Some Things Never Sleep

by Lucky Strike's alter ego

"You never learn when to quit, Spider-Twerp." She told him. "Spider-Twerp?" Spider-Man questioned in disbelief as he glared. Emma smirked. "Well, you annoyingly seem to get in my way all the time. That and you don't look or sound like a man to me." She explained. "I am a man." He told her angrily. "Somehow I doubt that." The first time Emma and Peter met didn't exactly go well.

73. Chapter Sixty Seven

Author's Note: So this update came two days later than when I originally wanted to be finished with it. I really thought I would finish sooner but then 10,000 turned into 20,00 and now the chapter's like 30,000 words long. I don't why every time I plan on not writing a huge amount, I actually write twice as much than what I originally planned. It's super crazy. My laptop was also acting stupid and somehow restarted by itself so I lost almost 3,000 words so I didn't have a chance to save my work. I've decided just to buy a new one and found this good price online so it's coming today. The one I have now is held together by ducktape and I can't shut it without it breaking so it's a miracle it's lasted five years. Anyways...the new one's a real nice laptop with everything I need and more(my dad thankfully helped me pick it out). It's also fucking purple, guys!It took me forever to edit this as imagined but here's finally an update.

INFINITY WAR SPOILERS IN THIS CHAPTER(PLEASE READ THIS MESSAGE). So there is a scene from Avengers: Infinity War in the very last part of this chapter so be warned. It doesn't contain any actual spoilers from the movie really but it's just a scene from it so I thought I would warn you. This is just my way of adapting Infinity War to fit my story since the Avengers are going to be reunited a lot faster than they were in Infinity War. There will be another scene(with some changes) from Infinity War next chapter but then that will be it until Infinity War actually happens in my story.

Also...I just wanted to let you guys know that I updated my Some Things Never Sleep companion piece 'Dry Bite' which is a collection of one-shots from before Emma and Peter met. The third chapter is an entirely Emma and Bucky fluffy chapter that's super cute in case you're interested. I'm going to try and update 'Dry Bite' with another quick chapter after this.

Quick question...Does anyone know why Kate Bishop is included as one of the characters in the Avengers(movie) archive? I just found it curious that she's in there since she's never been in any Avengers movie or other MCU ones as far as I'm aware. Was she in a movie and I'm totally spacing out on it or something?

I'm also placing a warning on this chapter for SEXUAL SITUATIONS because I just feel like I should still warn people even though this is already rated M. I just naturally assume that everyone's a prude for some weird reason.

nathan19bane: Some of that might happen but definitely not the whole thing. I think I'll let you find out for yourself in the next chapter because that's when everything really starts coming together.

bonnieandjangolove: I actually can't claim the Peter and Tony already meeting as my own because I think the Russo Brothers or someone important in Marvel(can't remember who) confirmed that the little boy with the Iron Man mask in Iron Man 2 that Tony saved was actually Peter when he was younger which I think is super cute. I kind of want Tony to find out about it so maybe he will in the future of this story. Probably not now since a lot of shit's about to go down.

Radioactive88: Glad you liked the hand in cake bit. I was a little hesitant in actually putting that in because I was worried people would think it was too dark but Emma's got a really dark sense of humor so it's not out of character for her. While Michelle might get her sense of humor, I feel like Loki would get it way more which I why I can't wait for them to meet. They're going to be bonding on Sakaar over all these stories that only they find funny. The hand in cake story as well as the snake stabbing Thor story are just going to be one of many things they'll bond over.

CheekyLove: Could you please let me know if you really want me to answer these questions because last time I answered your questions you said you didn't want spoilers so just let me know so I don't end up accidentally spoiling anything again. That would be appreciated.

scrapingskies: I wanted to make the Jane and Thor break up funny but also possible since we don't know how they broke up because Thor's up in space and Jane's on earth. The Heimdall/Bifrost thing was the only way but I also thought it was the best way because it's kind of funny.

wonderbitch26: Thank you so much! Glad you're liking the story. It's kind of hard to make the story stand on it's own but still make it interesting but I'm just taking it chapter by chapter. I thought I would get bored after the Homecoming storyline and there have been instances where I get writer's block for this story but if I spend a week away and work on something else I can feel inspired again. Steve and the others are coming back really soon. I'm just going to say that it won't happen in this chapter although there's a couple cameos within it.

Grinning: Thank you! I don't really find writing Peter as hard as I find writing characters like Tony, Vision, or Thor. For some reason those characters are always super difficult for me. Part of the reason I even wrote a Peter/OC fanfiction in the first place was because I liked Tom Holland's version of Peter so much because his version was cute, nerdy, and had a certain kind of innocence about him that I found interesting. I never had that big of an interest in the Andrew Garfield or Tobey Maguire versions but I love Tom Holland's version. I'm always worried about some of the stuff he says to Emma being too cheesy but then I realize that Peter is kind of a cheesy person.

I will eventually be including a lemon between Emma and Peter but not for a while. There is a scene in this chapter that gets really steamy so people can skip over it if they're not interested in that. Again...I'm assuming that everyone's a prude. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I'm a prude? Who knows?

Another random account: Peter's apprehensiveness about sex with Emma will be explained more in this chapter. They discuss a lot in terms of the future of their relationship within this chapter. I just realized how much stuff happens in this chapter. I feel like I've been writing this chapter for months but it's really only been since Friday...I think.

xCANNIBALX: I just want to make it very clear that I didn't create the youtube trailer for Some Things Never Sleep. A lot of people think I did but I mentioned before that the trailer was created by knarl who did an amazing job. Knarl only used Chloe Grace Moretz in the trailer because Chloe has way more action/fight scenes than Elle Fanning does. From the beginning, Elle Fanning has always been the face claim for Emma and I base Emma's description off of her. Gallws did an amazing job in creating the cover for this story and the one before that so I'm also grateful to her. However, I also can't control how you picture Emma so if you picture her as Chloe then that's up to you. I'm just explaining that I didn't create the trailer because I'm not that creative. For me, Emma's always been Elle Fanning. As for Elle Fanning movies, I highly recommend 'Super 8' which I think is the first movie I ever saw her in. It's a really amazing movie that I think you'd like if you like the Goonies, Stranger Things, or ET. She also did this recent indie movie called 'The Vanishing of Sidney Hall' that I really liked.

Ashleymcd25: The comment I made about Beyonce and Jay-Z before I'm guessing was related to one of the reviewers talking about how people in England don't care about the royal family and I was saying that people think that Beyonce and Jay-Z are American royalty but I don't really care for them. I don't hate Beyonce and Jay-Z or anything, I mean I'm not fans of their music, but I didn't mean that I really disliked them. It's very generous of them to help out where they can so good for them. I just meant that I'm not obsessed with them and their lives like most people are. It's more about the obsession and hype thing. I honestly say the same thing about Taylor Swift or Selena Gomez. I get that people have celebrity crushes and stuff but if I talked about Sebastian Stan like some people talk about Beyonce everyone I know would think I was crazy. I think Beyonce has a great voice and she's pretty while Jay-Z kind of discovered HAIM(which earns him major points with me for having a good ear) but I'm just not obsessed with them. I'm kind of even worried about saying this because I feel like the Beygency is going to come after me. By the way if you haven't seen the Beygency SNL sketch, you really should. I totally relate to Andrew Garfield in that sketch.

YawnTiffany: Peter's going to realize a lot in this chapter so just hang tight.

So I finally got through most of the reviews! I tried answering most of them but keep in mind that I had to edit this chapter which took forever because it's 30,000 words or more. Thanks for all the reviews! I read every single one and loved them. Let me know what you think of the next chapter.

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JFK International Airport

2004

"Do you think Peter will be alright with May and Ben?" Mary Parker asked her husband as they waited nearby their designed gate at the airport. The couple was waiting to board their flight but Mary couldn't help but feel anxious as the thought of their three year old son entered her mind. She hadn't wanted to leave him, especially when those big brown eyes welled up with tears as he begged them not to leave.

"He'll be fine, Mary." Richard told her to try and soothe her worries. He was worried about their son too but he knew that Peter would be much safer with his brother and sister-in-law. "We've left him with May and Ben before." Mary sighed.

"I know but I just hate leaving him." Mary said as she looked down at her shoes sadly. "He begged us not to go, Richard. He was crying." Richard gave his wife a sympathetic look before he wrapped his arm around her. She leaned into his embrace, seeking comfort.

"We'll be back by the end of the week. Our business in D.C. won't take long." Richard reassured her but Mary still seemed unconvinced.

"I don't know about this, Richard. I feel like we're entering something that's a lot bigger than the two of us." Mary told him but Richard just shook his head.

"We're doing the right thing by reporting this, Mary. We can't just do nothing." Richard said before lowering his voice as he cautiously looked around the airport terminal. He then returned his gaze to his worried looking wife. "Something's going on at Shield…I don't know if it's corruption or what but something's not right."

"Shouldn't we go to Director Fury then?" Mary questioned but Richard shook his head again.

"He's the Director, Mary. Just think about it." Richard said seriously. "Look, Fury's a good man and I've never questioned that but the file…the weapons…this Ugalde guy. I'm just starting to wonder if we might not be able to trust him with this information. This is about Shield, after all. He's the director and I just don't know his stance on all of this."

"What about Agent Rogers?" Mary suggested. "He's got a great reputation and track record. He's the child of Captain America and Peggy Carter. Agent Rogers is trustworthy."

"Agent Rogers retired, remember? No one knows where he is." Richard said as he tried to get his wife to see that this was the only way. "Alexander Pierce is a good man and highly respected. He's done a lot of good in his years as a politician. Everyone I've ever talked to has a huge amount of respect for the man. I can't say the same about Fury but Pierce is a man of both integrity and honor. Besides…you've met his daughter, right? She seemed like a good person, didn't she?" Mary shrugged as she pulled away to look back at him.

"I talked to her for maybe a day and then I never saw her again. Yeah, she seemed nice but I don't know, Richard. I don't know if we can just trust this man with this info. It's a huge gamble." Mary told him and Richard just sighed.

"We don't have a choice, Mary. There's no one else we can go to. Pierce is the only one." Richard said and Mary knew he was right even though she didn't like it.

"I just don't like this, Richard. This feels dangerous." Mary said seriously. "I'm a data analyst and you're a scientist. We're not spies. This shouldn't be up to us."

"Well, it is. This is just the way it is and we need to make sure this information doesn't get out to the wrong people." Richard said, trying to make his wife see the good they were doing by going to Pierce with the information they had stumbled upon. "Pierce will know what to do."

"If you're sure." Mary said quietly and Richard smiled softly before he nodded.

"Everything will be okay. We'll tell Pierce what we know and then go back home to Peter." Richard told her and Mary nodded before a solemn look came over her face. Brown eyes locked onto hazel ones as Mary understood the hesitant tone in her husband's voice. They weren't in the clear…not even if Pierce turned out to be trustworthy. There was no telling what would happen after they went to Pierce but what else were they supposed to do? They couldn't just pretend that they didn't just stumble across the information they had found. No, they had to at least try and do something but Richard and Mary both knew they were treading into dangerous waters. They weren't naïve in any way.

"You left the file at Ben and May's apartment, right?" Mary asked him quietly and Richard swallowed hard but nodded.

"Yes." Richard answered softly and Mary nodded to herself, her mind feeling worlds away. She just didn't know what to expect of their trip to D.C. Mary didn't know what to expect of anything right now so she just thought about Peter. Her beautiful little boy who begged her not to leave even though Mary knew she had to. He always seemed to do that whenever Mary and Richard had to leave for work. Mary just hoped after this trip that they'd never have to leave again because she knew she hated seeing Peter cry. Maybe they'd even be able to move into a bigger place and into a nicer neighborhood. Mary smiled as she thought of her and Richard buying a house with a yard for Peter to run around in. Richard was right…everything would turn out alright.

