Avengers: Whatever it Takes

The Most Beautiful Thing

The skies over New Asgard were filled with stars that shined down on a little bonfire just beyond Thor and Dean's cabin. Seated around it was a small group of those who knew Natasha and Vision well enough to call them family. Although they knew Natasha would have never wanted any sort of funeral, none of them felt right about not having some kind of opportunity to celebrate her. And Vision, they knew, would have appreciated being treated like a man. Truly, he was more man than machine. So, armed with the finest vodka, the group huddled around the crackling fire and took turns speaking out about the woman they had lost and what she had meant to them.

Wanda's eyes glistened as she stared into the fire. She had been asked if she wanted to say anything but she'd shook her head and looked down. The others, knowing her pain was raw, let her have her silence.

"When I got the Super Soldier Serum, Dr. Erskine said he wanted me to be a good man;  not a perfect soldier. But somewhere along the way, people got this idea in their heads that I should be a fusion of those things- the perfect man. That idea never sat right with me," Steve confessed. "Vision was probably more of the ideal man than I was supposed to be," Steve said.

Wanda reached up and caught a tear on her cheek and kept her eyes on the flames. Dean felt her pain taking across him and, for a split second, there was something terrifying about it. Dean tucked that thought away, knowing that grief takes many shapes.

"Vision was very young when he was taken from us. He was still so new to this world. There were experiences he'd not had. Places he hadn't been. But Vision had this incredible understanding. He was probably more in touch with what it means to be human than most people are." He paused and looked at Wanda. "I think that's because of you, Wanda."

Wanda smiled bitterly and continued to watch the fire.

"Vision may have started life as an artificial intelligence, and then a sentient machine. He may have been made of vibranium and cutting edge technology, but there was real heart underneath all of that. For all his powers and abilities, at his core he was a man. He was good man. And that's how I like to remember him."

Wanda looked up at Steve with sad, appreciative eyes. "He would have loved to hear that," she spoke softly.

When it was Dean's turn to say something, Clint reached out and handed him a bottle of vodka. He took a swig before clearing his throat to speak.

"Wherever Natasha is, I know she is probably loving this. Watching us get drunk on vodka and cry over her."

A light chuckle passed through the group.

"I think we all know that Natasha was a complicated person. Just when you thought you knew her well, she'd surprise you. She was like those Russian nesting dolls. You may think you knew who she was on the surface, but there was always so much more underneath it all."

Bruce smiled and his tears shone in the firelight. Wanda put an arm around his shoulders.

"She wasn't the most open person. I think we all know that, too. She had her secrets. There were things about her past that she didn't want people to know. Whatever she may have been in her past life, she became a person who would risk everything to save the universe. She proved that people can change. That it's not about where you start in life; it's where you go that matters. She was a hero. But she was more than that. She was a friend. A sister. A mentor. She represented the best of us."

Dean paused and took a few deep breaths to compose himself and found it impossible. He stared into the flames and fought to suppress the tears even as his body turned traitor and gave in anyway. Thor maintained a gentle hand on his back, rubbing up and down in soothing strokes.

"She represented the best of us," Dean repeated in earnest when he found his voice again. "She came into our lives and we're all better for it.

"Natasha told me not to be sad. She told me that her passing was a happy thing. I really hate to disappoint my friend, but I'm sad. I know we're all here- people who knew her and called her family- to celebrate her life the way she wanted us to. So I guess I have to make a compromise: I'm happy for Natasha because I know how much her actions meant to her. I'm just sad that I can't celebrate them with her."

Dean closed his eyes as his tears continued to fall. Thor pulled him to his side and Dean buried his head in his neck and cried into it.

"Alright," Tony said as he reached over and gently took the vodka from Dean. "I say we lighten the mood with some stories. I'm sure we've all got plenty of those."

Clint nodded. "Yeah. Like the time she and Dean had to pretend to be a married couple."

"Really?" Wanda asked.

Dean started to laugh despite the recent tears. "Yeah, it's true. We were doing some undercover work in Rome. Natasha was actually my first- and only- girl kiss."

The group laughed loudly at that and then the stories continued. So much joy and animation took hold that the sorrow of Natasha and Vision's passing became a secondary thing. No one thought about them being gone or the massive empty space that would always be left behind as a result. That night, the family they'd left behind remembered and celebrated them. As they felt all of the love and laughter that their memory invoked, they could feel that they were with them. And isn't that what anyone could hope for? That some day, when we no longer walk this earth, the people who love us can bring us to life again? Isn't that the most beautiful thing?