Author's Notes: Many thanks to all my readers for their support these past few difficult months. The light at the end of the tunnel has appeared: I have a job offer! Still much paperwork to get done, but I finally feel like I'm heading back towards a normal routine of working for a living. Your encouragement has meant the world to me.

Previous Chapter Recap: Tony took the stand in support of letting Bucky and Wanda stay together in the aftermath of Bucky's traumatic return of his memories, and this time, the International Criminal Court agreed. The prosecution, defense, and Court experts prepared their reports, only for the prosecution expert to jump ship and determine Bucky was not responsible for his actions as the Winter Soldier. Once the Court's expert reached the same conclusion, the Court dismissed its case against Bucky. Our heroes' joy was short-lived, as an unidentified space craft appeared on an approach to Earth, and the Avengers assembled to face an unknown interstellar visitor. As chaos erupted, Senators Kelly and Nadeer tried to sneak in to arrest Bucky, only for Steve to finally lose his temper and loudly tell them off.

Chapter Forty-Five

As the Wakandan shuttle took off from The Hague, Tony was beside himself. "I have never seen Captain America go apeshit before!"

Steve just felt drained, but Bucky smirked. "Oh, Stark, I promise you, you still haven't. Just now was only a warm-up."

"I gotta hear that story."

"After we deal with the minor issue of the incoming spacecraft," Steve told them, getting jeers and mock-protests, but he was struggling not to grin. He ignored Tony, Bucky, and Sam, and turned to T'Challa. "So, tell us about your space tech, and please tell me you can get a good look at that thing before it gets into orbit?"

"Like most other Earthly technology, our telescopes didn't identify it as a constructed vessel until it left the asteroid belt," said T'Challa, scanning a report. "But now that they have a fix on it, we should have very clear images by the time we land in four hours."

"What's happening outside?" asked Rhodey. "Are we looking at worldwide panic?"

"Ah…" T'Challa wrinkled his nose at his tablet.

"Yes," said Okoye. "Especially in America."

Rhodey turned to Steve. "I'm thinking I may be more useful back home. The Bunt administration and the pro-Accords faction aren't going to be able to pull it together for the country. But if things look bad and we decide to make a stand in Wakanda, I'm there."

"I think you're right," Steve agreed.

T'Challa gestured to a circular panel in the shuttle floor. "Stand there in your armor, and you will have the clearance to launch below us."

Rhodey whooped as he was dropped below the shuttle, but as Tony and Steve anxiously watched, War Machine's rockets ignited, and he blasted away on a westward course.

"What's the next step?" asked Sam.

"We should at least try to make contact," said Steve. "But whether we do it directly from Wakanda is your decision. I believe you about your defenses, but how will you and your people feel about drawing the direct attention of a spacegoing vessel with capabilities beyond any on Earth? ...any known, anyway," he added dryly.

"I'll speak to my Taifa Ngao as soon as we arrive," the king said. "My inclination is the same as yours, and if the aliens are hostile, Bast forbid, Wakanda is in the best position to repel them. But my people should know and have the chance to make their feelings known, as you say."

Steve nodded. "The rest of us should start conferences with NASA and the UN while you do that, to work on global preparations."

"I quite agree. We will set you up secure links to any international authority you wish. I should have an official position from Wakanda quickly; my people will understand the need for swift decision-making."

"Glad to hear that; Congress'll still be dithering after the aliens have invaded," muttered Sam.

"Either that or just shooting off more nukes," added Tony. His phone buzzed, and he muttered on it for a minute. "That's Scott Lang. He's just broken out of his ankle monitor and got on a flight to Nairobi. Nobody even tried to stop him."

T'Challa smiled. "Tell him we'll send a shuttle to pick him up."

They landed to find Wakanda in chaos, but the chaos was a bit more organized and controlled than in the rest of the world. People were anxious, hurrying to secure their homes and businesses, constantly talking on their kimoyo beads with their families, giving instructions, listening to reports. Doctors rushed to complete as many treatments as they could while security forces moved to strengthen defenses around the hospitals and bunkers where some patients were already being evacuated.

