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Sep. 20th, 2020 at 2:21 PM
Who: Natasha Romanoff and Bruce Banner
What: Arriving in a new place
Where: Right outside the converted Stark Tower
When: Sunday afternoon
As she dangled in Clint’s hands, Natasha took just a second to take in the beauty of Vormir. If this was the place she was going to die, and she knew that it would be, she was going to take a second to admire it. The cool wind on her face, the purple skies and the dark greys of the mountains. The Sun was setting, from what she could tell, or maybe it was just slowly ducking behind some clouds. She was afraid, but she knew that she would rather die a million deaths than watch Clint do so. She sucked in a breath and promised him that it would all be okay. What other choice did they have? They were going to do whatever it takes.
She pressed her boots flatly against the cliff side and she pushed off, feeling her hand slip abruptly out of his. She closed her eyes to contain her tears, and the block the look on Clints face.
She hit the ground sooner than she’d thought, whacking her head pretty hard on the concrete. It was hot, but she was alive. She let out an absurd laugh, before she opened her eyes. Perhaps it was just the spirit of sacrifice that made the soul appear, the intent, and not the actual death. She was going to call out to Clint and when her eyes blinked open, she was flattened by absolute confusion.
She was staring at the New York Skyline. Something she’d stared at for ages, while she tried to figure out what she was supposed to do to fix the snap. Had they been called back already? Had the time been up? Had the button been pressed? She barely know how the time machine worked, despite multiple explanations, and the throbbing in her head from her landing was making it a bit harder to think. “Barton?” She called out, trying to figure out if he were around. He should have been right? They had been close in proximity.
What: Arriving in a new place
Where: Right outside the converted Stark Tower
When: Sunday afternoon
As she dangled in Clint’s hands, Natasha took just a second to take in the beauty of Vormir. If this was the place she was going to die, and she knew that it would be, she was going to take a second to admire it. The cool wind on her face, the purple skies and the dark greys of the mountains. The Sun was setting, from what she could tell, or maybe it was just slowly ducking behind some clouds. She was afraid, but she knew that she would rather die a million deaths than watch Clint do so. She sucked in a breath and promised him that it would all be okay. What other choice did they have? They were going to do whatever it takes.
She pressed her boots flatly against the cliff side and she pushed off, feeling her hand slip abruptly out of his. She closed her eyes to contain her tears, and the block the look on Clints face.
She hit the ground sooner than she’d thought, whacking her head pretty hard on the concrete. It was hot, but she was alive. She let out an absurd laugh, before she opened her eyes. Perhaps it was just the spirit of sacrifice that made the soul appear, the intent, and not the actual death. She was going to call out to Clint and when her eyes blinked open, she was flattened by absolute confusion.
She was staring at the New York Skyline. Something she’d stared at for ages, while she tried to figure out what she was supposed to do to fix the snap. Had they been called back already? Had the time been up? Had the button been pressed? She barely know how the time machine worked, despite multiple explanations, and the throbbing in her head from her landing was making it a bit harder to think. “Barton?” She called out, trying to figure out if he were around. He should have been right? They had been close in proximity.
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One minute he was in Wakanda, watching as one by one the people around them seemed to turn to dust and disappear. The next...New York. But he wasn't back at the Sanctum, and he wasn't at Stark Tower and Veronica didn't seem to be anywhere nearby and... There was a clenching in his chest as Bruce realized what all had just happened and it slammed into him. They'd lost. Thanos had won, despite how hard they'd fought. How? How was it even possible? He was making good on his promise to wipe out half of the universe. And perhaps Bruce with it? Was this what happened when one dissolved at the hands of Thanos?
And then he heard a voice calling for - Clint? Instantly, he knew that voice. And a very strong part of him still wished he didn't. "Nat?" She was close by. If he could just get his breathing back under control, he might be able to focus. If this were any other time, he might even be worried about an 'incident', but the big green bastard still seemed to refuse to show his stupid face.
Then he saw her, and God if all those feelings didn't come rushing back all over again. One day he'd manage to be over her, but this wasn't the day. "Are you alright?" She looked as confused as he did but then, she had been nearby. But...no, something was wrong. She looked different. Not just the hair (though what was with the hair?), but she just looked...tired.
