Part of Me

Epilogue

Istanbul

The quinjet, their own personally customized quinjet - with Cap's very own shield stand, Clint's rack of arrows, Wanda's wardrobe of freshly cleaned leather jackets and fingerless gloves, Tony's suit right next to the compartment next to hers, Banner's very own Beats by Dre headphones (indeed they're very useful especially when code green goes wrong), Bucky's set of guns and hand grenades, Sam's wing suit and Thor's mjolnir stays wherever their owner wants them too, and a weapon rack that says 'Romanoff', complete with her favorite glock and her Widow's bites. Tony thought it would be nice to make a weapon compartment for her, as a tribute, even though he knows she will not use them anymore. He remembered the look on Steve's face when he first showed him into the quinjet, somewhere between hurt and an expression of bittersweet, deep inside Steve is very grateful Tony kept a piece of her in the quinjet. Not that he didn't keep any, he did, it was one of her sketches he made a while after she's gone, one of which she's smiling and her red locks were claiming bravery and confidence, kept inside the pocket of his suit, right next to his heart, right where she should be.

The skies of Istanbul were bright with afternoon sun, such a nice day to tour the city, such an unusual day for a villain to get caught. They had no time to waste, no time to wait until the shadows loomed over Istanbul, they get seen, they get exposed, forget it. Consider this the opening show, their debut as the Avengers.

Vengeance is coming to Ivan. It's coming fast.

---

Blast, booms and basically Steve's wrath, havoc upon Ivan's base of villainous activities, more like a hideout. On the outskirts of the city, where people were minimal and buildings were big and empty. They're pretty sure it was a strategic location for a disguise, but SHIELD finds everything out eventually.

"This is.. what do they call it?.. Karma," Ivan managed to get the words out even though his face was a mess of dripping red, caused by Steve, no doubt,"you take her away from me, now life take her away from you," Ivan added, his accent still thick even though his breath were short and heavy.

"You killed her!" Steve accused as he threw another punch at him. Ivan was wincing and blood seeped out through his teeth,"she wasn't supposed to fail..." he coughed, and more red flowed.

"Black Widow never fail."

---

Revenge was made, but Steve's heart still felt  empty, satisfying at the very least that the man who took childhood of little girls, who took their innocence away and make them ruthless killing machines, made to obey orders, just like what he did to Natasha. Surprising it is, to find a man who still had faith on the person that turned her back on him. So much faith for a bad guy. Maybe, she is that good.

Maybe, just maybe, she never fails.

And Steve had another hint of hope that sparked within, hope that she actually managed to live, that she actually didn't failed. But his mind reasoned with his heart, telling him not to trust the faith of this criminal mastermind and miracles do not happen. A person can't be alive if they're dead.

He knew he had to go on, move on, he said to himself. He told people he's over her death, that he's moved on. Well maybe that's partially true, he moved on from the fact that she's gone but he's definitely hasn't moved on from his feelings toward her. His love for her was so deep, its roots ran deep in his heart and to pluck it out and moving on seems impossible.

Steve has nightmares, not those of the haunting memories of the war, but of the guilt of how he failed to save her. Nobody knows, because nobody asks unlike Natasha who would definitely find out and asks him what's wrong. Nobody except Wanda. She's been helping him through these months without Natasha. She relates to Steve, she knows how he feels, she lost her brother, her other half she said.

"Letting go makes everything easier, Steve. Let her go, or else these nightmares will never stop. It may consume you," she had once said.

"I can't," he said.

"I love her 'till the end of the line. This isn't the end of the line, Wanda.

I love her too much," he said.

THE END