A/N: Spoiler Alert! This was story was inspired by Captain America: Civil War.

Enjoy, and don't forget to review.

Many thanks to CapriceAnn Hedican-Kocur for the Beta, and Black' Victor Cachat for brainstorming.

Namaste,

Sunny

Captain America

Civil War

I Still Believe

All the Pain and Grace We Have Known

Wakanda

Standing near the window, Bucky looked out over the landscape, and did his best not to worry about Steve and Natasha, and how their mission was going. If Plan A worked, they would be back in the next few hours. If not…

He heard and felt someone come up next to him.

"Do not worry, my friend. They will return before long." A man in a wheelchair, his right leg below the knee, and right arm gone from just above the elbow, gazed out the window as well, a small smile on his face.

"Doesn't stop the worrying." Bucky turned around to lean on the wall, and extended his hand. "Bucky."

"David." The other man chuckled. "And everyone knows who you and your friends are. My doctor has been bragging that he was the first in the clinic to greet your group when you arrived. He's also kept us apprised of what's been happening."

"Then you know how much trouble I've caused for so many people." Bucky shook his head. "Why do they think that one man is worth all of this?"

David mirrored his pose as best he could, using the chair's control to turn it around. "The real question should be why do you think you aren't worthy?"

He shrugged one shoulder. "The things I've done, people I've killed. I've brought pain, sadness and loss to their families and friends. No amount of penance will ever be enough."

"Most people are as happy as they make their minds up to be." He gestured, and Bucky walked beside him down the long hallway. "We are all imperfect, and wired for struggle. But each of us is also worthy of loving and being loved. Don't let that chance slip away because you are afraid, whether for yourself or another." The tall slender doctor who had done the repairs to Bucky's arm appeared in the hallway. She lifted her chin, and David nodded. "I must go, as I'm being considered for biomechanical limb replacement. I'm glad we finally met, Bucky."

"Me too, David. And thanks."

Bucky watched the other man roll away, thinking about what he said. Why did he think he wasn't worthy? Nothing that happened to him had been his fault. Captured by and experimented on by Nazis, retrieved from a gorge in Europe, and turned into an assassin. He even tried to kill his best friend, and the woman he loves.

"Thinking deep thoughts so close to bedtime will give you bad dreams."

He looked up to see Kaya sitting at her desk in the clinic. Somehow, he'd found his way back to medical where he was staying so the doctors could do more tests. "Already having bad dreams, even when Natasha's here."

"It's understandable, Mr. Barnes." She gestured for him to take the seat facing her. "The friendship and love you have with Natasha and Steven is rare, and valuable."

"Yes, it is. And call me Bucky." He reached over to touch the arm he no longer had, feeling pain that wasn't real. "I-I remember falling from the train. It was going around a curve, and just as Steve reached for me, the pipe broke. My arm was severed on the way down. I was barely alive when Schmidt's men found me, though the fall should've killed me."

Kaya gripped his hand. "You're here now. Try not to think about it." Bucky closed his eyes, and breathed through the memories, his hand still hovering over the missing limb. "What you are feeling is called phantom limb pain, Bucky. Unfortunately, there is no definitive treatment for it."

He liked the way she said his name, drawling out the "e" sound of the second syllable. "Doesn't bother me that much." She looked away with a shy smile. "You like Steve, don't you, Kaya?"

The smile widened, showing that she wasn't embarrassed or ashamed by her interest in the super-soldier. "I do indeed. And he has said that he feels the same. The word he used was 'ditto'." Kaya looked down at the top of her desk, and back to Bucky, the smile fading somewhat. "We come from very different backgrounds, and I believe that's what has kept him from being more forward in his pursuit."

"His what? Oh, yeah. Steve doesn't have much experience dealing with women in romantic situations. Just give him time." The look on Kaya's face said she would be patient, but only up to a point. Bucky stood up. "And if he doesn't make a move, make it yourself. You won't be sorry."

Feeling a little better, Bucky made his way to the room he'd been assigned on the ward, got ready for bed, and laid down, hoping Natasha would be back by the time he woke up. He closed his eyes, and soon was asleep. For once, his dreams were pleasant, if confusing.

