Three days later...

Chapter Three
Soroya

This is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I know that were doing this for our children, I know were doing the right thing. And I love New York, I've lived there before during the blip with the Avengers. But even when I was living at the compound, I spent all my spare time in Wakanda. It's been my home for twenty four years. How can I say goodbye?

All our things are loaded in two different Wakandan ships. Bucky will fly one ship and I'll fly the other, the kids will pick which one of us they'll fly with. Everett is coming along also, he'll be helping us settle in and help the kids learn the rules of their new lives. John, Jade, and Sam are at our house in Long Island right now waiting to help us unpack. All that's left to do is say goodbye, and I'm not ready. I know that we'll come back all the time, I know we'll move back in a few years, but it's so painful. It takes all my effort not to cry.

Alex, Khari, Jo, T'Challa, Nakia, Zy'aire, Shuri, and Okoye are all here to say goodbye. Each of them look like they're trying to hold back tears of their own. I approach T'Challa first, gripping onto both of his hands, tears welling up in my eyes despite my best efforts.

"I can't thank you enough," I tell him, my voice breaking. "You gave us a home when we had none, you took us into your family. You gave us someplace safe, someplace where we were accepted and loved. You have no idea how much you mean to us."

T'Challa pulls me against him and hugs me tightly, his breaths shaking as he begins to cry as well. "Wakanda will always be your home, never forget that."

I pull back from him and wipe my eyes. "Never."

As Bucky comes over to hug T'Challa, the girls gather me in a group hug, their cheeks glistening from tears.

"I love you." I tell them, pressing my head against their's.

"We love you, too." Shuri whispers, wiping her tears on her shirt sleeve.

As we pull away from each other, Shuri jumps up and wraps her arms around Bucky's neck. He catches her with ease and holds her with one hand, while he hugs onto Nakia and Okoye with the other. Livy and Steve join in the hug as well before going over to hug T'Challa. While they do that, Zy crashes against me, wrapping his arms around my neck. I wrap my arms around my nephew's back and squeeze him as tight as I can, whispering: "You can call me anytime, Zy, for anything."

I feel him nod, his voice trembling as he says: "I'm gonna miss you, Aunt Soroya."

I pull back and take in a deep breath, reaching up to cup his cheeks. He holds onto my wrists and shuts his eyes, a tear falling from his lashes and down his cheeks. "I'll miss you, too, honey."

Livy and Steve come up to Zy next and tackle him in a hug. Jo runs over to join in, but she stops in her tracks to hug onto Bucky and then me, mumbling into our stomachs how much she'll miss us. We both hug her back, but it's very brief, because she's adamant to join in on the group hug. As soon as she reaches the others they gather her into their arms, fitting together like a perfect puzzle. Each year the kids have gotten closer and closer, growing a bond that can never be broken, it makes my heart sore with joy whenever I see them, except now, now it just breaks my heart.

The last people to say goodbye to are Alex and Khari, and the moment I lock eyes with my two brothers, I begin to uncontrollably sob. I break into a run and wrap my arms around both of them at the same time. They both pick me up off the ground and hold onto me, both of them sobbing into my shoulder.

"I don't know how to say goodbye to you." I manage to get out through my heaving sobs.

I feel Alex shake his head against my shoulder. "Then don't. Just say, 'I'll see you later'."

Both of them set me down on the ground, looking just as much of a mess as I do. Tears are streaming down both of their cheeks, their breaths coming out shaky and hitched, despair hidden behind a masked smile.

Bucky approaches them as well, his own despair showing through as he hugs onto his brother in laws, which only makes Alex and Khari cry harder.

As Bucky pulls away from them, I see his cheeks glistening from tears just like the rest of ours, his eyes puffy and blotchy. Alex and Khari are his brothers too, and it's just as hard for him to say goodbye to them as it is for me.

Livy and Steve come running over to hug onto their uncles, who bend down to their level to return their embrace. I hear Khari whisper to Stevie: "Will you call me and show me all the new paintings you make."

Stevie nods, mumbling against his shoulder: "I promise, Uncle Khari."

It takes all my strength not to cry harder. Having to say goodbye is hard enough, but watching my kids say goodbye is even harder. As they pull back from Alex and Khari, I can see the heartbreak in their eyes, the depthless despair.

Using the remaining strength I have, I force myself to say: "It's time to go."

Bucky and I pull the kids away and bring them towards the ships. Livy and Steve both run into the one on the right, their cries audible even when they have gone inside. Everett pats me gently on the back and mumbles that he'll go make sure they're alright, before running onto the ship himself. Before we do the same, we turn back and look at our family, at our house, our home.

"It's not forever." Bucky says softly. I'm not sure if he's saying this to remind himself or me.

I slip my hand into his, feeling another tear fall from my lashes, my voice barely audible as I repeat: "It's not forever."

I repeat this to myself over and over again as I walk towards the ship our kids ran into, even as I pass by them crying against Everett's shoulders, and even as I pull the ship off the ground and force it to fly away.

-

Olivia

"Holy shit," Steve mutters as we get off the ship. "This place is huge."

He's right, this house is nothing like what I thought it would be. When Mom and Dad said we'd be moving and living under fake names, I assumed the house would be small and low key, but this house is anything but. Our new house is surrounded by trees, cut off from everyone else. We don't have any neighbors, the last house we passed was several miles away. It's three floors, painted dark blue with white window panels and door, the walkway is made of dark stone, the lawn is large and filled with beautiful green grass, and in this grass I notice a small machine.

