One | Steve Rogers

10

While the Avengers were successful in their mission to retrieve all six Infinity Stones from the past, it came at great cost. Great personal cost.

As soon as Clint tells the team what happened, Lauren breaks down. 

She falls to her knees, finding it hard to breath. Her nerves fire all at once as her heart beats fast. Her limbs tremble, her eyes water, her mind races. 

Lauren has not had a panic attack in a very long time, and it's not something she was expecting.

She looks up to Clint with pleading eyes. Her brain unable to come to terms with the news, she denies it. She feels her powers rising, but is able to contain them... for now. Steve kneels down next to his wife and brings her into his arms. He soothingly pets her hair in an attempt to calm her down. He gently rocks her back and forth, and she lets him. Steve tears up as well, but knows that he needs to be there for his wife. He lost a friend, she lost a sister.

The Avengers put the stones away, then head to the lake to mourn the loss of one of their own. A friend. A sister. A teammate. A coworker. An Avenger.

Lauren and Steve sit side by side on the bench, Tony sits on top of the table with Clint, and Bruce and Thor stand up and pace.

" Do we know if she had family?" Tony asks, being the first to break the silence.

Another tear falls down Lauren's face at her words. She's remined of their "family" they parted ways with long ago. She's reminded of her little sister... and how they both lost their older sister. And about the only parents they've ever known lost their eldest daughter.

" Yeah... us," Steve says, allowing his tears to fall freely down his face.

Thor walks from the edge of the dock over to Tony as he shakes his head. He doesn't understand why everyone is acting like this when the answer to their problems is so obvious to him.

" What? Huh? What are you doing," Thor asks the billionaire.

" Just asked him a question," Tony responds.

" Yeah, no, you're acting like she's dead. Why are we acting like she's dead? We have the stone's, 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 exclaims.

" Can't get her back," Clint says as he stares off to the lake.

Lauren lifts up her head to look at her friend. She looks in disbelief. Of course they can bring her back.

" No... no no no no... no," She says.

Lauren stands up and walks directly to the archer.

" She's just in another timeline. That's all. She's... she's not really gone," Lauren says.

She smiles through the pain and to through the tears. Clint sees her pain and sighs. He grabs both of her hands and looks into her eyes. Before she even speaks she shakes her head.

" Please... don't," She says.

" Lauren..." Clint says softly, " Nat's gone... I-I did everything I could... but she's not coming back."

Thor grows even more confused.

" What's he... what?" He asks.

" It can't be undone. It can't," Clint says.

Lauren removes her hands from Clint's grasp. She walks to the edge of the dock and looks out at the lake as Thor begins to laugh.

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

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

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

" It's 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!" Clint yells.

Thor keeps quiet and breaks eye contact.

Everyone feels the loss, but everyone deals with it differently. Steve continues to silently cry on the bench as his wife tries to calm herself down. The water beneath her begins to bubble as her hands heart up.

" It was supposed to be me... okay?" Clint says as he continues to get his point across, " She sacrificed her life for that goddamn stone. She bet her life on it."

In a fit of anger, Bruce grabs a bench and throws it as hard and fast as he can into the lake in front of them. It lands with a large splash in the distance.

" She's not coming back," Bruce says as he turns to face the group, " We have to make it worth it. We have to."

Steve finds a small amount of composure to stand up.

" We will," He says.

One by one, each Avenger steps off the dock, leaving only the husband and wife. All this time, she hasn't moved from her spot at the edge of the dock. She keeps her eyes on the water as Steve comes up behind her. He tries to put a hand on her shoulder, but quickly pulls it away once he feels the temperature of her skin. It's almost like he touched a lit stove.

" I-I'm sorry," Lauren whispers through her tears, " I'll join you, I just... need a minute."

Steve understands and steps off the dock. He walks back to HQ to rejoin the team.

Once Lauren's positive she's alone, she turns around to walk off the dock and onto the grass. She marches straight towards a tree and with a single punch knocks it back so it takes down about a dozen more. Her breath now coming out in pants, she walks back onto the dock. She looks down at the water where she unintentionally turned the lake into a boiling pot. With one deep breath and a raise of two fingers, the boiling stops.

Lauren gets down on her knees at the edge of the dock. Her eyes gaze down into the water at her reflection. She waves her hand over the water to display memories. Her memories. Memories of her sister.

She sees her and Natasha as kids running through their house in Ohio. She sees her and Natasha in hiding after they escaped the Red Room. She sees how they kept busy by planning what their lives would look like. She sees her and Natasha with their family, all sitting around the dinner table drinking vodka.

The memories only add more tears. Lauren waves her hand over the water to stop the memories. A sob makes it way to her throat and she can't stop it. She cries out in pain. Her sobs echo across the lake and inside HQ.

The Avengers all hear it, and look at each other worriedly.