Maddison Romanoff-Stark

Saying goodbye is death by a thousand cuts

I wait for the most anxiety-filled minute of my life. I don't take my eyes off the platform. Then finally, they arrive all of their helmets come off. "Did we get 'em all?" asks Bruce. Everyone holds up the stones, and everyone cheers. "Are you telling me this actually worked?" asks Rhodey. I notice there is a missing redhead. My mom isn't there. I run over to the platform and I say "Clint, where's my mom?" Clint looks down. "CLINTON FRANCIS BARTON! WHERE IS MY MOTHER?!" I yell. "S-she's gone," says Clint. "So you're telling me, that Natalia Alianovna Romanova, Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, the Red Room's best assassin, the world's best assassin, Shield's best agent, the first female Avenger, and my mother is dead?" I say in complete denial. I heard what Clint said. I just can't bring myself to accept it. "Yes. I'm sorry," says Clint. I bury my face into my dad's chest, and he wraps his arms around me. I sob into him, and he whispers, "It's gonna be okay. We're gonna be okay." "She's gone," I mumble. "I know. But she's still with us in our hearts. I miss her too. But, guess what? You still have me, and together, we're gonna get through this," says my dad. "I guess so," I mumble. "That's my girl," says my dad.

We all walk to the dock outside, and my dad asks, "Do we know if she has any other family?" "Yeah, just us and... never mind," I say. I was going to say Yelena, but I don't know if she got snapped or even how to contact her if she didn't. I just sit there and cry. I don't even hear what Thor says until he asks, "Yeah, no, you're acting like she's dead. Why are we acting like she's dead? We have the stones, right? As long as we have the stones, Tony and Maddie, we can bring her back. Isn't that right? So, stop this shit. We're the Avengers. Get it together." says Thor. "Can't get her back," says Clint. "What's he...? What?" asks Thor. "It can't be undone. It can't," says Clint. I am crying so hard into my dad's shoulder about my mom. Thor laughs, and I look at him, and he says, "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?" "Yeah, look, I know that I'm way outside my pay grade here. But she still isn't here, is she," says Clint. "No, that's my point," says Thor. "It 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. It was supposed to be me. She sacrificed her life for that goddamn stone. She bet her life on it." says Clint, upset and with an angry tone. I would love to fly to talk to the red floating guy myself. The adults talk for a few minutes, and Bruce gets mad and throws a bench far across the lake. "She's not coming back. We have to make it worth it. We have to." says Bruce. Steve stands up and says, "We will."

I run inside and go to my bedroom, and I close the door behind me. I sit on my bed and try to take some deep breaths. My mind is buzzing with thoughts about my mom. My mom had a straight-A track record for making it out of sticky situations. I expected her to come back much more than I did anyone else except my dad. The Avengers, my dad, and I were her family. She loves Clint's family, too, though. I never really thought about how painful it must have been for her when Clint's family and the rest of the Avengers disappeared.

I get up from my bed and walk over to my nightstand. I only have eyes for one picture. It's one of my mom and me just after the Avengers assembled. I remember that day like it was yesterday. My mom and dad just got back from the Battle of New York, and I was on the helicarrier. I ran up to my mom, and she opened her arms wide for me, and she picked me up and held me for a while. My dad took this picture when she picked me up, and we both have the biggest smiles on our faces.

I look at another picture which has both of my parents and me in it. I'm seven, and we're all smiling and laughing at Rhodey, who was taking the picture. My dad had just given me my suit, like my mom's, and my mom was laughing because it was like she was looking at a mini her with brown hair. My dad laughed because of my mom's shocked expression and my big smile with my two front teeth still growing in after losing them earlier that year. "Mom, thank you for the best years of my life. I miss you so much already. I promise not to let your sacrifice go to waste." I say with tears rolling down my cheeks.

I am in my room for thirty minutes, daydreaming about my favorite memories with my mom, when I hear a knock on my door. "Come in," I say. My dad walks in, and he says, "We have a gauntlet ready to bring Wanda, Peter, and everyone who was snapped back." "Good. I'll be down in five minutes." I say. Then I get up and hug my dad, and I add, "Dad, if you ever need someone to talk to, I am right here no matter what. Thank you for coming back. I love you 3000." "I love you lots, Maddie," says my dad and stop hugging, and he walks out of the room. I take the pictures out of their frames, fold them, and put them in my pocket. I get into my suit like my mom's, and I activate my suit like dad's just in case something goes wrong and I need it.