Clint quickly volunteered to do a test run in the first real time machine that had been built by Tony and actually had a chance to work. It consisted of a huge platform, several feet in the air, round. It was impressive and Tony was confident it would work. Most of his plans worked on 11 percent confidence, so this had a success probability of 100%.
But someone had to go through first, and there was no way Natasha would let Katya do it and vice versa, but they didn't have to. Clint felt he had to redeem himself and therefore stepped forward instantly. He was terrified, they could see, but admired his bravery.
Natasha was beyond restless, shifting her weight from leg to leg.
''Babe, he's going to be fine,'' Katya tried to calm her nerves. Because if Natasha was nervous, she was too. ''If Scott survived with the van, Clint will survive with this supersonic time travel platform thingy.''
Natasha raised an eyebrow. ''Supersonic time travel platform thingy,'' she repeated. ''Wow, that is a new low for you.''
Katya dropped her mouth open in offense, watching her smirking wife walk away to say some last words of reassurance to Clint. He looked rather lonely on the platform, in the very ugly time travel suits. Katya didn't care too much about fashion, but that thing was straight up ugly. White and red and black.
''You know,'' Rhodey started, stepping next to her, pulling her attention away from Natasha, ''I proposed to go back in time, find baby Thanos and-'' He made the very obvious gesture of choking Thanos to death with a rope.
Katya laughed in surprise, crossing her arms. ''I'm game.''
''Unfortunately, you were the only one,'' he grinned, staring at the scene in front of them. Tony did the final touches to the machine, Bruce stood at the controls and people were nervous, pacing around, lost in thought or chatting to someone to distract themselves. It had been years since such a big group of people occupied the Compound grounds.
''Did you talk it out yet?'' Rhodey continued. It was impossible to miss where, or rather who, Katya was staring at. Her head wasn't in the game.
''Does yelling count too?'' she sighed. Rhodey's expression turned sad. ''Yeah, I said some things I shouldn't have, but it got him here.'' Clint didn't hold a grudge against Katya and all the things she yelled at him in Japan. Fortunately. Because she said some nasty things.
Natasha had left Clint and swiftly took her place next to Katya again.
''Is he good?''
Natasha shook her head, her loose curls following the movement. ''He's terrified.'' She hadn't been too happy when Clint had volunteered, not after they just got him back, but she knew he needed to do this for himself. This was his way of making up for the past few years. Well, it a start at least.
''We would be, too,'' Katya whispered back. Tony was ready, Bruce was ready, so it would happen soon. Anticipation and anxiety spiked in the room, all eyes turning to the platform, where Clint stood lonely and restless.
Bruce flipped the last switches and pressed the final buttons and everyone mentally prepared for Clint's journey. Breaths were sucked in, fingers crossed and prayers sent. Because if this didn't work, all hope had been for nothing. Natasha took her death grip on Katya's hand again and squeezed so tightly the circulation got cut off.
''Alright, Clint,'' Bruce announced loudly. Everyone tensed. ''We're going in three... two... one!''
And Clint was gone. And Natasha exploded with nerves, probably more than anyone in the room. She kept her sharp eyes on the platform and didn't avert them, her heart drilling in her chest.
It was pure torture for everyone, but more so for the people who had seen what had happened to Scott, how badly it could go. The others, they were clueless, which was a real blessing. But with the genius that was Tony Stark helping, the likelihood of this going well went up tremendously.
Katya counted the ten seconds in her head, her heartbeat in her ears and Natasha's hand getting sweaty in hers. At exactly the last number, Clint popped up, screaming his daughter's name, falling to his hands and knees, panting loudly. Whatever he saw had rattled him, but if that was the good kind or not, they were about to figure out.
Natasha dropped Katya's hand and sprinted away, the first one to run up the steep rise and the first one to reach Clint. ''Hey, hey. Look at me. You okay?'' She took his face in her hands, but Clint had already recovered, a happy smile on his lips. He stood up straight, and only then they noticed he had something in his hand. A baseball glove.
''Yeah, it worked.'' His smile was very contagious and soon appeared on Natasha's face too while he tapped the glove to her chest. ''It worked.''
