Here's the next chapter for you guys- prepare your tissues everybody!

Tony held his baby daughter for the first time on March 17th. Pepper was lying in the hospital bed, asleep, and Tony was free to gaze at his wife and little girl as much as he wanted. Marie-Grace Stephanie Nicole Stark was what he and Pepper had chosen. Marie-Grace for Maria, Stephanie for Steve, and Nicole for Natasha. The three best people Tony had met, all wrapped into one little girl. He could hardly believe that he was a father now. It was so surreal, knowing that he had created this little baby and his wife had brought her into the world.

The complication was that the cord had been wrapped around Marie-Grace's head, but the doctors had cut it by C-Section and she had survived. Tony had flown in the suit from Russia to the United States in an hour, which was probably a speed record. Tony dialed Clint.

"Clint, I'm a father!" he whisper-shouted triumphantly.

"Congratulations, Tony." Clint said. There was something off in the archer's tone of voice that Tony couldn't quite pin down.

"What's wrong, Clint?" he asked, suddenly feeling less happy now. Clint was silent for thirty seconds, and then-

"Maria's dead, Tony."

"What?"

"She was in the bunker at the last minute and she told us to explode it. We're not sure if she made it out in time, but we haven't found her body and her comms unit is dead. We're flying back to the States now. I'm so sorry." Clint said softly.

"I never should have left." Tony said, his voice hollow. Maria was dead. Maria Hill, the only SHIELD agent that Tony had ever really liked, other than Coulson. The one who had taken Natasha's knife that had been meant for Fury. The ever-present, constantly loyal Maria was dead, and it was probably because he, Tony, hadn't been there to save her.

"We've all agreed that it's not your fault. You deserved to see your little girl and I'm happy for you, I truly am." Clint said, and then he hung up.

Maria was dead.

"Maria Hill was one of the best SHIELD agents that I've ever worked with. She had good presence, good ideas, and a good heart. She always knew what to say and what to do, and she had an unusual sense of humor. It was from her that I gained the title 'Evil Purple Minion.' Maria was one of the instrumental SHIELD agents when Loki stole the Tesseract. She risked her life to shoot them down before they made it out of the safe zone. She impacted everyone she met with her courage, her strength, and her compassion. Maria worked harder than most people. When she lost the use of her right arm she never complained, even though it rendered her coordination almost useless in that arm. She went into her final mission using her left hand, and survived until the very end. I don't think I ever got the chance to tell her thank you. She taught me so many life lessons while she stayed at the Avengers Tower, and even in death, she continues to teach me even more about persistence, loyalty, and forgiveness." Clint said.

Maria's funeral was a private affair. Only the Avengers, Fury, Coulson, and Agent 13 were present at the funeral, along with any family members that the Avengers invited. Betty, Jane, Pepper, and Marie-Grace were in the audience. The dark mahogany casket was empty of Maria's body, which had not been found. The Avengers assumed that she had perished in the blast. The funeral was outside, with the birds singing and the trees blowing gently in the brisk spring air.

All of them were plagued with guilt about what had happened during that mission, especially Coulson and Wanda. They had been the ones to set the fuse, and Coulson was ultimately the one who set them off. Marie-Grace's birthday was shared with her namesake's death, a fact that Tony hated, and not because of the two girls whose lives had bean and ended on the same day, but with himself. He knew he could have done something to help her, but he had left instead and abandoned his team.

Clint sat down. Steve stepped up to the podium, and his eyes scanned the small crowd.

"How do I explain someone like Maria?" he began. "Do I say that she was the 'best SHIELD agent ever'? Or does the distinction go to Coulson over there?" A polite round of laughter, but with no heart in it. "No. I would say words like brave, kind, intelligent, and gentle. I don't know how many times Maria has saved my life. Maybe, if I counted, I would miss many of them, because she has saved my life in ways that neither of us probably know about. There was the time during the HYDRA invasion of SHIELD that I thought we were done with. But Maria surprised me with her rescue and she's surprised me many times after that. Her actions are startlingly fresh and her words surprise all of us. Maria reassured me in one of the darkest times in my life, and even then, she was like a bright beacon of hope. Even though she's gone now, what she's left behind in my life will never die out. She's one of the people who has helped me become who I am today, and I want to say thank you."