"My king has ordered the country to perform our highest-level security drill: preparations for an imminent strike of unknown intensity," one of T'Challa's aides explained as they set the Avengers up in a war room. "That we might some day come under open attack has been imagined for centuries, and since the dawn of the nuclear age, we've made plans for it. Our above-ground buildings are preparing to evacuate below-ground and outside Birnin Zana, foodstuffs and other essential supplies are being placed, all defenses coming online."

"And by contrast, all hell's breaking loose back home," said the newly-arrived Scott. He'd brought his daughter and ex-wife with him.

"I can't believe we're on the other side of the planet," Maggie Paxton kept murmuring, keeping a death grip on her daughter.

"Hey, you know I didn't do this for any bad reason," Scott told her. "Even Jim was all for it. Maggie's husband's a cop," he added to the group. "He's staying on duty, but thinks the U.S. is screwed if that ship is hostile. President Bunt's talking about launching missiles within the next 24 hours."

"Shit," Steve chorused with half the team.

Tony folded his arms. "I can stop that." They all looked at him. "After Ultron, I built a special little failsafe based on what Jarvis had done to keep Ultron out of the nuclear codes. Vision and I can re-encrypt every damn code on the planet. Prevent preemptive strikes or a potshot at Wakanda."

Princess Shuri came in. "Wakanda also has that ability, Mr. Stark, but I'm pleased to hear there could be more than one suspect for such interference. Avengers, the Taifa Ngao are in agreement with our king, that as Wakanda has the strongest defenses and the most diverse communications capability, we should attempt first contact."

"Really? All of your council?" Steve asked.

Shuri smirked. "I didn't say they were unanimous, but there is a majority." Nor did she say the majority was overwhelming. Steve supposed this was the best that could be hoped for in a situation like this.

A few Avengers smiled as Shuri gently introduced herself to Maggie and Cassie and welcomed them to Wakanda in the name of the king. "I couldn't just dump them in a group of strangers when we got here," Scott said. "Maggie was freaking out."

"I can't blame her," said Clint. "We're still dealing with information overload. Once the king's free, we can introduce her to Laura and the kids, and they can stick with the other palace guests."

"Works for me."

T'Challa arrived at the same moment as Minister Jelani and Laura Barton. Clint made a gentle but hurried introduction and didn't mince words when Maggie blurted, "I didn't know any Avengers were married!"

"There's a reason for that; all that moving around you had to do two years ago was because Zemo sent thirty men after my family. I trust very few people with the fact that they even exist," Clint said.

Maggie gulped, her arm around her daughter, but both of them nodded. "I understand. I'll never - not even to my husband."

"Thanks. Laura's been here since then. We've got to get down to work, figure out how to handle this."

But Cassie was watching T'Challa and piped up, "You're not gonna shoot at the aliens without trying to talk to them first, are you?!"

Scott winced, but Steve, T'Challa, and the others grinned. "Of course not, Miss Lang."

"Off you go now," Shuri urged, and with a call of "I love you, Daddy!" Cassie let her mother tug her from the room.

"Sorry, your highnesses," said Scott, though he was trying not to grin too.

"No apologies necessary - your daughter does have a point many others have made," said T'Challa. "Now, I understand NASA and other space programs have detected no radio signals from the vessel, but there are other means of communication we can explore to determine if they may be trying to send a message to us." He nodded to a technician. "We're starting the scans now. What is the situation outside Wakanda?"

"Stock markets were in a free fall until everyone remembered to close them," said Scott. "Riots and looting are widespread in the U.S. I saw Rhodes and Pepper Potts on the emergency channel at the airport, telling people there are enough supplies in the U.S. for everyone. But, half the problem is distribution. People are afraid it won't be equitable."

"People're damn right about that," said Sam. "President fucking Bunt's making no bones about sending supplies to the states and cities of his support strongholds first."

Steve couldn't hold back a growl. "I've got Stark Relief International on it," said Tony. "Employees can put their families in the depot bunkers while they work, so we're at full manpower worldwide. I told the National Guard if they even sneeze at any of my crews, I'm coming in armor. The Iron Legions are mobilized worldwide doing deliveries, giving instructions in local languages."

"That, I've heard," said T'Challa. "And my war dogs notice many of the public prefer to take instructions from your personnel than their governments - in multiple nations, even those where sentiment towards the Avengers has been less than friendly."

