Tony Stark landed on the helicarrier, looking around for any familiar faces. He was grinning as wide as he could. They beat the insane robot he had created without any losses.

"Tony," he heard. He spun and saw Steve walking up to him and smiled more.

"Rogers," he said. "We did it." Steve nodded, not smiling.

"Yeah. Tony, there's something you should know." The millionaire ignored him, looking around the landing platform.

"Where's Chris?" he asked. "I haven't gotten to talk to her yet." Steve placed his hands on Tony's shoulders, holding him in place.

"Tony!" He froze, looking up at the blond. "Chris, she's...she's dead, Tony." The man frowned, staring but not speaking. He shook his head.

"No," he said. "No, she's not...she's not." He pulled Steve's hands off of his shoulders. "No, I want to see my daughter!"

"She's gone," a quiet voice said behind him. He turned to see the blond speedster that hadn't spoken since they left the ruins of Sokovia. He had tear stains marking his face and was staring at Tony. "She sacrificed her life...to save mine." Tony let out a shaky breath, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. He bit down on his knuckle to suppress a sob, squeezing his eyes shut. After a moment, he took a deep breath, looking over at the traumatized boy.

"Is...is she here?" Pietro nodded, and Tony followed him to the medical wing. There, on a table in the middle of one of the rooms, was his sassy, genius little girl that had never let anything stop her.

She had finally run out of chances.

Tony let out a quiet sob as he walked up to the table, taking her cold hand in his. Blood had soaked through her cropped tank top, and he could see one of the bullet wounds peeking out from the bottom of the shirt.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Stark," Pietro said from behind him. "I should have been faster. I should have saved her." Tony shook his head, turning to, hesitantly, wrap his arms around the shaking boy.

So this is where our story ends. With two contrasting characters sobbing into each other's shoulders over the girl that stole both of their hearts. Not very orthodox, is it? But not everything is. The truth is that things that are typically seen as orthodox in stories and legends are not usually realistic. The hero doesn't always win. Or they do, but at the cost of themselves.

Such is the story of Christine Mila Stark.