"I saw into Maria's mind and I saw nothing but despair." Wanda said. "And yet she showed no outward sign of what she felt inside. She was very strong, and I looked up to her as a sister would another sister. She taught me how to speak like an American, and sometimes I say something and expect her to correct me. But she always did it in the gentlest way. She taught me that even though people might sit on proud, mighty horses, sometimes they get off those steeds and become a humble, vulnerable person. I learned a lot from that realization, and it has helped me deal with Tony and all the rest of this team of guys. We would to therapy together, and during that time I got to know her as an excited child when she did something accomplished. I knew her as a witty, sarcastic person who make jokes at all the right times. I knew her as a soldier, fighting the pain that she felt inside and hiding it. I wish we had had more time together, and I wish that I could have gotten to know her more. There will never be someone in the world like Maria."

"While sitting in the Avengers tower, I now feel like part of it is missing. With Maria's absence comes a loneliness and an emptiness that wasn't there before. She added a certain atmosphere to the tower that I appreciated. It was a hardworking atmosphere and probably got me on my feet more often." Bruce joked. "I didn't know Maria very well. I feel like now I have so many questions for her, but then I turn and she's not there to answer them. I should have gotten to know her better, and if I knew that we would lose her this soon, I would have cherished every moment with her. But now she's gone, and that time is passed. Now we have to just remember and learn from a person who wasn't afraid to be different. We can learn from the past, and those memories will stay with us forever. I will take her memory and use that experience to influence what I do today, and I will live everyday like it is my last day. Thank you."

"I confess, I was the one who started the whole drama with Maria's arm. Traumatized and confused, I brought a knife into the meeting room with Fury, Coulson, Steve, and Maria. Fury annoyed me (which probably happens a lot more than you think) and I threw a knife at him. Maria intercepted it, and with that action, she brought a whole lot of consequences down onto her. I take from that move that she made many lessons. That action was selfless, and I should be more selfless. At times I am quite self-centered, but knowing Maria has drawn me away from that damaging trait and has changed my personality. It has made me a better person. It has also taught me to work through difficult situations. While Maria was undergoing physical therapy with Wanda, she never gave up and she never stopped trying. I think we all need to learn a little from that example. And finally, she taught me forgiveness. I never apologized to her, and yet she never brought the subject up unless someone else did. That has taught me to forgive and forget, instead of holding endless grudges against those who harm me. I want to say thank you, Maria, for teaching me these things, and I also want to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I did that to you, and I hope that you can forgive me." Natasha said, and those close to the stage could see a tear running down her face when she left.

"I'm the last presenter, so you don't have to worry about listening to the others gabbing about who-knows-what while they're up here." Tony said, with a little less of a swagger than usual. "What should I say about Maria? Should I say that she saved my child and my wife from certain death? Perhaps that is appropriate. By now you are all very familiar with Maria's injury, I'm sure. I've heard this story from Maria herself, as well as Pepper. They walked three miles away from... a safehouse... and Pepper had some issues with the baby. Maria offered to carry Pepper back to the farm, all three miles, with her injured arm. Therefore risking her life, because she had a seal on her artery. If the seal came off, she would probably die from internal bleeding. But she did it, and she carried Pepper back. And she did tear the seal off, and only survived as a result of Clint Barton's quick thinking. Maria is the ultimate example of sacrifice, love, and selflessness. I admire her for this and I thank her for saving the lives of Pepper and Marie-Grace."

Tony sat down and then all of the Avengers joined in hoisting Maria's casket into the hole that they had dug, three miles out from the Barton farm, where Pepper and Maria had stopped and Maria had carried Pepper back. They were all silent as the first handful of dirt was tossed onto the casket, and they all had tears in their eyes as they looked at the white marble headstone that read

Agent Maria Christina Hill

SHIELD agent

Avenger

friend

"To the well organized mind, death is the next great adventure."

Is anyone crying yet? Yes? Good :) Just kidding. It was supposed to be depressing though.

What the Avengers said they learned from Maria could actually be what I learned from writing her. She was a great character to write.

THE STORY IS NOT OVER. DON'T FRET. There's still the Epilogue and that Valentine's Day deleted scene that I might write. REVIEW.