[1] Take the Shot | Leo Fitz

epilogue

"Thank you for loving me even before I truly knew the meaning of the word."

As a child, Nina had been the definition of a social butterfly. She was friends with all the children on the block and no one remained a stranger around her for more than 5 minutes. From her birth to age 7, Nina Ramos loved people... but then she lost the people she loved the most.

Tony had been the one to teach her to love people again and she had, she loved him but growing up Stark's charity case to the public made her realise some people didn't deserve her love and where she wasn't completely closed off, she was careful with the number of people she let in her life.

24-year-old Nina believed she didn't have many people who truly loved her but she had enough and that was all that mattered.

The funeral took place on a Tuesday.

Fitz thought that was ironic because no matter how much of a mess his head was, he knew that Nina hated Tuesdays and that she would've hated the funeral.

Too many parts of her life intertwining and too many emotions.

"When I first met Nina she was 4," Tony's voice addressed the crowd while Simmons took Fitz's hand and squeezed it tightly, "at the time I didn't know how important she would be in my life. She was a curious little thing, and that didn't change as she grew up. Always sticking her nose in things that didn't concern her, going places she didn't belong and talking about things she shouldn't have known. Despite that, she was so hard to get angry at. She had that smile and those damn puppy dog eyes... drove me insane."

There was a sound of agreement amongst the people who'd experienced what he was describing. Natasha and Clint smiling softly at each other while their interlocked hands gripped each other tightly, Stephen Strange look down for a moment to clear his throat while his thumb caressed the postcard in his pocket from Cuba. Hill stood by him with her arms static by her sides as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Nina had this ability, something I don't think she ever realised she could do. She had the power to bring people together, even in the darkest times," Tony looked to a specific group of people as he spoke.

Cyrus, Adam's boyfriend, standing beside Sara's husband, who held 7-year-old Tommy's hand tightly. Thea, Tristian's sister standing beside Melody's brother who supported a sobbing woman who would have been Nina's sister in law all those years ago. The Talbots stood close to them, George sparing his young friend a sad look while his parents held either one of his hands.

"Nina saw more pain than anyone should in one lifetime, and none of it she deserved. She always wanted to protect people, to serve much like her father had... to be the shield no matter how much it drained her. She was so fucking stubborn but she had more heart than anyone in this world," Tony let his tears fall as he spoke and didn't bother to conceal the hurt in his voice. He looked to the team Nina had spent her last moments with.