Thirty four hours later...

Chapter Four
Soroya

We have a van parked outside the building the recital is being held. In this van, Jade, Sharon, and I are getting ready for our mission. Theodora Ray, the daughter of Fredrick Ray, the HYDRA agent we need to capture, is going on stage with her class in less than twenty minutes. They are wearing a two piece dark grey costume: high waisted shorts and a blouse, which are both covered in glitter, with skin colored tights and ash looking makeup on their faces. Some of the other CIA agents here with us are helping Jade, Sharon, and I with our makeup and costumes. We need to pass as members of her class.

The official plan is for Jade and I to go on stage and search for Ray in the crowd. Once we spot him, we are supposed to give the location in our coms. The CIA agents will block the exits and shut the music off, then Bucky, Sam, and John will go and arrest Ray. Sharon is in charge of making sure Theodora is detained and brought in for questioning. But what will really happen is that as soon as I give Ray's location, I'll fake my injury and drop to the ground. Once I do, I'll activate the hologram on my leg to make it look broken, then Jade and Sharon will carry me off stage while the others arrest Ray.

Bucky has been sitting next to me while I've gotten my makeup done, and as soon as the agent is done, he leans forward and gently kisses my cheek, whispering: "You look beautiful."

There's a mirror in front of me so I can see the final product, and only now that I see myself in makeup and costume, do I realize what I'm about to do. I speak my revelation aloud: "I'm about to get on stage with a professional dance company in front of hundreds of people on a real stage. This is something I used to dream about doing."

Bucky's smile grows a little sad as he tucks a loose strand of my hair away. "Are you excited or nervous about doing this?"

I turn to face him more, my knees resting against his, his hand traveling to my back and lazily trialing up and down my skin. "A little bit of both. I'm finally living out one of my dreams, but I'm doing it for a mission and I won't even get to finish the whole dance. And as stupid as it is, part of me worries that I'll look completely stupid up there."

"Of all the things to worry about, whether or not you'll do good shouldn't be one of them. You can't seriously think you'll be anything but amazing on that stage."

"Buck, I haven't been to a dance class since I was twelve, I've never danced on a stage this big before or danced in front of this many people. For all these years I've called myself a dancer, but I've never even really danced."

Bucky grabs onto both of my hands tightly, looking at me firmly in the eyes, without an ounce of hesitation or doubt. "Lena, I see the look in your eyes whenever you dance. You have such a great love and passion for it, and that matters way more than the amount of time you've spent in a class room learning about it. I know this is for a mission, but when you go up on that stage, I want you to enjoy your moment of living out your dream. This is what HYDRA took away from you, and I want you to savor every moment of it. Don't worry about everyone else, don't worry about the crowd or the other agents. You're going to be amazing, sweetheart."

I lean forward and press my forehead against his, feeling my cheeks heat up and my eyes grow watery as I tell him: "That made me feel a lot better."

He brushes the backs of both my hands, his smile growing, causing his face to crinkle like it does whenever he's truly happy. "I mean every word. You have no idea how incredible you are, Soroya Roberts, and no matter what happens on that stage, you will always be the greatest dancer in my eyes."

I cup his face in both my hands and place my lips on his, trying to hold my tears back as to not mess up my makeup. I pull back reluctantly after a few moments, knowing it's nearly time for us to go on stage. Jade and Sharon's makeup are done, and the latter is directing the others where to be stationed in the auditorium, while the former wraps her arms around her boyfriend's neck and kisses him thoroughly on the mouth before letting him go, leaving him a little flustered. As Sam passes me by, he sees me smirking at him, and this causes him to reply: "Break a leg up there, Soroya."

"Very funny," I murmur to him, locking eyes with John, who is standing next to the door ready to leave whenever we are.

He smirks at me, his voice soft as he says: "Good luck up there."

I nod, still sensing the deep pain and despair within him, but trying to ignore it. "You too, John."

Jade walks up to me alongside Sharon, and the two girls clasp their hands with mine, looking as beautiful and confident as the real dancers about to go on stage. I squeeze their hands and let out a deep breath, turning my head towards my husband.

He winks at me. "Kick some ass, sweetheart."

I wink at him, my own confidence growing as we get out of the van and run towards the building, the clock counting down the minutes until we are supposed to go on stage.

-

Over the past two days all I could think about is not having my powers anymore. Everything around me feels so silent, so still. I'm used to the chaos of being able to hear, smell, and sense everything from everyone around me, and not having that anymore feels wrong. But right now, as I stand by the other dancers getting ready to go on stage, I don't feel worried or upset like I have lately. I feel like I'm twelve again, like I'm back in my bedroom pretending to dance on a huge stage just like this. The dreams that little girl had feel like distant echos from a life I've left behind, but as I walk onto stage, getting into position, with the stage lights shining on me, I feel like that little girl has been brought back to life, and it makes a smile grow on my face.

