I have returned. 

And I'm broken by Chadwick's passing. This chapter is dedicated to our king :')

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( twelve. in love and war )

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Steve, and the rest of his team, heard someone announcing that the airport was being evacuated. And, of course, they deduced that it had to be Tony's orders. 

They're here.

They made their way out of the parking garage, going down to the ground levels of the airport. Clint informed them that a chopper would be waiting for them, and they needed to get to it first before Tony or anyone from the opposing side could.

"Is that it?" Steve asked Clint, nodding towards the direction of the chopper placed in the middle of the grounds.

Clint nodded, eyes darting around for any sign of a situation. It seemed secure enough, but they had to be careful. For all they know, Tony and Natasha could be anywhere; their eyes and ears were currently on them now. And they needed to to do the same.

Steve was anxious too, so he told his team to stay behind while he made sure to check if the coast was clear. He took slow strides, glancing at every direction to look for any possible ploys. It was oddly silent. To the naked eye, everything around them seemed and sounded peaceful enough, a fight was the last thing you'd expect to erupt from this, but to Steve — it was the exact opposite.

Something wasn't right.

"Looks clear, Cap?" He heard Clint asked from his earpiece.

Steve brought a finger to his ear, responding lowly, "Yeah, I think it's—" The second Steve turned around to have a final scan of the grounds, he stopped short. His breath hitched. The orders he were supposed to give out died down in his throat. He swallowed thickly, eyes locking with the person in front of him. 

Clint received silence on the other end and wondered what's wrong. "What's happening?"

Then Steve muttered, voice faltering, "Nat."

Natasha stood in front of him. He didn't know how or when she got here because just seconds ago, he swore the area was clear. There was no trace nor sign of her. But now? She was standing here in full view, staring at him with wide, wary eyes, and an unreadable expression on her face. A mix of desperation, frustration and exhaustion all at the same time.

She didn't take a step back nor a step forward. Neither did he.

"Steve," Natasha said back. Her voice was calm, but Steve heard the hint of warning behind it. So, he realized, he wasn't talking to Natasha. He was talking to Black Widow.

Steve took a defensive stance, giving her the same treatment. "Where's Stark?"

Natasha shook her head feebly. When Steve tilted his head at her disbelievingly, she sighed, "It's just you and me."

He frowned, raising an eyebrow. "Is it?" he countered. Unconsciously, his eyes fleeted over to the earpiece in her ear. It was subtly but evidently kept hidden by her hair. From all the years they've worked alongside together, Steve picked up some of her tactics. He knew her moves, and what she was planning to do next.

The only downside was — she learned some of his too.

Natasha caught his drift. With an exasperated sigh, she tucked a mass of her hair behind her ear — indeed, revealing an earpiece. Steve was right. Tony was here, listening and watching them, and he was sure as hell that they didn't come unprepared this time. He was definitely up to something.

Steve watched while Natasha went to remove the earpiece from her ear, showing it to him before balling it in her fist and pocketing it. When he sent no response, Natasha gave him a weak nod. She took a careful step towards him, lowering her voice, "Your turn."

He heaved a breath, chest rising and falling at the obvious tension between them. Before he could say or do anything, this time, he heard Sam's voice speak, "Hey, what's going on?" his voice sounded strained, like he already had a vague picture of what was about to happen. "Don't let her get to you. Focus, Steve."

Contemplating whether to trust himself or to trust the woman standing in front of him, he clenched his jaw — internally debating with his emotions and his logical reasoning. Steve looked at Natasha again, and for a second, he saw through her mask. 

She was mad, yes, he could see that. But he saw how her eyes were close to brimming with tears, dark bags under it and a tired look on her face. She was struggling to hold it together, salvage what remains — what's left of this team, of them, and of her.

Steve felt his heart ached. Seeing Natasha in this state softened the hard expression on his face, eased the bitterness in his heart. For a short while, he felt their problems fade away, and the world consisted of nothing else but them. Just Steve and Natasha.

"Hold on," Steve replied to Sam, taking off his earpiece as well and pocketing it just like she did.

