Be My Life? | Wanda Maximoff x Reader

8

You wobbled a little, but quickly regained your balance as you stood up. You reached a hand up to your neck, running a hand over the column of your throat as you recovered from the slight suffocation. As you looked down at your other hand, you still had Ultron's severed hand in yours.

Your eyes lifted to see Pietro, smiling widely as you saw the scepter in his hand. "Did we get them all?" Bruce asked as he brought attention to himself.

"Are you telling me this actually worked?" Rhodey asked, letting out a chuckle of disbelief. He then saw you and confusion took over his face. "What's that?"

You looked down at the hand and dropped it to the floor with a shrug, "Ultron."

All of the attention was suddenly taken as you heard a loud thud from near you. It was then that you realized an absence in the room. His face was fallen, a frown deep in his lips as he stared at the ground.

"Where's Natasha?" Steve asked, his question slow as if he already knew the answer.

Fear struck your heart as it sped up in your chest, pounding against your ribs. It couldn't be, she couldn't be. You had spent five years by her side, working to fix the damage that had been done, to help in any way you could next to her. She could not be gone, could she?

But Clint's silence was clear. He slowly brought his eyes up to look at Steve.

Bruce shook his head, muttering a small protest and looking down at the floor. He then fell to his knees as well, leaning forward as he slammed his fist down onto the ground. You shook your head as you tried to understand, tried to speed up so you could try to understand. You turned to Pietro, who just stared at Clint with wide eyes and parted lips. You stepped over to him, pressing your forehead against his chest.

The tears suddenly came, even before your mind could catch up with the rest of you. They burned and turned to steam on your face before they had much of a chance to slip down your face. With sizzles against your skin, they were gone in no time, but that did not keep them from spilling.

Pietro put down the scepter carefully, pulling you in by wrapping an arm around your body. The other came as well, urging you closer as his fingers carded through your hair. He rubbed your back and gently shushed you, trying to give you comfort to the news that one of your dearest friends...was dead.

~

You all had migrated to the pavilion outside that overlooked the lake. By then, your fire had burned away at your tears and left your face dry, even as you still felt the heat in your throat and the palpitating of your heart.

Pietro leaned against a slab of wood, a hand over his eyes as he just stood there silently. You were sitting on a bench nearest to him, staring down at your hands as you rubbed them together. It was silent for a very long time. No one said a word—no one dared to. What do you say to something like that?

Natasha had been the heart of the team. For years, she worked to keep everyone together, alive. Before the Snap, before Thanos. As soon as the team was formed, she made it her mission to ensure that this family was safe. Even when it was split up over the argument years before, as everyone went their separate ways—you went with Wanda and Pietro to Scotland as fugitives. Tony tried to start a life with Pepper. No matter what, she made sure everyone was safe.

And now the heart was gone. Now the team had to try to continue on without falling apart.

Tony was the first to break the tension. His voice was hesitant, quiet. "Do we know if she had any other family?"

You would have spoken, but you could not force any words out around the lump in your throat. Steve nodded instead, rubbing his hands together as he slowly looked up. "Yeah. Us."

Thor was pacing, his hands on his hips as he turned to look at them. "What?"

"Huh?" Tony wondered, standing to face the god before him.

Thor shook his head. "What are you doing? What are you doing?"

"I'm just asking a question."

"Yeah, no, you're acting like she's dead," he said.

"Thor–" you tried to speak, but your voice was too quiet to be heard and Thor was not ready to listen.

"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." He was panicking, by the way he spoke almost too fast for some of his words to be understood and the way he shook his head furiously, it was obvious.

Clint shook his head, "Can't get her back."

"What's he...? W-what?"

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

Pietro looked up then, crossing his arms once more. It was then that you realized he had been trying to hide away the tears he had tried so hard not to spill. He wiped them away with his hand and sniffled, putting on a tough face—which you assumed was for your benefit—in favor of looking at Clint.

Thor started laughing, a wheezing sound as he shook his head and smiled in disbelief. "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?"

He stood, "Yeah, look, I know that I'm way outside my pay grade here. But she still isn't here, is she?"

"No, that's my point."

"It can't be undone," he began raising his voice. "Or that's at least what the red, floating guy had to say. Maybe you wanna go talk to him, okay? Go grab your hammer and you go fly and you talk to him!"

They got quiet, a vast change from the shout Clint had just come from. You rested your face in your hands, wiping uselessly at your face to rid yourself of the tears. He huffed harshly, voice full of wavering tears, "It was supposed to be me. She sacrificed her life for that goddamn stone. She bet her life on it!"

Bruce bent down and picked up the bench he stood in front of, ripping it from the ground and throwing it into the air with a loud grunt. He turned around to face everyone without looking in anyone's eyes. "She's not coming back."

"We have to make it worth it," Bruce continued. "We have to."

Steve stood and stepped forward, "We will."

Steve left first, heading in the direction of the compound to go back inside to continue working. Then Tony. Then Thor, and Bruce. You and Pietro stayed back with Clint. He stared at the ground, arms crossed tightly over his chest and face completely void of any emotion other than the bitter sorrow of his eyes.

Now more than ever, he needed you.

You may have not been real family, but you were family. You moved to sit next to him, moving a hand behind his back and rubbing it gently, resting your head on his shoulder. He inhaled a deep breath, glancing at you a couple of times before giving in and resting his head atop your own.

Pietro soon joined. Even with all of his bitter reservations, the grudges he held against this man for his abandonment and betrayal before...those were nothing in the face of what had just happened. You both cherished Natasha, but Clint cherished her more. She was his best friend, his dearest friend, his sister. And now she was gone. All of his family was gone, there was no one left for him now.

Except you.

He was all you had until someone snapped their pretty fingers and brought everyone else back. So Pietro sat next to Clint, grabbed his hand, and squeezed as you all stared out onto the glistening lake.

Clint inhaled deeply and, without looking at either of you, whispered three words for the both of your ears with a broken voice and teary eyes. "I love you."

You looked at him and nodded, taking his other hand and squeezing gently. Pietro sighed, glancing at you and then back at the lake. "We know."