This is being cross-posted from Ao3. It was originally posted on 15 November 2020.
Huge thank you to GaeilgeRua for allowing me the use of her Grammarly subscription to read this over. Any other mistakes are definitely my own.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling, Bloomsbury, and Warner Bros. Marvel belongs to Disney. No copyright infringement is intended.
Prompt: #MMFRollADrabble May 2019 Clint Barton/Ginny Weasley/Time Travel
#MMFBingo Square G2: "Maybe when the time is right you will find me again." - k. tolnoe
"This better work," Clint muttered as he and Ginny stepped out of the ship they'd flown to Vormir.
"I already told you that there is no guarantee it will work at all, so don't get mad if it doesn't," Ginny said quietly as she looked around the strange planet. "We're messing with time on a planet outside of where Time-Turners usually work. This could go horribly wrong."
"I know," Clint said, wiping a hand down his face. "I'm sorry. I'm nervous."
"We're both nervous," Ginny said, taking Clint's hand. She smiled as he intertwined their fingers. "Come on."
Ginny led Clint to the middle of the shallow water lake that took up most of the far part of the planet. In the distance the mount where Nastaha had plunged to her death could be seen. Ginny shivered, but tried not to let Clint notice. She loved him, but knew that this was something they needed to do.
"This is the spot where I woke up," Clint explained, looking around the shallow water. "We should try it right here."
"Okay," Ginny said, extracting the Time-Turner from inside her spacesuit. Wrapping teh chain around the both of them, she asked, "Are you ready?"
"Yeah," Clint said, brow furrowed. "Do it."
Ginny nodded once and then turned the hourglass seven times left and then eight times right. This Time-Turner was not meant to make them travel in time, but instead the area around them would move backward through time. It was a new invention of Hermione and Doctor Strange… A long shot if anything, but they had to give it a try. At first nothing happened, and then they were both startled when a voice spoke behind them. They whirled around to find Natasha looking lost and confused.
"You shouldn't be here," a wobbly image of Natasha said, causing them both to jump.
"Nat!" Clint said rushing forward. When his hands went right through her body, he added. "What's wrong? Why aren't you really here?"
Natasha stepped forward, her body becoming more solid only when she cupped Clint's cheek. "I'm just a memory. I can't be brought back into this plane right now."
"We've come so far for you," Clint explained. "We're here to save you."
"I know, and I wish you could, but I am gone," she said with a sigh. "You shouldn't be here. You should be living your life. I want you to live your life, Clint."
"I can't live life without you," Clint said, his voice cracking.
Natasha glanced at Ginny. "You are not alone without me," Natasha said, giving Ginny a half smile. "You have many people that love you, including this one right here."
Clint shot Ginny a sideways glance. "You… You love me?"
Shrugging one shoulder, Ginny said, "I was waiting for the right time to tell you."
"Don't waste time," Natasha said, looking grim. "You never know when you'll have to say goodbye. Now, I have to go…"
"Please," Clint begged, refocusing on Natasha. "How do we save you?"
Natasha let her hand drop from Clint's cheek. Smiling sadly, she said, "Maybe when the time is right you will find me again."
"I can't leave you here alone," Clint struggled to say, tears silently sliding down his cheeks.
"I'm not alone," Natasha said as she started to back away from them. "I'm here with all of those that we lost before and after you lost me."
"Tony?" Ginny asked from where she'd been standing quietly to the side.
"Yes," Natasha said even as her form began to fade. "Even Tony. Now, I must go, but we will meet again someday."
And then Natasha vanished entirely. Clint fell to his knees, eyes squeezed shut in anguish. Ginny let him kneel there for a while until finally joining him. She wrapped her arms around Clint and placed her head on his shoulder.
"She said you would find her again when the time is right," Ginny said softly, coaxing Clint to wrap an arm around her waist. "Maybe we had the timeline wrong, or maybe we're not meant to find her here. Whatever the case, we'll keep researching until we get it right, okay?"
Nodding, Clint held tight to Ginny."You're right," he said, sighing. Kissing her temple, he added, "I love you. You know that, right?"
"I love you too," Ginny said, smiling even though her heart broke for Clint. Tugging him to his feet she took his hand. "Come on… Let's get home and see what we need to do next. We'll get Natasha back. I promise."
Hand in hand, Clint and Ginny returned to the ship and prepared to travel back home. They had their love and their will to fight. It might take some time, but they would find Natasha, together.