Eerie silence hung in the air around them. The air was cold, but a different kind of cold. It wasn't anything like the ice he spent seventy years in. Instead of an outright freeze, it was more of a... chill. Slow, agonizing coldness that spread through every inch of his body. It hurt a lot more. That was how things are between them now. 

Natasha felt it too. Despite her best to muster up an impassive look, her rough breaths were enough to give her away. "I know things with us aren't exactly the best right now." That was understatement. But if she had to sugarcoat things to try convincing him one last time, she'd do it. She took a hesitant step closer to him. "And I know you're mad at me."

Steve didn't back away, but the closer Natasha was to him, the more he started to feel unstable. He kept his gaze trained on her, not once looking away, watching her stop just a few feet away from him. It jogged a swarm of emotions back up to his head. This wasn't a good sign. He couldn't let his emotions get to him now.

Natasha sighed, eyes pleading as she looked at him. "But if you still care about me, about us, even for just a little bit... you'd stop." She said in a hushed tone. 

His eyes flickered down to hers, then to her nose, to her lips, and finally, to her neck—because what he saw struck him with guilt. He tried not to let any emotion show, but failed. A frown engulfed his lips as soon as he saw the dark, purple and blue bruises down the sides of her neck. He wanted to ask what happened but remembered the answer itself — Bucky did that.

Bucky told him what happened, and that he felt immense guilt too over it. Steve clearly remembered the horror that seeped through him when he realized what he'd done. He was so scared at the idea of hurting her, and Steve already had a hunch why.

Yet for some reason, in spite of everything happening, something warm and fuzzy swirled inside him once he saw the necklace hanging around Natasha's neck. The necklace. The one he gave to her when they became a couple. She was still wearing it.

Natasha watched him — tried her best to read and understand him because for a second there, she thought his walls had come down. She thought that there was still hope that everything could be saved.

Steve released a breath, his eyes dimmed, "Nat." He cared about her, of course he does. More than anything else, but he needed to do this. She let him made his choice and he let her made hers. This is where it got them.

She knew she was losing him again. The last shred of hope was dying down, so she needed to try harder. "Please, Steve." she asked of him, softer this time. "Just come home."

Steve swallowed the lump in his throat, hurt evident in his face. "There's no home waiting for me, Nat."

Now, she stared at him like she couldn't believe he just said that. What does that make them? Tony? Rhodey? The Avengers? "Us," She said, more of a question than a statement. Her face crinkled with disbelief, voice breaking a bit at the last word. "Me?"

Natasha's heart started to break away — piece by piece, fragment by fragment, and what's worse is that Steve doesn't even realize he was the cause of it. 

Unbeknownst to her, he was feeling exactly the same. "I'm sorry." Steve said, and he meant every word of this. He didn't want to look at her anymore because it hurt so much. Knowing they were the cause of the other's pain. Knowing that this time, they weren't fighting together — they were fighting against each other. 

But it's too late now. What needs to be done has to be done.

"I can't turn my back on him. Not when he needs me the most." Steve declared. He can't abandon Bucky. Not when he had his back all those years, and especially when up to this day, as much as it kills him to say this — he's the only person Steve could fully trust right now.

Natasha huffed a breath, all the cold and ice filling the air finally froze her heart. She didn't even bother hiding her hurt and anger anymore. Steve deserved to get every piece of it. "But you can on me," she bit out.

Steve let out a long breath; his jaw ticked. His voice was calmer than hers, but it did nothing to ease her rising anger. "It's not that simple."

Ironically enough, the lack of harshness in his tone fueled her rage; like a damn kettle that burst into steams. Her face hardened, and she was mad because she didn't understand. No matter how much she tried, she couldn't reel him in anymore. "We're trying to make things work to protect you and the people you've dragged into this mess! Yet you won't even try to meet us halfway!" she shouted.

But Steve stood his ground. "Because I know it's wrong! I can't stand by and watch something I know isn't right, Natasha." He said lowly, "It's not his fault."

Natasha wanted to lash out on him, because all that they've been doing is fighting, fighting and fighting that she was so damn tired of it. "He killed innocent people!" She hissed, "I know that Ja—Barnes," She corrected herself, not wanting to drag another issue into this mess, "is a good man but you can't just forget what he did. Escaping isn't going to fix anything! And that's why we're here to help."