"Flight 357 is now boarding." The lady at the gate said which caused Richard and Mary to be broken out of their thoughts. They immediately got up from their seats and stepped into the line to board the plane. The couple were both quiet as they waited to board the flight but neither of them noticed the man standing towards the back of the line. The man didn't look very suspicious as he wore a well-tailored suit and held a cellphone to his ear. He looked like the average business man.

"Yes, the TSA agent let me through." The man said very quietly into the phone but over the loud noise of the airport, people paid no attention to the average looking man. "When you said you had people everywhere, you really meant it."

"Do you see them?" The voice on the other line said.

"Yeah, I see them. They're towards the front of the line." The man answered. His eyes were fixed on Richard and Mary Parker who both looked lost in their own little worlds as they waited to board the flight.

"I hope you know that we're all immensely grateful for your sacrifice to our cause, William." The voice told him earnestly which made the mysterious man smile despite what he knew was coming. "We won't ever forget the sacrifice you made for our survival."

"I am just one man. This will help create a bigger and better future." William replied, speaking the same brainwashed line that was taught to him ever since he was first recruited into Hydra. To William this was a gift that Hydra was gracious enough to give him. There was no honor higher than this.

"Still…we appreciate your sacrifice." The voice repeated and William nodded.

"I know, sir." William said quietly.

"Hail Hydra." Alexander Pierce finally said into the phone before he hung up. William closed the flip phone before storing it in his suit pocket. He stood in line with a stoic expression on his face as the device in his other pocket ticked away. A small redheaded girl who stood in front of William in line looked up at him and flashed him a bright smile, showing all her teeth. She was a little thing, probably only six or seven, but she seemed rather friendly as her father busied himself with getting their boarding passes ready. William smiled back at the girl just as widely which made the girl giggle. He chuckled in amusement before the little girl turned her attention back to her father. What a cute kid, William thought to himself. His attention was, however, taken away from the girl as the line started moving up. William watched silently as the woman at the desk checked the Parkers boarding passes before passing them through the gate. This was it.

"May I see your boarding pass, sir?" The woman at the front asked him. William flashed her his most flattering smile as he showed her his pass. She checked the ticket and gave William a polite smile.

"Enjoy your flight, sir." The woman told him and William grinned at her.

"Don't worry. I will." He said before he passed her and started following the other passengers to the plane. Despite the fear he felt at what was to come, William was filled with a sense of pride. This was the mission Hydra had given him and this was the most important mission they could give to anyone. He was proud that Alexander Pierce thought he was worthy of such a mission.

"Welcome." One of the flight attendants greeted as she welcomed William onto the flight. He flashed her another one of his dazzling smiles before boarding the plane. William immediately spotted Richard and Mary seated towards the front of the plane but he passed them as he made his way to his own seat which was a couple rows back. There was an elderly woman seated beside his assigned seat but William barely paid her any attention. He seated himself in the seat right beside the aisle and kept his eyes on the Parkers.

"So what brings you to D.C.?" The elderly woman asked him as she started to make small talk before the flight. "I'm visiting my grandchildren but I wonder what brings a young man like you to D.C. Oh, how rude of me. I haven't even introduced myself. I'm Doris." William normally found batty, nosy old ladies annoying but seeing as how he was living out the last hour or so of his life, he didn't really care anymore.

"William." He introduced and the old lady gave him another kind smile.

"William…what a lovely name. My husband's name was William." She said before remembering her original question. "I'm sorry. I always get so side-tracked all the time. You must forgive me. I believe I asked you what brings you to D.C." Michael smiled at the elderly woman and for the first time in a long time he spoke the honest truth.

"My destiny." He told her but in his mind there were only two words roaming through his thoughts. The two words that drove him to murder every single person on the plane the moment he stepped on board. Two words that would prevent Richard and Mary from ever returning to their son.

Hail Hydra.

---

The Avenger's Facility

Present Day

It was two weeks since school had let out for the summer but Emma was already being driven up the wall by Tony. Emma would be staying at the compound for the whole entire summer instead of staying in the city with Darcy. Unfortunately Peter was still going to be spending the majority of his time in the city but Emma suspected that was because Tony was afraid she and Peter would have sex if they were left alone in the city with too much time on their hands. Well, Tony's worries weren't completely unwarranted…at least not on Emma's end.

Emma wouldn't lie and say that it was completely bad being away from Peter throughout the week. She didn't like being away from him but when they reunited on the weekends, they had a lot to talk about and even more to make up for. However, Emma was still disappointed that Peter wasn't anywhere near with wanting to take the next step. Emma would probably back off if she thought that Peter wasn't ready for sex but she knew he was. The look of desire in his eyes whenever things had become a little more intense for them than usual was enough to tell her that he wanted her but he'd take a deep breath before exhaling and stop it before they went any further. She could tell how difficult it was for him to push her away but he did it anyways. He'd make some excuse that someone could walk in but Emma knew he wanted her just as much as she wanted him. She just wasn't sure how to talk to him because she didn't have experience with that kind of thing. Sometimes Emma really wished her father was there because she used to talk about everything with him. Despite his astounding amount of silence, he always managed to be helpful when it came to difficult situations.

However, Emma still wondered when the day would come that she would finally be able to see Steve, her father, and the others. Was it going to be a few months? Another year? Five years? Emma honestly didn't know. She had hoped the situation with the accords would've blown over by now but that didn't look to be the case. A year ago Steve and her father had promised that they'd come back for her but that was before Zemo presented Tony with the video footage of her father murdering his parents. She knew Tony didn't want revenge against her father anymore but she also knew that he wasn't going to lend a hand to help him either. Emma couldn't really blame Tony for that either. She understood how he felt.

Emma just wondered if there would ever come a day when the others would be able to come back without being thrown back into Raft prison. She supposed she could kill Ross to ensure that wouldn't happen but the government would just replace him with another asshole that would get in her way yet again. Emma knew she promised Steve and even Peter that she wouldn't kill again but she swore if that asshole Ross continued to get in her way then she wouldn't hesitate in getting rid of him. Ross had already stood in between her and her family long enough. She was starting to get really annoyed with the politician and everyone knew that Emma wasn't a pleasant person when she was annoyed.

"What are you thinking about?" Peter asked Emma as he broke her out of her thoughts. She blinked before looking up at him. They were currently in the training facility of the compound but this time Maria wasn't there with them. The former deputy director of Shield was currently in the lab with Susan, Tony, and Erik Selvig as they discussed what they deemed as "classified information". Emma didn't really think anything of it when they deemed their secret meetings as classified since it wasn't like the Avenger's Initiative had any real jurisdiction. Well, they used to but that was before Tony, Rhodey, and Vision made the stupid decision of signing the accords. Emma just shook her heard before offering him a wide smile.

"I'm just thinking about how I'm going to kick your ass." Emma said in a teasing tone as she got up from the set of steps she was sitting on. Emma and Peter had been training for the past four hours as they tried to busy themselves on an otherwise boring Saturday afternoon. They usually trained on weekends but never for this long.

For some strange reason Tony and Maria had been adamant about Emma and Peter staying away from the main area of the facility. Emma wasn't stupid. She knew something was going on and that they were keeping her and Peter in the dark. Peter was a bit more naïve when it came to stuff like that, putting all his trust into Tony but Emma still didn't believe Tony when he said everything was alright. Her and Tony might have a better relationship than they did a year ago but that didn't mean Emma trusted him when he said things were alright. He had been acting increasingly odd over the past two months but Emma had no idea why. She thought something with Hydra might've come up but she didn't hear anything in the news. There was also the fact that he had given her missions to do ever since she moved back into the compound.

The missions were never anything big despite what Peter thought. Her boyfriend seemed to think Tony was sending her on Avenger level missions while he was stuck in Queens fighting petty thieves but that was far from the truth. Tony would send Emma on missions across the country for days at a time but the missions never turned out to be anything and she never went alone. Vision always went on the missions with her and she was sure the android knew more than he was letting on. She got the strangest feeling that Vision was being more of a babysitter than he was an assigned partner. Emma knew that the others were keeping her and Peter in the dark about something but she just wasn't sure what. Something told her that there was something going on that Tony didn't want her to know about. Emma was only growing more suspicious as the days went on.

"Yeah, right." Peter muttered as Emma got up from her seat and headed for the opposite side of the room. They had done their morning run a couple hours before and while Peter happened to be stronger than Emma, she was smug to know that she was definitely faster than him although she still wasn't sure whether he was letting her win or not. For the past couple months, whenever they were at the compound, Emma had also been teaching Peter how to box with the old punching bags Steve and Sam had left behind…the ones Steve hadn't broken anyways. Emma thought Peter was getting rather good at it for someone who hadn't been boxing long.

"Hey, why can't we do yoga here? Yoga can be handy when training." Peter suggested and Emma groaned.

"We're not doing yoga. Yoga's lame and a waste of time." Emma told him honestly because it was truthfully what she believed. "Look at Bruce. That guy did a shit ton of yoga and what use did it do him? All that mediation and relaxation stuff he always preached about was a load of crap because it never relaxed him enough not to turn big and green."

"Yoga can be fun though." Peter argued but Emma still didn't look convinced. "Maybe we can do goat yoga. Goats are kind of cute." Emma gave him a disgusted look.

"Goat yoga? What so a goat can shit and piss all over you?" Emma said as she scoffed and Peter laughed at her blunt honesty. Emma's bluntness never ceased to amuse him. "No thanks. I think I'll pass on that." Peter, feeling a bit more confident than usual, gave Emma a smirk as he said something she never expected to come from his mouth.

"Maybe you could do yoga and I could watch." Peter said flirtatiously and Emma turned back to look at him, a shocked look on her face. Emma couldn't believe that Peter was actually flirting with her. Usually she was the one that flirted with him instead of the other way around but for some reason he seemed more confident than usual. Emma gave her boyfriend a curious look as she took a step closer to him.

"What's gotten into you today? You're acting more flirty than usual." Emma told him and Peter just shrugged.

"It's your leggings, I think." Peter said honestly as he nodded towards the athletic leggings Emma was wearing which were really form fitting. Peter wasn't going to lie. He had been appreciating her leggings all morning and especially when he purposefully let her run ahead of him during their morning run. Emma smirked as she crossed her arms and pretended to be offended although she honestly wasn't. It was quite the opposite actually.

"Are you sexually objectifying me, Parker?" Emma questioned although she had a teasing look on her face. "I know you were letting me win during our morning run but I never thought you were such a little pervert…and to think I thought you were being a gentlemen when you were actually staring at my ass that whole time. You have no shame. What would May say?" Peter blushed.

"You're not really mad, are you?" Peter questioned, looking adorable as he started to doubt himself. "I'm sorry if I did anything to make you feel weird. I didn't mean to-" Peter stopped when he saw Emma laughing at him. He should've known that Emma was only teasing him. She wasn't the type to get offended and especially about stuff like that.

"I'm just messing with you, Parker." Emma told him before speaking in a more suggestive tone. "I don't care if you objectify me because I objectify you too. Your Spider-Man suit really highlights everything and when I say everything, I mean everything."

"Maybe we should go back to training." Peter muttered, feeling very shy and hot in the face all of a sudden. He realized that he was never going to win flirting with Emma because she was always the one who won in the end. It was almost impossible to make her blush as much as he blushed. Peter figured that it was because she had such a wide control of her emotions. That wasn't to say that it was completely impossible to make her blush because he did know a couple things that could make her blush. "I thought we should probably practice some more fighting again." Emma raised an eyebrow at him in amusement but nodded nonetheless.

