The Souls

Natasha never thought she would ever open her eyes again. She had accepted it rather quickly. Accepted the fact that the last thing she would ever see was her best friend's face, watching her fall. That the last place she would ever be was that ugly cliff as she threw herself off it.

And then she had opened her eyes and found herself lying on the ground, looking up to something completely different from the darkness of Vormir. Something far from ugly.

For a horrible second, she feared that it hadn't worked. That the sacrifice hadn't worked because... she was supposed to be dead. That was the deal, right? She died and Clint got the Stone.

And then Natasha heard those voices. Voices that she thought she had forgotten. She stood up slowly, and right there in front of her, she saw them. She didn't take the time to notice her surroundings, which was basically emptiness anyway. She didn't even stop to think what this was, or where this was, or why she was here.

All she could focus on were those voices and those faces, looking very much alive.

Right there in front of her.

She couldn't even bring herself to listen to the conversation. All she could think was that... there was Wanda. Her friend Wanda. And Vision right next to her. Last she had seen them, Vision was grey and lifeless, and Wanda was hunched, broken and defeated over his body.

And... and there was that little Groot guy. The one Rocket had been so distraught over. He had turned into dust, and now here he was, lying on the floor with some cards in his hands.

And right next to him, there was Peter Parker. Tony never talked about him. He never had to, really. Any one of them could see his grief over the teenager.

And there was T'Challa. The king who had become her friend, lounging on a couch with his genius sister sat next to him.

And on a cosy loveseat... Sam and Bucky.

Sam and Bucky. Right there. Right in front of her. It took everything in her to hold in her tears right then and there.

It had been five years.

Five. Years.

Five years of harrowing grief, and longing and complete and utter hopelessness. And ... they were here. Or rather... she was here.

Wherever this as.

Natasha wrapped her arms around herself. She would have loved to just stand there for a few more hours, just watching them, but she could ignore the voices no longer. Since they had started to rise.

Sam was... of course. Sam was yelling at a child. Natasha couldn't keep the tiny smile off her face as she listened to Sam Wilson, with all the conviction in the world, tell Peter Parker that they were never getting saved. That they were never leaving this place.

Natasha smiled, "Don't listen to that moody bird Parker," she said. Almost as one, all heads turned towards her. The agent had to swallow hard when she saw all those faces.

"Looks like your stupid optimism paid off, kid." she winked at the boy, whose mouth was gaping open, "you'll all be out of here in a minute."

It's that, that seemed to break through everyone's stupor. Sam was the first to move, rising slowly to his feet. His eyes were wide and blinking rapidly as he stared at her.

"Nat?" he all but whispered, "N-Nat?"

"In the flesh." she answered softly. Sam let out a shaky breath, and he lunged forward until his arms were wrapped tightly around her, and despite her aversion to physical affection, Natasha immediately hugged him back, just as tightly.

"Nat," he was whispering, "Oh my god, Natasha."

This time she couldn't hold her wet sniff in, "Yeah, I missed you too, birdy."

Sam's eyes squeezed shut. He never thought he would hear that insufferable nickname ever again. When Natasha opened her eyes, she saw Bucky standing behind Sam. He had risen to his feet, his eyes wide as they stared at her.

"Well you gonna say hello, Gramps?"

Bucky let in a little gasp, taking a slight step back, before surging forward towards the red-headed Russian. Natasha had to grit her teeth to keep her tears in.

Bucky had been in cryogenic sleep for most of her time in Wakanda, but the two hadn't needed very long to get along once he woke up. Their time together hadn't included lot of conversation, but two tortured souls hadn't really needed to talk to bond.

But she still hadn't expected the hurt she felt when she saw him disappear. And she certainly hadn't expected to want so badly to cry now that she was seeing him again.

God, how she had missed them. She had spent so much time consoling Steve, trying to make him feel better about the loss of his best friends, that she had forgotten that they were her friends too. And now that she had them both in her arms, it was all coming back to her.

And god, how she had missed them.

With one arm around Sam and the other around Bucky, she would have loved to stay that way for another hour at least, but you know... all good things...

"I'm sorry, who the hell is she?"

Natasha sighed as she detached herself from the impromptu love fest. She had almost forgotten about the rest of the room. Fury would be ashamed.

But before she could even answer, someone did it for her.

"That's the Black Widow, Quill. Now shut up and give them moment."

Natasha gave her first full smile since she left the Avengers compound that morning.

"God, Wanda, I think I missed you the most." she shook her head at the grinning Witch.

"I hate to say this Nat," Wanda shook her head, "But god, I'm so glad you're here."

