Author's Notes: Thank you for the favorites and follows. I'm excited to see where this goes.
Lila woke up the next morning, feeling even more tired than the night before.
She opened her eyes and frowned.
Not recognizing the room or bed she was on.
She looked over to see Nat sleeping, facing away from her.
Then all of the horrible memories from the day rushed to her mind at once.
She choked out a sob while forcing herself upwards against the pillows.
It was real.
Her family disappeared.
The tears fell once again and she cried in agony.
Nat woke up, hearing Lila crying.
"Lila it's okay. I'm here…" she hugged her tightly.
"It's not okay Auntie Nat! They're not here!" she choked out.
Nat frowned, trying to come up with something to soothe her.
"We're doing everything we can to bring them back Lila. I promise you." Nat said determined.
Even though she wasn't sure how they'd track down Thanos.
Lila didn't respond and didn't want to pull away from the hug.
Her arms slouched against her.
"How about some breakfast Mm?" Nat asked her.
"Not hungry." she muttered.
Nat leaned back from the hug and frowned.
"Okay… then how about changing into some new clothes. You've been wearing those since yesterday?"
Nat managed, after much resistance from the teenager to get her out of bed and into the shower.
Hoping the hot water would help her calm down.
At least for a little bit.
Nat was there when she cried herself to sleep last night and could only imagine the innocent girl's state of mind.
She was currently sitting on the bed, her head resting on her clasped hands.
Sure she had babysat her, and her brothers when her parents would go on a date for the night but this… wasn't something she was planning on.
And yet, here she was.
Lila was depending on her during the worst time of her life.
And of her life as well.
She hadn't even had the time to process the disappearance of her partner… the person who saved her life after he was sent by SHIELD to kill her.
Laura, who never once judged her for what she had done and her past and welcomed her into her life like a sister without a second thought.
And had named their youngest son after her.
And of course Cooper and her namesake Nathaniel who loved her as an Aunt.
They became the family she had lost and now she had lost another one.
But she still had Lila who needed her even more than she needed her.
Nat was so lost in her thoughts she just realized Lila was in the shower for an alarmingly long time.
She checked her watch to see she was in the bathroom for nearly half an hour.
She frowned but got off the bed and walked to the door.
"Lila… Lila are you okay?" she asked while knocking on the door.
She pressed her ear against the door and heard the water turn off and shower door slide open.
She stepped back as the door slid open.
Lila was dressed in a simple pair of sweatpants and a hoodie over a t shirt.
Her dark brunette hair was still wet and draping past her shoulders in messy strains.
She was frowning.
"So are you sure you don't want anything to eat?" Nat asked her again.
She just shook her head no and she sighed.
Nat knew she was hungry and didn't want her to starve herself.
But she didn't want her to force to do anything.
"Okay, we can wait to lunch. How about a tour of the compound? C'mon. it's gotta be better than hanging out in here all day.
Nat grabbed her hand gently and led her out of her room.
She was surprised when she didn't meet resistance.
She showed Lila the expensive compound.
Showing her the movie theater, lap pool, library, music rooms with various instruments including a grand piano.
Another media room with gaming systems and gaming PC's.
It had been two years since Nat had been in the compound but luckily it looked exactly the same.
Only except it was startling empty.
The only people who were in the large building were just the remaining Avengers.
They walked down a hall that was leading them to the kitchen but she stopped.
She heard voices and turned back to Lila who was walking one step behind her.
"Lila, sweetie, do you want to continue? There may be some other's in the kitchen." she asked gently.
Lila once again didn't respond and Nat sighed.
She was completely out of her element.
The once happy and talkative girl that she knew was a shell of her former self.
Once again, she couldn't blame her.
"All right. You should see the kitchen! It has everything you'll ever need!" Nat said as they walked through the double doors.
She saw Thor and Rocket rummaging through one of the overhead cabinets.
Each of them grabbing a bottle of liquor.
Nat turned her head to see two empty bottles of liquor on the island.
"Man, Terran alcohol is weak. How do humans drink this stuff?" Rocket complained to himself.
Lila couldn't keep the surprise off her face, seeing a talking "raccoon" taking a swing from the bottle.
Thor turned around but stopped seeing Nat and Lila at the doorway watching them.
"Natasha, who is this?" he asked kindly, nodding at Lila.
