#x reader insurts

[thedarklightwithinus]

Trying to be Better.

A/N; I don’t even know where i was going with this i just started writing and remembering and boom. This is here. This could be read as a part two for Final Exit, I’ll let you decide. 

Summary; When everyone else seems to move on but that one friend is left behind? 

Pairing; Steve Rogers x Reader, Natasha Romanoff x Reader (Platonic)

Words; 1.6k

Final Exit

No matter how many times she had walked the halls of the new Avengers Facility, each time filled her with joy at the prospect of seeing family. Of course, half the family were no longer around. As Steve always told her when she was feeling particularly down, try to look on the bright side. At first, she had screamed and shouted at the blonde. How could he say that when every single person who had survived had lost as well? 

There was no time to feel thankful for the fact that you had survived Thanos because the heartbreak and hurt set it pretty quickly once you realised that the people you loved had just vanished. However, she had come to think on his words every time he told her them. Was there a bright side? Sure. She was still alive. It was one step closer to figuring out how to do something useful. 

Despite the fact that she had not given up her search for answers, Y/N had lost bits of hope along the way. Five years had passed since she was stuck in space with Tony and Nebula. Five long years and still not a step closer to solving a puzzle that seemed to be missing pieces. Or rather, pieces had been stolen. 

"She'll be glad to see you, I'm sure." Y/N spoke up, squeezing Steve's had as the pair walked through the many halls in the facility. "Don't tell her I said anything, but I think she get's a little lonely here on her own." She muttered after a seconds thought. "Probably should insist she comes for dinner one day. It's not healthy for her to be here alone. I mean, sure she talks to the others but when was the last time she spoke to someone who was actually right in front of her? Oh that's right, me!" 

After the events of her near death, Y/N and Steve had taken a leave out of Tony's book and decided to settle down. The pair had bought a house in Steve's home borough of Brooklyn. The house was far from extravagant. However, it was everything the two of them could have hoped for. It was home. 

"I should've came sooner." Steve found himself replying. "I shouldn't have left it all on you. I'm sorry, babe. Nat's my friend too." 

"You're here now." Y/N smiled, moving in front of him to push the glass door open and enter the room in which she knew Natasha spent most of her time. "Hey." She spoke softly, frowning as she watched the woman rush to wipe at her eyes. "You alright?" 

"I'm fine." Nat smiled, her voice sounding as though she was far from fine. 

"You know..." Steve spoke up, coming to stand beside Y/N as he smiled sadly at his friend. "I'd offer to cook us all dinner but you seem pretty miserable already." Y/N smiled slightly when she watched Nat roll her eyes, a smile of her own filtering her face. 

"Did she finally manage to drag you along?" Nat asked, humour swimming in her orbs. 

"I came to see a friend." 

"Clearly, your friend is fine." 

Y/N rolled her eyes, releasing Steve's had as she moved forward, pulling the chair out opposite Natasha's desk and lowering herself into it. The two woman eyed each other for a tense minute. Nat's eyes blank while Y/N narrowed her own.

"You're as bad as each other." Nat finally huffed out, leaning forward to offer Y/N the other half of her sandwich. Y/N shook her head as Steve moved forward to pull his own chair out. 

It was silent for a moment, the shallowness of their conversation was laid bare. What used to be an intellectual banter of politics and comedic moments amongst a larger group of friends was utterly vapid. In that room, to those three people, for a split second... Everything seemed so pointless. Like sitting back and letting life win was the best course of action.

"You know I keep telling everybody they should move on..." Steve broke the silence, releasing a sigh as he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. "Grow. Some do... But not us."

"If I move on, who does this?" Natasha asked, the vulnerability evident in her words. Y/N frowned, wanting to kick herself for not realising that Natasha was trying to hold onto everything they had worked hard to accomplish... All alone. 

"Maybe it doesn't need to be done." Steve told her.

It was difficult for Y/N to be 100% on one side of the non-exsistant debate. On one hand, she understood where Steve was coming from. On the other, she understood why Nat stayed so long. To her, it wasn't about giving up. It was about doing what she was best at and though she tried to think otherwise, Y/N knew Nat better than most. 

"I used to have nothing..." Nat spoke softly, looking from Steve to Y/N, tears swimming in her pretty green eyes. "And then I got this. This job... This family." She smiled through the pain that shined in her eyes. "And I was... I was better because of it. Even though they're gone...  I'm still trying to be better."

"You're already better, Nat." Y/N was quick to say, leaning forward to insure the woman was looking into her eyes, understanding that she was speaking the truth. "You've always been better. Every step forwards you take, every step sideways, hell... Even every step backwards, you're a better you. The past is the past. Everyone has one. Those first few years after... After they went... I was so hell bent on finding a way to get them back that I forgot that I was still here. I forgot to live. They wouldn't want that." 

"I can't just get up and forget about then, Y/N." Nat whispered.

"No one's asking you to." Steve spoke up, leaning forward in his own chair. "Just because we've moved on with our lives doesn't mean we've forgotten or that we've given up. We're living our lives while trying to bring them back. You could do the same, you know you could. I did it. She did it... Now it's your turn." 

"Suppose there's no one stopping me from getting a life." Nat chuckled, wiping under her eye. "You seem happy... I'm gla-" A noise tore Nat from her words as the three eyed the icon that had popped up on the digital pad. Nat swiped it, opening the message as she leaned back in her chair. 

Y/N jumped when a fourth voice filled the air, her head snapping towards the left as she eyed the digital video that filled the room. The blue orb of it burned her eyes for a moment before she finally took in it's recording. "Uh, hi, hey, hello?" A familiar voice spoke. Y/N leaned a little closer to the footage, her eyes widening slightly. "Is anyone home?" 

"Scott?" Y/N whispered, tilting her head as she eyed the man she had befriended in Germany. 

As Y/N scanned the footage for a reaction to a question she knew the man couldn't have possibly heard, silence hung in the air like the suspended moment before a falling glass shattered on the ground. Each of the three had different look that filtered their faces. Y/N's was hopeful. Hopeful that the man was in fact who she thought it to be. Steve's was disbelief. As though he couldn't picture a man, who he knew for a fact had turned to dust five years ago, at the gates of the compound. Nat's was thankful. As though all her prayers that she had spoken under her breath had been answered. A sign had been shown.

"It's Scott Lang!" He called out once more, waving at the camera Y/N knew was attached to the front gate. "We met a few years ago... At the airport? In Germany. I was... I was the guy that got really big. The spider-boy used some of that weird web stuff to bring me down, remember? I got really small too... Like, well... Like an ant? I had a mask on and a suit. You probably don't recognis-"

"Is this an old message?" Steve spoke up, the chair he was sitting in creaking as he stood in order to move closer to the footage. 

"Ant-man? I know you know that name. I know y-"

"It's the front gate." 

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Steve Rogers Taglist; @kaytizzle

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