2014 ― Vormir
"Whatever it takes."

"Wow. Under different circumstances... this would be totally awesome." Clint said as the duo arrived in Vormir. The sandy dunes alongside the water and the purple sky were absolutely beautiful to Natasha, but as Clint said, if they were here under different circumstances it would be cool.

As they got closer to the top of the mountain, it started to snow. "I bet the raccoon didn't have to climb a mountain," Natasha said which made her Clint laugh.

"Technically, he's not a raccoon, you know?" Clint said and Natasha shook her head.

"Oh whatever, he eats garbage," Natasha said.

"Welcome." They heard a chilling voice. Natasha immediately had her gun drawn while Clint had his sword drawn as they quickly turned around. The image of death came to Natasha's mind as the hooded figure floated towards them.

"Natasha. Daughter of Ivan. Clint. Son of Edith." The hooded figure spoke. They still kept their weapons drawn as they got closer, but Natasha looked shocked that whoever this was, he knew her father's name.

And neither she nor Nikita ever knew his name.

"Who are you?" Natasha asked.

"Consider me a guide... to you... and to all who seek the Soul Stone." He said.

"Oh, good. You tell us where it is and we'll be on our way." She said.

"If only it were that easy." He said as he lead them to the top of the mountain. "What you seek lies in front of you. As does what you fear." Red Skull said.

"The stone is down there," Natasha said while looking over the edge while Clint stood back behind her.

"For one of you. For the other... in order to take the stone... you must lose that which you love. An everlasting exchange. A soul for a soul." Red Skull explained to them. The two of them fell quiet as Natasha went and sat down while Clint remained standing. There had to be something to be done. If this idea worked, Clint didn't want Nikita to come back to learn that her sister is dead. Natasha didn't want the exact same thing for Clint's family.

So they both made the decision they had to be the sacrifice.

"How's it going? Jesus..." Clint said while walking over to Natasha. "Maybe he's just making this shit up." He said to them but she knew that he wasn't lying. Natasha thought back to Nebula's words, saying that Thanos murdered her sister on Vormir and she put the pieces together. Gamora was the sacrifice of whom Thanos loved in order for him to get the Soul Stone.

Nebula could've said that plainly.

"No. I don't think so." Natasha said while shaking her head.

"Why? 'Cause he knows your daddy's name?" Clint asked and Natasha sighed.

"We didn't. Nikita and I never knew either of our parents' names." Natasha said which caused Clint to look back at her. "Thanos left here with the stone... without his daughter. That's not a coincidence." She said and Clint nodded his head.

"Yeah," Clint said.

"Whatever it takes," Natasha whispered and Clint looked over the edge, knowing that he wanted to throw himself off of it. He couldn't let Nikita lose her sister. Especially when she's not here to even say goodbye.

"Whatever it takes." He repeated. Natasha looked up at Clint and saw him staring over out towards the cliff and she stood up on high alert.

"If we don't get that stone, billions of people stay dead, including Christian and Nikita," Natasha said. She felt helpless all the time, never knowing what to do for Katherine, or for herself. She loves Christian and was devastated when they lost him in Wakanda, they always had a special bond, and they grew even closer when she helped him deal with his PTSD from Viper.

And losing her sister was the worst blow of all. She never thought she'd have to live in a world where Nikita wasn't with her. For the longest time, Nikita was all she had, the only person she knew she could trust, and the only person in the world that she knew really loved her. She had to do whatever she could to get her sister back. Even if that meant sacrificing herself.

"Yeah. Then, I guess we all know who it's gotta be." Clint said. The two of them thought that they were going to sacrifice themself for the other.

"I guess we do," Natasha said. Clint looked down and grabbed Natasha's hand, and then Natasha laid her other hand on top of his.

"I'm starting to think we mean different people here, Romanoff," Clint said.

"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. Bringing my sister back." Natasha said.

"No, don't you get all decent on me now," Clint said.

"What, you think I want to do it? I'm trying to save your life, you idiot" Natasha said to her best friend.

"Yeah, well I don't want you to. How's that? You know what I've done. You know what I've become." Clint said.

"Oh, I don't judge people on their worst mistakes," Natasha said.

"Maybe you should," Clint said to her.

"You didn't when you met me and Nic," Natasha said and Clint looked at her as he was trying to refrain from crying. He was sent out on a mission to kill Nikita and Natasha while they were still under Dreykov's control and working for the KGB, and Clint has always said that his best shot was the shot that he didn't take at the twins.

"You're a pain in my ass, you know that?" Clint asked which made Natasha laugh a little, even though this situation was heavy on their hearts. Natasha nodded her head before Clint leaned his forehead against hers and they momentarily closed their eyes. "If you do this, how am I supposed to look Nikita in her eyes and tell her what happened?" He whispered. He couldn't even think about it, having to tell Nikita that her twin sister is dead.

"The same way that if you do it, I would have to look Laura and your children in their eyes and tell them the same," Natasha said and Clint sighed because he didn't have a rebuttal for that. He knew Natasha was right.

"Okay, you win," Clint said and the Natasha nodded her head before Clint caught her by surprise and hooked her legs, bringing Natasha down to the ground, and he pinned her both down. "Tell my family I love them."

Natasha grabbed Clint and flipped him over before standing up over him and shooting him with one of her electric beads, keeping him still. "You tell them yourself," She said before breaking out into a sprint towards the cliff. Clint was able to rip the beads off of them and Clint shot off an explosive arrow next to Natasha which knocked her down to the ground.

She groaned in pain as she looked up and saw Clint running past her, and then he jumped over the edge, Natasha got up and threw herself over the cliff to grab Clint and she shot out her cord which stuck to the side of the cliff to hold them up. Clint was on top holding onto Natasha who was dangling on the end.

"Damn you, Nat," Clint said as he was trying to find a way to pull them back up over the edge. Natasha looked down at the ground before she turned back to her best friend.

"Let me go," She said while nodding her head, but Clint was shaking his head.

"Nat, please, no," Clint said as he tried to grip onto her tighter.

"It's okay." She whispered as she nodded her head, and then she had tears in her eyes as she said her last words. "When you guys bring everybody back, make sure you tell Nic that I love her," Natasha said before using her feet to push herself out of Clint's grip and down the cliff.

"No!!" Clint yelled for his friend as she fell and when he looked down to see the blood around her head, he started to cry more, before everything weirdly faded to black.

When Clint opened his eyes again, he was floating inside of the water, and not on the cliff anymore. When he sat up, he felt something in his hand and when he opened his palm, the glow of the orange soul stone was there, which only made him cry more, thinking that he had to go back to the Avengers.

Without Natasha.

―

When I tell you, I was in that movie theater sobbing? After this moment, the tears just never stopped.

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xoxo.