Tony shrugged. "Not exactly a suit of armor around the world, and what'll it mean if E.T. is hostile?"

"It will mean millions have received survival supplies and consistent instructions, and that those people will be calmer for it, Tony. You've done a good thing."

"Amen," said Steve.

Even Scott chimed in. "Y'know, people are listening to Pepper Potts and War Machine stateside more than anything the Bunt administration has had to say."

"I'll probably regret asking, but what does the Bunt administration have to say?" asked Sam.

Tony snorted. "You can probably guess: it's the invasion from Independence Day, we're gonna nuke 'em out of the sky, 'murica first, lock somebody up, send somebody back to their country - so far he's gone through Cap, Barnes, Wallace, T'Challa, and the entire International Criminal Court."

"Figures. How is first contact coming?"

"We're about to begin sending signals if you want to join me."

They gathered in a communication room Steve hadn't seen before - wall-to-wall screens showing reports and connections all over the world - and five or six that were clearly about to be activated.

One of them showed a war room somewhere in the U.S., where President Bunt was caterwauling, "Tell those Africans they're NOT authorized, NOT authorized to try to contact the aliens! America's leading this!"

Steve managed not to groan or look too scornful, though several of his team (and most of the Wakandans) scoffed aloud. "Can he see us?"

"No," T'Challa smirked. "But we've done him and other world leaders the courtesy of letting them know our plan. We are discussing the wording with those who've politely objected to Wakanda doing this alone."

Wanda peered at the statement Prince Jakarra was writing, translating the Wakandan into English with ease. "'The peoples of Planet Earth make greetings to the visitors to our solar system. We are...anxious'?"

"We should not show fear!" Several men and women on other screens chorused.

"'Hopeful,'" said Jakarra and changed the word. "'We hope to establish a peaceful and mutually beneficial friendship with you, but know that the defense of this planet and its people is our first priority.'"

"I like that," said Sam. "Succinct. To the point."

"FYI, guys, Bunt and Dobson in the UK are putting together a much more aggressive opening message," Tony warned. "Identify themselves and stand down immediately, or we will respond with force, 'murica, yada yada yada."

"Shit," growled Sam.

"Germany prefers the Wakandan message," announced an official on one of the screens.

"As does Japan."

Other ambassadors and even some presidents and prime ministers chimed in, making the majority of people Wakanda was in touch with. "You might want to hurry, so our message gets to them before Bunt's," Sam suggested.

T'Challa and his ministers exchanged a long look, then T'Challa nodded. "Begin transmissions. Translate into as many languages as possible, by as many frequencies and signal forms as we have."

"Transmitting," said one of the technicians.

T'Challa, Jakarra, and Avengers stepped back. "Now we wait," murmured Jakarra. He glanced around. "Where is Bucky Barnes?"

Steve blinked and looked around, but Bucky wasn't in evidence. T'Challa answered, "With Wanda Maximoff back at the guest houses." He smiled at Steve. "The Queen Mother wishes to meet him once this crisis is over."

"Ah." On one hand, Steve was glad of anyone who wasn't scared of Bucky, especially someone as prominent as the Queen Mother of Wakanda. It was galling to see how many people shrank away from Bucky in public. On the other hand, Buck was still so easily overwhelmed - no doubt that was why he and Wanda hadn't joined the crowd in the control room.

Then there was a squeal from a speaker, and everyone jumped. "We have a signal returning!"

"You sure it isn't a bounceback?" asked Sam, though he and Scott were hovering over the techs' shoulders.

"No, this is definitely a separate signal with a distant origin..." Vision began, closing his eyes.

First it was just noise as Wakanda's computers and Vision's brain tried to complete the connection, then a voice emerged from the squawks and chirps of the signals. "Earth, you read us? Seriously, why doesn't this thing have a basic radio signal, we'd be - Earth? Hello? Hey, don't fire on us, we're unarmed! It's Bruce Banner!"

Every Avenger in the room froze. "Bruce?!" Nat blurted.

T'Challa gaped for a moment, then grinned broadly and beckoned to them. Even Tony was too shell-shocked to speak, so it fell to Steve to grab the microphone. "Banner, it's Steve Rogers! How the hell - I mean - where - how - dammit, who's on that ship and what're you doing on that ship?!"

Bruce laughed. "Long story, Cap, believe me - hang on, it's better in person anyway. Now that we've got a fix on you, we'll be there in just a second!"

"Wait, what?"

"My king! The shield is penetrated!" shouted Okoye.

They all looked out the window to see the prismatic shimmer of the Bifrost dissipating around a familiar form – no, make that two familiar forms. Tony went sprinting outside with Avengers and Wakandans crowding behind him. "Seriously?! You two ran off to Asgard and it never occurred to either of you to call home?!"

"Please, Tony, Bruce and I - " Thor began.

"And what's with the new haircut and eyepatch?!"

Befuddled by Tony's rapid-fire chatter, Thor glanced past him and eyed Steve. "It's been some time, I know. I see Steve has copied my beard."

Steve shrugged and grinned. Bruce was staring at Nat. Nat was staring back. "Awkward..." murmured Sam.

"Y'know we were this close to giving you up for dead," Nat remarked.

Bruce grimaced. "I swear, it wasn't on purpose, and it's a really long story..." He gazed around at the unfamiliar buildings. "Where the hell are we?"

"You are in Wakanda, Dr. Banner," said T'Challa.

"Wakanda?!" Bruce did a double-take at their surroundings. "I didn't...wow!"

"Ahem. Thor, Bruce, this is King T'Challa," said Steve.

"Oh, uh, it's an honor...this is King Thor of Asgard." Bruce affected a sort of half-bow, but T'Challa raised a hand, very much in king mode despite the strangers being Avengers.

"Please, please, we don't do that here. However, I must point out that you've entered my country without permission, which is forbidden."

Steve froze, imagining Thor's reaction - king now, really? Damn, that must have meant Odin was gone. However, their now-eyepatched Asgardian surprised everyone. Rather than take umbrage at T'Challa's admonition, Thor sketched a courtly bow. "In that case, my most humble apologies, T'Challa, king of Wakanda. I sometimes forget the number of realms throughout the Earth, and merely sought to arrive near my friends. I will depart at once if you bid me do so."

T'Challa's lips quirked, but Princess Shuri grinned outright. "Outmaneuvered," she whispered.

Ah, so that was the situation - kings trying to outdo each other in displays of manners and grace. Steve let himself smile. T'Challa said, "That won't be necessary. As King of Wakanda and your fellow Avenger, you and Dr. Banner are welcomed to Wakanda." He held out a hand.

"Fellow Avenger indeed! You honor me, friend and shield-brother!" Thor grasped T'Challa's wrist, and Tony let out an exaggerated sigh of relief.

"So..." Bruce looked around again, now scanning the Avengers' faces (doing a double-take at Steve's - was the beard really that shocking?!). "What'd we miss?"


"Broke up?!" Bruce was stunned. "What, like a band, like - like the Beatles?"

"Yeah, uh, the point is, we worked it out, and here we are," Tony said hastily. Steve nodded. "All's, uh, pretty much forgiven."

Bruce had no doubt they were leaving a lot out. Then again, a lot could happen in this much time. Apparently, the U.S. now had a racist talk show host as President and said President was caterwauling protests over Wakanda acting "without my permission" even though the rest of the world was celebrating the news that the ship wasn't hostile. The expanded Avengers were all talking a mile a minute to bring Bruce up to speed, but Bruce noted the times that everyone seemed to speed up or gloss over something. He'd have to do some digging later.

In Wakanda, now the Avengers were free to celebrate the exoneration of Steve's formerly-amnesic best friend, though they all remained anxious about whether the American courts would follow suit.

Bucky Barnes was quiet in a way that strangers might deem mere shyness, but Bruce knew that tired, haunted look - he'd seen his own version of it in plenty of mirrors. So Bruce shook the former Winter Soldier's hand warmly when Steve introduced them. "It's great to meet you, Sergeant."

"Bucky. I've heard a lot about you, Dr. Banner."

