Wonder Woman ✧ T'CHALLA¹ [✓]

30 - Losing Someone You Love

A SHORT TIME LATER, DIANA STOOD BY THE LAKE WITH THE OTHERS OUTSIDE OF HEADQUARTERS, MOURNING THE LOSS OF THEIR FALLEN TEAMMATE AND FRIEND. Steve, Tony, Thor, Clint, and Bruce stood closest to the water, while Raevanna stood a little ways back with Diana, her head bowed as Diana rubbed her arm comfortingly.

"Do we know if she had family?" Tony asked after several minutes.

"Yeah," Steve replied. "Us."

Thor looked at the others, seemingly confused by their behavior. "What?"

Tony faced him. "I just asked him a question–"

"Yeah, you're acting like she's dead," Thor said, cutting Tony off. "Why are we acting like she's dead? We have the stones, right?" Now addressing Steve, he went on, "As long as we have the stones, Cap, we can bring her back, isn't that right?" Then, his voice lowered to an irritated growl as he snapped, "So stop this shit. We're the Avengers, get it together."

"We can't get her back," Clint said, his eyes still downcast.

Thor glanced at him. "Wha–what?"

"It can't be undone," Clint told him. "It can't."

Thor laughed dryly. "I'm sorry. No offense, but you're a very earthly being. Okay? We're talking about space magic. And 'can't' seems very definitive don't you think?"

Clint faced Thor. "Yeah, look, I know that I'm way outside my paygrade here. But she still isn't here, is she?"

Thor huffed. "No, that's my point–"

"It can't – be undone," Clint snapped. "Or that's at least what the red floating guy had to say." Raising his voice in sadness, he shouted, "Maybe you wanna go talk to him, okay?! GO GRAB YOUR HAMMER, AND YOU GO FLY AND TALK TO HIM!" Then, his anger was quickly replaced with grief, his voice lowering as he said, "It was supposed to be me. She sacrificed her life for that goddamn stone. She bet her life on it."

Suddenly, in a burst of anger, Bruce grabbed a bench and hurled it clear across the lake. Everyone watched him as the bench landed in the water with a loud splash, and after a moment of silence, Bruce turned to the others, his anger spent and a resigned look on his face.

"She's not coming back," Bruce said. "We have to make it worth it. We have to."

Steve nodded at him. "We will."

The others left the dock, walking off and entering the base. Only Raevanna and Diana remained, continuing to watch the water in silence.

"She taught me everything, you know," Raevanna said. Diana looked at her, so Raevanna explained, "Natasha. After Steve went into the ice, I went back to Elyon thinking he was dead. When I came back and found out he was alive, Nat was the one who helped me. She set me up in a nice place, recruited me to SHIELD... She taught me how to drive, how to use technology, how to understand modern slang... She taught me how to win a fight, how to get in and out of places without being seen, how to properly go undercover..." Raevanna sighed. "All that I am today is because of her. I... I owe her so much. But now she's gone, and she's never coming back. I don't... I don't know how I can go on now, knowing that she's not here."