A/N: Another one of my favorite pairings. Major character death.

He doesn't realise who she truly is, not until she truly is gone.

He misses her sassy jokes, her crude remarks, her calculating smirks and her quick mind.

He misses her pummeling punching bags in the gym, running his morning routine with him, eating pancakes in the kitchen and reading in the armchair by the window.

He misses her sharpening knives on the carpet, writing up files with him, scaring the living lights out of recruits and lounging on the sofa watching movies.

He misses her.

And it's too late.

Because he will never terrorise recruits with her again. Never stake out rooftops with her again. Never spar with her again. Never. Again.

It's too late.

It's too late to do anything.

The team is somber, and Thor has casted thunderclouds all over New York in mourning.

They stand outside the cold room, hearts dropping as Dr Cho walks out, biting her lip as she sighs.

They know the answer before the words come out.

Surprisingly, the world mourns for whom they considered a dirty spy, a double agents and a backstabber.

Gone out, like a candle in the wind.

The procession is grander than he would ever have imagined, crowds standing on each side of the road as the black car rolls past.

And the wooden box is lowered into the ground in a nice green lawn, with a huge marble monument Tony probably paid for shining bright white against the green.

And he cries.

The others share a sad, knowing look.

And he cries.

Oh, what could have been...