Heroes Assemble!

Let's Get Ready To Rumble!

The quinjet was deathly silent as it soared home; not one person spoke. Even movement was kept to a minimum.

The objective in Lagos had been simple enough – get in, find Rumlow and his mercenaries and arrest them before they could obtain anything that could be used as a biological weapon from IFID. As was often said when it came to missions, you can plan for any contingencies but the second the rubber hits the road, all bets were off.

Rumlow had outsmarted them, managed to break into the Institute for Infectious Diseases with the Avengers hot on their tail. He'd managed to get a vial of something, too. And that's when it all when to hell.

Their running battle had managed to take down the mercenaries without any civilian casualties. There'd been some minor property damage, but nothing severe. Rumlow, though, had been ready for them with an explosive vest, ready to sacrifice himself in order to see the Avengers fail.

The explosion was sure to kill dozens at the very least. Wanda, though, had managed to wrap her magic around the exploding man and bomb. But it was powerful, too powerful for her. She'd attempted to send it skyward where it could explode without doing any harm.

Unfortunately, she'd lost control of it when it'd been far too close to the IFID Headquarters building. Twenty-six people had been killed in the blast, another eighteen injured.

They'd worked as quickly as they could, finding the survivors, doing what they could for them before and even after the ambulances arrived.

It hadn't been enough.

Every one of them was shaken by what'd happened, analysing what had gone wrong, what they could have done differently, what they should have done differently. Wanda, though, took it the hardest. Even now, she was as close to a ball as you could get – her knees up against her chest, her arms locked around her legs, head down and hair hiding her from the world. Silent tears fell from her face as she mourned what'd happened, what she felt responsible for.

Both Steve and Nat had spent time with her, talking to her about missions that'd gone wrong for them, about how you never forgot but you made damn sure that you learnt from it so that nothing like it could ever happen again.

As Sam banked the quinjet in towards the hanger, he was pleased to see that Doc Greengrass was already there, waiting for them. She was a Magical Mind Healer, a counsellor of sorts from what Sam could work out. And that sounded exactly what Wanda needed. Hell, Sam was of the opinion that they could all do with some time talking to her; he knew that he sure would be.

ooo00ooo

The King of Wakanda stood stiffly as he watched the jet coming in to land. Beside him and slight behind to either side of him stood his children, the Prince and Princess. His guards, his Dora Milaje, were at attention, fanned out as well.

This jet was being honoured not for itself, but for what it carried inside it. Coffins. Eleven of them. Relief workers, going about their normal duties, doing what they could for the poor and underprivileged of the world.

In this case, they had been in Lagos, Nigeria, discussing medicines and diseases and how to prevent and treat them when the disaster struck. A bomb exploded, killing them instantly. Instantly, at least they had that much, not being forced to suffer. What made it worse was that they should have been safe on the ninth floor of the building when the explosion happened outside of the building.

But the Avengers had interfered. Made the bomb fly into the sky until it was just the right height to detonate and kill the people inside.

These Avengers had no right being in Nigeria at all. None were citizens of that country. From what King T'Chaka had been told, they hadn't even requested permission from the government to enter or even informed them that they were there to apprehend a criminal. No, they simply went wherever they pleased, did whatever they wanted and damn the consequences. The innocent were made to suffer, to bleed and die.