Thanos met Gamora when he woke up at the pond. What if Clint met Natasha when he got the stone too? This is a one shot about Clint and Natasha's final conversation. It's my first Avengers fic and hope you like it.

'Natasha?' When Clint woke up, he was lying down on a pond with water. The pond seemed to stretch out endlessly. His eyes landed on a woman standing in front of a door frame. Natasha Romanoff. 'Nat.' Clint stood up, dripping. He didn't care. All he cared was that Natasha was standing in front of him. Alive. She smiled thinly.

'Clint. It's a long way since Budapest, huh?' Her eyes were the same color as before. But she seemed different. As if... she didn't belong here.

'Nat, I'm sorry. Tell me... tell me it's all a dream.' He was staggering to her, but she was getting farther and farther. 'Nat. Nat.' She reached out towards him. Her hands brushed Clint's cheeks.

'Someone had to do it.' He shook his head angrily. Tears were prickling his eyes. She couldn't go. Not like this.

'No. It didn't have to be you. It had to be me. It was supposed to be me. I have nothing to lose!' Words tumbled out breathlessly. 'I... we'll change this. You can come back. Please... please... Nat... oh god, please no...' She was crying too. The electric shocker she always had was turning transparent. Time was running out.

'Clint. You're Hawkeye. You have to keep fighting.' Her words sank in. He stood straight and stared at her with blank eyes.

'I can't do that. Not without you.' He fell to his knees, water splashing around him. He wanted to go back, travel through time. Go back to when they arrived here. Or even, even if it's selfish, send someone else to retrieve the Soul stone. 'Please... tell me, Natasha. Tell me... please fucking tell me that... that... you're not... not dead!' The last sentence came out in a shout. He wasn't letting her go. She couldn't sacrifice for him. He was supposed to die. He was destined to sacrifice. Natasha's face was streaked with tears. Now half her body was like a fog.

'Listen. I'm not dead, Barton.' Clint looked up with clouded eyes. The water felt cold and warm at the same time. Nothing felt right. 'I'm just leaving. But I'll be there.' Now her lips were nearly invisible against the frame. She was fading away. Into the unknown lands of the dead. 'I'll be there, with you. You can do it, Clint. It's okay.' Clint was now standing with his hands clenched tight. Her last words died on her lips.

'Everything is going to be okay. I promise.'

Hawkeye looked away and wiped his eyes. Were they tears or was it the water on his face? He wasn't sure. His fingernails were digging into his palms. He opened them and saw a bright orange object. The Soul stone.

'Nothing's okay.' He managed to spit out. He wanted to throw the stone away, slam it into the red face of the stone guardian and get Natasha back. 'It's never fair. To lose someone I love to protect people I care for.' He too, was fading away now. Hawkeye, now without the Black Widow at his side, held the precious stone in his hands. One last promise he could give her. 'I promise you, Natasha. It will never be in vain. Never.'

I was sad when Natasha died... :(