BlackHill | If only

Chapter 19

Natasha's POV:

Last Night

The ceremony was just a last-minute trip to city hall, a small building with only a few people as witnesses. All sworn to secrecy of course. None of the avengers could know about it and for now, we had to keep it that way. At least until after the Wakanda mission.

Today

I awoke to the sunlight streaming through my curtains, a ray of light, catching me square in the eye. I turned over to Ria nestled by my side, only to see her already grinning right back at me. I smiled and nuzzled into her body murmuring against her "I guess I can call you wife now" Her low chuckle vibrated through my skin.

She kissed the top of my head and breathed, "we leave for Wakanda today". I groaned as I pulled myself upright, into a sitting position. "I wish we could just have one more day, just us"

Ria raised herself behind me and pulled me into a hug, wrapping me in her familiar scent. "I know Nat, but saving the world always comes first in this line of work."

I let out a sigh "I know... I know. It's just sometimes I wonder what it would be like to not be an avenger for once. To live a normal life." I turned to face her, cupping her face in my hands. "I want a life with you Ria, where we can go anywhere and be together".

She smiled back "I want that too Nat, maybe after Wakanda and Thanos. And this whole infinity stone fiasco calms down. Maybe that's when our life together begins."

I pulled her into a kiss, soft and brief, before preparing for the mission.

Maria's POV:

We all gathered by the quinjet, Nat was in full conversation with Steve and Yelena, likely going over every detail of the mission. Thankfully no one suspected that the two of us were married the night before. So far we were flying under the radar.

There had been no sign of Tony in at least a week. Since he was prone to going on long party binges none of us questioned when he didn't show at the jet.

In theory, the mission was simple. Vision would have the stone removed from his head, and Wanda would destroy it before Thanos could even get to this planet.

Enough of us had gathered so that if any threat did arrive, we would be ready.

Two hours later

After a long and crowded flight, we arrived in Wakanda. None of us except Steve had seen the place so naturally, we all gathered by the window to witness the hidden city. It truly was fascinating, the technology, the buildings. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before.

As we touched down on the landing pad, and the hangar opened with a hiss we were greeted by a group of Wakandans already gathered around the jet. And the smiling face of King T'challa. I realised I had never actually seen him in person, only his file for the Avengers initiative.

"Welcome to Wakanda, friends."
He smiled and shook Steve's hand.
"Follow me please", he turned and gestured for us to follow him into a large building.

As he guided us up the stairs I fell to the back of the team where Nat was. I leaned over to whisper in her ear, "It's incredible isn't it, it's like nothing I've ever seen before".

Nat smiled and reached for my hand, squeezing it gently and letting go.
"It really is".

We all finally entered what appeared to be a lab, machines stood everywhere, each with an individual screen full of blinking lights.
A voice resonated from within the room"Welcome to my lab."

T'challa led us to a girl standing at a machine, clearly engrossed in her work. "This is Shuri, my sister, she will help you with whatever you need".

Shuri lifted her eyes from the machine and her gaze landed on Vision. Examining the stone now glowing in his head.
"Polymorphic structure... interesting. Mr Vision please." She gestured towards a table. She picked up a metallic object and strode over to another machine hanging over Vision's body.

A scanner began to run over the stone, producing a hologram in the centre of the room. The projection seemed to be pulsating with hundreds of beams flickering out from it. "This is very complex", Shuri muttered.
Banner cleared his throat, "We had to attach every neuron non-sequentially".

Shuri chuckled, all the while adjusting notches on the machine, "Why didn't you just pre-program the synapses to work connectively?"
Banner looked taken aback, his face adopting a slightly red tinge, "Because.. we didn't think of that".

Shuri continued to work, preparing some metallic objects, glancing at the hologram every so often. "This may take a while".

Suddenly a crash shook the building and a klaxon began to blare. Its shrill tone caused my hands to fly over my ears.

A member of the Dora Milaje rushed in "Something is trying to breach our walls". Nat swore under her breath, followed with, "Thanos. He must be looking for the stone."

Shuri began to pick up the pace, her hands a blur over the machine. "I'm going to need time if you want this stone without killing him."

Nat nodded whilst loading a Glock. "We'll give you as much time as we can".