★ ★ ★

The autumn breeze blew through Marlena's long hair. She sat forward in her spot beside Steve, her forearms resting on her thighs, and her hands clasped together in front of her. She'd barely spoken a word since they returned home, but she didn't have much to say in the first place. She didn't have the words to explain how she truly felt, but then again, she never did to begin with.

In the distance, the crickets chirped and the water rippled. The sky was a beautiful golden color, and the way the sun shone through the branches of numerous trees made the world seem almost peaceful for once. And maybe things would've been peaceful, especially since the team had retrieved the stones, but for now they were anything but.

"Do we know if she had any family?" Tony asked quietly.

"Yeah...us."

Steve, Tony, Clint, Marlena, Thor, and Bruce had been outside for a while. Together they discussed the trip, including the worst incident that had taken place along the way. Natasha was gone, and as they learned, she died sacrificing herself for the Soul Stone, just as Nebula's sister had been murdered for it. The fact of the matter made the team admire her so much more than they already did, but they were still torn as they tried to process never seeing her again.

"What?" Thor moved closer to Tony. "What are you doing?"

"I'm just askin' a question," Tony's voice was sad.

"No, you're acting like she's dead, why are you acting like she's dead?" Thor was having a hard time accepting Natasha was gone, as was everyone else, but Thor was convinced they could bring her back. The rest of them weren't so sure about that. "We have the stones, right? As long as we have the stones, we can bring her back."

Steve looked to the ground, fresh tears falling from his eyes. He didn't have an answer for Thor.

"You need to stop this shit," Thor continued; he was noticeably agitated. "We're the Avengers, get it together."

"We can't get her back," Clint exclaimed as the tears rolled down his face. He'd hardly stopped crying since they returned back home, and he doubted he'd stop any time soon. "It can't be undone...it can't."

Thor gave a breathy laugh and looked around at everyone. "I'm sorry, but no offense, you're a very earthly being, and we're talking about space magic, which is very different."

"I know, okay?" Clint crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm way outside my pay grade, and I know that, but she still isn't here, is she? It can't be undone, or at least that's what the red floating guy had to say. Maybe you wanna go talk to him, okay? Maybe you wanna go grab your hammer and fly and talk to him!"

Marlena was getting a headache; the men's voices were much louder than they needed to be, and the pain rolling off of them was almost unbearable. She got up from her spot beside Steve and strolled over to stand at the edge of the boardwalk overlooking the small lake. She leaned against the wooden column at her side and looked out towards the water. She tried her best to drown out their voices, but no matter how hard she did, she couldn't.

"She sacrificed herself for that goddamn stone, she put her life on it," Clint cried.

Bruce ripped a bench clean out of the woodwork and angrily threw it into the water. Marlena turned to see what was going on and frowned. This wasn't what she wanted for them. It wasn't what she wanted for herself, but she knew she had to find a way to be okay with it. They all did. Natasha made her decision, and they knew she'd want them to respect it. She not only sacrificed herself for the universe, but for the Avengers, and she would've done it a hundred times over. They knew that, too.

"She's not coming back," Bruce said with a hint of realization in his tone. "We have to make it worth it...we have to."

"We will," Steve assured Bruce. He stood up, and Marlena made her way back over to the group.

"Will we?" Marlena finally spoke up, her eyes on Steve.

"We have to," he said to her.

The faintest hint of a smile appeared on Marlena's face and she started back towards the compound. "I'm gonna hold you to that, Cap," she stopped walking and looked over at Tony. "Could I talk to you for a minute?"

"Yes," Tony started toward her. "I need to do a little exam on you anyway."

Marlena gave him a thumbs up before heading back towards the compound, shoving her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket. Tony caught up with her and gently grabbed her arm, slowing her to a pace in which the two could speak comfortably with one another.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"What's on your mind, kid?"

Marlena let out a sigh and looked at Tony, her glistening hazel eyes meeting his own. "They're coming back, Tony," she said to him.

He furrowed his brows in confusion, but after a few seconds realization struck and he exhaled deeply. "And you're sure?"

Marlena only nodded her head as the two continued forward.

"Why exactly are you so sure?"

"When we got to New York, I was immediately overwhelmed with the anguish in the atmosphere," she informed him. "Then, Steve and I got into a physical confrontation with, you'll never believe it, himself..."

"Talk about a close fight," Tony chuckled quietly.

"He was actually a real pain in the ass," Marlena breathed out and looked to the ground. "He threw the shield full force at my head."

"Yet you're standing here alive," Tony pointed out.

"Exactly," Marlena replied. "It never hit me."

"Why not?"

"Because I didn't want it to."

"There's that sassy answer I was looking for," Tony muttered. He pulled open the door to the compound and ushered Marlena inside, and together the two headed for the lab. "What's your hypothesis?"