"This is Lila Barton. She is staying with me… at least temporarily." Nat introduced her.
Thor walked up to them, towering over them and Lila looked up to him with her eyes, arching her head up to the much taller and muscular man.
She remembered them hiding out at the farm all of those years ago.
And of course she had seen videos of him and the other Avengers on YouTube.
"Lady Lila, I am sorry for your loss. Your father was a brave warrior." Thor said kindly.
She just frowned and Nat looked at her worryingly.
She was surprised to not see tears coming out of her eyes.
Just a blank, emotionless expression.
"Thank you Thor. Fair warning, my Vodka is off limits." she warned Rocket who was sitting on the island, his feet dangling off it.
"Don't flatter yourself widow! You can't even call this alcohol! No wonder you humans are so miserable!" Rocket shouted, insulted.
Nat narrowed her eyes at the insufferable furball but chose the high road with Lila next to her.
"C'mon, Lila. Let's leave them be." Nat wrapped her arm around her shoulder and led her out of the kitchen.
She looked over to Lila and could tell she wanted to say something.
"If you ask me, I personally don't see the advantage to a talking raccoon. A talking dog, sure. But a raccoon serves no purpose whatsoever." she tried to joke.
Lila raised an eyebrow but once again didn't say anything.
The day dragged on slowly and Nat spent the day with Lila in her room.
Lila hadn't uttered a word.
She just stared either at her when she talked or stared out into space.
Silently.
Nat knew what was happening to her.
She was shutting down.
She tried to get her to talk.
To get her to grief or do anything like she did yesterday but it was to no avail.
She just sat on her bed.
Staring out the window.
She left her briefly while she and Steve were in the kitchen.
It was evening and they were making dinner.
Boiling a large bowl of pasta, cooking meatballs and garlic bread for the Avengers.
Nat was allowing her thoughts to consume her once again.
She was stirring the bowl of pasta in the boiling water.
"You ok?" Steve asked while stepping to the side of her.
She turned her head and frowned.
"I know. Stupid question." he said, offering a faint smile.
"It's Lila. I feel so helpless. I haven't seen her in two years thanks to the Accords. She use to be so happy, talkative, would always talk about her activities and clubs. She has straight A's. Her friends. She loved her brothers. She had the perfect family. Hell she even learned Russian because her "cool Auntie Nat The Avenger" was Russian" she said fondly and Steve smiled.
"She begged for years for a bow like her dad and well it looks like Clint finally conceded. On the day everyone disappeared…" she said sadly.
The water began to simmer over the edge and she quickly grabbed the oven mitts to hold the pot handles.
She poured the contents of the bowl into the strainer that was in the sink.
"Nat, I don't know how I can help but I do think you already know how to take care of Lila. She loves you and I'm not sure if any of us will be much help when it comes to her compared to you." he offered while Nat was making a plate of food for Lile. Placing a piece of garlic bread to the side of the spaghetti.
"I know. I'm gonna try to get her to eat at least." she said and picked up the steaming plate.
She walked over to Lila's room and knocked on the door.
"Lila, sweetie. I have dinner." she said kindly through the door.
Once again she didn't hear a response.
"I'm going to open the door Lila." she warned before opening it.
That revealed a Lila who was still just staring out the window.
Leaning against the pile of pillows against the bedframe.
Herself facing away from her.
"I have dinner, Lila. Spaghetti and meatballs." she said while walking around the front of the bed and sitting next to her.
Placing the hot plate on her lap. Lila not even bothering to look at her.
"Sweetie I know you're in pain. I know you're hurting. We're doing everything we can to fix this but please, Lila you need to eat something." she asked kindly.
She watched Lila turned her head slowly to her and frowned.
She saw uncharacteristic anger on her face.
"What's the point?" she spat.
Nat frowned but pulled her into a hug.
"Because I lost my family too." she revealed. Lila frowned and pulled back to look at her. "I have a sister... I haven't been able to contact her. And it hurts to think if she disappeared And I can't loose you too. I'm an adult. I can deal with the pain. But please let me help you Lila... You're the only family I have left Lila, and I need you… as much as you need me." Nat pleaded.
The tears were streaming down Lila's cheeks by the time Nat finished.
"I just miss them… so much…" she choked out.
Nat wrapped her arms around her and stroked her hair soothingly.
