Winter's Widow

Epilogue

"Good to see you again, Parker." I spun in place to see the familiar, confident, tall blonde walking towards me, trademark smirk plastered across her face. I felt Yelena tense beside me and I grabbed her hand, interlacing our fingers and holding on for dear life.

"Captain," I grinned, nodding at Carol Danvers, striding to us like a fighter pilot would, leather jacket slung over her shoulder, bag held firm in the other. Her attention shifted from me to Yelena, and I noticed her eyes trailing down our bodies, noting our connected hands and the corresponding smirk on her face.

"Looks like you're moving up in the world," she snarked, grinning at me. I blushed, but easily returned the smile.

"This is my girlfriend, Yelena Belova." I smiled, gently pulling Yelena forward. She squeezed my hand, but finally complied.

"Don't worry, her tastes seem to have much-improved from the last time I was here," Carol spoke to Yelena who smirked in spite of herself. We climbed onto the ship which landed beside the compound, which was slowly but surely being rebuilt. We climbed on board, Yelena and I strapping in in the two seats behind Carol, allowing her to drive unhindered with Goose sitting comfortably as co-pilot.

"I like dogs better than cats," Yelena grumbled, looking at the orange creature with a frown. Carol and I exchanged glances and smirked at each other.

"That's not a cat, Yelena," I said softly, doing my best but failing to stifle a giggle.

"What?" She asked, glancing between the two of us.

"Goose is a Flerkin," Carol explained. Yelena scowled, looking to me for clarification. I shrugged.

"Hard to explain, but Goose has an octopus like thing that opens portals and sometimes eats people in his mouth." Yelena's eyes narrowed as if trying to decide whether or not I was teasing her. When I maintained my serious expression, her eyes widened once more.

"You're not kidding," she said softly. Carol and I grinned.

"Nope," I said, popping the p.

"Whoa...that would be a cool way to die." Carol laughed, and instantly the two were best friends. I sighed and settled back in my seat, just waiting for the two of them to start ganging up on me together. I opened my eyes when I suddenly felt Yelena's warm hand slide into mine, squeezing slightly. I glanced over at her, grinning.

"Love you," she whispered, sending my heart plummeting to the floor and back again. Every. Single. Time.

"я тоже тебя люблю. (I love you, too.)" Yelena's eyes opened wide in surprise.

"You've been practicing?" I grinned and blushed, but nodded slowly.

"I want to be able to speak to you in your first language," I smiled. Yelena's eyes glossed over instantly and the grin that spread across her face was wider than I had ever seen. We leaned forward, our lips connecting softly before Carol's voice broke the moment.

"Buckle up, lovebirds – and don't throw up on my ship." Yelena and I pulled away from each other slightly, but kept our hands together.  "Winter and her widows," she murmured teasingly.  Yelena grinned at me. 

"I get to be Winter's widow now," she muttered gleefully.  I squeezed her fingers, unable to keep the no-doubt completely smitten look off of my face.

Eventually, I knew that we would find ourselves on Vormir, saying goodbye to Natasha in the place where she gave everything to give us the chance at happiness. But not today. Today, we were going to show Yelena galaxies in a giant universe that was full of wonder and beauty, standing in stark contrast to the pain and suffering she grew up experiencing. I owed her that. I owed Natasha that. And I owed myself that as well.

Five Years Later

"Natalia," I called out as I kicked open the door of the house, tossing my keys onto the table by the door. Hearing nothing upon my return home was never a good sign. "Fanny? Yelena!" I shouted. Still nothing. I made my way through the house slowly, checking each darkened room only to find them all empty. When I glanced out of the sliding glass door to the backyard, however, everything made sense. Yelena was rolling around on the ground with Natalia (my Caucasian Shepherd) and Fanny (Yelena's American Akita) lying on top of the blonde, smothering her with kisses. "There you are," I smirked from the sliding glass doorway, having opened it without being noticed.

"малышка, hi!" She caught sight of me from the flurry of tails and fur that were still surrounding her. I chuckled as I made my way into the yard, the dogs immediately jumping up at me to greet me.

"Hi babies," I muttered, presenting my face for kisses.

"Hey, what about me?" Yelena pouted from the ground. I grinned, leaning over her and gently kissing her lips.

"ты моя любимая (you're my favorite)," I whispered. Yelena smirked up at me.

"You have to say that if you even want to think about seeing me naked." I smirked and nipped at her neck playfully before starting to wrestle with the dogs.

"You can't resist me, Mrs. Belova," I grinned over my shoulder. She climbed to her feet and rolled her eyes, tackling me back down to the ground, the dogs following her lead and burying me in a flurry of fur. She leaned close and whispered directly into my ear.

"It's you that can't resist me, Mrs. Belova," She caught my earlobe in her teeth and I tensed under her touch immediately. She laughed. "Told you," She grinned.

"Get her, babies – get momma," I ordered the dogs. They pounced me again instead, their other momma immediately getting in on the action. Life was good. And it was only going to keep getting better.

a/n: thank you so much for reading this story, I hoped you enjoyed it as much as I did. Thank you for all the reads, votes and comments – they really make my day.