---Two Days After the Fight---
Yelena stepped out of her gray truck and onto a dirt path leading to a familiar place. The grass was bright green and a towering tree provided a nice shady spot; Yelena walked up to her sister's gravestone to see two people standing in front of it. The man and the women stood with their backs to Yelena and their faces to the gravestone, both so lost in thought that they forgot their spy instincts for a little bit.
They heard Yelena sneaking up behind them and turned around with happy and relieved looks on their faces. Melina walked up to Yelena and examined the bruise on her cheek and the cut above her left brow, meanwhile Alexei just stood and watched. They both wanted to ask about what happened in New York but knew that it could wait; right now they were just glad to see their daughter again. Melina hugged Yelena hard and Alexei joined them, they didn't say anything, none of them did, they just silently enjoyed the moment.
"What, no hug for me?" A voice asked from behind Yelena.
Melina and Alexei looked up to see Natasha walking from Yelena's truck. Turns out that when Yelena made contact with Natasha and the Soul Stone she was also in control of it for a little while; she released Natasha from the stone, the same way Natasha released Wanda's family and a few of their allies. Yelena smiled and Melina and Alexei just looked between Natasha and Yelena, not knowing whether to believe it or not —that Natasha was alive, and that she was actually here.
Melina walked to Natasha with a cautious look, meanwhile Natasha just gave her a loving smile. She cupped her hands around Natasha's face, observing all the little cuts and bruises on her face then looking into her eyes, still not believing what she was seeing. Melina stared into her daughter's eyes for a couple more seconds then hugged her viciously, like she was trying to suffocate her. Alexei let out an excited yell and pulled all of them into the hug, squishing Yelena, Melina and Natasha together with his giant arms.
They all laughed and enjoyed the hug before Natasha spoke to both her parents.
"I told you I'd take care of myself."
Melina pulled back and smacked Natasha on the back of the head; Natasha looked at her in shock, not knowing what to say, though she wasn't really offended. "If you count jumping off a cliff 'taking care of yourself'!" She lectured while Natasha rubbed the back of her head and gave Melina an offended look.
"You and Yelena really love hitting people after they sacrifice themselves to save you." She said, thinking about when Yelena smacked her with a duffel bag.
"You're grounded." Alexei deadpanned, causing Yelena to snicker loudly.
She gave him a sly look then hugged all of them again, happy to be reunited with her family. They were quiet until Alexei cracked a joke.
"I'm destroying that gravestone."
They all laughed but didn't break up the hug, though none of them were typically long huggers; they were just all so happy to be whole again that they held on for as long as they could and as tight as they could.
---Meanwhile---
Bruce and Tony had been hard at work for the last two days reconstructing the Time Stream so that someone could return the stones, fixing the worlds they were stolen from. Wanda was staying at a temporary Avengers Compound when she overheard Tony and Bruce talking and immediately volunteered to be the one to take them back since it had been her fault that they were here in the first place. She wanted to make things right and this was the first step in doing so.
Bruce and Tony were doing the final check while Wanda was assuring her sons and brother that everything would be fine and that she knew what she was doing when she was given word that the machine was ready. She gave her family one last look to say goodbye then stepped onto the platform. They were all ready to go but Tony had something to say before they sent her to the other timelines.
"Hey Wiggly-woos, you weren't so bad after all." He said nonchalantly then brushed past it to refocus on the tablet in his hand.
Bruce smiled at Tony then at Wanda. "That's the closest thing to an apology you're gonna get from him."
Wanda smiled at both of them while Tony faked a sarcastic smile. He wouldn't admit it but he knew that he was wrong about her and that she was worth saving. Natasha would never let him live that down if she ever found out how he really felt.
"Ready?" Bruce asked with his hand resting on top of a button.
"Ready." Wanda nodded at them while the helmet from the Quantum suit's helmet covered her face.
They activated the machine and Wanda was sent off and came back within the blink of an eye, her mission: successful.
---Five Days Later---
Tony's lakeside mansion was packed with almost a hundred people. The Avengers, T'Challa, Shuri, Okoye, a few SHIELD agents, the Guardians, Scott and Hope, Shang-Chi and Katy, and anyone else that was either a friend or ally was invited to a giant party at the mansion to celebrate the defeat of Jean Grey and the addition of a new Avenger: Shang-Chi as well as the return of an old one.
