After the End

One Shot

"Identify yourself." The person behind the door barked.

"Agent Natalie Rushman."

The person recognized the name and opened the door for her, knowing not to cross her, as she walked through the warehouse she saw piles of dust scattered throughout, just like the ones that were left in Wakanda. She tried to ignore the voice in her head telling her that one of those piles was Clint. The man who had opened the door followed behind her quickly.

"It's good to have you back Agent Rushman. Glad to know you made it through whatever just happened." The british voice told her as she continued her walk. She didn't respond, all she wanted to do was find Clint.

"Is there anything specific that I can do to speed this along? I know that you have a very peculiar relationship with the IMF, being that we are an ex-S.H.I.E.LD branch"

"Where's Brandt?" She asked him, finally acknowledging his presence.

"Room on the end, left side." He said guiding her to a short hallway, knowing she wasn't in the mood for small talk, or to mess around.

"Thank you Benji. I'm glad to see you too." She called to him as he walked away.

She started the walk down the hallway, each step slower than the next. If she opened the door and he wasn't there, she didn't know what would happen, what she would do. Clint was her everything, without him, what was the point in living.

Natasha reached for the door handle and turned it finding it unlocked. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath in as she pushed the door open, revealing what was inside. She stepped in the room, basking in Clint's familiar smell. She opened her eyes, prepared for the worst and saw Clint sitting in a desk chair, turned away from the door, with soundproof headphones on. Natasha smiled as the tears started running down her face.

She ran the few feet to him, the few steps, but she didn't care. All she wanted was him.

"Clint!" She breathed, knocking off his headphones and hugging him from behind.

He was startled, he wasn't expecting her, he didn't know she was coming, he didn't know what was happening. "Tasha? What are you doing here, what's wrong?" He asked her, standing up and turning towards her, but she refused to let go.

He knew something had happened, so he only stood there and held her while she sobbed into him. Natasha didn't want to let go, she never wanted to let go of him, she never wanted to leave him again. Her sobs came and came until they turned into dry heaving and Clint pulled her face away from his tear soaked shirt so she could breathe better.

"Tasha honey. Tell me what's wrong. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

"Clint we lost. I thought you were gone too. We lost half of everyone, Wanda, Sam, Vision, Tony. They're all gone Clint. Clint their gone, and I thought you were gone too." She panted out as her breathing slowly returned to normal.

"Tasha, what do you mean?"

"Thanos. He won, I don't know who he is, but they call him the Mad Titan, his goal was to wipe out half of all life in the universe. Clint we lost. He won. He did it."

The shock registered on Clint's face for the first time. He finally knew what they needed Carol for, why he was working with IMF again, why Fury pulled him from Cap's Secret Avengers. Fury knew this was coming, he knew that they had to be prepared.

Clint ran his hand through Natasha's hair as she calmed down more and more. He didn't know what to say or do. All he knew is that he should have been there, he should have been fighting against him.