In his dream, he and Natasha were out under the stars. He was on his back with her above him, the stars framing her like a glittering headdress. Her waist-length red hair fell forward, tickling his cheeks, neck and bare chest as she traced his dimples and the curves of his mouth with her fingertips.

And after the loving was over, and they'd both been supremely satisfied, they kissed. He waited until she had climbed over the sill, and closed the window to go, glancing over his shoulder one last time before jumping onto the next building, and returning to the aircraft that would take him home.

The Raft

"Whatever you're doing, Wanda, stop," Clint said using his "dad" voice. Hill's body shook as if she were having seizures; the only thing keeping her in the chair was the death grip she had on the arms.

The red mist's flow increased, the color deepening until it looked like blood. Natasha moved to Clint's side, one of the Taser guns in her left hand. She took a bead on Wanda, glancing at him for confirmation. Reluctantly, he nodded.

Natasha held her fire when Wanda dropped her hands, leaned against the wall, and slid down to sit to the floor. Hill's body shuddered one last time, and she too slumped, but stayed in the chair, her head lolling to the side, and her chest heaving.

Cameron eased over to Hill, crouched in front of her, and gently lifted one of her hands. Her fingers clenched on his almost to the point of pain. He touched her cheek. "Maria?"

Hill's eyes snapped open, and she jumped to her feet, looking around frantically. She relaxed somewhat at seeing her friends standing nearby. Her eyes found Steve's. "You're here."

"Yes, we are." He approached one slow step at a time. "How do you feel?"

"Like I've been asleep." Her eyes swept over Steve's longer hair style, and beard. "How long?"

He looked confused, and Clint was too, but he was too busy checking on Wanda to interfere in their conversation.

"How long what?"

She looked down at her clothes, and took a few experimental steps. "How long have I been here?"

Scott stepped forward, holding a thumb drive up. "I can help with that. While I was in medical, I downloaded your medical file, Ms. Hill. Just in case."

Again, Cameron stepped in, firmly correcting the other man. "Commander."

"Commander. Sorry. I made a quick perusal, just to get an idea of your condition." No one took the drive, so he shoved it in a pocket. "You were brought here the last week of June two years ago."

Hill walked toward the group, and they parted for her. She dropped into the first chair she came to, which happened to be the one Cameron had taken over when they first arrived. "I have the worst ******* headache." Peeking through her fingers, she said, "Two years?"

Sam followed Steve and Natasha to her side. Scott joined them, casting glances at the others before continuing. "Your commitment papers were signed by a man named Gideon Malick. Said he was your step-father. I, uh, I'm pretty sure he's dead now."

Clint could see that it was all too much for Hill, but she would persevere, push on through, and come out the other side, just as she always did.

"I just have one more question, Seeve. I mean Steve. What the **** took you so long to find me?"

Her last words were said with more than a touch of anger and resentment. But Clint couldn't worry about that now. Wanda had passed out. He leaned against the wall, pulling her onto his lap.

~~O~~

Sam answered for all of them. "We didn't know you were missing."

Hill sat forward with her elbows on her knees, and head in her hands, fingers rubbing her temples. "How could you not know? Someone just up and disappears, and it's business as usual with the Avengers? 'Don't worry about Hill. She'll come home when she's ready.'"

Going down to the next tier, Natasha motioned for Hill to follow. On the floor at her feet was a woman dressed all in black like the others, her wrists and ankles tied. Using her foot, Natasha turned the woman on her back. "We didn't know because Malick, who was HYDRA, by the way, had you replaced with an impostor."

Crouching down next to the imposter, Hill wondered how this woman could've replaced her for two years without anyone getting suspicious. Then she realized that it was her own fault. Even with the people she called friends, she held back a big part of herself, keeping it in reserve, but for what, she couldn't say.

Getting to her feet again, Hill's eyes swept the group. "So who finally outted fake me?" They all turned in the direction of Cameron at the sound of him clearing his throat. He held up a hand, an ironic twist to his lips. Stupefied, and not wanting to show it, Hill nodded. "Good job, Klein."

