Through, Together (A Romanogers Fanfiction)

Vormir

Morag wasn't a pretty place. The planet was dusty and desolate, with high winds and angry little spiky-spined lizards who took it upon themselves to nip at any boot that came close to them. Natasha didn't know what she'd been expecting, but she didn't think it was this. She supposed she shouldn't have gotten too high of hopes, the planet's name alone sounded unpleasant. Granted, it was just a pit stop, and she and Clint were sure to be heading onto a far less pleasant planet, but she couldn't help but feel a little bad for leaving Nebula and Rhodey here.

"It'll be fine," Rhodey told her for the third time. "From the sounds of it, getting the stone from this Quill guy should be easy."

Nebula nodded her agreement. "He is an idiot."

"You just get to Vormir," Rhodey said. "Get that stone, and get home."

Natasha nodded and took one last look at the gray planet around her. She gave Rhodey a hug before heading back toward the Benetar. Those seemed customary nowadays, the hugs. Natasha would've never considered herself an "affectionate" person before, but after a life on the run, secluded from her dearest friends, followed by a battle that took most of them from her, she figured it was understandable that she showed her appreciation for who she did have left. After goodbye's were exchanged, she and Clint headed for the ship.

"You two watch each others' backs." Rhodey called to them.

Natasha looked over her shoulder at the veteran and smiled. "Always." Her green eyes swiveled over to Clint, who was nodding sagely at Rhodey. They would keep each other safe. Perhaps better than any other two people.

They boarded the ship and took off. Nebula had set the coordinates in for them ahead of time, so there wasn't much to do but sit back and enjoy the ride.

"Never been to space before." Clint said, stating the obvious.

Natasha looked over at him and grinned. "It grows on you."

This, of course, was her second trip. Hopefully it would be far more successful than her first. She'd recounted the details of their trip to Titan II to Clint before. He was sorry that he hadn't been there with them, not that it would have made much of a difference. Thanos would be dead, either way, and they would still be without the stones. If anything, Natasha was glad that Clint had been saved the disappointment. She saw what it did to Thor. She didn't want to see someone else she cared about experience that kind of depression.  It hadn't been great for her and Steve either.

Star-sprinkled darkness zoomed by them at an alarming rate. The various gaseous dusts and particles in the universe around them were alive with color. Yellows, oranges, blues and purples made for a kaleidoscope of color and light that they tunneled through at hyper speed. The ship rocked with the turbulence of their flight, but neither Natasha nor Clint could be bothered by it. They were both too enveloped in the experience.

"This is a long way from Budapest!" Clint said over the noise.

Natasha chuckled and shook her head. That was the understatement of the century.

Eventually, the ship came out of its jump and found itself floating in Vormir's orbit. The sudden change in speed was disorienting, but after taking a moment to gather herself, Natasha was able to begin the ship's descent to the planet. As autopilot took over, she unbuckled herself from her seat and stood up, moving to the rear deck to take in the view through the windows, there.

"Under different circumstances," Clint said from beside her, "this would be... really cool."

She couldn't argue with that. While abandoned, Vormir didn't have quite the desolate feel that Morag did. It was a planet of smooth, sprawling dunes sprinkled with pools of dark water. The eclipsed moon hung, fat and heavy in the sky, casting everything both above and below in a sort of purple tint. In the distance, a craggy, mountainous structure rose up from the ground. It was jagged and rough, a stark contrast to the smooth terrain on which it stood. Natasha stared at it for a few moments. She hadn't forgotten Nebula's story, of how Thanos came into possession of the stone. Of course, they were on Vormir in 2014, before Thanos even knew of the planet's importance.