AN: I really fought with the end of this chapter, I just couldn't get it to end in the right place, so I hope it's not too jerky or jarring. But I've had a crazy few weeks (of which I wont bore you with all the details), but that's why this chapter took so long. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

"Was there a party or something I wasn't invited to?" Clint asked, walking into the kitchen where they were all sat. They looked pathetic, Bruce was dozing lightly on the counter, Tony was desperately chugging coffee, Steve was mindlessly watching tv on the couch and Natasha was lying on the island, staring at the ceiling. Tony jumped when he turned around to see Clint, dropping his mug and waking up Bruce.

"I didn't get any sleep" Bruce said like it was obvious, which it really was when you looked at him. He had dark bags under his eyes, in fact, most the group did upon further inspection.

"Me either" Natasha added, folding her arms over her head to block out the light. She looked the worst out of the group, wearing sweatpants and a jumper that looked too big to belong to her.

"Yeah, me either." They all gave each other curious looks, having only just noticed how catatonic the rest of the group were.

"Why didn't you sleep?" Clint asked, furrowing his eyebrows, suspicious. It wasn't uncommon that no one would sleep in the tower, but they didn't talk about it. It was an unspoken rule they had.

"You first" They all exchanged glances, no one wanting to say the thing that kept them up. "Nightmares" Steve was the one who had the courage to say it. He already knew both him and Natasha had a nightmare, but they hadn't talked about it, not properly.

"Same" They all said in unison before trading looks of confusion again. "Ok, what the hell?"

"Seriously, I go home for one night and I miss the joint Avengers nightmare?" Clint moaned in fake exasperation, but they could all tell he was thankful for missing whatever hell they were in.

"It probably wasn't the same dream. Just a coincidence." Steve tried to reason, because it wasn't a dream, it was an awful nightmare.

"Probably, I doubt you guys all had the dream that New York would flood." Tony commented idly, thinking nothing of it until they all turned to look at him in surprise.

"There were whales in the streets." Bruce said, his eyes wide. "And they were aliens." Steve added.

"Thor showed up." There were so many other things they could've said, but they all avoided saying the most important thing. They all looked over to Natasha, and she shrunk back against her stares.

"I died"

"Look, just because we all had the same dream-" Steve started, trying to be rational, despite his stomach churning. Now he knew everyone had the same nightmare, the chance of it happening was so much bigger, and he couldn't lose Natasha. He wouldn't lose Natasha.

"Nightmare." Tony interrupted.

"Yes, nightmare, doesn't mean it's actually going to happen. Natasha's not going to die" Steve looked over to her. She was sitting crossed legged on the island now, and she looked more shaken than she did in the night. He debated for a moment, whether just to deal with Tony's smartass comments so he could comfort her, but the imperceptible shake of her head told him not to.

"We all saw the same thing. That can't mean nothing." Tony said, before Bruce put across his point of view. "Precognition doesn't exist."
"Just because you've never experienced it doesn't mean it doesn't exist" Tony and Bruce continued their argument as Natasha tuned out, and for once in her life, she really hoped Tony was right. Her phone buzzed on the table next to her, bringing her out of her stupor. "Wanda?"

"Hey Nat. We think we're in trouble." Natasha could clearly hear her accent, something which was only evident anymore when she was scared or concentrating.

"Did you have the dream too?" Natasha kept her voice steady, despite the fear coursing through her veins. The more people who had it, the higher the chance it came true.

"Dream? What dream?" Wanda was confused, and Natasha felt her heart lift slightly. This was entirely unrelated to the pandemonium going on in the tower. "It's nothing. What's going on?"

"All the pipes in the facility burst, like all of them." Maybe not completely unrelated then.

"Shit."

"What is it?" Steve asked, coming over to sit on the stool next to her, having been listening to her side of the conversation. "All the pipes burst at the compound." She told him, letting him see the fear in her eyes. This was happening, it was coming true.

"Shit."

