Whatever it Takes: Endgame

Chapter 7

The next few days were filled with a few members of the team explaining the stones, their backgrounds, locations and what they did.

When they talked about the soul stone and Vormir, Natasha feigned curiosity, but on the inside she wanted to scream. She knew Bruce couldn't comfort her in front of Tony or else the engineer would figure it out and step in before everyone was assigned their positions.

Everyone else in the room looked scared and concerned when Nebula explained Vormir. It was clear that no one wanted to go there.

Scott broke the tension by saying, "Not it."

The next step was to figure out when to travel back to get the stones. Natasha, Tony and Bruce were alone in the room going over that.

Natasha broke the silence after 30 minutes of listening to Tony yammer by saying, "If you pick the right year, there are three stones in New York."

Tony looked at her, probably wondering why he didn't think of that. She turned to look at Bruce, who smiled at her with pride.

"Bro," Tony said to get Bruce's attention. "Anything I should know?"

"The Power and Soul Stones are in space, and the Reality Stone is in Asgaurd," Bruce said.

"Then why did you two let me go on and on for 30 minutes?"

"Cause it's fun," Natasha said with a smirk.

___

Steve was the one who assigned everyone their missions when they figured out the when and where.

"New York: Space, Mind, Time. Asgaurd: Reality. Morag and Vormir: Power and Soul," Steve explained. "Here are the teams. Asgaurd: Rocket and Thor. Morag: Rhodey and Nebula. New York: Scott, Bruce, Natasha, Clint. Vormir: Tony and me."

Natasha looked at Tony, who glanced at her, silently asking if that was right. She shook her head slightly, telling him no. His eyes widened, but he didn't say anything.

"Six stones, three teams, one shot," Steve said, then everyone stood up as they left to get some sleep before getting the stones.

Once Bruce and Natasha were in her room, he shook his head then said, "Nat, I swear I didn't say a word."

"I know. Bruce... Steve and Tony."

"I know," he whispered sadly.

The thought of losing one of their friends was terrifying. Steve may be superhuman, but Tony could hold his own with the suit, as he proved time and time again.

"Are you okay," she asked him.

"No," he admitted with a sigh. "Does Tony how Vormir works?"

"No," she answered truthfully. "Just that I sacrificed myself."

Bruce walked closer and kissed her forehead. Her eyes met his and their foreheads touched. On one hand, she wasn't going to die on Vormir. On the other, one of their friends wasn't coming back.

"How are things changing without our input," Natasha asked out loud.

"I think we changed so much already that now other people have their own free will. We can only change what we can."

"In other words, this universe is beyond our control now."

"Look, if you want to take someone's place at Vormir.-"

"I do that and Tony will make sure he's going with me," Natasha interrupted. "You do it and it'll be the same outcome. Either way, Tony will piece together what Vormir is and make the sacrifice before anyone has a chance to stop him. You and I both volunteer, and Tony won't let us."

Bruce nodded, knowing she was right and Natasha hugged him to her. She felt him wrap his arms around her and she knew he was comforting her as much as she was comforting him.

"Maybe this is what Steve and Tony need," Bruce said. "Steve needs to know what Tony is willing to sacrifice, and Tony needs to see that Steve is more than just a superhuman who wants to save Bucky."

"The only problem is that we lose one of our friends in the process and we don't know who comes out of this alive," Natasha said while playing with Bruce's hair at the back of his head.

Bruce let out a shaky breath and nodded, "As relieved as I am that it's not you, knowing that we're losing Tony or Steve hurts. When I watched Tony die after he snapped his fingers, it was like someone kept punching me in the gut. It didn't help that losing you already broke me into a thousand pieces."

All Natasha could do was hug him to her in response. She knew this was just as hard on him as it was on her.

Note:  Honestly, it should have been Tony and Steve in the movie, but that's just my opinion.

Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate!