*Jo's POV*

It takes me at least a minute of clinging onto Steve like a child for me to control the emotions whirling inside me like a sandstorm. Both of us are crying and god it's pathetic, but neither of us care. The joy and relief coming off of Steve and the same emotions in me are so strong it's impossible to keep all of it inside us.

"Rogers, we all want a turn. Hands off." Natasha's voice drifts over and he reluctantly lets me go and swipes a thumb across my cheeks to catch some tears. Natasha has a soft smile on her face as she waves the rest of the team forward. I run to Sam and it must be a soldier thing to lift me up, because he does so before spinning me around.

"Just want everyone here to know that I called it!" He says and brings laughter back to the team and gets a slap on the back of the head from Bucky.

Tony accepts me and rubs a nearly shaking hand over my hair. "Stop scaring us, kiddo. We're old men now." He whispers and I resist telling him that of those old men there are two unaging super-soldiers. I lend him a little of my strength to steady him before we part and make a point of looking into his amber eyes.

"Next time, Iron Dad." He sighs and smiles before clearing his throat and stepping aside to reveal the man I'm most anxious to see. Finally, I'm faced with Peter last and it's the one that matters the most. While the rest of us are holding our tears in, mostly, Peter has tear tracks on his cheeks and red rims around his eyes. Always said he felt more than anyone else. He smiles a watery smile and sniffles slightly. I shake my head.

"Peter...I'm so sorry." A few tears escape my eyes. "I didn't mean to put you through this. Any of you..." I trail off when he steps forward and crushes me to his chest

"I'll take whatever you throw at me as long as you come back to me in the end, Jo." He tells me, then pulls away and frames my face with his hands. His thumb grazes my scar and wipes away a few tears before he presses his lips to mine. My arms wrap around his neck to keep him close. We part only when we hear Shuri's voice and I bring the little bracelet she gave me between us.

"Not exactly something I wanted to see, but glad your memory is back. I found out what the problem was if you're interested!" The little hologram tells us. "Come down to the bottom level of the lab." Her figure disappears and I turn with Peter's arm settling around my waist.

"I love you." He murmurs into my ear and my arm wraps around him as well. My eyes scan my family as they all do their best to keep themselves together.

"Phew, we've all gone a little soft, haven't we?" The group chuckles and sniffles softly.

"We heading down, Jo?" Steve asks and I get a distinct feeling that he's coming whether invited or not. I glance at Peter and he tugs me a little tighter against him to say he's coming.

"We are. You all can come if you want." Natasha chuckles again and everyone turns to her in surprise. Laughter from her is a rarity.

"Don't think you're leaving our sight for a while, Jo." She tells me with uncharacteristically soft eyes. I nod in understanding before Peter and I lead the charge back into Shuri's lab.

"What's going on?" I question once the group has gathered at my back. Shuri turns from her computers and blinks at the small army suddenly in her lab. I shrug helplessly. There was no stopping them. She walks towards us and tugs the floating hospital bed forward before pulling up a hologram of my brain on top of it.

"I was looking at things from a science perspective," She says and rounds the hologram to stand by my side, "when I should have looked at it from a psychological perspective." Her bright eyes turn to me but she sighs when she sees I don't understand. "With Sergeant Barnes, his memories were skewed purposefully and by others. Your memories were locked away by your subconscious because of an emotional overload. That's why you crashed!" She tells me excitedly, thrilled at the revelation of new information. She's a lot like Peter, really. When I don't seem excited enough, she puts her hands on my wrists over the bangles. "You remember when I told you the brain has more than four million years of memory in it?" She asks urgently with bright eyes.

"Yeah, I remember that," I affirm and she nods.

"That's the thing that bothered me! There's no way the space in your brain would've been filled by just the memories in a hundred minds. Even two hundred wouldn't do it! So, I looked into it and the parts of your brain that handle emotion were inflamed. Tell me, were the memories you were experiencing emotional? The worst or best parts of someone's life?"

"The worst parts, definitely." She nods and releases my wrists so she can point to parts of my brain.

"Exactly. It was an emotional lockdown that could only be fixed by a revelatory emotional resolve!" I look to Steve and find his eyes already on me. He nods. He knows what I'm thinking of. "This also explains your abilities." My eyes swivel back to Shuri when she says that. "You have such an incredible sensitivity to the world around you, so your brain instantly adapts. Thank you for coming here, this has given me unprecedented insight into the human brain. Amazing." She huffs, a little out of breath.

"Hold on, are you saying this is something all human brains experience or just Jo?" Peter asks. Shuri's eyes light up again and I glance at Peter, impressed. Tony's glance is similar and he pats Peter's back proudly. Shuri's lips press together as she looks at me, clearly deciding something.