The storm in his blue eyes clouded over. His face darkened, staring down at her hotly, "This isn't help. This is control. After what HYDRA or S.H.I.E.L.D or..." He pursed his lips, shaking his head, "after what they did? You can't expect me to trust these people, anymore. Neither can he."

Natasha almost let out a frustrated cry. "Then don't!" She said incredulously, "Just trust us. Trust me." Her eyes searched his imploringly as she took a step closer, so close that she could hear his ragged breaths come in sync with hers "Come on..."

Steve didn't answer. His chest tightened, and his throat constricted because he was trying hard not to let any sign of tears well up in his eyes. He didn't want to hurt her, he promised himself he never would. But it seemed like promises were meant to be broken, especially when it's between choosing what's right from wrong.

She took his silence as a clear answer. She suddenly found it harder to breathe; harder to see Steve in the same light she always had before. "You don't do you?" Her voice faltered. She hated for sounding so vulnerable. So broken. "Maybe you never did."

Steve looked hopeless, but she could always see through his lies. "You know that's not true," he dissuaded, and she hated that he was telling the truth.

But Natasha was too hurt to stop. Spite overcame her, and she was suddenly spatting out words she didn't mean at all. "Is it not?" Her voice raised, "When you told me you loved me was that a lie too?"

"Damn it, Nat." He closed his eyes, dropping his head. "I do love you. Believe me, I do," he swore softly.

Despite the truthfulness in his tone, she refused to acknowledge it. "I don't know what to believe anymore."

His eyes immediately snapped up to hers. Only this time, they were wide and hurt and angry. He flushed, eyebrows drawing together. "You're one to talk. After having secrets of your own?" He snapped.

Natasha huffed a laugh, staring at him with absolute incredulity. "Are you seriously dragging that in the middle of this right now?" She can't believe she was hearing this. Was this how petty he can be? Was he really that immature? Yes, she screwed up, she knew that, but he can't pin this just on her. "You can trust him but you can't trust me."

Steve stiffened again but didn't say anything else. How could he explain it to her without hurting her more? It's different with her. Bucky didn't have a choice but Natasha did. She had a chance to tell him everything yet she chose not to. No more lies, they said before, but it seems that the lies coming out are what's breaking them apart.

His cold silence only worsen the ache in her already teared-up heart. After everything they've been through... Her eyes burned with tears. "How can you love someone you don't trust?"

Steve never looked away, voice strained, "When they break it, apparently."

Her eyes flashed hard. She scoffed, "That's fucked up, Rogers."

He didn't flinch at her words. "Lately, everything about us is, Romanoff."

"Oh, sure, so you think kissing the next agent you come across with doesn't fuck things up more?" She spatted, seeing the way his face broke into shock — even humiliation, probably. Guilt. He flushed even harder. But this was no time to explain things, she just needed to get that across. To let him know how disappointed she was with him. She didn't let him speak, continuing, "You know what's about to happen. Do you really want to punch your way out of this?"

Finally, Steve forced his eyes away from Natasha. He looked at anywhere but her. They were too distant. Too far from one another. He doubt they could pick up the pieces after this. Not when they were too shattered. Too broken.

Because he needed to focus on the job. Bucky. Bucky. Save Bucky. Get his team out of here. He needed to start acting like a captain instead of a broken man pining after a love that can no longer be fixed.

Before he could change his mind, he pulled away from her, stepping out of her hold—of her reach. He pretended not to see the way Natasha's eyes glisten, looking at him with complete dismay, as he placed the earpiece back on his ear.

Natasha gulped down, tearing her eyes away from him.

It wasn't even a few seconds that passed when Steve heard Sam spoke again through his earpiece. "—Steve, I see Stark aiming to—"

Both Steve and Natasha jolted when the sound of an electric cackle reached their ears. He whipped around to find something now attached to the chopper. Shit. So much for having to stay focused.

Just as he suspected, he looked up to see Tony. He was hovering mid-air with his arm stretched out and Rhodey beside him. They headed for them, reaching the ground with a loud clank.

