𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 || 𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘍𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘈𝘸𝘢𝘺

"HOW'S SHE DOING?"

It may not have been intended to sound stupid but Natasha couldn't help but glare at Steve. It'd only been a few days since HYDRA's fall and Nova hadn't spoken much. Bedridden in the hospital after putting her health aside to help assist in finding Steve. And no matter who came to her room wishing to see her, they were all denied access. Booker was the rare exception who didn't leave for days.

Even now in the graveyard, he was still by her side. Both kneeling in front of the marble headstone.

Natasha had made her attempts to comfort and to just be there to listen. But Nova needed this time with her brother. After all the betrayals they've succumbed together, they needed to heal. And Nova would've been the only one to restrain Booker if he got his hands on Nick. In the end, Natasha had a feeling Nova knew she would be there for her. If it be a few days down the line or months, she would be waiting for no matter what.

Natasha shook her head in aggravation, scoffing. "How do you think?"

Their pain was shared. All three of them had spent enough time with Cooper on missions and during downtimes to have considered him a friend. And Steve felt like they all should grieve together because of their shared experience with the young man. But he didn't know how to approach Nova with the matter. Maybe it was guilt or maybe it was his mind placing the blame on himself for not saving his friend. "I just want to know if there's-"

"If you were to ask me who the real bad guys were, I'd say it was us." Turning to Steve, she felt her nose twitch. "Because we made that girl kill her closest friend. So, how do you think she's doing?"

It was wrong for her to lash out. Especially when it wasn't anyone's fault–they were serving their country and protecting the planet. But it felt meaningless to grasp at rotten fruit that wouldn't benefit anyone. Nova was hurting–they all were. But no one was hurting as much as Nova, and they would have to allow her to recover in her own time.

Years lost with their response sitting idly in her blistered hands. She could've done something differently–said something differently. Maybe then, it might've been her headstone instead of his. And she would've given everything to allow him to find the light again. To live another day and fight for something worth the sacrifice he made.

But goddamnit, she hated him for doing this to her–for putting her in this position. The selfishness of his actions and the lack of acknowledgment of the severity had forced her to do this. And, yes, maybe she could've done something differently. Incapacitate him and just have him locked up. But Cooper wouldn't have moved on from the corruption plaguing his mind. The moment he found out Nick was alive, his mission would've been to kill the man, and despite how Nova felt for her "father", he was still her father.

Either way, this path was laid out for them and Nova wasn't allowed to deviate from it.

"When I said, 'I loved you,' I fucking meant it. I think you knew that–fuck I hope you did." Nova bowed her head, exhaling shakily. "I'll make sure when I see you again. I'll beat the shit out of you to find out."

She wanted to maintain the smile. No one would ever understand how much she wished to smother the pain with a smile. But each day passed like a year and the polaroid of Cooper in her mind was deteriorating–time slowly consuming the image of what once was. Because when there was no one, there was Cooper. And slowly watching that picture become disfigured, she was forgetting how he looked. The way his eyes slightly crinkled when he smiled. Or how his brows slightly scrunched up when he was anxious.

It all was fading from her mind.

"Did you ever think about what would come after all of this? How you'd make me feel-" A strangled sob got caught in her throat, hands meeting the fresh dirt to not fall on her back and curl in on herself. "Did you ever think of me? Did you- Fuck, I can't do this..."

A pair of arms curled around her. Their warm embrace tightened around her like a heated blanket. Soothing her and enabling her to fall into its warmth further. And then the scent of strawberries plugged her nose beautifully. Gently grasping the arms that held her and pulling her closer.

"Tell him everything, Nova." It was a small nudge of encouragement that Natasha knew the girl needed. To give a formal hearing to the man who influenced her and brought a flare of light into her life. Hopefully, something to make up for her lack of arrival at his funeral.

Sniffling, Nova shakily stood to her feet with Natasha's arm curled around her waist. Exhaling shakily and licking her lips with a deep inhale.

