Chapter Text
Steve always knew what his soulmate’s last words would be. He memorized them. It meant a lot to him to know that he’d actually find someone who loved him. Someone who was meant to be with him.
The only problem? People had said that the words written on your wrist were the last words your soulmate ever said to you.
Meaning you won’t know you had them until you lose them.
The words on his wrist were “See you in a minute”. Kind of a mundane thing. Anyone could say it to him at any time. It hurt him when Peggy’s last words to him weren’t those words but he had moved on. He was determined to find his person even if it was just before he lost them.
“Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends, we lost family, we lost a part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams, you know your missions. Get the stones, get them back. One round trip each. No mistakes, no do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know, but it doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives, and we're gonna win. Whatever it takes. Good luck,” Steve said to everyone.
He overheard Rocket and Scott complimenting him.
A talking raccoon. I swear this century gets weirder and weirder as time goes by, Steve thought.
Tony shouted something at Bruce but Steve stopped listening. He shot a glance at Natasha that she thankfully didn’t see. She looked more beautiful than normal for some reason.
Over the past five years, Steve tried to be there for her as much as he could. He’d visit her at the compound as often as possible. He tried to cook her dinner once but it was horrible. He was never good at cooking, even when he had to take care of his mom.
He thought about trying to make a move with Natasha in the past, but they could never seem to have good enough timing. Plus, they hardly knew each other even after being friends for over 10 years. He still wasn’t sure how you could be friends with someone for over 10 years and know next to nothing about them.
5 words broke his train of thought.
“See you in a minute.”
It was Natasha.
Steve’s blood ran cold.
He wanted to stop this, but he couldn’t. He wanted to reach out to her, switch teams, anything to be with her for one more moment.
But he couldn’t.
All he could do was hope that maybe she wasn’t it. He stood there, filled with fear and guilt.
It didn’t exactly surprise him, though, that when Clint came back, he was on his knees. Heartbroken.
And lacking Natasha by his side.
***
Natasha never really cared about soulmates. The Red Room had practically forced her not to. She still looks at the words on her wrist though from time to time. She studies other people’s wrists, seeing if their words are common or something special.
She knew the words of everyone on the team and a few others. Bruce’s were “You have made this world very proud”, Thor had “You can’t do this to me, Thor”, which she was surprised to see considering Thor isn’t of Earth, Tony had “You can rest now”, Clint had “Drive safe”, and Steve had “See you in a minute”.
Then there was hers. “Good luck”. So….basic. Then again, so was Clint’s. It hurt her to know that something would happen to him while on the road. She hoped his kids weren’t in the car with him. She knew how heartbroken Laura would be to just lose Clint that she couldn’t bear to think how heartbroken she’d be if she lost any of her kids too.
The thought of bringing back everyone made her slightly giddy. They were going to fix their mistake. She could fix her mistakes. Saving millions, hell, billions of people would be enough to wipe the red out of her ledger. That’s all she ever wanted, to right her wrongs.
She heard Steve utter a “Good luck” at the end of his speech but she shrugged it off. It wasn’t him. He’d never be her soulmate. She wasn’t that lucky. Besides, she just had “Good luck”, not his entire speech. The words had to be alone. Right?
The machine started up and Clint assured Rocket that the ship would be brought back safely. She’d help make sure he kept his promise.
“See you in a minute,” she said with a smile on her face.
What she said didn’t hit her because she knew she and Steve couldn’t possibly be soulmates.
At least, it didn’t hit her until she was looking over the edge of the cliff on Vormir.
One of them had to die. It had to be her. All the words were set in place. Laura wasn’t around and Clint wasn’t about to leave his house. Hell, he had still been on house arrest when everything had happened.
This was her fate. This is how she’d clear the red from her ledger. After all, sacrifice is the noblest thing a hero could do.
She’d be damned if she let Clint get in her way. The last time he did that was when he was sent to kill her.
She’d made it very clear that he’d never get in her way again, even if they were on the same side.
She just felt bad for Steve. He probably knew this was coming the minute those words fell from her mouth. He’d spent about 40 years, biologically, looking for his soulmate while she never gave a damn.
It just felt so wrong.
Then again, Natasha’s never had the best luck. It wasn’t unusual for life to be cruel to her or the people she cared about.