The tech beamed at the praise. "Thank you, Mari… ma'am."

Glancing over to where Clint was tending to Wanda, Hill asked, "She going to be alright, Barton?"

"What she did for you, it drains her, mentally and physically. She just needs time to bounce back."

An alarm went off, reminding the group that it was past time to go. Cameron rushed to shut it off. "The storm's clearing. Ross's troops are on the move, Cap."

Motioning to the lift, Steve shouted, "Everyone to the quinjet!"

Cameron looked down at the imposter. "What about her?"

Hill stepped between Steve and Cameron. "I have an idea."

~~O~~

Whatever Wanda did to fix Hill had taken a great toll. Clint lifted her in his arms, and stood. Natasha asked a question with her eyes, and he responded with a shrug. She called the lift, and everyone but Steve and Hill piled on.

The super-soldier easily picked up the imposter, and carried her the lifts that would take them to the psych ward. Clint had an idea what would happen, but didn't want to spoil the surprise.

Sam peered between the closing doors. "Where're they taking her?"

"Making sure she can't call for help before Ross and his Stormtroopers get here."

The lift came to a stop on the hangar deck. Scott gave the outside of the quinjet a quick once-over, in awe at the technology. "I'd love to fly one of these."

Clint passed him with Wanda, standing at the top of the ramp while Natasha and Sam spread several blankets on the floor. "You're a pilot?"

Scott flashed him a sheepish grin. "Always wanted to learn."

"We can do that. Later. We gotta get this bird in the air." He left Wanda in Scott and Natasha's care, and went forward to speak to T'Challa.

Cameron lagged behind to have a few words with his friend before they left. As long as he made it back by the time Hill and Steve showed up, there wouldn't be a problem.

~~O~~

"Thanks for your help, Pete," Cameron told his friend. "It's a good thing Plan A worked because we didn't have a Plan B."

"No problem." The two friends shared a quick hug. As Cameron headed for the door to the security office, Peter said, "You forgot something."

One hand on the open door, Cameron shook his head. "I can't. Make something up. We forced you to help. Anything."

Peter shook his head. "Won't work, pal. It's gotta be done."

Steve and Hill came jogging down the hall together, stopping at the entrance to the security office. "Something wrong, Cam?" Steve asked.

"No, sir. It's just…"

Crossing his arms, and leaning against the desk, Peter pointed his chin at Cameron. "He's too much of a wimp to hit me so it'll look like I was knocked out too."

Curious, Hill stepped into the office. "Hit you? Why?"

"So no one suspects I hel-"

Rubbing the knuckles of her right hand, Hill looked down at the unconscious man, and sighed. "I feel so much better now."

Steve stuck his head in the door. "We done here?"

"One more thing." Cameron took a CD from one of his pockets, dropped it into the slot provided on the console, and tapped a few commands into the system. "Once we're good and gone, that will reboot the entire security system, leaving no trace that we were here except for the missing prisoners and unconscious personnel. Then the disc will disintegrate." He jogged alongside Hill out to the quinjet. "Where's, uh…"

"Sleeping it off. Anyone know who she works for?"

Steve called out over his shoulder, "One guess: HYDRA."

Natasha came to join them as they all strapped into jump seats. "But you'd be wrong. She's KGB, and a bit of a legend. Deep, deep cover. So deep, she's given plastic surgery each time she takes an assignment, though she's not usually under quite this long, and they usually kill the original."

From beside the cockpit, Clint called out, "My guess is there's some kind of shake-up going on with the KGB, and she hasn't been able to get in touch with her handler until recently."

Mumbling a few choice words under his breath, Cameron cast a glance at Hill, and moved to a seat that faced the front. Clint acted as if he hadn't heard, though T'Challa chuckled.

~~O~~

If Cameron thought changing his seat would save him, Hill mused, he was sadly mistaken. She followed, taking the one next to him, and strapping in. To avoid looking her, he took out a tablet, and pretended to work.

Once they were in the air, Hill took the tablet, and placed it out of his reach. "Talk."

"About what, ma'am?"