When she saw him though, her heart dropped a bit. Maybe her head injury was worse than she thought, because he wasn't big and green at the moment. She rubbed at her face.
"God, either I hit my head harder than I thought or we fucked up this time travel thing." She moved to stand, ignoring the protest from the rest of her body. "Where are we? Did we get the Stones?"
And secondly... "Time travel?" The confusion in his voice was evident. "No, we didn't get the stones, he took the Mind Stone and killed Vision and, well. Here we are." Because in his head, it really was that simple. He'd had no idea how convoluted their lives were about to get.
What he did know was that whatever had happened had hit Natasha pretty hard. Physically. "Back to my original question, are you alright? You look like you could stand to get into medical but..." But where the hell was medical here? If he didn't know better he'd say they weren't even in 'their' Manhattan. But that was impossible.
Her mind raced to get to what he was saying… why was he talking about five years ago as if it just happened. "Did you hit your head? That was… that was five years ago."
"Oh fuck." Natasha let out, almost as a whisper. Was she doomed to repeat the last five years. She wasn't sure if she could do all of it again. Or maybe she could, knowing what to expect. Maybe she could do better this time. Maybe she could anticipate the needs better. "You really don't remember Lang? The time travel plan? To get the Stones before Thanos?" It wasn't that Natasha thought that Bruce would lie about those sorts of things, but she had to probe to figure out what was happening.
"Now I'm the one with the headache," he grumbled, confusion giving him the migraine from hell. "Okay. Alright, this is going to be okay." Because it had to be. They needed Tony. Or Strange, he had a ridiculously logical mindset, he could help. Because when even Bruce couldn't wrap his head around something, it was too much.
"Nat, I honestly have no idea what you're talking about."
"I'm from the middle of... all the time travel. Im from 2023... but I went back to 2014 to secure the soul stone. And now I'm here?"
Unless it was.
Of course it had apparently taken three of the world's brightest minds to figure it out. But that was typically an average day hanging around a lab with Tony and Bruce, so it did at least make sense.
He ran a hand through his hair, trying to appear more calm than he actually felt. What he felt right now usually would have his other half raging beneath the surface and instead, he was fairly sure He had actually retreated even further. "God, I don't even know what to say. I don't know where we are or how we got here or...anything." But Bruce was a man of science and learning and like hell he was going to stand around feeling helpless. He reached into the pocket where his phone would be. He was suddenly very grateful he'd held on to it even mid-battle. Maybe a part of him had hoped Tony would somehow be able to get in contact with them from wherever he and the kid had ended up. "Well. Good news is, this building is owned by Stark Industries?" No, the irony wasn't lost on him.
Natasha knew Bruce well enough to know that he was upset. She didn't know what would happen at the moment, but she stepped forward and placed both her hands on either side of his face, forcing him to look at her. "Its okay. If Stark is here..." Natasha sighed, "Then we have a better chance of figuring out what we need to do to set things right."
Of course, she wasn't entirely convinced she wanted to. If this was a world were everyone came back and she didn't have to sacrifice herself for the soul stone, than why would she want to leave?
Still, he exhaled slowly and nodded. Despite everything, including the years apart (many more for her), she still knew how to keep him calm. "Maybe he'll at least know what happened. Why we don't remember the same things." Maybe he would know why Natasha looked so exhausted, and what it was she wasn't quite telling him. This definitely wasn't how he personally had wanted his first experience with time travel to go.
She took a few steps towards what seemed like a previous Stark building, mostly just based on its grandeur and design. “Yeah, I don’t get that part. And… well, you aren’t big and green so thats different.”
Maybe the Beatles were back together.
His eyebrows lifted at that last comment, but he was already instinctively following her, as he almost always had. "That's different how, exactly?" So now he wasn't even allowed to be himself? The lives of everyone he'd ever known had been threatened and the Hulk still wouldn't come out to defend himself and yet, five years in the future, he was apparently Natasha's first expectation. This place was terrifying already.