Natasha grinned at her friend as she let herself be lead to the love seat. Sam and Bucky didn't hesitate in squishing her between them. Normally, they would have known not to sit so close to her, but they all knew that this was no normal situation.

She hadn't let go of Bucky. The coolness of his metal hand was comforting in hers, and Sam was still holding onto her arm, and she wasn't about to make him let go.

Again, she could have stayed like this for a long time, but there were other people in here after all.

"So I suppose we're correct in assuming that you're dead."

Natasha's smile faded at the interruption, just a little. Nothing could ruin her mood right now.

"Loki" she sighed at him, "Should have figured I'd see you again eventually."

"Likewise, Agent Romanoff." Loki smirked.

"Well Bruce tells me you're not a complete piece of shit anymore."

Loki let out a dark chuckle, "You should know better than to listen to the opinions of a mad man."

"He's not as mad as you'd thing right now," Natasha said softly.

"Hang on." the man Wanda had called Quill held is hands up, "No one is telling me who the hell she is."

"She's the Black Widow." Peter answered him, still staring at Natasha in awe.

"I assume she's one of the Avengers then?" Quill raised an eyebrow.

"Only the best one!" Peter beamed.

Natasha smiled at him. She was doing that a lot lately.

"She cannot possibly be the best. Or she would not be dead, correct?"

"Drax, that is very rude." the girl next to him hissed.

"Thank you Mantis," Natasha nodded at her.

The girl gasped, "But... how do you know me?"

"Rocket." Natasha smirked as she remembered the Raccoon with an attitude, "He talks about you guys a lot."

"All bad things, I expect."

Natasha knew that the one who spoke was Gamora without even asking. Mainly because she was green.

"He doesn't dislike you guys as much as he pretends to," Natasha told them, "He feels kinda bad about that, honestly."

"I-I am Groot?"

Nat looked at the little guy, who had put the cards down and was sitting up, "I am Groot?"

"He's asking how he is." Gamora translated.

"Better," Natasha nodded, "He's gotten better." she looked back at Groot, "He misses you the most." she winked at him.

She was happy when she saw a glimmer of a smile on his face. She turned to Gamora next.

"And Nebula never says it but, she misses you too."

Gamora's eyes widened for a moment before she suppressed it. Adopted or not, her and her sister where incredibly similar.

"She does, does she?"

Natasha nodded, "She does." she turned to everyone else, regarding the room, "They all do. They miss you like hell."

Loki scoffed, "Oh don't be so dramatic, its only been five days."

The smile on Natasha's face faded slowly. She narrowed her eyes at Loki.

"What... what do you mean?"

"It's been five days," he rolled his eyes, "That's hardly enough time to miss people."

Natasha's eyes widened as she looked around, not seeing anyone try to argue.

"Five days." she said slowly, "It's been five days?"

Everyone around her nodded. But it was Doctor Strange who first made the connection,

"How long has it been for you?" he asked her.

Natasha looked at him with wide eyes, "Years." she all but whispered, "It's been five years for us."

The room went silent as the statement sunk in. Seconds turned to a minute as everyone tried to comprehend what she had just said.

"Are you telling me," T'Challa said slowly, "That we have been dead for... for five years?"

Natasha nodded.

"We have been stuck in here... for five years."

"Wait." Peter Parker shook her head, "Wait, I don't understand. How is that possible?"

"This is a different realm, Peter," Doctor Strange said, "Time doesn't follow the same rules as we're used to when we're in a different-"

"No, I get that." Peter interrupted, "It's just... it's been five years. We have been dead for five years! Stuck in this soul realm for five years. We've been dead! For five years! How is that possible?"

"Peter-"

"No no no, seriously." Peter was getting increasingly angry. Something no one thought they'd ever see, "Five years. Five years! I've been going on, and on, and on, about how the Avengers would save us! How five days isn't nearly enough to write them off. How there's no way in hell they'd leave us here."

"Peter listen-"

"Sam was right this whole time! I was just being an idiot, wasn't I? So convinced that you guys would come save us. I was so damn sure. So. Sure. And now it turns out that no, you guys just left us here for five years?"

"We didn't leave you here." Natasha spoke up before he could continue, "Peter we did not leave you. Hell, we didn't even know you guys were in here. We tried to get you back. Right after the snap, all we did was try to get you back, but Thanos just... he disappeared and we had no idea where he went. We looked and looked for him, thinking that if we got the Infinity Stones from him, we could... we could reverse the Snap and get you guys back. We did not want to leave you here."

