Music is "Who Are You" by RAIGN.

Picture is Steve Rogers.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: Navigating Home

{April 7, 2018 -- Present Day}

E D I N B U R G H

I roll the Kingsman pin from one hand to the other, eventually slipping it into my tactical suit's pocket. My nerves are starting to get the best of me as Scotland grows closer. I knew the trip wouldn't take long, but the Quinjet flies faster than I remember.

Sam glances at me from across the seats. "You okay there, Emma?"

I look up, bracing my elbows on my knees with clasped hands under my chin. Forcing a smile, I reply, "Yeah, I'm good."

Sam arches an eyebrow. "No offense, but you look like you're gonna be sick."

I let out a small chuckle, running one hand down my face tiredly. "I probably do. Sorry about that."

"Nervous?" Natasha asks, spinning her co-pilot's seat around.

I shrug. "Maybe a little. This isn't like our other missions. We're wanted by just about every government. Either they want us for the reasons of the Accords, or the country is an enemy of the U.S. and wants to hang us in the streets. It's not a particularly pleasant feeling."

"You're tellin' us," Sam snickers. "We've been doing this for two years, Emma. Don't worry. We got this."

"Especially now that you're with us," Natasha adds, placing a sisterly hand on my shoulder. "Thanks for coming, by the way."

I give a passing glance to Steve in the pilot's chair. "Couldn't let you lot have all the fun, could I?"

Natasha moves for the back of the craft as Sam shakes his head, a grin on his face. It's good to see that the dynamic of this trio hasn't changed over time.

"Is that really why you came?" he inquires. "That can't be it. Why did you really come?"

I glance sideways to Steve, jerking my chin in his direction. "I have a vested interest in your safety. You're my family. I protect my own."

Sam nods, understanding immediately.

Natasha returns with two, six-inch pieces of metal. They look like miniature versions of my bowstaff. "They're not your bowstaff, but they'll do in a pinch. Just squeeze them in the middle and--" She does as she states, and the two staffs extend to three feet each--"tada. You have weapons."

I take both of them from her hands, standing to my feet and twirling them around to get a feel for their weight and movement. "They're perfect, Tasha. Thank you."

The Black Widow shrugs. "No problem." She plops down in the seat beside me. "So, a little birdie told me you might've found a cure."

"Not me," I correct. "Shuri, but yes. We might have. Grant's taking an experimental run now. He's a few injections in."

"Is it working?"

I nod. "So far as she can tell, yes. It's hard to track because we're not entirely sure if Grant has stopped aging yet. My guess is that he has, or will soon, so if he continues to age out past his early twenties, then the cure works. I'll take it way before then, but it looks...promising." I turn to glance between her and Sam. "Thank you for what you did in Sarajevo, for finding that stabilizing agent. Without it, the cure wouldn't work. I owe you."

Sam scoffs and waves it off. "We might Bosnia. It's beautiful this time of year."

Natasha rolls her eyes. "I have a question, though."

"Shoot."

"Why didn't you just stay in Wakanda like Bucky, Grant, and I?" I ask. "T'Challa would have protected you. You would have been safe."

Natasha's eyes flicker to Steve in the pilot's seat. "The three of us agreed it would be better if we left. Staying in Wakanda would have put a target on T'Challa's back. He had Wakanda's interest to think about. You, Grant, and Bucky were there under the radar. Only we knew, and possibly Tony, but he never would have told on you. We wanted to continue avenging, even if that meant without a proper team."

"So, we left," Sam agrees. "It wasn't as bad as it sounds. We did come back, just not often."

I nod, understanding exactly what they mean. When you're a wanted criminal, even if you haven't done anything wrong, you can't go home. You can't visit those you love. Your life isn't the same, and you can't live like you used to. I learned that multiple times over.

"Suit up if you haven't already," Steve announces, and I feel the Quinjet start to decline. "We're landing in thirty seconds."

I march up to the cabin and stare out the windshield. As we descend in altitude, I see the familiar figures of Wanda and Vision go flying into the glass ceiling of the train station. Behind them are two, humanoid alien creatures.

My eyes scan the area, finding a small street just outside the station. I point to it. "There, land there."

Steve silently agrees and pushes the craft hard to land as quickly as possible. I turn to the back of the Quinjet, pulling the lever to open the ramp. Though I feel naked going into a fight without my bowstaff or helmet, I muster up enough nerve to not care.

Steve puts the Quinjet on auto-land. He marches from the pilot's chair to the exit. The three of us follow him, staying close behind. In the near distance, a train approaches. Steve waves Sam in one direction, Natasha in another, and gestures for me to follow him. The train rushes through the station as we step onto the platform.

Through the speedy cars of the train, I see Natasha standing guard in front of a wounded Vision. She stands against a female and male antagonist. Both are steely blue in color and both wear alien armor. The male has a scythe as a weapon, and the female has a glowing staff. From the platform, I can see Natasha crouching in the shadows on the other side of the station. Above my head, Sam awaits in the rafters.

Steve and I approach, and I squeeze my dual staffs. They extend with a sliding metal sound, catching the attention of the alien duo. They turn their attentions towards us. Wanda does the same.

