former Green Beret, he also needed to have decent acting skills to deceive his enemies and sometimes even his allies.
“It's only some basic investigative techniques. Nothing too advanced. Anyway, since we know they got some support around here, we should start with...” The experienced man started to list out some leads they could follow to find the culprits behind the attack, or at least the ones behind the sniper himself. Indeed, they were pretty much certain that the man was either a fake Ten Rings or that someone like Rumlow had ordered the hit.
In any case, even if they could not find the real mastermind, destroying its 'hands' would still be a victory for him and his new team. “I was thinking we could...” Natalia and Ben exchanged many ideas while the others listened to them, trying to learn as much as they could from the two veterans.
After more than an hour, the two had a rough plan in mind. “I won't go on the field for now. I'd rather wait to learn a few spells and combat techniques. The others will also improve their cultivation Level.” Pausing for a second, he added. “I want them to at least be able to defend themselves if something happens and I'm not here.”
Nodding her head, the woman replied. “Okay. I'll start investigating on my side first, then. I'll let you know if I find anything.” “Perfect. Once Barton is used to his new strength, we'll bring him in too.” Once the two agreed about their following actions, Natalia, Kate, Marco, and Cross bid the Parkers farewell and left for their own house.
Ben, May, and Madeline then went to their respective room, before the married couple engaged in their usual intense nightly activities.
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