"Actually, that's another thing." Shuri starts and brings up another brain hologram beside mine. "It's kind of both. Pain receptors in the brain inflame in certain people with a high capacity for empathy. They feel a sliver of what someone else feels. In Jo, however, this is obviously heightened beyond the normal capabilities." Her eyes meet mine and there's awe and affection there. "You're a special case because you have a gene that makes you stronger and more persevering than others. That's the only way you could have survived whatever heightened your mind so much." She gestures between the two brains and looks to the rest of the team. "Whatever gave her these abilities made the receptors far more sensitive and that's how she can enter others' minds. It's an incredible mutation."

"Well, I'm glad that you found it fascinating, Shuri," I tell her sincerely, enjoying the animation on her face. "Finding stuff out about how my parents experimented on me has never really been high on my list...but." I shrug and look at Steve when his hand smooths over my hair for comfort.

"That's what I thought this would help you with," Shuri speaks gently and my eyes return to her dark face. "I understand wondering about a parent's actions after their death. I wanted you to understand at the very least. You were already an empath when you were born. All they did was heighten what was already there, not put anything else in. The same with your electrical abilities. I wanted to help you understand as much as possible..." She says apologetically and presses her lips together to keep from saying something else. "I'll tell you some other stuff later. With T'Challa." She says finally and I nod, my mind still mulling over her discoveries. Forgiving my parents hasn't even been on my radar since I found out what they were trying to do to me, and this doesn't change that, but it makes me respect Shuri more. I step out of Peter's arms and embrace Shuri before thinking about it.

"Is...is it okay to hug royalty here?" I question nervously before she laughs and returns the hug.

"Of course, it is, you're a friend of the throne, remember?" She tells me quietly before we separate and she faces the team. "Now, I know since you're healed you might wish to leave, but I'd like you all to at least stay for dinner and another night." Her warm brown eyes wash over us all before she looks back at me. Knowing she just said she needs to talk to me with the King, I'm all for it. Not that I wasn't before she said that. "There are so many other things that I'd like to show you." She continues. I reach out and tug Peter close to me so he's on our side. His lips graze my cheek and his arm wraps around my waist once again. My pleading eyes turn to Steve. He sighs and shakes his head with a little smile.

"We would be honored to stay."

"Yes," I whisper and shoot him a wink for good measure.

"I'm feeling a little gypped since I lived here and never got any beads or bangles." Bucky steps forward and smirks affectionately at Shuri. She shrugs.

"We called you the white wolf and gave you a new arm. What more do you want?" Shuri sighs and waves her hands at all of us. "Now, let me go to work and speak to T'Challa about dinner. Hopefully, we'll have a braai."

"I look forward to it. Thank you so much." I tell her and she smiles wide at me, then nods.

"Go! Show these white people, minus one," she glances at Sam and he grins, "about Wakanda."

"I'll do my best, Princess." I tilt my head and place my fist over my heart before turning and shoving the rest of the group out.

"Well, it's not like we can go outside since you started a rainstorm, missy." Tony sasses and I zap his ass in retaliation.

"If you don't like the rain then you don't have to come." I retort and catch the roll of his amber eyes.

"And where are we going, Josie?" Peter questions, staying close and nearly attached to my hip. I look over at his happy face, the tears gone and red eyes fading. I peck his cheek.

"Surprise."

* * * * *

After an hour of climbing, Tony's complaining being a nice white noise in the background, we reach the waterfalls that the Dora Milaje were training at earlier. It's still raining, but it's light and that's nothing compared to the view we have. The sunset is blooming across the sky in brilliant blankets of red, gold, and oranges with light blue-grey clouds like a crown above it all.

"I've missed these sunsets." Bucky murmurs to my side as we sit just above and beside the group of waterfalls. Tony pokes him with a foot from behind with a chuckle.

"If you want me to banish you from the facility, just ask, Robocop." He quips and I shake my head at him disapprovingly.

"Admit it, Stark, you wouldn't mind being stranded in that lab for a while, would you?" Sam teases and settles next to Bucky with a signature gap-toothed grin. Tony sighs.

"I'll admit that."

"And you can't manufacture a view like this, Tony." Steve teases from my other side and I elbow him.

"Sorry, when did this become pick on me time?"

"Isn't it always?" Natasha continues and soft laughter drifts from our lips. Tony messes with Peter's hair behind me and we both lean back to look up at him.

"Thought you were in my fan club kid, what happened?" He accuses and another laugh slips out of me when his cheeks get red.

"Think I've permanently inducted him into mine, Tony. Plus lying hurts his pure heart." I tease and lean to the side so I can see his face. He's basically all around me, legs on either side of me and arms around my waist. He pecks my lips and I smile against him before smirking up at Tony.

"I don't want that kind of fanfare, so you can keep him." Tony sighs and we relax back against each other and look at the sunset.