"Bucky it is. And call me Bruce." Bruce was surprised to see Wanda Maximoff at Bucky's elbow - and more surprised by her appearance. She looked exhausted and...weakened, for lack of a better description. She'd lost weight, looked a lot paler than he remembered - and she hadn't exactly been tan before. He started to pretend all was fine, then caught the wry twist to her mouth and belatedly remembered she was a telepath. "Sorry."

She chuckled and shook his hand. "No apology necessary for thinking; I know I look half-dead. It's a long story."

"You okay?"

"Recovering." She didn't say from what, so Bruce decided not to ask. He had a feeling he'd find out soon enough and have to fight to keep the Other Guy from causing an incident on foreign soil. She shook her head. "You can ask, it's just literally a long story." Interestingly, Bucky put a hand on her shoulder, and she leaned slightly against him. Bruce looked around for her brother, and then she winced. "Oh...I guess you didn't see, back in Sokovia."

It sank in, and Bruce stammered, "Oh...oh, hell, I didn't know. I'm so sorry." She tried and failed to smile at him, and quickly left, Bucky hurrying after her. "Damn. I really did miss a lot. So it's 2020 now? My God. It didn't feel like five years being a gladiator on Sakarr."

"Being a what?!" Tony exclaimed. "Okay...maybe they're all long stories, but I really think we need a full recap."

"Right back at you," he retorted, grinning.

But they did all sit down. Even the king of Wakanda joined in. Somebody found Bruce a tablet so he could scan through current/recent events while they all talked.

Three hours later, it was a toss-up of who was most flabbergasted and/or dismayed. "Asgard's...gone?" Steve breathed.

"Alas, our ancestral land is no more," Thor sighed. "But her people live, despite our losses, and as long as we live, Asgard lives."

Clint caught onto what they weren't saying: "Loki's with you, isn't he?"

Dead silence. Thor and Bruce avoided his eyes.

T'Challa said slowly, "I have great sympathy for a people displaced from their home. However, the numbers you bring could not be absorbed by Wakanda alone. Our country is simply too small, and many of my people would be very wary of such a thing. And I cannot allow Loki of Asgard to enter Wakandan soil, given his past actions on Earth."

"Loki is aware that he won't be welcomed here," said Thor hastily. "He remains on the ship."

But Tony wasn't satisfied. "Were you planning on mentioning you were bringing a psychotic would-be despot back to our planet?"

That demanding tone rankled Bruce a lot in light of the background reading of the past few years. Bruce slowly turned his tablet around to reveal a PDF of the Sokovia Accords and glared at Tony. "Were you planning on mentioning you signed on to a genocidal international treaty written by the bastard who wanted me in a cage and put everyone who refused in prison?"

Dead silence. Again.

Steve started to say, "Bruce, it's in the - "

"Cap, shut up. I'm asking him." Bruce stared Tony down. "Tony…What. The. Hell." Tony looked like a deer in the headlights, but Bruce couldn't conjure up a lot of sympathy. "Thunderbolt Ross. You signed on with him."

"No." Steve broke in again and jerked away when Sam tried to elbow him. "Not like this. If you want to talk about it, it should be in private, not with all of us as spectators."

Thor and Natasha hissed as Bruce leaned forward, but Bruce wasn't going to turn green - probably. "He made you a fugitive, Steve, how the hell can you defend that?!"

"Because Ross manipulated us both! He got the mother of a kid who died in Sokovia to ambush Tony, and - and he - " Bruce stared, startled by the frantic way Steve suddenly looked away. "The day he came to the Compound, he had – shit, sorry..."

Natasha sighed and put a hand on Steve's arm. "Actually, this won't work as a private conversation, but Steve's right. The rest of us have said our peace on this, so we don't get to dogpile on Tony again. Bruce...brace yourself, it gets worse. A lot worse."

Bruce nodded. "Okay. Relax, I'm not happy, but the Other Guy's okay."

Steve had gotten his voice under control and said tightly, "He had Peggy Carter murdered. I got the news right after he told us about the Accords."

Bruce had thought he knew the depths Ross would sink to. It seemed he'd been way off. Sweet Jesus. "My God. I'm so sorry, Steve."

Steve took a deep breath. "He was hoping I'd sign on without looking too close. I didn't, but...I was out of the picture at a crucial moment. We didn't...Peggy's niece found out more than a year later that it was murder and traced it all the way back to Ross. We only found out then that the woman who confronted Tony about her son's death in Sokovia was instigated by Ross too. He doctored reports on a disaster during a mission to get more countries to sign on. We all made our share of bad calls as a result."

