Bonus Chapter - 'Thank you Clint'
2023
You’d missed the funeral. It was hard to bring yourself to go to it, but it was also during the day, and you still hadn’t quite achieved enough sunlight resistance to stand by that grave.
So you waited for nightfall, stepping outside and dropping to the floor, tears falling from your cheeks.
“Thank you Clint” you whispered to the stone, for what you knew would be the final time. You’d said the words hundreds of times to him, but he was never more deserving of them than in this moment.
You’d been side-lined during the Time Heist, the chance of sunlight too risky for you, and Clint had promised to keep Natasha safe for you when they set off for Vormir.
He never returned.
Knowing Natasha, she would have jumped without a second thought. You asked her about it. She said he’d stopped her, citing the fact that vampires didn’t have souls for the reason he had to jump, in case her death would have been in vain.
He didn’t just save her that day, he saved you too. Because you wouldn’t have lived if she didn’t. And you could never truly thank him enough. You could never even thank him to his face.
The red head herself came out an hour later, silently taking your hand and leading you inside to the house. You spotted Wanda curled up on the sofa, and you assumed she must have finally drifted off to sleep. Natasha eyed her too.
“So the Avengers facility is destroyed” she started. You gave her a nod to continue. “I just really want to get away from… here” she sighed, indicating around her, most especially towards her best friend’s grave.
“We can go” you assured, “I’d follow you anywhere”
Natasha replied with a small smile and a kiss. “I wanted to bring Wanda too” she admitted quietly and you nodded instantly, but she still felt the need to explain, “the others all have somewhere to go, and she’d going through two major losses. I don’t want her to be alone.”
“You don’t have to explain yourself Natasha, I know. We can ask her to come when she wakes up”
“I love you”
“I love you”
A sudden comfort settled in the air, and you waited a minute before interrupting it. “I also know you’re this close to straight-up adopting her” you teased and she swatted your chest. “I’m not saying anything against it” you defended, “it was a tough five years when she was gone, I just think as your wife I should have a say.”
She raised an eyebrow, looking you up and down, “maybe we should do something about it then. We’ll see in a few months.”
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You did end up adopting Wanda in every context except legal. She was, after all, in her 20s and technically older than you both in a biological sense. But she followed the two of you happily, glad to not have to grieve alone. You even accompanied her to retrieve Vision’s body (which may or may not have included Natasha threatening the entire faculty of S.W.O.R.D.), and you gave him the burial she wanted.
There was still sadness and exhaustion from all three of you, but with time, you’d get through it. And you had all the time in the world.