[do not read if you have not seen the movie/already spoiled things for yourself]

Neither of them fully understood death. Well, who did? It was unheard of for someone to die and then come back to life, recounting what they had been through and witnessed. The change was permanent. There was no walking back to the land of the living from here.

The first to arrive to Limbo was the fiery redhead, with a blonde ombré finish, Natasha Romanoff. She was not miffed or upset that she died. She had chosen to sacrifice herself for the greater good, to allow the people she called family to come home. She had given herself up in the hopes that the other Avengers, the main core of her family, had succeeded and brought the dusted back to life.

Limbo felt painless, Natasha realized. Well, minus the excruciating throb in the back of her skull. An echo of the reason that got her here. Her clothes were not the same she'd been in prior to her fall, they were now off-white and nothing like her normal cat suit she was used to donning. Her multicolored hair remained in the same braid when she was still alive.

Her green eyes scanned the sea of mist, unsure of where to go. There were no signs that said "this way to Heaven" or "this way to Hell". She liked to think she deserved a peaceful afterlife after what she had fought through.

On the other side of the mist was perhaps one of the greatest heroes that the Earth was graced to ever have: a man by the name of Tony Stark. He wandered through the same mist, a dull ache shooting through the right side of his body, which remained unharmed and unmarred from the aftereffects of what he had done. He was very well aware of how he got to Limbo. It had cost him everything: the life he had built, his family, but most of all, his life. He had made perhaps the greatest sacrifice of them all.

He only hoped that, in the end, he got a dramatic funeral. He wouldn't have wanted anything less. It was something he had never spoken out loud to anyone, because, nobody really liked to talk about their own funeral arrangements.

The two friends were so close, yet unaware of just how soon they were about to find each other.

Natasha spotted Tony's figure through the mist before he could register her. At first she believed it was a trick of her mind's eye. Could Limbo create hallucinations to help her be at peace? If anything, this would only hurt her more. If she thought about her friends in Limbo with her, it would mean she wished they had died to join her. That was most definitely not what she wanted. The point of her death was to help save others from demise.

The former assassin crossed carefully, Tony's features came into focus. He was dressed as she was, in off-white clothes. He did not look battle ridden, just as she did not look as though she plummeted to her death over a cliff.

If he is here, then what about the others? Steve? Bruce? Clint? Thor? While she had cared about the others who were part of the mission to retrieve the Infinity Stones via the Quantum Realm, she was more concerned about her main family. If her sacrifice had been all for nothing...

Natasha wondered if it were possible to get out of Limbo and haunt the remaining Avengers. That was under the condition they weren't in Limbo as well.

"Romanoff?" came Tony's quiet, perplexed question. As if he couldn't believe he was seeing her. She could feel the same sentiment.

"Hey, Shellhead," she said softly. It almost made him smile. Almost. "You...?" She couldn't bring herself to get the last of the question out.

Tony nodded once, rather grimly. He flexed his right arm, the arm that, back in the real world, had wielded a modified gauntlet that had ended Thanos and everyone who chose to follow the purple maniac. "So, uh, does this place have a bar, or maybe an R and R?" he asked conversationally, trying to make the best out of the rather depressing reality. "I could use all of it."

"Unfortunately, I've had no such luck. This mist is all that's been here." Natasha struggled to keep her voice level. She was a little glad that she wasn't alone anymore, but at the same time, seeing Tony could indicate only one outcome to her.

She tried not to think about it.

"I'm kinda disappointed, Romanoff," said Tony nonchalantly, as if discussing the weather. "If anything, I thought you would've found a way to escape by now."

"I'm still trying to get past the shock of how...quiet it is here. How empty. How lonely." Her eyes scanned the mist again. She hoped she didn't see anyone else come to join their duo. It'd only devastate her more than seeing Tony did now.

"Well, it's not as lonely as before. You got me now."

Natasha's face fell. Yeah, I do have you now. "I'm sorry."

Tony scoffed. "You can't apologize for dying for the greater good. Whatever it takes."

The redhead flinched at the mantra the Avengers had used in order to undo the damage Thanos had caused. "Did we get all the stones?"

"Yeah, we did. We got things back on track...only to throw them off the rails again. We got wrapped up in a hell of a final battle."

"A shame that I missed it." Natasha bounced slightly in place. "You want to tell me all about it while we navigate? I could use a good story to pass time, and I know how you are with a flair for the dramatic."

"Sure thing. And I believe I should be...thanking you for that compliment? If it was in fact a compliment?"

"Can I ask one thing, even if it may spoil the ending?" The two began walking side by side.

Tony knew exactly what she was going to ask. "We won."

Natasha felt better at the notion, but discomfort at the fact that Tony was here with her.

"You guys throw something in my honor?" she teased.

When Tony didn't answer, Natasha's stomach writhed with snakes. She almost felt offended, yet, at the same time, she could understand the lack of time to plan something. Not that she would've wanted that. The knowledge of her death would've caused them enough pain. Why would she want them to suffer more by throwing her a service that couldn't do anything for her?

"Yeah, about that..." Tony rubbed the back of his head. "Bruce threw a bench into the river near the facility, that might've been for you and not out of anger that you're gone."

Natasha winced. "Some tribute."

"Hey, they could've done something after..." He swallowed. He didn't want to say after the battle was over, after he had died in the remains of the Avengers facility. He wasn't going to dare get himself started on those who surrounded him in his last moments; he'd be in tears all too easily.

"Let's not talk about it anymore," Natasha said, killing the topic.

Tony was grateful for the abrupt halt of that discussion. "Say, you think we'll hit a fork in this mist anytime soon? We can't just spend the afterlife wandering like lost souls."

"For our sakes, I hope so. I can only tolerate you so much before I feel the need to punch you, Stark." The former assassin said this teasingly, though a small part of her was serious about the physical threat. I shouldn't do that; he's been through enough. I shouldn't threaten to hurt him in the afterlife.

The two walked in brief silence before Tony quipped, "Can I ask you something?"

Natasha shrugged. "Sure."

"Did you miss me, Agent Romanoff?"

Natasha wanted to be irritated at Tony, but the line brought up nostalgia for her. It brought her back to a simpler time, where the biggest threat had been an Asgardian with a mind-controlling scepter and an alien army at his back.

A genuine smile hit the redhead's face. "Yeah, Shellhead, I missed you."