VORMIR
2014
"I bet the raccoon didn't have to climb a big mountain." Natasha said as they reached the top of the Vormir mountain. Natasha groaned.
"Not to mention its freezing cold." Cecelia said, snow was falling on the 3 of them as they stood. Cecelia shivered, her teeth chattering together.
"Technically he's not a raccoon, you know?" Clint asked them, Cecelia smiled as the two females looked at him.
"Oh, whatever. He eats garbage." Natasha finished their conversation. Cecelia let out a laugh.
"Welcome."
Cecelia reached into her navy blue belt, grabbing out a gun. She cocked it as she turned around, pointing it at the voice. She turned around to see a cloaked figure, floating.
"Natasha. Daughter of Ivan. Clint. Son of Edith. Cecelia. Daughter of Marshall." The voice said, Cecelia furrowed her eyebrows. He knew her parents? How would he know her parents? He was just some guy.
"I have her here, ok? She's right here!" Marshall yelled, a bullet went towards Marshall.
"Papa!" Cecelia yelled as Marshall dropped his daughter. He dropped to the ground, holding his stomach.
Cecelia heard the bullet and her yells as if she was being abducted from her home at that very moment. Cecelia took a deep breath as she raised took a step forward with Natasha and Clint.
"Who are you?" Natasha asked, her gun pointed at him. Clint had his bow and arrow pointed as well, an arrow ready to shoot him.
"Consider me a guide to you...and to all who seek the Soul Stone." The echoey voice said as he floated onto the ground. Cecelia furrowed her eyebrows. The stone was on the mountain, right? Why would they need some guide.
"Oh, good. You tell us where it is, then we'll be on our way." Natasha said. The cloaked figure looked up at them, revealing a red face, it almost looked like a skull.
"If only it were that easy." He said, his voice sounding almost normal. Cecelia stared at him, seeing familiarity, maybe. "Do you recognize me, Cecelia?" He asked, Cecelia tightened her grip on her gun.
"I don't know, should I?" She asked, her finger on the trigger.
"The symbol you once wore on you, it had a red skull, did it not?" It asked, Cecelia looked down at the rocks.
Hydra.
"Howard!"
"My boy!"
"убей их" (kill them)
"good soldiers follow orders"
Cecelia stared at him, had he started Hydra? The symbol was a red skull, and this man literally had a red skull. Was it his fault that she was out through so much pain, so much suffering?
"Did you start Hydra?" Cecelia asked him, he didn't respond to her question directly.
"What does your symbol have?"
"It's not my symbol." Cecelia said, getting ready to shoot him then and there. Natasha felt horrible. She didn't want Cecelia to meet the creator of the organization that made her the way she was. The bad person, the now pained little girl.
"It always will be, little one. Once you're in Hydra, you cannot escape it. Once you're a murderer, your always a murderer." He said, Cecelia looked down. Her grip was no longer tight, she lowered her gun as he hit her weak spot.
"Shut your damn mouth and show us the stone." Clint said, the man only floated away from them, expecting for them to follow him. His dark black cloak behind him.
He brought them to the edge of the cliff. They all looked down it, it was a long way down.
"What you seek lies in front of you. As does what you fear." He said as Cecelia stared down it. The stone was down there, so they had to climb all the way back down.
"The stone's down there." Natasha said, staring down.
"For one of you. For the other...In order to lose the stone, you must lose that which you love. An everlasting exchange. A soul for a soul." Red skull said, Cecelia looked at him, confused. No. There was no way. He didn't mean one wouldn't be going home, right? No, absolutely not.
Natasha walked away from the cliff and sat down on a big rock. Cecelia watched her do so, and she followed.
There was an awkward silence, a long one at that. "How's it goin?" Clint asked before chuckling. "Jesus." He muttered before walking over to Cecelia and Natasha.
"Maybe he's making this shit up." Clint said, Natasha was staring focused at something. Her hands clasped together as she did so.
"No. I don't think so." Natasha said as Clint walked away from them.
"Why? 'Cause he knows your daddy's name?" Clint asked, Natasha stayed sitting there, her expression didn't change.
"I didn't." Natasha said, Clint sending a quick glance back at her. "Thanks left here with the stone...without his daughter. That's not a coincidence." Natasha said, Cecelia's heart dropped to her stomach. She felt sick. There was no way, someone wasn't going home. All of her hopes, all of her prayers didn't come true.
"Yeah." Clint said, nodding his head.
"Whatever it takes." Natasha said, quoting her husband.
"Whatever it takes." Clint said, Cecelia nodded her head.
"Whatever it takes." Cecelia said, Natasha got up, Cecelia following after her.
"If we don't get that stone...billions of people stay dead." Natasha said, staring at Clint.
"Yeah. Then I guess we know who it's gotta be." Clint said, Cecelia nodded her head.
It should be herself. She killed so many people, made people suffer. Like Red Skull said. Once a murderer, always a murderer.
"I guess we do." Natasha said, squeezing Cecelia's hand.
Natasha grabbed Clint's hand, and then Cecelia's hand. "Im starting to think we mean different people here." Clint said, Cecelia looked down. Nodding her head.
