our civil war

24.

This war they were going in would only end in ways that would scar the group forever. There was no way out of this without one or two people being forever changed. And against Steve's will and wished he knew Natasha would be on of the people who will never be the same. He knew that when he sees her again things won't be the same. 

He had no doubt in his mind that he would be getting Natasha back. He was going to make sure that she lives out her dream of becoming a mother. He was gonna see that beautiful smile plastered back on her face.  Even if she still hates him for all the pain that she has endured because of him, then that's fine. As long as she and the baby are safe nothing will hurt him. And he knew he would never stop fighting for her. 

Back in the meeting room, Tony and Bruce were working with Shuri to create a device to track a large amount of power radiating off of Thanos. They seemed to be busy at work as Steve walked in for what seemed like the fifth time. 

"I don't understand why you men make it so hard for yourselves. If you just recalculated the device to look only for the power of the gems then it wouldn't work that hard and it would be faster." Shuri pointed out as she fixed whatever it was the guys just did. 

"You see we did think of that but then we were like why make it so simple? If it can do more than why don't we allow it to do more of what we already know it can do." Tony said trying his best to come up with a reason to explain why he did what he did. 

"It's a waste of time. We have one mission. Look for our friends and family not trying to invent new devices. I know at your lab you are in charge. But here with me in my lab, I am in charge. We are only looking for the others do you understand?"   She asked eyeing both the boys seriously. They both nodded like scared children at Shuri. 

"Yeah, we get it. We will get them back I have hope." Tony said and looked down at his feet. "If we don't I don't think I will ever forgive myself for allowing Peter to continue as SpiderMan." He held his own face rubbing his chin before sighing. He saw Steve and nodded at him. "Hey, Steve what are you doing here?" 

"I uh came to see your progress," Steve said. Tony can see in his eyes the pain Steve was holding away. He knew that Steve was hurting but he also knew this wasn't the time to engage in pain. 

"We are doing fine," Tony said. "Thor and I did a calculation with Maria and Fury both gone shield should have fallen. But it didn't." Tony out. Steve was confused and tony signaled for him to follow him. "Fury is known to be dead which means Maria should have taken over as a head director but she never did." 

"What are you saying, Tony?" Steve asked raising an eyebrow at the scientist. 

"Well, Shield has been getting commands from somewhere and it's not Fury nor was it Maria. We have traced those signals and we finally got a location." Tony said. 

"Why does it matter to us who is directing shield," Steve asked. 

"Because, whoever was able to take down the other Alien invasion that was happening not to long ago along with our alien invasion has power. They have the power to help us." He pointed out and now Steve was finally understanding what was going on. 

"And where on Earth are these signals coming from?" Steve asked turning his head. Tony looked up from the computer that his eyes were focused on and looked at the captain. 

"Tahiti." 

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Meanwhile, Natasha was in the soul stone with one thing on her mind. Steve.  She was worried about his well being. She knew him and Stress weren't good friends and it could make him lose it a bit. Especially when Sadness is mixed in the group. 

She wanted to be with him and wrap her arms around him. She missed having to stand on her tippy toes just to reach his shoulders because she was so short. She missed that when he got so involved in their hugs that he would pick her up and carry her to bed. She missed everything that he did. 

There was no way out of the stone. They had nothing to use but their minds and everyone's minds were focusing on what horror could be happening outside the stone with Thanos. No one was in the right mindset. Not yet at least. 

Natasha looked to the side of her and saw Peter. He was just a kid and he already lost everything. Maybe it was time for her to test her new motherly instincts. Although she was sure it wouldn't be happy cuddly adivice. She was prepared to tell this kid what he needed to hear. The truth. mad or good. She walked over to Peter who was now looking at her in shock. 

"Can I sit down?" She asked the young boy. Up close you could see the loss he has been through and knew it would take a toll on the young boy. He nodded nervously so she sat beside him.  

"Are you going to give me that everything will be okay speech? Because I honestly don't think that works on me anymore. It doesn't seem like everything will be okay." 

"Why do you feel that way?" She asked. 

"Well, the world seems to be falling apart. Literally. One moment my biggest worry was passing my Math test, the next I am some sort of recruit when all you Avengers decided you were gonna fight each other like little kids. You were the Avengers, a team and then one guy cares a little about someone else and you all freak out." Peter said shaking his head.

"I don't think that was the entire cause," Natasha said. "I wish it was an easy as a kid yard fight." She sighed. "But it wasn't. Steve has been through a lot. He knows how the government works and I have been with him long enough to know he is done being lied to. We all are. But some of us think it is better if follow what other people want us to be. And that's okay. But not everyone is gonna agree with the choices we make. It could start wars. Like it did. But we shouldn't have to live how other people want us to live. We can't let people choose our choices, pick our fights. The world is full of messed up people who want to choose who lives and who dies. Well, guess what? Not everyone is gonna agree with the methods they chose to use." Natasha pointed out. 

"You are kinda losing me here," Peter said looking at Natasha confused. 

"My point is, we can't live in fear of how others will react. Thanos is a man who wants to make a change but the moment someone told him no he lashed out. Causing all of this. But he is just another grown man who can't handle when someone wants something different than him." 

"Isn't that the bases of what Steve and Tony went through?" Peter asked turning his head to the side. 

" Cap and Tony are both grown men who wanted different things. And that's okay when they can reach a common ground. Which I am hoping they have now." Natasha pointed out. 

"And if they haven't?" 

"Well, we are in for some real hell."