❝Whatever happens, just know that I never stopped trying.❞
. . .in which she must do whatever she can to protect the world and what's left of the ones she loves.
[BOOK THREE]
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★ ★ ★
23 DAYS AFTER DECIMATION
JUNE 23, 2021
★ ★ ★
Marlena stared at her reflection in the mirror. The black pants of her supersuit hugged her figure perfectly, the blue corset was snug across her abdomen, and her jacket fell perfectly over her shoulders. She hadn't touched her suit, let alone seen her suit since they left Wakanda. She'd practically suffered a breakdown on the quinjet after losing Sam, Wanda, and Bucky and ripped her supersuit off. After collapsing in Bucky's ashes, she couldn't stand the feeling of that being the last of him she'd touched. She couldn't stand the thought of having his blood on her hands. The suit served as a reminder of just how much she sacrificed fighting a war she'd only ever been meant to lose. It was too much for her emotionally, but since the news of a possible stone retrieval and snap reverse, Marlena decided not to let those thoughts completely overrun her brain. She was determined to use what little hope she had left to make her sacrifices worth it, even if it meant ripping Thanos's head off herself.
A knock on the door grabbed Marlena's attention. She called for them to come in, and when the door opened she was met with the face of Natasha. She was dressed in her supersuit—the same supersuit she wore in Wakanda. There was a small smile on the assassin's face as she looked at Marlena.
"Ready to head to space?" Natasha chuckled and leaned against the doorframe.
Marlena grinned and grabbed her boots from the floor. "No, but given the circumstances I'd probably jump into a pit of spiders in order for this to work."
"It's gonna work," Natasha reassured her, though the blonde was trying to reassure herself as well. "It has to work."
"I know," Marlena answered as she pulled on her remaining boot. She stood up from her place on the mattress and looked at Natasha. She'd never seen Natasha display such a vast array of emotions, nor had she ever felt so much pain and regret emitting from her. Thanos had truly made an emotional impact on every single member of the team, even those who were experts at switching their emotions off. "You know, I never really knew what to expect when I joined the fight against Thanos, but I know it wasn't this."
"Me either," Natasha sighed. "We've always done whatever we could do to protect the people—to protect the planet—and even though I know we put our all into this fight, losing it just makes me feel like we didn't do enough. It makes me feel like we could've done more."
"This is more, Natasha," Marlena told her in reference to retrieving the stones from Thanos. "We'll do this. We owe it to them—to everyone—to do this."
Natasha frowned at the sight of a tear rolling down Marlena's face, and she stepped forward to whisk it away. She grabbed Marlena gently by the arms and met her tear-filled hazel eyes. Natasha had shed her fair share of tears over the weeks, but there was something so devastating knowing what it meant to see tears spill from the eyes of Marlena. She led an innocent and safe life before getting mixed into the cruel world of avenging. She was kidnapped, tortured, physically altered to suit the needs of a sadistic corporation, broken down beyond mental and physical capabilities, and to watch the one shred of happiness she managed to procure after all of that just disappear was absolutely devastating. She didn't deserve that pain. None of them deserved that pain.