"I fucked up," Tony said quietly. Bruce looked at him. "I did. I've said it to them already, I'll say it to you. I never should've supported the Accords."

Bruce had to admit...he hadn't quite expected that. While he was still digesting it, T'Challa added, "Tony was not the only one to make the wrong decision in those moments. My father and I too allowed ourselves to be deceived - or simply deceived ourselves - and signed our entire nation onto an act of genocide. You have a right to be angry, Dr. Banner, but know that many people made the wrong choice in this."

Rhodey raised a finger. "Me too. I was all for it, and I knew what kind of man Thunderbolt Ross was."

God, that stung. Bruce had always liked Rhodey. What the hell had they been thinking?!

He needed to think. "I need to take a walk – uh, if that's okay, your highness," he added to T'Challa.

"By all means. Please, take that tablet with you. The palace gardens are entirely open to you, and the staff will prepare another guest house. Feel free to ask for more information from me," said the king. He looked at Thor, then frowned. "My apologies, Thor, would you also like a tablet? It didn't occur to me how accustomed to our technology you might be."

"My thanks, I'm reasonably proficient with your tablets by now. I'm eager to learn what's transpired on Earth since we've been gone, but I must also make inquiries about whether my people would be permitted to settle here."

"Come with me. I have an extensive communications network."

The team drifted uncomfortably apart as Bruce walked away. He could've sworn he felt Tony watching him.

For a while he just wandered the gardens - even in January, it was only the slightest bit nippy as evening arrived, and there were lots of plants blooming. It was soothing, especially when he realized nobody on the other side of the fence could see him.

Just clear your head, Banner, clear your head. Other Guy was ever-present, but mostly calm. You had your glory days, Champ. Give me a few years now. Other Guy grumbled.

Tony wouldn't have done it out of malice, especially not malice for Bruce. Just like neither of us built Ultron out of malice. Tony was scared. I didn't realize how scared, didn't know about what Wanda Maximoff made him see until after.

It really was just like Tony - an impulsive, knee-jerk reaction to something that had stabbed him in the heart. God only knew what Ross's friend had said to him.

Speaking of Wanda Maximoff, Bruce spotted her in a wide lounger on a terrace...asleep on Bucky Barnes' chest. He stood there in surprise until Bucky noticed Bruce and gave a sheepish grin. Curiosity got the better of Bruce, and he ambled a little closer.

"No, we're not an item," Bucky said before Bruce could come up with anything to say. "Vicariously experiencing explosive recall from seventy years of Hydra captivity creates a sort of bond."

"I can't imagine and don't want to," said Bruce, and sat down in an empty chair. Wanda hadn't even stirred. "She's out like a light."

Bucky signed and rubbed her shoulders. She just snuggled him. "She has nightmares. She feels better with physical contact."

This was a far cry from the Wanda Maximoff who'd barely been trustworthy enough to bring to Sokovia against Ultron. Bruce had no idea what had happened to her during that battle other than her brother dying. What must that have done to her?

She twitched, and he leaned away, turning his attention to Steve's hundred-year-old, brainwashed friend. "I saw...there's some information about you, uh, and Tony."

Barnes lowered his eyes. "I'm not surprised. I assume you know why."

Maria Stark died of asphyxiation, now deemed likely to have been deliberate rather than caused by the accident, the article had said. Howard Stark died of blunt force trauma, but the coroner has reexamined the notes from 1991 and made an initial revision that such injuries could have resulted from a beating as described in Barnes' testimony.

What must Tony have felt when that Zemo character sprang that on him? "That's what caused this 'civil war'?" Bruce asked.

"I'm what caused this 'civil war.'" Bucky murmured, staring into the distance.

Bruce sighed. "Look, I'm still getting up to speed, but I really don't think so. If even half of what I've read so far is true, you're the least responsible of all - and I've only read a fraction to keep my Other Guy from showing up."

He got no reaction at all. At a second look, he didn't think Bucky could hear him anymore. Damn.