"You mean the kind of sparring where you hold back and let me win because you think you'll hurt me." Emma pointed out and Peter suddenly looked very interested with the floor at Emma's accusation.

"I don't let you win." Peter mumbled and Emma gave him a knowing look.

"I know for a fact that you let me win and don't deny it." Emma told him seriously before taking a deep breath. "Peter, I understand that you don't want to hurt me. I don't want to hurt you either but this isn't going to help you improve your fighting skills. There's going to be people that will want to hurt you and you need to be able to fight back against people like that."

"I can fight back!" Peter argued and Emma sighed.

"Yes you can but you can't reach your full potential if you're pulling your punches." Emma told him and Peter frowned. "I'm not saying to Hulk out on me or anything but I'm just saying that maybe you should be less afraid to hurt me. I can take care of myself. I don't need to be coddled." Peter's gaze softened when he realized that Emma was right. It wasn't going to help him in the long run to hold back. Maybe when he was with Emma but she was right when she said there would come a day where he might fight someone a lot stronger than him and he needed to be prepared for something like that.

"Okay." Peter finally relented and Emma grinned happily at him. Peter could've said he was taking her to Disneyland or Paris for all he knew. Most girlfriends got excited about normal stuff like that but his girlfriend seemed to be beyond excited at the prospect of fighting him. His girlfriend was so weird.

"Great." Emma said excitedly. She was positively thrilled that Peter was finally going to fight her without holding back. They had practiced fighting with each other in the past but Emma knew he was still pulling his punches. She understood that he was a lot stronger than her and could kill her very easily if he wanted but she trusted him. She knew he was able to control his strength like they had been practicing with the punching bags all this time. Emma just worried about him and wanted him to know how to fight hand-to-hand combat better. Sure, she knew his strength was a great asset and there weren't many who were stronger than Peter but she still wanted him to be better when it came to knowing how to fight. Emma wanted him to know how to be smart about it because there were other ways to beat an opponent who was stronger than you. Emma knew that better than anyone.

"Where should we do this? On the mat or…" He trailed off, sounding unsure. Emma just stood exactly where they were as she calmly looked back at him.

"Here's fine." Emma told him and Peter raised his eyebrows.

"Really, Emma? On the hard ground? Because I think it would be way safer on the mat-" Peter tried to say but Emma immediately interrupted him.

"There's not going to be a mat out in the real world. We'll do this right here and right now." Emma told him in a voice that said there would be no negotiating with her. Peter sighed before nodding, knowing there was no point in arguing with her. Emma was perhaps the only person in the world who no one could win an argument with. Not even Tony Stark could seem to win an argument with her.

"Okay." Peter said and Emma immediately went into a defensive stance as they stood a ways away from each other. They had fought like this before in the past, standing feet apart as they waited for one or the other to make the first move. Normally Peter was careful with Emma then but now he was going to try and use all his abilities against her.

Peter made the first move, like he normally did, as he ran at Emma in an attempt to tackle her to the ground but he should've anticipated that she would dodge his attack. The blonde gracefully dodged his first move as she moved to the side but not before bringing her knee up to add a blow to his stomach. Peter winced for a second and recovered, turning around to attack her again but she was already gone. The teenage boy glared at the spot she had just been in because he always hated when she did that. Maybe she was more like Batman than he was, after all. Emma seemed to have a talent for disappearing and then reappearing. He then quickly turned around and spotted her there. Peter narrowed his eyes as he moved in for another attack but Emma also seemed to anticipate his next move as he threw a punch at her before she caught his wrist mid-punch and easily pulled him forward, sending him falling to the ground.

"Come on, Spider-Twerp. I know you can do better than that." Emma teased as she smirked at Peter who was now lying on the ground. He glared at her before quickly jumping up. However, this time it was Emma who attacked him instead of waiting around for him to make the next move. She threw a punch at him which he side-stepped quickly before managing to get his arms around her and keeping her in a tight grip using his full strength. Emma only struggled within his clutches for a couple seconds before moving onto another tactic. He was stronger but he still had weak spots. She, using her own full strength, elbowed him as hard as she could to get him to loosen his grip. The moment he loosened the tight hold he had on her, Emma grabbed his wrist tightly and spun out from underneath him. With his wrist in hand, she quickly moved in back of him, pinning his arm to his back which caused Peter to lose balance and fall on the floor. Emma kept his arm pinned to his back as she sat on him.

"You know…I almost think you enjoy being under my mercy, Parker." Emma whispered suggestively in his ear as he struggled. Peter glared before he suddenly used his full strength to rip his arm away from her grasp, the sudden movement sending her falling off his back to the ground beside him. Peter quickly got up but so did Emma. She gracefully rolled back into an upright position, kneeling against the ground as if she had meant to do that the whole time. Peter wondered how she managed to move so gracefully and as if she made no mistakes. He assumed it was all the years of training but it was still amazing to watch.

Peter lunged at the blonde as he immediately threw a couple punches, two of which she was able to dodge but one that she wasn't quite fast enough to. Although Emma had asked him to not hold back, he still held back a little on the amount of force he used in his punches. He knew he would kill her if he used all his strength even if Emma told him he wouldn't. Peter just used a little more force than usual because he knew Emma was right in a way. He knew he might still be able to win even if he didn't use his full strength. Emma winced at the force of the punch but quickly recovered as she punched him a couple times in the ribs but she didn't hold back.

In order to push Peter into fighting as hard as he could against her, she knew she would have to challenge him in various ways. Peter winced at the punches, responding with a couple of punches of his own. He landed a couple in her ribs but before he could land another, Emma dodged the attack and reacted with a swift kick to his side. Peter had always admired and practically drooled over his girlfriend's long legs but this time he could see the disadvantage he had. Although Emma and Peter were the same height, she was still remarkably tall for a girl while he was still an average height for a guy.

Peter stumbled back as she landed another kick to his side, immediately making his sides ache from all the punching and kicking. It was clear to him that Emma wasn't just playing around this time. Peter tried to land another punch in retaliation but he was disoriented from her fast and swift movements. He tried lunging at her again only to fall to the floor when she flew effortlessly into the air above them. Peter immediately glared up from the ground as she hovered a great distance above him. It didn't help that she had that smug look on her face either.

"That's cheating!" Peter called up to her but Emma didn't seem bothered by his accusation.

"There is no cheating or playing fair in fighting." Emma told him confidently. "There's only winning. I said that we shouldn't hold back against each other so that's what I'm doing. Maybe you should use some of your abilities too."

Peter narrowed his eyes at his girlfriend who still hovered in the air. If that's how she wanted to play it then fine. Peter wasn't going to play fair either. The teenage boy then got up from the floor again before quickly hopping onto the wall. Emma watched smugly for a moment, thinking there was no in hell that he was going to be able to get to her. How could he? She could fly and all he could do was climb walls. However, she didn't take in account that he might jump from the wall and leap onto her. Emma was more than surprised when Peter did this and she felt herself fall back through the air from the surprise impact. Emma squirmed as he tried to get a hold of her as they fell through the air. Between trying to resist his hold and flying, she began to fail at both as she finally crashed onto the floor and sent both her and Peter onto the ground. She rolled a couple times against the ground but she wasn't able to regain her composure as fast as Peter because before she knew it Peter had her pinned to the ground, his weight on top of her.

Emma watched in surprise as Peter hovered over her, his hands pinning both her wrists to the ground. She tried getting out of his grip but found that his grip was unyielding. As much as she struggled against him, she just couldn't seem to escape him. Emma looked back up at him as he held her against the ground and she knew she had lost. His strength used to scare her but that was before she began to trust him. When they first discovered the truth about each other, Emma always kept an eye on him to make sure he didn't try anything with her because she knew he could easily overpower her. However, now it was different. She knew he would never hurt her and she trusted him with all of her heart. She wasn't even scared at the fact that he was on top of her, pinning her down to the ground. This was how much she trusted him.

The two of them were breathing heavily from their sparring session but Emma couldn't help but feel an overwhelming of feeling of desire again as he stared down at her. His brown eyes were fixed on her face but they were darker than usual. Emma knew that he felt the same way she did because this felt just like the other times when they were alone. Peter swallowed hard as he looked down at her because he didn't feel victorious like he thought he would in winning a fight against Emma. He just felt an overwhelming feeling of desire for her as those ocean blue eyes looked up at him. It didn't escape his notice either that she wasn't trying to fight him off anymore. His heart raced in his chest as he wondered what was going through her mind. He wondered if she stopped moving because it was her trying to gain the upper hand against him or if she had genuinely given up. Peter never knew with her because it was just like Emma to play games with him like that but he knew he secretly enjoyed it when she did that. Peter would never stop trying to figure her out. He knew that much.

"Are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?" Peter asked softly and Emma shook her head as their eyes remained locked onto each other.

"I'm fine." Emma said in a tone just as soft. Truthfully he had hurt her but that was the point of these training sessions. Peter needed to learn how to fight in case there was ever a circumstance where his powers wouldn't be enough. Emma wanted him to be safe. "Did I hurt you?" Peter immediately shook his head.

"No." He answered and then he realized that he still had his hands around her wrists. Peter blushed before relinquishing his grip on her wrists but he didn't move away from her. He just put his weight onto his forearms as they continued to gaze at each other. Emma suddenly felt warmer than usual at the way Peter was staring at her. Peter gently brushed a strand of her blonde hair out of her face, his thumb caressing her cheek as he did so. Emma knew then that she wanted Peter more than anything.

"Let's go to your room." Emma said suddenly and Peter blushed at the way she stared back at him.

"Shouldn't we train more?" Peter asked her but Emma didn't seem like she wanted to do any more training. No, she had something else on her mind.

"Training's over." Emma told him and the tone of her voice was final. It was clear that Emma was bossing Peter around like she normally did but Peter didn't mind. He liked it when she was bossy. Peter was completely fine with being bossed around.

---

"You're so pretty." Peter said, sounding out of breath ever since Emma had straddled his waist and paid extra attention to him. His hands gripped her hips tightly as she led a trail of kisses along his jawline. They had been in his room and on his bed for the past half an hour doing what normal hormonal teenagers did when they were left unsupervised. The two weren't like average teenagers when it came to most things but they were when it came to this. As much as Emma had complained about Tony keeping them in the dark about things, she was glad he was busy with whatever he was doing because it meant that her and Peter could have more time alone.

Peter then gasped slightly as Emma moved away from his jawline and made her way towards his ear. His grip on her hips tightened even more as she began to nibble on his earlobe. The sensation of it was driving Peter crazy with desire as he moaned at the way she kissed him there. Emma was thrilled at the discovery she made when nibbling on Peter's earlobe. It seemed like every time they would engage in something like this, she discovered a new place he liked being kissed. It filled her with satisfaction and even arousal when he moaned like that. Emma knew he was enjoying this a lot too because she could feel his hardness against her as she kissed him.

"I love you." Emma whispered in his ear softly as she paused from the attention she paid to his ear. The way she whispered into his ear turned Peter on so much that he immediately pulled her off his lap and firmly planted her on the bed. Emma giggled at the abruptness of Peter's action but her laughter soon faded as she watched him move over her. The look in his eyes told her that he wasn't playing around this time and the thought excited her. She figured that it wasn't likely that they were going to have sex. Not now. However, she did start to think that Peter might be willing to do something else. Was he finally going to let her touch him? Was he going to touch her? A million questions went through her mind as he looked down at her and she could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Emma didn't know what she wanted to happen but she knew she liked being with Peter like this. He made her feel loved and Emma realized that she wanted to be with him in every single way. What was so wrong with that?