"It just hurts. All the time.. All I feel is pain." she said while beginning to sob.
"I know Lila. I know. I'm so sorry…" she said and the two hugged each other for what seemed like forever.
The two finally pulled away and Nat looked down at the plate of food that was getting food.
"Now, how about some dinner?"
The days continued to pass.
Slowly.
Pepper Potts had moved in on the begging of Rhodey.
New York had become too dangerous and he was worried about her being alone at the tower.
So they had clung onto each other, over the fate of Tony.
On the third day though they received a visitor.
Carol Danvers.
Nat and Steve watched the CCTV footage of Fury and Hill being dusted away and before Nick was snapped he rushed to the back of his SUV to pull out a 90's style pager.
Steve and Rhodey found the car and it on the pavement in the city since she had refused to leave Lila.
It was transmitting something until it stopped yesterday.
Then she arrived.
Glowing with energy radiating off her and in a suit.
Asking for Fury.
She explained how she met Nick in the 90's and Nat could feel the strength and power of her.
They explained that he got snapped but she decided to take up residence in the compound.
Nat though was preoccupied with Lila.
Who was going through her stages of grief in her.
She refused to leave her room but she did get her to eat and the two mainly spent the time watching movies on the TV.
Nat would be there every time she broke down.
Day or night.
She noticed Lila had difficulty with sleeping.
Often being woken up by nightmares.
Something Nat herself was all too familiar with.
The days turned into weeks.
The remnants of the world governments were trying to pick themselves up and establish order again.
Which was easier said than done with half the world's population suddenly vanishing at once.
New York was largely abandoned.
But there was good news.
They received a signal from deep space.
From the other side of the galaxy.
Danvers was certain it was of Tony so she had flown back up to space to find him.
Nat was still with Lila in her room.
Currently watching Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Going over that previous event in her mind.
The world had indeed gotten stranger.
Night had fallen and the two had a bowl of popcorn on the bed between them.
The room and entire compound began to shake and vibrate.
The two shared a look and looked out the window.
She put on her hoodie and the two began to walk outside with everyone else.
They walked out to the front yard side by side with the others to see Danvers carrying the Benatar slowly down to the ground.
Lila couldn't comprehend what she was seeing.
Seeing Carol land the large ship down to the grass and turned back to them.
Giving the group a grave look.
The ramp lowered and she saw Nebula holding a severely thin looking Tony as they walked down the ramp.
Steve rushed up to grab him.
"Couldn't stop him." Tony told him.
"Neither could I." he said quietly.
"I lost the kid." Tony grieved for Peter Parker.
"Tony, we lost." Steve corrected.
"Is, uh…?" Tony asked about Pepper who pushed through the group to face him, struggling to come up with words.
"Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" she embraced him.
Lila frowned, feeling jealousy and anger of the reunion.
Nat looked at her with concern and down at her hands that clenched into fists.
She slowly unclenched each fist gently and grabbed her hand.
"C'mon, it's late. Let's head inside." Nat wrapped her arm around her to lead her back to the building.
Not seeing Rocket walk up to Nebula at the bottom of the ramp.
They sat down and held each other's hands at their loss.
The next morning, the team regrouped in the common room.
Tony himself was severely malnourished from being stranded in space after his confrontation with Thanos on Titan.
He was in a wheelchair and had an IV inserted in his vein on his wrist.
Nat had asked Lila to stay in her room while she had to "work" was her own words but she disobeyed her.
She wanted to know what was going on and what happened to her family.
So after five minutes she snuck out of her room and towards the common room.
She crept along the wall to the double doors and eavesdropped.
Steve was retelling Tony what had happened on Earth while he left.
Someone called Thanos used Infinity Stones to wipe out half of hall life.
She never heard of him or the stones before.
How did one person make people just vanish into thin air?
She used her arms to support herself against the wall at the agony but still wanted to listen on.
"It's been 23 days since Thanos came to Earth." she heard Rhodey begin.
In the center of the room were holographics of the missing and their faces.
Nat saw Clint's face appear on one of them.
"World governments are in pieces. The parts that are still working are trying to take a census. And it looks like he did... he did exactly what he said he was gonna do. Thanos wiped out fifty percent, of all living creatures." she said.
"Where is he now? Where?" Tony asked.
"We don't know. He just opened a portal and walked through." Steve answered.