The dance class that Theodora Ray is apart of is contemporary, and the song they chose to dance to is 'The Greatest' by Sia, a song I have danced to before several times. Sia is a great singer to dance to, especially in this area of music. Jade and I had to quickly learn the choreography, and as we dance across stage, I think it shows. The other dancers are breathtaking, so focused, so precise in every movement they take. Jade and I look like we're just trying to keep up with the others, but I would still say we are doing decently well.

Sharon is standing on the side, with a small device in hand. This device was given to her by Shuri, it's the device that will make the cracking noise when I fall down. We reviewed the choreography several times, and during the Kendrick Lamar rap before the last chorus, we are supposed to spin around three times and do a large leap. I plan to land weirdly on this leap and fall down, which will be accompanied by a large cracking noise.

But we aren't at that point yet. Jade and I are on the edge of the stage moving towards the center, looking around the crowd as we do so. It's hard to see everyone with the light blaring in our eyes, it would be a lot easier if I had my powers to assist me. Even though I don't have my powers, I still have my training, and my training taught me how to find people in crowds no matter how many people or what's blocking the view. After a few moments of searching, I find Fredrick Ray in the eighth seat in the tenth row. His expression is filled with glee as he watches his daughter dance, and I make sure to distance myself from her before whispering into the coms:

"Tenth row, seat eight."

"We're on it." A voice whispers back, I'm pretty sure it's John.

I search for all of them in the crowd of people, and after a second I spot John and Sam slowly walking down the two isles, with Bucky lagging behind, he's too focused watching me. Despite the glaring light, I can see the proud smile on his face, and it's this proud smile that gives me the courage I need as the song enters into the rap.

Here we go. I let out a deep breath and do the first spin, then the second, then the third. I brace myself as I leap across the stage, and as the other dancers land safely on their two feet, I pretend to slip, making me fall onto the ground. I press on the hologram and it goes over my leg instantly, making it look like it's twisted in an unnatural direction. And as planned, the loud crack breaks through Sia's beautiful voice, followed immediately by a scream of pain from me. I clutch onto my thigh and scream again, watching Jade and Sharon rush to my side, with the other dancers crowding around me.

Unexpectedly, I hear a voice cut through the music moments before it ends altogether: it's Bucky screaming my name. He leaves John and Sam and rushes onto the stage, his face filled with agony and his voice breaking as he yells to Jade and Sharon: "We need to get her out of here, get her to Shuri."

This wasn't apart of the plan, but Bucky's reaction seals this fake-out as a success. Ross will never believe that Bucky didn't come to my aid the moment I was hurt, and anyone who sees his face now would never accuse him of faking his reaction. I'm actually impressed, he's giving a stellar performance. Together he, Jade, and Sharon carry me off stage and through a pair of double doors. People who pass by offer to call an ambulance, but Bucky, tears in his eyes, assures them that I'll be taken care of. Several of these people recognize us and take out their phones, videotaping and taking pictures of me and my 'broken' leg. That's good, the public needs to believe that I'm really hurt, they can't suspect my pregnancy either.

Once we get out of the building, the three of them bring me into the van, which is empty right now. They set me down, and Bucky immediately makes his voice grow frantic as he tells the other agents in the coms: "I'm taking the van to where we parked our ship, I need to get her to Princess Shuri right away."

"Go get her help, we'll take care of Ray." John replies in a very convincing tone.

"It will be alright, Soroya, just hang on." Sam pleads, also very convincing.

Once Bucky and the rest of us take our com links out, I let out a laugh, ripping the hologram off my leg. "I would call that a success."

Bucky wipes his tears away, a smile growing on his face as well. "All because of your convincing performance up there."

"Me? You were the one who sold it. Ross will never question it now."

Bucky shrugs, helping me sit up in the van, leading me over to one of the seats. "It was pretty easy. Seeing your leg mangled and hearing your screams was unsettling, it was easy to get worked up."

Sharon says she'll drive the van to our ship, and Jade sits on the other side of me, beginning to take her makeup off. I lean my head against Bucky's shoulder, linking my arm with his. "I'm glad it's over, now we can go home and actually be a married couple for once."

Bucky leans his head against mine, his voice dreamlike as he says: "We get to wake up in our bed, eat meals at our table, plan for a baby's room, spend time with our family. We get to be normal."

I nod, letting out a sigh, placing my free hand over my stomach. "Sounds like heaven."