Rogue: Annihilation (An Avengers Sequel)

10. Wakanda Forever

"Drop to 2600, heading 0-3-0," Steve quietly directed Sam, who was flying the Quinjet, towards Wakanda.

Wanda stood beside me, watching Vision. "What if this is a mistake?"

I shook my head automatically. "Wakanda's tech is unrivalled. If anyone can remove the Stone, they can. And if they can't, then we'll find another way."

"That's not what I mean," she said in a quiet voice, not taking her eyes off of him. It was as if she was worried that he'd disappear if she stopped looking. "What if removing the Stone is a mistake? What if removing it destroys Vision? Or worse, what if we remove it, destroy Vision, and Thanos gets it anyway?"

"He won't," I said, much too confidently for someone who had no idea what could happen.

"You don't know that," she told me. "We've never fought anyone like him before. Not only does he have a plan, and a motivation, but he has a whole army to back him up." She took a shaky breath. "Rogue... we might lose this fight."

I shook my head again, shaking away all the thoughts that agreed with her. "Coming back to Earth will be his last resort," I told her. "If Thanos comes here, then that means he has the Time Stone, the Stone that Strange would die to protect. If he gets it... then Stark and Strange lost. And if he kills them-" I stopped myself abruptly, looking at the ground. I couldn't finish the thought in my head, let alone out loud.

Silently she took my hand and squeezed it, trying to get a hundred sentences into a single movement. I squeezed her back, replying to all of her thoughts. Even if Thanos didn't get all the Stones, he could get the two that meant the most to us. The two that caused us to lose the most important people in our lives.

The Quinjet passed through a force field, made to look like a forest, and suddenly we were in a whole other part of the world... or so it seemed.

We landed, and were immediately greeted by King T'Challa (aka Black Panther) and a few members of his army.

"Seems like I'm always thanking you for something," Steve said appreciatively, shaking his hand.

"How big of an assault can we expect?" T'Challa responded, walking in the opposite direction. We all followed, like a puppy trailing at the heels of its owner.

"Uh, sir, sir, I think you can expect quite a big assault," Banner said, nervously stuttering.

T'Challa nodded, as if this was exactly what he'd imagined. I guess he knew that, if coming to his homeland was our only chance for survival, whoever we were facing was more than a match for us alone.

"You will have my King's Guard," he told us. "The Border Tribe, the Dora Milaje, and..." he trailed off, as a familiar face walked towards us.

"A semi-stable 100-year-old man," Bucky finished his sentence, smiling at Steve, who pulled him in for a hug.

"How you been, Buck?" Steve asked.

"Not bad," Bucky shrugged, an easy smile on his face. Clearly, being in Wakanda agreed with him. "For the end of the world."

He spotted me, and while the smile didn't leave his face, his eyes betrayed his surprise in the same way that I assumed mine did. While going to Wakanda was the best option we had, seeing Bucky again hadn't crossed my mind. Part of me had thought that he would still be frozen – the other part refused to think about him.

"Hi," he said after a short silence.

I took a breath. "Hi."

Everyone looked back and forth between us, either wondering about our history, or remembering every painful detail.