If Nothing...

Steve:A Few Weeks Later...

I step in front of the mirror ,straightening out my suit and making sure my hair is perfect like Natasha used to like it. She always liked it that way.

"You look more handsome that way."She'd say."Like your back in the forties."

I fiercly wipe away my tears and struggle to put a smile on my face. She would have wanted me to be happy and not mourn her. She would want me to be happy because she no longer has to run or live a life of sin anymore.

If she were still here she'd probably tease me for crying or tell me to shut up and pull myself together. She'd somehow make this entire thing better.

I take a deep breath and grab my keys from the table near the door. I want to be prompt and not minute late.

I drive slowly, trying to prolong the time I'll have to see Natasha be lowered into the ground.

I just can't muster the appropriate amount of strength to be happy.

I blink away the tears that threaten to spill from my swollen eyes.

As I pull onto the graveyard grounds and spot Coulson and the rest of the S.H.I.E.L.D team ,I take a deep breath and park in on the grass.

Not many people are here. Not very many people were invited.

I walk toward the black casket,ignoring the raindrops in which fall onto my face.

Peggy steps beside me as I stop in front of the casket,wrapping her hand in my own. She sheds tears of her very own,laying the red rose down on top of the casket. I lay mine down ontop of her own. The white one she mentioned once before to me during that mission we were captured in Rajasthan.

"White roses."She's said quietly staring up at the ceiling."If I die here,I don't want red roses. Those are too cliche. I want white roses."

"Why white?"

She laughed tiredly."Represents the purity I wish I had. The purity I could never achieve but wanted so badly."

I lay my hand on her casket and clench my jaw,trying to keep my tears hidden behind my eyes."I got you that rose."

Peggy rubs my back and walks away from me.

Skye takes her place,looking down casket,tears falling from her eyes."I'm sorry."She whispers to me,but her eyes remain down.

I close my eyes, feeling the tears bubble on my lashes and soon they spill down my cheek. Skye hugs me,her head on my chest. She looks up at me,giving a little smile. She brings my face down,kissing my cheek and laying her hand on my shoulder before she rejoins the rest of the S.H.I.E.L.D team.

The minister,a small chubby man,requests that I join the others so that he may commence the funeral. Before I join them,I am stipped by two S.H.I.E.L.D agents dressed in tactical gear and handed both an American flag and a Russian flag. For Natasha's service in both despite what she stood for in Russia.

I hold the folded flags in one arm,and walk back toward the small congregation of men and women.

The minister speaks sadly and slowly. Most of his words echo in my ears. I don't comprehend many of them. I catch the ones that fall after Natasha's name but not many after.

Once the minister is done with his speech,he requests eulogies for Natasha.

Fitz steps forward to the podium,his head hung with shame. Tears fall down down his face and his voice shakes and he attempts to steady it although he fails.

"First of all things,I would like to express my condolences to Steve and to the rest of you."Fitz pauses looking out at us,his eyes freezing on my face. "The world has lost a crown jewel that can never be replaced. Noone will be able to fill the shoes of Natasha Romanoff no matter how hard they tried. There was just something special about her that made her...Natasha. She was sarcastic at all the wrong times,but later in you realized that without that sarcasm,you would have never made it through a mission. She had a tongue made of glass. Oh was she sharp. You didn't want to cross her I aasure you. You wouldn't have liked the words that she said. But most of all things,Natasha was a beautiful person,despite her obvious flaws and her checkered past. She threw her life down on the line every single mission she went on. She's saved most of the lives standing here before me today. It's just a shame she had to go. She was too young and I don't think this world was prepared for her exit. Neither were we. We will forever hold you in our memories and in our hearts. Thank you."