Chapter 83

The moment Maggie set foot on the Quinjet ramp, Natasha started firing up the engines for take off. Once inside, Maggie dropped her bag and glanced around: Steve, Sam, and Bruce chatted in the cockpit, standing behind Natasha in the pilot's seat. Sam looked up when she entered, and at the sight of her in her armor his eyebrows rose.

"Nice threads," he called.

"You should see the whole thing," she replied with a fleeting grin. "Best wings on the planet."

His brows lowered into a frown.

This Quinjet had rows of chairs lining the back half of the cabin, facing outward – Rhodey sat on one side, gazing out the window as they jetted away from the Avengers Facility, and Wanda and Vision sat on the other side, whispering with their heads together. Once they got in the air and started climbing, the only sounds in the cabin were the humming engines and the low buzz of conversation.

Maggie sat down noisily beside the lovebirds. Their heads jerked apart and they looked over bemusedly.

"Hi," Maggie said to Wanda, leaning across Vision. "I'm Maggie."

Wanda's lips curved up. "I know."

"I know you know. But last time we met… was weird. I'd like to start again." She held out her hand.

Wanda's eyes moved slowly from Maggie's face to her hand, and then back up again. After a long moment, she reached out and wrapped her slender fingers around Maggie's.

"It's nice to meet you, Maggie," Wanda murmured. Vision glanced between them with an unreadable look on his face.

"Likewise," Maggie smiled. She looked between Wanda and Vision. "Are you guys okay?"

They turned to meet each other's eyes, then looked back to Maggie. Vision's eyes were serious beneath his glowing Stone.

Wanda nodded grimly. "We will be."

"Okay," Maggie said. She glanced at the glowing wound in Vision's gut. "Are you sure you don't want me to take a look at that, Vis? I can see what I can do with a soldering iron or something-"

"This is an anti-phasing incision inflicted by alien weaponry," Vision interrupted with the ghost of a smile. "I don't think a soldering iron will achieve much."

"The Cradle then," she persisted.

"That may help," Vision agreed. "But we have neither the access nor the time right now. I'm sure that if Wakanda's scientists are capable of removing this Stone" – he touched the glowing Stone in his forehead, and Wanda's hand tightened on his – "then they will be capable of healing my wound."

Maggie nodded, but couldn't wipe the frown from her brow.

After a few moments of Maggie just frowning at her maroon friend, he noticed and cocked his head at her. "What is it?"

Her gaze bored into his. "Don't ever try to throw your life away again."

A look of exasperation flitted across Vision's face and he opened his mouth, but she just held up a hand. "I don't want to hear it." She turned to Wanda. "I'm sure you'll keep hammering it into his surprisingly thick head." She made to stand up, but after a moment she sighed and sank back into her seat. In the cockpit, Steve glanced over his shoulder and looked at the three of them sitting together.

After a long moment, Maggie turned to Vision once more. "Do you remember what we talked about, the first time we had a conversation?"

His brow furrowed. "We spoke about many things."

"Right, but one thing stuck with me. You said that you'd found yourself to be more human than you had realized." Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Steve take a step toward them. "And you also said you had to admit to yourself that you didn't have all the answers." Wanda watched Vision's face. Vision looked pained. Maggie continued: "I hope you can realize now that the most logical choice isn't necessarily the right one." She held his gaze. "Let us fight for you, Vision."

As if she'd struck him a painful blow, Vision closed his eyes and bowed his head. Wanda dropped her forehead onto his shoulder.

Maggie eyed the two of them a moment longer before she stood and silently stepped away. In the cockpit, Steve caught her eye. The others were speaking in low, urgent tones, discussing battle strategy no doubt, but Steve's face was somber. He must have heard what she'd said to Vision. He nodded, just once, and Maggie felt a little of the concern bubbling under her skin melt away. She'd still been half worried that everyone would agree that sacrificing Vision was the best choice, but she couldn't let that happen – he was her friend. He was a person. The world was better for having Vision in it. He deserved to live.

Maggie nodded back at Steve, then crossed the Quinjet to stand beside Rhodey's seat. He'd been sitting with his chin propped on his hand, watching the world outside fade into darkness. When Maggie appeared beside him he stirred, and glanced over his shoulder at Wanda and Vision.

"They gonna be okay?"

Maggie followed his gaze. Vision and Wanda were still bent over with their heads touching and their hands clasped. "They will be."

Rhodey scratched his chin. "So how long has that been going on?"

Maggie opened her mouth, hesitated, then closed her mouth and arranged a look of careful calm on her face. Rhodey glanced up at her expression and sighed.

"Maggie, I'm not angry at you."