Tony looked over to Thor who was sitting on a bench in the corner, looking deep in thought.
"What's wrong with him?" Tony asked about him.
"Oh, he's pissed. He thinks he failed. Which of course he did, but you know there's a lot of that's going around, ain't there?" Rocket got his attention while sitting on the floor.
"Honestly, until this exact second, I literally thought you were a Build-A-Bear." he mocked.
"Maybe I am." Rocket muttered.
"We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks now. Deep Space scans, and satellites, and we got nothing. Tony, you fought him." Steve stated.
"Who told you that? I didn't fight him. No, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleecker Street Magician gave away the store. That's what happened. There was no fight." Tony said angrily.
Lila frowned in confusion, wondering what he meant.
"Okay." Steve tried defusing the tension.
"He's unbeatable." he warned.
"Did he give you any clues, any coordinates, anything?" Steve tried again.
"Pfft! I saw this coming a few years back. I had a vision. I didn't wanna believe it. Thought I was dreaming." Tony dismissed sarcastically.
"Tony, I'm gonna need you to focus." Steve tried once again.
"And I needed you. As in past tense. That trumps what you need. It's too late buddy. Sorry. You know what I need?" Tony began to seethe.
He tried getting up, pushing cups off the table to steady himself.
"I need a shave. And I believe I remember telling all you…" he got up but lost his balance.
Rhodey rushed up to grab him.
"Alive and otherwise what we needed was a suit of armor around the world! Remember that? Whether it impacted our precious freedoms or not- that's what we needed!" he said through his clenched teeth.
"Well, that didn't work out, did it?" Steve reminded him.
"I said, "we'd lose". You said, "We'll do that together too." And guess what, Cap? We lost. And you weren't there. But that's what we do, right? Our best work after the fact? We're the Avengers, we're the Avengers. Not the Prevengers." he quipped while looking at his friend.
"Okay." Rhodey tried calming him down.
"Right?" he ignored him.
"You made your point. Just sit down." Rhodey tried to force him back in his wheelchair.
"Okay..."
"Okay? Nah, nah. Here's my point. You know what?" Tony continued.
"Tony, you're sick." Rhodey pleaded.
"She's great, by the way." Tony pointed at Carol who raised an eyebrow at him.
"Sit down. Sit." Rhodey begged.
"We need you. You're new blood. Bunch of tired old mules…" Tony said and got up to march right up to Steve's face.
"I got nothing for you, Cap! I got no coordinates, no clues, no strategies, no options. Zero. Zip. Nada. No trust. Liar." he whispered angrily.
Steve frowned, clearly hurt by his words.
Tony ripped out his chest piece and placed it in his palm.
"Here, take this. You find him, and you put that on. You hide." he hissed before collapsing.
Steve caught him while everyone crowded around him.
"Tony!"
"I'm fine. I…" he said but faceplanted into unconsciousness.
Lila frowned, hearing on silently.
Bruce helped Tony to the hospital bed with a worried Pepper at his bedside.
"Bruce gave him a sedative. He's gonna probably be out for the rest of the day." Rhodey told everyone.
"You guys take care of him. And I'll bring him a Xorrian Elixir when I come back." Danvers said and began to walk out.
Lila began to sped walk away, hearing her approaching footsteps.
"Where are you going?" she heard Nat ask.
"To kill Thanos." she said bluntly.
Steve and Nat shared a look before chasing after her.
"Hey, you know, we usually work as a team here, and between you and I, morale's a little fragile." Nat argued.
Lila frowned, not liking where the conversation was going.
"We realize up there is more your territory, but this is our fight too." Steve said determined.
Lila stopped in place and slowly backed up to her place to spy.
"You even know where he is?" Rhodey asked.
"I know people who might." she answered.
"Don't bother. I can tell you where Thanos is." Nebula revealed while standing behind Danvers.
"Thanos spent a long time trying to perfect me. And when he worked, he talked about his great plan. Even disassembled, I wanted to please him. I'd ask "where would we go once his plan was complete?". His answer was always the same: "To the Garden." she said.
"That's cute, Thanos has a retirement plan." Rhodey said dryly.
"So where is he?" Steve asked her.
"When Thanos snapped his fingers, Earth became ground zero for a power surge of ridiculously cosmic proportions. No one's ever seen anything like it... Until two days ago…." Rocket explained and projected a holographic on the table of a green planet.
