Last one (finally!). This one could alternatively be titled: Five times they said 'Goodbye' and the one time they didn't.

October 31st: Ta-ra
(Throughout the MCU, light Romanogers)

ta-ra [tæ – ra:]; sentence substitute, British English (Northern England)

goodbye; farewell

One

And in the blink of an eye the Asgardian Gods were gone, leaving behind only a symbol on the ground.

Quickly their little group dissolved. Tony was the first to drive away, taking Bruce with him. Leaving only Nat, Clint and him.

With a smile Steve turned away from the taking off car toward the other two, "I guess I'm going home too."

Natasha slowly nodded, "Are you sure? Will you go back to laying low?"

Steve furrowed his brow, "I don't know... can I do that after all this?"

Smiling Natasha said, "Could be hard... you got fangirls now, Rogers."

Steve rolled his eyes and frowned. "That's horrible... they should find someone who actually deserves that."

Nat grinned. "Don't be so dramatic. You are actually great in combat, in a team. Maybe you would be great working for S.H.I.E.L.D. You know, like us."

Clint now spoke up as well, "Yeah. That would be pretty cool. We can talk to Fury."

Steve hesitated. "Are you guys sure?"

Natasha nodded and said, "Of course. We'll do it first thing tomorrow when we go back."

Steve smiled, "Thank you. Then see you soon, I guess."

Clint just nodded once while Nat patted his shoulder briefly. "Bye, see you soon."

Two

Sam was driving the car they borrowed from Fury. It was saver for them to get to the airport that way. They still needed to switch the real chancellor out for Natasha and since Sam and himself couldn't do anything else after stealing the suits they went with her.

Steve and Nat were sitting next to each other in the back of the car. Steve was looking out of the window, watching the other cars pass by. Nat was in silence as well but she was looking at Steve.

After a while he noticed her eyes on him and turned, telling her, "Are you okay?"

Nat paused before saying, "Kind of."

Steve blinked a few times before responding, "Do you have a bad feeling about the plan?"

Shaking her head Natasha leaned back slightly. "No. It's not that. I will be okay, I can handle Pierce. I have a bad feeling about you and Sam going alone against half of S.H.I.E.L.D, who are actually Hydra."

Steve smiled, "It's okay, Nat... Sam can fly and I am not easy to get to. We are just the ones installing the software. Three helicarriers, should be doable by two people."

Natasha pressed her lips together before speaking up again, "I know, I know. But like I told you... he is going to be there and he's pretty good."

Steve's smile faded away now, "Maybe I can help him in a way... he's being taken advantage of."

Natasha's voice came out louder than before now, "He's dangerous! Please Steve... promise me, you'll not prioritize his life over yours."

Steve looked down briefly before facing her again. "Nat, he's my best friend."

There was hurt in her eyes and her voice grew from pleading to cold, "You haven't seen him in 70 years. If he's your best friend, a person you don't know anymore... what am I?"

Steve bit down on his bottom lip at that, "That's not what I meant. You know, you are my partner, I trust you."

Natasha shot him another look as the car stopped. "Then trust me on this one! Watch out! And don't die on me... seriously."

Steve looked her in the eye. "You too... Be careful, Nat."

Natasha hesitated and carefully picked her words, "Thanks Steve... Goodbye."

He whispered a 'Goodbye' too before she was out the door and shut it in his face.

Three

Her phone started ringing, Nat was startled awake and shot a look at her digital clock before picking it up from the nightstand. It was around 3 AM.

Groggily Nat stared at the screen. An unknown number. She hesitated for a second before answering anyway, "Yes? Who is this?"

The voice on the other end of the line was steady, but quiet, "Nat. It's Steve."

In an instant Nat was fully awake. "Steve, where are you?"

Steve sighed. "Obviously I can't tell you."

Natasha stared at the wall thinking if Tony was monitoring her phone. "Why are you calling me in the middle of the night?"

There was a moment of silence before Steve started talking again, "I'm sorry. I didn't think about what time it was."

Natasha gritted her teeth. "Yeah, what do you want to tell me?"

"Wanda is with me. Clint brought her in. She's doing good. I know you worry."

A wave of relieve washed over Nat. She hadn't heard any news after Clint and Wanda took off from the Facility. Wanda was a close friend and obviously so was Clint. "Thank God... but why did you have to do that? Why put her in that situation?"

Steve sighed again. "She didn't like what Tony did to her. And Clint is with me because it's his own free will, too."

Natasha now got more frustrated and it showed in her voice, "And now you're calling me to join you as well? Are you insane, Rogers?"