Wanda woke with a start and sat up, looking anxiously at Bucky. "He kind of...zoned out," said Bruce. "PTSD?"

Wanda nodded and sighed. "It happens a lot now that everything's back. It - it happens to me too. I tell him not to blame himself for it."

"You've got everything that happened to him?" Bruce asked in dismay. She nodded. My God. You poor kid.

Bucky shook his head and squinted at them, mumbling "Sorry," but let Wanda pull him into a hug.

"You've got nothing to apologize for," Bruce told him. "Ultron was Tony and me, and if I understand Zemo's motives right, that was his beef, not the Winter Soldier."

Bucky didn't seem to hear him - again. Wanda whispered something to him, and he sank back on the chair more obediently than Bruce would've expected, staring into the distance. She rested her hand on his temple, and before Bruce could make a getaway, she stood up and came toward him.

"I try to respect it when he tells me to leave him alone," she muttered sourly.

Bruce chuckled. "Yeah, instinct is to hover. You're not alone in that."

She bit her lip, then said hesitantly, "Dr. Banner - "

" - Bruce," he corrected her.

"Bruce," she confirmed, staring at the ground. "I never...before we went back to Sokovia, I should have, but...I never apologized for what I did to you. For what I forced you to do; it was so unspeakably cruel. I knew it would put innocent people in danger but I did it anyway. Everything that happened after...the blood of Johannesburg is on my hands, not yours."

Bruce sighed. "I could choke the life out of you without changing a shade," he'd said. "I didn't have the chance to learn all the facts."

"No, you didn't," Wanda agreed, but didn't seem comforted. "But I did. I ignored the facts, and you were just one of thousands who paid the price."

He considered that, then stepped closer and put a hand on her shoulder. "You know I can't speak for anyone except myself." She nodded, still looking at the ground, and tears slid from her closed eyes. "But for myself, I forgive you. Everything I've read says you've done nothing but good since then. You changed sides before your brother died; that was no small thing. To say nothing of what you've done since." He gave her shoulder a squeeze. "What you're carrying…I can't take that load off, we both know that. But put me and Hulk down." She nodded, her chin wobbly, and he dared to tweak it a little. He thought that got a smile out of her. "C'mon, I'm still catching up after four years of hitchhiking the galaxy. Help bring me up to speed."


Tony paced miles around the no-longer-aptly-named war rooms listening to T'Challa and Thor talking various world leaders down and broaching the issue of Asgard's need to resettle five thousand people. The prevaricating in response was pretty funny – a few small nations like Wakanda declined outright, while other leaders hemmed and hawed, pondering both the burdens and potential advantages of a bunch of superhumans on their soil.

At first, Tony just watched and made the occasional snide remark...until a bunch of neo-Nazis released a statement joyously welcoming the Aesir as "the true gods and examples of the nobility of the white race" and demanding their various countries admit the refugees.

Tony started forward, as did T'Challa, but Thor raised a hand. "This group seems to be of the mistaken impression that all Aesir have the same color of skin - and harbor delusions that such things demonstrate superiority. I'm well aware of the mission of these self-proclaimed 'aryans' and can speak for all of Asgard when I say that we would never lower ourselves to associate with such vile and fetid examples of humanity."

Tony grinned and leaned back, as did T'Challa. Prince Jakarra waited until Thor had finished typing his statement out onto several tweets, then exclaimed, "There are black Asgardians?"

"Oh, yes, of course. We resemble the people of nearly every race and nation found on Earth…" Thor trailed off, then sighed. "Or, we did. Only a fraction of us live still. Entire families were wiped out in Ragnarok."

"I don't understand. Ragnarok is an event known in Earth mythology for the Norse gods, but you say it has just happened," Jakarra mused.

"Ragnarok refers literally to the end of Asgard's ancient home, the birthplace of the Aesir. We've spoken of it in our own myths and prophecies just as humans speak of Armageddon and the apocalypse." Thor stared off into the distance, and T'Challa gave his younger brother a quick gesture.

No need to question whether Asgardians can get PTSD, Tony thought.

The door opened, and when they all turned around, Tony froze; it was Bruce. He cleared his throat awkwardly and said, "Uh, sorry to interrupt…if you're not all in the middle of something…" T'Challa and Thor shook their heads. Bruce didn't quite take his eyes off them. "Could I borrow Tony?"