"Language" Tony managed to slip in the middle of his argument with Bruce almost subconsciously.

"Steve, Nat, what's happening?" Sam's voice came over the speaker, his voice somewhere between panic and confusion.

"Stay at the compound. See if you can find a way to stop the water, whatever you do, don't come into the city." Steve ordered, taking control because god knows, Natasha wasn't in the right state of mind to do that right now.

"Copy that Cap" They hung up, looking at each other in concern. She was shaking slightly, so he took her hands, encapsulating them with his own.

"It doesn't mean anything. It's just a coincidence." She said, but she was becoming less and less convinced as time passed.

"Yeah, besides, the pipes here are fine." He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, bringing them up to his mouth and pressing a kiss to her knuckles whilst no one was watching.

"Mr Parker is calling. Should I put him through?" Jarvis' voice rang through the room, and Tony waved his hand in the ceiling, gesturing for Mr Parker to be put through.

"Is everything okay Pete?" They all looked at Tony, mainly wondering who the hell Pete was.

"Mr Stark, you'll never believe what happened." The voice belonged to an excited teenager, and Steve looked to Natasha, raising an eyebrow in question. Why was a teenager calling Tony Stark?

"Look kid, we're kind of dealing with an emergency here. I really don't have time-" Tony started speaking, before he was cut off. "I think I did something bad Mr Stark."

Tony sighed, pinching his forehead in exasperation, though there was something akin to concern in his eyes. "What did you do?"

"It's so crazy Mr Stark. I had this dream that New York flooded, and then all my pipes just burst in actual real life." At this, Tony's eyebrows shot up, practically reaching his hairline. Another account of pipes burst in New York.

"This isn't you kid. We don't know what's going on, but we all had the same dream." Tony's voice suddenly shifted, the concern clear, his voice almost loving. The rest of the avengers had never seen him like this, not even with Pepper, and it brought on the question of who exactly this kid was.

"Oh good. Wait, who's we? Are you with the other Avengers?" Again, Peter was excited, clearly more so at the prospect of meeting the avengers.

"Yes I'm with the other Avengers and no you can't meet them. Is your aunt home?" Why was Tony asking about this kid's aunt? Surely his parents should be at home or something. "She's at work. Should I come over to the tower?"

"Stay at your apartment kid. Promise me you won't leave."

"But Mr Stark." He protested, clearly trying to say something before Tony cut him off. "No, fix your pipes and don't leave the apartment Peter."

"But I can help." He whined, leaving everyone more confused. How could a teenage boy help? And why did he get the same dream as the rest of them if he was just some kid Tony knew?

"If you leave that apartment, I'll ground you"

"You can't ground me." The kid argued, and Tony raised an eyebrow as if he could see him. "Uhh, yes I can. Don't leave the apartment kid" Tony hung up at that point, massaging his temples.

"Uh Tony, do you have a secret kid you never told us about?" Bruce asked the question they were all thinking, channelling their puzzled looks onto his own.

"It's a long story." Tony let out an almost wistful look, a small smile gracing his features before they immediately snapped back to impassivity.

"Can anyone else hear that?" Steve asked suddenly, whipping his head around, clearly listening to something. They all quietened for a second, trying to hear the same before Clint sighed. "You know not all of us have super hearing Cap."

"Actually, I can hear something." Natasha said, her ears attuning to the soft creaking coming behind the walls. There was a loud clang, followed by more creaking and groaning.

"What is that?" They didn't have to wait long for their answer, the kitchen sink exploding and shooting water across the room. Soon enough, all the other water outlets erupted, sprays of water showering the room until they were completely soaked.

"What the?" Natasha wasn't sure where the voice came from, she was too busy trying to breathe, because this couldn't be happening. It wasn't happening.

"The dream's coming true."