Her eyes then drifted towards the shirt he was still wearing, his stupid nerdy shirt with the lame pun stamped across it, and she knew that she wanted to see more of him. The most she ever saw of him was in the alley that one time when he had been changing. It had been an accident and she never saw him in a state of undress like that again but Emma didn't cease to think of him like that. Emma still remembered admiring all his muscles and abs that day and she didn't feel bad about it. So Emma, trying to muster up as much confidence as she could, reached for the bottom of his shirt and began to pull it up. Peter, realizing what she was trying to do, blushed but pulled his shirt off the rest of the way anyways. He watched her reaction closely, suddenly feeling very shy under Emma's close watch.

Emma's eyes rested on his shirtless form and she immediately thought he was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She always knew her boyfriend was ridiculously hot, even if he didn't seem to believe it, but this really proved it. God, why was he so perfect? Emma, feeling curious, gently traced her fingers along his chest as she touched him. Peter shivered uncontrollably as she moved her hand along his chest and all the way down to his abdomen. Her touch was like electricity, making him feel all sorts of things that he struggled to keep buried within himself in the past but now what was becoming more and more impossible for him to ignore. Emma curiously felt his six pack, admiring the hardness of his muscles, before allowing her hand to drift even further. Before she could move her hand any further down, Peter groaned from the way she was touching him and he immediately crashed his lips down against hers. Emma let her hand fall to the side as her eyes fluttered shut from the passionate kiss.

Peter somehow managed to pour every emotion he was feeling into the kiss as she laid there underneath him. She felt the tip of his tongue run along the edge of her parted lips, begging for entrance and like always she granted him it. Emma moaned into the kiss as he slipped his tongue into her mouth, lightly brushing it against hers at first before their kissing became even more passionate. Their make out sessions had been fairly sloppy in the beginning, as it usually was for teenagers who didn't know what they were doing, but with time Emma found that the phrase "practice makes perfect" really was true. Emma shivered when he moved his hand underneath her shirt as his tongue massaged hers. Her skin flushed red from the way he touched her and his hand drifted upwards until he cupped her breast through her bra. She rolled her hips against his in response which caused Peter to pause for a moment but only for him to tell her how much he loved her in a voice filled with such desperation that it made Emma want him that much more.

Peter immediately resumed kissing her while he made the bold move of grinding his hips against hers. Emma let out a small gasp of surprise but didn't make a move to stop him. In the past it had been difficult for her to move past stuff like this. While she still had flashbacks from time to time, they didn't occur as often now that her and Peter had done a fair amount of experimenting. They would still happen on occasion but Emma was so focused on Peter and the way he made her feel that she couldn't think of anything other than him. Emma dug her nails into his back as she felt his hardness rub against her and Peter moaned at the new sensation. He then moved away from her lips as he began to lead a trail of kisses along her jawline before reaching her neck. She couldn't help but notice how flushed Peter was as well as how heavy he was breathing as he nibbled his way down her neck. Emma kind of hoped that he didn't give her a hickey again because the last time was embarrassing…especially since Darcy had seen it. The hickey healed pretty fast with her healing factor but that didn't stop Darcy from teasing her about it for weeks on end. Emma bit her lip at the amount of pleasure she felt from Peter nibbling on her neck and she thought that she might not care if Peter left a mark, after all.

"Peter." She moaned as Peter just hummed as he focused on her neck. Emma then decided to say something more bold to see if maybe Peter would be willing to move this along even further. This was the most intimate they had ever gotten and Emma knew she wanted more. She knew that now was her chance to see if he would finally see that she was ready for more.

"Peter…let me touch you." Emma whispered to him softly and Peter stopped when he heard that. For a second he thought he might've heard her wrong but as he pulled away from her and looked down at her, he knew what he heard was true. The way she looked at him was enough to tell him that things had once again gone way out of hand. Peter searched her eyes to see if he could see any signs of fear or distrust but he didn't find any. Was she okay? Had he hurt her? Had he scared her? Peter didn't know what he thought he was doing. He promised himself to never let things get this far with Emma but that promise always slipped from his mind whenever Emma kissed him like that. How could he have been so selfish? Peter knew that he could've really hurt her if he went on like that. Without any more thought Peter sat up on the bed, removing himself from over Emma. He swallowed hard, feeling guilty at how far he let things get between himself and Emma. It was almost like he had no control when it came to her. Emma frowned as she also sat up from her position on the bed.

"Peter, what's wrong?" She asked him. He was still breathing heavy as he swallowed hard and tried to cool down but it was kind of difficult with Emma still so close to him.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled and Emma gave him a confused look.

"What are you sorry about?" Emma questioned and Peter just shook his head, refusing to answer her. Emma's eyes then drifted downwards and she knew that he was still hard. She scooted closer to him on the bed before resting her hand on his thigh.

"Let me help you, Peter." She said to him and Peter was so tempted to let her do what she said. He really wanted her to and Peter wasn't going to lie when he said that he hadn't fantasized about her doing that among other things. However, Peter knew that it wasn't right. Emma didn't know what she wanted and she was just confused. He couldn't take advantage of her this way.

"I'm fine." Peter said hurriedly and Emma just shook her head.

"I really don't mind, Peter." Emma told him as she began to move her hand up his leg but Peter immediately stood up from the bed in an attempt to get away from her. He swallowed hard once more as he tried to get himself under control and not cave in like he so desperately wanted to do. Emma stared up at him in bewilderment, completely confused as to why her boyfriend was acting so weird. Well…she wasn't that confused. She knew he had this weird thing about protecting her because he thought she was scared of his penis or something but he was being ridiculous at this point. Emma had made it more than clear to him that she was ready for the next step but he wasn't listening. She was beyond frustrated with him. Why did he seem so hell bent on treating her like she was a glass doll?

"I-I need to take a shower." Peter said as he stumbled over his words. Emma just stared at him, not knowing what to say as he then hurried off into the bathroom. He slammed the door behind him and Emma couldn't help but feel a wave of disappointment come over her. Even though she knew this was Peter being overprotective, she couldn't help but feel unwanted as he walked away from her. She felt tears welling up in her eyes before she got angry with herself for actually crying over something her stupid boyfriend did. What the hell was wrong with her? Was she actually going to cry because Peter refused to take things any further? God, if only her father could see her now. He taught her to be stronger than this but somehow she had thrown all of his teachings out the window as soon as Peter rejected her. She was really no better than any other teenage girl out there. Emma wasn't supposed to be this sensitive but Peter somehow brought this out of her.

Emma really didn't understand her boyfriend sometimes. She didn't know how much more she had to spell it out for him. Emma didn't know how she could make it clear to him that she wanted him. There was no doubt in her mind that she wanted to be with Peter that way. Why shouldn't they be together like that? She was in love with him, she trusted him, and most of all…she wanted him. It's not like Emma decided that she was going to have sex with a random person. This was Peter, after all, and he was the only one she would ever want. During one of her visits with Jessica, the dark haired woman had told her this much when Emma curiously asked her about sex. The visit happened a while ago but their talk still lingered in Emma's mind.

"Jessica?" Emma said during the midst of the silence between her and Jessica. She visited the woman every so often in Hell's Kitchen whenever she was bored. That day in particular Peter and Ned were off building some lame Lego Star Wars thing while Michelle was with her parents attending some family function out of town. Peter didn't really like her visiting Jessica even though he had never met her. Emma figured it was because he thought Jessica was a bad influence on her but Emma kind of thought it was the other way around.

Most of the time Emma spent at Jessica's apartment was just Jessica working on whatever case she had to work on while Emma just worked on some of her art work. Sometimes she would help Jessica with a case. It turned out that Emma wasn't bad at tracking people but she blamed that on Hydra. Mostly she and Jessica worked in silence. Emma had a feeling that Jessica was feeling lonely ever since the aftermath of what happened with Jessica's mother and best friend. The older woman didn't really have a lot of people around except for her boyfriend and his family. Emma didn't mind being around Jessica. She actually liked the woman's blunt and sarcastic nature, admiring Jessica in the same way she admired Loki.

"What?" Jessica said in annoyed tone. "I'm busy."

"You have a lot of sex, right?" Emma asked bluntly and Jessica looked up from her laptop in surprise before narrowing her eyes at the blonde.

"That's none of your fucking business." Jessica told her in a gruff tone. Emma didn't seem put off by Jessica's defensive tone. If anything she just seemed curious.

"I'm not judging you. I'm just curious." Emma said honestly and Jessica gave her a bewildered look.

"Why would my sex life interest you?" Jessica questioned and Emma shrugged.

"I don't know. I'm just curious about how you're able to have sex." Emma admitted and Jessica raised an eyebrow.

"Do you honestly not know how people have sex? Did your flag waver grandpa forget to fill you in on that?" Jessica asked sarcastically and Emma playfully glared at her. In their time spent getting to know each other, Emma had filled her in on some facts of her life. She didn't tell her everything but she might've mentioned how Steve happened to be her grandfather. Jessica was surprised to say the least because she never would've pictured Captain America's granddaughter to be quite like Emma. She would've pictured some goody two shoes girl with pigtails who went to vacation bible school during the summer and played hop scotch in the school yard. Jessica never would've imagined someone like Emma who was quite the opposite.

"Steve wants me to believe that he's never had sex. He also wants me to believe that no one has sex except for Tony who's some kind of sexual deviant." Emma said, rolling her eyes as she talked about Steve's wild and weird imagination. Jessica snorted.

"It sounds to me like your gramps is living in some kind of weird dream world." Jessica told her and Emma shrugged.

"You're telling me." Emma retorted before becoming curious again as she glanced back at Jessica. "I know how sex works. I obviously know that consensual sex is way different than rape but I'm just curious about how you bring yourself to do it after everything. Don't you feel vulnerable or scared?" Emma's questions were blunt but Jessica knew that the girl wasn't trying to push her buttons like she normally did. The look on the blonde's face was genuinely curious which in turn made Jessica curious.

"Why are you asking me all these weird questions? Don't you have some mom type figure to ask about all this shit? What about that woman you live with…the weird one who tasered Thor?" Jessica suggested and Emma scoffed at the mere suggestion of going to Darcy about this.

"Who, Darcy? The same woman that hasn't been laid in over a year?" Emma questioned sarcastically before shaking her head. "I'm not going to ask a woman, who spends her nights watching 'The Mindy Project' while shoveling down Stark Raving Hazelnut ice cream, about sex."

"Yeah, well, I'm not the type of person to ask about this either." Jessica argued as she tried to get Emma to ask someone else about this. "I'm not your mom and I'm not your friend." Emma wasn't offended by her rude remark as she smirked at the dark haired woman.

"You could be my mommy if you wanted. You're old enough to be." Emma teased and Jessica glared at her.

"Shut up." Jessica growled as she looked at the girl darkly. "You're such a little asshole, you know that? I'm starting to feel bad for Tony Stark for the first time in my life because he has to deal with all your shit every day. Maybe I should send him a condolence card for having to take care of a spoiled little brat with homicidal tendencies."

Emma just laughed at the woman's insult. She liked the woman's insults because they sounded like something Emma would say. Emma even liked to think that Jessica was like a grown up version of her. Hopefully Emma would still be that bitter and cool when she was that age and hopefully Peter didn't make her into too much of a boring sap. She'd never forgive him. Well, she obviously would but she would still be pretty annoyed.

"Seriously though…" Emma started to say as she brought the conversation back to where they started it with. "Tell me about how you have sex. Do you prepare yourself for it…like a pep talk or something? Do you have to be on top? Do you have to have a lot of foreplay first? What happens?" Jessica glowered at the bluntly honest teenage girl. What was wrong with this girl? Obviously this girl had no sense of shame or embarrassment but she was still so weird. Had Jessica been that weird at that age? She was around the same age when she got her powers but she never remembered asking a grown woman how she prepared herself for sex. Jessica sure as hell never asked Trish's mother about sex. Jessica nearly shuddered in revulsion at the very idea of asking Dorothy about sex. Gross.