Katya laughed in disbelief. It worked at once, within the one test run they had. So this solution, it was real, they were going to fix this.
A weight fell off her shoulders now that it was confirmed. All those years of thinking there was no solution, that the world would forever be missing half, it was over. A bright light shone at the end of the pitch-black tunnel. They only had to grab it with both hands, they only had to get the Stones and bring them back.
Tony clapped his hands, very proud of himself. And he should be, he invented time travel after all. ''Alright, time for a brainstorm session people. This way please!''
Smiles all around as people celebrated carefully, clapping shoulders and hugging. Others were in shock, staring at the glove Clint brought back as if it was alien. They couldn't grasp what had happened yet.
Bruce shut the whole thing down while the others followed Tony outside and towards the main building, chatting happily. Natasha stuck close to Clint, asking him what he saw exactly. Katya eyed the both of them with a smile on her lips.
''Oh god, I hate those,'' Katya groaned, referring to the brainstorming sessions. They always gave her a headache. She fell into step with Steve. With his hands in his pockets and the frown gone, he looked a lot better than after the failed test before.
He chuckled, the enthusiasm of the team echoing between the walls. ''Who doesn't?''
''Eh, you?'' she said teasingly as if it was the most obvious answer. And it was no lie, because after everyone gathered around the large dinner table, some sitting, some standing, Steve was the one who took charge of the session.
The glass screens on the walls were all filled with an Infinity Stone each. All with a different color and a different name. For some reason, the green Time Stone is what pulled most of Katya's attention. Wouldn't it be nice to have time at the touch of your fingertips? Just turn it back if you messed up, do your life over, do Wakanda over.
The Avengers had been in touch with the Space and Mind Stone most. Space because it was inside the Tesseract and had been the center of all their troubles in New York. Mind because it sat in Vision's forehead and inside Loki's Scepter.
But the other Stones, they didn't mean much to them: Reality, Power and Soul. It wasn't hard to predict what each of them did, but exactly, they didn't know.
''Okay, so the "how" works.'' Steve stood in front of the screens, facing the rest of the team that listened carefully. ''Now we gotta figure out the when and the where. Almost all of us has had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones.''
''Or substitute the word encounter for damn well near been killed by one of the six Infinity Stones,'' Tony added jokingly. His words were true though. They had been killed by them more than simply running into one.
Katya sat at the head of the table, turning her chair ninety degrees so she faced the screens too. Her fingers tapped on the papers on the table impatiently. Behind her, Thor slouched in his chair with sunglasses on and a beer in his hand. Next to her, at the long side of the table, Natasha, with a pen in her hand that she kept tapping against her lips. On the other head of the table sat Scott, who stared at the Stones confused.
''I haven't, I don't even know what the hell you're all talking about.''
''Regardless,'' Banner's big body moved through the room slowly, ''we only have enough Pym Particles for one round trip each, and these Stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history.''
That was true. Especially the Tesseract, or rather the Space Stone, had been thrown around a lot. It had been used by the Nazis in the forties for example, when Steve was around. Then it spent some time in the ocean and so on and so on. So every Stone had a different path and location throughout time. The problem will be where to find them and where to drop in.
''Our history,'' Tony corrected him. ''So, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in.''
''Which means we have to pick our targets,'' Clint caught on. Underneath his clothes, on his left arm, a tattoo sleeve had emerged. Of course Natasha had heart eyes the second she saw it. Katya just rolled her eyes and told him it was cool. Oh and not only that, there was a tattoo on his head too, visible because the sides of his head were shaved very short.
''Correct.''
Steve eyed the screens and landed on the deep red, moving one. Its rich color was calming, but the slow and calculated movements looked dangerous. ''Let's start with the Aether. Thor, what do you know?''
The whole group twisted around, towards the god in the corner. Katya sighed, shaking her head. It was sad to see him like this, all withered away and not caring about his health. Failing to beat Thanos had scarred him deeply.
When he didn't move, Natasha said to no one in particular, ''Is he asleep?''
''No, no, I'm pretty sure he's dead,'' Rhodey said dryly.