While everyone else was either socializing with their friends or getting drunk, Steve was participating in his favorite pastime: watching Natasha from afar. While she was busy talking with Bucky and Yelena, Steve admired everything about her; her wavy red hair, black turtleneck and brown leather jacket, rosy cheeks and beautiful smile, he didn't know what to do but watch. Should he talk to her? Flirt with her? Ask for a second chance? Did he even have the right to? He wasn't sure.
"You know, you should really just ask her out instead of staring like a creep." Sam said as he walked up to the captain.
Steve just smiled even brighter at her, not even looking at Sam. "Maybe tomorrow." He said then pulled Sam over to the bar for a drink, hoping Thor had brought some of that Asgardian liquor that could actually get him drunk.
"So I met someone really interesting during the battle a few days ago." Bucky informed Natasha with a slightly confused smile.
"Oh yeah?" Natasha smiled back, his confusion was cute.
"Yeah, red suit, no eye holes, said his name was Matt Murdock."
She sighed, knowing that he'd want to know all about her and Matt, Yelena just gave her a smug look and took a sip of her beer. "He was someone I worked with a long time ago when I had a solo mission in Hell's Kitchen a few years back. We kept a good working relationship after that but I hadn't seen him in a while before he came to help us."
"'Working relationship.'" Yelena mocked with a sly grin.
Natasha let out a deep breath and gave her sister a death glare, all while Bucky grew more curious. "Yes, we flirted a little but nothing ever happened."
Natasha's threatening looks to Yelena caused him to laugh and give her an amused look in return. "You told him about us?"
"Not everything, just that I used to date a guy named James Barnes who had metal arm. You know, the usual conversation starter." She barely finished her sentence when Bobbi came and ushered her over to the group of SHIELD agents along with Laura and Pepper in another part of the room for a drink.
Bucky and Yelena watched Natasha walkover to May and Coulson as Daisy handed her a drink and started up a conversation. Yelena chuckled then turned to Bucky while he was taking a sip of his beer.
"You're a better match for her than Captain Golden Boy over there. You should tell her how you feel before he does." She said casually, causing him to choke on his drink. He coughed so hard that half the beer in his mouth went up his nose and he was turning red trying to cough it all up, meanwhile Yelena had just walked away to meet up with Wanda.
By the time Yelena had gotten to the couch Wanda was sitting on, Pietro had already sped all around the mansion to get all three of them another drink. "Where are your two demons?"
Wanda smiled and rolled her eyes. "Playing with Clint's kids and Morgan."
"I told you, I'm not the only one that thinks they are demons." Pietro joked, before spotting Clint in the corner of the room with Tony and speeding to him. He was moving so fast that Clint didn't even notice or feel a thing when Pietro drew a fake mustache on his face with a sharpie.
Everyone laughed and Wanda turned to Yelena. "He only thinks they're demons because he lost to them in Jenga." Wanda joked and the two continued talking for a while longer.
The rest of the party went like that; people meeting up with old friends, playing drinking games and playing jokes on each other. Each of them were just so happy to have everyone they loved back that they almost forgot the chaos that ensued just a few days earlier. The rainy cloud that loomed over the Avengers just a week ago was long gone and now all that filled the halls of the compound was liveliness and joy. They got their soul back.
Yelena grew tired after a few hours of partying and snuck out to find a spot under a giant tree around the lake that no one else was using. She just sat at the mouth of the lake on the cool grass, enjoying the fresh air and the peace and quiet. It was dark now and she could see the stars so clearly. She turned her head to look behind her when she heard a set of footsteps approaching.
"Thought I'd find you here." Natasha said as she took a seat on the ground next to Yelena, feeling the soft grass.
Yelena smiled at her, then looked back up to the stars. Natasha fixed her eyes on the little dots of light too and played with the silver necklace around her collar. Since she got back she bought another arrow necklace for herself, a matching one with Yelena. What was once a symbol of her friendship with Clint was now also a symbol of her bond with Yelena.
They enjoyed the quiet moment for a little bit before Yelena began talking, her eyes still glued onto the sky. "You know, when you were gone... I would often go somewhere quiet –a lot like this one- and just... talk to you."