"Why the fuck do you want to know? Huh?" Jessica questioned in annoyance. "I hope this isn't you hitting on me because you're jailbait in case you haven't noticed and I'm also not into girls…or blondes. I actually really hate blondes." Emma rolled her eyes at the woman's dramatics before a more serious look came over her face. She seemed slightly troubled as she bit her lip which was something Jessica had never seen her do. The former assassin never seemed capable of having nervous habits but Jessica had been wrong before.

"It's my boyfriend." Emma said quietly as she suddenly found it hard to look Jessica in the eyes. Jessica didn't really know much about Emma's mysterious boyfriend. Not since she told Jessica about the dilemma of telling her boyfriend about the rape. However, Emma informed her that she ended up telling him and he had taken it well or at least as well as someone could take finding out their girlfriend had been raped by some sick fuck. Other than that, Emma hadn't talked about him much. All Jessica knew was that he was some little nerd that Emma went to school with. Jessica was a bit mystified that the girl even had a boyfriend let alone her boyfriend basically being her high school sweetheart but Jessica wasn't one to question it. She was, after all, dating a guy with a kid and Jessica surprisingly really enjoyed feeling like she was part of a family. It had been a long time.

"What about him?" Jessica questioned before narrowing her eyes. "He's not trying to pressure you into having sex, is he? If he is then he's a little dickhead because that's the last thing he should be trying to do after knowing all that you've been through." Emma furiously shook her head because that wasn't it at all.

"No, it's just that…well…fuck…" Emma said as she struggled to get the right words out. "I've just been having these feelings lately."

"Okay…" Jessica said, still sounding confused as to what the blonde was getting at. Emma sighed heavily because she knew she was going to have to elaborate more.

"And I've also been having these thoughts…about him." Emma said quietly, hoping that Jessica might've understood what she was trying to say. Fortunately she did because a look of understanding came over her face as Jessica smirked.

"So you want to do dirty things to your precious little nerd." Jessica teased smugly and Emma glared at her.

"I'm trying to be serious with you for once…can't you do the same with me?" Emma said and Jessica sighed as she nodded solemnly.

"Okay, okay." Jessica said as she finally closed her laptop to give Emma her full attention. "So you want to actually have sex with him. Okay…so what's the problem?" Emma just stared at her as though she thought the answer was obvious.

"Um…I don't know. Maybe my problem is that the only remotely sexual experience I ever had was when some asshole raped me when I was thirteen." Emma snapped as she grew annoyed with Jessica. "Maybe I'm just a little worried that if I'm with him like that then I'll have some kind of flashback or…maybe I'm even wondering if I should have sex at all. Sex is the last thing that should ever be on my mind…right?" Emma sounded a bit unsure towards the end and Jessica gave her a look of disbelief.

"Wait…are you telling me that you think you shouldn't act on your own feelings because of what that dickhead did to you?" Jessica questioned and Emma shrugged.

"I don't know. Shouldn't I be disgusted by sex or want to stay away from it at the very least? I probably shouldn't be interested in having sex after what happened to me." Jessica just rolled her eyes at the girl although she was intent on giving the girl some helpful advice. As much as she tried to deny it, Jessica actually really liked the teenage girl. She reminded Jessica a lot of herself and maybe she wanted to help Emma because there weren't a lot of people around to help her when she was Emma's age. Well, there was Trish but that was a story for another time.

"It doesn't matter how you think you should feel. It just matters what you actually feel." Jessica told her honestly as Emma listened intently to the older woman. "Society will tell you one thing but you need to think about what you want. Not what you think everyone would want. What is it that you want?" Emma swallowed hard before answering.

"I'm scared at the aspect of being vulnerable like that with someone but on the other hand I love and trust him…I want to be with him. I really do." Jessica watched as the blonde blushed as she admitted the very thing she had been keeping to herself for a while. A part of her had been embarrassed and even ashamed to desire someone in that way. To not only feel love, friendship, and trust for Peter but to also desire him sexually. She wasn't ashamed of him but she was instead ashamed of the way she felt even after everything that happened to her. "I've never desired anyone before but I know I desire him and I just want to be closer to him."

"So you want to have sex with him." Jessica stated and Emma nodded.

"Yes." She answered a bit shyly which Jessica thought was unusual for the blonde but she was slowly adapting to this new side of Emma Rogers.

"You shouldn't feel ashamed of your feelings. Don't let what that dickhead did to you dictate how you live your life." Jessica lectured her but Emma didn't interrupt her. She just listened to the older woman carefully. "If you feel like you're ready to have sex then you should but only if you feel ready."

"How do you do it without having a flashback?" Emma asked suddenly, looking desperate to know. "You have sex so often. It's like it doesn't impact you in any way." Jessica shifted uncomfortably. She wasn't offended from Emma's questions because she knew Emma only wanted advice on how to move forward with her boyfriend.

"Look, kid, it doesn't matter how often or not often you have sex. The stuff that happened in the past is never going to go away completely. That kind of trauma never does." Jessica informed her honestly. "I'm not going to lie and say that I don't still have flashbacks from time to time because we both know I do. I'm also not going to sit here and give you a bunch of advice on having sex like I'm an expert on getting through it without becoming traumatized. You and I are completely different anyways." Emma furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she looked at her.

"What do you mean?" Emma inquired and Jessica sighed.

"You're in a committed relationship full of love and trust. I'm in a semi-stable relationship right now but before Oscar there was just a revolving door of losers whose names I can't even remember. There was nothing healthy about it." Jessica told Emma, refusing to mention Luke who she didn't consider to be one of those losers but Luke was a tough subject. She didn't like talking about him these days. "I can't really tell you why I did that for so long. I saw this shrink who said it was just me trying to regain control over myself after what Kilgrave did to me which makes sense, I guess." Jessica locked eyes with Emma and Emma stared back at her curiously.

"Love and trust had nothing to do with me wanting to have sex. Your intentions are more pure than mine were." Jessica told Emma which was true. Despite how crazy and manipulative the blonde acted sometimes, Jessica knew that it was all an act. The blonde was soft at heart and especially when it came to this guy in her life. Normally Jessica didn't approve of young girls like Emma who considered their boyfriends to be such a vital and important part of their lives but Jessica could tell it was different with Emma. This boy wasn't just a boyfriend or teenage fling. No, Emma also considered him to be her best friend.

"You seem to trust this guy, right? You two are in some kind of lame lovey-dovey bullshit relationship?" Jessica asked and it became obvious to Emma that Jessica couldn't get too sentimental. The older woman had to at least maintain some of her dignity. Emma nodded slowly.

"Yes." She answered.

"Then I think it'll be better for you than it was for me. I'm not saying that there won't be bumps in the road but he obviously cares about you a lot so I think you'll be alright." Jessica said as she gave Emma her honest opinion. "Just take it one step at a time and please use protection. Don't think the pull out method works because a couple girls I went to high school with have proof that it doesn't. If your boyfriend tries to convince you that he can pull out before he comes then he's full of shit." Emma, for once, blushed at Jessica's blunt nature. She laughed nervously as she nodded, telling herself to remember that information for later.

"Okay…I'll try to remember that." Emma agreed and Jessica gave her a pointed look.

"Just don't forget it." Jessica told her and Emma nodded before giving her a small, rare smile. It was rare for Emma to smile like that but she wanted to convey to Jessica that she really appreciated her advice.

"Thanks, Jessica." Emma said quietly and Jessica nodded briefly.

"Don't mention it, kid." Jessica said before pausing for a moment as something else came to mind. "Oh, and by the way…if your grandpa or Stark comes by yelling at me for giving you advice on having sex then I'll completely deny it. I won't even hesitate." Emma smirked at her in amusement because she totally knew Jessica would do that. She wouldn't put it past Jessica to do exactly that.

"Oh, I don't doubt it."

The talk Emma had with Jessica about sex had occurred around two months ago and nothing had really changed between her and Peter since then because her boyfriend was so stubborn sometimes. She may have been more inclined to have sex now that she had that talk with Jessica but Peter was too afraid to go there with her. Not because he wasn't ready but because he was treating her like she was fragile. Emma hated that. She wasn't fragile or delicate like he seemed to think she was. She didn't know what she ever did to give him that impression. It was more than likely the knowledge of her rape but Emma still didn't understand why he was still being so overprotective. She literally came out and said she would touch him if he really wanted. Emma wouldn't say that unless she meant it which she did.

Peter came out of the bathroom fifteen minutes after he locked himself inside there, wearing a pair of jeans and a plain light blue t-shirt instead of the pair of jogging pants he had been wearing before. His t-shirt was still lying carelessly on the floor from where he had thrown it before in the midst of Emma and Peter's passion filled hour of making out. His hair was still a bit wet from the shower as he walked out of the bathroom nonchalantly…like he hadn't hurried away from her just fifteen minutes ago. Peter blushed as his eyes met hers and he quickly looked away from her. He immediately went to sit on the edge of his bed as he grabbed his video game controller and focused his gaze on the television in front of him. Emma narrowed her eyes as she felt a wide range of emotions wash over her. Was he seriously going to play that fucking game? She was sitting right behind him. He hadn't even said anything to her. What the fuck was wrong with him? Peter really knew how to piss off Emma sometimes.

"Are you seriously going to play that stupid game?" Emma hissed in a low and dangerous tone. Peter stiffened as he turned around to look at her. He appeared shocked at her tone as if she was the one who was acting insane.

"Yeah…I figured that I would finish out the level and go from there." Peter replied dumbly and Emma glared at him.

"You're just going to ignore me then? You're going to pretend like nothing ever happened?" Peter flinched at the tone Emma was taking with him. Shit…somehow he knew he was in trouble.

"I'm not ignoring you." Peter pointed out defensively as he tried to avoid bickering with Emma. He could tell this time it wouldn't be the flirting kind of bickering him and Emma usually did. This would be real bickering. "See. I'm talking to you right now." Emma clenched her jaw in anger and she felt the urge to scream into her pillow in frustration. Why was he so frustrating?!

"You still don't understand a thing about women." Emma muttered, trying not to get too angry with him. Sometimes Peter really knew how to push her buttons. It was rare that anyone else really pissed her off the way he did. That seemed to be one thing Peter and Tony had in common. They both knew how to piss her off. Peter gave her a confused look like he didn't know what she meant.

"What are you talking about? I understand women plenty." Peter argued and Emma just stared at him silently for a moment before shaking her head in disbelief. Peter didn't understand women but more importantly, he didn't understand her. If he did then they wouldn't be in this situation right now.

"You don't understand anything." Emma argued back and Peter just glared at her before turning back to face the tv screen. He really didn't feel like arguing with her now.

"Whatever." He muttered as he began to start his game back up. Emma, however, didn't like being ignored. She felt a spark of anger as he pointedly ignored her and brushed her words off as he resumed playing that stupid game. Emma didn't want to be ignored. He was trying to pretend like their moment before never happened when all Emma wanted to do was talk about it with him. Jessica was right when she said that if Emma was ready for sex then that was her choice. Peter couldn't make those decisions for her. She immediately reached over and snatched the controller out of his hand. Emma hastily chucked it across the room so that she could finally have his attention.

"What the hell?!" Peter said in bewilderment before he turned back around to face her. "What was that for?!"

"Why don't you want to have sex with me?" Emma asked him abruptly, finally trying to get to the bottom of their intimacy issues. Peter's eyes immediately widened in shock as he looked at her and his face flushed red in embarrassment at Emma's blunt words.