Peter's breathing was heavy even as he tried to steady it. He could slightly register Shuri's hand which was suddenly on his shoulder, trying to calm him.

He clenched his jaw, hard, "Then why did you?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Natasha sighed, "Not long after the Snap, Nebula told us about... about Thanos's paradise place."

"The Garden." Gamora nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah, we went out and we found him but... but he didn't have the Stones."

"How... how did he not have the Stones?" Shuri frowned, still rubbing a soothing hand up and down Peter' back.

"He had used the Stones to destroy the Stones." Natasha told them, "They were gone."

"Gone?" Wanda frowned, "All of them?"

"Gone." she nodded, "Without them, there was no way to get you back. No way we knew how." she looked down as she remembered, "So we just... we went back home. Not before Thor killed him of course."

Loki looked up then, allowing a small smile to grace his lips. Gamora however, frowned.

"Thor killed him? Well, Nebula must have been disappointed."

"Wait-" T'Challa frowned, shaking his head, "you say this all happened five years ago."

Natasha nodded.

T'Challa frowned again, "But we... we were under the impression that those who ended up in this Soul Realm are those killed by Thanos, or for his cause. If he has been dead for five years, how would that apply to you?"

Natasha frowned as she thought.

"You said this is the... the Soul Realm?"

"From what we've gathered," Vision nodded.

"Well then maybe it has to do with the fact that I died to get the Soul Stone."

There were frowns all around.

"But it is Gamora who was sacrificed to retrieve the Soul Stone." said Drax.

"Yeah," Quill narrowed his eyes, "And didn't you just say that all the Stones were destroyed?"

"Yes but... this was a different Soul Stone." Natasha told them.

The confusion was obvious around the room, which Natasha understood completely.

It was Bucky who eventually sighed, "Maybe... maybe you should tell us what's been going on out there."

Natasha nodded as she looked back at them. She did have some explaining to do.

She felt tired by the time she was finished, answering questions every few seconds and being stopped more times than she would have liked. But eventually she was done.

"Back in time." Shuri was frowning hard, "You went back in time?"

"It sounds crazy, I know, bu-"

"It sounds brilliant!" she exclaimed, "You... you discovered time travel!"

"Yes." Natasha almost smiled, but held back, "I don't understand, you sound upset."

"Upset?" she snarled, "Upset? I am enraged! Time travel was invented, and I was stuck here? Time travel was perfected, and I was lying on a couch surrounded by these people, doing nothing! Where is the justice in this godforsaken world?"

This time it was Peter comforting her. To no avail as she all but thrashed.

"You must excuse her," T'Challa explained, "Discovering time travel has been a long-time dream of hers."

"And you people have ruined it!" She all but shrieked.

"Shuri," T'Challa said calmly, "Shuri I know. I know it is frustrating, but let's focus for a moment."

Shuri was still fuming, but managed to keep calm.

"So time travel aside," Vision spoke up "Your plan is to Snap everyone back into existence.

"That makes no sense at all," Sam said, "Who's gonna sign up for that? You say that that Snap almost killed Thanos, The strongest of the strongest, right? Who the hell would be stupid enough to do that again?"

"I don't know," Nat admitted, "I died before I could talk specifics."

"Thor will do it." Loki said through gritted teeth. His smile at Thor's dumb bravery was gone now, "He'll be the first to volunteer, the utter idiot. And he is the strongest, so he would definitely be their best bet. Unfortunately."

Natasha blinked at Loki and cleared her throat, "Actually..." she said slowly, "No. No, Thor won't be there."

Loki's eyes narrowed at her, "Pardon me?"

"I told you, Loki. Thor... he's not himself. He hasn't been for a long time. I didn't see him for years before Bruce forced him out of that room of his in New Asgard."

Loki glared at the woman, knowing that his resentment of her words shone through his eyes. But Loki's methods never really did word on the spy.

Natasha knew from Bruce that Thor and Loki had... reconciled not long before Thanos's attack. She guessed his protectiveness over his brother made sense.

But... the brother Loki remembered wasn't the Thor Natasha had left behind.

"I'm in no way trying to criticize your brother." she said carefully, "But when it was time to go back and get the Stones, Thor made it very clear that he didn't want any part in any of this anymore. After he left Thanos's garden, I didn't see him for years. None of us did. Bruce is the only one who was been allowed to visit, but after a while, Thor wouldn't see even him."

"But you eventually did. He led you to Asgard and got you the Aether."

"That's what he agreed to do," Natasha told him, "Just to get us to leave him alone, he agreed to help get the Reality Stone, and in exchange he'd return to New Asgard and we wouldn't bother him again. That was his deal and... we had no choice but to take it."