Katya threw him an amused look and pushed herself out of her chair, making a show out of calming them down. ''I got this.'' She wasn't going to lie; she was kind of scared of waking him up. Who knew what he would do in his drunken state? Swat at her? One hit from his hand, intentional or not, hurt badly.
''Careful, Kat. Drunk Asgardian gods may be hazardous to Russian spies,'' Tony joked smugly, bringing his own drink to his lips.
''Shut up, Tony,'' she hissed, wary of talking louder and startling Thor.
Gently, she took the beer from his hand first to avoid getting sprayed with it, and then tapped his arm. ''Thor, hey buddy, wake up.''
Like expected, he shot out of his chair, throwing all the crumbs from the donut he had eaten earlier, on the floor. It was a good thing Katya had been smart enough to take the drink from his hand or it would be all over her clothes. ''What? What? Where is the fire?''
''Nowhere, nowhere,'' she calmed him down, ignoring the snickers from the people behind her. ''You need to tell us about the Aether.'' With her arm, she gestured to the screens, which he finally noticed. How long has he been asleep for?
''Ah yes, the Aether.'' With difficulty, Thor hoisted himself out of the chair, the dirty shirt he wore barely covering his stomach, shuffling to the screen in his crocs and pajama pants. ''Where to start? Umm... The Aether. First, is not a Stone, someone called it a Stone before. It's more of a... an angry sludge thing, so... someone's gonna need to amend that. Here's an interesting story though, many years ago... My grandfather had to hide the stones from the Dark Elves...'' He wiggled his fingers like he was telling a scary story. How drunk was he? ''Wooooh, scary beings.''
Katya groaned softly and sunk down her chair, hanging her head back. ''I need a dri-'' A thud on the table cut her off. Opening one eye, she saw a bottle of alcohol-free beer on the table and a smirking Natasha giving her a wink. ''Too predictable,'' Katya muttered.
Thor dove into a story that ended up more about his ex Jane instead of the freaking Stone. Apparently his heartbreak sat very deep, because at one point he almost cried, voice breaking. Tony pushed him back to his chair, but Thor struggled. ''I'm not done yet, the only thing permanent in life is impermanence,'' he laughed proudly.
Tony clapped and patted his shoulder, steering him back to his lazy chair. ''Awesome. Eggs? Breakfast?''
''No, I'd like a Bloody Mary.''
Scott sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. ''And I need food.'' It was true, it was starting to get late and every now and then, a stomach would growl. Katya would kill for something salty right about now.
As if on que, Tony's phone pinged. He took it out, saw the feed on the screen and smiled proudly. ''Way ahead of you.'' He came back with bags full of Chinese food. He had ordered a lot, a lot of food. Something for everyone. And he had remembered people's favorites too. This man was too good for the world.
''Tony, you're amazing,'' Katya said between bites, scooping some more rice on her wooden sticks. ''I take back almost every bad thing I said to you.''
''Almost?'' he frowned. People followed the conversation with amused faces.
She hummed, enjoying how lighthearted the mood was. ''Yes. Some of them, you deserved.''
''Like what?''
''I think you can figure that out yourself,'' Katya answered mysteriously. The team chuckled at Tony's offended expression.
''Alright guys, which Stone is next,'' Steve pulled the conversation back on track. Katya was growing tired, like the others. The constant thinking, listening and planning made an impact on her body. But this wasn't the time to go to sleep or take a nap.
Natasha gently nudged her, sending a soft smile her way. Katya smiled back and stole some of her food in the process, which she allowed with a playful glare.
''Quill said he stole the Power Stone from Morag,'' Rocket spoke up. He stood on top of the table, which was far from hygienic, but at least this way he could see everyone and they could see him.
Banner frowned, scooping some more Ben & Jerry's out of the huge tub he got. ''Is that a person?''
''No. Morag's a planet. Quill was a person,'' Rocket countered impatiently.
Scott looked up from his plate with big eyes. ''Like a planet? Like in outer space?''
''Oh, look. It's like a little puppy, all happy and everything.'' With a high-pitched voice, he ruffled through Scott's hair. ''Do you wanna go to space? You wanna go to space, puppy? I'll get you to space.''
