MORAG
(2014)

"Hey, Rhodes! I'm getting a little old over here!" Nyla called to the man as he directed the landing ship.

Rhodey huffed, rolling his eyes at her.

"Guys, chop chop. We're on the clock," Natasha chimed in with a knowing smirk.

"All that? Is really helpful."

Nyla shrugged as if to say "what do you want us to do about it," taking in her surroundings on the rather dark planet as Rhodey and Nat hugged each other. The sensation of shrinking and popping up in a completely foreign place was making her body feel all different types of ways, none of them very good. Nodding at Nebula, who returned it, she embraced Rhodey before following her mom and Clint onto the Benatar.

"Take that Stone and come back," Rhodey gave them all a firm look, "no messing around."

"Yes sir."

"Hey. You got this."

"Let's get it done."

Nyla strapped herself to one of the chairs as the hatch closed behind them and when it jumped forward, she kept her eyes open, a barrage of colors flashing past her eyes so fast that she felt a little queasy. Gripping the armrests, Nyla heard Clint let out an amazed laugh.

"We're a long way from Budapest," he called over to Nat.

"And I think I might puke," she muttered to herself.

VORMIR
(2014)

"I bet the raccoon didn't have to climb a mountain," Natasha muttered, causing Nyla-Rose to let out a breathless giggle.

"Technically, he's not a raccoon," Clint stated.

"Whatever. He eats garbage."

The three of them marched their way up the steep incline, putting one foot in front of the other and each wondering the same thing: What waited for them at the top?

The planet Nebula had called Vormir was a strange and deep color of purple, barren of life with still waters surrounding the hills of sand that rose from its edges. Nyla had cursed under her breath when she realized they'd have to climb the tall mountain that loomed threateningly over them and once they finally reached the top, they were met by a shadow. Within the folds of a ragged black robe was a face.

A red skull.

"Welcome." The shadow's voice was a deep timbre and it echoed throughout the mountain. In seconds, Nyla and Natasha had their guns trained on the wispy figure, Clint's bow nocked with an arrow pointing right at his head.

"Natasha, daughter of Ivan. Sefina, daughter of Howard. Clint, son of Edith."

"Who are you?" Nat demanded. The shadow tilted his head, his garments flowing around his figure as he moved closer.

"Consider me a guide. To you and to all who seek the Soul Stone."

"Oh good. You tell us where it is. Then we'll be on our way." A low rumble rolled off the rocks and Nyla's eyes darted around expectantly.

"If only it were that easy."

"A cliff. Of all the luck," Nyla mumbled, kicking a rock over the edge and watching as it disappeared from view. A pit of giddy nervousness took growth in her stomach at the mere sight of such a drop and she moved away. Natasha was sitting on a twisted log, deep in thought as Clint pored over the words that the shadow had told them with a furrow between his brows.

"In order to take the stone, you must lose that which you love. An everlasting exchange. A soul...for a soul."

The words weren't lost on the trio. A sacrifice was to be made and Nyla-Rose knew that neither her mother nor Clint even considered her as an option. She couldn't bear to lose either of them. Not again. Not after finally coming all this way and being so close to getting everyone home. "If we don't get that stone, billions of people stay dead." Nyla looked up from glaring at the cluster of rocks near the edge to see her mom and Clint staring each other down.

"Then I guess we both know who it's gotta be."

"I guess we do."

"Mom—"

"Nyla. Don't even think about it."

The harshness of her tone rendered Nyla-Rose silent and Clint chuckled, a strange sound to hear despite their situation. Natasha's gaze lingered on the girl for a few more seconds, her heart beating erratically and her mind buzzing with the craziness of it all.

Nyla herself felt like a live wire that was about to explode into a mass of searing sparks. She swore she'd prepared herself for this, but her brain was short-circuiting due to the ragged panic that gnawed at her chest, burrowing fresh new holes of pain and overlapping with the old ones.

Everything she'd tried so hard to bury was resurfacing, rearing it's head like the horrible monster it was, but Nyla shook herself free of the shackling grip it had on her.

She had to try.

"Mom, please. Let's at least talk about this."

Natasha and Clint paused, looking at the young woman.

She clenched her fists and took a steady breath, but before she could say anything, a disc clamped onto her chest and volts of electricity traveled through her nervous system, making her collapse in pain. She caught the distressed but determined look on her mom's face before she fell, a sharp crack sounding as her head hit a rock.