"It's just a coincidence." Natasha insisted, but she'd lost faith. She wasn't an idiot, she knew what this all meant, and it terrified her. She wasn't ready to die. For the first time in her life, she wasn't ready to die, she had something to lose. She looked over to her something, he was pressing his knuckle to his lips in thought, a habit she knew he'd picked up from her. He looked scared, and it was a look so foreign on his face that she didn't know what to do.

"We have three separate account of pipes bursting in New York. I bet you anything it's happening all over the city." Tony said, and Steve let out a long sigh before saying anything. He was considering their options, but they all knew there was only one solution. "Alright, suit up."

"You're sticking by me." Steve said, shoving his shield onto his back as she fiddled with her widow bites. Her hair was still dripping wet, leaving trails of water on the floor behind her, despite the fact Tony had managed to cut off all the water in the tower.

"Agreed." She didn't even want to argue, she wanted his protection. She wanted him by her side, protecting her from the alien whales. It was completely unlike her, she could hold her own in a fight better than anyone, and usually she would kill Steve for even suggesting she needed his help.

"Alright, what's wrong, y'know, apart from the whole impending death thing?" He took her hand, pulling her to him and caressing her cheek gently with his free hand.

"I don't want to die." She admitted softly. He could see the fear behind her eyes, and it was an emotion she was so unused to seeing in her, that it made him scared as well. But he had to be strong, because otherwise he'd collapse into his own thoughts.

"No one wants to die Tash." He whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead before wrapping her as tightly as he could in his arms, afraid to let go.

"I always thought when my time came, I'd be ready. But I finally found a reason to care about not dying, and now I'm going to and there's nothing I can do about it." She pressed a kiss just below his collarbone before resting her head in the center of his chest, listening to the beating of his heart.

"Listen to me Natasha. You are not dying today. I promise you."

"Don't make promises you can't keep." Her eyes were glossy with tears as she looked up at him, so he swiped his thumb over her cheeks in an attempt of comfort. Her words broke his heart slightly, because she was ready to die, she was planning on it. And Steve didn't think…no, he knew he couldn't live in a world without Natasha. "I'm not intending on breaking it. And stop being morbid. I can't have a partner who's complaining all the time."

"Fine." She grumbled resignedly, but a smile slipped onto her face momentarily. She stepped away, making to get her guns when he tugged her back into him, gripping her tightly. His hug was also crushing, the desperation radiating off him.

"I love you." His confession was nothing new, but the way he said it, such a melancholy, hopeless whisper broke her heart, and Natasha couldn't help a tear slipping out her eye. She wasn't ready to leave him.

"I love you too. So much. I can't imagine who I'd be without you." She pressed a soft kiss to his shoulder before he tilted her head, capturing her lips with his own. He swiped the pad of his thumb over her cheek, leaving it there and cradling her cheek. "Me either, which is why you're not dying today."

"What's the plan Cap?" Tony asked, flying down to hover over the water level that was already ankle deep. His suit could withstand water, but he wasn't planning on taking any risks.

"If I remember correctly, we have to find where this all started. Tony, start working with Jarvis to find out where the epicentre is. Until we can figure out how to stop this, our only option is to kill these creatures. Stay on high ground, get civilians up. Our priority here is Natasha. At no point should she ever be alone, there's no point winning this battle if we lose one of our own." Steve had quickly morphed into Captain America mode, putting aside his own fear and letting instinct take over. Natasha wasn't going to die toady, but they all would if he was consumed by his fear and let himself get distracted. He still wasn't going to leave Natasha alone though.

"Copy that. Anyone want a ride?" Clint put up his hand, letting Tony grab him by his jacket and flying up.

"Come on. They're over there." He grabbed her hand in a fleeting touch, pulling her towards where the epicentre seemed to be. Part of him wanted to send Natasha away from here, but he knew he couldn't, and that he'd have to be there to protect her. Because she was strong, but she was only human. They heard thunder crackle overhead, signalling Thor's arrival.

"Sounds like backup." She smirked, stepping back as a beam of light lit up the ground in front of them as Thor appeared in its wake. "Captain, Lady Widow. What's happened?"