After dinner, part of the group moved to a different room for a change of scenery. Some took a break and others needed some space to think. Katya found herself on a couch, legs pulled under her and head resting on her hand which leaned on the armrest.
Nebula had taken over from Rocket and jumped to another stone, the Soul Stone, which she knew a lot about.
''Thanos found the Soul Stone on Vormir.''
''What is Vormir?'' Natasha asked monotonously, writing everything down about all the Stones, everything they knew about them, like she was in school. Natasha would either be the perfect student or the one who joked through all her classes. She sat on the backrest, feet on the expensive leather cushions.
Nebula hung her head. ''A dominion of death, at the very center of Celestial existence. It's where... Thanos murdered my sister.''
A tense silence followed where nobody knew what to say. Only Rocket had known Gamora, but that didn't mean the others didn't feel her pain. Everyone had lost someone here, but to be murdered in cold blood...
''Not it,'' Scott whispered after a while, making his body as small as possible. He seemed generally awkward in social situations.
Katya took a breath and shifted in her seat. ''Sign me up.'' All heads turned to her as if she had gone crazy. Vormir did not sound like a pleasant place, but Katya also knew someone had to do it. And who best to go to this place of death than a killer. ''Death is my middle name by now,'' she shrugged.
''I thought it was Alena,'' Tony teased, sipping his sixth cup of coffee this evening. With his words, the atmosphere relaxed a bit.
She narrowed her eyes at him. ''And how the hell do you know that?'' It came out a lot angrier and more pissed than she meant it too. Yeah the exhaustion did a number on her.
''I have my ways,'' he answered vaguely.
''Okay, I need a break,'' Katya announced. To Natasha she whispered, ''I will be by the lake.''
She nodded, so Katya was off. The fresh air was a nice change from the warm air inside. It wasn't too warm outside, but Katya refused to go back for a jacket. She sat down on the grass, arms wrapped around her knees and chin on top of it.
So far, they had a plan for just one Stone and that was the Aether. Obviously they would look for the Space Stone and the Scepter in 2012, around the time of the Battle of New York, but hadn't chosen an exact date. The same was the case for the Power Stone Rocket knew. And they hadn't even started on the Soul and Time Stones.
It was beyond tiring and the constant interacting and talking sucked the energy out of Katya. She wasn't much of a social person and needed time to charge every now and then.
So she closed her eyes and listened to the sounds. Unconsciously, her mind drifted to the orphanage. Because of everything, she hadn't visited in days. She had texted all supervisors of the houses and told them she was ill. Katya couldn't tell them about the time heist. News like that spread like wildfire.
This day seemed to last weeks, that's how tiring it was. They had tested the platform only this morning and it was around nine PM now. So even though it had only just gotten dark, it felt the middle of the night.
Was she scared of this trip? Not really. She wasn't as much scared of going back to the past, or to another planet, but more so of messing it up. Banner's words floated in her head: we only have enough Pym Particles for one round trip each. It wasn't an option to not get a Stone. Every mission, six in total, needed to succeed. And the Avengers had a high probability of messing things up.
So that's what made it tricky. Also, getting the Stones. Because the people who had them at the time, had no idea the team were time travelers. So there was more to stress about. What if they wouldn't give them up?
''Kat! We got it!''
She twisted around, shocked awake by this news. Jumping up from the grass, she jogged over to a smiling and energetic Natasha. Even in her black sweatpants and grey tank top, she looked gorgeous, hair back in the signature braid.
Steve started talking the second they walked in. They had waited for her. Shortly and curtly, he explained the different teams, timeslots and which Stones they were getting. It was quite easy and predictable:
Nebula and Rhodey would go to Morag, intercept a 2014 Peter Quill who was on his way to steal the Power Stone.
Steve, Tony, Scott and Bruce went to 2012 New York, where three Stones were at the same time. Time, Mind, Space.
Thor and Rocket had business on 2013 Asgard with the Aether that had settled inside Jane. Their Stone could turn out to be the most difficult, because the fluid Stone sat inside her veins. They couldn't just grab it and go.
And since Katya had volunteered to go to Vormir, Natasha and Clint had been put on her team, obviously.
