—
“love of mine,
someday you will die,”
—
All she could hear was the deafening snap, then the silence that set in moments later. Although she was relieved to be offered a moment of peace from the fires raging around her, it was anything but peaceful. Once the bright, white lights had dissipated, she scanned her surroundings, her eyes landing on a towering figure. Thanos. The gauntlet in his hand was charred, the stones no longer held in place.
No.
The same, deafening snap of his fingers in Wakanda rang through her ears. She watched as her teammates fell into nothing but a pile of ashes, shock and fear etched onto their faces. She spun in a circle slowly, taking in the destruction, before her knees buckled and she collapsed onto the Wakandan soil. Tears were streaming down her face as she reached out to place her palm on where her teammate had once stood, feeling nothing but the warm ground beneath her.
“Destiny has arrived.” Thanos’ voice boomed from behind, but no one bothered to look back.
They watched as dread creeped over them like an icy chill, fervent prayers on their lips. Their mind only offered them one thought.
He did it.
There was no avoiding it; he had done it again.
The battlefield was quiet, as everyone stood with bated breath, expecting the inevitable.
“Guys,” Rocket shook his head, staring at his paws. They were slowly disintegrating, leaving nothing but ashes in their wake. Before anyone could get to him, he was reduced to a pile of dust on the ground.
Natasha felt the panic set in her stomach like a cluster of spark plugs, tension growing in her face. She cast desperate glances, looking for a certain someone among the sea of people.
Once she had fixed her gaze on a man leaning against a slab of concrete, she ran as fast as she could, hair whipping in her face and tears streaming down her temples. She had to make sure he was still there; still living, still breathing.
—
“but i’ll be close behind,
i’ll follow you into the dark”
—
One by one, the rest of her teammates left. Some were holding onto their partners, some were still shell-shocked when their time came. Natasha knew it was inevitable, just a matter of time.
She crashed into his embrace, clutching his arms with shaky hands. Her heart was pounding with futility against her ribs, every breath slowly becoming a challenge to take in.
“Hey, hey-” Steve wrapped his arms around her back, rubbing slow circles in hopes to dissipate the panic coursing through her veins.
“S-Steve,” she choked out, fingers white-knuckled from clutching his suit. Collapsing into his chest, she tried focusing on the sound of his heartbeat, but the sound of her own had drowned it out.
“Natasha, here,” Steve placed a hand under her chin, gently raising her head so that she was looking at him. Tears streamed down her cheeks unceasingly like raindrops on a dusty pane, silently screaming as she suffocated with each breath. It pained him to see Natasha breaking down in the midst of all the destruction.
“I’ve got you.” He whispered against her ear, running a comforting hand through her hair.
“This shouldn’t be happening, it shouldn’t-” Natasha murmured in fear, looking around to find piles of ash surrounding them.
When Tony and Pepper were dusted, the only two souls left on the battlefield were Steve and Natasha, both enraptured in a tight embrace neither could break off. Time was running out, and they could do nothing but hold onto each other for as long as they could.
“We’re going to be okay, we’re going to-” Steve cupped her face with his palms, repeating his words over and over again.
But he knew deep down, that they were far from ever being okay.
—
“no blinding lights,
or tunnels to gates of white.
just our hands clasped so tight,
waiting for the hint of a spark”
—
Reaching down to grab her hand, he clasped his own with hers, desperate to hold on to her before they ran out of time.
“No, no!” Natasha lifted her head to look at her palms, an unsettling feeling creeping up on her. Fear travelled in Steve’s veins, but his complexion remained pale and matt, eyes steady on Natasha. He knew that panicking would only make her feel worse, so he did everything he could to hold up his walls.
As moments ticked by, their embrace grew weaker and weaker, until Natasha started fading away, the grip on Steve’s suit loosening. “Steve,” she whispered, watery streaks trailing down and making furrows on her dirt-stained cheeks.
They were out of time.
“See you in a minute, love.” He responded through tears, running the back of his hand along her cheek.
They let go, taking one last long look at each other’s faces, before disappearing along with the fallen.
—
“if there's no one beside you when your soul embarks,
then i'll follow you into the dark”
—