Her expression didn't shift. "I've been keeping secrets from you. From Tony."

"I figured," he said wryly. "I'm still not angry, though. This whole situation we've been in… hasn't exactly been conducive to the truth." He patted the seat next to him, and Maggie slid into it silently. Rhodey folded his arms across his chest. "So c'mon, spill. You knew Vision was… what, sneaking off all those times to see Wanda?"

She swallowed. "I did."

"Alright. And…" He looked over his other shoulder, at the group gathered in the cockpit. "You seem pretty friendly with these guys."

"Sam and Natasha came to the courthouse once, offered me an escape route and help with my trigger words. After the trial, Sam got in touch and gave me the cure."

Rhodey glanced again at the group in the cockpit, a considering look in his eye, then turned back. "Tony thought as much."

Maggie's eyes widened. She floundered for a moment, unsure what to say to that, but then decided to just forge on: "Sam also gave me this." She tugged the Kimoyo bead out of her armor.

"Right. What is that?"

"It's a Kimoyo bead, from Wakanda. From what I hear they can be used for all sorts of functions, but this one's only purpose is communication."

"With Barnes," Rhodey finished. He didn't look angry, or disappointed, just… neutral. He didn't look away from the Kimoyo bead. Maggie nodded, not taking her eyes off Rhodey's face. After a long moment, he said: "I don't know what to say."

"I know Tony told you about what happened with our parents," Maggie said in an even voice. "You must be angry."

He shook his head. "I'm not. Kind of confused, maybe, but I'm not angry. Because you… are one of the smartest and strongest people I know. If you're still stuck on Barnes after everything, after all this time…" he shrugged. "I trust you."

Maggie dropped the Kimoyo bead and stared at him. "You trust me."

"'Course I do. I know you'd never let anyone manipulate you, and from what I've seen the people you let into your life are decent, good people. I'm just sorry you had to lie about… about whatever you and Barnes are."

Tears sprang into her eyes. "Rhodey." It wasn't a question or a protest, more of an expression of wonder. She shook her head. "Do you think Tony…"

Rhodey held up his hands. "I'm not going to speak for him. But from what I've seen it seems like you two have been working on the whole Barnes thing, in a weird non-verbal way."

Maggie let out a breath of a laugh, and reached up to rub her hands over her face. "What a mess."

"He's going to be there, isn't he?"

She dropped her hands and frowned at him.

"Barnes. Wakanda." Rhodey cocked his head. "You must be looking forward to it."

She swallowed. "I'm looking forward to it so much that I think I might be terrified." Rhodey smiled, and leaned in when she whispered: "What if… things have changed? What if he's different? I know I'm different."

"People change, Maggie. It's all about whether you can change together."

Maggie nodded, and realized she was holding her armrests in a death grip. "We'll have to talk. After… after whatever all this is."

"Talking is good," Rhodey nodded. He had that bemused look on his face that he usually reserved for when Tony raved about Pepper, with just a hint of wonder.

Maggie felt a presence behind her and looked over her shoulder to see Steve standing between their seats. "Hey."

"Hey," he smiled. "We're about five hours out from Wakanda, would one of you mind piloting for a little while? We've been flying non-stop and I think Sam and Nat should-"

"Of course," Maggie said, springing out of her seat.

"Maggie, you need rest too-" Rhodey objected, but she flapped a hand at him.

"I'm fine, it's not like I'm going to be able to sleep anyway."

Steve's brow furrowed and he put a hand on Maggie's shoulder to stop her rush to the cockpit. "Are you alright?"

Maggie glanced over her shoulder at Rhodey's concerned face, and then met Steve's eyes. "Do you think we'll win this fight?"

Steve sighed. "We've never faced anything like this before. I don't know if we'll win." He squeezed her shoulder once before letting go. "But I do know that everyone on this Quinjet is going to do everything within their power to make sure we do."

"You're right," Rhodey said in a low voice. "I just hope it's enough."

Maggie glanced over at Bruce, who sat in one of the seats near the back of the Quinjet, and she recalled his haunted eyes when he'd described how the fate of half of the universe hung in the balance. Thanos was still ephemeral in Maggie's mind, an unseen threat. His goal was so huge, so insane, that it was almost inconceivable. But she knew better than to underestimate the ambition of madmen.

She set her jaw. "It has to be."

She stepped past Steve and into the cockpit, taking the controls from Natasha and settling into the pilot's seat. The dark sky yawned wide around the cockpit windows. She wrapped her hands around the yoke and looked out, and her eyes lingered on the small sliver of moon, and the stars dusted across the sky.

He'll come back.