"Wow, it's so weird how you run into people at the airport." Tony said sarcastically. His helmet lifted up to reveal his face as he glanced at Rhodey. "Don't you think that's weird?"

"Definitely weird," Rhodey agreed.

"And what's weird is to see a lover's quarrel right in the middle of it," Tony quipped dryly, eyeing Natasha in particular. She rolled her eyes. Well, he couldn't help it. Tony had simply asked her to try and settle issues with Steve before it all boils down to a fight, but apparently, Natasha had no intention to back down either. "Sorry 'bout that, you were at each other's throats so I had to step in." Oh, the irony.

Steve ignored his last statement. The last thing he needed was to discuss his personal relationship out in the open. "Hear me out, Tony." He started slowly, "that doctor, the psychiatrist, he's behind all of this."

Tony gave an exasperated look in return.

From the corner of Steve's eye, he saw some movement shift, someone's presence swoop in. He glanced over to his right to see T'Challa, clad in—what he could assume—is his Black Panther suit, landing silently yet dauntingly on his feet.

"Captain," he greeted, standing upright.

Steve gave a weak nod. "Your highness." Just when he thought things wouldn't turn for the worse, it did. He did give him enough fair warnings about what he wanted. About his one goal to bring down one person — Bucky.

"Anyway," Tony spoke again, redirecting his attention back to him. Cautiously, he circled around Rhodey to step between him and Natasha. "Ross gave us thirty-six hours to bring you in. That was twenty-four hours ago. Can you help your girl and a brother out?"

Steve held his stern gaze. "You're after the wrong guy."

Tony glared at him harder. "Your judgment is askew. Whether it's that doctor's fault or not or whatever, it doesn't change the fact that your old war buddy killed innocent people yesterday. And we're bringing him in—"

"There are five more super soldiers just like him!" Steve countered, "I can't let the doctors find him first, Tony. I can't."

Tony shook his head weakly, huffing out an irritated breath. "So you're willing to let this all go down just for that."

"Don't listen to him, Cap." Came Clint's voice in his earpiece.

Steve paused, observing the looks on his former teammates' faces. All had the same expression—disappointment. 

Yet he still held his chin up.

"Alright, I've run out of patience," Tony declared, taking his silence as another disagreement. He lifted his hands to his mouth and shouted, "Underoos!"

In an instant, something attached itself to his shield and swiped it away from his grasp. Before Steve could even figure out what happened, a blur of something red flew over his head and shot—whatever it was—at his hands, gluing them together. Steve tried to pull apart, but it was sticky and strong enough to not break.

He frowned at the material. Was this... was this web?

A figure landed on top of the trailer. Steve lifted his head up, seeing a person wearing a red, and blue spandex suit, his shield perched on its arm. He had white, bug-like eyes, similar to that of a spider. That would explain the web. Maybe. Probably.

... what the fuck was going on.

And Steve thought he was the weirdest thing that Science ever created.

"Nice job, kid." Tony praised. 

Kid? Steve thought, frowning slightly.

"Thanks!" The kid replied enthusiastically. Now that Steve was watching him, he did sound like a kid. "Well, I could've stuck the landing a little better, it's just... a new suit... wait, it's nothing, Mr. Stark. It's perfect, thank you."

"Yeah, we really don't need to start a conversation," Tony interjected.

"Okay," To Steve's surprise, the kid turned to his direction. He lifted his arm, saluting him in the process. "Cap—Captain," he stammered, pointing at himself, "Big fan. I'm Spider-Man."

"Yeah, we'll talk about it later—just," Tony sighed, trying to calm his excitement down. "Good job."

The kid—Spider-Man—nodded softly, sending a wave, "Hey, everyone."

"Oh, great. Add more to the party." That was Sam.

"Any other options?" Clint asked Sam.

"There's got to be something else." Sam said, thoughtfully. "That can't be the only chopper.

"How 'bout a quinjet?"

"I'll keep an eye out. Hang on, Cap."

Steve did just that. While Sam and Clint were looking for a way out, he needed to distract Tony. Keep him talking. "You've been busy," he said tersely.

