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“I’m calling Fury,” Natasha says at last.
“I thought he was dead,” Rhodey says.
“Yeah, not so much.” Steve leans on the table. “I’m not sure what he can do, though. Every Avenger we can get ahold of is here already.”
Natasha tilts her head. “I’m ninety percent sure he’s got something in his back pocket. There was a classified mission, back in the nineties, that he never talked about afterwards. SHIELD didn’t have anything on it either.”
“Then how do you know about it?” Rhodey folds his arms.
Natasha shrugs one shoulder. “Phil talks a lot.” She straightens. “I’ll be back shortly.”
As she goes out of the door, she hears Thor asking, “Fury was dead?”
Natasha turns the corner, slips into one of the side rooms. She sighs heavily, tapping on Fury’s contact number. “You’d better pick up,” she mutters. “Because I swear, if you ghost me, I’ll find you and kick your-”
“Hello?”
She lets out a relieved breath. “Maria, thank god. I need to talk to Nick.”
“Just a minute.”
Natasha leans against the wall, tapping her foot nervously.
There’s a shuffling sound on the other end of the line, then, “I thought I told you to leave me alone.”
At another time, she would’ve laughed at him, but now… “We have a problem.”
“What kind of problem?”
“Thor returned to Earth two hours ago. He says there’s a powerful being on the way here to take the Infinity Stones.” She hadn't believed him at first, but the fear in Loki's face was enough to convince her.
“What do you want me to do about it?” Fury sounds annoyed, mostly, and she grits her teeth.
“I don’t think we’re going to be strong enough,” she says, glancing at the floor. “I know you’ve got something up your sleeve.”
He sighs heavily. “Coulson talks too much.”
“Damn right.” She smiles at a particular memory of her old friend, but the smile fades quickly. “Please, Nick. We’ve got almost everyone, but without Tony, we’re at a disadvantage.”
There’s a long pause, and she can hear his muffled swearing. Finally his voice comes over the line, clearly again. “I need you to meet me in Wakanda.”
“We can’t just barge in there and-”
“I’ve already contacted King T’challa,” Fury says. “Take the whole team. I’ll meet you there.”
Natasha nods, closing her eyes for a second. “Thank you.”
“I hope you’re right about the gravity of this threat.” She can practically hear him rolling his eye. “You just lost me a bet, Romanoff.”
She chuckles. “See you soon.”
~~~
With thirteen people in it, the quinjet feels far too crowded. Natasha sits between Peter and Clint and does her best to ignore everything else that’s going on. They’re sitting in silence anyway, until they’re about ten minutes out.
“Why Wakanda?” Scott leans forward.
“Most technologically advanced place on the planet,” Steve says. “It’s our best chance of defeating Thanos.”
Natasha glances at Peter, who’s fidgeting with something in his hands. “You okay, spiderling?”
He glances up at her. “Huh? Oh. Oh, yeah, I’m fine.” He glances away, and she notices he’s shaking.
“C’mere.” She puts her arm around his shoulders, noticing the way he relaxes into the touch.
“So, I know, like, most of you.” Scott gestures around at the group. “And, uh, no hard feelings, right? About the whole thing in Germany.”
“Germany?” Thor glances around.
“Let’s not talk about that right now,” Steve says.
“Okay, yeah. Sorry.” Scott glances at Peter. “I’m just kind of confused about who you are.”
Peter’s breathing speeds up, and Natasha squeezes his shoulder. “Scott, this is Peter. He’s Spider-Man.” She glances at Peter. “The team needs to know,” she adds in a tone meant for his ears only.
He nods.
“Oh, okay. Cool.” Scott nods. “And, uh, Arrow Guy? I don’t think I ever got your name.”
“Hawkeye.” Clint doesn’t glance away from his phone.
The silence stretches on.
“Landing in five,” Sam says at last. “Everybody buckle up.”
~~~
“Wow,” Scott says as they step off the plane. “This is really, really cool.”
