❝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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★ ★ ★
The autumn breeze blew through Marlena's long hair. She sat forward in her spot beside Steve, her forearms resting on her thighs, and her hands clasped together in front of her. She'd barely spoken a word since they returned home, but she didn't have much to say in the first place. She didn't have the words to explain how she truly felt, but then again, she never did to begin with.
In the distance, the crickets chirped and the water rippled. The sky was a beautiful golden color, and the way the sun shone through the branches of numerous trees made the world seem almost peaceful for once. And maybe things would've been peaceful, especially since the team had retrieved the stones, but for now they were anything but.
"Do we know if she had any family?" Tony asked quietly.
"Yeah...us."
Steve, Tony, Clint, Marlena, Thor, and Bruce had been outside for a while. Together they discussed the trip, including the worst incident that had taken place along the way. Natasha was gone, and as they learned, she died sacrificing herself for the Soul Stone, just as Nebula's sister had been murdered for it. The fact of the matter made the team admire her so much more than they already did, but they were still torn as they tried to process never seeing her again.
"What?" Thor moved closer to Tony. "What are you doing?"
"I'm just askin' a question," Tony's voice was sad.
"No, you're acting like she's dead, why are you acting like she's dead?" Thor was having a hard time accepting Natasha was gone, as was everyone else, but Thor was convinced they could bring her back. The rest of them weren't so sure about that. "We have the stones, right? As long as we have the stones, we can bring her back."
Steve looked to the ground, fresh tears falling from his eyes. He didn't have an answer for Thor.
"You need to stop this shit," Thor continued; he was noticeably agitated. "We're the Avengers, get it together."
"We can't get her back," Clint exclaimed as the tears rolled down his face. He'd hardly stopped crying since they returned back home, and he doubted he'd stop any time soon. "It can't be undone...it can't."
Thor gave a breathy laugh and looked around at everyone. "I'm sorry, but no offense, you're a very earthly being, and we're talking about space magic, which is very different."
"I know, okay?" Clint crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm way outside my pay grade, and I know that, but she still isn't here, is she? It can't be undone, or at least that's what the red floating guy had to say. Maybe you wanna go talk to him, okay? Maybe you wanna go grab your hammer and fly and talk to him!"
Marlena was getting a headache; the men's voices were much louder than they needed to be, and the pain rolling off of them was almost unbearable. She got up from her spot beside Steve and strolled over to stand at the edge of the boardwalk overlooking the small lake. She leaned against the wooden column at her side and looked out towards the water. She tried her best to drown out their voices, but no matter how hard she did, she couldn't.
