Chapter Three
Soroya

"It's impressive what the Asgardians were able to build after the destruction of Asgard." Talos observes as we walk through the streets of New Asgard.

I've been to New Asgard several times at this point, but I'll never forget my first time coming here. It was just after Stevie was born, I was sent by Ross to assist Valkyrie with a robbery issue they were facing. Humans were breaking into homes and stealing Asgardian possessions, the lost remnants of their civilization. Ross didn't want to waste man power on this task, so he sent me and Alex. I remember stepping off our ship and taking in the lush green hills, multicolored houses, fishing docks, and spraying sea waves. New Asgard is beautiful, so filled with life despite being built on top of so much blood. This chapter in the Asgardian's story is proof that you can start over, begin a new life here on Earth. I hope it gives hope to the Skrulls moving here. Hope is something they desperately need.

"Queen Valkyrie brought comfort and safety back into her people's lives," I respond. "All you see is because of her resilience."

"A trait you both share with her majesty." Talos compliments, nodding respectfully at Sam and I.

Sam nods back. "There were limited casualties among the Asgardians, and because of that, Valkyrie has promised she will focus her attention on building permanent housing for your people in whatever place you chose. I'm sorry again that the World Security Council have decided to hold off on helping you until our own problems are fixed. But I suspected it would be that way."

"As did I," Talos confesses with a sigh. "But they must look after their own people first. I can understand that."

"We could try to bring up this issue at the next United Nations meeting, but I doubt it would make a difference," I tell him, smiling to myself as I watch two Asgardian children play on the sidewalk. "The UN don't meet as regularly as the World Security Council does, and your people don't have time to wait."

"Agreed. But my people will be fine for now thanks to her majesty's and your kindness."

"It's the least we can do after all you've done for us." Sam replies softly.

"Your fellow leaders are holding off on aiding us because of the destruction your cities faced, yes?"

Sam and I both nod.

"I will send my people to these cities to help with clean up, rebuilding, and anything else you might need. It will be a sign of good faith and will allow the issue of housing to be taken care of quicker."

"I think that's an excellent idea. Sam is heading to D.C. today while I go to London. Both cities are in far better shape than Beijing, so I would suggest sending most of your people there."

"Then Beijing is where me and my people will go, that is after they have settled in for a little while longer."

"Of course, your people deserve to have some time to settle in after spending so long on that spaceship." I say, not able to comprehend how they lasted so long living in such conditions.

"Yes," Talos agrees gravely, watching as a Skrull child joins the game of the two Asgardian children, the three of them running around in glee. The sight sends a smile onto all of our faces. "I just hope that we won't be forced back onto it."

"We won't allow that to happen." Sam assures him.

"You can't guarantee that." Talos argues.

"What we can guarantee is that the Avengers will fight tooth and nail to prevent it from happening. And when we fight for something, we get results."

"Like I said," Talos leans down and pets the head of the Skrull child, who looks up at him with so much happiness, so much hope, it takes my breath away. "Resilience."

-

Steve

"Mom says she hopes you're feeling better." Lee whispers to me. I glance over to him and see that's he's currently texting her under his desk.

"Tell her thank you."

"Are you sure you still want to go to dinner on Friday? She and Dad will understand if you—"

"I've never missed a dinner," I interrupt, nodding to the phone. "I want to go."

Lee smiles as he nods, his thumbs flying over the keypad as he responds to his mother. While he does that I try to focus on the class we're in; forensics. Our teacher is a hard-ass ex CIA operative who doesn't shy away from the gory details of forensic work. We've seen several pictures of crime scenes in this class, some very graphic. One was from a bomb explosion and we were subjected to pictures of severed limbs, including a leg. Having a severed leg myself I thought it wouldn't make me squeamish, and if anything, that makes it worse.

My vibranium leg is hidden beneath my jeans and my shoes, and I swear there are times I forget it's not my real leg. Like now, as Lee texts his mother and I try not to barf at the sight of brains on a living room carpet, I completely forget that part of my leg is now vibranium. But my leg brushes against the leg of the desk and it makes a clanging noise, causing not only embarrassment, but the knowledge to resurface that part of my leg is gone. After that sinks back in, I have to fight off images and memories of the Kree accuser, a figure who haunts my nightmares, of my amputation, of the pain. Then once that happens the anxiety kicks in, I start to think about the battle as a whole, the blood, the death, the deaths I caused. I can still see the glassy eyes of the Kree soldiers I killed, the frozen expressions, the gasps of terror as I stole thier lives away from them. It takes me hours to get those images out of my head, and after I finally manage to occupy my mind with something else, live in blissful unawareness, the cycle starts all over again.

I told Dad and Mom about this and they said that it's very normal. They told me that most soldiers, Avengers, and others who have gone through traumatic events come out of it with anxiety and PTSD. Mom and Dad never sleep well because they're plagued by nightmares, they can't watch certain movies because it triggers flashbacks, they breakdown on the anniversaries of people they lost, they look on the verge of vomiting at the mere mention of HYDRA or Thanos. I was a complete idiot growing up, thinking being an Avenger was a glamorous, fun job. I was just too blind to see what having that job really meant, what being a hero meant.

After everything we went through with Alaric Hale, the F.E.P, and the government, I thought I finally understood the weight of what being a hero means, but I don't think I really did until the Kree attacked. Being a hero means going through hell so that others don't have to. Being a hero means sacrificing everything for others happiness and safety. Being a hero means you lose so others can win. It's not a glamorous, fun, or easy job. And maybe it makes me insane, it certainly goes beyond all logic, but I still want to be an Avenger. Even after all I've been through, what I've learned about the job, I still want it. Lee does, too, so at least if I'm insane, he is as well.