Natasha glances up at the group coming towards them. “King T’challa,” Steve says. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me,” T’challa says. “Director Fury is the driving force behind all of this.”
“And it’s a damn good thing too.” Fury steps forward, glancing around. “You look like you need all the help you can get.”
Natasha smiles. “It’s good to see you too.”
He turns to face her, glaring. “You owe me fifty bucks, Romanoff.”
She raises her eyebrows. “What for?”
“You lost me a bet.” He scowls. “You’re paying.”
She shrugs. “I can live with that.”
He glances around again. “Where’s Strange?”
“He’s coming,” Steve says. “He had business to take care of in Hong Kong, but he said he’d be here by afternoon.”
“Good.” Fury turns. “Let’s get inside and talk strategy. You’ve got an old friend waiting, Cap.”
Natasha glances at Steve. Her heartrate is picking up again. She hadn’t forgotten that Bucky was here; she wonders if he’ll actually remember her now. Maybe it’s better if he doesn’t.
The group walks into a large room with a long, bare table and plenty of chairs. Maria steps forward. “It’s good to see you all,” she says.
Natasha smiles.
Bucky shifts, metal arm glinting in the light. “Same from me.”
“Hey, Buck.” Steve clasps his friend’s arm. “How have you been?”
“Pretty good, considering the impending doom.”
“I don’t know if you’ve met everyone,” Steve says, turning around.
Natasha shifts, clasping her hands together in front of her and hoping she looks calm.
“Everyone, this is Bucky Barnes, formerly known as the Winter Soldier. Buck, this is-”
His gaze cuts over to Natasha, and he takes a step forward. “Moya balerina,” he breathes.
She feels the tension wash out of her body. “Moy soldat,” she says.
He holds out his hands, and she takes them, ignoring the mutters behind her.
“Natalia.” His gaze is fixed on hers. “Is it really you?”
She smiles. “It’s me.”
He blinks hard. “Natalia… I…”
“Can you save the sappy reunions for later?” Fury grunts. “We have work to do.”
Natasha nods as Bucky lets go of her hands. “Yes, sir,” she says.
Fury sits down at the head of the table. Natasha grabs Peter’s hand as the team follows suit, pulling him into the chair beside hers. He squeezes her hand, flashing her a glance.
She ignores the look Fury sends her way. Peter’s not her kid but he is her responsibility in Tony’s absence, and she’s going to keep him as close to her as possible.
“Thor.” Fury leans forward, folding his hands. “What do you know about Thanos?”
“He is a very powerful being who is attempting to collect all seven Infinity Stones,” Thor says.
Natasha notices that Loki, who hasn’t left Thor this whole time, is pale and trembling, and she’s seen that look before and it doesn’t bode well.
“Do you know where he is now?” Steve asks.
“No. But he will return.”
Natasha glances at Fury. “What about your play?” she asks.
He glares at her. “I’m reprimanding Coulson for telling you about that.”
“He never told us outright,” Clint says. “Just… hinted at things. Liked to reminisce about his first mission.”
“Not you too.” Fury sighs heavily.
“He trusts us,” Natasha says, letting an edge creep into her voice.
Fury scowls, glaring around the group. “This information does not leave this room, understood?”
Nods and grunts of agreement. Natasha notices that Peter’s hands are shaking, and she tugs him closer.
“About twenty-three years ago, I created the Avengers Initiative. Officially, it was SHIELD’s answer to the need for international security.” Fury glances at Maria. “What the rest of the world doesn’t know is that it was actually a response to an extraterrestrial threat.”
“So, like, aliens?”
Everyone turns to look at Scott.
“What the hell did you think Thanos was?” Sam scowls.
“I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page.”
Fury sighs. “Yes, Mr. Lang. Aliens.” He leans back. “SHIELD kept that information quiet. There are only three people on Earth, outside of a few SHIELD personnel, who still know about it. The threat was easily managed.”
“SHIELD was that good back then?” Rhodey asks.
“We had help.” Fury taps on a panel inset in the table, and a hologram flickers to life.