"Congress, people around the world, they've moved to discredit everything you've done. But everyone close to you knew what you did for our country and world," she muttered, fingers ringing together. "They can't take your talent. They can't take the sacrifices you've made for them. They can't take the hours you spent working to keep them safe. And they will never know how much you died fighting for their freedom."

Exhaling heavily, Nova stepped from Natasha's grasp. Her feet carefully moved to the tombstone where she crouched down and sighed. Her forehead rested against the marble. She wondered if he would hold Natasha the same if she ended up in his place. Would he have mourned her the same?

"Never fade away, Jack."

7 MONTHS LATER...

"NATASHA, THIS ISN'T SOMETHING I WANTED TO DO, ALL RIGHT? IT WAS A SPECIAL REQUEST FROM FURY." Banner exclaimed, waving to the small chip resting on the table. It was so small, so pointless. On the outside, it didn't look like anything of significance. But from the raving of Tony and Bruce, it held far more power than most would understand. Natasha just couldn't understand the meaning behind it.

"This, Bruce-" she pointed at the chip, "-this isn't fucking right! What you are asking from me is too much. How do we even know it's what she wants? Did you even ask her? It could very well kill her for all we know!"

"We've done more testing in the last 24 hours than any other tech company has done in years. This alone can change human life as we know it!"

"That doesn't change the position I'll put her in." Natasha paced, unable to shake the mounting guilt in her stomach. In her heart. It all made it hard for her to breathe. Like a hand was around her throat, demanding she make a decision, and fast. "And for Fury to even think of something like this after everything he did to her, you want to side with that bastard?"

"I'm not siding with anyone. I'm siding with science and the betterment of humanity. And for the survival of my friend." Sighing, Bruce crossed his arms over his chest and leaned on the table. "I won't say I understand because I don't. But all this hardware we've had to make just to keep her from dipping into the deep end? It won't be enough to keep her alive. If this goes on, her powers, they'll melt her from the inside. The bomb ripped her entire back open but her abilities are destroying her organs, Nat. This might be the only way to get rid of them and save her life."

"But that isn't your decision to make!" Natasha didn't know how long this push-and-pull conversation had been going on. It'd been going on for longer than she had liked. And it was precisely because of the inabilities of others.

They couldn't see the real harm that could erupt from this decision. The real danger it could create for not only Nova but themselves.

But then came that lingering pain in Natasha's heart from the moment she had seen Nova's vitals go offline. How her senses went mute as she saw her girlfriend's body, a ball of flames, come crashing down to the Earth. The abrasiveness of it all and how unclear the reason for it was.

Did she want to die?

"What do you think this'll do, huh? She's still mourning! This will only make the problem worse, Bruce. I don't need to come home finding her with lead in her mouth."

"That's why we created a step for precaution..."

The lingering in the final half of his statement made Natasha frown. That same dread only twisted and clenched incredibly tighter. The worst set of thoughts appeared behind her eyes, eliciting her to step toward the Doctor, glaring and jabbing a finger into his chest.

"What'd you do-?"

"Constructed a lifeform that might provide her comfort in her rehabilitation process." Tony didn't beat around the bush when he casually entered. The circles under his eyes fully display the lack of relaxation in the past 24 hours. Understandable since it'd been from the mission launch to him having to operate on his best friend. Nothing had been going anyone's way for the past day.

One second; things are going swimmingly. The recon insertion on a HYDRA base was going according to plan. Natasha and Clint infiltrated the first gate of security and Cap was taking out the security team at the power facility. The goal was to have the power go out, cutting off all security scans, and putting the base in a frenzy.

But their luck seemed to have run out.

And it came in the sound of an AA gun and a ball of flames crashing from the sky. Nova's body crashed down into a ravine off the cliff of the HYDRA base.

Natasha's lips parted, brows knitting together as she turned her gaze to the billionaire. "And who might that be?"

Tony fiddled with multiple components before grabbing another chip, the same as the one Bruce had shown her. "Well, her mother of course."