emmylou | natasha romanoff

forty-eight.

"Do you want me to come home?" Natasha asks, "Because I will be there."

"I know you would," Kennedy says with a small smile, "But I'm okay. Anya's looking out for me."

"Hi Nat," Anya says.

"Tell her I said hi and make sure that you get sleep. That both of you get sleep," Natasha states.

"I will," she responds.

"I love you."

"I love you too," Kennedy says, "To Neptune and back."

Natasha laughs softly, "Why Neptune?"

"Longest orbit around the sun and it's the furthest planet from Earth," Kennedy says before shrugging, "Unless you include Pluto, but most scientists don't. They say it's a dwarf planet."

"Well, I love you to Pluto and back," Natasha tells her, and Kennedy's lips curl up in a smile.

"Call me in the morning?"

"I will," Natasha tells her.

Kennedy pulls the phone from her ear and ends the call before placing it on the nightstand. She looks over at Anya, "Do you want to try to go to sleep? I'll be right here to ward off the bad dreams."

"I do want to stay," Anya says.

"Okay," Kennedy says, "Just try not to toss and turn."

"I'll try," Anya says as she lays down on Natasha's pillow. She then suddenly jumps out of bed and heads out of the room. When she returns she has another pillow. She lays down, her head in Kennedy's lap as she holds the pillow close to her chest.

"Is that Yelena's?" Kennedy asks softly.

Anya doesn't say anything, but she can feel the short nod. She sighs as she uses her free hand to play with Anya's hair.

"She's always been there," Anya whispers, "Even when she wasn't there, she was there and now. Now I have to find a way to live without her, but I don't know how. I don't – I can't."

"We're going to get her back. We're going to get them all back," Kennedy says as she looks over at TJ and softly utters, "Whatever it takes."

The next day, Kennedy, Anya, and TJ head over to the Avenger's Facility where it was silent, the only noise coming from the coffee maker that had been working nonstop since the snap had occurred. In the lab, there were pictures of their associates that had been snapped, and Kennedy's heart sunk as she saw Reagan's Columbia ID picture. She was supposed to be graduating and now she was gone.

TJ tucked his face neatly in Kennedy's neck, clinging to her in the strange place. However, his demeanor changed entirely when he set his eyes on Natasha.

"Natty," he says as she reaches out toward her, making a grabby motion. The frown on Natasha's face disappears as she takes the toddler from Kennedy.

Tony smiles at TJ before walking over to Kennedy, "How are you doing?"

"Physically, I'm fine," Kennedy says, "The babies are fine too."

"That's good," Tony tells her.

"Is the thing still beeping?" Kennedy asks and Tony nods his head.

"We've done everything we can, but the technology is alien. Even the raccoon can't figure it out."

"Rocket," Kennedy corrects, "Thor doesn't recognize it?"

"Thor isn't in a talking mood," Tony tells her, "He's angry. Thinks he failed."

"It's not his fault," Kennedy says, "If anything it's-"