"Alien whales, weird dreams." Natasha summarised, causing Steve to roll his eyes at her. There was a reason Natasha didn't fill out mission reports. "Ahhh, they're called Iocanthes." Thor informed them, like it would help in anyway. It did bring them some comfort that Thor at least knew who they were, and with that hopefully the knowledge he knew how to stop them.

"Yeah, I'm gonna stick with alien whales big guy." Tony said, coming over briefly to pat Thor on the back, handing him comms before flying off again.

"How do we stop them?" Steve asked, flinging his shield at one coming right at them. "They are weak, they will outnumber us. They will be coming from somewhere."

"Tony, find it." He ordered, looking up at the sky as if that would help. "Copy that captain."

"Hey guys. I heard there was a battle in the middle of New York. Thought you might need my help. Although you're the Avengers so you seem to be handling it fine." If there was one thing Steve hadn't expected to turn up, it was definitely Spiderman. He swung in between the buildings, webbing up some of the whales Steve was fighting.

"What are you doing here kid? I told you to stay at home." Tony yelled through the comms, his voice obviously angry, although Steve didn't even know when Tony met Spiderman, let alone being angry with him.

"I couldn't stand by and watch innocent people get killed." He argued back, his voice crystal clear in Steve's ear, making him question just how this kid got onto their encrypted line.

"We will talk about this later. Go home" Tony ordered. "Please Mr Stark." Steve could practically hear the boys pout, his voice a low whine.

"God help me. You can stay. But if you get hurt your Aunt is going to kill me." Tony emitted a deep sigh, causing the kid to let out a little squeal before coughing to cover it up. "I won't let you down Mr Stark." Peter grinned under his mask, swinging away from Tony and webbing up the whales trying to go further out into the city.

Peter saw it in slow motion as he swung across the roof, watching one of the whales Natasha was fighting graze her stomach, biting down and piercing her skin as she fell down. He webbed up all the aliens around them before dropping down onto the roof.

"Oh my god. Are you okay Mrs Widow?" He ran over to her, she was laying on the floor and she didn't look particularly healthy. Her skin was already paling, and the amount of blood that was streaming out her stomach was worrying to say the least.

"Please don't call me that. And what does it look like? I just got bitten by an alien whale." She snapped at him harshly, but Peter took no notice. He'd been around Mr Stark for long enough to know people said things they didn't mean when they were in pain. And she was clearly in a lot of it.

"Are you gonna die?" She seemed to pause at his comment, considering her answer. Peter didn't know if he wanted to know it. "Maybe"

"Oh god. Okay, I can fix this. You're gonna be okay Miss ummmm…" He trailed off, because he wasn't sure what to call her. She seemed to take pity on him, sending him a brief smile before it quickly turned into a hiss of pain.

"Natasha's fine Peter" She grimaced, pressing down on the bites over her stomach. She didn't know for sure that this Spiderman was the Peter they'd talked to earlier, but all the signs pointed to them being the same person. Peter carefully moved her hands, looking at the damage. The bites themselves weren't bad, but it seemed there was some sort of poison present, causing her blood to turn a greyish red.

"Okay. You're gonna be fine Natasha. I've got everything under control." He definitely did not have everything under control. He had no idea how to help whilst also keeping her calm. He just webbed up the bad guys and made snarky comments.

"Uhh guys?" He said over the comms, because she was starting to get paler, all colour leaving her cheeks and he had no idea how to help her other than to stop the bleeding.

"Yes Parker?" Tony snapped slightly, and it was only now that Peter realised how stressed the Avengers were, because clearly Mr Stark had no concern over keeping his identity a secret anymore. "Natasha took a hit."

"Fuck." Peter wasn't entirely sure who said it, but silence fell over the comms quickly, like they all knew something he didn't.

"Where are you?" Captain America's voice came through his suit, his tone terse and harsh. "Rooftop on 72nd."

