A/N: So this was originally intended to be a one-shot, but I got so many PMs asking me to continue this, so here is just a quick little update. This story likely won't be too long as I have other stories that I need to update as well, but here is the highly requested continuation. This picks up exactly where the last chapter left off.
Peter pulled it together long enough for him to see the circle of concerned and grief-stricken faces surrounding him. A lot of them were just staring into nothingness. In complete disbelief.
He heard Tony ask him what he meant by that. Heard him ask what happened on Vormir. But all Peter heard was white noise. He couldn't focus.
He looked around and saw the one face of indifference he was seeking out. At least she had the decency to look guilty.
"How could you?"
Everyone's eyes snapped right back onto him. Peter hadn't spoken aside from the confession that Natasha was gone, and now it seemed that all of his grief had turned into anger. And it was all directed at one person.
Peter slowly stood up and started moving towards Nebula. "You knew."
Nebula saw the pure fury in the boy's eyes and started backing away slowly. She tried to shrug, brushing it off as if she didn't care, but it was clear that the guilt was heavily weighing her down. She didn't think that she'd care, but now that Natasha was actually gone, she felt deep regret for what she had done. "I'm sorry, Peter. I know how much you cared about her."
"You're sorry? You think that sending us off to a death sentence is okay? You think I can forgive what you just did to her if you say you're sorry? You don't get to talk about how much I cared about her. You didn't even know her." Peter inched closer, not letting Nebula increase the distance between them.
"If I had told you all beforehand, none of you would have been able to decide who went. You all would have volunteered, and that would have messed with all the rest of the missions. Can you honestly tell me that if all of you had known, we'd be here right now?"
Peter's face grew red with rage. "You bitch." He finally sprang out and lunged toward her, tackling her off the platform. They landed hard on the floor, but Peter wasted no time. He climbed on top of her and got ready to fight, but he felt himself being yanked off.
Tony took him by the arm and shoved him back. "What the hell is going on right now?"
Peter wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. He hadn't realized he was crying until that moment. "Vormir is the place where we're supposed to get the soul stone. Apparently, it's not a fight for the stone. It's supposed to be a sacrifice. You send two and only one comes back. The recipient of the stone must sacrifice someone they love. None of us knew that until we got there, when it was already too late to turn back. None of us except her."
Nebula shrank back against all the accusing and angry glares that turned towards her. "Look, I'm sorry. But like I said, you all have this hero complex. If I had told you what would happen on Vormir, do you seriously think you would have been able to decide who would be the one to give their life? We wouldn't be here with all the stones in hand. We'd still be in that damn room arguing about who would be on what team, wasting precious time that we don't have. Yeah, we lost Natasha for it, but now we can save everyone else."
Steve rounded on her. "We lost Natasha? I don't seem to recall you ever showing an ounce of care for any of us except Tony. Especially not her. You don't get to say that we lost her when you just sent her to a damn death sentence."
"Please, we needed to get the stones and we needed to do it quick. This was the only way."
Peter sent a piercing gaze her way. "You think the only option was to kill her? You knew she would offer herself up. You knew she wouldn't let me do it. You couldn't have at least told us two? Or at least even her?"
Nebula started scooting back again, further this time. "She sacrificed herself so all of us could live. She gave her life to save the billions of others that we all lost." She looked directly into Peter's eyes. "Natasha died so you wouldn't have to. She chose this fate for herself."
Tony was fuming. "A fate that you condemned her to. Do you honestly think she would have gone along with this plan in the first place, if you had just told us that there was a possiblity that she could die?"
Nebula scoffed. "Do you honestly think she wouldn't have? Are you all really going to stand there right now and tell me that she wouldn't have given her life for any one of you? Even knowing the consequences?"
That stopped everyone dead in their tracks. Because they all knew that she was right.
"She would have done the same thing for any one of you. And she wouldn't have wanted it to have been one of you in her place either. Even if I had warned her, she still would have made the same choice. None of you think with your damn brains. You're too emotional. Can't you see that it was always bound to end like this?"
Peter's shoulders sagged with the realization that Nebula was right. Even if she had warned Nat about the mission, it still would have ended the exact same way. She wouldn't have told Peter; she wouldn't allow him the chance to sacrifice himself in her place. She would have kept it to herself and done the same thing.
He could tell the rest of them were thinking the exact same thing. She only ever had one family, and she was willing to risk it all for them. She thought they were better than her, and never would have allowed anyone else to shoulder that burden. Peter was about to speak when his enhanced hearing stopped him. Someone was coming to the door.
He shushed everyone, and they all whirled around to face the entrance, standing at their guard. But, when the door finally opened, everyone relaxed. Except Peter.
Because there, in all his dark glory, walked Clint Barton.