The first thing Natasha noticed when she opened her eyes, was how quiet it was. She blinked, pushing herself up and looking around she noticed that her and Wanda were the only ones in this area. That didn’t make sense though, they had been in the middle of fighting Thanos, Wanda had destroyed the Mind stone and in doing so had killed Vision but then Thanos had reset the timeline to prevent Wanda from destroying the stone? As she continued trying to piece together what had happened she recalled watching as Thanos snapped and Wanda disappeared right in front of her then nothing. “Natasha?” Wanda’s voice called quietly.
“Yeah, I’m here Wanda.” Nat said, watching as the younger woman pulled herself upright.
Looking around just as confused as Nat had when she first woke up she asked. “What happened?”
Nat looked at the woman across from her. Swallowing hard before answering. “I think...I think we lost.”
Wanda looked at Natasha. “What?”
“I think we lost the fight against Thanos. I remember him, going back in time just a few seconds before you...destroyed the Mind Stone and he...killed Vision to get the stone. Then he snapped and I remember watching you turn to dust. But after that it’s like I closed my eyes or fell asleep for a few seconds because I remember nothing until I woke up.” Natasha explained.
Before Wanda could respond a bright orange glow appeared in front of them, then a man stepped into the grass with them. “Natasha Romanoff, Wanda Maximoff it’s nice to see you both again.” He greeted the women.
“Strange? What happened? Where is everyone?” Natasha asked, getting to her feet.
“Thanos won the last fight. He got the Mind Stone and he wiped out half the population. You and Wanda were two of the victims. Tony Stark, Dr. Banner and Scott Lang figured out a way to travel back through time in order to collect the stones before Thanos and in doing so Dr. Banner was able to bring back everyone who was lost in the snap.” He paused, allowing them a moment to process what he had just told them.
Natasha nodded after a second, encouraging Strange to keep talking. “However, going back in time had a consequence. Thanos is back. At this moment Captain Rogers, Thor and Stark are fighting to hold him off long enough for us to collect reinforcements.” He told them.
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go.” Wanda said, her eyes shining with determination.
Strange nodded, turning his back to them and opening another portal. They could see debris from some kind of building strewn about on the ground, smoke billowing and fire roaring in places. Stepping through the portal Natasha could tell that the smoking and burning rubble had once been the Avengers compound. Looking around she realized just how many people they had lost to the snap, there was a brief flicker of wonder at whether or not her family had remained intact or whether they too had been pulled apart due to the snap. Those thoughts quickly fell to the back of her mind as she heard Steve call out. “Avengers assemble!” And before she knew it she was sprinting across the field, dodging chunks of concrete and gunfire, towards the Chitauri and other aliens Natasha didn’t recognize.
Throwing herself at the nearest Chitauri, Nat pulled a knife she had still strapped to her thigh and drove it into the alien's head. “Good to see you again, Red!” Tony called as he flew past Natasha.
Nat smirked at the man, continuing to dispatch aliens. There was a pause in the fighting as the Chitauri seemed to be falling back to regroup and prepare for another strike, Nat took a second to look around, finding faces she recognized briefly due to fighting alongside them before, and finding the familiar faces of her friends. Tony, Pepper, Steve, Sam, Clint, Thor, Bruce,Wanda and even Stark’s intern Peter stood breathing heavily alongside her. There wasn’t much more time to think as Thanos grew tired of waiting for his army to advance and decided to make a move pushing forward, his army following behind. Nat saw Wanda meet Thanos head on, saw them exchange some words before Wanda was blasting him with energy then her vision was obscured as three Chitauri descended on her at once.
Between Pepper swooping in and knocking one alien away from Natasha and Steve’s shield wiping out the other Natasha was able to make out Wanda almost single handedly taking Thanos out. Until Thanos yelled. “Rain fire!”
“But sir, our troops-” Comes the frantic response from his right hand.
“Just do it!” He grounds out.
There’s the sudden commotion of heavy artillery raining down upon the battlefield, a blast near Wanda sends her flying and Thanos falling to the ground now freed from Wanda’s power. Natasha finds herself scrambling for cover before Pepper pulls her closer to a small group of heroes her and Tony have gathered and the two of them throw up the shields Tony installed in their suits. The ship's guns only last for a few minutes before a glowing blur smashes through the ship, destroying it. Carol lands next to Peter. “Hey I...I’m Peter Parker.” The kid stammers holding the gauntlet to his chest.
