A/N: I never intended to expand on this, but this came out today. It's much shorter than the first chapter, but it's also from Natasha's POV. I like it and I hope you do too.

Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel.

"Good luck," Steve says to her, a smile on his lips. Stopping her bounce for a moment, she studies her husband's eyes as ice shoots through her veins.

He's my soulmate, Natasha realizes instantly. Steve recognizes that something isn't right immediately, but she stows her emotions away before he can catch it. Resuming her dance, she sends him a radiant smile while simultaneously memorizing his face.

Blinking back the tears, she reverts to humor to hide her pain from him, "See you in a minute." The hum of the machine distracts her as she turns her attention to see it open up and transport them; hyper-aware of Steve's gaze on her the whole time as she's sucked into the vortex.

When they land on Morag, she quickly wipes away the straying tears before turning to say good-bye to Rhodey and Nebula. The cyborg catches the spy's gaze with a knowing glance and Natasha's blood runs cold again. The dots instantly connect to when Nebula told them about the soul stone and how two people went for it, and how only one came back.

Every human knows the legend of soulmates and how once you hear the words, you know who they are. But it's also the last time you ever see them again. And Steve just said her words, making him her soulmate.

It all connects at that moment when Natasha realizes she will be the one to die.

Curtailing her emotions again to keep this revelation secret, Natasha gives Nebula a curt nod before they part ways. Her thoughts are dark as Clint and her scale the mountain, worry about Steve building in the pit of her stomach. She's grateful it will be her dying, not her husband. It's cruel to say, but Steve will have friends to support him. Tony, Bucky, Sam, Clint, Wanda and more once they reverse this mess.

But still: how will he react?

And another question lingers: should she tell Clint about this new information? No, she decides, he'd just tie me down and try to sacrifice himself instead. Her best friend already felt guilty enough about missing the wedding and being absent for the last five years; she can't put this on his shoulders too. Natasha just hopes that in the end her husband and best friend will be able to help each other get through this mess.

They reach the top and Red Skull (Natasha's really glad Steve isn't here for that part) reveals what she already knows. Selfishly allowing herself a few more moments with her best friend, Natasha realizes that she's going to have to fight Clint for the right to die. The fight that ensues is difficult, but fate is on her side and the master spy manages to get the upper hand in the end.

As Clint tries to desperately figure out how to save her, she just smiles at him with accepting green eyes.

"Tell Steve I love him."

Clint blinks helplessly at her when with no hesitation she kicks off of the cliff.

She wakes in an imperfect afterlife without her soulmate and it's there that she finally lets her tears fall.

"Agent Romanoff," A familiar cocky voice interrupts her dozing. "You miss me?"

Her lips turn into a frown as she views the figure blocking her sun. She's lying next to a pool with a vodka martini in hand, where the delicate glass clinks against the ring on her finger.

"How could I, Shellhead?" Natasha retorts, her green eyes narrowing into daggers. "You didn't give me any time to actually miss you."

Tony's cockiness fades at her words, morphing into a sad smile. "I couldn't leave you here alone, Red. What kind of gentleman would that make me?"

"The one that should've stayed behind with his wife and kid." Her tone is sharp with disappointment and sympathy.

"Like you couldn't have done the same with your husband?"

Natasha looks down, catching the glint of her wedding ring in the sun. Her newly unblemished soul mark is barely visible over the top of her bikini bottom, but she mentally hears his parting words.

"Good luck."

The words she never thought she'd hear from his lips. It was ironic that in all their years together and all of the dangerous missions never once had those two words been uttered between them. It was rare for people to say it to her since she really was that good at her job.

Although Natasha had secretly hoped her soulmate was Steve all along, with him being the only man she ever truly loved, hearing the words from his lips had been surprising. She hadn't even known her husband had a soul mark though, which made her feel like a lousy spy. But if she were a betting woman, she'd say it was under that old wristwatch he never took off.

"Where were Steve's words?" She halts her thought process to ask Tony, sensing that he would know the answer.

"Underneath his wristwatch," Tony replies quietly. Natasha nods, not feeling better that she was right. Ever since she learned the truth, a piece of her yearned for Steve's presence. The other half of her soul was literally missing.

Tony moves to take the lounge chair adjacent to her, clad in a hideous Hawaiian shirt and swim trunks which prove to be the perfect distraction from her pain. Taking her hand in his, Tony squeezes it tightly. "He'll be okay, Nat. He and Pepper will take care of each other."

Looking upward to the crystal-clear sky (the color of Steve's eyes) to blink back the tears, her lips finally curl upwards. "I know. Because we take care of each other."

"It's what family does," her new afterlife pal murmurs. He glances over to the side table where a cold beer appears on a coaster and he picks it up to take a sip. "This place is nice, it knows exactly what I'm thinking. Does it have FRIDAY?"

Natasha snorts into her drink, "I'm sure you can invent a FRIDAY for the afterlife, but usually whatever you want just appears." Downing her drink, another instantly appears next to her to enjoy which she sips gingerly.

Tony squeezes her hand again. "You miss him don't you?"

"Of course I do," Natasha says, being able to see the same pain in his eyes that she feels. "We spent nearly every day of the last three years together. I love him. He convinced me to get married." Her voice breaks as she continues, "He's my soulmate."

She downs the second drink as the ache intensifies, but another one doesn't appear this time. The spy plays with her wedding ring instead, admiring the simple design of it. Steve had gone for practical touch rather than an ornate one when picking out the ring, which fit Natasha's lifestyle perfectly. It should how much Steve knew her and what she constantly did: keeping up with their line of work in addition to maintaining the compound in a livable condition.

Wiping away yet another stray tear (when did she become the woman who cried every other minute?), she turns to smile at Tony. "I guess I'm stuck with you for eternity."

"Yeah," Tony looks down at his wedding ring.

"What heroic thing did you do to end up here?" Natasha asks with a teasing lilt, trying to lighten the mood slightly.

Over the next hour, Tony explains the events that happened after she died. It breaks her heart to hear about Steve wanting to stay in the past and the mental anguish he felt when it became more obvious that she would be the one to die, not him. Sniffling a little, she continues to listen until Tony finishes, pulling him in for a tight hug when he finally relays his death.

"I never had any doubt that Pepper was the one," Tony's voice cracks as he says. While wiping away his tears, he slings his arm around Natasha to pull her closer, "But it still hurt to leave her once we said the words."

"Yeah," Natasha agrees. "But did you enjoy the time you had with her and Morgan?"

"Of course."

"Then that's what we'll focus on. The time we had with them."

Tony grunts, "Only because I'm tired of being sappy." He jumps to his feet, pulling Natasha with him. "Now show me the highlights of this afterlife while we wait for our better halves to join us."

"I don't know how Pepper lived with you," Natasha teases him. "You're going to drive me insane."

Tony just rolls his eyes, but they enjoy their time together while waiting for their soulmates.

It's several years later, but eventually, Natasha and Steve meet again.

"You lied," he tells her.

"Huh?" Her eyes look up at him questioningly while her arms are circled around his neck.

They're swaying along to slow music when he smiles down at her. "It was more than a minute, Nat."

"Oh," her gaze turns in shame.

But it's only for a second when he lifts her chin with his finger, "But I forgive you, soulmate. Because we're here now."

"We'll talk about you hiding your soul mark later," Natasha promises him with a fake glare. "Because you're right, we're here now. Soulmate."

Still dancing, their lips meet and all is right in their world again.

A/N: I tried to make it a little happy in the end. And I had to give Steve his last dance with Nat because they were my endgame.