Tony snapped his gaze back to him. "And you've been a complete idiot!" he hissed, "Dragging in Clint," Steve heard Clint grunt through his earpiece, muttering something unpleasant. "Rescuing Wanda from a place she doesn't even want to leave, a safe place! I'm trying to keep—" Tony huffed out an irritated breath, "I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart.

Steve took a deep breath, swallowing thickly. The anger he felt earlier when he was having an argument with Natasha came rising back up. "You did that when you signed."

Tony was at loss for words, like he couldn't believe Steve was being this goddamn stubborn.

"Wait, I think I got something." Sam spoke again.

"Alright, I'm done." Tony muttered in dismay, staring harshly at Steve, "You're gonna turn Barnes over now, and you're gonna come with us, now! Because it's us!" He was getting riled up. "Or a squad of J-SOC guys with no compunction of being impolite."

Steve tried to hear him out over the voices ringing in his earpiece — Sam and Clint laying out plans while Wanda, Scott, and Bucky listened intently, mumbling their responses. His eyes then fleeted over to Natasha. Her head was down but her eyes were looking at him imploringly. Her chest rose heavily, as did his. His fingers curled tightly despite being webbed together. 

His heart thumped loudly in his chest, countering the storm brewing in his blue eyes.

"Come on..." Tony pleaded the final time.

Steve wasn't an idiot. He knew what was going to happen if ever they didn't succeed bringing him in, but he wasn't going to give up now. Not when it's too far to back out of everything. They'd be damned if they think he's going to give Bucky up that easily.

Natasha sighed, getting his message crystal clear. Preparing herself for the worst, she charged her electric disks, slipping it into her wrists.

"We found it." Sam finally said. Steve could see Redwing zooming through the air. "The quinjet's in hangar five, north runway."

"Ready, Lang?" Clint asked.

"Ready!" Scott said, excitingly.

"Just give us the go signal, Cap."

And so he did.

From a distance, Steve spotted a glint of something silver. Knowing it was Clint, he purposely lifted his arms. A second later, a woosh sped through the air as an arrow plummeted straight between his wrists — slicing the material and, finally, freeing his hands.

Tony's helmet slid back up as he turned around, trying to find the source.

"Alright, Lang," Steve muttered.

Spider-Man looked down to his arm. "Hey, guys, something—" He grunted just in time Scott appeared, flipping backwards to hit him in the face.

"Woah. Wha—What the hell was that?" Rhodey asked, frantically.

Scott headed towards Steve, handing him back his shield. "I believe this is yours, Captain America," he announced quite smugly. Steve took it, strapping it back onto his arm.

"Oh, great," Tony said under his breath, glancing around. "Alright, there's two in the parking deck. One of them's Maximoff, I'm gonna grab her." Tony shot off the ground, but not before asking, "Rhodey, you wanna take, Cap?"

"I've got two in the terminal, Wilson and Barnes." Rhodey informed.

"Barnes is mine!" T'Challa growled, sprinting off to find him.

Steve swung his shield to hit Rhodey square in the chest, making him fly backwards.

"Hey, Mr. Stark, what should I do?" Spider-Man asked, frantically.

Tony almost rolled his eyes as he let out a breath. "What we discussed, keep your distance. Web 'em up!"

"Okay, copy that." Spider-Man said, shooting off two webs from his hands and hoisting himself off the ground.

Steve spun around and ran after T'Challa. He used his shield to strike his backside, T'Challa toppled over but he landed gracefully back on his feet. Steve lunged at him, grabbed his neck, and threw him backwards. T'Challa rolled over but he didn't stay down.

"Move, Captain," he snarled. "I won't ask a second time."

He leapt at Steve, trying to knock him down by bringing his feet up to kick him. But Steve was too fast, he kept blocking his attacks. Fed up with him, Steve watched as claws appeared from T'Challa's hands. T'Challa lunged at him again, clawing at his shield — leaving long scratches on the surface, metal hitting metal.

