Avengers Facility, Upstate New York - Earth
2023
"See you in a minute."
Exactly a minute later, everyone arrived back at the Avengers Facility in 2023, from their various time-points and places.
After the initial shock of the travel wore off, everyone began a triumphant reunion. That was, until they noticed something wrong. It was a short-lived triumph.
"Clint, where's Nat?" asked Bruce. The red-head was nowhere to be seen.
Clint didn't answer, but his distraught expression said enough.
"Thanos did not murder your sister," Sascha said to Nebula, trying and failing to fight back tears. "She was sacrificed." Nebula only stared narrow-eyed back.
"No," whispered Steve, the realization of the implication of her words suddenly dawning on him.
"Oh God no," sighed Tony, understanding too.
Everyone now stood in shocked silence. Bruce fell to his knees, pounding the floor with his fist.
"Would anyone like to start?" Tony asked gently. The Avengers - remaining Avengers - had gathered down by the lake once everyone had stored their respective Stones and had changed out of their suits, all in a daze. They had just held a moment of silence for their fallen teammate, fellow hero, and friend.
"Nat thought she was the worst of us, but she was the best." Bruce nodded sadly.
"She could always be trusted. There's no one I trusted more at times," added Steve.
"She really held this team together," agreed Tony. "Even when we were falling apart. And she was right, she was always picking up after us. She had our backs, that was for sure."
"We were her family," said Clint. "And she was always a part of ours."
"That's right." Tony wiped his eyes beneath his sunglasses. "You'll always have a place here, with us and amongst us, Natasha. You'll always belong here."
"What are you doing? What are we doing? Why are we acting like she's dead?" Thor suddenly broke in, clearly very irritated. "We're the Avengers, aren't we? So stop this shit! We have the Stones now, right? As long as we have them then we can bring her back-"
"We can't bring her back," countered Clint. "It can't be undone."
Thor chuckled. "Look, I know you're just a human, but we're talking about space-magic here-"
"Yeah, I know I'm a little outside my sphere of knowledge, but it can't be undone. At least that's what the red floating guy said, maybe you want to go talk to him." Clint's voice was rising with anger. "Why don't you go get your hammer, God of Thunder, and you go fly and find him and talk to him."
"Oh will all of you just shut up!" Sascha suddenly yelled. "It was supposed to be me! But it didn't work and it had to be her. She sacrificed herself for that damn Stone and now she's gone! Damn it, Natalia!" With another sob catching in her throat, she stalked off the docks and to the bank of the lake, muttering angrily in Russian.
She kicked the water, angrily wiping away her tears. She hadn't cried like this since Yelena's death...
Well, she hadn't cried like this over something like Yelena's death. She had cried countless times for her lost love since it happened.
And I always blamed you, she thought, thinking of Natalia.
She voiced her next thoughts. "I never thanked you for fighting for me and keeping me alive while still in Red Room. If not for you and for Yelena, they would have broken me long ago. I'm sorry I couldn't do the same for you. до свидания, Natalia. моя cестра. до свидания."
Sudden nearby footsteps broke her out of her mourning. It was Clint. "I did not realize how close you two were."
"Yeah," he nodded. "She was like family."
"Yeah, to me too."
"My kids called her 'Auntie Nat'."
"I called her my sister."
"She was also a huge pain in the ass."
"To me, too." She paused before saying, "I used to think you are what you always were. But Natalia - Natasha - changed. She became something more, someone better."
Clint nodded. "Yeah, she did." They stood together in mournful silence staring out at the seemingly strange calmness of the lake before he gestured for her to follow him. "Come on, we're going to assemble the Stones."
He led her back to the dock where everyone was still huddled.
"She's not coming back," said Bruce. "So we have to make this worth it."
Steve rose to his feet. "We will."
Translations
до свидания - Good bye
моя cестра - My sister
(Aw Nat :.( Miss her! Can't wait for the Black Widow film!
So I know this chapter was shorter, but I felt the Avengers mourning should have it's own chapter, and they jump pretty quick into building their own gauntlet, so I thought the emotional shift would feel strange if I included that in the same chapter, and I wanted to give Nat more of a funeral than we saw in the movie, even though the team's still on a time crunch.
And Bruce's line about Nat being the best of them was inspired by the line in 2019's 'Little Women' where the sisters say Beth was the best of them!
And I have decided to split this finale into three books instead of two - so we're actually nearing the end of this one, a few more chapters to go!
Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed :))
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