Loki wanted to scoff at the idiocy of the woman, "Well that was before. If a fight is coming as Strange says, Thor will not be able to stay out of it. He's incapable of excluding himself in the face of battle."

"Loki-"

"This is the man that felt the need to protect your planet after visiting it for a bloody weekend. You're an imbecile if you believe he would abandon it now."

Natasha only shook her head slowly, "It's been too long, Loki. Thor never forgave himself for not killing Thanos before he Snapped. And even more than that, he never forgave himself for letting Thanos kill you."

Loki grit his teeth, "He did not let-"

"I know. We all know, but he doesn't see it that way. He's given up, Loki. The man I saw on Earth is nothing like the brother you know, I'm sorry but it's true. He said he won't fight, and I promise you, he really meant it."

Loki could only shake his head at the woman, a look of murder on his face.

He turned away from her, and towards Doctor Strange.

"Your time for secrecy has reached its end, Doctor Strange, he said, "When, and how do we leave this realm? And so help me god, you had better not sprout your nonsense about not being able to share."

Strange regarded Loki for a few seconds, and for a moment, they were all sure that he would start again with his 'I can't say.' So it came as a surprise to everyone when he started talking.

"I do not keep you in the dark because I want to," he told them, "The odds of us leaving this stone were astoundingly low, you must understand. I did not want to get your hopes up for something that was so incredibly unlikely. Although now, with Agent Romanoff's appearance, the chances seem much greater, the future is never certain until it has actually happened."

"Okay how about we just assume that from now on, everything will go as it's supposed to." said Wanda, "How would this... uh… rescue take place?"

"I really don't-"

"No, Strange." T'Challa, "Please. You know what will, or might, happen. Just tell us."

Stephen sighed. Well if they had to know, "If the rest of the Avengers succeed on their missions and retrieve all of the Stones from their different timelines-" he ignored Shuri's growl, "They will fashion their own Infinity Gauntlet, and the half of the Universe that was destroyed will return."

"I am Groot?"

"He's asking if that includes us," Peter translated.

"It will," Strange confirmed, "But remember, this is only-"

"Yeah, yeah, only if everything works as it's supposed to, we know," Quill rolled his eyes.

Stephen had to suppress the urge to roll his eyes, "You will not return like the others. Because you did not die like the others. Instead you were brought here. And for those of us who died on Titan, I feel it safe to say that we do not wish to go back." There were immediate nods from the Guardians and Peter alike, "So when the time comes, rather than simply reappear where you disappeared, I will be able to… redirect your return to life."

"And here will you take us?" Mantis asked.

"We will all go to Wakanda." T'Challa spoke up.

"Yes," Strange nodded, "You'll have some time to get your affairs in order. Your army, T'Challa. Your weapons, your people, et cetera. And when the time comes, you will be brought where you are needed. Where we will fight."

"Brought where we're needed?" Shuri asked, "When? How?"

"You will know when the time comes,"

"So you have full control of where we go from here, then?"

Strange nodded at Loki.

"Then I'll not go to Wakanda. You will 'redirect' me to New Asgard."

"Loki-"

"If T'Challa will fetch his Wakandan army, then I will fetch that of Asgard."

Everyone knew that fetching the army of Asgard was the last thing on Loki's mind. They knew exactly why he wanted to go to New Asgard, but no one dared to call him out on it.

Stephen wanted desperately to refuse him. Oh, how he wanted to wipe that superiority off his face. But spending so long stuck in here with the god had taken away just a little bit of his dislike for Loki. And it was painfully obvious that the only time Loki dared to show the slightest bit of emotion was when his brother was in the conversation.

So Stephen couldn't find it in him to refuse. He nodded at the god, and was glad to see the tiniest hint of gratitude on his face.

"Well if he gets to go to Asgard, could you take us to New York?" Natasha said quickly, "If preparations and weapons is what's needed, Steve's apartment in New York is the best way for Sam, Bucky and I to do that."

With a weary sigh, Strange only nodded.

"So... do I give you an address or..."

"I am a Master of the Mystic Arts, Agent Romanoff." Stephen was almost offended, "I do not require an address."

Natasha smirked, "Alright then."

"So..." Sam said, "Now we just wait to see if it worked?"

"Guess so," Bucky sighed.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," everyone's head turned to Vision as he spoke slowly, "I have to ask… does this plan include all of us?"

"What do you mean?" Wanda asked quickly.

"Well... well I mean-"

"He means..." Gamora took over, "what about those of us who didn't die during the Snap? Will we be a part of this... rescue? Or do we stay dead?"

