Epilogue
Natasha wakes up at precisely 6am sprawled in the middle of a soft white mattress with the sun beating down a comfortable warmth on her.
She takes her time sliding off her bed, her blue nightgown clinging to her and her fingers combing through her hair. When a familiar feeling between her ankles ensues, Natasha smiles and picks Francis up. Making her way to the kitchen counter to start on a cup of coffee, she starts to go through her mental checklist - something she never forgets to do.
First, she has to hit the gym. It's important she gets there before Sam does (he always hogs the ropes and never wears deodorant).
Second, she has to spar with Clint. He had demanded a rematch after she had "cheated" during their last sparring session.
Third, she has to go for a "team picnic". Tony had made these mandatory of last week when no one was putting in any effort. So from then on, every Wednesday, the team would get together in the central garden (with a field and trees made for picnics!-Tony) and they would each bring some sort of food for the team to share.
Everyone had been walking on eggshells after Steve brought her back 2 months ago. Clint refused to talk to her for a whole month, he barely even glance at her. She felt like shit, of course, but the rest of the team treated her much better than she deserved. Especially Bucky, who even had the decency to pretend that all the blame rested upon him. He apologized profusely on her first week back, saying how he wasn't thinking and shouldn't have been that forward.
“Stop blaming yourself, James, you saved my life” she kept trying to tell him, and he would wince slightly at the use of his first name, undoubtedly bringing back bad memories.
Life moved on. Clint finally starts talking to her, Steve stops watching her every move, and the guilt eventually fades from Bucky’s eyes.
When the time comes for the picnic, it’s 2pm, and the sun shines proudly in the sky. Natasha throws on a airy, blue dress, tied her hair up and smoothed on some lipstick Wanda had given her.
She's already late (Clint demanded two rematches) and her fudge brownies still needs five more minutes in the oven.
When she’s finally ready, Natasha begins a brisk walk to the central garden. As she nears, she smells the food before she sees her team. Sam made burgers, again, she thinks as she smiles.
They all look so happy, with Wanda and Vision sitting together by a tree, Rhodey complaining that Tony’s not cutting the cake right, Clint surreptitiously putting an ice cube down Sam’s shirt, with Scott watching in anticipation, and Steve laughing at something Bucky said.
Natasha wonders, deep down, how she truly fits into them, if her piece of the puzzle can click in like the rest.
She approaches them, quietly, and they barely notice until she set the brownies on the blanket.
“You came,” Steve tries to keep his voice casual with a smile, but anyone can hear the blatant relief in his voice.
“Yeah,” Natasha says, and Bucky shifts awkwardly.
“Well,” Tony has always been one to break the silence, “I’m starving, we were waiting on you, you know, so let’s eat!”
The tension is somewhat broken, and Natasha tries her best to eat one of each thing, but mainly watches Scott gorge himself with food. “What,” he says when he catches her eye, crumbs spilling out of his mouth, “I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”
She laughs at that, and she feels herself relax more as the afternoon turns to evening.
“That was a good meal,” Tony says happily as he pats his stomach, getting up, “Gotta get back and take care of some paperwork, now.”
Clint rolls his eyes at that and gives Natasha a knowing look, everyone knowing full well that he’s really going back to call Pepper, their relationship having improved dramatically over the past couple months.
“I’ll come with you,” Rhodey says as he picks up some of the used plates. “Me too,” Clint gets up and pats Natasha on the head - to which she scowls - and helps Rhodey clean up, “I have to call the kids.”
Sam leaves too, muttering something about changing his shirt, and Bucky follows him, laughing along the way.
The sun is slowly making its way down the sky, the clouds stretching across the horizon. A cool breeze tugs wisps of hairs out of Natasha’s ponytail, and she looks towards Steve, who has barely talked to her the whole afternoon.
“Hey,” she says, as she walks towards where he’s sitting, “Can we talk.”
Wanda glances over from where she and Vision were packing up, and quickly says over her shoulder, “We should get going,” before grabbing Visions hand and walking away.
Meeting her eyes, Steve shrugs. “Sure,” he says, and Natasha sits down next to him.
They’re both silent long time, looking towards the dying sun.
Cautiously, Natasha reaches over and wraps her hand around his, and Steve looks up in slight surprise but he doesn’t pull away.
Turning to look back at the sunset, he sucks in a breath. “You were late today,” his voice is sounds unnaturally loud against the calmness of the air, “I was worried you wouldn’t come.”
“Of course I came,” Natasha tries to keep her tone light, “You know how seriously Tony takes these thing, he would kill me.”
Steve’s frown deepens. “You were late,” he says quietly, “ and for a moment I thought you left.”
He tightens his grip a little on her hand, and looks at her steadily, the corners of his eyes shining. “Don’t leave me.”
Slightly surprised by his abruptness, Natasha turns away to compose herself, her thoughts crowding her brain.
“I won’t,” she finally says when she meets his gaze again. Her voice is steady, and she’s telling the truth. “You - ”, Natasha fumbles for words, trying to think of a way to make him understand, “you were right. You, them, the team - this is home. You’re my home.”
His frown disappears and he smiles at that, little crinkles forming by his eyes. “Nat,” he says softly, “You’re home to me too.”
She reaches up and kisses him as the last rays of sun disappear behind the mountain tops.