“Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.”
Williams Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act II, Scene II

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The Bravest Hero (That the world would never know)

Clint was still angry with her. Hell, he might always be. She had a lot of nerve, Natasha did! After all the things he did in that five years, he deserved to die. She’d fought hard for the life she’d made. She never deserved to sacrifice herself on some godforsaken planet way out in space. No one but those close to her would understand that she’d done as much as Stark to save them.

She deserved a long, happy life with Rogers. He was no fool. He knew they’d been a thing for years, even if they kept it quiet. He saw the anguish and the pain on Steve’s face when she didn’t come back from Vormir. He didn’t envy Steve having to learn to live without her. He knew how it felt to lose the ones he loved the most.

Damn her. She’d lived life as stubbornly and as bravely as she’d died.

Damn her! She was bravest hero that the world would never know.

Damn her. She should have let him do it.