''All right. We have a plan,'' Steve concluded the meeting, which was necessary because it was late by now and everyone was exhausted. ''Six Stones, three teams. One shot. Get a good night's sleep, we leave at sunrise.''
He didn't have to say the word 'sleep' again. Everyone happy to get a break. Katya dragged herself up the stairs, skipping half her nighttime routine because she craved rest so much.
''Thanks for calling dibs on Vormir, it looks like a lovely planet,'' Natasha said sarcastically, crawling up Katya's body until she hovered just an inch above it.
Katya chuckled and automatically trailed her hands down to Natasha's hips. ''It's not like I could just show up in 2012 after I got transported to the hospital with a hole in my shoulder. And we don't look the same anyway. We could never pass for ourselves.''
''That's true,'' Natasha hummed, tracing the prominent scar on the brunette's shoulder with her finger, her mind flashing back to that hectic day in New York.
''And I'm going to be honest here, Rocket and Nebula, they freak me out. If there is anyone I trust to have my back, strange planet or not, it's you and Birdman.'' Gently, she tugged out Natasha's braid and ran her fingers through it, untangling the red and blonde mess. While she did this, the teasing smile on Natasha's lips turned more genuine and joyful. ''What is it?'' Katya questioned, pushing some hair behind her wife's ears.
''I haven't seen you this happy in months,'' Natasha muttered, her green eyes taking in the face of the woman underneath her. From the tiny healed cuts and scratches to the high cheekbones and the dark circles she didn't notice anymore.
''Oh, I have you wrapped around my pinky so tightly,'' Katya teased, but Natasha was right, she hadn't felt so good in ages. Hopefully Natasha didn't blame herself for that, because it wasn't her, it was this world Katya could never be happy in.
Natasha rolled her eyes, covering Katya's smirking mouth with her hand. ''I'm not even going to protest because it is completely true.''
Katya chuckled, removing the hand from her lips and lacing her fingers through Natasha's, playing with them. ''So, any tactics for tomorrow?''
''Travel through time and space, get that Stone, travel back through space and time, fix this mess,'' she responded casually, as if she was taking about a grocery shopping list and not a risky mission where lots of things could go wrong. ''And don't die,'' she added strictly, piercing Katya's eyes with her own. She was not joking.
''Sounds easy enough.''
''Yeah, well, when did anything ever turn out to be easy?'' Natasha kissed her lips shortly and shifted her body to the side, lying next to Katya instead. With her head on the brunette's chest and their legs tangled together, she sighed quietly. ''Two Russian spies in space, who saw that coming?''
Katya smiled, pulling her wife closer to her body and running her fingers through her hair. ''I certainly didn't. I don't think the aliens will either.''
''As long as they aren't grey, slimy, and have more than four limbs, I'm good,'' Natasha mumbled, too sleepy to continue the conversation too long. '''Night.''
''Goodnight baby.'' Katya pressed a kiss to her forehead and asked FRIDAY to turn the lights off. But where Natasha fell asleep almost instantly, snuggled against Katya, the brunette couldn't sleep. How could she, when there were so many things running through her head.
And despite the soundproof room, small sounds from inside the Compound traveled into the silent bedroom. It was so weird to have a full building again, especially after five years of living here with the two of them. It felt right, this was how it was supposed to be.
Katya couldn't get the picture of Vormir out of her head. It was a dark planet, purple tinted with a strange atmosphere. But that's not what bothered her, it was the feeling she got, that bad feeling in her chest, right before something would go wrong. But it couldn't, nothing could go wrong and she wouldn't let it.
Did she regret choosing for Vormir? No, she stood by her previous statement that somebody had to go, and she'd rather do it herself than let her friends risk their lives. Besides, she, Nat and Clint were spies and trained to adapt to situations. They had worked together for years and knew each other best.
But still, that nagging feeling wouldn't leave. What was going to happen on Vormir?
~~~~~~~~
A/N: cliffhanger!! Sorry hahaha. Next up: Vormir. We are slowly nearing the end of this book and it has me emotional. Fortunately, there are still the alternative endings which I have very good plans for. So more Nat & Kat to come :)