"What you seek lies in front of you. As does what you fear," said the floating red guy. Was it Steve's old Red Skull?
Natasha stood at the edge of the cliff, staring at the ground far, far below.
"The stone's down there."
"For one of you. For the other…" Clint came to stand beside her, his sword by his side. "In order to take the stone, you must lose that which you love. An everlasting exchange. A soul for a soul." they stood there for a second, absorbing the horror.
Only one of them would be heading home, and the other would be dying on this stupid rock. They really climbed that rock together just for one to jump off and the other to lose them forever.
Clint was stalling. He was attempting to come up with a solution that worked for both of them that both of them would walk off this rock together.
She just sat on a log.
He paced.
She stared into space.
Ha. They were in space weren't they.
"Maybe he's just making this up." Obviously he wanted her to stay with him. And she wanted him to join Laura and his children again, in the living world.
"No. I don't think so."
"Why? Cause he's got your daddy's name?"
"I didn't."
"Thanos left here with the stone, and without his daughter. That's not a coincidence."
"Yeah."
"Whatever it takes."
She knew, right then, that both of them were thinking of the edge of that cliff, with the etchings leading right off of it. The rock overhang that was basically a really messed up diving board.
For some reason, a song she hadn't listened to in years started playing in her head. At first, it was just the musical part, no words. She didn't recognize it.
She was reminded of the blue haired girl, the one who was able to attempt to live a better life. Red high top Converse. A returned whistle. The brown station wagon. Little Yelena singing along.
So bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee,
but the levee was dry
"Whatever it takes." She glanced at him. He had also come to the conclusion. She stood and walked over.
"If we don't get that stone, billions of people stay dead."
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Clint nodded. "Yeah." It came out softly, like his throat was dry. Like he was nervous. "Then I guess we both know who it's gotta be."
Singin' "This'll be the day that I die
She nodded. Her. She wouldn't have a family waiting for her. She hadn't heard from Yelena since they parted 6 years ago. "I guess we do."
He reached out to grip her hand. This was her best friend, her partner, her six, her back. He was almost always there for her. Losing her would be hard for him. He looked into her eyes, almost reluctantly, and she saw something there.
"I'm starting to think we mean different people here, Natasha," he said, finishing off with a smirk despite the circumstances.
"For the last five years I've been trying to do one thing. Get to right here. That's all it's been about. Bringing everybody back."
"Now, don't you get all decent on me now."
"What, you think I want to do it? I'm trying to save your life, you idiot."
"Yeah, well, I don't want you to. How's that? Natasha, you know what I've done. You know what I've become."
"Well, I don't judge people on their worst mistakes." Repeating that line that he had said all those years ago, to a girl that had allowed herself to be tracked down and killed, it almost brought tears to his eyes. She could tell.
"Maybe you should."
"You didn't."
"You're a pain in my butt, you know that?" She nodded.
He gripped her arms and pressed his forehead to hers.
"Okay." he said, abruptly pulling back. She had tear tracks down one cheek. "You win." She almost smiled and nodded at him.
Then he hooked his leg behind her ankle and took her down. Slamming her into the ground, he pinned her shoulder.
"Tell my family I love 'em."
She slammed a fist into his elbow, the other into his ear, and tossed him to the side. She also engaged her Widow Bites and pointed them at him.
"You tell 'em yourself."
This'll be
Her bracelet glowed then shot him with a Bite. She turned to the cliff and looked at it a moment before running at it, not scared due to the fact that he would recover in seconds and attempt to jump himself. He needed to see his family. She didn't have a real one. She never did.
When she was just a few feet from the ledge, Clint shot an exploding arrow in front of her, knocking her back and to the ground. As he ran to the edge, he maintained eye contact with her.
He jumped.
She jumped after him.
Knowing where the grappling hook on his belt was, she let it go and it buried itself into the rock. He grabbed her when they jerked to a stop at the end of the line, then lost her when they slammed into the rock, just barely catching her wrist again.
the day
He said some unsavory thing. She kinda smiled at him. He reached as hard as he could to grab her hand with his other, but needed to hold onto the cord.
"Wait."
He barely had any grip on her wrist. She could feel herself slipping. She glanced at the rock below them, then stared right into his eyes.
"Let me go." Her voice was softer than it had been in a long time. This was hard for the both of them. She was staring death right in the face and allowing it to take her.
"No. No. Please, no."
"It's okay."
"Please." He was heartbroken already.
She got a slight foothold on the wall and pushed herself off as hard as she could. There was no way he would be able to keep hold of her.
She slipped out of his grip. Natasha heard him scream, but the wind whistling in her ears drowned some of it out. She looked into his eyes the whole time, hoping that he saw this wasn't on him. This was her decision.
that I die