"My hypothesis? As to why they're coming back?"

Tony nodded his head.

"Well, I think my PTSD might be triggering them," Marlena said with a shaky breath. "I haven't experienced anything like this in five years; I haven't fought a single fight in five years or heard the screams of innocent civilians in five years. I haven't been an Avenger in five years, Tony, and I think that's part of the reason I lost my powers in the first place. Bruce told me my emotional breakdown in Washington helped sever the link to my abilities, and I believe it did, but it wasn't an accident. That day, I left everything behind, including that part myself, and now the part of me I let go is trying to find its way back."

"Is that such a bad thing?" Tony asked her.

Marlena only shrugged, and the two walked into his and Bruce's lab. "I dunno, I mean, is that even who I am anymore?"

"Yes and no," Tony answered her and gestured her towards the table in the center of the room; Marlena climbed up immediately and laid back. "None of us are exactly the same person we were five years ago, and that's totally and completely understandable; we got our asses beat, and that took a physical and emotional toll on all of us. Yeah, we lost ourselves, but not as much as you might think. That part of us we lost is the reason we're strong enough to be who we are now, and I think you just figured that out about yourself."

"But I don't feel strong," Marlena said as Tony placed a plethora of wires on her head. She watched the monitor light up in front of her, as did Tony.

"Do you remember when I first told you your abilities came from the mind stone? When I told you there was a possibility you weren't as powerful as I thought you'd be?" Tony questioned Marlena, looking over at her and then back to the monitor. "I was wrong, Marlena. Time and time again, with every obstacle we've faced and every battle we've fought, you've proven to me and everyone else just how strong you actually are. Along with Thor, Danvers, and Wan, you are on a power level that far exceeds my capacity for comprehension. You literally cannot go anywhere but up from here."

"I just don't feel it," Marlena replied quietly, her eyes on her bare hands.

"Well, the current activity inside your head is telling me otherwise," Tony told her as he looked over the data on the screen in front of him. "The energy levels inside your body have surged at least four times today, the latest significant surge being around the time we found out about Nat, and while your levels are currently stable, they're still a bit elevated, which is considerably suspect."

"What does that even mean?" Marlena asked quietly.

"It means you're using your abilities as we speak," Tony glanced back at Marlena and back to the screen. He was trying to figure out what was going on with her before he and Bruce started on the Gauntlet. If he didn't, he wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it.

"No, I'm not," Marlena tried to assure him, but even she didn't know what was going on with her.

"That's odd," Tony muttered to himself as a reading came across the screen. He got up from his seat and crossed the room, grabbing a pair of scissors from the drawer. He tapped the cool metal on his hand and looked at Marlena, who was watching him with curious eyes. Tony merely sighed, and without thinking of just how angry she was about to be with him, he threw the scissors at her.

Marlena gasped slightly at the sight, but before the sharp object could make contact with her body, they stopped and fell to the floor. Tony clapped his hands triumphantly, while Marlena eyed the scissors now laying on the floor.

Scissors.

Tony had thrown an actual pair of scissors at her, and that bothered her tremendously on top of everything else going on.

"You're a lot stronger than I thought," Tony said and sat back down in his seat.

"Are you out of your mind?" Marlena exclaimed angrily.

"Before you get your maternity pants in a bunch, maybe try listening to me for once," Tony remarked, his lips pressed into a tight line as he looked at the young woman he had spent over a decade loving as his own. "I'm trying to give you the help you asked me for."

"Jesus, Tony." Marlena rolled her eyes at the billionaire and looked back at the screen; she could see everything going on inside her mind at the given moment, and she wasn't sure why, but the sight of it scared her. "What is it?"

"Telekinetic barrier," Tony answered. "From what I can tell, it's been floatin' around you for days, and you didn't even know; I guess this is your body's way of protecting you and protecting that little bundle of joy you're carrying around inside you. I think you were only half right about your PTSD being a trigger, though."

"Why?"

"It's just that your mind and your body have been showing a vast array of different energy levels for days," Tony answered her. "I think it started right around the time Scott showed up at the compound."

"So what does that mean?"

Tony shrugged and switched off the monitor before turning to meet eyes with Marlena. "Well, for starters, it means that your powers are returning and there's no way to stop them. The development was and is still very sudden, but it's because of you, Marlena. Your subconscious drew your abilities back to you to protect what you fear losing the most—Steve and your child—and you didn't even know it was happening."

"I guess that makes sense," Marlena sighed softly and began removing the wires from her head. "I'm just wondering when they'll make their full appearance."

"That's all up to you," he told her. "You're the reason you have what you have; you're the sole reason your little one is safe from harm. If you really want it, will it so and just let go. It might be catastrophic, but it'll be beautiful."