She steered the Quinjet on into the night.

Titan

Lightyears away, on a wacked-out planet called Titan, Tony argued with a group of absolute morons calling themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy. He hoped Maggie was having better luck protecting the Stone back on Earth. His chest tightened as he remembered what he'd left behind, but then he had to push it down. He had to trust Maggie to do her job, as she trusted him to do his. Maybe, with the two of them working on this on opposite sides of the universe, they had a shot.

Then Strange did something really weird with the Time Stone, and Tony had to rush over to make sure he wasn't about to create a black hole or fry his own brain.

"Hey, what was that?" Peter asked, once Strange had thunked back to the ground and had his minor freak out.

"I went forward in time," Strange said breathlessly, "to view alternate futures… to see all the possible outcomes of the coming conflict."

"How many did you see?" Quill asked, focused for once.

"Fourteen million, six hundred and five."

A terrible, sickening feeling began to unfurl in Tony's gut. "How many do we win?"

Strange met his eyes, intense and shrouded in knowledge. Tony couldn't see into the future, but he knew what Strange would say before he said it.

"One."

A Few Miles Outside Wakanda

Maggie flew the Quinjet through the few hours of darkness on the way to Wakanda, feeling a hush fall over the jet once the other tired and injured Avengers slipped into sleep. At dawn she handed the controls over to Sam, who glanced at the thick, misty forests and at the cockpit readouts and then looked over his shoulder to ask Steve for the final set of coordinates.

Maggie stretched her legs just outside the cockpit, as Steve strode up to give directions.

"Drop to 2600, heading 0-3-0," Steve said, and Maggie frowned. If the readouts were to be believed then that would fly them into the side of a mountain – but Steve had told them the readouts were not to be believed. She exchanged a glance with the mussed-looking Bruce, who just shrugged at her.

"I hope you're right about this," Sam said, "or we're going to land a lot faster than you want to."

He pitched the Quinjet into an angled descent. They descended through the mist, and as Maggie watched the forested cliffs grow large before the Quinjet her guts clenched and fear rose up her throat. She reached out and grabbed the back of Natasha's chair for support. Steve said it was an illusion, she reminded herself as they hurtled forward. You can't trust your eyes. Or the Quinjet readouts. Or the fact that those rocks look really solid. She sucked in a deep breath, as if she were about to dive underwater.

Inches away from the trees Maggie felt an overwhelming desire to squeeze her eyes shut but forced herself to stare at her – apparent – incoming death. Bruce tensed to her left. Just when she thought she'd hear metal crunching into branches and feel the second of pain before her death, the world around them erupted in a brilliant blue light.

Half a second later they burst through the blue barrier and found themselves in an entirely new terrain; the Quinjet soared over a wide, crystal blue lake bordered by forested cliffs, and in the distance…

Maggie's mouth dropped open. She'd heard about Birnin Zana, the Golden City of Wakanda, but she couldn't have imagined this: the spires of conical, twisting buildings stretched into the sky, and the entire city flashed as sunshine glinted off glass and Vibranium. The city looked alive.

"You should see your faces," came Natasha's amused voice. Maggie glanced down and found Natasha looking from her, to Bruce, to Rhodey, and looking immensely amused.

Maggie shook her head and stared out the cockpit windshield again. As they got closer, she could see aircraft buzzing around the buildings and trains shooting through the city faster than she could have imagined. Her gaze turned to the less urbanized wilderness beyond the city, to the sparkling rivers and small settlements. Somewhere out there was a small thatched hut by a lake, where the sunsets were red and orange and the air smelled clean.

"I can't believe I'm finally here," she breathed.

Bruce gaped. "How did no one know about this? How did I not know about this?"

"Because no one expects giant-ass Star Wars forcefield domes," Rhodey said wryly from the back.

Maggie could do nothing but stare through the window as Sam guided the Quinjet over the gleaming city and began their descent. She was so blown away by the rich colors and unusual architecture that she almost forgot about the way her heart was pounding out a rhythm against her ribcage. Almost.

The Quinjet barely juddered as its wheels touched down on the landing pad, but Maggie's heart leaped into her throat. Her pulse fluttered in her neck and sweat prickled on her forehead. Move. She turned mechanically and tried to step towards the back of the Quinjet where everyone else was gathering, only to find that her legs seemed to have locked up on her.

Her chest heaved as she stood just outside the Quinjet cockpit, staring at the closed ramp door. Get a hold of yourself, Wyvern. But she couldn't seem to get a leash on the surge of emotions that had flooded through her as the Quinjet came down to land: guilt over her parting with Tony, fear about the upcoming threat, worry for Vision, and thousands of fleeting and impossible-to-read emotions that coalesced around the idea of Bucky.

