Nina was heartbroken. Most of the Avengers were gone. She wished she had disintegrated with them as well.
The remaining Avengers never really talked to each other, excluding Natasha and Bruce, who were now married and had settled down and still talked to Nina, and Dani and Nina, the best friends.
She did talk to Bruce and Natasha occasionally, once or twice every few months, or so.
She talked to Dani everyday, Dani coming over to her house to help clean the mess up a bit, and just generally hang out with her friend so she could cheer her up.
She had no idea if Thor was ruling in Asgard or not, or whether Tony finally married Pepper, if Rhodey was getting along well with his prosthetic leg, and so on.
The entire team hadn't talked ever since they went to that distant planet to kill Thanos, which they did, Thor beheading the monstrosity that was named Thanos with the Stormbreaker.
Nina, too, was and is an Avenger.Her superhero name was "Silver Arrow". A name given to her by the local news channels of New York, and spread to the world.
She was loved by the public, oh, how they adored her.
" I'll never let them die. " Nina had once said.
That was until the Sokovia Accords problem occurred. She was on the side that fought against the government, the side of Captain America.
They threw her in a cell, giving her a straight jacket like they did to Wanda Maximoff. She was an outcast, a traitor, labelled so by the government.
Part of her wished she had listened to Natasha, helped her in her cause to get the Avengers back together, but she stood up for what she believed in, and all of her knew it was right.
She then began to question why they even did this, why she even did this. The public was ready to turn on her when she battled for her rights, when she battled for what she so clearly deserved.
She was hurt beyond repair, but what could she have done, she had a duty that she was made to do.
Nina was always the odd one out, the Avengers were the only people who were there for her, like a real family.
She finally felt like she fit in, but then the Sokovia Accords incident happened, and since then, everybody was distant, sadder, and she could feel it.
Even Nina had changed. She was no longer her cheerful self, and nobody really noticed because they were too stuck up in their own problems, battling their own inner demons.
It hurt to see them like this, but she still tried her best to keep them happy, and put on a happy façade, over time perfecting it until nobody that knew her could tell this was just a mask and nothing more.
She was depressed, but refused adamantly to admit it.
She despised most of the civilians, then. They were happy and carefree, nobody was after their lives due to them not being important assets of a war.
And then the Infinity War happened. She lost literally 98% of the people she loved, whether they were new to the Avengers or not.
Her heart was crushed, as if it wasn't already damaged uncontrollably and irreparably, it felt like most of heart had gone with the wind (A/N: get it!) where the ashes, or whatever they were, of her friends' bodies were.
She isolated herself. Refused to come out, socialise with the remnants of society that had remained. She locked herself up. There was this one time every few months, or twice, if she was feeling less dull than usual, where she called Natasha and talked to Natasha, Bruce and their kids.
She had been damaged. It was like she was the shell of a person who, once upon a time, was the happiest and most cheerful of the team, making everyone laugh with her dumb and childish, yet still quite funny, jokes.
Now, she had been reduced to witty and dark humour, making everyone laugh yet also feel the tiniest bit uncomfortable and contemplate if they should ask about if she was okay and about her mental health.
It was true. Her mental health had only gotten worse as the five years passed. Each day agonisingly slow for her.
She refused to accept the offer to intake drugs that would help with her mental health. She didn't want her happiness to be entirely reliant on drugs. She didn't want the people's sympathy and fake happiness.
When she was called to be recruited again by the few Avengers that were left, excluding Tony, she wasn't ecstatic.
The old Nina Rodriguez would be jumping in joy for this opportunity. But the new Nina was not. She didn't want her heart broken again, as if it was something to be walked on, again, and again, and again.
She believed that her heart was already fragile as it was, but in the end, she accepted.
For Bruce and Natasha, for the people who passed away, disintegrating into nothingness, yet didn't deserve to.
She thought about the young Peter Parker, who was just a kid.
She thought about Clint's family, his young children and his wife.
She thought about the billions who died heroically, for this cause. The fifty percent of people on so many planets that just went up and died because of the pettiness of one dumb grape.
She agreed and with them. They tried so much but still were unsuccessful. Scott Lang, who was Ant-man, was sent for a test run. He did have experience of the quantum realm, being stuck there for six whole whopping years. Stranded alone.
The experiment was not going well, at all. Scott became an older version of himself, then a much, much younger version of himself. It was like flipping through the channels on the TV, except it was a middle-aged person and it was his age that was changing flipping at the press of a button.
Then Tony came to them to help. He knew what to do. He understood what the risks were.
Turns out he had a family. Finally married Pepper and had a daughter.
As it turned out, the rest already knew about his little family, already having visited him to coax and convince him into coming to the Avengers and helping them, he had refused, telling that what was at stake, which was losing his family, was too much
They didn't take Nina with them. They thought that she was too fragile, and would break down, or have a reaction that was somewhat similar.
She was, as expected, furious, and threatened to leave and go back to the isolated dump that she called home.