The man was a terrible liar. Worse than Steve. "The fake me. There's something you're not telling us. Spill it."

"Um…" The look on his face said he'd rather be almost anywhere other than where he was at the moment. "We, uh… She and I… Well, we were…"

Leaning into the conversation, Sam snorted. "What he's trying not to say is they were sleeping together. The fake Hill and Geek-boy over there."

Cameron's mouth closed with a snap. He swallowed nervously, and wouldn't let his eyes meet hers or Sam's. "How did… I mean… What…"

Clint ambled over, casting a glance at T'Challa then back to Cameron. "Dude! You slept with a KGB agent? Brave man."

Anyone could see that Cameron was annoyed, frustrated, and even a little perturbed with the turn in the conversation, as evidenced by his blurted, "How was I supposed to know she was KGB? Alright? There. I said it. Is everyone happy?!" He crossed his arms, and huffed, his voice low. "I thought she was…"

"You thought she was me," Hill finished for him.

Reluctantly, he nodded. "Yeah. And when she, uh… I was flattered that someone like her, I mean you, uh…"

The bantering atmosphere vanished in less than a heartbeat when T'Challa announce, "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a problem."

Steve unbuckled and went to stand next to Clint, who continued to lurk in the cockpit. Hill joined them on the other side. "Bogies?"

"Not even close, my friends." T'Challa flipped a couple of switches, and a woman's voice filled the cabin.

"Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! This is Reveka Pitcura on board the Raft high-security prison at…" she rattled off a set of coordinates. "We've experienced several explosions, and are taking on water. We have twenty-three souls onboard."

The distress call repeated until Clint reached over to shut it off. "Klein, could something we did have set off the self-destruct?"

"Absolutely not. Never even touched those programs."

Steve uncrossed his arms, and planted his feet shoulder-width apart. Hill recognized it as his "clearing for action" stance. "We have to help them. How many can we fit on board?"

Clint snorted. "All of them, but we don't have time to backtrack, and hunt them all down. And what if they're trapped below decks? We need another solution."

From the back, a weary voice spoke. "We do." Wanda got to her feet, swaying through a dizzy spell. Scott supported her with an arm around her waist, and she flashed him a tired smile.

As their leader, it was up to Steve to make the decision, though Hill got the sense that Wanda would work her magic with or without his permission.

"You don't have to do this, Wanda. We can figure something out."

"By then it will be too late." Glancing at the ship's controls, Hill saw that T'Challa hadn't waited for a consensus before heading back toward the Raft. "Get as close as you can without endangering the ship, your highness."

The monarch complied with her directive, saying over his shoulder, "Are you certain you're up to it, Ms. Maximoff?"

The telepath glanced at Clint as she moved to the top of the ramp. "It's my job." Scott stayed at her side, one hand poised over the hatch controls. He gave Wanda's hand a squeeze, and hit the control when she nodded.

Wind and rain buffeted the quinjet making it difficult for T'Challa to keep it steady. Clint and Steve moved to Wanda's other side, ready for anything.

~~O~~

Wanda sensed Steve and Clint's presence, and at the same time, she felt the faith the others had in her abilities. It gave her strength to do what she had to, knowing she had their support.

The wind blew the rain into the ship, making the ramp wet and slippery, but she wouldn't be deterred. Closing her eyes so she could focus, Wanda drew on the last of her reserves, cupped her hands, and made a grasping motion at the Raft undulating with the waves.

She opened her eyes as red mist flowed from her fingertips, getting lost in the darkness caused by the omnipresent storm. Raising her arms, she watched the Raft slowly lift out of the water. Over her shoulder, she shouted, "Where should I put it?"

As if he were perusing the offerings at a gift shop, T'Challa remarked, "I have the perfect place. Think you can hold it a few minutes?"

"I will try." Her voice sounded strained, even to herself.

Clint grinned. "That's my girl."

~~O~~

Standing beside Wanda, Scott thought about sending her a mental message of support, though she might not get it, and if she did, it could distract her. And that would be bad.

As if she were lifting a heavy weight, she bent her knees, and grunted with the strain, ignoring the rain and wind. It felt like a long time before Hill called out, "Almost there!"