Now is the worst time for a panic attack, Stark.

Steve looked over his shoulder, saw Maggie standing frozen and pale at the front of the Quinjet, and backtracked to her. He ducked his head to look her in the eyes. "Maggie, what's wrong?"

"I just… I just need a minute," she gasped.

Steve furrowed his brow, but nodded. "Of course. You can catch up with us. Do you need anything?"

She shook her head sharply, still breathing hard and fast through her nose.

"Just breathe," he murmured. "That's it." Maggie suddenly remembered Bucky telling her about how he used to soothe Steve through his asthma attacks back in the 30's – just breathe. The thought helped her to calm her breathing a little more. She nodded at Steve, and with one last sympathetic look he turned back to the others.

She stood rooted to the spot as Sam opened the Quinjet ramp and the others strode out, led by Steve. Rhodey looked over his shoulder at her, frowning, but she just shook her head at him and he stepped out with Bruce.

She could see the barest glimpse of what lay outside – a wide landing area, tall buildings, and a collection of people in strange gleaming armor. Once the Quinjet had been cleared, Maggie took in a shuddering breath. Breathe, came a voice that sounded like a strange hybrid of Tony, Bucky, and her therapist. Tears pricked at her eyes. She was meant to be one of the heroes now, not this scared, panicking girl who stayed behind.

She shook herself. Be kind to yourself. This time the voice sounded more like her. Be kind to yourself, and give yourself two minutes to get ready. She turned into the cockpit to shut down all the Quinjet systems and put away the weapons that no one else had claimed. Methodical work to keep her hands busy, while she worked through her breathing techniques. Keep swinging, Maggie.

As Steve greeted T'Challa and introduced the newcomers, the Wakandan sun hot on his neck, he reflected on the look on Maggie's face. He was worried about her, but he knew she'd be okay. He recognized the glint of panic in her eye: the fear that sets in before the battle, when reality settles in. But he trusted Maggie to be ready, just as he knew that she trusted him.

"How're we looking?" Nat asked T'Challa as they all strode toward the main building.

"You will have my Kingsguard," T'Challa said, "the border tribe, the Dora Milaje, and…"

Steve looked up, and couldn't help the grin that crossed his face when someone new appeared out of the bustling foot soldiers.

"A semi-stable hundred year old man," Bucky finished for T'Challa, a teasing glint in his eye that reminded Steve so strongly of his childhood that for a moment he experienced a strange sense of double vision - the streets of 1930s Brooklyn clashing with modern day Wakanda. Bucky looked well: smiling, standing tall in a dark blue tactical vest and with a new black and gold arm.

Steve grinned back and moved in for a hug, realizing in the same moment that something about the way Bucky held himself reminded him of the way Maggie had looked when he'd first seen her back at the Facility: the loose-limbed, confident reassurance of a person whose mind finally belonged to themselves.

Steve clapped his friend on the back. "How've you been, Buck?"

"Ah, not bad," Bucky drawled as they pulled apart, glancing down at his new arm. He grinned. "For the end of the world."

Bucky looked past Steve, nodding to the others he recognized, and after a moment of searching he looked back to his friend. "Meg?" The grin had faded, leaving nothing but raw hope in his voice.

Steve's eyes warmed and he set a hand on Bucky's shoulder. "On the Quinjet."

As one, everyone looked over their shoulder at the dormant Quinjet parked with the ramp still down in the middle of the landing pad. Steve didn't look back, though: he just watched the way Bucky's eyes lit up.

Bucky clapped Steve once on the shoulder, not taking his eyes off the Quinjet, and practically ran toward the landing pad.

T'Challa and Steve met each other's eyes, and T'Challa gestured for them to walk on. They started walking again, following Vision and Wanda to the main building.

Bruce cleared his throat, still looking over his shoulder. "Uh, what was that about?"

Steve and T'Challa glanced sideways at each other, and Steve knew he wasn't mistaking the small smile on the monarch's face.

Maggie was on the tips of her toes reaching into the cockpit bulkhead, putting ration bags away, when she heard the footsteps.

It could have been anybody. But she knew it wasn't.

She thudded back to the soles of her feet and whirled around, her heart already pounding.

Bucky stood stock-still just at the top of the Quinjet ramp, one foot in front of the other as if someone had frozen him mid-step. He stared across the Quinjet at her, and she stared back.

Maggie had thought it would be shocking to see him again after the long months since the last time they'd been together, broken and crying in Siberia.

This might be the end of the mission. You… You're better off with your family. The words brushed across her memory like howling winter winds.

