I wrote this story because I didn't like the movie. Don't get me wrong, there are many good scenes in it and it is really good, but they killed my favorite character and that's not okay for me. Every time, I watched the movie, I was crying, so I wrote a different ending and I want to share it with you. So this is a story for everyone, who loves Tony and Natasha and can't accept what Marvel did to them.
I don't own anything. The characters belong to Marvel.
It was the hardest return to his beloved family he ever had. It was everything he had wished for, for the last five years. All he wanted to do was to pull them in his arms and never let go. But the price he had paid for getting them nearly crushed him. Natasha's blood was on his hands. She was dead because she had saved him. She died to give him his family back. How should he explain to them what happened? How should he tell his kids that their aunt wasn't coming back? What would Laura say when he would tell her about Natasha's sacrifice? Would she be angry that he didn't stop her? And what was about his time as a killer? Could she ever forgive him for what he did while they were gone?
"Dad!"
Clint looked up and saw his little girl running towards him, followed by her big brother. Tears fell down his cheeks, while his bow landed on the ground. He couldn't hold it anymore. This was his family! They were back! His two oldest pulled him in for a group hug, and Clint held them close. He kissed their heads several times and took in their unique scent. There was no way he would allow anyone ever again to take them away from him.
"Clint."
Laura stood behind her children with little Nate walking by her side. Gently, Clint pushed his children aside to welcome his beautiful wife. He gave her a soft kiss before he pulled her into a tight hug. More tears were spilling from his eyes, and he couldn't stop them.
"Baby, what happened? One moment you were practicing with Lila, and then suddenly you were gone. And when I call you, you tell me that you are in New York. I don't understand."
"Laura, I… I don't know how…"
He couldn't say it. How should he tell them that they had been gone for five years? Would they believe him? They hadn't felt the snap. They didn't even age through the years – unlike him.
"Clint?" asked Laura confused. She knew her husband for years, but she had never seen him like this. He seemed… broken. "Cooper, help me to get your father inside the house. Lila, take care of Nate."
Immediately, the two kids went into action. Lila took her little brother by the hand, while Cooper helped his mother. He threw one arm of his father over his shoulder, and Laura took the other one. Together they brought the sobbing archer inside the living room. They laid him on the couch, gave him a pillow and a blanket, but he refused to let go of Laura's hand. Laura sent her children out to play, while she stayed with her husband until he fell asleep.
Clint's dreams were filled with Natasha's death. Over and over again, he saw their fight. Every time, he tried to run faster, to be quicker than his best friend. He should be the one, who should lose this battle. But every time she was the one, who caught him and saved him from the fall. Clint wanted to pull her up, wanted to grab her, but her hand slipped through his fingers. Tears were running down his face, while he reached out for her and yelled her name.
"NAT!"
Panting, the archer woke up. His cheeks were wet from fresh tears, and his heart was racing as if their fight had just happened. The memory hurt, and he didn't know how to make it stop.
"Clint, look at me! You're home!"
Laura appeared beside him and cupped his face with her hands. She wiped away his tears and leaned her temple against his'.
"You're home, baby. Breathe."
Clint calmed himself, but he couldn't stop the tears. He was home with his family. This was everything he had wished for, but Natasha would never return to them. One part of his family was gone forever.
"Has something happened to Nat? You were yelling her name," Laura said.
"She…," he tried to explain, but his voice sounded hoarse.
"Is she hurt? Is this the reason why you left us?"
Clint shook his head. He had to tell her everything. Maybe he should start at the beginning when they disappeared in front of him. Maybe this would make it easier to talk about Natasha. Carefully, he took Laura's hands in his' and told her everything about what she had missed.
"…So, Nat and I, we teamed up to get the soul stone from a planet called Vormir. It sounded easy. Get the stone and bring it back to our timeline… What we didn't know was… that there was a price to pay… You have to lose someone you love… A soul… for a soul."
Clint's voice broke and fresh tears ran down his cheeks. He heard how Laura took a deep breath as she realized what he just told her.
"Nat… she is…"
Now it was Laura's voice, which broke when she tried to say the words her husband couldn't get over himself. Even the imagination was already too much.
"You want to tell me that… she killed herself?"
Clint nodded and closed his eyes in pain. Suddenly, he got a punch to the chest. Then another and another one. Laura, who was finally sobbing herself, hit her husband with her fists.
"Why didn't you stop her?!"
"I tried. We fought, and I had already jumped in the abyss, but… this stubborn woman. She followed me, connected me to her hook and saved my life. I couldn't hold her, and she fell."
Laura's punches got weaker until she hugged Clint, who hadn't stopped her from hurting him. It was nothing against the pain inside his heart. They heard another sob and immediately, their heads turned to the stairs. Cooper and Lila sat there. The big brother had his arm around his crying sister, while silent tears ran down his cheeks.
"How much did you hear?" asked Clint.
The look in his son's eyes told him everything he needed know. They had heard the whole conversation. They knew that their aunt would never come back to them.
Author note: I know that the first chapter isn't long, but I promise that the next chapters will be longer. I will try to upload two chapters every week. Until the next time :)