"Liar."

Nyla watched in shock as her brother tore off his arc reactor and upon doing so, immediately fell to the ground, his legs giving out underneath him. She didn't know if it was from the deprivation of proper oxygen or the strain of finally releasing all of his pent up anger he had for Steve that had gone dormant over the years and finally had the chance to make itself known. Either way, she didn't like the condition he was in. Bruce had given him a sedative after his theatrics and Nyla sat near his bed, carefully holding his hand as though she was afraid she might break him in two.

His face, usually so full of life and luster, was pale and bedraggled. A few of his bones poked out against his skin and his chest rose and fell deeply.

A silver wolf succumbing to old age.

Pepper sat on the other side of his bed. Her eyes never left his face as she ran a hand carefully over his forehead and they sparkled with such love and relief that Nyla was thankful when Natasha came to call her away. It felt like she had been intruding on an intimate moment meant to be private. Her gratitude soon melted when she realized that her mother had led her to an empty living room.

"Where is everyone?"

"They left."

"To where?"

Natasha sat on the couch with a sigh.

"They found Thanos."

Nyla's ears pricked up with interest.

"Found him? But why didn't—"

"Because talking to my daughter seemed more important."

She patted the couch cushions invitingly and Nyla sat beside her, holding her breath for the storm to come. If her mother hadn't gone with the team to exact revenge, things might've been worse than she thought.

"I'm a mess," Natasha started, "I'm a big mess that never got a chance to live a normal life. You know all those stories about princesses living in castles and being rescued by a handsome prince on a white horse?"

The sad smile that graced her features was a contrast to the story she told.

"That wasn't me. The idea of a happy ending...I was the girl that wouldn't have any of that along with so many other little girls."

She took a sharp breath, Nyla listening intently with a sad expression on her face.

"I wanted that for you."

"A prince?" Nyla asked, making Nat smile.

"A normal life. But, wherever we turned, wherever I looked, there was no road leading that way. Nyla, for something like that I would have had to give you up. It was an option after a few years, but..."

Her eyes began to glisten and Nyla slowly took hold of her hands. With such a gesture came the swell of a loving heart as the mother drew her daughter in her arms and planted a kiss atop her head.

"I couldn't." Her admittance was a ragged whisper against the soft ebony black of Nyla's hair. "I couldn't give you up. And I know that was so selfish of me, but I loved you so much. You were so tiny and I couldn't—"

"I know," Nyla said softly, "...I know."

Natasha's words were swallowed up by the sudden sniffles that began to pour out of her mouth and Nyla moved to rest her head on her shoulder. She let her mom cry for as long as she needed to, stroking her hair and patting her back occasionally. The moments where Natasha had been emotionally vulnerable with her own daughter was rare and it had built up and formed to become a shield of Nyla's own. They weren't entirely sure what to do before.

The mother-daughter duo was not very great on dealing with emotional issues and it would often wind up as jokes in the wind. But, they'd lost almost everything. Most of their family was gone along with half of the world. There was no cause to be guarded anymore because it was a pain that everyone shared.

Except for this.

When Natasha lifted her head and calmly wiped away her tears, she cradled Nyla's face in her hands with such affection in her eyes that Nyla felt the hot prick of tears in her own.

"I couldn't give up my baby. And I promised her that I'd give her a happy ending just like those princesses." Nyla moved to lay her head in Natasha's lap and her eyes began to flutter shut as her mom began to play with her hair.

"You're really stuck on those princesses, huh?"

Natasha let out a soft chuckle, moving her arms so Nyla could be more comfortable.

"Nah, but they're a good metaphor."

She sighed.

"This family means everything to me. I came from a place that drilled all sentiment and emotion out of you and to find them...there's nothing in the world I wouldn't do for these people. This is all we have left. So no matter what comes," the lilting promise in her voice was accompanied by a soft kiss on the cheek, "you'll always be my happy ending."

Family means everything.
Not a thing in the world I wouldn't do..
For family.

Nyla scraped her spatula against the pan, it being the only sound in the otherwise silent Compound. The team had come home, but not with what she or Natasha would have expected. A game plan, a way to put everything back in order. It was a dead end with no way out. No way of bringing everyone back.

