You've been quiet, Steve pried into my head.

Just trying to focus on the mission ahead.

We were en route to Wakanda, with Sam in the pilot's seat. Those who did made small talk. Todd was currently talking with Bruce, who seemed to be giving him few words for answer—maybe he was trying to fish for what Bruce had told me earlier since I shut the door on that. Wanda and Aria were at another section of the jet, looking at Vision and talking in low hushes. Natasha and Rhodey were in conversation.

We're bringing war to them when it's not really their fight.

Thanos is threatening half the universe, I think it's just as much of their fight as it is ours.

They won't be prepared. They might not be exposed to aliens like we have.

Exposed or not, they'll handle their own.

As if we've seen them in battle. We've only seen T'Challa in action because he believed Bucky killed his father. Just because he may be that skilled doesn't mean that the rest of his people are.

"Drop to twenty-six hundred," said Steve to Sam, "heading zero-three-zero."

"I hope you're right about this, Cap," Sam said uneasily. "Or we're gonna land a lot faster than you want to."

We breached through the camouflage force field. It opened before us, exposing us to the world of Wakanda. I didn't see the look on Sam's face, but I could bet it was along the lines of awe.

"Oh, I like this place," said Aria, who was trying to get the best peek out of the quinjet. "It reminds me of Asgard."

I swallowed. While I didn't share the sentiment, I allowed her to have it. We both lost a lot, our home realm for one thing. I wasn't sure if any of Aria's family still remained, just like I wasn't sure if my parents were alive. They were either dead in space or had escaped someplace that I couldn't find them. "Their technology is advanced," I told her. "They have wonderful things here." And we're about to bring war to their front door.

"You didn't tell me you went here," Todd protested to me.

I sighed, turning to my best friend. "Would you have believed me?"

"Um, yes. Come on, Kiara, I'm an agent who's survived an alien attack. I've survived you trying to kill me when you were brainwashed for that small time. Hell, I've seen murderbots. Do you really think I wouldn't believe a hidden society?"

I shrugged. "To be fair, you weren't an agent when aliens attacked New York."

Sam parked our quinjet just outside of the palace. King T'Challa was waiting along with his guards. We'd given him warning beforehand, or rather Steve had.

Steve and Nat took lead, with Bruce and Rhodey following, Todd and I behind Bruce and Rhodey. Wanda and Aria picked up the rear with Vision.

"Should we bow?" Bruce asked Rhodey.

"Yeah, he's a king."

"Seems like I'm always thanking you for something," Steve greeted T'Challa. The two did a friendly handshake. Beside the king was a bald black woman with a resting serious face. I appreciated the fact that the king had a female warrior at his side. Most of the warriors in Asgard were male.

"What are you doing?" Rhodey asked in mocking shock as Bruce bowed.

"Uh, we don't do that here," said T'Challa, who looked slightly embarrassed by the gesture. I heard Rhodey snicker. "So how big of an assault can we expect?"

"Uh, sir, I think you can expect quite a big assault," said Bruce.

"How we looking?" asked Nat. Our group began to head inside the big building before us.

"You will have my Kingsguard, the Border Tribe, the Dora Milaje, and—"

"A semi-stable, one-hundred-year-old man," came the voice of Bucky Barnes as he came to join in on the conversation. I offered Barnes a timid smile. While our past was intertwined in the more recent years, I considered him a friend. He was Steve's best friend first, though.

"Seriously, Kiara, you tell me nothing anymore," Todd complained.

I punched his arm. "Half of the problem is that you don't ask."

"I didn't think that I had to."

"How you been, Buck?" Steve asked his friend after parting from their manly embrace.

"Uh, not bad, for the end of the world."

Is that what we're in? Is it really the complete end of Earth? Exaggeration or not, it twisted my stomach.

T'Challa took lead as we went inside of the building. He conversed mainly with Steve and Nat while the rest of us hung back in our respective pairs. Bucky hung back to be beside me.

"You look better," I said sincerely. "They don't believe in haircuts in Wakanda?"

"I just don't think it's time yet."

I glanced down, noticing his new appendage. "A gift?"

"You could say that. It's definitely better than the last one I had."

"It looks better on you, too." The metal was darker, with gold throughout. A nice addition indeed. I was almost jealous. "Sorry you had to be pulled out of cryo for this."

"Nah, I was out long before Steve contacted T'Challa. I've got my own place here. It's peaceful. Looks like you haven't tried to kill each other yet."

I flushed. "It's been a rough few years, Bucky, since we saw you last."

T'Challa escorted us into a high-tech lab that his little sister, Shuri, had. She looked much younger than all of our group combined, but with how she talked she could rival Tony in genius. He's still missing, I thought gravely.

We lost some of our entourage on the way to the lab. Sam, Bucky, and Rhodey had decided to remain outside. Meanwhile, in the lab, Shuri had Vision lay on a table while she conducted scans on the Mind Stone in his forehead. We all waited patiently. Aria hovered over Wanda, whispering words of comfort to the witch.

After some time, with a flip of her wrist, Shuri produced a hologram that hovered over her palm. I knew some of Earth's tech was like that, but Wakanda was a whole different level.

"Whoa," said the young girl. "The structure is polymorphic."

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

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

There was an awkward silence. It was more so on my part because the two were talking science. Even when Tony and Bruce would do that in front of me I could barely understand.

"Because, we didn't think of it," Bruce said uncertainly.

Shuri smiled at him. "I'm sure you did your best."

"Can you do it?" asked Wanda.

"Yes, but there are more than two trillion neurons here. One misalignment could cause a cascade of circuit failures. This will take time, brother."

"How long?" I asked.

"As long as you can give me."

"Something's entered the atmosphere," said T'Challa's guard. A projection of a pulsing marker was at eye level with her.

"Hey, Cap, we got a situation here," came Sam from comms.

From the open window view the lab gave us, we watched an alien vessel come head-on towards Wakanda. The shield held, destroying any momentum that the ship had.

Three more ships descended not long after. They did not attempt the same fate as the first, instead landing in the acres of forest beyond the shield. Upon impact, the forest shuddered, debris and trees moving and falling.

They have no regard for the environment. As if that should've been my main concern.

Steve and T'Challa exchanged looks. Nearby, Vision slowly rose from the table, attempting to shimmy off.

"It's too late," he said. "We need to destroy the stone now."

"Vision, get your ass back on the table," said Nat, moving towards the android.

"We will hold them off," said T'Challa. His right hand woman and any guards that came with us into the lab followed the king towards the exit.

"Wanda," Steve told the witch, "as soon as the stone's out of his head...you blow it to hell."

"I will," the witch replied.

"Evacuate the city," T'Challa barked. "Engage all defense procedures." He stopped, turning towards my husband, pointing in his direction. "And get this man a shield."