Steve quickly tried to calm her and said, "No, no... Nat. I respect your choice to support the Sokovia Accords. I'm sad, of course, but I respect you. I just wanted to tell you... I... I..."

He paused, giving Nat the opportunity to respond, "Steve... are you alright?"

He swallowed audibly before continuing, "Yes... I just meant to tell you... You mean so much to me. I have known you for years, we have been through a lot. You are incredibly strong and helped me so much. I... I adore you, Nat. And I know shit is about to go down soon between Tony and me... and everyone else, I guess. And I just needed you to know I love you."

Nat's hand started shaking and she held back a sob. After taking a deep breath she said in a low voice, "Steve... please don't make this so hard. Thank you... really. You are important to me too. I can't speak to you any longer, I'm sorry. Goodbye."

Before Steve could finish his 'Goodbye' to her, her hanging up cut him off.

Four

"Looking good, Romanoff." Sam's voice reached them over the radio, tiny in-ear-technology that wasn't visible at all.

Natasha smiled as she continued walking through the park, holding onto Steve's arm. Steve rolled his eyes and whispered, "Stop flirting, Sam, concentrate on the target."

Sam was clearly amused by that command. "Yeah, yeah, alright, Mr. Wagner. Don't worry about me stealing Mrs. Wagner."

Natasha kept the smile on her face but mumbled, "Sam... seriously stop. This is tense."

The mission was high risk. Them acting as a German couple who made millions with real estate at just the right time. The target was a Romanian underground boss known only as Blue who officially made his money through stocktrading, but unofficially through human trafficking. Taking him out would mean a huge success for tearing the whole organization apart.

Steve got drinks for both of them while carefully watching the target across the bar. He got back to Natasha and handed her a martini. He put an arm around her waste while starting what looked like casual small talk from across the room, "He's without company today. Looks good for what we had in mind."

Natasha sipped on her drink carfully. "You really think he would leave the party with me alone?"

Steve smiled and put his glass down on the bar table closest to them. "Come on. You're drop dead gorgeous. How could he not be interested?"

Natasha now put her drink on the table as well and said, "I mean... he's clearly a soulless monster. I'm not sure if he's interested."

„If he isn't, then honestly, he would at least be interested in selling you."

Nat considered that for a moment and shrugged. "Guess you're right."

Steve's eyes quickly flickered over her shoulder and immediately he pulled her closer and said under his breath, "Oh shit..."

The smile was ever so present on Nat's lips but her eyes expressed uncertainty. "What?"

Steve took her hand in his and slowly led her in the opposite direction of where he was looking, as if they were strolling. "Agent Nolan, a.k.a. What's left of Hydra and friends are here. They're gonna recognize us."

Sam's voice was now concerned, "Really. How didn't we see that? Get out of there now."

Natasha shook her head the tiniest bit. "No... I'm here to kill an asshole. We are not leaving. We can handle it."

Sam pleaded with her. "Natasha, it's too dangerous..."

Nat sighed, "Sorry, Sam. Keep quiet now."

As they were passing a fountain Nat's eyes darted across the water and she whispered, "Steve... two of them are following us. Follow suit with what I do and we'll be okay."

Steve nodded briefly and squeezed her hand briefly to let her know he understood.

Nat navigated the both of them farther away from the party and to the entrance of the rose garden, which had a huge arch as it's entrance. She pushed him against one of its walls and just as the Hydra agents walked by she started kissing him.

Right away Steve put his arms around her waist and let one wander down to her butt, kissing her back. What she had taught him would never be ineffective. Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable.

The agents looked at them briefly, but as soon as they saw her leg moving up the side of his thigh they turned away as if they had no business there after all.

One of them murmured something into his phone and they walked away.

When they were out of sight for sure Natasha pulled back and grinned. "This wasn't so bad..."

Steve couldn't help but grin as well, "Must be the practice."

Sam's voice interrupted them once again, "I don't mean to interfere with anything but Blue is walking into the house alone. Probably needs to piss or something. This is your chance Nat."

Natasha nodded and thanked Sam before turning to Steve again, "Don't let them see you, stay low. I'll let you know if I need you."

Steve nodded and just as she turned to go he grabbed her arm and pulled her close again, pressing his lips on hers once more, whispering, "Goodbye Nat... stay safe."

She returned the kiss and smiled, "Bye Steve... you too." She quickly wiped his mouth with her hand to get rid of the red lipstick before walking towards the house.

And for once Sam stayed quiet.

Five

The Chitauri were appearing out of nowhere seemingly everywhere. This felt awfully familiar but this time they had those huge machines that shook the ground and cut whole swaths of Wakandan land away.