Defeat.

Everyone retreated to their own personal spaces to come to terms with the fact that there was nothing they could do about the situation.

Not anymore.

Steve was the worst, Nyla had thought. She couldn't stand to look at him in fear of bursting into tears at the grieved expression on his face that seemed to be almost permanent.

But, they were heroes, right?
And heroes always found a way to beat evil.
To right the wrongs of the world.

Nyla picked up the plate of cookies she'd just finished bake and set them in the middle of the table. There was no one around to eat them at the moment, but she knew they'd eventually find it. Food was the most comfort any of them could get and Nyla was more than up to the task of being able to provide it for them. She lumbered her way down the hall and to her mom's room with a smaller plate of cookies and cautiously knocked.

"Yeah?" Nyla stepped into the room.

Natasha was sitting on the edge of her bed with her chin in her hands looking completely focused.

"Hey."

"Hey, kid. Come with goodies?" She held up her plate with a grin.

"Always."

Lost in their thoughts, they slowly munched their way through a few of the baked goods before Nyla spoke up.

"Mom."

"Hm?"

"You said there were other girls like you?"

Nat nodded.

"Did they all get out?"

The assassin was silent for a moment.

"Not everyone got a happy ending," was her simplest way of explaining the hardships of her past and what was produced from it. Nyla let that sit in her head for awhile before looking at her mom, half a cookie in her mouth.

"I have an idea."

"Me too."

—————

"Carol?"

Nyla tentatively took a seat next to the woman on the little stone bench. When she realized she hadn't thanked Carol for saving her brother due to her disappearance from the Compound, Nyla came to find her sitting outside, her head tilted upwards as the sun slowly sank below the clouds. She turned to Nyla, looking at her in silence.

"I didn't get the chance to thank you. For bringing Tony back."

Nyla-Rose said, her fingers twining together tightly.

Was she nervous?

Carol gave her a half grin. She noticed that Nyla's eyes were constantly looking everywhere but at her and a warm blush was creeping into her cheeks because Carol just couldn't look away. It was the first time ever that they were alone and she realized she could properly admire Nyla-Rose without anyone giving them cheeky smirks.

"He's your brother, right?" Nyla nodded in response, making the blonde woman huff a little.

"He's about the liveliest thing in the whole place. Way he talked to Steve and everything."

"He doesn't have a filter."

"I guessed as much."

They shared a laugh together, but at the sound, Nyla quickly stopped. It didn't feel right. She didn't think it should feel right when everything was in shambles and the people the world depended on were helpless to restore things back to the way they were. The pain was still so fresh and yet Nyla-Rose was glad that she was able to share such a moment with Carol. Before she knew what was happening, Carol had taken her hand in hers and gave it a little squeeze. She didn't miss when the blonde moved herself closer.

"You know...it's okay to be happy. Even at a time like this," Carol said softly. "I know this isn't the most ideal time to be joking around or anything with everyone being so depressed," Nyla laughed, making Carol smile, "but we are allowed..." she slipped her other hand in Nyla's free one, bringing her around to face her fully, "..to be happy." Nyla bit her lip, her insides buzzing with nervousness and her skin prickling from the sensation of Carol's simple touch.

"What would make you happy?" She whispered to the woman, lost in the pure brown orbs that gazed at her with such intensity.

When Carol kissed her, she did so with a tentative manner, her lips brushing Nyla's lightly. It was a good and proper kiss, firm yet soft. A claim of newfound feelings that set fireworks off in Nyla's head, her stomach coiling with excitement and elation as Carol snared her face in her hands with the careful precision of a sculptor handling her finest works. When both of the women pulled away to study each other's response, they were both pleasantly surprised to see such a deep look of endearment upon the other's face.

Carol winked, sending another flash of bright red across Nyla's cheeks as she tenderly brushed a thumb over her jawline before pulling her hand away. Nyla-Rose's heart was thumping so fast she swore the whole Compound could hear it.

"What would make me happy," Carol tilted her head, her hair tumbling to one side as she squinted slightly and smiled so genuinely it gave Nyla heart palpitations, "is if I could do that everyday."