Hold On

Dinner

"Are you sure?" Natasha asked Happy through the phone.

"Yeah, Grant and Morgan will be fine. I've babysat them before." Happy replied.

"Thank you Happy, he can be a handfull though, but the dogs will keep an eye on them also." Natasha smiled. Happy laughed through the other end of the line.

"Don't worry about it, anyways I'm sure you gotta go. Bye."

"Bye." Natasha hungup and laid the phone on her dresser. Steve was in the other room, buttoning up his suit and fixing his tie. Natasha was already ready. Her blonde and red hair curled with fine curls, and her long silky dress shined in the light. She didn't have much makeup on but she did have a secret strap with a hanfgun. Especially what happened the last time Tony threw a party.

Once Steve was done, he walked out and extended his hand out to his beautiful wife. Natasha gladly excepted but before the walked out the door, Steve grabbed his shield. Natasha chuckled as the walked down a long swirly staircase leading down to the nice penthouse living area whete a bar sat, a sitting area, and nice balconies to over look the city. But since no guests has arrived, all of the Avengers stashed their iconic weapons away incase of an emergency.

"The God of Sparkles has arrived!" Rhodey called out. Tony turned around as Thor walked in wearing a suit and tie. He had the biggest smile across his face.

"Hello my human friends, I missed you all. Especially the little man." Thor smiled at Tony as Tony himself laughed at the ridiculous joke. Steve chuckled but before Maria opened the door to all the guests, Steve and Clint stashed their weapons under the couch. Natasha had hers on her, Maria did as well. Tony had his remote in his pocket incase if something did happened,  Tony's suit will fly towards him. Rhodey hid a gun under the coffee table in between the couches and chairs. Once everyone was settled in and Thor just placed hus hammer down.

"Open the doors Maria." Tony yelled acrossed the big room. It didn't take to long for the cowds to fill the area. But the biggest mistake Tony made that night was not checking the pockets of all guests.

"Ah, Steve Rogers, what a pleasant surprise!" A female called behind the Captain. Steve turned around from where he sat at the bar to face Sharon Carter.

"Sharon, what are you doing here?" Steve asked. He wasn't surprised she was here, she used to work for the CIA and S.H.I.E.L.D when it was a known government. Now S.H.I.E.L.D is basically the Avengers.

"I'm a Avenger basically. Been training  at the facility upstate." Sharon sat beside Steve on the other side. Steve shifted his body weight to the furthest side away from Sharon. "I'm not here to steal you Steve. I know where my place stands with you."

"Good, because all I want is Nat." Steve replied. Sharon nodded slowly amd pointed towards Natasha's way. She was bartending in the VIP area where all the old guys from WWII and other wars sat.

"She's all yours. Besides, I love someone else, and I was checking up on a old friend." Sharon smiled and walked away. Steve sighed and rubbed his head as he asked for another beer.

....................

Tony stood on a balcony with Maria Hill by his side. Both had a gut feeling that they were being watched from the crowd, but they both spotted no one.

"Tony?" Pepper asked. Tony turned ro his left side to see Pepper walk up towards him in her navy blue dress. She had a slight smile on her face but that soon faded with she saw both faces on the Avengers. "Something popped up? Bad? Good?"

"Uh maybe bad honey, we don't know yet. Um maybe you should leave before the crowd. You know how the after parties go." Tony tried to joke but Pepper frown and tilted her head to the side, showing her husband that wasn't necessary.

"I will but be careful, ok?" Pepper smiled. Tony nodded and kissed Pepper on the cheek before she walked off. Maria folded her arms and  sighed. She slowly placed her slef against the railing with her back to the crowd.

"You need to eat." Maria said slowly.

"I'm fine I just-- I can't... I can't lose this." Tony raised his hand. Maria faced Tony and gave him a concerned look.

"Tony--"

"This is the only family I have aside from Pepper and Morgan. I can't lose Steve, Nat, Bruce, Peter, Thor... I can't lose the Avengers. I don't want to retire." Tony frowned. He fiddled with his hands before looking up at Maria.

"Nothing is written in stone, Stark. Fury is just throwing ideas out there. But one day, the best things in life will always come to an end. Nothing lasts forever." Maria replied.

................

"What is a married woman doing in a bar alone?" Thor asked. Natasha smiled and handed Thor a drink. He gracefully taken the beer and took a huge gulp of it.

"Bartending. What is a married man doing on earth alone?" Natasha asked. Thor chuckled and shrugged.

"Jane didn't want to come back. Not after the birth of our son." Thor whispered. Natasha's eyes grew wide but the old man with a nice mustache turned towards Thor and Natasha.

"You kiddos are always behind track!" He laughed. Thor and Natasha smiled and turned towards the old man.

"I guess so, do you want anything else sir?" Natasha asked. The old man with a kind smile and a young soft voice shrugged and shook his head.

"I just want to see how the Endgame plays out." He said. Thor furrowed his eyebrows in confusing feature. Natasha nodded along, trying to keep up.

"I'm sorry, sir, can you explain?" Thor asked as Natasha poured out another drink for the old man's buddy.

"No, I don't think I will."

The old man jumped up from his seat and walked off. Natasha and Thor sat there, trying to determine whetger the old man was a future seeker, a wizard like Dr. Strange, or Hydra. Whatever he is, Natasha and Thor didn't know if he could be trusted.

.............

Five hours passed and the crowed left and Pepper left way before that. Steve sat beside a tired Thor and Tony on the couch. Sam, who showed up late, sat on a chair across from Steve.  Natasha was on a phone call, across the room at the entrance. Maria and Clint sat at the bar with Wanda. Everyone talked slowly, some talked about Bruce's absence and how good it can be for him.

"Life's not fair now is it Natalia?" A man's voice echoed throughout the room. Natasha, who was saying goodnight to Grant, hungup quickly and grabbed her gun.

"I know this would happen!" Tony whispered towards Steve. Steve tensed up as he slowly reached down and grabbed his shield. Clint also grabbed his bow and aimed it at any darken corner of the room.

"Natalia, don't you remember the good times?" The man's voice echoed again. Natasha walked towards the stairs as she sae a man silhouette on the stairs leading to the lounge. She pointed her gun at the man, knowing fully that she was standing in a position only she can see him.

"Come out you bloody son of a--"

"Nah ah ahhh! Natalia, you know the rules!" Out of nowhere, the man came out of the corner of the staircase and into the light, revealing James. But before anyone can do anything, James attacked Natasha without warning  James headbutted Natasha, causing her to stumble backwards. Natasha hasn't taken a hit like that in awhile, that's for sure. Steve clenched his jaw and ran foreward but James grabbed Nat's neck and squeezed hard, not too hard to kill her, but hard enough to make Natasha suffer. "If you all make one more move, I'll snap her head off with this!"

James lifted his hand, revealing a gaunlet with three infinity stones. He pressed the power stone on Natasha's head and activated it. Pain soured throughout Natasha's veins as she moaned in pain.

"Let her go!" Clint yelled. Tony pushed his button and James watched with amusement.

"Not until you tell me where the other three infinity stones are!" James yelled. Steve looked at Natasha lay on the ground, pain forced into her body and Steve couldn't do anything. If he tried, she'll die and Captain America needed a Black Widow in his world. But the others stood there, with no words in their throat. Only Fury and some of the Avengers know where the other stones are, but why would they tell a man that has the lust for power?