Carol smirks at him. “Hey Peter Parker, you got something for me?”
Peter got to his feet, passing the gauntlet to Carol. “I don’t know how you’re going to get it through all that.” He said softly
“Don’t worry.” Wanda says landing behind him.
Okoye appears next to him. “She’s got help.”
Natasha falls in next to Wanda, grinning at Peter as she passes him. “Nat!” He called happily.
“Hey kid, stay alive okay? Tony would kill me if you died and I was the last one to see you!” She called over her shoulder as she jogged with the group of women to meet the fight head on.
She didn’t hear his response if he gave one as the Chitauri rushed them. Wanda threw a blast of energy at the oncoming army then took to the sky once more. Nat pulled her batons from her back charging them with electricity and smashing them into any alien that got too close. She’s once more surrounded by aliens when she hears it. The low, two-tone whistle that had haunted so many of her dreams since her childhood. The reaction is instant, Natasha returns the whistle with her own higher pitched one. Nat whipped around eyes searching for the source. And there, standing among the rubble and the Chitauri bodies covered in blood, sweat, dirt and alien blood stood her sister and their adoptive parents.
“Shit.” The muttered curse that fell from Wanda’s mouth caught her attention.
Nat turned in time to watch as Thanos destroys the van and goes for the gauntlet. “No!” Nat yelled, running forward towards the gauntlet.
Tony tackles him as Nat surges forward to grab the gauntlet. He swats Tony away, only for Thor to take his place swinging his axe towards Thanos’ neck. He throws up a hand trying to force the blade down and away from his neck as Thor summons mjolnir using it as leverage to keep the axe from being pulled away. Steve jumped on his back trying to help pull the axe towards his neck. Swatting away the axe, Thanos knocks Thor back and throws Steve away from him moving forward to claim the gauntlet.
Just as Thanos grabs the gauntlet and starts to slide it on, Carol appears knocking the gauntlet out of his hand. For a few moments Natasha thinks that Carol might just be able to fight him off when he manages to grab her arm and fling her into a pile of rubble. Thanos slides the gauntlet on his hand allowing the power to course through his arm. Carol surges forward grabbing the gauntlet, using her photon blast to try and destroy it. As the gauntlet groaned from the force, he grabbed the Power Stone and punched Carol.
Thanos stuck the Power Stone back into the gauntlet allowing the energy from the stones to flow through his body. Nebula surged forward grappling with his hand that was covered by the gauntlet for a moment before Thanos smacked her, sending her flying. Thanos looked at Nebula with a sneer, preparing to snap as he spoke to her. “I..am..inevitable.” He snapped his fingers, looking confused when nothing happened. Turning the gauntlet over he found the stones missing, turning to face Nebula who had pushed herself to her knees.
She turned her own hand showing the nanotech creating a gauntlet to hold the stones, the energy from the stones arcing along her metal arm and wiring. “And I...am not...your puppet anymore.” She said, snapping. There was a bright flash of light before Thanos’s army began disintegrating, aliens turning to try and escape. Natasha stood breathing heavily as she watched the enemies before them fall before turning her attention to where Thanos stood staring at his army as they all turned to dust before stumbling over to a chunk of concrete as he too turned to dust.
Natasha watched on with Tony, Steve and Thor as Gamora crouched next to her sister trying to pull the gauntlet off her hand. Nebula raised her hand to Gamora’s, smiling weakly at the green woman. Gamora bent down pressing her forehead to Nebula’s. “I’m sorry I tried to kill you so much.” Nebula spoke softly to her sister.
Gamora nodded against her forehead holding back her tears. “It’s okay.” Nebula made to speak again but Gamora shushed her. “It’s okay Nebula. I forgive you.”
Nebula squeezed Gamora’s hand weakly. “I love you Gamora, all I’ve ever wanted was to be your sister.”