If you think for one second you aren't my family, you're a goddamn idiot. I love you.

I love you too.

Maggie shuddered. She'd thought it'd be strange to see him again, but this… this didn't feel strange. Bucky stood tall, healthy-looking and long-haired and bearded on the other side of the Quinjet, and she realized she'd spent months expecting him to appear out of the corner of her eye. This felt like coming home.

Bucky's blue-grey eyes were wide, and his chest rose and fell sharply. He opened his mouth. "Fancy seeing you here."

Maggie smiled, blinking past the tears in her eyes. "Small world."

She wasn't sure who moved first but in the next second they surged together, colliding in a tight embrace in the middle of the Quinjet. Maggie slotted into him as if she'd never left, her head tucked beside his head, their arms tightly wound around each other as if they'd fall apart if they didn't hold on as tight as they could. Bucky's chest shuddered under her arms. Maggie's fingers dug into the lightweight material of the vest he wore, and her other hand disappeared into his warm brown hair. Bucky's arms wrapped around her, flesh and metal, and she could hear his shaky breaths against her ear.

"I missed you so much," she breathed, her voice cracking.

"I missed you too, doll." His hand swept up to the back of her neck, running over her hard armor and then brushing against her skin. "Letters don't quite do you justice."

Maggie pulled back just far enough to look him in the eyes. "You calling me a bad writer?"

His sea grey eyes glinted, and her stomach swooped. "Well it ain't your strong suit."

Maggie fisted her hand in Bucky's lapel and pulled him against her, her heart soaring on metal wings as their lips met. Bucky smiled against her mouth, scratching her chin with his beard, and his flesh hand slid up her neck to cup her jaw as his metal arm wrapped around her waist to pull her closer. What started as playful quickly turned earnest, and then hungry. Bucky's lips were familiar – the shape of them, how they felt against her own.

Maggie brushed her thumb across Bucky's cheek as they kissed and the hunger softened into a hello. She wondered how she'd ever been worried that she wouldn't feel like this with him: her skin sparked wherever Bucky touched her, she felt lit up from the inside, and wouldn't be surprised if her skin was glowing. She felt like she was flying.

After a long moment Maggie and Bucky pulled apart for air and leaned their foreheads together. They looked into each other's eyes, blue-grey and deep brown.

He's so close, he's close and he's here.

Maggie remembered that look on his face: like he was seeing her for the first time. Like he'd never seen anyone so wonderful in his life.

She felt so overwhelmed with emotion and words that she just managed to whisper: "I like your beard." She scratched her fingernails gently against the scruff. Her nose nudged his.

Bucky's eyes didn't leave hers. "I like your suit."

"Wait, I like your suit." She pulled back a little, looking down at the navy blue vest with its clean lines and buckles, and noticed another glaring difference. "And your arm!"

Bucky laughed, eyes crinkling, and when he opened his eyes again Maggie felt the moment the real world seeped in around them again. Solemnity entered both of their faces, though they didn't pull apart.

"I heard about Tony," Bucky murmured, eyes on hers. "I'm so sorry." His flesh thumb swept back and forth across the side of her neck.

"He'll be okay," she replied, though she didn't hide her worry from him. "Tony can take care of himself, and he'll have the wizard and the kid to help him. But I… I still feel like I failed him. By not getting to the spaceship on time."

Bucky's eyes flicked over her face, and Maggie got distracted by thinking how much she had missed that. "It's not your fault, doll. And besides, we can use all the help we can get here. I'll feel better with you on my six." He sighed. "The mission's gotten a whole lot bigger, Meg."

"That it has." Maggie unwrapped her arms from around her neck so she could hold his face in her hands, and realized she was smiling again, so wide that her cheeks hurt. Bucky watched her with something like wonder in his eyes. She shook her head. "I know this is an awful situation, I… I'm worried, I am, but…" she shook her head, still grinning. "I'm just so happy to have you here."

A grin spread across Bucky's face to match hers, and he covered her hands with his.

Maggie wondered how long they'd been staring at each other, drinking each other in. "I just want to stay in here," she murmured. "With you."

He smiled, his eyes warm. "So do I. But we've gotta get out there, Meg."

She met his eyes for a second longer, then nodded. They pulled apart, and even in the Wakandan heat Maggie felt cold without him pressed against her.

Bucky cleared his throat. "I'll take you up to the others, I know where they're headed."

She took his hand and beamed at him. "Show me the way."

When Maggie and Bucky strode out of the Quinjet hand in hand, the morning sun glinting on Bucky's arm and on Maggie's armor, she reflected that this was a far different scene than the dozens of other times they'd walked off Quinjets together. They weren't the Winter Soldier and the Wyvern now, just… Bucky and Maggie.