Silence fell over the group. It hadn't even crossed their minds that not all of them would be saved.

"Strange?" Quill asked, his voice soft as his grip on Gamora tightened, "Strange tell me it's all of us. Pease."

"It will depend," Stephen answered quietly.

"On what," Wanda snarled, the idea of losing Vision again bringing out her rage.

"On whoever performs the Snap" he replied, "Once they wear the gauntlet, they may will whatever they want into reality. A single word can make the difference between bringing back all who were killed by Thanos, or all those who were killed because of Thanos, or just... everyone."

"What are the chances that it'll be all of us?" Bucky asked.

"I won't know until it actually happens," Stephen shook his head, "I'm sorry."

The group was coated in silence once again.

"I will be very disappointed if the Avengers fail." Drax said, matter of factly, "The idea of living in the world again has caused me great excitement."

"They won't fail," Natasha assured, "I wouldn't have jumped off a cliff if I thought they would. Whether it's all of us or... or not. Their Snap will work. I don't doubt it for a second."

"Neither does Strange," Loki said, "He wouldn't have told us so much if he did. Isn't that right Stephen."

All eyes turned to him, and eyebrows shot up when they saw that Stephen had returned to a position he had favoured quite a lot while in this realm. Floating a foot above his chair, legs crossed, eyes shut, and completely unresponsive.

"Um..." Natasha frowned, "What?"

"He does that a lot," Wanda told her, "You get used to it."

Natasha nodded slowly, still frowning.

Next to her, Sam sighed, "Hell, you were right kid. Looks like I owe you an..." Sam frowned, "Uh... Peter?"

Sam blinked as he looked around, "Hey, where's the kid."

There was a silence that seemed too long, and then Shuri's soft voice.

"He was right here." she said, her hand reaching out to now empty space. He was... he was right here next to me."

"I am Groot." Groot was off the floor hurrying to Shuri, "I am Groot?"

"I don't know!" she gasped, "I don't know where-"

"Quill!"

Everyone turned at Gamora's gasp, and found her suddenly sitting by herself, staring at the empty space next to her.

"Quill?" she heard Drax say. She turned her head towards him. But he wasn't there.

The couch next to hers only sat Mantis. Who let in a soft gasp, "Oh my goodness," she whispered. Gamora reached out to her friend just as Mantis did, but before their hands could meet, she was gone.

T'Challa hurried to his sister, realising what was happening. He grabbed at her hand, giving her a reassuring squeeze. She smiled up at him, and then his hand closed over nothing.

Bucky realised quickly that there was a certain order to this. They were leaving the soul realm as they had entered it. And the person to arrive here before Shuri was...

"Sam," his head snapped to the man on the other side of Natasha, just in time to see his wide eyes, as he vanished right in front of him.

Wanda's head snapped to Vision, her hand like a vice around his, "Don't you leave me again, Vision," she whispered to him.

Vision reached his hand up to her face, but she was gone before he could touch her.

Gamora shot out of her chair, moving as quickly as she could to Groot.

Her arms wrapped around the boy, and she felt his arms tighten around her for a second, and then he was gone too.

T'Challa stood up straight, his head held high, as he took in a breath, letting it out just as he vanished before their eyes.

Natasha snapped her head to Bucky.

"You take care of those boys," she told him.

"Nat-"

"If I don't come back, you take care of them."

He was gone before he could reply. Before he could promise her that he would.

Natasha turned away from where he had been.

She stood up, moving towards Gamora, who stood with her arms still around the air where Groot had been standing.

Vision got off the chair, floating towards the girls and falling to his feet next to them. Loki joined them a moment later.

They stood in silence as they waited.

Seconds passed like minute, as they stood and waited.

"It didn't work did it." Loki said softly, as he glanced at the still floating wizard, "Not for us."

He waited for a reply, and turned around when he didn't get it.

Loki let out a sigh of relief when he turned to two people instead of four.

"Oh thank god," Vision let out a breath at Natasha's disappearance. He smiled and closed his eyes, and then he was gone.

Loki and Gamora turned to each other with mirrored smirks.

"I missed this peace," Loki sighed.

Gamora's smirk turned into grin, "I didn't."

Loki flashed her a rare grin of his own, and then, for the first time in a while, he was alone.

Well, almost.

He turned once again to Stephen, and tipped his head, "Till we meet again, Doctor."

And then Loki was gone.

Doctor Strange opened his eyes with a gasp, beads of sweat at his brow. He looked around, saw that he was alone, and sighed a smile.

A moment later, the Soul Realm was empty once more.