Gamora allowed her tears to spill down her face. “You have always been my sister. I love you too and I’m so proud of you for what you just did. It’s okay to rest now.” Nebula nodded allowing her eyes to slip closed as her sister held her, Nebula’s grip on Gamora’s hand going slack.
As Nat watched on, her own sister let out the painfully familiar two tone whistle from behind her. Turning Natasha returned the whistle in kind, staring at her dysfunctional family. It was Yelena who made the first move, starting to jog across the debris-strewn battlefield towards her older sister. Nat followed suit, meeting Yelena half way and pulling the younger Widow into a bone crushing embrace. “Nat, it’s really you.” Yelena breathed into her shoulder. Natasha nodded against Yelena’s head. “We...I thought you were dead. You’ve been gone for five years. We came looking when people started to disappear but when we didn’t find you…” She trailed off for a moment and Nat tightened her hold on the blonde. “Mom was working around the clock trying to find a way to bring you home. And when they found a way, she worked even harder to get it to work so she could bring you home. Natasha, I was so scared that I’d never see you again and that I would never be able to tell you I love you and that you mean everything to me.” Yelena pulled away to look up at her sister, tears falling down her dirt covered face.
Nat’s own tears streaked down her cheeks as she stared at Yelena. “I love you so much Yelena. I’m so proud of the person you’ve become.” She told her, resting her forehead against Yelena’s.
“Oh my girls! Back together and safe in my arms!” Alexei cried, pulling both Yelena and Nat into a hug.
Melina pried Alexei off the two women as she too took Natasha into her arms. “I’m so glad you’re home, safe and sound.” She told Natasha before releasing her.
“I’m glad to be back.” Nat told the three of them.
Three days later
“You want some help putting the stones back?” Natasha asked Steve as she watched him double check the pouch containing the Infinity Stones.
Cap shook his head with a small smile on his face. “Nah, I’m actually not coming right back after I finish dropping them off.” He told her.
Nat looked confused for a moment before she realized what he meant. “Peggy?” She asked, smirking at him.
Steve blushed. “And Bucky.” He admitted quietly. Bucky had sacrificed himself on Vormir, allowing Steve to get the Soul Stone.
Natasha looked down when he mentioned his best friend. “Steve I’m-”
“No, it’s what he wanted. Bucky wanted to atone for all the red in his ledger, he saw this as a way to do it. I miss him, but I’m also proud of what he did. And besides, this way I get to have that dance with Peggy and be with Buck again.” Steve smiled at the thought of seeing the two people he cared most about. “You going to be okay without me?” He asked her quietly.
Nat looked over her shoulder at the mass of Avengers off to one side waiting to see Steve off and then over to the three people standing off to the side, her own little dysfunctional family. Natasha nodded, returning Steve’s smile with one of her own. Steve noted that probably for the first time since he met her, it was a genuine smile that reached her eyes. “Yeah, I think we’ll be just fine. Go, live your life. You deserve it.” She told him sincerely. Steve could tell she meant and believed in what she was telling him so he nodded at her, looking over at Sam and the others nodding at them once then walked over to Bruce and began discussing the plan one more time.
Natasha looked over at her Avengers family, sending them a smile and a wave. She joined her Russian family Alexei draped his free arm around Nat’s shoulder. Glancing over her shoulder one last time at Steve as the group of four started to walk away. “You sure you’re okay?” Yelena’s accented voice drifted over to her.
Nat smiled. “Yeah, I am.” She stopped walking once they had rounded the house. “So what’s next? Where are you three going to go?” She asked curiously.
“I found an apartment here in New York, if you’ll have me I think I’m going to stick around awhile.” Yelena said grinning.
Nat grinned back as Alexei shared a look with Melina. Melina cleared her throat. “Alexei and I have talked about it, and the past five years have shown us that the mission we had when you were children...it was real to us as well.”
“We’re moving to America with you girls!” Alexei cried, his words tinted heavily with his Russian accent as he pulled Nat and Yelena in for a hug. The two younger women shared a look over his shoulder, one that conveyed both their happiness that Alexei and Melina had finally acknowledged what the younger Widows had already known and the fear of the amount of trouble Alexei was about to get them all into with his antics here in America. But Nat decided she wouldn’t have it any other way.