As the train passes, the female alien launches her staff at us. Steve steps forward, catching it easily with one hand. The female alien looks at him in shock, and as we step forward into the light, Wanda gives a relieved smile.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Sam swoop through the air, knocking the female alien a few dozen meters away and into an Italian coffee shop window. Sam launches rockets from his Falcon suit, but they're deflected by the male alien's scythe.

Steve tosses the alien staff across the station, and Natasha catches it on her way towards the male alien. Steve and I start running towards the fight, but Natasha already has the sharp staff in the stomach of the male alien. She drop-kicks him away, and the staff is pulled back to the female alien, like magnets.

Steve runs faster, grabbing the scythe on the way to protect Natasha from the female alien. He blows her staff's blow, spinning her around between the three of us. We each take turns blocking, dodging, and landing blows. I move easier with the dual staffs than I thought I would.

I get a final blow to the female in before Sam swoops down again, feet forward. He throws the female alien onto the ground next to her male companion. The team aims their weapons at them.

"Get up," the female pleads to the male.

"I can't."

"We don't wanna kill you, but we will," Natasha promises them.

The female alien turns to us with a smirk. "You'll never get the chance again."

She presses a button on her companion's chest, and in a bright beam of light, they're both abducted into the craft overhead. A few seconds later, the scythe in Steve's hand flies up with them. The spacecraft looks exactly like the one that Tony flew after, what Bucky not-so-affectionately called, "A giant flying donut."

Natasha sheathes her electric batons, and Sam holsters his guns. I squeeze the dual staffs. When they shrink back down to normal size, I shove them into the thigh holsters.

We turn towards the couple in the center of the station. Sam offers Vision a hand, asking, "Can you stand?"

Vision gladly takes it, and Wanda and Sam help him remain upright. He's flickering, almost like a computer glitch, but he seems to be in one piece.

He looks to Steve with a grateful expression. "Thank you, Captain."

Steve stares at the android for a moment, then nods. "Let's get you on the jet."

The six of us make our way back to the Quinjet. Sam starts the liftoff sequence as Steve and I help Vision get comfortable. Natasha pulls the lever, and the back gate closes.

"Now, I thought we had a deal," she says, a stern tone directed towards Wanda. "Stay close, check in, don't take any chances."

Wanda, from her seat next to Vision, sounds apologetic. "I'm sorry. We just wanted time."

Sam turns from his seat in the cockpit, and Natasha sits in the co-pilot's chair. "Where to, Cap?"

I turn to Steve, seeing the forlorn expression on his face. We haven't talked but a few words since he gave the order to pick up Wanda, and just as many since he saw what happened to Tony on the news. It's hit him harder than I thought.

He gives the back gate a pensive stare, then turns to look at me from across the room. "Home."

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U P S T A T E

Sam lands the Quinjet on the tarmac with finesse. We all exit in an orderly fashion, Sam helping Vision with an arm under his. I link my arm with Wanda's, giving her a comforting smile. I had no idea Wanda was as young as she was, but when Natasha showed me her file, I learned that Wanda was no older than Grant. My motherly instincts came out, and I walk beside her as we enter the Avengers headquarters.

"You having second thoughts?" Secretary Ross' voice is head loud and clear as we round the final corner into the large conference room. In front of us, I see a holographic version of the Secretary standing in front of James Rhodes.

Rhodey look him dead in the eye and replies, "Not anymore."

The six of us enter, drawing both the men's eyes over to us. Steve nods to the hologram. "Mister Secretary."

Secretary Ross approaches Natasha and Steve in front of us. "You got some nerve. I'll give you that."

"You could use some of that right now," chides Natasha.

The Secretary turns to Steve. "The world's on fire, and you think all is forgiven?"

"I'm not looking for forgiveness," Steve answers, "and I'm way past asking permission. Earth just lost her best defender. So we're here to fight, and if you wanna stand in our way, we'll fight you, too."

Ross scowls at Steve before turning back to Rhodey. "Arrest them."

Rhodey gives a absolutely-done expression to the man. "All over it." He then grabs a circle at the top of the hologram and slides his hand to the right. Secretary Ross disappears.

"Oh, thank bloody god," I sigh, relieved to have the room to ourselves again. "I really despise that man."

"Don't get so excited," Rhodey chuckles. "That's a court martial." He cracks a smile at Steve, one that Steve returns. "It's good to see you, Cap."

Steve steps forward and greets Rhodey with a handshake. "You too, Rhodey."

Natasha pulls him in for a tight hug. "Hey."

"Wow, you guys..." He trails off, pulling away from Natasha, "really look like crap. Must've been a rough couple years."

"Yeah, well," Sam agrees, "the hotels weren't exactly five star."

Rhodey laughs, and a new speaks up from across the room. "Uh, I think you look great."

Everyone looks in that direction, spotting none other than Bruce Banner waiting in the wings. He looks a lot different than the last time I saw him, in New York after Loki's invasion. His hair is short and grayer. He has a few more wrinkles, and his clothes aren't the polished collared shirts of a doctor. He still wrings his hands nervously as he steps from the doorway.

"Uh...Yeah, I'm back."

"Hi, Bruce," Natasha greets in a friendly manner.

Bruce nods. "Nat."

"We're just a few members short of a full set," Sam mutters under his breath. Vision, Wanda, and I look at him in confusion. "Sorry, awkward. Ignore me."

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: Navigating Home.