Now or Never

Chapter 25 ~ My dog can frickin' talk!

I know I said that I hate crying in front of people, but I can't help but let a few tears slip down my face as I hold the bed of roses and dark green leaves in my hands. In the middle of it is a red hourglass, the symbol of the Black Widow.

I walk out of the kitchen where I made the piece. Silent tears slide down my face as I walk to the dock that leads out to the river. Lining the dock is the team. Even though some didn't know her as well as the original six that fought with her had, they still showed their respect. We bow our heads in silence, mourning our lost friend, our family. I lift my head up, trying to stay strong as I hand the bed of roses to Clint since he knew her longer than any of us.

Dad comes up to me, putting an arm around my shoulder and Tony comes on my other side, taking my hand in his and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Clint walks toward the edge of the water and then turns around to face the group.

"I met Natasha when I was sent to kill her. Obviously that didn't happen... I brought her back with me and managed to convince SHIELD that she would be a valuable asset to them. From that day on she was my partner. We were sent on missions together and I knew she would always have my back. She didn't deserve to die like this..." Clint starts getting emotional, letting his barrier slip. "It should've been me..." He whispers.

Bruce comes over and lays a hand on Clint's shoulder. Clint bows his head as he lets the tears slip. He then looks up at Bruce who gives him a nod before removing his hand from his shoulder. Clint turns back around and places the bed in the water. The team watches in silence as the bed of flowers drift down the river. Clint comes back to join the rest of the team.

"She was a pain in the ass... Difficult to work with and understand sometimes, but she was the most loyal person I've ever met. I'm gonna miss her." Dad says and the original Avengers all hum in agreement.

We all move to different parts of the dock while Scott, Rocket, Rhodey, and Nebula leave to let the original six continue to grieve the loss of our friend and reminisce. I'm sitting on Dad's lap and Max is sitting on mine while the others are standing around. Tears are running down my face as I stare at the lake.

Nat was my best friend and was always the one that kept me sane around all these boys. She was like an older sister I never had. She was my family and now she's gone, but at least she went out in a heroic way. She sacrificed her life to give us an opportunity to bring everyone else back home and for that I'm proud of her, but I didn't want her to go so soon. She was there whenever I needed her just like Dad was, but she was there when I needed to talk about girl things. Something Dad himself wouldn't understand. I loved her and I hope she knew that too. Like she said before, this job, this family we have... it made her better, made all of us better for the greater good and I guess all of this was just fate, destiny fulling its purpose.

Tony can't seem to raise his eyes from the floor as he mumbles, "Do we know if she had family?"

"Yeah. Us." Dad answers, tears falling down his face.

"She was our family. I looked up to her like she was an older sister." I sniffle.

"What?" Thor comes over to Tony. "What are you doing?"

"Just asked them a question." Tony looks at Thor.

"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, Lady (Y/n), we can bring her back. Isn't that right? So, stop this shit. We're the Avengers. Get it together." Thor says, clearly not understanding the situation here.

"Can't get her back," Clint speaks up.

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

"It can't be undone. It can't." Clint tells him.