Marlena hopped to the floor, her sad hazel eyes meeting Tony's brown ones. She smiled softly and reached out for his hand, taking it in her own and squeezing gently. She loved him so much and always would. He was among the few left that she truly loved with everything in her, and she was beginning to think she needed to remind him of that.

"I love you, y'know?"

"Yeah?" The corner of Tony's lips pulled into a smug smirk, "How could you not?"

Marlena scoffed and wiped a stray tear from her eye; it was his sarcastic nature and unnecessary remarks that always seemed to get him into trouble, but Marlena couldn't help but love that about him. She'd spent so many years with him she'd picked up a few of his many loving mannerisms for herself. "You and Natasha will always be the biggest pains in my ass," she remarked and picked the scissors up off the floor, placing them down beside Tony after doing so. He was starting his work on the Gauntlet which meant it was almost time for Marlena to go. The thought absolutely thrilled her.

"I'm well aware," Tony replied. "Now if you don't mind, I've got a Gauntlet to build so we can get our families back, whatta ya say, Claire?"

"Don't worry," Marlena chuckled quietly and started for the lab door. "I can take a hint."

"Good, I'd be worried if you couldn't." Tony turned to look at Marlena, "By the way, please don't tell Rogers," he said nervously, referencing the incident with the scissors.

"Tell me what?" Steve asked once he appeared in the doorway.

"And that's my cue to leave," Marlena said and grabbed Steve's hand in her own. "Thank you, Tony."

"Anytime, kid."

Marlena took off down the hall with Steve by her side, their footfalls echoing quietly through the hallways.

"What was that about?" Steve asked Marlena. "What did Tony not want you to tell me?"

"I might tell you about it later when you're not in this...particular mindset," Marlena sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes falling on Natasha's bedroom door, which was slightly open. She wanted nothing more than to walk in and see her best friend laying in bed reading one of her favorite Russian novels, but she couldn't, and it hurt more than she thought it would.

Marlena broke away from Steve and headed for Natasha's room. Steve frowned once he noticed where she was headed, and he started after her. He'd get his answers sooner or later, but for now the important thing was being there for Marlena, as well as the rest of his mourning teammates.

Inside Natasha's room, Marlena was busy looking around. Natasha's smell still lingered, and Marlena let out a heavy breath. Her eyes filled with tears, and she picked up Natasha's jacket, which was, in reality, Marlena's. She borrowed it the night Scott made his appearance and made sure Marlena knew she wasn't getting it back. Of course, Marlena had been okay with that, as the two borrowed each other's clothes all the time, but that wasn't something she could look forward to anymore.

"She did this for you," Steve said to Marlena. He glanced around the room before finally settling his eyes on Marlena, who was hugging the jacket to her chest. "She did this for all of us."

"I know," Marlena forced out through her tears. "But it doesn't change the fact that I wish things could've been different. It doesn't change the fact that I want her here with us."

"I wish she was here, too."

Steve couldn't help the tears that had found their way into his eyes; he missed Natasha too. She was one of his closest friends and had been for years. He could remember her saying the two were "partners in crime," and he agreed. She was always up for getting into trouble with Steve and had proven that over the course of the years they'd spent together. Natasha had always been by his side through everything, and he planned on making sure it hadn't been done in vain. He owed that to her.

Marlena took a deep breath as if to control the building emotion inside her. Tony told her to just let go, but she wasn't ready to. Not yet at least. "We've gotta make this worth it," Marlena replied quietly.

"And we will."

"I thought after we got the stones back life would become a lot simpler, but it hasn't and it won't," Marlena said as she turned to look at Steve. "All I wanted was to get my family back but keep the family I have, and Natasha was a very important part of that family. She was my best friend."

"And you were hers," Steve assured her. "You'd be surprised to know just how much she talked about you. She once told me you were the closest thing she had left to a sister. She would've done anything for you."

"She would've done anything for any of us," Marlena told him as the tears flowed from her eyes. "And she did."

Steve let out a breath and placed his hands on Marlena's arms. He rubbed them up and down in a comforting notion, something of which Marlena desperately needed. "We're gonna make it count," he told her.

Marlena turned around to face him, her hazel eyes brimming with fresh tears. "I know we are, because I refuse to let this all be for nothing," she said quietly.

"I know."

"There is a part of me, though, that wishes Thanos was still alive," Marlena told Steve, her eyes flashing to the jacket she held so tightly. She was fighting desperately to ignore the voice in her head telling her to let go, though the anger inside her—the anger towards Thanos—fought back.

"Why's that?"

"So I could kill him myself."

"Marlena—"

"Don't worry," Marlena looked up at Steve, who could see the anger in her eyes. "I'm not ready to let go...yet."

Marlena left the room quickly, leaving Steve in a heap of confusion. He wasn't sure what exactly she was referring to, but there was no doubt in his mind he'd find out, as would the Titan so desperate to foil their plans.