With one nod to Clint, a small smile crept onto Natasha's face. She was sad true enough, she had never wanted it to come to this. Clint knew though, he always knew. Before all of this even started she knew that they'd both hold to their silent agreement that no matter what, this wouldn't end the way everyone thought it would. No one was going to die today.
She knew that Clint would have her back in a heartbeat. He held to his bow and he looked at Wanda and he nodded to her and Natasha watched the whole thing. For just a moment her eyes turned to Wanda and she nodded once to her too as Wanda smiled in return. They were on the same side, after all, she'd known that all along. She knew Clint and Natasha well enough that they'd never truly be on opposing sides.
Natasha's hands clenched by her side as she looked toward Tony then T'Challa, he was in full battle mode, and in truth, Natasha felt sorry for him. She wanted to tell him that it didn't have to be this way. She wanted to tell him that there was an alternative. He needed to find the truth but in his mind, she knew that he just wanted someone to punish for losing his father. He was angry and he was hurting. Losing your family was never easy, she spoke from experience on that.
She'd known right away that it wasn't right, what he believed wasn't true. There was this nagging feeling inside of her that told her that there was more to this than she could tell him right now because he was in no mood to listen.
She breathed out a slow and steady sigh. Her eyes moved to Steve who looked sad. She shook her head just slightly, an unnotable gesture unless you were watching her closely but Steve was. 'It's okay, I'm on your side here' she mouthed. Steve seemed to look less broken then.
Then it was like someone blew a whistle because everyone moved all at once. Clint moved toward Natasha and they went through the motions of a fight that both of them knew was fake. Clint smirked when he had her momentarily pinned and he chuckled. 'Gotcha Romanov, call this revenge for hitting me in the head.' she laughed then and rolled her eyes, she shoved him and he fell off to the side and she hopped to her feet.
'You wish,' she replied quietly. She noted immediately that at the moment that she'd taken with her best friend, Steve was pushed back toward a hangar bay and she looked at Clint who nodded his head silently telling her to go and protect her friend.
She raced over and stood between the heartbroken T'Challa with her hand raised and she begged him not to do this. She knew it wasn't going to end up well but he refused.
"I said I'd help you find him, not catch him," she spoke determinedly as she took her shot and T'Challa fell to the floor as her stingers did their job. She looked toward Steve and Bucky who earned just a glance from her before she looked back at Steve.
"Go," she impored him. '"I can hold them off but not for long. Go." She could, she was strong enough and she knew that she could do what she needed to do but that didn't mean she wanted to. She didn't want to fight her friends. She didn't want to see her friends fighting.
This was the only family she had left. She didn't want it to end like this.
"Steve, please," she spoke again. "Go, you need to get out of here." She could see the effects of her stingers wearing off on T'Challa and she took aim again but she didn't take her eyes off of Steve Rogers.
Bucky had tried to tell Steve that he wasn't worth saving. He had tried to tell him that it was a write-off and that he was just too lost and broken but Steve Rogers, that stubborn kid from Brooklyn that didn't know how or when to back down hadn't changed even a little bit. He was still a fighter. He appreciated it but he didn't want Steve to lose the life he'd built for him.
He hadn't done anything wrong, he hadn't killed the goddamn King of Wakanda! He wasn't that person anymore. He'd pulled his mind apart over and over again to try to remember if he'd done anything and he knew wholeheartedly that he hadn't. He had tried to tell him that but T'Challa was in no mood to listen. Great. He'd made an enemy out of a man that he'd never seen before he'd attacked him.
Now, as they stood on an airfield in preparation to fight every single person pretty much that Steve cared about, he knew that it was tearing his friend apart. There was nothing he could do. He had wanted to just turn and run but he knew that it'd end worse if he did. He knew that Steve needed him to stand strong but the last thing that he felt was strong. He didn't want this.
He didn't want to break apart his friend's life. He didn't want to fight for his anymore if he was going, to be honest. He was tired. He was sick of fighting, all he'd done for years was try to fight his way through the programming shoved into his head even if he didn't realize that he was fighting until recently. When would it end?
They fought to the best of their ability, every single one of them. It pained him to think that these were friends that were fighting one another because they disagreed over something that to him seemed so trivial. He knew that the secrets he harbored would do far more damage than any of this would and he felt more regretful about that than any of them would ever know. He didn't want it to come to what he knew it would.
