To Know Death

Natasha first met Death when she was old enough to dance and young enough to never want to stop. - They say your first encounter with death changes you the most. Ensemble. Not a deathfic :)

A drabblefic written the other day on the way home from a banquet... I guess this is what social functions bring me to.

Clint first saw Death when he was old enough to hate his parents and young enough to wish they loved him back. He saw Death in twisted shards and screaming metal, in blood painted across car seats full of memories and in the beer bottles still clutched in his parent's hands.

Clint saw Death, but it was not there for him, not then, at least. He ran from the memories, ran from the past enclosed from the orphanage, and did not encounter Death again until he thought it came for him on one lonely, cold night dull of bitter solitude and crushed dreams.

He lay dying, but Death did not pull him away that night. Death flew around him - always touching, never taking.

Death has been a part of him since.

Natasha first saw Death when she was old enough to dance and young enough to never want to stop. She was young, and she was warm and free and never wanted to change. Death found her distantly at first, in news of vanished bodies and family members being pulled away in the night. Yet Death never touched her personally, always at a distance, always as a pale shadow on her otherwise bright stage.

Death found her and seduced her in its own dance in the form of a man with a cold smile and colder eyes. Death told her how lovely she was, how lovelier she could yet be, and she took his hand to find a new dance.

Death calls her in graceful movements and warm blood. She hears it in songs that only she can dance to and embraces it in games only she will play. Death is a jealous lover and courting it is the key.

She has danced for Death alone since.

Steve first saw Death in a puppy whining weakly by the road when he was old enough to care, but young enough to believe Death will return what has been taken. He saw Death in a tail that stopped wagging and eyes that closed gently. Death was blood and pain and agony, and it was then that Steve knew that Death could not be the opposite of life, because life ends and Death does not.

He next saw death in the cold, shocking realization that the 107th was nothing more than a few scattered names lying in camp. He could not submit to Death, so he fought to keep it at bay. He continued fighting long after ice froze his blood and the sun started it flowing, because once he started fighting Death, he knew he could never stop.

He's been fighting Death since.

Tony never didn't know Death. He saw Death in the figure of a father who never stopped looking for it, and he saw Death in the husk of a man without his wife. He saw Death in bottles that were hardly full before they were empty and in bouquets of beautiful flowers that said 'I'm sorry for your loss".

Death was always there, like a constant companion, then he forgot about Death until Death killed a brave man and taunted Tony. Tony then realized that Death was something that touched everyone, tore apart everything, and tried to forget that one man couldn't stop Death.

Then one day he woke up and saw Death in the mirror, staring back at him.

He's been running from Death ever since.

Bruce first saw Death when he was old enough to realize some problems cannot be solved but young enough to wish he held the answers. Death was in lost knowledge and forgotten secrets; it was Death and Death devoured all. He saw Death in trembling hands and fraying memories, and he knew Death in empty stares and glassy eyes. Death was a cruel master and Death was a cold teacher.

Bruce next saw Death when he tried to stop it. He realized then that life can become a living death, and it is futile to fight it. Death cannot be bested by hope turned to ashes and science put to use. If Death is in frayed memories and lost knowledge, than Bruce has become intimate with Death.

When he feels his body tear itself apart and the part that is Bruce retreat away, he knows he finds Death in charity and kindness.

He has been Death ever since.

Thor first saw Death when he was old enough to understand it and young enough not to care. He knew it as an end and a means, and not much seemed to matter besides. Death was when there were no more allies, no more battles waiting to be found, and when no one will let you say 'I'm sorry' and move on.

Thor next saw Death in loneliness and exile, for it was his only companion. He, who had dreamed of besting Death, was brought low by the hopes of curing it. Death was a cornered dog and Death was vicious. When threatened, it lashed out to sink its teeth into the first easy target before it.

Death was in the puny mortals and the fallacy of caring too much. It defined them, embraced them, and outlined them in a loving, gentle way.

But Thor does not surrender, not to a thing like this. He vowed to be this world's protector.

He's been racing Death ever since.

As always, reviews are placed in a pedestal to adore forever.