"I'm on my way." Peter's enhanced hearing immediately picked up the trashing of Steve wading through the water, trying to get to their location.

"What's her condition?" Mr Stark asked, concern lacing his tone. Peter knew anyone getting hurt on a mission was bad, but everyone seemed very concerned. He glanced back at Natasha, gulping nervously. He was sure 'like death' wasn't the right thing to say.

"I'm still alive" Natasha butted in at this point, causing a soft chuckle to come over the comms.

"She doesn't look good, she got bitten by one of the whales." Peter filled in, deciding to omit just how awful she looked. "God, please don't die." He pulled his mask off his head, figuring seeing a face would probably help. He had no clue what he was doing. He really hoped an actual adult would get there soon.

"Not planning on it kid." She managed a weak chuckle, but he was getting more and more concerned, and her grip on consciousness was fading quickly.

"Good, cause then that'd be on me and I really can't have your death on my conscience. I'm only young." He joked, and she raised a quizzical eyebrow but not before her lips quirked into a small smile. "Exactly how old are you?"

"Uhhh…" Luckily he was cut off before he could answer. He didn't think that Tony would appreciate him telling them that he let a 16 year old fight with the Avengers

"I could really do with a lift here." Steve called, and Peter darted away from Natasha's side to see Steve at the bottom of the building. The pressure from the water had stopped all the doors opening, so unless he could fly, there was no way Steve could get up to the roof.

"I'm on it." Peter said, running back to Natasha as he pulled his mask back on. "Please don't die whilst I'm gone. That would really suck"

"I'll try my hardest" With her assertion he left her to swing down the building. The bright blue suit wading through the water was impossible to miss. He shot out a web, encircling the Captain's wrist before flying back up, bringing Captain America with him. They landed on the roof, Peter grinning under his mask as Steve tried to regain some composure. "What the hell?"

"I just gave a ride to Captain America. I'm awesome." He didn't get any response off Steve, who had run over to Natasha and was kneeling by her side. "Hey, you're alive"

"Damn right I am. This hurts like a fucking bitch." She gave him a little smile, sighing as he ran his hands through her hair. "Good. If it hurts it means you can't die."

"I don't think that's true Steve." He simply kissed her forehead in response, tucking her hair out of her face. He grabbed her shaking hands, replacing them with his own, trying to stench the bleeding as much as he could.

"So I should get back to the fight" Peter jerked his hand backwards, scuffing his feet on the floor, feeling uncomfortable in the intimate moment.

"You are not leaving this rooftop kid." Natasha grabbed his leg, pulling him to the floor with her, landing heavily next to her. How she still possessed so much strength he had no idea, but Peter figured he didn't want to cross her. "Uhh, okay."

"Look kid. You're the only unknown variable in this fight. You leave, I die. So you're not leaving." Peter visibly gulped at her words, his hands fidgeting as he figured out what to do. "Do you want me to do something or…?"

"Sure kid, someone's gonna have to put some pressure on these cuts."

"I'm here Nat. It's okay." Steve kissed her forehead softly, and Peter was internally screaming because Captain America and the Black Widow were dating.

"You need to leave Steve." She brought her shaking hands up to cradle his face, her eyes begging with him. "No." He couldn't help but pour his everything into those two letters. He couldn't express how much he needed to be here, with her.

"Steve, you were here, in the dream. You held me as I died. You have to leave."

"I'm not leaving you Natasha." A tear slipped out of his eye, landing on her cheek. "If you leave Steve, I can't die." Her logic was flawed, but she hoped Steve wouldn't call her out on it. She needed the hope. "That's not how it works Tash and you know it. I'm not letting you die alone."

"I won't be alone. I'll have Peter." She insisted, gesturing for Peter to take over for Steve's hands, letting him bring his hands up to her hair, threading his bloody fingers through it. Neither of them seemed to notice or mind.