"Neither of you are going anywhere." Nyla's eyes were bleary as she watched Clint tackle Natasha to the ground before she scrambled upwards and shot him in the chest with another electric disc. The young woman swayed, ripping the disc off with all the strength she could muster and scraping her palms against the ground, pushing herself to her feet as her mom began to sprint.

A small explosion.
Someone was lying near the edge.
Unconscious.

Nyla was too busy running after the figure that had leaped off the cliff, her eyes bleary from the shock she'd been given, to offer any sort of aid. She was airborne for only a few seconds before—

CLINCH!

Nyla cried out in pain as Natasha caught onto her wrist, her arm jerking upwards and in the opposite direction as the rest of her body, the hook she'd attached to her mom going taut at their combined weight.

Natasha's face had such an intense expression of horror at the situation they were in that it brought tears of wracking guilt to Nyla's eyes. She didn't mean to put her in this position, but it seemed Natasha was determined for her to live either way as she frantically groped the side of the cliff for any holds.

"Mom—"
"Grab the side and climb—"
"Mom, listen to me—"
"Just do it!"
"I can't—"
"Yes, you can! Just—just grab—"
"MOM!"

Natasha stopped what she was doing at the desperate shout of her daughter and finally looked at her.

It was a moment of such great and overwhelming pain for Natasha, to see the tremble in Nyla's chin, the vigorous fear in her eyes. She would give anything in the world to go back in time, to switch places with her...to save her and yet she knew there wasn't a thing she could do.

The feeling of helplessness as Nyla dangled thousands of feet in the air made Natasha want to scream in frustration, but time and gravity was against them as the rope faltered in its hold. Nyla pressed her foot flat against the rock and made to pull away, but Nat had her wrist in a tight grip.

"You have to. You—" Her voice was trembling so much, the terror choking her and she pulled even harder, unable to form a coherent sentence. She hadn't meant to sound so weak and even in a time where her life was on the line, she hated herself for sounding like so.

Be brave.

"No.."

"This is the only way it's gonna work! Mom..." She inhaled sharply.

It all seemed a bit unreal. Maybe if she thought of it like that, it would seem like it on the way down. She hadn't planned on doing it, running off the edge like she had. The consequences of such, she knew would break her mom and Tony's hearts, but it was them...It was every single one of them, from Steve to Rocket, that she was doing it for.

Wanda. Sam. Bucky. Tobias.

Her heart slowed its fast paced beat and she looked up at her mom. She wasn't going to let go and the hook wasn't going to hold for very long. It would take the both of them down. Natasha couldn't bring herself to say anything else, only shaking her head to show that she wouldn't. She couldn't let go.

The hook jerked a little as she struggled to reach her with her other hand and she sucked in a gasp.

Be brave.

Deep breaths.
One, two.
One, two.

"I'm so—" she forced down a sob, "I'm sorry.."

No words could truly convey how much she wished she didn't have to do this to her mother and Nyla pleaded for forgiveness with her eyes.

"Stop. Stop it."

Deep breath.

One...
Two...

"I love you."
"Nyla—"

SLASH!

Natasha's automatic reaction to recoil from the sudden pain that ran up her hand made her loosen her grip.

She dropped the blade.

Step.
I'm sorry.

Push.
I love you.

Pull.
...I love you.

"NOOOOOO!"

Natasha woke up to the feel of water lapping around her head and she quickly sat up, the remembrance of how she'd gotten there branding itself in her mind as she came around.

"Ugh...what the hell..." Clint slowly did the same, rubbing his head and shooting her a look. She said nothing. The lump in her throat wouldn't let her as she raised her hand out of the dark waters and opened it, revealing a glowing orange stone.

The Soul Stone.

But, all she could see was Nyla at the bottom of the cliff, a mere glimpse of her broken body before being taken from the scene of which she thought she could never look away.

Clint was staring at her, shell shocked.

"Oh, no...Nat.."

Before he could complete whatever he was about to say, both of their suits activated, sending them back through the quantum tunnel.

"Did we get them all?" Bruce's voice barely reached Natasha as she stood, rooted to the spot with what felt like the most horrible pain in the world.

"Where's Nyla? Clint...."

Tony.
How could she forget about Tony?

It hurt.
It hurt so much.

"Where is she?!"

How she wished it didn't hurt.