Finally, he landed a kick at Steve's face. He flew backwards, smacking hard on the concrete ground. Before he could get up, Rhodes suddenly popped out of the sky and went straight for him, a giant, electric baton in his hand. Steve raised his shield up just in time to block Rhodes' attack; it emitted a burst of energy and threw Rhodes backwards. Once he found his footing, he went at Steve again. This time, Steve was prepared. He jumped, flipping backwards in the air to land a kick on Rhodes' face once he whipped past him.

Rhodes crashed towards the ground, his baton breaking in half.

T'Challa appeared again, startling Steve, but he dodged just in time T'Challa went to claw at him. Steve spun in the air again, kicking T'Challa in the chest to make him kiss the ground. He rolled backwards while Rhodes tossed his snapped baton to the side. "Great," he grunted.

Steve took a defensive stance, ready for any of their attacks, when he heard Scott called out to him from behind. "Hey, Cap!" He sprinted towards him. "Heads up!" He tossed something at him, and Steve caught it effortlessly. He glanced down — it was a toy truck.

He looked at Scott questioningly. 

"Throw it at this," Scott showed him a tiny disk, then swung his arm to throw it in the air. "Now!"

Despite having no idea what he's doing, Steve did as he was instructed to do. As soon as Scott threw the disk, he threw the toy truck in the same direction. It hit it spot-on and expanded to life size.

The truck hurled straight towards Rhodey, T'Challa and— 

Natasha. 

For a moment, Steve's heart stopped, breath hitched in throat. He instinctively took a step forward in her direction until he realized what he was doing and stopped himself. He watched helplessly as she narrowly avoided the truck, jumping to the side to avoid getting hit. But the truck hit the ground and exploded, sending the three of them—Natasha included— flying in different directions.

She landed on her back, rolling away roughly. 

Steve lifted his shield to cover them from the heat from the explosion, eyes peering over to the side to glance at Natasha. She was still sprawled out on the ground, coughing heavily, but other than that, she seemed okay. He released a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Aw, man," Scott muttered. "I thought it was a water truck." Steve sent him a look. "Uh, sorry." Scott said as they sprinted away.

"We're not aiming to kill them," Steve said lowly.

Scott glanced at him, noticing his tensed jaw; the slight worry in his eyes that were absent before. He furrowed his eyebrows. He seemed to have no problem with it a while ago?

Steve noticed Scott watching him cautiously, so he sighed. "Be more careful next time." He instructed, before running off.

Scott stood there in confusion, then his eyes fleeted over to the faint figure of Black Widow, then back at the retreating form of Captain America. Finally, understanding dawned over him.

"Ah, I see what's going on here," Scott muttered to himself, groaning, "Man, I owe Hawkeye five bucks."

----------------------------

Natasha rolled over to her back, coughing furiously from the smoke she practically inhaled earlier. She heard a loud clang behind her, seeing Tony land on the ground.

"Alright, now I'm pissed." Rhodey scowled.

Aren't we all? Natasha thought. Tony offered her a hand, helping her up from the ground. She couldn't help but snap, "Is this part of the plan?"

"Well, my plan was to go easy on them. You wanna switch it up?" Tony asked her.

Natasha glanced behind them, seeing Steve and that Lang guy sprinting across the grounds with Clint and Wanda. Sam and Barnes followed closely behind. They were heading for the Quinjet on the other side of the airport. They needed a plan to stop them without doing more damage. Quick.

"'Don't think that's the smartest move to do," Natasha surmised, shooting him a look. "We're not here to fight Tony, we're here to take them back."

"They started it!" Tony argued childishly. "And what do you suggest? Do another peace talk? Oh, yeah, because that went well when you did it the last five times."

Natasha gritted her teeth. "You ordered an attack. He's just defending himself!"

"And you're defending him!" Tony countered, scoffing. "Look, I know how much he means to you but clearly, your boyfriend's anywhere near but sane right now and he doesn't give a damn about any of us." he added, "It's only fair you treat him the same."

She rolled her eyes. "Now isn't the right time to be petty."

"Sure, because you didn't when you were having your little lover's quarrel a while back." Tony quipped sarcastically. She glared at him. He glared at her right back. "Fine, if you want to smack some sense back into him, do it now."