"Natasha." He pleaded, his voice a breathy whisper as he tried to compose himself. "Please Steve. Besides, the team needs you. If you lose this fight, I will kill you from beyond the grave." She let out a small laugh before the pain got to much, her chuckles becoming coughs.

"I can't leave you Nat." Tears were freely flowing down his face, the prospect of actually losing Natasha, his Natasha was breaking his heart.

"Trust me?" Her question was redundant, they both trusted each other more than anyone else, but she needed to hear it. "Always and forever."

"I'm gonna be fine Steve, but you need to go." Peter had never seen two people look so…so emotionally broken. Two of the strongest Avengers, crying and cradling each other because the thought of losing each other was too much to bear.

"You are not leaving this world without knowing you're loved Nat. Because I love you so goddamn much." He kissed her lips softly, his hands continuously running through her hair. "I know Steve. But I'm not leaving if I can help it." It wasn't a promise, far from it, but it was something they both needed to hear. She was here and she wanted to stay. "I love you too Steve. Now please, go." Another kiss was pressed to her lips, and her temple and cheeks and every single bit of her face before he finally left.

Peter was terrified. In an ideal world, he would've gotten Natasha off this roof and to the nearest hospital, but that clearly wasn't an option. But he had to do something. He couldn't sit here and watch her die, he couldn't do that again, he wouldn't do that again. An idea crossed his mind, he had no idea if it was even going to work, but he had to try.

"Go for it kid. I'm gonna die anyway." Huh, he hadn't realised he was talking out loud. How long had he been doing that? "Please don't say that. It's really freaking me out." Peter begged, fiddling with the controls on his web shooters.

"Doesn't make it any less true Peter. And I refuse to believe anything you do could make this much worse." How she was still holding a coherent conversation was beyond him, and a large part of him didn't want to know how she was doing it. He'd read a little bit of the information that had leaked about her a few years ago, but he found it all very unsettling and refused to read any more.

"Okay, I promise this wont hurt, well, at least I hope it won't."

"Can't hurt more than it already does kid." Peter couldn't blame her for being so morbid, but it was incredibly disconcerting, so he tuned her out, changing his web fluid to his new protype. His incredibly new prototype that he'd only done a few tests on and definitely shouldn't be testing on a human being. But he figured this was an emergency.

"This is gonna be cold. I think." He warned her before shooting his web at her stomach, the web spreading out over the gash and effectively sealing it. The bleeding slowed considerably, but it was the venom he was more concerned about. He'd laced the fluid with antibiotics and painkillers, but he hadn't figured out the formula properly. He could only guess how everything was going to react.

"You stopped the bleeding kid." She commented, her eyes fluttering shut as she grew tired. "No no no, stay with me Natasha. You can't go to sleep." He tapped her cheek gently, watching as her eyes open and shut lethargically.

"But I'm so tired."

"Stay awake for me Natasha." He begged, he little taps becoming closer to slaps as he tried in vain to keep her awake.

"Thank you маленький паук" She whispered before she finally fell into blackness.

"Good news kid, she's not dead. In fact, I'm fairly sure you saved her life." Tony approached him in the lab. He'd been tinkering with his new webs, todays experience had shown him he needed to be more prepared, and this was distracting him from thinking about Natasha. "Great. That's good right?" Peter asked in question, but he couldn't help but think about what could've happened on that roof. He couldn't watch someone die again.

"Of course it's good. But you also doped her up, a lot." Tony chuckled to himself slightly and Peter winced. Clearly he needed to alter the formula. "How bad is it?"

"She's currently trying to make out with Steve. She's pretty high." Peter hadn't realised that Steve and Natasha weren't exactly public knowledge, and he couldn't help but grin. "Yeah, that's pretty weird."

AN: If you have any ideas that you desperately, or not so desperately want incorporated into this story, please let me know and I'll try to write them in. I hope you enjoyed, please follow, favourite and review. Constructive criticism is always welcome and appreciated.