Rhodey and Sam, who'd stayed behind on the landing strip, looked up and spotted the two of them. They didn't look surprised exactly, but both of their brows lifted in something like consideration.

Sam nodded when they got close. "What's up, Barnes?"

"Who are you?" Bucky asked, pasting a look of confusion on his face, and Sam scowled at him. Maggie rolled her eyes.

Rhodey had put on his armor, and stood with his arms folded across his chest and his helmet retracted as he eyed Bucky. "Barnes." He tipped his chin up in a semi-greeting.

Bucky and Maggie slowed to a stop on their way past. Bucky looked uncertain, but he didn't let go of Maggie's hand. Finally, he said: "Colonel Rhodes."

Rhodey glanced between the two of them. Maggie felt nervous all of a sudden, and wished she'd taken a moment to comb her fingers through her hair before stepping off the jet – it was all mussed up. Finally, Rhodey met Maggie's eyes and jerked his head over his shoulder.

"They're expecting you."

He looked tough, but Maggie saw the barest hint of a glint in his eyes and knew he was just playing. A little relief seeped into her heart. She wanted to stay and introduce them, pretend that everything was fine, but she was aware that whatever clock they were on was running out. So she just nodded, and pulled Bucky past Sam and Rhodey.

As they entered the main building through a door guarded by soldiers with spears, Bucky murmured: "I can't tell if that went well or not."

Maggie smiled and squeezed his hand. "It went well."

It was a short underground mag-lev train ride to the lab where the others had apparently gone to analyse Vision's Stone. Maggie mostly contained her intense curiosity about Wakanda and its technology so she and Bucky could murmur in low tones about the fight in New York, and the odds they might be facing in the coming battle. The dark underbelly of the mountain flashed past the empty train's windows, broken by the bright lights of the sonic stabilizers.

When they finally disembarked and strode through gleaming corridors to the well-guarded lab, they realized that everyone else had gotten started. Slowing their pace, Bucky and Maggie appeared in the shadowed doorway of the lab to see the entire room of people watching as a young Wakandan woman in an orange jacket scanned the Stone in Vision's head with her Kimoyo beads. She opened her hand, and a perfect holographic rendition of the Stone appeared in midair. Cool.

"Whoah," Bruce uttered, his eyes wide behind his glasses. Still paused in the doorway, Bucky looked sideways at Maggie. She wasn't sure what to look at first – the futuristic lab that she wanted to know everything about, Vision's Stone, or the strange collection of people gathered inside.

"The structure is polymorphic," the young woman (who Maggie now recognized as Princess Shuri) said in wonder.

"Right, we- we had to attach each neuron non-sequentially." Bruce looked up.

"Why didn't you just reprogram the synapses to work connectively?"

Maggie felt a pleasant tingle run up her spine that reminded her of long hours in the workshop with Tony, of solving puzzles and watching a probability module fall into place.

For a beat of nonplussed silence Bruce just stared at the young genius, before saying: "Because… we… didn't think of it?"

The princess laid her hands on the table, eyes glinting. "I'm sure you did your best."

Maggie squeezed Bucky's hand once before letting go and stepping into the lab.

"To be fair to them," she called, drawing eyes across the room, "no one knew it was possible to apply parametric polymorphism principles to neurological engineering until you guys started sharing with the rest of the world." She strode across the room as she spoke, before halting at the table Vision lay on and glancing down to flash him a quick smile.

She looked up, and King T'Challa caught her eye – he watched her with an intensity not warranted by her addition to the scientific conversation, tempered by something like… guilt. Maggie's shoulders tensed. In amongst her excitement to see Bucky again, she hadn't even thought about the other man she'd last seen in Siberia – the one who'd torn her wing apart.

After a second of flash-memory pain, Maggie let the tension seep out of her shoulders. She nodded to T'Challa. No hard feelings.

Some of the turmoil in his eyes seemed to settle, and he inclined his head in response.

This had passed within the space of a second. No one seemed to know what to say to Maggie's addition to the conversation, but Princess Shuri had a grin on her face. She turned to Bucky, who had followed a half-step behind Maggie. "So this is your girlfriend, white boy! You could have mentioned that she had a brain!"

Maggie cocked an eyebrow at Bucky, and he just shrugged. "She doesn't listen to me when I brag about you," he said. "I'm sure I've talked about how smart you are."