“This is Carol Danvers,” Fury says. “Originally a test pilot for a top-secret project involving the Tesseract, she gained superpowers when she destroyed a piece of technology powered by the cube.”
“Hey, I know her.” Rhodey leans forward. “We trained together when I joined the Air Force. I thought she died a long time ago.”
“As far as the rest of the world is concerned, she is dead.” Fury turns off the hologram. “After stopping the Kree assault on Earth, she left to help a race called the Skrull. She hasn’t been back on-world since.”
“And she’s your contact?” Natasha asks.
Fury pulls out an old-style pager, placing it in front of him on the table. “I sent the signal as soon as you called me. I don’t know when she’ll get here, but she’ll come.”
“But that’s going to take time we might not have.” Steve straightens. “What can we do to prepare in the meantime?”
“I think there may be a way to safely destroy the Mind Stone,” Vision says. “Shuri and I have been consulting on the matter.”
Steve glances at Fury. “Director?”
Fury shrugs. “Don’t look at me. You’re in charge, Captain Rogers.”
Steve straightens. “Right. So.” He glances around, taking a deep breath. “I know some of us are a bit out of practice. Been a couple years since we were in the field.”
“So let’s fix that.” Natasha straightens.
Steve nods. “T’challa, do you have a place we can train?”
“I will have someone show you to the training areas,” T’challa says.
“Thank you.” Steve stands up. “Avengers, suit up. Let’s get to work.”
~~~
Natasha pulls her hair back into a tight ponytail. Beside her, Peter fidgets with his mask. He’s wearing the original suit for now, but she knows he’s got the Iron Spider in case he needs to end up in a real fight.
She leans over, pulling the last thing out of her duffel bag. She pulls Yelena’s vest on, buckles the straps. She brushes her fingers over the fabric, saying a quick prayer for her sister. Wherever you are, I hope you are safe.
She glances around the large room. Scott and Hope are doing something to Scott’s helmet. Bruce sits in a corner, twisting his hands. Her gaze stops on Bucky, who’s staring at his metal hand as he flexes it slowly. She stands up, squeezing Peter’s shoulder. “I’ll be back,” she murmurs.
Bucky looks up as she approaches. “Natalia.”
“Moy drug.” She sits down beside him.
He glances down at the floor. “How are you?” he asks after a moment.
“I’m well.” She clasps her hands around her knee. “And you?”
“Been better.” He grimaces. “Been worse, too.”
She swallows hard, closing her eyes for a second. “I’m sorry.”
“What for?” He glances up at her.
“For everything that happened,” she says. “For the Red Room, specifically.”
“Natalia,” he murmurs. “That wasn’t your fault.”
“What they did to you because of me was.” She looks away.
“What they did to me was their fault. Their decision.” He pauses. “You were the only bright spot in all those seventy years. Even after they wiped the memories, some part of me missed you.”
She glances at him again. “When did you remember me?”
“I think…” He closes his eyes for a second. “I think it started in Vienna. When you were fighting me. And then later, in Germany, I was… confused. I kept getting flashes. When I saw you today…” A tiny smile lifts the corners of his mouth. “That finished it.”
“The Red Room is gone,” she says after a moment. “After Germany, when I was on the run, I… I finished it off.”
“That’s good.” He glances at her, nodding. “I’m safe to be around, now. They got HYDRA’s programming out of my head. I’m not the Winter Soldier anymore.”
“And I’m still the Black Widow.” A bitter edge creeps into her tone. “I’m still the weapon they made me into.”
“You’ve never been only that.”
She glances at him, smiling a bit. “I know. I just…” She sighs. “It’s hard sometimes.”
The door opens, and Steve comes in. Natasha straightens.
“We can talk again later,” Bucky says.
She meets his gaze, smiling. “I’d like that.”
“All right, circle up.” Steve straightens his shoulders, and Natasha notices he’s got the shield on his back. He must’ve found it in the Compound before they left.
She stands up, joining the rest of the group. Time to get this show on the road.