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It had been four days since Yelena found out her older sister was dead, four days since she felt like the world was ending, four days since her heart felt like it was going to shrivel up and die and four days since the ghosts in the back of her head plagued her sleep with nightmares. It was nearly midnight now and of course she couldn't fall asleep so she got in her truck and drove to a river nearby where she was staying in the country with Melina and Alexei. She didn't get very far before stopping her car next to the river and getting out to sit under the stars.
She didn't know what to do. She wanted to scream, cry and fight all at the same time, her mind was filled with a million of thoughts; memories of Natasha, their final words together, final text messages, every... single... thing. They overloaded her brain, she wanted nothing more than to stop seeing them, it was as if Natasha was haunting her. She wanted to cry but the tears wouldn't flow, she wanted to scream but her voice was gone, she wanted to fight but she didn't know who to blame. She just didn't know what to do, so she looked up at the sky and talked to the one person that could've told her.
"Hey, it's just... it's been a rough day." She started, not quite knowing what to say. "I got word from Sonya today that the last of the Widows have been freed. We did it." She realized that the more she talked the lighter she felt and the easier the tears flowed. "God, I don't know what to do Natasha... we were supposed to figure this out together –living a normal life. We were supposed to do that together. I don't know how to do it." –Her tears started to fall, clouding up her vision– "And I really wish you were here to tell me... but I'll try."
She smiled slightly. "I'll try my hardest to live my life to the fullest." She paused and cried even hard before looking to the sky again. "I hope you're proud of me. Sometimes it's like I can feel you watching over me..."
"... Other times I just feel alone."
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"You weren't alone." Natasha said, causing her sister to take her eyes off the stars and onto her. "I heard you... every time."
Yelena smiled at her then grabbed her hand and held it for a moment.
"By the way, I was talking to Coulson and May earlier, there's a spot for you as a SHIELD agent... if you want it." Natasha said, not trying to pressure Yelena in any way.
Yelena chuckled. "I don't know if being part of an organization is for me."
Natasha just shrugged. "I figured you'd say that, but the offer is always there. There is something else though that I wanted to ask you about. Turns out when I died Tony bought all of my assets from the bank since I didn't have an active will. He was just gonna keep it as a memory of me but since I rose from the dead he gave it all back; I own a pretty big apartment in New York and... I could use a roommate." Natasha smiled at her.
Yelena smiled and nodded. "I'm making macaroni."
"You are not making macaroni."
"What do you mean?! I make great macaroni!"
"Absolutely not, last time you made it you put half a bottle of hot sauce in it."
"Hot sauce is fantastic, you just have no taste."
"Uh huh."
They laughed at each other and Natasha pulled out a set of Corvette keys out of her jacket pocket. "I also got this back." They smiled at each other then began walking to where Natasha's Corvette was parked in front of the giant mansion. After a long day of catching up with friends and dealing with Tony's party games they were both ready to just go home and sink into their beds.
They buckled in and began their long drive back to New York. While Natasha was driving to the apartment she was talking about, Yelena began to drift off; her energy was drained after a long day of partying and socializing. But she didn't fall asleep before hearing the familiar song on the radio. She listened to its words, smiling, then closed her eyes and let herself fall asleep to the tune.
Natasha looked over and smiled then turned up the volume of the song.
"So bye-bye, Miss American Pie"
"Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry"
"And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye"
"Singin' 'This'll be the day that I die"
"This'll be the day that I die'"
The End
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So this is the final update of this story, wow this story has been in the works for so long and I just can't believe that I finally finished it. I just want to say a big thank you to everyone that has made it this far, I never thought that people would actually like this.
I don't think this will be my last story because I have a few ideas for a few sequels and a prequel, I don't know if those will ever happen but I hope to be inspired enough to start working on those soon. I'm hoping to do a prequel Romanogers story that will definitely have Yelena and Natasha moments and Natasha and Wanda stuff too, then I want to write a sequel love triangle with Natasha, Bucky and Steve. But again, no promises, I will try my best though cause writing this story was pretty fun and I want to try it again.
I will be rereading this story one last time and making a final round of edits on any grammar mistakes, but other than that this story is done.
Please leave a comment and vote if you enjoyed!
Thank you so much for reading this far, I sincerely hope you enjoyed my story.