so bad guys can't see me bleed

•tape thirty-two•

"Did we get them all?" Bruce asks as we all appear on the platform back at the compound and our normal clothes come back.

"Are you telling me this actually worked?" Rhodey asks.

Clint falls to his knees, making us all turn to him.

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

"Clint?" I ask after a moment.

His eyes gloss over, and he looks over at Bruce and Cap and me. Bruce gets on his knees and covers his face, then punches the platform below us.

—

"Do we know if she had family?" Tony asks as we sit on the dock outside.

"Yeah," Cap says. "Us."

"What?" Thor asks, walking over to Tony.

"Huh?" Tony asks.

"What are you doing?" Thor asks.

"Just asked him a question."

"Yeah, no, you're acting like she's dead. Why are we acting like she's dead? We have the stones, right? As long as we have the stones, Cap, we can bring her back. Isn't that right? So stop this shit. We're the Avengers. Get it together."

I sniffle and lean my head back on the pole behind me to get my face away from my knees that are up to my chest. I wipe the wetness off my face and shake my head.

"Cher, come on," Thor says. "You've been optimistic before. Help me out here."

"Can't get her back," Clint says.

"What's he...?" Thor starts. "What?"

"It can't be undone," Clint says. "It can't."

Thor laughs. "Look, I'm sorry, no offense, but you're a very earthly being, okay? And we're talking about space magic. And 'can't' seems very definitive. Don't you think?"

"Thor, stop," I say. God, I have a headache.

"Yeah, look, I know that I'm way outside my—my pay grade here," Clint says to Thor. "But she still isn't here, is she?"

"No, that's my point," Thor says.

"It can't be undone," Clint says. "Or that's at least what the red, floating guy had to say. Maybe you want to talk to him, okay? Go grab your hammer, and you go fly, and you talk to him!" There's a long pause. "It was supposed to be me. She sacrificed her life for that goddam stone. She bet her life on it."

Bruce grabs a bench and chucks it across the lake before turning around. "She's not coming back," he says. "We have to make it worth it. We have to."

Cap stands up. "We will."

—

"All right, the glove's ready," Rocket says. "Question is, who's gonna snap their freakin' fingers?"

"I'll do it," Thor says, walking over to them and the machine that the glove is in.

"Excuse me?" Tony says.

"It's okay," Thor says, waving him off.

Everyone starts talking over each other, telling him to stop and wait and slow down while they put their hands on his chest to stop him from grabbing the glove with the Infinity Stones.

"Thor, just wait," Cap says. "We haven't decided who's gonna put that on yet."

"I'm sorry, what? We're all just sitting around waiting for the right opportunity?"

"We should at least discuss it," Scott puts in.

"Look, sitting here staring at the thing is not gonna bring everybody back," Thor says. "I'm the strongest Avenger, okay? So, this responsibility falls upon me. It's my duty."