Whatever It Takes

4.4

Slowly, we collect ourselves. We need to be treated for wounds, we need to check in on family members, we need to figure out what the hell to do next. The Captain leads us away from this battlefield, instructing Banner to take Vision with him, and tells us to meet him on the jet. He's got to figure out how Wakanda will persevere without their king, who will take charge, anything he can do to help.

Natasha and I don't dare let the other go, still believing we could fade away at any second. We climb into the jet, and it's then we fully register and take stock of who's left.

Us, the Captain, Rhodes, Banner, the god, and his raccoon.

We came with so many more. Wanda gone. Vision dead. Bucky gone. The Falcon gone. Who knows how many others. My mind is on Yelena. She was going on a mission the last we spoke with her. Where is she now?

I try to let my hands slip from Natasha to go over to the computer, hoping to activate her tracker and see her still pinging somewhere overseas. Natasha won't let me go, and settles her hands on my back and side, staring as I type in Yelena's tracker code.

Signal lost, blinks back at us.

"No, no, no," I whisper, typing it in again, hoping my shaking fingers fumbled the keys. But I get the same message.

Natasha's hands curl into fists against me, and she removes one to pull out the burner phone. She dials, and I pray to whatever god will listen that Yelena answers.

It just rings.

And rings.

And rings.

And we know. Yelena is gone.

I growl, slapping away the monitor and taking a step back out of Natasha's touch. I punch the side of the jet, knuckles splitting and causing more blood to pour out of me. The adrenaline and the fear have taken the pain away from my wounds from the aliens' teeth and claws, and I leave a hefty trail of red in my wake.

But then the burner rings.

Natasha and I snap up to each other, and she quickly answers it.

"Yel?" But there's a flash of pain on her face that tells me it isn't. Still, she seems grateful for the voice on the other side. "Clint," she breathes out.

The archer. The father. His voice shouts through the tiny burner's speaker, even though Natasha has it close on her ear. She pulls it away slightly, flinching at his words, and I catch a few of them.

"Laura... the kids... gone... the hell... where are... what's..."

Natasha tucks herself into the side of the jet to explain to him everything that's been going on. Thanos, the Stones, Vision. She mutters quietly, pausing in the middle of a sentence when he screams a question or remark at her, then continuing calmly.

I can't imagine his pain. Seems his entire family vanished. No explanation. Like so many other people in the world. My mind begins to wander, envisioning family members turning to ash in the middle of their homes, their loved ones utterly confused. All the plane crashes from pilots disappearing, car accidents from drivers vanishing. There will be so many more deaths than just those who were affected by Thanos's snap.

Banner sits on the bench next to Vision's body, out of the iron suit he dumped outside the jet. The god sits across from him, eyes staring blankly ahead, his raccoon beside him. Rhodes has removed his suit and now sits in the pilot's seat, head in his hands.

Natasha slowly ends the call with Clint, looking to me sadly. I sit down across from her and hold out my hand. She takes it, the two of us sitting and holding each other gently.