Soldier Boy

Nat

"Do we know if she had family?" Tony asked Steve softly. The last of the original Avengers were at the dock. I was wearing black leggings, one of Steve's red hooded sweatshirts, and black and white converse. I had my hair up in a messy bun.

"Yeah." Steve said as he rubbed my back. "Us."

"What?" Thor asked.

"Huh?" Tony looked at him.

"What are you doing?" Thor asked.

"Just asking him a question." Tony said.

"Yeah, no, you're acting like she's dead. Why are we acting like she's dead? We have the stones, right? As long as we have the stones, Cap, we can bring her back. Isn't that right? So, stop this shit. We're the Avengers. Get it together." Thor said.

"Can't get her back." Clint said and more tears streamed down my cheeks.

"What's he-What?" Thor looked at Clint.

"It can't be undone. It can't" Clint said. Thor laughed.

"Look, I'm sorry, no offense, but you're a very earthly being, okay? And we are talking about space magic. And 'can't' seems very definitive. Don't you think?"

"Yeah, look, I know that I'm way outside my pay grade here." Clint said. "But she still isn't here, is she?"

"No, that's my point." Thor said.

"It can't be undone. Or that's at least what the red, floating guy had to say. Maybe you wanna go talk to him, okay? Go grab your hammer and you go fly and you talk to him." I started shaking as Clint raised his voice. Clint looked over at me. "It was supposed to be me. She sacrificed her life for that goddamn stone. She bet her life on it." Bruce groaned in frustration. I flinched as he picked up a bench and threw it into the lake.

"She's not coming back. We have to make it worth it." Bruce said. "We have to."

"We will." Steve said. I had enough of this conversation so I got up. The wood of the dock creaked as I quickly walked away. I heard footsteps behind me.

"Mason?" I turned around to see Clint standing there.

"Hey." I said softly.

"Will you walk around with me?" He asked.

"Yeah, of course." I walked over to him. I slipped my hands into Steve's hoodie as we walked in silence. "It feels wrong." I finally said as we walked along the trail.

"I know." He said. "It doesn't feel right to not have her here."

"Yeah." I breathed out. "The last conversation we had was how she has to be the maid of honor when I get married." I softly smiled. Clint chuckled.

"She did push you and Cap together." He said.

"She did." I said. If Steve does ever propose, Nat won't be able to be here. She wouldn't get to be my maid of honor. I stopped walking. Clint noticed when he was a few steps ahead of me. He turned to look at me.

"What's wrong?" He asked as I started tearing up. I sniffed.

"Nat-She...She won't be here for any of that. She won't be here to help me pick the perfect dress. She won't be her to be my maid of honor. She won't be here to tell me to name my first daughter after her." I take in a few shaky breaths. "I don't want to do this without her." Tears started to stream down my face. Clint pulled me into a hug.

"I don't either." He said.

As Tony, Bruce, and Rocket work on getting the stones safely onto Tony's Iron-Man glove in the lab, tears were streaming down my face as I stood in the kitchen staring motionless at the table that Nat and I worked at together for the last 5 years. Two strong arms wrapped around my stomach and held me close. I closed my eyes and sighed.