Whatever it Takes: Civil War

Chapter 7

After changing in the jet's private area, she walked to the pilot's area where Bruce was and sat in the other seat to take control until they reached their destination.

"Can I ask you something," Bruce asked after a minute.

"Sure."

"I know before we were thrown back in time, we planned to live in Ohio, but where do you see this going? Nat, I love you, and not now, but someday, I want to marry you. I want to adopt a kid and start a family when you're done fighting."

Natasha sighed, gathering her strength as she confessed, "I see my future with you so clearly it scares me. I could see us married and living in Ohio with a couple of kids and Yelena. But I only want that with you."

She glanced at him and could see his soft smile.

"Why did you want to know where I see our relationship going," she asked curiously as she turned her attention back to the sky.

"I just wanted to know if we were on the same page. I don't want to propose one day and you turn me down because you don't want to get married, or if we're together for years and then we find out we're not on the same page about our future. We might have years until the snap, but things are about to change and I'm just afraid we won't have enough time to have these conversations."

"Fair point," she replied.

"I know that our future is in the air, but we could still make it out of this and if we do then I wanted to be sure we were on the same page. I... I think there's a chance that you can survive. Maybe the snap won't happen if we play our cards right."

"You know, we don't have to live in Ohio. I hear Westview is nice," she said, wanting to change the topic and not think about the snap. Right now, she wanted to plan a future with Bruce that was slightly in her grasp.

"But you love Ohio," he said with slight confusion in his voice.

"I don't want to live somewhere that's going to cause you pain or trigger something."

"Nat," he said as he put his hand on top of hers, while she focused her attention ahead. "Just because I had a bad childhood, doesn't mean that I can't be happy there. I lived there for years with my aunt and I can make better memories with you. It'll be nice to be closer to Aunt Susan and my mom's grave, but if it ever becomes too much for me, I'll let you know."

"Can Westview be Plan B?"

"Yeah. And I appreciate that you care so much. Can I ask you one last thing, but about our original timeline?"

Natasha nodded, then he asked in a soft voice, "Why didn't you ever move on after the snap? You could have been with anyone else and you still chose me. Why?"

"Because I still adored you. Everyone told me to move on after you disappeared during Sokovia and again when you moved to Mexico, but I couldn't bring myself to. Every time I went to visit you on that beach was the only time that I wasn't thinking about what I'd lost. You were the only person who made me smile and laugh when I needed it the most. You made me happy in my darkest time."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"Because you were working on your issues with the Big Guy. I didn't want to get in the way of that. And I didn't want to allow myself to be happy. I didn't give into my feelings until the night before we went to get the stones."

"I knew I shouldn't have left," he said under his breath.

"I didn't tell you to stay or come back to New York."

"I know," he said then sighed. "I held myself back when you would come to see me in Mexico. I wanted to tell you how I felt, but I just didn't. I thought you were happy without me until the night that you told me you wanted me to come live with you and Yelena in Ohio. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too."

Natasha knew that Bruce would have dropped everything to be with her after the snap if she had told him how she felt, but he needed to work on himself. Whenever she visited him while he was in Mexico, he seemed happier, but she could also see the longing in his eyes. She always kept herself at arm's length around him because she knew she would throw all rational thought into the wind if she allowed herself to have a single moment of weakness. In this case the weakness was letting herself be happy.

"Did you ever move on," she asked, fearing the answer. She didn't know if he had met someone in the five years he isolated himself on that beach.

"No. Tony tried to set me up a few times, but I never took him up on it. I never stopped loving you."

The rest of the ride was spent in comfortable silence. When they had reached their destination. Natasha landed the quinjet, and the couple grabbed their bags and got out.

Once they checked into a hotel and dropped their bags off in their room, Natasha asked Bruce, "You sure you don't want to come with me to this thing?"

"Yeah. The last thing I need are people thinking I'm there to sign the accords, only to be confused when I don't."

She looked him in the eyes and said, "A lot is about to happen after this."

"I know."

He didn't say it out loud, but Natasha could see him telling her to be careful with his eyes. Bruce kissed her softly, then after a few seconds, she broke the moment and told him, "I have to go. I don't think Ross will appreciate it if I'm late."

Bruce smirked, and she took a step back then turned around and opened the door. Natasha looked around the hallway as she walked, keeping an eye out for anyone or anything.

When the former assassin was in the elevator, she felt knots in her stomach. Everything was about to change and there was no stopping the outcome.