They told her they took a vote, and ultimately came to the decision that she shouldn't have come. Majority won the race.
She was a bit comforted to know that Bruce and Natasha voted against the majority.
She then remembered how so many innocent people had died and decided not to go.
Frankly speaking, the rest of the Avengers panicked when she declared she would leave due to the gravity of the situation. They all knew they couldn't do this without her.
There were already only a handful of Avengers left, and without her they were vincible, easily defeated.
They were relieved to know that she decided to stay and help. They would be able to help them.
So after the experimentation had been done, they all suited up.
Nina Rodriguez, Natasha Romanoff-Banner Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Dani Novak, James Rhodes, Nebula, Rocket the Raccoon, Clint Barton and last, but definitely not least, Thor Odinson.
They all suited up and left to their specific places in the specific time.
Dani, Clint and Natasha went to retrieve the Soul Stone where Red Skull was still guarding it. Things are never that easy, and unfortunately, to get the Soul Stone you have to perform the exchange of a soul for a soul.
The trio have a heated argument before Dani accidentally slips and is suddenly hanging on for dear life, Clint and Natasha holding her hand, trying to pull her back up to safety.
She drops her hand purposely, but not before whispering softly that she loves all of the Avengers and will miss them, hoping that they would miss her too, and that she wanted them to tell Nina that she'll miss her immensely. The two best friends assure her quietly.
They knew it was hopeless to stop her now, she was as stubborn as they get. They knew they would miss her immensely so.
And then they had to watch one of their closest friends, basically a sister to both the individuals, fall to her death.
They both had seen many gruesome things in their lives, Natasha being in the assassin-training academy, the Red Room since she was a mere child, and Clint having seen many he loved die, his wife, his children, his brother and many, many more; but they both had to admit, this death hurt them the most, even more so than their own biological family.
They saw the blood pooling around her, her eyes were open and lifeless, incredibly dull in comparison to the usual playfulness and cheer they usually held. There was an icicle coming out of where her once beating heart was.
The two alive were pained, they could see it in each other's eyes as they looked at each other.
But it was irreversible now. Dani was dead and not coming back. They slowly comprehended that fact.
They both searched each other's faces and could tell what the other was feeling, it was something they had mastered over the years: silent communication.
And now they knew they had to leave, and that is what they did.
When the task to retrieve the soul stone was assigned, there were three pretty much empty handed people who went. Two extremely devastated people and an infinity stone is what came back.
Bruce and Nina went to get the Time Stone.
They immediately went to a rooftop somewhere in Greenwich, where Dr. Stephen Strange supposedly lived.
But, as their luck would have it, the doctor was not living there, yet, but there was one important person they did see, The Ancient One.
She blatantly refused giving them the Stone. But then Bruce asks the question of why would Strange give the Time Stone willingly to Thanos?
The Ancient One ponders this fact and comes to the conclusion that if Strange, who is supposed to be one of the greatest of their kind, gave the Time Stone willingly, then that means they can take the Stone. The Ancient One knows that she is to give them the stone as it is their reality's one in fourteen million chance, but she doesn't voice her thoughts, afraid it won't be the one winning situation for them if they knew.
But she warns both, telling them that if they do not give the Stone back to this reality at this same particular point of time, chaos will ensue in this reality.
They promise that they shall do so and go back to the present in their own reality.
They find only two people instead of the three they expected.
Nina's heart was broken even more. It felt as if the weight of the world was on her shoulders, like the titan Atlas, and all she wanted to do in that moment was collapse and curl up into a fetal position to mourn the loss of her best friend. But she willed herself to stay strong.
Nebula and James were going to retrieve the Power Stone.
They went to the time when Star-Lord was alive and kicking. They were doing their mission.
Meanwhile, the Nebula that was actually part of this time and reality, was getting these weird spasm-like things happen to her while she was walking with her so-called sister, Gamora.
She suddenly had this vision, or something along the lines of that, and saw the point of view of the Nebula that was not of this timeline and reality, she saw her own self attempting to retrieve the Power Stone.
Thanos, her adoptive father, saw this. He questioned her, doubting her loyalty towards him and his cause.
She cried out in frustration as she tried to coax her father into believing she was loyal to him, which she was, but he didn't fully believe that.
So, in exchange of gaining his trust he demanded the memories of the future Nebula. This Nebula eagerly complied, ready to prove herself to the man she called her father.
She shows him everything, all the things that happened in the span of the next few years.
Thanos saw himself. He saw how he was beheaded. He saw how he was proved successful in wiping out half the population of the Earth. He saw everything.
He realised his mistake of leaving half the population practically untainted. He realised he needs to wipe out all the population of the planet he conquered.
He had a plan, he was going to kill everyone and then proceed to make a new universe, where they would worship him for his goodness, not call him a villain and slander his name.
He knew that even if he did wipe half the population already, there would always be the people who couldn't accept this act of greatness. So, why not kill all of them.
He sent the Nebula of this time to replace the other Nebula, and that she did, fooling everyone, infiltrating the Avengers.