"For the last five years I've been trying to do one thing. Get to right here. That's all it's been about. Bringing everybody back." Natasha said to them, Cecelia shook her head.
"No, don't you get all decent on me now." Clint said to her. He knew she didn't wanna die. But if it meant her over him and Cecelia, she'd do it in a heartbeat.
"What, you think I wanna do it? I'm trying to save your lives." Natasha said to them, Cecelia looked next to her.
"I don't want you to, you've done a lot for me, now it's my turn." Cecelia said, ignoring their conversation from earlier. "I did a lot of bad stuff, let me make it right." Cecelia said, Clint looked over at her.
"I did it willingly. You two know what I've done. You know what I've become." Clint said as he took Cecelia's hand in his.
"Oh, I don't judge people on their worst mistakes." Natasha said, looking at Clint. Tears grew inside his eyes, they grew in everyone's eyes.
"Maybe you should." Clint said, his voice barely in a whisper.
"You didn't." Natasha said, Clint nodded his head.
"You're a pain in my ass, the both of you. You know that?" Clint asked them. Natasha nodded. He referred to his friendship with Natasha, and the fight with Cecelia. Cecelia gave a small smile as she looked down at her feet.
They new how this was supposed to end. It would end in a fight, with no doubt about it. It was ending in a fight, no matter what.
That's how all things ended.
Natasha and Clint put their arms around each other, letting their foreheads touch. Cecelia watched, she knew she could make a run for that cliff while they did that. But she didn't. Not without saying goodbye first.
Cecelia Barnes thought she would die today, she wanted to. If it meant saving Natasha and Clint, she would do it.
Natasha pulled Cecelia into a hug, getting on her toes to reach her. Though Cecelia was taller than her, she'd always be Natasha's little girl. "I love you." Natasha whispered to her, Cecelia felt tears pierce her eyes.
"I love you more." Cecelia said before breaking away. Cecelia turned to Clint, he pulled her in.
"You're tough, kid." He said, Cecelia looked down as he patted her on the back. She didn't want to be tough. But at that moment she had to.
"Okay. You win, Nat." Clint said, Cecelia shook her head no. Before anything, Clint kicked Nat in the back of the leg, making her fall to the ground. He grunted, as he kicked Cecelia back. Cecelia stumbled away as he held Natasha down.
"Tell my family I love 'em." Clint said as Cecelia got up. Natasha pushed him over, and then got up.
"You tell then yourself." Natasha said before blasting him with a widow bite. Natasha turned her head before running toward the edge. Cecelia ran after her and pushed her over. Natasha fell to the ground as she fell into a rock.
Clint was still laying there, stunned by Natasha's widow bite. Cecelia went running towards the cliff, bracing herself for the fall.
I'm sorry, dad
At that moment, she nearly felt relief? Maybe she would finally be at peace, and she would have done one good thing in her life. She was relieved knowing she would die now, knowing she'd be at peace for once in her sad life.
She felt herself drop, right up until she felt something grab her hand and come down with her, she saw red hair and she mentally cursed. They felt themselves flying down, right up until they jolted into a stop.
Natasha had put a grappling hook on the cliff, and then on Cecelia's belt. Cecelia had noticed it on her belt and she yelled up.
"Clint pull us up!" Cecelia yelled, Natasha was holding onto her hand. She tried ti get her other hand to Natasha, but they'd both end up falling if she did. "Clint!" Cecelia screamed as she felt Natasha's eyes on her.
Cecelia breathed heavily as she held her mother figure's hand, not letting her let go. She couldn't lose her. She couldn't.
Cecelia wanted to die. She didn't want Natasha to die, it wasn't her chance. Natasha had saved Cecelia, and now it was time for Cecelia to save Natasha. But it wasn't going that way. Natasha was rescuing her, again.
"Let me go, baby." Natasha said to her daughter. She had tears in her eyes. Cecelia shook her head.
"Clint!" She screamed desperately, knowing the outcome. Natasha was going to die.
"Tell Steve I love him." Natasha said as Cecelia sniffled. "Look at me." She said, Cecelia looked down at her. She felt the hot tears running down her face. "Я люблю тебя, дочь" (I love you, daughter)
Please don't go. I love you.
"Я люблю тебя, но это еще не конец, мама." (I love you, but it's not the end, mother) Cecelia said to her, Natasha nodded her head.
"You have to let me go." Natasha said, Cecelia shook her head. She would never let her go.
"No." Cecelia said her voice shaking. She tightened her grip. She shook her head feeling a pull, Clint was pulling them up, but he was struggling. "Please don't go, 'Tasha." Cecelia said, shaking her head, more tears dripping down her face.
please don't stop being my mother
"It's ok." Natasha said as Cecelia felt another pull.
Natasha kicked her foot off the cliff letting go of Cecelia's hand. She went falling down as Cecelia yelled after her.
"No!" Cecelia screamed, watching her fall down.
She watched her body fall, and fall, and then land. Cecelia sobbed as she leaned her head on the one of the rocks.
"No." She cried as a sudden light went through the vormir. Then everything went dark.