Natasha was on the ground two of the aliens attacking her when to her surprise they were both pulled off and thrown to the ground a few feet away. She quickly picked herself up to see Steve behead the creatures and fend off another.

"Are you hurt?" He was panting the slightest bit, but noticeable.

She quickly shook her head. "No, thank you. I'm good."

He nodded but couldn't say anything else before two more of the Chitauri warriors dropped down next to them.

Immediately Nat shot her Widow's bites at one of them while Steve punched the other one to the ground.

He turned to her again and said, "Have you seen that Thor got here? He's alive!"

Natasha nodded and smiled. „Yes, I'm glad! After what Bruce told us I didn't have all that much hope."

Steve nodded again and looked out for more of the alien-creatures, "Me neither... but I guess that also means it can't be long until that Thanos-guy arrives."

Natasha eyed the ground. "This is our only chance, isn't it?"

Steve sighed and opened his mouth to answer her, but instead his eyes grew wide and he ran the few steps that separated them towards her and pushed her down.

A split second later one of those huge machines that created ditches in moments rolled by. Nat felt Steve's grip tighten around her as the machine passed them. He finally let go again, falling backward into the ditch created by the weapon.

In an instant Natasha rose to her feet and jumped down next to him screaming, "Steve! Come on, get up! It can come back..."

He grimaced for a moment before putting his stoic expression back on and sitting up. "It won't come back... not enough targets."

With a concerned expression Nat side-eyed him. "Are you hurt?"

He shook his head and was about to stand up. "No... let's get back up there."

A hand on his sleeve pulled him back down. "No, stop being Captain America for a moment! I want to talk to Steve."

Steve gritted his teeth and looked down. "Nat... there's no time. The others need us."

She shook her head and looked him firmly in the eye, "Steve. Listen. I know you know how this looks. All of this. You're not stupid."

He sighed and dropped his facade once and for all. "We at least have to try."

Natasha nodded and sighed. "I know... but let me first tell you, just in case..."

Steve's eyes blinked with concern, just like on Sokovia all of those years ago, "Don't... let's at least pretend we'll live."

Nat swallowed hard before pulling him close, her lips meeting his in a soft and desperate kiss, silencing him successfully.

Brushing her hand over his cheek Nat softly said, "So just in case we'll die, I love you and goodbye."

Every cell in Steve's body was overwhelmed with surprise, but also fear. If Natasha told him something like that their chances were close to zero. He kept himself together and said, "I love you too, goodbye, Nat."

A bunch of Chitauri spotted the two of them down there in that moment and they started to flood the ditch. Quickly Steve pulled Nat up and they fled to find the battlefield like it was before.

Almost instantly they were separated by Chitauri attacking them, pulling them in different directions.

And then there were none

Their plan was rock-solid, or at least that's what they telling themselves. The Raccoon had agreed so how bad could it be?

That wasn't really important, anyway. If getting everyone back, making things right meant to go to a weird planet she had never been to before, not knowing what it would take to get a magical stone then whatever! She'd do it, whatever it takes.

Natasha's eyes focused on her image in the mirror again. She was wearing that weird white suit Tony had designed for time travel. Time travel. It was exactly as insane as it sounded.

Suddenly there were footsteps on the floor coming closer to her. She could see her visitor walking up to her in the mirror.

"Natasha... they are saying the portal is ready now. Are you coming?"

Quickly she nodded and turned around. Steve was wearing his suit too. He started to look more like himself again lately - not slumped over all the time, dread being replaced by new hope.

She hoped the plan had the same effect on her, but she didn't really think years of crying and feeling like shit could be erased by a few days of hope.

Instead she focused on her mission again - find the Soul-Stone and bring it back to Bruce and Tony who can build a gauntlet like the one Thanos used.

Natasha started walking next to Steve, upstairs to where they had erected the portal.

Everyone else now joined them in their walk towards the portal. They stopped in front of the platform and Steve walked them through the plan once again.

After a few instructions from Bruce and Clint receiving the spaceship from Rocket they all took their position next to the machine, on the platform.

Natasha took a deep breath and smiled. A real, genuine smile fueled by the certainty that this time they would win. She looked up to Steve, meeting his eyes with hers, strong and driven.

Her voice came out cheerful and a bit excited, "See you in a minute."

He smiled back at her. Blue eyes clashing with green eyes what would turn out to be the last time.

And they pressed the buttons, vanishing into the portal.

Thanks for following this story all the way through! I love y'all. Hope you're having a wonderful 2020 so far. If you feel like it, I really enjoy reading reviews! Ta-ra.