Retaliation

Chapter 23 Loss

I took hold of Jasmine's hand before we jumped. As we traveled through the tunnels of colors I could see the vague shapes of the other Avengers. We all appeared in a circle again on top of the machine as it turned itself off. We all took a few seconds to gather ourselves before we deactivated our helmets. 

"Did we get'em all?" Bruce asked. 

Rhodey smiled with the orb containing the power stone in his hand. "You're telling me this actually worked!?"

Our brief celebration was cut short when we all heard the loud thud of Clint dropping to his knees. We could all tell by the sad expression on his face that something was wrong. That's when I realized that Natasha wasn't with him.  

"Clint, where's Nat?" Bruce asked, but Clint didn't respond. He kept his gaze on the floor. Beads of water were dripping from his hair. He eventually looked up to Steve and had a silent conversation through each other's facial expressions. Bruce let out an audible gasp and dropped to one knee himself. He punched the floor of the machine out of frustration. You didn't need to be a genius to read the room. Something happened to Natasha and she was gone as a result. 

"Let's give them some space," Jasmine whispered to me. 

I gave a small nod but I was on the brink of tears myself. I obviously didn't know Natasha for as long, but I can only imagine that I would feel the same way if I had lost Jasmine. 

From our few interactions, she told us she was trying her best to make amends for what she has done in the past as an assassin for the Red Room. She told us that the Avengers were her family and that she would do anything for them. She and Jasmine were a lot alike and I think Natasha saw that. 

She offered her kindness and welcomed us with open arms. This was just the start of our friendship, and just like that, it was gone. 

A soul for a soul. 

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

We all sat in silence as Tony, Bruce, and Rocket built a gauntlet for the infinity stones. They had already been in there for hours and we had no idea how much longer it was going to take. We didn't rush them, as they were most likely already rushing themselves during this already hard task. I had dozed off and fallen asleep on a couch when Jasmine gently shook my shoulder. 

"Is it ready?" I lazily asked. 

"Yes. Everyone's already gathered around." 

I quickly shot up but quickly regretted it as I got lightheaded. I started to heavily lean when Jasmine caught me. 

"Thanks." I giggled. "What am I going to do without you to catch me?" 

"I guess you'd just fall, darling. Not very goddess-like." She smirked. 

"How about I just walked around with my legs crossed?" 

"As long as your shoulders and ankles are covered. I'm trying to put my violent days behind me, I can't be beating up people for staring." 

"Can you two stop openly flirting, please? Thank you!" Tony looked back at us, only to be met with a glare from Jasmine. 

"Alright. The glove's ready. The question is, who's gonna snap their frickin' fingers?" Rocket asked. 

"I'll do it," Thor wobbled up. 

"Excuse me?" Tony stated. 

"It's ok. I'm a God."

Both Steve and Tony stopped Thor in his tracks and I couldn't blame them. He was in no mental state to pull off such an act. We couldn't trust him with the glove, but all the guys made him feel better by stating that they need to at least discuss all their options first.