The Dadsandwich

For Her

Narrator's POV

Everyone came back to the machine.

"Did we get them all?" Bruce asked as everyone's suit deactivated.

Everyone looked around.

"Are you telling me this actually worked?" Rhodey asked, smiling.

Tony gave a chuckle.

Clint stepped down from a step, loudly.

Steve and Bruce turned to him. They saw how unhappy he looked. He was also soaked.

"Clint, where's Nat?" Bruce asked.

Clint looked up at them. A single tears rolled down his cheek.

Steve sighed under his breath.

Bruce's expression changed into one of pure sadness. He dropped down to one knee. He punched the platform of the machine in anger.

///0///0

Steve, Clint, Bruce, Thor and Tony were gathered on the small dock near the lake of the Avenger's Compound.

"Do we know if she had family?" Tony asked Steve, who sat on a bench.

"Yeah..." Steve answered, looking down at his feet. "Us."

"What?" Thor approached Tony and Steve.

"Huh?" Tony asked.

"What're you doing?"

"You just asked a question."

"Yeah, and you're acting like she's dead. Why are we acting like she's dead? We have the stone, right?" Thor asked Tony. He looked at Steve. "As long as we have the stone, Cap, we can bring her back."

Steve let his head drop as he shed a tear.

"Isn't that right? So stop this shit. We're the Avengers. Get it together." Thor hissed.

"We can't get her back." Clint said.

Thor looked at Clint. "What? What's he-"

"It can't be undone." Clint turned to Thor. "It can't."

Thor chuckled. "No, I'm sorry. No offense, but you're a very earthly being, okay? We're talking about space magic. And can't seems very definitive, don't you think?"

"Look, I know I'm way, way outside my pay rate here, but she still isn't here is she?" Clint asked Thor.

Tony removed his glasses.

"No that's my point." Thor said.

"It can't...be undone. Or that's at least what the red floating guy had to say." Clint explained. "Maybe you wanna talk to him. You grab your hammer, and you go talk to him."

Everyone sat in silence. They could hear the hurt in Clint's voice.

"Is was suppose to be me." He cried. "Sacrificed her life for that goddamn stone. She bid her life on it."

"ARGH!" Bruce ripped one of the benches off the dock and threw it far into the lake. He turned to the rest. "She's not coming back."

Everyone looked at Bruce.

"We have to make it worth it. We have to." He said.

Steve looked up at him. "We will."

///0///0

Tony and Bruce were down in the lab of the compound.