"On this planet…." he said while an energy shockwave, coming from one place engulfed the whole planet.
"Thanos is there." Nebula stated while Nat leaned in to the graphic and realized something.
"He used the stones again." she realized.
"Hey, hey, hey. We'd be going in short-handed, you know." Bruce warned.
"Look, he's still got the stones, so..." Rhodey began but Danvers finished for him.
"So let's get him... Use them to bring everyone back."
"Just like that?" Rhodey asked with deep skepticism.
"Yeah, just like that." Steve nodded.
"Even if there's a small chance that we can undo this... I mean we owe it to everyone who's not in this room to try." Nat agreed.
Lila, still listening on but her breathing became hitched and began to panic.
She jumped out to the entryway, getting everyone's attention.
"You're leaving!" she exclaimed.
"You said you wouldn't!" she said angrily.
"Lila... what are you doing…" Nat said surprised.
Walking up to her, ignoring the gazes of the others.
"Spying. Please don't go Auntie Nat.." she begged.
Nat's heart broke once again but pulled her back out to the hall for privacy.
"Lila, listen. We have a chance to bring everyone back. Your dad, mom. Cooper, Nathaniel. Everyone. Don't you want your parents and brothers back?" she asked gently.
"Of course I do! But I still don't want you to go… and leave me alone…" she choked out.
Nat pulled her into a hug and Lila leaned her head into her neck.
"We have to try Lila. I'm sorry but it hurts me to see you like this. Don't you want me to try and bring your family back?" she asked.
Lila sniffed but managed to nod.
"Our family." she whispered and looked directly into her eyes.
"You're my Aunt. I don't know what I would have done if you were gone too…" she said sadly.
"We won't be gone Lila okay? When we come back. Everything will be okay." Nat promised her.
"Okay, Auntie Nat."
After an emotional goodbye, Lila watched the Benetar take off into the sky outside by the entrance.
She walked back inside and headed towards the common room.
She saw Pepper watching over Tony in their side room and hesitantly walked over there.
She stepped up to the doorway along the glass wall and knocked, getting her attention.
"Hi. How is he?" she asked concerned.
"Sleeping. Luckily. You're Lila right? Nat told us about you." Pepper said kindly.
"Yeah, she's my Aunt…" she said and tentatively stepped into the room.
She knew about Pepper obviously.
The CEO of Stark Industries and fiancé of Tony Stark.
"I just hope they can bring everyone back." she whispered sadly.
"I do too."
Meanwhile…. On The Garden,
"I am… inevitable…"
"We have to tear this place apart, he, he, he has to be lying." Rhodey said desperately.
"My father is many things. A liar is not one of them." Nebula said gravely.
"Ah, thank you, daughter." Thanos looked over at her and she looked down in shame.
"Perhaps I treated you too harshly…" he began but Thor used Stormbreaker to chop his head off.
Thanos' limp body falling to the floor with a thud.
Nat frowned, understanding that she failed and would have to go back to Lila who had now truly lost everything.
"What… what did you do?" Rocket asked Thor in shock.
"I went for the head."
Lila was still in the same room with Pepper and a sleeping Tony.
Making some conversation with her.
It began to rain hard outside which bounced off the windows.
But the two were nervous about the others coming back.
Nothing had happened yet Lila noticed.
Nobody had reappeared and her nerves began to wreck her.
What if they failed?
What if she would never see her parents or brothers again?
She couldn't even bare the thought let alone the reality.
The building began to shake again and she and Pepper shared a look.
She ran outside as fast as she could to meet them in the front yard eagerly.
Standing in the heavy rain that drenched her clothes.
It lowered while she tapped her foot nervously.
She saw Nat and Steve leading them down the ramp and saw their defeated faces.
Her legs began to shake and knees buckled and she collapsed on the grass on her side.
Crying out in pain, Nat ran up and crouched down to hold her.
"I'm so sorry Lila. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry…" she whispered repeatedly.
Her kneeling on the grass while Lila shook and cried in her arms.
The other Avengers stopped by the end of the ramp.
Dipping their heads low in shame to her deafening cries.
Nat shushed her and began to stroke her hair.
"Shh… I'm right here Lila… It'll be okay… I'm right here…. I'll never leave you again…"