Why wouldn't Steve just let him walk away? Why wouldn't Steve just let him face the consequences of his crimes and be done with it? He deserved that. He'd done so much wrong over the years that it was impossible to say that he'd ever be a normal person again and he'd sure as hell never be a good one. He just wished that he didn't have to drag anyone else down with him, especially not Steve.
They stood in the hangar bay and the redhead took out T'Challa with a weapon attached to her wrist and he listened to her speak. He felt a spark somewhere in his mind and he froze up. He looked at her, truly looked at her. Her form, her outfit, the gun attached to her thigh, the knife tucked into the side of her boot. Her, just her. Everything about her. He knew it.
God. He knew her. How the hell hadn't he realized that before?
He looked at Steve and he shook his head as he told them that they should go. Tony Stark appeared in front of the plane and he held his hand up, Bucky knew he'd fire but he didn't care. He wasn't afraid of him. He watched as she fired at T'Challa again and he fell to the floor writhing through the electricity coursing through his body but Bucky knew he'd be okay.
He walked forward despite Steve's pleas. He wasn't going to run. Not now. He watched the way that she assessed him with an ever-increasing sad expression, her eyes screamed pain and he knew there was only one way that her sadness and her pain was going to end.
She dropped her hand back to her side despite Tony speaking, she heard no words. She watched Barnes as he walked forward, his steps toward her were met with no hostility.
She knew that he wouldn't hurt her. She knew that he wouldn't do anything to kill her even if she doubted he did. There was something though. She was unsure whether he was actually walking toward her or walking toward surrender.
He stopped, standing in front of her and he spoke in gentle Russian telling her that he was sorry. He wrapped his arms around her and she fell naturally into his embrace. Her arms wrapped around him and he held her close to him, she buried her head in his chest and she felt the sadness breaking through like the floodgates that she'd been so desperate to keep closed had just broken.
"I was wondering when you were gonna remember me," she spoke softly. "Took your sweet time," she added in a joking manner.
"Yeah well, timing was never my strong point," he replied, he actually genuinely smiled for the first time in as long as he could remember. "I'm sorry it took me this long."
"I'll forgive you under one condition: you don't leave me again, okay?"
"Okay," he agreed. "Not if I can help it, okay?"
"Ha! Knew I was right," Clint spoke. He looked at Wanda. "You owe me 10 bucks."
Both Bucky and Natasha looked quizzical.
"Made a bet on whether one of you would crack and let it all out," he explained. "Even Wanda knew you guys had something."
"What the hell!" Tony exclaimed as he looked at the display. Steve all but echoed his words only in a far more polite way.
He released her however reluctantly and he stepped to her side, his hand sliding into hers. Natasha watched Clint stand behind Tony with nothing but a smile. He knew already, Natasha had told him, she had always confided in her best friend though. There was no sense in lying to him after the chance that he'd taken on her and when she'd screamed out at night it was hard to deny that there was something. Someone.
"I won't let any of you hurt him," Natasha warned gently. "If you'll just stop and listen, we can explain everything."
T'Challa rose from the floor and he listened to Natasha's warning and he considered it for a moment. He knew though that she was serious. He dropped his battle stance. It was reluctant and Natasha could tell that.
"We've known each other a hell of a long time," she started. "Since my days in The Red Room. He trained me, we were partnered up and in that time, we became close, we developed a relationship that went beyond simply partners in the field."
"I fell in love with her," Bucky added. "I forgot it all, but little by little things trickle back. I didn't kill your father, T'Challa. It wasn't me. I might've been that person once but not anymore. It wasn't me. I don't know what happened, I know how easy it is to blame the man that might as well be considered an enemy of the State but I swear, it wasn't me."
"We lost each other once, I won't go through that again," Natasha spoke. "Please, please don't do this. I get that you're angry, all of you, I get that. I really do. But this isn't worth it. It isn't worth losing our friends, it isn't worth losing the people we love."
"It isn't worth losing her," Bucky spoke. "I won't fight any of you. I won't tear apart Steve's life or Natalia's. Do what you feel you need to do but I promise you that she's right. This isn't worth it."
She wouldn't let him go through. She wouldn't let go of his hand as he moved to step forward.
"Together," Natasha spoke. "We do this together, no matter what."
Together. God, he was so glad to have her back. Whatever happened after this, he'd have each other and that was worth it.