They did go back with the Power Stone, it was just that the wrong person that went.
Rocket the Raccoon and Thor were going to get the Reality Stone.
It was a go-in, come-out job, easy. But life works in mysterious ways, you never get what you want.
So, Thor got caught up, he saw his mother, Frigga, and was absolutely ecstatic yet devastated at the same time, somehow.
He started talking to her while Rocket did the needed, went in and got the Reality Stone from the Aether that had used Thor's former girlfriend, Jane Foster, as its host.
Rocket then saw Thor standing in a weird position by the large open balcony with his mother looking at him with a content and fond look on her face.
She told Rocket to wait for it, and then it happened.
Mjolnir flew into Thor's hand and he was so joyous it seemed as if he would explode from happiness at any moment. He cracked a smile so wide Rocket was sure it hurt.
Then he broke Thor and Frigga's little bubble of their own by reminding him that they had to leave.
So they left.
Tony and Scott went to get the Space Stone.
Scott pretty much put Tony in a cardiac arrest. Otherwise everything wasn't bad.
But then, as Tony was leaving with the Stone, Hulk came and, as expected, smashed.
He was angry, again.
But then, somehow they escaped.
As Loki had previously taken the stone right from their grasp, they were losing hope. They didn't get the Stone.
Meanwhile, Captain America had gone to get the Stone and had been just as unlucky. Which is a lot of un-luck.
But then, he acted as if he was Hydra in an elevator and muttered a quick "Hail Hydra" loudly to them. He left with the Stone. But not without having a fight with his past self, who thought that the newer Steve was Loki.
The three met up and Steve and Tony went to go to the year1970 to get this Stone. Scott taking the Stone that Steve had just stolen to their reality.
The went back to the past. They two dispersed. Tony going to get the Stone and Steve went to get the Pym Particles that were there at SHIELD headquarters at the time, the year being before Hank Pym went and founded his own company.
So, there they went.
They retrieved the items, but not without a few blasts from the past.
Steve saw the love of his life, Peggy Carter, who passed away, in his reality, a few years ago.
Tony saw his father, Howard Stark, as he took the Teserrect/Space Stone. Tony realised his father wasn't as bad as he thought. The father-son had a bonding moment without the father even knowing it.
They then went back to their own reality.
What they all didn't know, was that there was a traitor in their midst. The old Nebula.
The gauntlet was ready and equipped in what felt like no time.
Bruce said that he should do it, he reasoned that he was meant to do it, us humans wouldn't be able to withstand the power for long.
And then he snapped.
They looked outside and saw the trees blossoming, birds chirping and sun high up in the sky, shining brightly.
They did it!
Nina felt as if she was on cloud 9, they all did. They weren't alone anymore!
And then it all was dark again.
Thanos was back.
They all scrambled to see what just happened, but Nina knew, she was never going to be happy, she realised, it was just a dumb aspiration.
She told them he was back. She saw the look of pure horror on each and every face, she saw how they went from happiness and joy to terror. That was the effect Thanos had on people.
Then they fought, they fought hard. Battling the evil army that Thanos had created.
But she saw her friends. They were all coming out of these portals. She saw Dr. Strange and found her chance to ask him whether they would win this war or not. He told her that if he told her, it wouldn't happen.
All the women got together and formed an alliance to fight, it was almost like a tribute to Dani, the Ghost Queen.
Nina was thankful for that. She finally saw her friend and family. Finally! She was happy again. The weight on her shoulders was lifted. Even though she was fighting a raging war, she was happier than the previous years.
She saw Thanos and immediately knew what Tony was thinking, judging by the look on his face, his eyes glassy and ready to take Thanos on.
She couldn't let that happen, he had a family. She was just a lonely middle-aged woman who had lost her best friend. And she was sure that nobody would miss her. So she did what a good friend would do.
She signalled Carol to notify her of her intentions. Carol understood and looked at her with pride and sympathy.
Just as Thanos was about to declare that he was "inevitable", Nina took the Infinity Gauntlet from him.
" I'll never let them die " was what Nina last said before she snapped her fingers.
A surge of power coursed through her body, like adrenaline, but better.
She was like that for what felt like hours, watching Thanos waste away in front of her eyes, it was just a few mere minutes.
And then the aftermath kicked in. It was like a hangover, but so much more worse.
She felt all the energy leave her body, all the willpower was gone.
Tony saw her and rushed to her side, and so did Bruce and Natasha.
They told her it's okay, she could rest now. The assured her that they would be fine, she didn't need to worry, that they'd miss her so much.
She smiled, albeit weakly, using up most of what she had. She managed a quiet "I love you all" before the darkness consumed her.
"Part of the Journey is the End"
It isn't the beginning or middle that matters, the main thing is the end, whether you die heroically or a coward. It is for you, the reader, to decide whether or not what Nina and Dani did were heroic or dumb, whatever anything they have done mattered, but they both are dead, and cannot be resurrected.