"Perhaps it just doesn't register for someone her level of genius," Maggie replied, then held her hand out to Shuri. "It's an honor, princess. I've wanted to meet you ever since the U.N. thing." When Shuri reached out and shook her hand, her grip surprisingly strong, Maggie lowered her voice to add: "Ndiyabulela." Shuri's eyes glittered.

Wanda, on the other side of the table with her hand on Vision's, moved closer. "So can you do it?"

Princess Shuri sobered and met Wanda's eyes with gravity beyond her age. "Yes." Maggie let out a breath. "But there are more than two trillion neurons here. One misalignment could set off a cascade of circuit failures." Shuri turned to meet her brother's eyes, but Maggie looked down at Vision. He seemed calm, lying on the table with his fate hanging in the balance, but she could see his fingers tightly wound with Wanda's. Bucky stepped closer beside her.

"It will take time, brother," Shuri finished.

King T'Challa nodded mutely, his face grave.

"How long?" asked Steve.

"As long as you can give me," Shuri urged.

A low, chiming alert sounded from the ceiling and from Kimoyo beads across the room, and everyone glanced up. Maggie glanced at Bucky, who could only shake his head at her, then turned to see T'Challa's red-clad general project a Kimoyo hologram of the earth from her palm. The woman's face hardened.

"Something's entered the atmosphere."

Maggie's heart sank. The clock's run out.

No one needed to guess what had just entered the atmosphere. They all moved toward the windows, and Maggie's hand drifted unconsciously to Bucky's arm for support as they stared out.

A shadow appeared in the hazy blue of the sky.

"Hey Cap," came Sam's voice over the comms, "We've got a situation here."

They all watched in horrified silence as the shadow became a bright light; whatever was plunging through the atmosphere started to burn up and trail a thick plume of smoke. Maggie realized it was an oblong-shaped spacecraft just before it dropped toward the city and then smashed against the blue energy field. Shock waves ricocheted across the dome as the ship disintegrated on impact in a cloud of flame and smoke.

Maggie let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

"God," Bucky intoned, "I love this place."

Maggie glanced across at the awed look on his face, and couldn't help a small smile.

"Don't start celebrating yet guys," Rhodey called, "We've got more incoming outside the dome!"

Maggie's head swung around and she picked out five more burning comets streaking down from the sky. The lab windows rattled from the rumbling of the ships scorching through the atmosphere. One by one, the comets ripped through the cloud cover and slammed into the forest beyond the dome. All the way in the lab Maggie flinched, staring as the impact of the dropships hitting the earth sent out massive impact waves of fire and debris. The blast waves rolled across the empty stretch of grass beyond the forest obliterating everything in their path, and slammed against the blue energy dome.

Breathless from the violence of the impacts, Maggie's skin crawled. This is it.

"It's too late," came Vision's pained voice, and Maggie looked over her shoulder to see him struggling to sit up on the table. "We need to destroy the Stone now."

Maggie whirled, ready to give him another tongue lashing, but Natasha was faster.

"Vision, get your ass back on the table." Her tone brooked no arguments, and as she strode past him, determined, Vision actually sank backwards.

"We will hold them off," T'Challa said grimly, striding after Natasha.

Steve, to Maggie's left, turned away from the window. "Wanda. As soon as that Stone's out of his head…" he met the young witch's eyes. "You blow it to hell."

Wanda straightened. "I will."

T'Challa and his people began to file out of the room, shoulders straight and eyes dark with oncoming war. "Evacuate the city," ordered the king. "Engage all defenses." He turned, and looked back at Steve. "And get this man a shield."

Steve, who'd been looking out at the dropships again, turned with a look of sheer determination on his face. He met T'Challa's eyes and nodded.

Maggie looked from Steve to Bucky, and the two of them nodded at each other before simultaneously moving for the door. But Maggie barely got three steps before she hesitated, turned, and moved toward where Vision slumped on the table.

She took his hand, and he looked up at her with his digital blue eyes. "You fought for me during my trial," she said, gripping his hand tight. "You said 'Ms Stark is, objectively, a good person. And I am honored to have her as my friend.'" She set her free hand on Vision's shoulder and met his eyes. "I'm the one who's honored, Vision. You fought for me then. Let us fight for you now."

For a moment it looked like he might argue again, but then he saw the conviction in her eyes. He let out a pained breath, and just nodded. "Be safe, Maggie." His hand tightened on hers.

"I will." She turned to Wanda. "Look after each other." Wanda nodded grimly.

Maggie squeezed Vision's hand one last time before turning away to where Bucky waited with a heavy brow. She met his eyes, and together they strode out of the room behind Steve.

She didn't look back.

Nidavellir

Thor frowned down at the crippled iris of the dwarf forge, all the hope that had risen when the star came to life suddenly slipping away. The black expanse of space around him felt cold.

