The last thing Natasha Romanoff was expecting in the Soul world was to see Steve Rodgers.

She had been sitting on a small rock of stone, watching as the sky changed from gold to a light purple before faintly, in the distance, she saw the familiar figure of the Captain materialize from the water.

At first, she had thought she was hallucinating. That finally, after what felt like who knows how long, her mind had officially been lost to the Infinity stone's influence.

But she wasn't hallucinating.

The more Steve drew closer to her, with his face young as ever and eyes surprisingly old and knowing, Natasha could tell it was him.

"Steve," When Natasha final finds her voice, she doesn't bother hiding the emotions that leak into her tone. Surprise. Shock. Confusion. Relief. "What are you doing here?"

Steve says nothing, and instead, simple smiles.

Why isn't he saying anything? Her conscious screams.

"How's Clint? How's –" Natasha breath hitches, and for a split second, her eyes flood with panic. "Did we lose? Is that why you're here?"

Steve chuckles then, and it's a sound that has the wind in Natasha's chest standing up. Her eyes pool with tears, and her shoulders shake a little as sobs threaten to escape her mouth.

"You know you took longer than a minute Nat," Is all Steve can say at first, and Natasha can't help but fling herself into the warmth of his arms as he holds her close. It's him. He's real. He is not a trick of her imagination but right there in front and Natasha can barely grasp that he's realandhewasrightthereand- "Thank-you."

His words are quite, spoken into the thick curls of her hair.

But Natasha is a spy, and her superb hearing had always one of the perks of her dangerous life.

"What do you mean thank-you, Steve?" She asks again, willing her emotions to settle. "What's going on?"

This time, Natasha realizes that her cheek has grown warm. That a tear has fallen from Steve's eyes and has joined the relieved tears that slowly trickle down her cheek.

"We couldn't have done it Nat without your sacrifice." Steve can barely hold his voice steady. "We got the stones back…we won…we defeated Thanos…everyone came back…"

A warmth of joy grows in Natasha's stomach, though as soon as it comes she grows cold again with Steve's next words.

"But we lost so much…" He says mournfully. "Vision…You…Tony…"

The last name sends ice down Natasha's spine, and clenching her jaw, she can't help but breathe deeply to refrain from hyperventilating.

Tony Stark; genius, philanthropist, billionaire, husband, father, friend.

At the thought of Tony, with his smiling face and brown eyes, suddenly Natasha thinks of similar brown eyes and a small face and her knees buckle under the weight of her thoughts.

Catching her weight, Steve watches as pain envelops her features as his smile grows weak.

"They're safe, Nat. What Tony did, what you did, your sacrifices is the reason why so many people were brought back. So many families reunited. But I didn't come here to tell you everything. I came here so you can go home, so you can see for yourself what we did. What you did."

Steve's voice grows faint in Natasha's ears, and it's then that she realizes what Steve's presence in the realm means.

"Why?" Her voice comes out weak, defeated. And she closes her eyes to stop the tears from falling.

Warmth encases her cheeks once more and knowing that it couldn't possibly be her tears, her eyes flutter opens once again to meet Steve's eyes.

He is smiling still, but his eyes are sad.

"When you died…and Tony…" His breath hitches, "I realized that if I could, I would do anything to bring you guys back. But Tony can't come back. He's gone and Pepper and Morgan are going to be okay because they have us, the Avengers. But you, you could come back. And people like Clint and his kids need you. We only needed a substitute for your soul..."

Steve laughs a sad sound that echoes in the empty world around them before gratitude clouds his eyes.

"And so I figured we could get you back but I wasn't willing to give up anyone else. Everyone's lost so much and there's still so much to do with Wanda and Vision and you." His thumb moves to her cheek to run soothing shapes into her skin.

"So I took a page out of Tony's book, went back to where it all went wrong for me and I lived Nat. I knew you would've never made me do this unless I made something of myself so I went back and I grew old. I lived…all because of you."

Images rush through the young woman's mind as she pictures Steve in the 1940s.

He is dancing, and for the first time since she has met him, Steve looks relaxed, carefree. Peggy is nestled in his arms, and the glare of their matching wedding rings distracts her from the sound of children's laughter in the background.

While bittersweet, it is a glorious sight, Natasha thinks to herself.

And so when she pulls herself back from his arms, she musters every ounce of gratitude and love into her smile and directs it to Steve.

Steve Rodgers, who has in all the years she has known him, becomes not only her Captain but best-friend.

"And that's why I'm here." He says, eyes twinkling once more. "So you can live too."

By the time he tells her the rest of the plan, the sky has officially darkened from gold to purple.

And Natasha can tell by the sad twinkle that shines in Steve's eyes that their goodbye is approaching.

For a second, they simply stare at one another. Maybe in another life, they could've been more than what they were, but it's a thought Natasha dismisses with ease.

Instead, she lets herself fall into his loving embrace and at that moment, she allows herself to feel everything all at once.

Relief. Safe. Hope. Happiness and most of all, she feels ali-

When Natasha wakes up in Vormir once more, there's already a large group of people surrounding her body.

Among them is Rhodey, Bruce, Sam and Bucky, Wanda, T'Challa and Okoye, Thor, Rocket and Nebula and other people she hasn't met and she can't help but let her tears fall freely as she looks upon the familiar faces of her team.

Her family.

Before she can say anything, let alone sit up on her own, warm fingers curl around the circle of her wrist and tugs her onto her feet.

A body slams into her then, and Nat lets out a breathless laugh as she feels the familiar body of her brother curl around her.

It's Clint.

Clint's chest vibrates as he chuckles, and Natasha's own laughter joins him as he picks her up and twirls her around with all their team watching with sad smiles.

It doesn't take her long to realize that there are some people missing, because she sees it in the thinly veiled pain in Rhodey and Bucky's eyes. She can feel it in her heart, too. But she doesn't make that comment.

Instead, as Clint places her on the ground, Natasha sucks in a huge breath of air as she grasps his hand within her own.

Smiling, she raises her head to meet everyone's gazes before she speaks.

"Let's go home." Is all she can say, and like the rest of her family voice their own joy and agreement, Natasha feels her chest swell with warmth as the familiar echo of Steve and Tony's laughter join in.

She is home.

I don't know guys lol. I am a mess.