Bird Set Free | Natasha Romanoff ✓

Chapter Fifty-Four

"Ms. Romanoff, what can I do for you today?"

"Impressive." She remarked.

"What? My ability to drink?" Aquila scoffed.

"The fact you knew I was there."

"What? That? Please, that was nothing." Aquila responded.

"Nice tattoo."

As the hot weather was only continuing, Aquila's choice of a black halter top in order to combat the heat had left her shoulders exposed, in particular, her right shoulder where an intricate tattoo of her eagle rested. It had been an impulsive choice, made one late night, but very much worth it, as it reminded her of her long lost home, where tattoos, similar were very common.

"Thanks," Aquila said. "Alright, small talk aside. I know why you are here, and the answer is no."

"Well, that was easy to convince you." Natasha joked humourlessly.

"Well, you can tell Fury that I'm not joining his precious S.H.I.E.L.D, no matter what is in it for me. Just because I can turn into a giant eagle doesn't mean I want to use it to solve whatever petty fight, Fury has got himself into."

"Well, this isn't a petty fight, we are generally threatened. Plus some of our very own agents have been compromised, we need you more than ever."

"Really?" Aquila asked sarcastically. "And how is a giant bird going to help the situation exactly?"

"Well, I know exactly who you are, Ms. Cadman. And you are much more than the ability to turn into an eagle. You are a warrior and the fact that you knew that I was there, only confirmed it."

"Oh, I'm flattered."

"So you've found me," Aquila said, her attention still on the punching bag. She had heard Natasha's arrival out of her enhanced hearing thanks to her eagle form but had chosen not to say anything, preferring to continue her training, when in reality she was putting off the inevitable.

"Well, it's not like you were entirely hiding this time, Quila."

"What was that?" Aquila asked spinning around, her eyes slightly narrowing.

"You don't have a nickname, Aquila."

"Who said I needed one, Nat?"

"Quila, it is."

It was while Aquila sat on the small dock outside the Avengers Compound, surrounded by the last five remaining original members who had first fought with her all those years ago, that she could really contemplate everything that she had lost. 

Everything had changed in a matter of moments. They had all known the risks that came with trying to complete such an extreme mission but, none of them, least of all Aquila truly believed that such sacrifices would be made. 

'Quila' was no more, the nickname that Aquila had at first completed detested but soon learned to love. Her main support group was gone. The future that Natasha and Aquila had created together, completely gone. There was nothing left now, just a mission that had to be completed in Natasha's absence. 

The team that had gathered around knew that they didn't have long to mourn, there was a job that needed to be finished. A proper memorial would have to be postponed until afterward but they still have a brief chance to say goodbye to their family member. 

"Do we know if she had family?" Tony's voice broke into the silence surrounding the dock as everyone tried to hold in their tears.

"Yeah. Us." Steve replied back softly, his eyes drifting towards Aquila's hunched form. 

Thor shook his head vigorously, stalking toward Tony. "What?"

"I just asked him a question-"

"You're acting like she's dead. Why are we acting like she's dead? We have the stones, right? As long as we have the stone, Cap, we can bring her back, isn't that right? So stop this shit. We're the Avengers, get it together!" Thor shouted out in denial as Aquila rose to her feet glaring at him, words on her lips before Clint beat her to it. 

"We can't get her back. It can't be undone.  It can't."

"I'm sorry. No offense, but you're a very earthly being. Okay?" Thor laughed drily, shaking his head once again. "We're talking about space magic. And 'can't' seems very definitive don't you think?"

"Look, I know that I'm way outside my paygrade here. But she still isn't here, is she? It can't-be undone. Or that's at least what the red floating guy had to say!" Clint shouted, his tone reflecting just how much pain he was in. "Maybe you wanna go talk to him, okay? Go grab your hammer, and you go fly and you talk to him!"

Aquila could only watch in silence, the whole situation becoming overwhelming in a very short space of time. 

"It was supposed to be me," Clint said quietly, breaking down. "She sacrificed her life for that goddamn stone. She bet her life on it."

With a sudden cry of anger, Bruce grabbed onto the bench by the edge and hurled it across the lake, he turned to the others, his chest heaving up and down in anger. 

"She's not coming back. We have to make it worth it. We have to."

"Aquila?" Steve asked softly, begging her to say something. 

"Bruce is right. She's not coming back. And the truth is that it very well could have been Clint or myself at the bottom of the blasted cliff, like it was supposed to be, but, I know Nat wouldn't want us to stop everything, she would want us to finish this.  Nothing we do can fix this, but we have to get out there and fix it for everyone else because that's what we are supposed to do. We just can let her die for nothing. I'm never going to forget what happened and believe me, I will continue to love Natasha Romanoff until my dying day. But I'm also not going to stop until we avenge her death by proving to everyone that it does mean something."

"And we will."