"W-what?" He stuttered and Emma's gaze was unwavering as she stared back at him, searching his face for some answers.

"I know you want me so why don't you want to have sex?" Emma said as she elaborated but Peter was still left shocked and bewildered at her questions. He never would've expected her in a million years to come out and say it. Well, maybe he did because this was Emma, after all, but it was still so shocking to hear. Peter swallowed hard as he looked back at her. Leave it to Emma to be so unapologetically blunt and honest.

"Geez, Emma, do we have to talk about this right now…like this?" Peter said, feeling very embarrassed by her questioning. Emma narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, we do. We need to talk about this because you never seem to want to. Whenever things get a little heated between us, you always stop it. I deserve to know why." Emma told him and Peter realized that she was being entirely serious. He had to admit that he hadn't expected her to be so serious about this but it appeared that she was. She seemed almost…annoyed or frustrated with him which Peter hadn't expected.

"You know why." Peter said softly as his warm brown eyes rested on her face. Emma scoffed.

"Because I was raped? You don't want to have sex with me because I was raped?" Emma questioned and Peter's eyes widened before he furiously shook his head.

"No, that's not what I meant." Peter said hurriedly as he rushed to explain himself to her. "It's just…Emma, I know you feel like you have to be nice to me for some reason. That you think I deserve a reward or something for being your boyfriend but I don't expect anything. I just want you to know that." Peter suddenly felt like he had said the wrong thing again as she glared back at him. God, even now that he had been dating Emma for half a year, he still couldn't seem to ever say the right thing.

"You think I would whore myself out to you because you're nice to me?" Emma asked him in a pissed off tone and Peter blushed again.

"No…God, why can't I ever say the right thing? No, I just know that maybe you don't always have the right idea about sex." Peter said nervously and Emma shook her head.

"What are you talking about?" She questioned and Peter bit the inside of his cheek nervously before answering.

"About a month into our relationship we talked about…sex and you said that you were ready whenever I was. You said it like it depended only on me instead of you…like I was the one who called the shots." Peter said as he stared at her with a perplexed look on his face. "And I don't know…I guess it just scared me. After you told me about what Rumlow did to you, it made more sense to me why you might've said those things but I still didn't like it. You talked about sex like it was nothing…like it was your job to please me or something. Emma, I don't want you like that. Not if you only want to do it to somehow please me or make me happy. That's not how it works."

Emma suddenly felt guilty because she realized that Peter was right. She had acted that way in the first stage of their relationship. Emma had basically offered herself to Peter on his terms because she had been scared. She knew the secret she was keeping about Rumlow had been driving a wedge between them and she thought she could make him stay if they had sex. She hadn't been very interested in sex back then because of how bad the nightmares were but she had been willing to give herself to Peter if it meant that he wouldn't leave her. Of course, now she realized how fucked up that was but that was when she had only seen sex as a tool. Rumlow had used it against her to hurt and humiliate her but Emma thought she could use it to make Peter stay.

It had been a while since Emma had thought like that. Her self-esteem had been severely low back then and she thought Peter would leave the second he found out about Rumlow but she had unfairly misjudged him. Their relationship began to go in a different and better direction after that. After the Rumlow thing they had become more open and honest with each other which did the both of them a lot of good. As their relationship progressed she even started to have different kinds of feelings for Peter among the strong feelings of love, trust, adoration, and friendship she felt for him. She started feeling desire for him…sexual desire and Emma began to start to become more comfortable with the idea of having sex with Peter and for it to be something she wanted and not just something that she thought Peter wanted. Things had changed so much since those early days of the relationship and Emma finally felt like her and Peter were in a point in their relationship where they could take the next step. This was something Emma wanted simply because she loved and trusted Peter. This wasn't because she thought it would just make Peter happy and not her. No, Emma was certain this would make her happy too.

"You're right." Emma admitted as she finally responded to his statement. "I did feel that way. I was willing to have sex with you so I could make you stay with me."

"Emma-" Peter said as he began to interject but Emma quickly interrupted him.

"I was in a very different place and I was keeping secrets from you because I doubted your love for me…I was scared you'd leave me." Emma said as Peter grew silent. She wasn't telling him this to tell him he was right about everything but she was talking about this because she needed to be open and honest. She knew being open and honest with him about everything was vital in making him see the point she was making. "It was stupid, I know, but that's how I felt. I wasn't that interested in sex…only if you were and I can see that was wrong now."

"We've been together for six months and we've known each other for even longer." Emma said as she started to tell him the truth about her feelings for him. "A lot of things have changed for me in those six months. I didn't use to want to have sex because I was afraid if we were together like that it would trigger a flashback or something. I'm not saying that it will probably never happen but I know one thing." Emma swallowed hard as she locked eyes with Peter. Ocean blue meeting warm brown.

"I want you, Peter." She stated as firmly as she could to make him understand what she wanted. Peter blushed at her words and the way her blue eyes rested on his face. "I want you more than I've ever wanted anything."

"Emma…" Peter trailed off, not knowing what to say. Her words made it hard for him to think let alone come up with an answer. She wanted him? Emma wanted him…like that? Peter didn't really know if he could believe her.

"I'm being honest with you, Peter. I think about you all the time and I want to be with you in every way. I want us to be together." Emma said as she tried to convince him that she wasn't playing games with him anymore. She wasn't the girl with low self-esteem that was so emotionally damaged that she would let him do whatever he wanted with her. She learned her lesson and she knew how wrong she was. It was different now though. Her desire for him was real and genuine. This was what she wanted.

"I want you too." Peter answered quickly, his eyes widening from his own words as he tried not to blush again. "I think about you a lot as well…all the time actually. I've been thinking more about it recently. You're not the only one. I want us to be together too."

"Then why do you keep pushing me away?" Emma questioned, desperate to know why Peter always kept her at a distance when things became too intense. She knew it just wasn't because he thought her intentions were misguided. Peter sighed.

"I'm just scared." Peter admitted quietly and Emma furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Of what? Me?" She asked but Peter shook his head.

"I'm scared that I'll make you afraid of me." Peter finally told her but Emma was even more confused. Peter actually thought Emma could be afraid of him? No, it was impossible. Peter was the least scary person she knew.

"Peter, that's ridiculous." Emma told him and Peter swallowed hard.

"No, it's not. What if we're together like that and things change afterwards? What if you never look at me the same way again?" Peter questioned as tears flooded his eyes and Emma could tell this was something that had been bothering him for a long time. "What if I hurt you? We both know that I'm a lot stronger than you. What if I accidentally grabbed you too tight or worse? I'd never forgive myself." Peter then looked down at his hands which were in his lap and Emma frowned. She moved up further on the bed to sit next to him and without any hesitation she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him in for a tight hug. Peter buried his face in her neck as she held him there.

"You won't hurt me." Emma whispered to him as she rubbed his back soothingly. Peter just held onto her.

"You don't know that." Peter told her and Emma held him tighter.

"Yes, I do." Emma said without an ounce of doubt. "I know you would never hurt me just like I know I could never be afraid of you either." Emma then pulled back from him, forcing him to look her in the face. He looked back at her almost shyly but Emma wanted him to see that she knew he would never hurt her.

"I trust you, Peter." Emma told him firmly and Peter felt breathless at the sureness in her tone. "I want us to be together. It's my choice whether or not I want to have sex just like it's your choice whether or not you want to have sex. If you don't then that's fine but don't say no for my sake."

"I want to make love to you too. I've wanted to for a long time." Peter said suddenly which slightly surprised Emma. If it were any other circumstances, Emma would've made fun of him for saying "make love" but the only thing she could allow herself to feel was happiness. She smiled at him softly and Peter returned her smile with one of his own.

"Really?" Emma said and Peter nodded.

"I really do, Emma. I wasn't lying when I said I felt the same way about you. I want you more than you'll ever know too." Peter told her as he held her hands in his, softly caressing her skin with his thumb. "The adults say that we're too young for something like this but how could it be wrong? We're in love, aren't we?" Emma nodded with a bright smile on her face.

"Yes." Emma responded.

"And we're going to be together forever. I don't care if you say that you'll never marry me because I know you will and I know we'll also have a family together some day too." Peter told her and Emma playfully rolled her eyes.

"The marriage and kids thing is a hard no but forever sounds nice." Emma told him and Peter gave her that goofy smile. She knew he still wasn't going to give up on trying to convince her to marry him and have his little spider-brats. It would be a cold day in hell before Emma put on a wedding dress and an even colder day in hell before Emma started attending mommy and me workshops but forever was something she could definitely do. Forever with Peter sounded perfect. Peter's smile then faded as he became serious again. A thought crossed his mind in the midst of all the excitement he felt.

"If we're going to take this step then we're going to need to make some boundaries before this actually happens." Peter told her and Emma raised an eyebrow.

"What kind of boundaries?" Emma inquired curiously.

"You need to tell me things you don't want me to say or do." Peter told her honestly and Emma quickly realized what he meant. "You need to tell me how I can make this feel more comfortable and safe for you, okay?" Emma nodded furiously as her heart raced in her chest. She couldn't believe Peter was finally ready to take the next step…that he wanted her as much as she wanted him.

"You also have to promise me something, Emma." Peter said firmly and Emma locked eyes with him again.

"Anything." Emma stated and Peter looked at her seriously.

"When we finally do this you have to promise me that you'll tell me to stop if you don't want to do it anymore. I don't care what the circumstances are. If you don't want to anymore then you have to tell me to stop. Okay?" Peter said in a demanding tone and Emma quickly nodded.

"I promise." Emma told him and Peter smiled softly at her. She was touched that he was being so considerate. It was just like Peter to be so sweet and considerate with her. He really was the best boyfriend. Okay…gross. She was starting to sound like the teenage girl she dreaded to be. Well, maybe she didn't care as much about that as she thought she did because she honestly did have the best boyfriend.

"Good. We should probably still wait a little while until we figure these boundaries out." Peter said to her. "Is that okay with you?"

"Of course." Emma said as she nodded. She was just happy that Peter and her were finally going to be together in every way. "We should probably get some condoms too. I wasn't lying when I said I didn't want your spider-brats and I especially don't want them in high school."

"Oh, right." Peter said as he blushed at her remark. Emma bringing up condoms seemed to make all of this just a little bit more real and he was excited. He still couldn't believe Emma wanted to have sex with him. Despite his earlier apprehension, he couldn't help but feel happy now that they had finally had a much needed talk about taking that next step. Peter then attempted to sound cool as he responded to Emma's remark. Emma and Peter having sex was a way that they would express their love for each other, as corny as that sounded, but it was also a sign that they were growing up. He could totally be the mature adult who casually talked about buying condoms with his girlfriend even though Peter hadn't even thought about using protection until Emma mentioned the condoms. "Yeah, we should definitely buy some condoms. That's probably the smart thing to do. Condoms it is then."

"Right." Emma said as she gave her boyfriend an amused look. He was such a dork sometimes. Emma continued to watch him in amusement as he struggled with the ability to contain his excitement. It seemed like he failed in the end as he gave her another goofy grin as he looked back at her.

"I can't believe we're going to have sex." Peter said in awe as he pulled her onto his lap and into his arms, burying his face in her neck again but this time she knew he was happy. Emma giggled as Peter then moved away from her neck before pressing his lips against hers but it wasn't a passionate kiss like before. The kiss was sweet and full of promise. He seemed very happy and pleased as he pulled away, feeling content just to hold her in his arms.

"I'm going to make sure our first time is romantic and perfect just like in the movies." Peter told her excitedly as he began to ramble on about all the things he was going to do for their first time.