He rose to his feet. Loki. Heimdall. Asgard. He needed a weapon. He needed that iris open. "I'm going to hold it open."

"That's suicide," came the dwarf Eitri's gruff voice.

"So is facing Thanos without that axe." He took one more moment to breathe – Loki had always warned him about jumping into things without thinking – before launching himself toward the closed metal iris of the forge.

Wakanda

It was a frantic hustle to the bottom floor of the building, rushing through corridors alongside the Dora Milaje and the other soldiers. Bucky stayed by Meg's side, the two of them moving in tandem as they always had, as if they'd never missed a day. He kept looking out of the corner of his eye at her as they walked – she looked different in this armor, a version of the Wyvern that he had never met. This version of her called to whatever it was that Bucky had become, be it Winter Soldier or White Wolf.

She'd told him plenty about her transformation via the Kimoyo beads, but it was one thing to read about it and one thing to see it: she stood tall in her red and dark grey uniform, her boots sure on the ground and her head held high despite the worry creasing her brow. He knew how close she was to the android, and her determination to protect him practically shone in her face. Bucky never wanted to leave her side.

They emerged from the ground floor of the building, shielding their eyes against the sun, to find a fleet of Wakandan troop transports hovering outside. The Wakandan soldiers and the Avengers were busy loading up, a controlled chaos.

Bucky and Meg came to a halt just outside the doors and turned to look at each other. The breeze brushed Meg's dark hair away from her face, and her warm brown eyes gleamed as she looked at him.

"I love you," she said softly, as if it were just the two of them in the world.

Bucky's heart thudded and he reached out to take her hand. "I love you too. We've got this."

"Another fight," she said, steely eyed.

"The only fight." Of all the times they'd fought by each other's sides in their lives, this was the only time that mattered. Meg's eyes bored into his own, reading him as she'd always been able to.

"Bucky!" called Steve, and Bucky looked over his shoulder to see Steve gesturing to one of vehicles being loaded up. He wore a pair of Vibranium shields on each forearm, and he somehow managed to look urgent and apologetic at the same time. Bucky nodded to his friend and turned back to Meg.

Her lips quirked. "See you on the other side, handsome." She pulled him in for a kiss – it was too quick, just a brush of lips and a smile, but it felt like slow days on sunny beaches and calm in a safe house.

"You're my mission," he said when they pulled apart, because there was nothing else he could say.

Her smile turned soft. "You're my mission too."

With that she rolled her shoulders and, before Bucky's eyes, her wings began to grow. Rippling metal appeared seemingly out of nowhere and arched up and away from her body, resolving into dark bones, grey webbing, and sharp metal barbs. Bucky's mouth fell open. She'd told him about nanotech, but he could never have imagined this. Within three seconds her bat-like wings had materialized, claws had emerged from her gauntlets, and her distinctive red slitted goggles had slipped over her face. These wings were new – they still arced up and then out, like a pair of massive webbed claws, but they also seemed to grow and shift, the intelligent metal obeying Meg's every whim.

Before Bucky could cobble a thought together, Meg shot him one last smile and leaped into the air. He stepped back and craned his neck as she soared up, squinting as the sun blazed off her wings.

He was grinning when he hopped onto the hovering troop transport next to Steve, T'Challa, and his general Okoye. Steve nodded to him, then squinted up at Maggie as she joined Sam and Rhodey at the sky. He turned back to Bucky with a grin.

"It's good to see you two happy."

Okoye glanced over her shoulder, then looked from Bucky to the woman in the red uniform arcing like a firebird across the sky. "You are with her?" she asked, her tone making it patently clear what she thought about that. Her eyes flickered to his gun; a practically medieval choice of weapon to most Wakandans, but Bucky was sentimental.

Bucky just grinned at her. "I'm a lucky man."

Steve huffed a laugh. "I'll say."

T'Challa had been looking out over his mobilizing forces, and a moment later he called: "Let's move out!"

Their vehicle surged forward without even a jerk, smooth as it traversed over the grassy terrain. Bucky set his hand on the side. He lifted his gaze, looking ahead to the five smoking spaceships waiting across the long expanse of tundra, and shifted his gun in his hand. The wind blew in his face, bringing with it the smell of smoke and metal.

He heard engines roaring and looked up to see two winged figures and a metal man rocket overhead. He looked back down, to the Wakandan troops and his best friend by his side.

If I was ever going to end up in a war again, he thought, this is who I'd want to fight it with.

Bucky Barnes straightened his shoulders and lifted his chin, ready to face most important battle of his life.