"You look beautiful, by the way," Peter tells me and his voice is soft even in my head. "Like a warrior." My lips curve up at the compliment and my fingers entwine with his over my stomach.

"Thank you but this warrior is going to be more careful in future. Maybe listen a bit more to her hero boyfriend." Humor dances between us as he buries half his head in my hair.

"Hm, I think I've heard that before." There's a teasing lilt and I sway into him in playful retaliation. "But it's not a bad idea. I want you around for a long time, babe." My heart melts at the familiar endearment. It's been a while since I've heard it since our 're-get-together' and he must feel comfortable to use it again. Or just extremely relieved. Either way, it gets to me like it always does.

"Mm, and maybe I could even be convinced to promote you." Shock and joy courses through him like a shot. He's quick to move to the side and meet my eyes. "I'm not saying anything, but I want to talk about it. If you want to."

"God, yes. Are you kidding me?" The words burst from his mouth before he presses a kiss to my lips. Instead of pulling away when the team makes disgusting imitation noises, he deepens the kiss until I don't hear them at all.

"Ugh, you two. This is so wrong." Bucky objects and we finally pull away. Peter still just rests his forehead on mine with his eyes open. Warm and brown like the earth, this is one of those moments when it hits me all over again how lucky I am to have him. How much I love him.

"I love you, Peter," I tell him and push the feeling in my chest into everywhere he's touching me. His eyes and body melt around me before his arms tug me closer.

"Love you too, Jo. More than anyone." His lips graze my neck as I relax back against him again.

I look over at Steve and catch the fond smile on his face. I nudge his foot with my own to say I've caught him, but his smile just widens. My eyes roll before I look back at the sky. The sun is nearly gone now and the sky is just starting to look like a navy, moth-eaten blanket. "Love you, idiots," I speak out loud, wanting them all to know before I lose my nerve. Leaning forward, I do my best to meet each of their eyes.

"We love you too, Jo," Steve says quietly and leans over to peck my hair.

"Despite the colossal pain in the ass you are." Bucky finishes and I instantly hit his chest.

"I'm a friend of the throne, buddy, I'll confiscate your dinner." I sass back.

"Speaking of, we should be getting back," Natasha says and stands while wiping the dirt off her. Everyone else reluctantly gets up, but Peter stops me from walking after them.

"We'll follow in a minute. You all go ahead." Peter says and I raise an eyebrow at him. He nods encouragingly at me and my eyes slowly go back to the group.

"There's a fast travel system through the closest waterfall," I tell them and hear Tony groan.

"We couldn't have taken that up here?" He shouts and Natasha winks at me before shoving him down the hill.

"Behave please," Steve warns before Sam and Bucky shoo him along too. I turn to Peter curiously.

"What are you thinking, sweet thing?" I use an old endearment teasingly as he pulls me close again and rests his clasped hands on my lower back. My arms instinctively wrap around his neck and we start to sway along to a silent beat. He grins and it shines in the soft light.

"Just wanted to kiss you without an audience." He shrugs and it's easy to return the smile on his face.

"Well, don't make me wait. We both know I have no patience." I tease and rest my forehead on his, letting our minds connect and eyes close. Our lips brush gently once, twice, then connect in a sweet and slow kiss. We part and I smile before opening my eyes. Warm brown meets mine and his happiness embraces me just as completely as his arms.

"You don't mind this place, huh?" I question and we part to look over the glimmering city in the burgeoning moonlight.

"It's amazing. The advances in technology, the city, the colors." His head shakes. "I love it." My smile widens.

"Good. I may have said that I'd come to visit every once and a while." I shrug when he looks back at me with an amused grin. "Might want a copilot with me." I tease and laugh when he tugs me even closer to him.

"Is that my promotion? Copilot?" He questions and another light laugh escapes me.

"Not exactly what I was thinking of, but would you mind? Can't think of someone better for the job." I tease, the comfort and happiness of being with him and finally being sure and unafraid of my future as intoxicating as his presence.

"I'd be happy to be your copilot, Josie. Anytime." He tells me and it soothes my heart to hear the words. He's always so steady. A good balance for me. "What's that, right there?" He asks aloud and I look away from him to the cliffs across the city where there's a soft glowing like candlelight. My lips stretch into a smile.

"Guessing that's what a Wakandan BBQ looks like."

A/N

Super soft chapter, you're welcome. ;) Well deserved. But, slight background on Jo calling Peter 'sweet thing'. :'D Definitely started as a joke after the first time he let baby or babe slip, then just came naturally. When around Bucky and Steve the names steadily get more and more old-timey to make fun of them. Sam approves. ;)

NOW, any ideas on what the king and Shuri are hiding from Jo?? Have to know what you all think, my lovelies. :) Keep reading!!