It went through Tony like a lance of fire, sending pins and needles spreading out from where his arc reactor used to be. "Sure," he half-grunted and shuffled out the door.

The two of them ambled without making eye contact through the gardens. Finally, Bruce came to a stop. "Look, I…yeah, okay, I – I'm not gonna turn green or anything. But…I was shocked, that's all. I thought you knew what kind of man Thunderbolt Ross is."

Tony folded his arms and avoided Bruce's eyes. "So did I. Well, mostly. I didn't have any idea he'd sent Miriam Sharpe after me over her son's death, and I really didn't think he'd stoop to having Peggy Carter murdered. Guess it's a good thing he underestimated Steve Rogers, if not me."

"Steve's not the only one standing up for you, y'know, though I think he's doing it the most. I'm down to dodging him."

"…Really?" Tony didn't know why that surprised him. If it were the reverse, would I be so forgiving, let alone trying to get someone else to forgive Cap?

You're not Cap, Tony, said Wanda's voice in his head. Stop comparing yourselves and you'll both be much happier.

"Hey! Wanda, get out of my head!" Tony exclaimed.

"Whoa!" Bruce lurched back, but Tony shook his head.

"Nothing serious, nothing serious, she's just putting in two unasked-for cents – kid, c'mon, privacy!"

I don't want us all to go through this whole cycle of blame and anger again any more than you do, she retorted. He looked around, but couldn't actually spot her. People make rash decisions after being tortured. Sometimes they go right, other times they go wrong. Bruce will understand that.

Then it was like she released a grip on his arm. Tony swayed. On one hand, it was not at all kosher for her to be playing psychic teleprompter, but on the other…well…he'd take all the advice he could get.

He shut his eyes. "Tony? Are…you okay?" asked Bruce.

"Yeah, yeah, it's all right. Sorry. She and I, well, there's a lot of baggage there. It took us awhile to sort it out. She doesn't…I don't…want to go through the same thing with you."

Bruce sat down on the grass. "She had a lot to say to me already, in your defense. Despite where she ended up because of the Accords."

"I know. I swear, I've tried to make it up to them all." It grew hard to look at Bruce again. "And you. I was stupid."

Bruce waved a hand at him, and Tony sat down. Well, Tony and Steve had done something similar here in Wakanda. Maybe this really was just the road to reconciliation. "Wanda hadn't mind-zapped me yet at the Tower, when I agreed to help you create Ultron with the scepter. I was all too eager to help you with your suit of armor around the world." He sighed and put a hand on Tony's shoulder. Tony held his breath. "God knows I've taken some stupid risks with disastrous results, and trusted people I should have known not to trust." Tony dared a look at him. Bruce turned and met his eyes. "The team's back together now. Seems like everyone wants the Sokovia Accords to be a thing of the past, along with any part you and Rhodey and the others played. I guess I can live with that."

Tony shrugged. "The Accords aren't quite in the past. We're chiseling away at them, but it's not over. But I won't stop chiseling, I promise you that. Somebody told you where Ross is now, I hope?"

"That news very pleasantly surprised me, yeah. Bastard. I admit even I wouldn't have pegged him for going that far." Bruce sighed, straightened, and held his hand out directly to Tony. "I guess we've all done our share of screwing up, trusting the wrong people, backing the wrong horse."

Awkwardly, Tony clasped it. "Me more than most, I know."

"That's not like you, Iron Man, self-flagellation's not a good look. I'm not gonna keep score." Bruce smiled, and the knot in Tony's insides started to loosen. "It's good to be back."

"We missed you, big man," Tony said. "Now, what the hell did you mean by 'gladiator'?"

Bruce grinned. "That's a story for the whole team, definitely. Let's get some rest tonight first. Where's this guest house the king's given us?" Tony stood up and pulled Bruce to his feet. "Oh, and how long have Wanda and Vision been a thing?"

"What?"

To Be Continued...

Coming Soon: The Avengers are reunited, but now the time has come to take stock and make some hard decisions. With an interstellar crisis averted, the world looks on as the Avengers and Bucky Barnes return to the United States for a final reckoning!

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