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i'm thinking of an alternate universe where nat didn't die but yelena would still find her way to john, ava, bucky, and bob. natasha would still be an avenger along with sam. after the new avengers announcement, she's the first to suggest, "what if we just--" she crisscrosses her fingers together "james is still technically an avenger, anyway, and we're always looking for new recruits." and everybody goes silent because - well, she's got a point.

(no, seriously, why can't we all just get along, hm? avengers, new avengers. potato, po-tah-to)

i'm thinking alexei would be thrilled to have three daughters and three sons. ("two," bucky would insist, "i'm still older than you.") they don't have enough players to form a soccer team but they play every weekend anyway. they will all pretend to hate it but it's their favorite form of training. "it's family bonding!" alexei would argue and the others secretly agree.

i'm thinking about how natasha could never fully trust john, never in the way she trusted steve and trusts sam. but she gives john a boon for every time he tells yelena "on your six" (he never says it out loud. but she notices. actions > words, and all that) natasha had steve. in some capacity, for every time john looks to yelena for direction and yelena takes the piss at john for anything he does but defends him just as fiercely, natasha's certain yelena has john in the exact same way.

i'm thinking ava and natasha would get along quickly. natasha won't even hesitate to treat her like a sister. they've both been hurt by shield in some way. they've both lost people. but somehow, they don't talk about it. they share silences. they drink beer. they train. they go bother john in the kitchen. natasha would steal ava and yelena from the tower for hours just to hang out at the rooftop unbothered.

i'm thinking she'd treat bob the way she treated wanda. she'd take this incredibly powerful and volatile human being under her wing and give him all the care and love she's capable of - and she's got plenty to give. bob's going to love her equally. he's happy to have yelena, and for yelena to have someone who looks out for her, too. he's always wanted a sister. he's going to think otherwise all the time but this is a family he'd like to keep.

for bucky, well. i just think buckynat would be neat, yk? i will not elaborate. (sambuckynat, if you prefer, because sambucky divorce is Not Real here)

both yelena and natasha will make up for the time they lost when yelena was blipped. natasha secretly moves into the watchtower* (tbd) and not wherever sam's building the new compound. yelena will understand natasha doting in her own way, because she knows that if it was the other way around - if she lost natasha forever, she wouldn't know what to do with that kind of pain. grieving. yearning. she'll hate it. she would let it overcome her and she wouldn't know what to do.

yelena will play it cool, sometimes she won't, but she's grateful to have her sister in this universe.