"I'm talking about candles from Bath and Body Works, flower petals, and maybe we'll even have the Weeknd's music playing in the background. Or maybe John Legend? What do you think? Do you like the Weeknd more or John Legend?" Emma laughed at her ridiculous boyfriend and he pretended to pout.

"You're real cute, Parker." Emma said which was the phrase she always used when she thought he was being silly or amusing. Her gaze then softened as she looked back up at him. "I don't care what music's playing in the background. I just want to be with you."

Peter looked back down at her with something akin to adoration in his eyes. He was about to lean back down to kiss her again when their moment was rudely interrupted. Emma and Peter immediately turned to look at the wall of Peter's bedroom where Vision had just popped out of. The android looked completely unaware of the moment he had just interrupted and it didn't take Emma long to glare at him as she still sat on Peter's lap while Peter just looked curious. Vision almost sighed at the usual glare on Emma's face which was directed towards him. Sometimes he wondered if it was the Winter Soldier she was related to by blood and not Steve. There were very few similarities between herself and the Captain.

"I am sorry if I interrupted anything between you and Mr. Parker." Vision said in what Emma always thought was that snide tone of his. She always hated how the android talked like he knew everything. Well, maybe he did know everything since he did have the mind stone, after all. Emma still refused to admit that she might actually like him despite all his annoying quirks. The missions Tony had sent her and Vision on were surprisingly not as bad as she thought. Emma would still never say that to Vision's face because she could just picture him giving her that smug look. Everyone told Emma that Vision wasn't capable of looking smug but Emma didn't believe them. There was a lot that Vision was hiding…Emma was sure of it.

"Yeah, I'm sure you are." Emma muttered and Peter nudged her, trying to tell her to be polite. Emma thought it was adorable how Peter thought she was capable of being polite.

"No, you didn't interrupt anything, Vision. Emma and I were just talking about boring stuff. Nothing interesting." Peter nervously rambled as he lied terribly. Emma thought he was just lucky that it was Vision who was here and not someone human who could actually easily detect Peter's pathetic lies. If it was Tony or Rhodey in the room then they'd be able call Peter out on his shit easily. Vision simply just nodded at the pair before changing the subject.

"Very well. Tony and Rhodes sent me to get you two. Apparently there's an emergency Avengers meeting in the conference room." Vision informed them. Emma and Peter both shared a bewildered look before looking back at Vision. An Avengers meeting? The last time they had one of those was when Volkov, a Hydra agent, killed himself all those months ago after telling Emma that Rumlow was looking for her. Avenger meetings that Emma and Peter were allowed to attend were very rare since neither Emma nor Peter were officially Avengers. Peter because he took the high road, deciding he wasn't quite ready for it, and Emma because she thought the whole Avenger thing was kind of lame and stupid. Emma was much more happy being the Anti-Hero than being an Avenger.

"What about?" Emma asked suspiciously and Vision seemed hesitant to answer her.

"Tony requires your presence and there's little time left. We should go now. The meeting's urgent." Vision said, not even trying to answer Emma's question. Okay…something was definitely up. That android was an even worse liar than Peter. Deciding that there was no sense in questioning Vision further, Emma got up from Peter's lap and began to follow Vision out of the room with Peter following behind her. Emma didn't know what was going on or why there was a need for a meeting but she knew this wasn't good. Emma also had the distinct feeling that whatever this was might've had something to do with why Tony and the others had been acting so weird lately. Emma was starting to get a bad feeling about this. Great, Peter had finally corrupted her. She was actually quoting Star Wars in her head now. Although…Han Solo did kind of have a point when it came to bad feelings and the feeling Emma had right now was really bad.

---

"So what is this about?" Emma asked bluntly as they all sat in the conference room of the compound. Tony, Rhodey, Vision, and Maria all sat around the table for the meeting. There also happened to be the holographic forms of Thaddeus Ross among other UN members. Emma glared at the holographic form of Ross at the table, wishing nothing more than to strangle the man. That old asshole caused more problems in her life than anyone else. Peter sat next to Emma as she looked at what was left of the Avengers suspiciously. By the grim looks on their faces, Emma could tell that this probably wasn't going to be good. Tony sighed as he finally mustered up the courage to tell Emma the truth.

"There's been an attack." Tony said solemnly and Emma furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She noticed that Peter also looked very confused.

"Attack? What attack?" Emma asked, clearly not having a clue as to what Tony was talking about.

"Stark, do we really need to have her and the boy here? There isn't time for games. We have serious matters to discuss." Ross declared and Emma wanted so badly to somehow reach through that hologram and murder the idiot. Even Peter glared at Ross because he knew this was the man keeping Emma and her family apart.

"This actually involves Emma so she does have a right to be here." Rhodey interjected and Ross glared at the colonel.

"Have care how you speak, Rhodes. I'm feeling incredibly impatient today." Ross replied and Emma sighed heavily in annoyance. Sometime she really hated how many men hung around the compound. It was all one big dick measuring contest.

"Just get to the point and tell us what's going on. I don't care what Ross says." Emma told Tony, causing Ross to shoot Emma a nasty look but she really didn't care. However, before he could speak, Tony responded to her.

"There was an attack on one of Shield's old headquarters buildings in Oklahoma City two hours ago." Tony said, looking more serious than she had seen him be in a while. Emma didn't look any less confused. "It was reconstructed as an outlet for the CIA two years ago. Sixty four killed and one hundred and eleven injured…so far."

"An attack? Are you talking about a terrorist attack…like the Oklahoma City bombing in '95?" Emma questioned as she looked around the table. She remembered learning about the Oklahoma City bombing in one of the history books Hydra made her read. "Who was it this time?"

"We believe the attack was a terrorist attack but our information is very vague. We're waiting to hear more information in the meantime." Maria said as she also had a very grim look on her face. "Agent Carter's currently on the scene but we're waiting to hear more from her."

"I don't understand." Emma said, looking perplexed as to why they decided to even have a meeting about this. "Isn't a terrorist attack a job for the Joint Counter Terrorist Center? Why is it the Avengers' problem?" Emma may have sounded cold and uncaring but she was just being logical. A terrorist attack was more of a concern for the government's agencies and not for the Avengers. She didn't get why they were even discussing this.

"The Avengers operates under the supervision of the United Nations panel or have you forgotten about the accords?" Ross said in a cold tone as he glared at the blonde. Some of the members from the United Nations panel nodded in agreement with Ross's statement. "The Avengers are brought in when and if we say so and only when we say so." Emma scoffed as she returned Ross's glare.

"I never signed those bullshit papers and I never will. You can count me out on that." Emma snapped and Ross fumed at the way she talked to him. "I'm not an Avenger anyways so I could really give a shit less what the United Nations says. I'm not your little puppet like Tony, Rhodey, and Vision are. You can't control me." Ross exhaled and he looked like he wanted strangle the young girl. Good, Emma thought to herself. At least the feeling was mutual. Peter clenched his jaw angrily at the way the older man was staring at Emma. Emma always had a problem with authority figures but that didn't mean that old man had the right to look at her like that.

"Listen here, you little brat, you might not be able to sign the accords now but the second you turn eighteen you better change your tune or you'll land your ass in that prison faster than you can blink." Ross threatened in a low and dangerous tone but Emma just smirked at him, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Do you promise?" Emma said teasingly but Peter didn't feel as nonchalant about the man's threat. He gave the man a scathing look, a look that none of the others had ever seen on the sweet-natured boy's face, as he reached for Emma's hand under the table. Peter squeezed her hand comfortingly as he glared at Ross.

"You'll do no such thing." Peter said protectively and Emma looked between the two in amusement. Peter was really hot when he was telling Ross off. Nothing gave her more satisfaction than seeing her boyfriend telling Ross where to shove it. "Emma's not going to prison. I wouldn't even think about it if I were you and I also won't having you talking like that to her." Ross sneered at the teenage boy. He had it up to here with arrogant teenagers.

"Who do you think-" Ross started to say but Maria didn't let them finish.

"Guys, we don't have time for this." Maria interjected as she gave Ross a pointed look because Ross honestly should've known better. He was arguing with a couple of teenagers for Christ's sake. "This terrorist attack is actually more puzzling than it seems."

"What do you mean?" Emma questioned as a more serious expression crossed her face. Tony swallowed hard as he prepared himself to give Emma the bad news.

"We think Hydra's the one behind the attack." Tony told her quietly and you could hear a pin drop in the room. It was so quiet. Emma could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she took in that information. It was quite the harsh blow. Hydra was the one behind the attack? How could that be? They hadn't heard anything about Hydra in months. The last time they got a lead was when Emma found out those idiots in Queens had sold Rumlow Toomes' old weapons. Ever since then the trail had gone cold. There was just silence.

"What makes you think that?" Emma questioned, completely confused by this information and she wasn't the only one. Peter also looked incredibly troubled by this information. Tony then used one of the high tech holographic screens to bring up the scene of the bombing. Emma fought to maintain her composure as she looked at the gruesome scene while Peter just looked shocked and horrified. The scene didn't show a building like Tony mentioned but rather the ruins of what used to be a building. Ambulances and fire trucks littered the scene as they tried to offer aid to injured people while also trying to find anymore living people under the rubble of all the destruction. Dead bodies also littered the crime scene but it wasn't like any typical bombings that Emma had ever seen before. No, it looked different. While everything had been reduced to ashes, it still looked too clean to have been caused by a bomb. There was no fire or burn marks on any of the victims and there was even no smoke wafting through the air. The only evidence of the devastation was the rubble that had caused death or injury to many of the victims. Something seemed off about the remarkably clean crime scene.

"Does this look normal to you?" Tony asked rhetorically as he gestured to the crime scene. Peter also analyzed the scene but he wasn't sure what Tony meant by it. All he could see was the dead and injured people at the scene of the bombing. The scene filled Peter with a sense of regret and sadness. Emma just kept a stoic expression on her face as she stared at the scene, trying to think about this logically.

"It looks clean…not like any kind of bombing I've ever seen. Do we know what kind of bomb they used?" Emma questioned and Tony just shrugged.

"It's really anyone's guess. The investigation is just beginning but I don't think it was a bomb." Tony told her as he looked back at the blonde. "I think they used something else."

"If this even is Hydra." Emma argued as she finally looked around the scene. "Did they even leave a message or some kind of clue? Why are you so sure this is Hydra?"

"Why are you so sure that it isn't?" Maria pointed out and Emma raised an eyebrow before she shrugged.

"I'm not sure that it isn't. I would like some more information though." Emma said quietly as she drummed her fingers against the surface of the table. "If it is Hydra, like you think, then they did this for a reason. The message would be the attack. The only question is what message are they trying to get across?"

"We were hoping you might help us answer that." Rhodey said and Emma have them all a bewildered look.

"What? You think I had something to do with this?" Emma questioned.

"I wouldn't put it past you." Ross muttered and the others all gave him another pointed look before looking back to Emma. Tony sighed heavily.

"Look, Mini Cap, this attack happened in Oklahoma. Where you, who Hydra's obviously been wanting back, were born so you can't tell me this is just a coincidence." Tony said and Emma was surprised that she hadn't drawn the connection herself. Honestly she hardly thought about her life before Hydra. Emma considered her life to be the life she had been living for the past three years. Oklahoma hardly ever crossed her mind. Peter looked between Tony and Emma in surprise because he had forgotten that Emma was originally from Oklahoma. Well, he hadn't really forgotten but it had just somehow managed to escape his mind. Emma didn't talk about Oklahoma often but he knew it was only because she didn't remember much.

"My parents lived in Rush Springs which was in the middle of nowhere. I'm not from Oklahoma City." Emma said as she shook her head. "Oklahoma City was like an hour away. I know because I looked it up ages ago."

