Never in a Million Years |N.R|

|49| Time to press play.

Our two and a bit week stay in paradise seemed so far away when it came to seven months down the line, and everyone was finally back together. However, the circumstances under which that long awaited reunion happened weren't quite optimal.

In an incredibly rare turn of events, Nat and I had been away from the compound when the world decided to stir things up. On our usual Saturday, in which we took a couple of hours out of the day to go and do our weekly grocery shopping, we got the less than gratifying news that trouble was in town. However, unlike usual where we would've been the first to know, we had to hear it through the grapevine.

Of course shit hits the fan on the day that I'd finally convinced Nat to leave her mobile in the car whilst we went inside the store. Even worse, I'd managed it by promising her that nothing bad could possibly happen in the hour window in which we did our shopping.

Bruce (nice of him to finally turn up - although I decided to keep that comment to myself for the time being) had called Steve, who had then called Natasha several times until she finally picked up, to relay the news that Thanos had arrived. I had to sit beside her in the car, hands twitching relentlessly with nerves as her eyebrows scrunched and she just offered hums of acknowledgement to whatever he was saying. Her face was impossible to read, and her eyes remained fixed on the dash despite my efforts to try and draw her attention.

It was excruciating to be kept in the dark, even though I knew that she'd explain everything to me once she was finished on the phone. But I was clued in enough to know what a call out of the blue like that meant. Something bad had happened, and it had happened right on our doorstep. So with laser focus and my senses on high alert, I scanned the area around us relentlessly until Nat finally pulled the phone away from her ear.

You could never be too careful.

My eyes only snapped to her when I heard her phone drop into the centre console, and a deep sigh escape her lips.

"What?" I quickly questioned, desperate for some kind of explanation. "What did he say Nat?"

My focus jumped around every feature of her face as she collected herself, drawing out my unease as I waited expectantly for some kind of idea of what we were up against.

But when her eyes finally met mine, my stomach dropped. Gone was the lighthearted and airy look they held as we had wandered up and down the aisles of the store, deciding on what dinners to have for the week and picking out snacks for a movie night. I suppose I'd become so used to such a menial existence after it being our normal for a whole year, when in reality my life was destined to be anything but that.

It was nice to have a taste of what everyone around me seemed to find mundane though.

"It's not good Y/n" was all she offered at first, as if preparing me for the final blow. I just continued to look on at her expectantly, fighting to hide my mounting fear from my expression. "It's uh...it's..." words seemed to evade her as she sighed deeply once again, as though she didn't even want to say the words herself.

But I needed her to. It was killing me. "Please Nat. What is it?"

The strained desperation in my voice quickly snapped her out of whatever daze she'd caught herself in. She steeled herself and reached a hand over to grasp one of mine tightly before she broke the news. "Thanos is here. He's going after the infinity stones."

She was right, that wasn't good. In fact it was nearly as far from good as was possible.

"Shit" I uttered, not knowing what else to possibly respond with.

I dropped my gaze to my lap in thought before snapping it back to Nat's face, as she just continued to watch me and wait patiently for whatever questions I might have.