Natasha let out a long breath, hearing Steve's voice boomed through the wide grounds. She could make out the rest of his team running towards the hangar on the other side. This wasn't good.

"Shit, Tony," she muttered under her breath, still looking over at their retreating forms. They were getting farther away.

Tony caught her drift. "On it," He spoke through his earpiece. "Vision, do your thing."

On cue, Natasha saw a figure flying through the sky. Vision was quick to reach Steve and the rest of them. He hovered in the air as a bright beam shot from the gem on his forehead. It was aiming at the ground, drawing a long line to block their only way out of here. Steve's team stopped in their tracks.

Natasha heard Tony sigh beside her. "Well, it's showtime." He offered her his hand. Having no other choice, she took it hesitantly. She was swiped in Tony's arms, launching to the direction where Vision was. Tony released her on the ground carefully.

"Captain Rogers!" Vision called out, still hovering in the air. "I know you believe what you're doing is right. But for the collective good, you must surrender now."

Not a moment later, T'Challa and Rhodey joined them. Peter swung in with the rest of them too. She took a shaky breath, glancing to her right to look at Tony hesitantly. Are they really going to go through with this? But Tony's gaze was focused only on what's in front of him. She got her answer. He was determined to do this. He wasn't backing down.

Clint was shooting her a look, face scrunched in an emotion she couldn't decipher what. She didn't want to deal with this right now, so she averted her gaze. They'll talk later.

Then her eyes fell on the person right beside Clint. He was staring at her too. Steve held an impassive look, eyebrows drawn together as he watched her. Her heart stopped for a split second, then it started thumping faster and louder than ever. She couldn't believe he was really doing this.

But it seemed that Steve wanted her to believe that he wanted to do this. Natasha tried everything — she begged, she pleaded, she negotiated, she tried to meet him halfway. She always had. He knew that she'd do anything for him because she loved him that much. But this? This is where it crossed the line.

He couldn't look at her the same anymore, and neither could she to him. They've changed so much. The solid trust they have in each other was no longer there, instead it was shattered and crushed into tiny pieces that were beyond repairable. 

It was never about choosing sides before, but now, it was clear to them that that was the case. Steve chose his side, and Natasha chose hers.

All remaining hope to salvage what's left of their love, their trust, and everything they've built these past years were about to be thrown away — just easy as that. This was going to end in a fight no matter what and how much words were spoken.

And it's about time that Natasha stepped up and started seeing him as her opponent instead of a teammate, just like Steve did.

She saw Sam say something to Steve, and he responded back but she couldn't hear it. The next thing she knew, they were already starting to advance on them. She tilted her head, eyebrows raising in exasperation. Steve's eyes never once left hers. She did the same.

"This is gonna end well," she muttered more to herself than to her team. Her gaze was still focused on Steve. They started walking towards them, taking slow but painful strides to let them know that they too weren't giving up.

"They're not stopping," Peter noticed, looking at them worriedly. 

"Neither are we," Tony countered and launched himself off the ground.

Steve took that as a sign to pick up his space, sprinting faster while his team followed behind. Natasha mirrored his movements, a look of determination waved past her. If this was how he wanted things to be, then so be it.

Steve finally tore his eyes away from her to look at Tony, who was heading straight to attack him. Tony swung his fist back, colliding it with Steve's shield with a loud, reverberating metal clang that could be heard miles away.

There was no way things were ever going to be the same after this.

»»————- ☆ ————-««

Yeah, so I told you guys before that I was supposed to squeeze the full airport scene in one chapter but... I couldn't because it's going to be so unbalanced.

Anyway, I had to cut it here because I really wanted to focus on Steve and Nat's emotions during the entire fight instead of the actual, ya'know, fight sequences. Don't worry, Steve and Nat aren't done with each other yet, they have a lot more angst to release in the next chapter.

Oh, and the issue with Sharon is definitely not done yet. Steve's not going to get away with it that easily.

p.s. i teared up while writing this chapter because a.) i rlly miss chadwick :(( and b.) idk it's just so emotional with steve and nat finally accepting that things between them aren't going to be the same anymore after this.

p.s.s if u guys haven't noticed, i added some chap titles. lol.