"I was thinking," I begin, keeping my voice low. "Maybe after school I can start practicing shifting."

Lee's eyebrows furrow in concern. "Are you sure you're ready?"

Even this morning I told myself I would wait to shift, that I wanted to keep the blissful unawareness alive a little longer, but it won't help. Mom and Dad told me that the best way to deal with my trauma, with my anxiety, my leg, is to accept it. Accept that it happened, try to move past it. The longer I procrastinate shifting, the worse it will be for me. It benefits no one. I need to start getting used to my new reality.

"No," I tell him honestly. "But I don't think I'll ever be ready. Might as well just get it over with."

"How about during our lunch break we practice? We'll go to the woods and try it out."

We. Not me, we. I reach over and link my fingers with his. "That sounds good. But I want to take a serious approach to this. I want to be able to take the leg off and shift in record speeds, run as fast as I did before in animal form, practice so much it becomes no difficulty at all."

"You shouldn't push yourself too hard, Stevie."

"But I have to, I need to. Shifting is apart of me, Lee. If I can't do it properly...it would be like losing another limb. So I'm going to push myself until I can shift as well as I used to."

Lee doesn't argue, he just nods and says: "I think we need to bring someone else into these practice sessions, because you need someone who will push you like you want to be pushed, and it can't be me."

"Who do you have in mind?"

-

"So you're giving me full permission to yell and order you around?" Jo asks rhetorically, grinning ear to ear. "Oh this is going to be fun."

The three of us are right outside our treehouse, Lee sitting on the ground, his back against the tree itself, Jo standing authoritatively on a rock, and me a few feet away.

"Don't let power get to your head." Lee warns with a smirk.

Jo sends him a rude gesture without looking at him. "Alright, here's how this is going to go. When I say go, you're going to twist your leg off and strap it to the back of your suit, then you'll shift into an animal I choose, then you'll run or fly from the treehouse to the tree line and back. I'll be recording your times, and at the end of each week, we'll assess your progress. While I am on this rock, I am in charge. There will be no back-talking, no funny business, and no flirting. I take my job as coach seriously, I have no time for lovey-dovey pansies."

"Little harsh, Jo." I mumble.

She gives me a pointed look. "What did I say about back-talking?"

I hold my hands up in surrender. "Sorry, sorry. I'll shut up."

She rolls her eyes. "What are the odds? Now, Stevie, you ready?"

I nod, glancing at Lee, who is giving me a thumbs up and an encouraging smile. I smile back, but briefly, before refocusing on the task at hand.

"For this round, you're going to shift into a wolf. Go!" Jo yells.

I reach down and twist the vibranium leg to the left and pull down, as per Aunt Shuri's instructions, and the leg comes off. I activate my suit and bring the leg to the latch Aunt Shuri attached to it, and it clicks in place with ease. With a deep breath, I bend down and shift into a wolf as Jo instructed. I have no problems, I shift as easily as I did before. But as soon as I begin running, I lose balance and stumble, falling down onto the ground. Lee is instantly up, but Jo holds her hand out to stop him. I push myself up and try again, and I get a couple more feet before I lose balance again and fall back down.

"Maybe he shouldn't be running to start out." Lee says to Jo.

"Yeah...Stevie try walking."

Growling in frustration, I push myself up again and begin walking towards the tree line, feeling utterly humiliated. I'm glad they can't read my expression in animal form, at least I can hide how defeated I feel. I'm managing pretty well just walking, for the most part anyways. I fall a couple more times, but the falls are more spaced out than when I ran. By the time I walk to the tree line and back to the treehouse, my right leg is really sore from putting so much weight on it and my mood has turned sour. I'm frustrated and tired and angry, I'm not sure I even want to know what my time was.

Jo tells me regardless. "That took sixteen minutes."

Three times as long as it would usually take. And usually I would shift back into human form right about now, but I don't want to. If I do they'll see how I'm feeling and I'll get pitying looks and I just can't handle that right now. I want to run away, but I can't run in this form now, I'll fall on my face. I want to scream, I want to cry, but doing so in wolf form is a scary sight. I want to curse everything and everyone, but that won't do anything to help me. So I don't do any of those things, I just curl up on the ground, still in wolf form, and lay my head down.

Lee walks over to me and kneels onto the ground, his tone soft and his gaze gentle as he asks: "Are you gonna shift back?"

I shake my head.

"It was your first time. It will get better each time you do it, I guarantee it."

Feeling tears sting my eyes, I turn my head away from him and try to hide my face under my tail, but Lee stops me, positioning my head so it rests on his lap. He begins petting my head, and after a few moments pass, he asks gently: "Babe, will you please shift back?"

I nod, and within a few seconds, I'm back in human form, my head still on his lap, his hand now soothingly running through my hair. The moment our eyes lock, tears begin spilling from my eyes, and I can't stop myself from whispering: "I want my leg back."

"I know, Babe."

"You did really well, Stevie," Jo assures me, reaching down and grabbing the vibranium leg strapped to my back. "The more we work on it, the better it will get."

"I appreciate you both helping me." I mumble, wiping my eyes and nose with the sleeve of my suit.

Jo huffs, setting my leg down next to me. "Anything is better than going to lunch at the school cafeteria, but you're welcome."

"We'll try again tomorrow." Lee tells me with a smile, still petting my hair.

I nod, my eyes falling to the vibranium leg, then to the ground where the rest of my left leg should be, feeling it's absence deeper than I ever have before.