Mom is coming off of the ship now, so I ask her about it. "What's that over there?"

"A shield and projector," Mom explains. "Shuri made it for us. The shield will cover the house and our yard, and it will project an image of the house constantly so we can be in the backyard of front yard and be ourselves without anyone seeing. It also allows us to park our ship in the backyard."

"How did you buy this house?" Stevie asks, looking around in awe. "It's freaking huge."

"We used the money our aunt got from selling our childhood home as well as the money we got from selling Steve's old apartment. Put together it was a lot of money."

The door to the house swings open to reveal Uncle John, Uncle Sam, and Aunt Jade. They have bright eyes and wide smiles as they rush towards Stevie and I, enveloping us in large hugs. It's been a while since we've seen any of them, Uncle John has been working in London lately and Uncle Sam and Aunt Jade are busy with their bakery. I almost forget about my sadness for a moment, and I think Stevie does too.

After embracing us, they go to do the same with Mom, Dad, and Uncle Everett, with Uncle John saying to Mom: "Why don't Sam, Jade, and I help Bucky unload, you and Everett take the kids in and show them around. I'm sure you have a lot to talk about."

Mom agrees with this suggestion, leaving the others and ushering has towards the front door. As she does this, my mind lingers on the end of Uncle's John's sentence, prompting me to ask: "What is there to talk about?"

Uncle Everett answers. "The details of your new life here, but we can do that after you get settled."

"I'd rather know now." I say persistently, glancing next to me to see Stevie agree with me.

Uncle Everett lets out a short sigh and nods, leading us towards the kitchen, where stools are already placed behind the counter. Stevie and I sit down in these stools, with Mom and Uncle Everett leaning on the marble surface as the latter begins to break down all we need to know for our new existence:

"You both have new names. To anyone you meet, you are Olivia Natalie Branson, and you are Steve James Branson. You can never tell anyone your real identity, not under any circumstance. You may think a friend is trustworthy, but you never know who they are or who their family is. You can't take that risk. Along with your fake identities, you also have a fake backstory. You both lived in Chadron, Nebraska with your parents Lynn and Louis Branson until they tragically died in a fire a few weeks ago. You moved to Long Island to live with your aunt. Sharon Carter will pose as your real aunt and legal guardian under the name Sharon Branson. She will play that role whenever your lives call for a legal guardian. Are you with me so far?"

"Yeah I'm following." I reply.

"You're gonna have to write some of that down." Stevie says with a sigh.

Uncle Everett gives him a reassuring nod. "I will. Now, along with never revealing your true identities, you must never let anyone come here to this house. If any of your friends ask to come over, say that your aunt's job as a novelist makes her work from home and that she hates disruptions. If that excuse doesn't work, then improvise. No one is ever allowed over, and because of that, you will be driven to school each day and picked up by a trustworthy member of Sharon's squad. He lives around here so it won't be an issue, we can't risk a friend picking you up from here or a bus."

"You will also have to learn to act like normal kids," Mom chimes in. "You both are used to using your heightened senses and abilities in everyday life, but you can't do that anymore. If you're in class and smell something from two rooms away or sense a piece of paper being thrown your way, you can't react or vocalize it. You have to act as if you didn't have powers. You should be very mindful of this in your physical education class, you need to be careful of your speed and strength."

Uncle Everett nods, adding on: "With PE and school in general, go for the middle of the crowd. Don't be so good or bad that people notice you, you don't want to stick out in any way. You want to blend in. Apart of that blending in will also include changing your accents."

Steve tilts his head to the side and gives him two raised eyebrows. "Why?"

"You both are posing as two children born and raised in Nebraska and you have Wakandan accents. That's a dead giveaway. You'll have to use American accents out in public, though I recommend just faking the accent constantly. It will make it easier to use it and you won't slip up as much."

I can see that Mom is thinking about something pretty hard, and she voices what she's been contemplating after a few seconds. "Try doing the accents, I want to see if we need to work on them."

"How's this? Is it convincing?" I say, following her instructions and faking an American accent.

Mom nods, glancing at Everett. "You'll be fine, what about you Stevie."

"I used to do an American accent all the time as a kid, I think I've nailed it." Steve says confidently.

Mom and Uncle Everett seem to agree, with the former saying with a smile: "Excellent, one less thing we need to worry about."

"This will take some taking used to, but I have no doubt you two will do fine," Uncle Everett says with a wink. "You're two of the smartest and strongest kids I know, you can handle anything."

Stevie shrugs. "I am pretty great."

I roll my eyes, saying sincerely to Uncle Everett: "Thank you for all your help, I know it couldn't have been easy."

"Anything for you guys, you know that. If you have any troubles or questions you can always call me and I'll help in any way I can."

Dad and the others have been coming in and out with boxes and furniture this whole time with little trouble, but Dad. Uncle John, and Uncle Sam are having trouble getting a mattress through the door, and I hear Aunt Jade yell from outside: "We need a hand here!"

Mom rushes off to go help them, as does Uncle Everett, leaving Stevie and I alone. Steve looks pretty overwhelmed right now, his sadness and anger coming back from earlier, radiating off of him like a space heater. I place a hand on my brother's shoulder, leaning my head against the side of his.

"We'll get through this," I whisper in his ear. "You won't be alone, we'll do this together, like we always do."

He nods, taking in a deep breath and exhaling it before saying: "You may be really annoying, but I'm glad you're my sister."

The factual way he says this makes me stifle a chuckle, bumping his shoulder with mine. "I love you, too."