Undefeated

Chapter Five

I would be lying if I said that I was remembering all of the happy memories I have with Nat. Because I'm not. All I want to do is forget. All I can see is her face the last time I saw her, and the more I try to forget it, the more realistic it gets.

"Let me go."

"Please, no."

I hear the others asking if we got all of the stones, but their voices are inaudible. All I can hear is Nat's voice.

"It's okay."

"You promised you wouldn't leave me. Nat, you promised!"

It doesn't feel real. I can't bring myself to believe that I will never feel her arms around me, or her fingers braiding my hair ever again. I will only hear her voice and see her smile in my head.

"I love you."

"Please, don't do this. I can't lose you."

"Gracee?"

I look up at the sound of my dad's voice. He looks at me in concern when he sees the look on my face.

"Gracee, where's Nat?" Bruce asks.

I stand up off of the platform, looking them as tears blur my vision. I remain silent, my eyes telling them what they need to know. They frown one by one as they realize what happened. Tony doesn't break eye contact with me, his eyes softening. I run to him and wrap my arms around him, burying my face in his neck. He wraps one arm around me, his other hand on the back of my head.

"She's gone," I sob.

He says nothing as he holds me tightly in his arms. Bruce goes down on one knee and punches the floor of the platform in grief.

Wanting to be alone to grieve, Tony, Steve, Thor, Clint, Bruce, and I all walk out to the dock with a lounge by the lake. I sit on the edge of the dock, staring at my distorted reflection in the water. My scream as Nat fell continues echoing through my head, making every other sound seem distant.

"Do we know if she had family?" Tony asks.

"Yeah, Us," Steve replies.

"What?" asks Thor.

"I just asked him a question," Tony says defensively.

"Yeah, you're acting like she's dead. Why are we acting like she is 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."

"We can't get her back," Clint says.

"What?" Thor asks.

"It can't be undone. It can't." Clint's voice breaks.

"I'm sorry. No offense, but you're a pretty earthly being. Okay? We're talking about space magic. And can't seems very definitive, don't you think?" Thor laughs dryly.

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

"No, that's my point."

"It can't be undone. If it could, Gracee would have already undone it. You know how she is. She wouldn't be sitting here if there was something we could do!" Clint yells.

"It was supposed to be me," I say, my voice hoarse from screaming.

Everyone stops arguing, and I feel them looking at me. I sniff, wiping my nose with the sleeve of my suit.

"She sacrificed her life for that stone. She killed herself for it. For me."

In a burst of anger, Bruce grabs a bench and throws it across the lake. He turns back to us with a sad look on his face.

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

"We will," says Steve.

•

The six of us go back inside the compound, where the others are putting each of the stones into their designated places in the gauntlet. I go to my room, not wanting to watch. Seeing the soul stone and thinking about what was lost to acquire it made my chest hollow out.

I stare at myself in my mirror, steadying my breathing. My eyes wander to the corner of my mirror, where there are pictures of Nat and I in a photo booth. I think back to when my dad rented an arcade for the day so it could just be my family and I there. We ended up getting kicked out when a mysterious fire started.

In the first picture, Nat and I are smiling brightly with our arms around eachother. In the next one, she's trying to bite my neck and I'm pushing her away, laughing. In my favorite one, she's kissing my cheek with red lipstick on, leaving a stain.

I pull it down from the corner of the mirror, my eyes burning as I look at it. I hold it close to my chest, sinking to my knees in tears. My hands tremble as I flip it to the back, where Nat left a note.

You are my #1, Ace, never forget that. I'll always be here for you, no matter what. I love you ;)
Xoxo,
Nat

I close my eyes and smile, wiping the tears from my face. I tuck the picture into my suit, standing up.

"Miss Stark, are you okay?"

I get into a defensive pose, until I realize who the voice belongs to. "Friday?"

"Yes?"

"My dad didn't disconnect you from my room?"

"Of course not."

"Oh."

"There has been motion detected in your room since you've been gone. Would you like to watch the surveillance footage from the camera in the hallway outside of your room?"

"Uhm..."

Before I can answer, the footage is projected in front of me, showing Nat with short blonde hair walking through the hallway and hesitantly opening my door. She doesn't close it as she walks in, laying on my bed. She hugs one of my stuffed animals close to her chest as she cries.

The footage cuts to a video of Tony walking into my room with a blank look on his face. He walks to my nightstand and picks up a picture frame with a picture of him, Peter, and I in it. He starts crying, and I look away.

"Friday, turn it off," I say, and she does. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Miss Stark. Glad to have you back."

"Glad to be back," I whisper sadly.