She didn't bother replying. All her attention was on keeping the enormous structure in the air. Hoping to help somewhat, Scott softly said, "You can do it, Wanda!"

A moment later, she yelped when her prison slippers slipped on the slick surface of the ramp, sending her sliding toward the open hatch.

Scott yelled, "Wanda!" and dived after her on his stomach, his hand closing on her wrist, stopping her from falling off the edge. Clint had done the same, catching her other hand. But their forward momentum didn't stop. Rain and wind lashed all three, as Wanda's feet dangled off the end of the ramp. Scott knew, that as cold as it was, if they fell into the water, they would be dead of hypothermia within minutes. Then suddenly, they jerked to a stop. He looked back, and Steve had a hold of his left ankle and Clint's right.

The super-soldier inched backwards until Natasha, and Hill could help Scott, Clint, and Wanda back into the ship. The telepath immediately turned around, and the red mist shot out of her fingertips to catch the Raft seconds before it hit the water.

The three men stayed close by in case she fell again, and she sent them a mental thanks. This being the first time Scott had experienced her powers in such a personal manner, he inhaled sharply, and exhaled again, muttering under his breath, "Man, that was weird."

"Three minutes to base, Ms. Maximoff."

"They're scrambling fighters." Over his shoulder, Clint called out, "We need to drop this thing, and go before they shoot us out of the sky."

Hill's smirk could be heard in her voice as they listened to the chatter from the base. "I don't think they like unexpected guests."

Cameron surprised everyone by quipping, "We should've called first."

Without responding to the banter, Wanda held the Raft steady as T'Challa turned the quinjet so the hatch was facing the shore. "Tell them to clear a place for it."

Into the comm, Clint said, "Your friendly neighborhood Avengers are on approach two-niner-seven north. Clear the runways, boys and girls. We've got a wide load to drop."

Clint chuckled at the stream of curse words coming from the speakers in Ross's voice, responding with, "I've been called worse by my best friend, Mr. Secretary. Just make sure those runways are clear of personnel and vehicles." To Wanda, he said, "Okay, malenkaya de'votshka. Set 'er down."

One side of her mouth turned up. "Da, pápochka."

As gently as possible in the strong winds, Wanda set the Raft on the runway, and within seconds, hundreds of troops were swarming the area, all armed. They backed away as water drained from the Raft's ballast tanks.

Steve, Clint, Sam, Scott, Wanda, and Natasha stood at the top of the ramp, flipped the troops a mocking salute, and Scott closed the hatch before they could get it into their heads to shoot at them.

"This is U.S. Secretary of State Ross. You are under arrest for violating the Sokovian Accords, theft of UN property, violating military airspace, kidnapping, aiding and abetting fugitives, instigating a jail break, endangering a minor, corruption of a minor, and a host of other offenses. You are hereby ordered to land on the south runway, shut down your engines, and remain inside your craft to be taken into custody. Do you copy?"

Steve came forward to respond to Ross's commands. "No can do, Mr. Secretary. We have a previous engagement." He shut off the comm. "Best speed to Wakanda, please, your highness. And take the scenic route so our friends don't get any ideas about following us."

More tired than she can ever remember being, Wanda swayed on her feet. After the fight with Ultron and his army in Sokovia, she slept for twelve hours, and probably would again today. She took two steps, and passed out.

~~O~~

Scott caught Wanda before she could fall, and carried her to the bed of blankets, but when he tried to put her down, she wrapped her arms around his neck, snuggled closer, refusing to let go. She lay her head on his shoulder so he could feel her warm breath on him, even as they both shivered from the soaking they'd received. They really needed to get out of the wet clothes, but that wouldn't fly with Clint.

Hill saw the two of them shivering, and rushed to arrange the blankets against the bulkhead so he could sit down, which he did, carefully. He motioned, and Hill tucked one of the blankets over both of them.

The body heat that the two of them generated together had a soporific effect, and though he tried hard to stay awake, he too was soon asleep.

TBC

Da, Pápochka = Yes, Father

Malenkaya de'votshka = Little girl