"You and your parents lived in Rush Springs but there wasn't a hospital there because they lived in bum-fuck nowhere. You were born in Oklahoma City because it was the closest hospital to where they lived." Tony informed her and Emma's eyes widened in surprise. She didn't know why she didn't think of that. Of course she couldn't have been born in Rush Springs. The population was so tiny that it was impossible for the town to have an actual hospital. Emma swallowed hard as she came to terms with what this meant.

"So what? Are you saying they want me?" Emma asked quietly but she already knew the answer. Of course they wanted her. Hydra would always look for her. The idea that they had stopped was silly. They would never stop trying to get her back. They had invested too much time and effort to do anything less.

"I'm saying that there's a good chance that they're trying to get our attention with attacking your birthplace." Tony said in response but Emma knew the truth. Hydra was trying to scare them and fill them with unease. It was what they did before they made another strike. They liked to instill fear and terror in people before making another attack when their targets were still weak. Emma knew because she used to use this tactic among many when she was still Hydra's weapon. She could tell everyone in the room was uneasy which meant that Hydra's plan was already working.

"We still don't know if this is Hydra for sure. Let's not jump to conclusions." Ross added as he interrupted both Emma and Tony's thoughts. Emma pointedly ignored the man as she looked at Maria.

"I know we can't know what kind of weapons were actually used but what kind of weapons do you think were used? Do ballistics match anything we've come across in the past?" Emma inquired as she tried to not let herself panic about Hydra. Peter was softly caressing the top of her hand with his thumb to give her some comfort but she still felt overwhelmingly uneasy. How could she not? She always knew Hydra would come for her but a part of her had hoped they would've forgotten about her. However, that was stupid thinking. They would always come back for her. It had been a long three years coming but Hydra was finally coming for her.

"We were able to make some comparisons to the devastation other weapons have left in the past. Notably advanced weaponry." Maria said as Tony then brought up side by side picture comparisons of the scene in Oklahoma City and the scene of other known crime scenes that used advanced weaponry.

"We're thinking that Hydra managed to get their hands on a large amount of alien tech…assuming this is Hydra." Tony added the last part after receiving a sharp look from Ross. "We already know that Rumlow bought alien weaponry off the four ATM robbers in Queens. We also know that Hydra has gotten their hands on a large amount of Chitauri technology when we attacked their base in Sokovia two years ago. Not to mention Loki's scepter."

"And that was just one of many bases that they had Chitauri technology hidden inside." Emma said as she did her best to remember details of her time at Hydra. "I saw some Chitauri technology at the base in Siberia and I know they had some at the one in Dusseldorf but they more than likely moved them when Steve took down Hydra in D.C. They were moving a lot of shit around back then." Emma remembered how the Hydra agents had run like chickens with their heads cut off back then. They were all terrified at being found out and she would never forget the state of panic they were in.

"Right." Tony said as he showed images that compared the devastation of Chitauri weaponry and the Oklahoma City attack. None of the images matched. "All we know is that advanced weaponry had to be used in the attack because the energy levels cannot even be compared to anything else."

"Have all the different terrorist organizations, other than Hydra, come out of the woodwork to claim responsibility?" Emma asked and Rhodey nodded.

"You know it." Rhodey answered. "We've been vetting them for the past couple hours but so far nothing seems to match up." It was then that Vision spoke up for the first time since the meeting started. He had a concerned look on his face as he looked over at Tony.

"Tony, do you not think we should also inform Miss Rogers of the other news?" Vision inquired and Tony glared at the android. Emma furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. News? What other news?

"I thought we agreed that we weren't going to discuss that." Tony said but Vision didn't look troubled by Tony's annoyed tone. Emma just didn't understand what they were talking about. It didn't exactly surprise her that Tony and the others might've been hiding something from her. She had been suspicious of Tony for the past couple weeks but she was still curious what Tony's secrecy could be about.

"Given the events of Hydra's new attack, I think it is imperative that we inform her of other Hydra related events." Vision said and Emma's eyes widened in surprise. Hydra related events? Was this not the only Hydra related event? Emma turned to look at Peter's reaction but he looked just as confused as she was. Yeah, she knew they weren't likely to tell Peter anything either. Her boyfriend couldn't keep a secret to save his life. He had the biggest mouth out of all the people she had ever met.

"We don't even know for sure that this is Hydra. There's no need to cause a panic." Maria said and Emma starting to become frustrated at this point. They were talking about her like she wasn't even here.

"Come on, Maria, of course this is Hydra. We all know that. It's too coincidental for it not to be Hydra." Rhodey argued. Ross glared at Rhodey and Emma honestly had no clue why Rhodey ever defended this man and demanded all of them to respect him. Ross was the biggest asshole on the planet. She was even sure that she liked Ultron a hell of a lot more than this old man.

"You think I'm actually going to stand by and let you idiots spill classified information to a couple of teenagers?" Ross interjected and all the UN members at the meeting voiced their agreement. "I have a lot of respect for you, Colonel Rhodes, but I won't let you do that."

"Can you just tell me what the hell you're talking about? I already know something's going on." Emma interrupted them, her voice full of annoyance. Everyone turned to look at her, unsure looks plastered across their faces. They all seemed hesitant but they realized that they had already revealed too much just to backtrack on their statements.

"Mini Cap, it's really nothing." Tony said nervously and Emma narrowed her eyes at him.

"It doesn't sound like nothing." Emma retorted and Maria crossed her arms, a stoic expression coming over her face.

"Fine. If we're going to tell you anything then he can't be here." Maria said as she then pointedly looked at Peter. An offended look immediately crossed Peter's face as he glared at Maria and Tony.

"Hey, I'm just as much of a part of this as Emma. I deserve to know everything that's going on too." Peter argued and despite the tense moment, Emma had to admit Peter was so adorable when he was angry. She then immediately cursed herself for getting sidetracked by her boyfriend's cuteness because this was a serious moment. Her annoying teenage girl thoughts were going to have to wait for another day when the world wasn't going to shit like it always seemed to do. Why did the world always seem to go to shit? Every year it seemed like a bunch of evil assholes were set on destroying the world. Loki, Evil Space Elves, Hydra, Ultron, Zemo, Toomes, and now Hydra yet again. It seemed like there was always some evil asshole that had to make their lives harder. Couldn't these guys take a break?

"Stark, if you tell them anything, I swear-" Ross started to say but was interrupted by Rhodey.

"I mean no disrespect, Mr. Secretary, but if anyone deserves to know then its Emma." Rhodey told him, trying to be as polite and cordial as he could but Emma could tell he was quickly growing annoyed by the Secretary of State. They all were. A part of Emma wanted to say I-Told-You-So about the Sokovia Accords but she knew that it would be a dick move. It was still awfully tempting to do. "This all directly concerns her and we both know that it's Hydra launching these attacks. Who else would have the weapons? I think that Emma would be able to give us some helpful insight into Hydra if she knew what was going on." Ross clenched his jaw angrily as he hatefully glared at Emma.

"Yes, I forgot we had a former assassin and terrorist in the room with us. Good to know." Ross grumbled but Emma didn't let Ross piss her off like he seemed to be pissing Peter off. She just smirked smugly at him as she leaned forward in her seat.

"I actually prefer being called a survivalist. I think that's the politically correct term for it in my opinion." Emma told Ross who didn't look amused by her. "It was all just surviving to me." Tony cleared his throat awkwardly as he tried to remove the tension in the room between Emma and Ross. The two clearly hated each other and Tony wasn't a huge fan of Ross either but they really needed to get through this without Emma stealing a Quinjet to fly over to Ross's place so she could murder him. That wasn't going to help anyone right now.

"Anyways…I think Rhodey has a point although I don't know if the kid should hear this right now." Tony said and the amused expression on her face was replaced by a defiant one as she squeezed Peter's hand from under the table.

"If you send Peter out of the room, I'll tell him everything later. It doesn't really make a difference what you do." Emma told Tony and the billionaire sighed. He kind of figured Emma would say that and Peter didn't look like he was about to leave either.

"Fine. He can stay." Tony finally relented before a more grim expression came over his face. Ross didn't look happy about this but it was clear to him that the Avengers were going to do this whether he liked it or not. Maybe he should send them another memo about the accords in the future just so he could remind them where their place was. Tony took a deep breath before finally telling Emma the truth that he had tried hiding from her for the past couple months.

"Dr. List escaped Raft prison." Tony told Emma who just stared back at him silently. For a moment she thought she had imagined him saying that.

"Excuse me?" Emma questioned and Tony nodded slowly before continuing.

"He escaped from prison three months ago. We believe that he might've even had help from Hydra." Tony told her and Emma took a deep breath as she tried to process what he was telling her. Memories of the insane doctor flooded her mind as she remembered all the needles he used to poke and prod her with. The cold expression on his face when he had her submerged in that tank, watching in cold indifference as he injected her with the serum. He was the reason Emma held a huge distrust towards scientists and he also just so happened to be on her shit list. Him and Rumlow were the only ones left alive who were still on that shit list. Pierce, Karpov, and Strucker were all dead. Emma finally managed to gather her bearings as she swallowed hard before speaking up.

"I don't get it. Why am I only finding out about this now if it happened three months ago?" Rhodey flinched at the anger in Emma's tone because he knew she was pissed. The others were a bit nervous at Emma's raised voice because things had been going so well between Tony and Emma lately. They bickered a lot but it was rare that they actually argued about anything these days.

"We didn't want to cause a panic or anything so we kept it out of the news. Four Avengers managed to break out of the prison so imagine how people would react if someone else broke out." Tony tried to explain but Emma was quickly becoming furious with the older man.

"I don't care about you keeping this out of the media. I want to know why you didn't tell me." Emma snapped and Tony tried to keep his cool. He didn't want to argue with her because he was finally in a good place with the blonde. He almost felt like they were on the brink of having a relationship similar to the one that they had when she was a toddler. Not that she would remember any of that.

"I thought if we captured him again then it wouldn't be a problem. I didn't want you to get worried about it for nothing." Tony said honestly, his gaze caring but Emma didn't care. She didn't care if he was looking out for her. She wasn't a baby and she deserved to know everything Hydra related. Whenever Hydra came up in conversation, it would forever have something to do with Emma. They had kidnapped and held her prisoner in their base for nine years while also making her into a weapon. "I didn't want you to think Hydra was coming back for you." Emma just scoffed as she shook her head.

"Well, you obviously did a shitty job at capturing him again." Emma said in a heated tone and it was clear that she wasn't touched by Tony's caring attitude. Tony gave her a slightly guilty look. "I have a right to know if Hydra's back on our radar. Every time something Hydra related comes up, I should be the first to know. You have no right in hiding that from me."

"Emma's right." Peter said from next to her. "None of you had the right to keep this from her. She deserves to know if her life's in danger." Most, Emma included, were surprised to hear Peter agreeing with Emma over Tony. The teenage boy always idolized Tony and saw him as a paternal figure which made it surprising to hear him come to Emma's defense rather than Tony's. Emma was just happy that she at least had some support on this.

"Is this why you've been keeping me at the compound all this time? Why you've had me wasting my time on missions with Vision?" Emma said, her voice now accusatory as she narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You've been hiding me, haven't you? Locking me up like I'm your own personal prisoner. This is exactly what you did to Maximoff after that incident in Lagos." Tony rolled his eyes at the blonde.

"Don't be so dramatic." Tony told her and Emma fumed at the carefree expression on his face. He could be such an asshole sometimes! "You have Wi-Fi, Netflix, and access to the training facility and the pool. Don't act like I'm keeping you prisoner."

"You lied to me! You've been going around behind my back and making sure that I'm completely ignorant of your dealings with Hydra so that you try and play hero." Emma said furiously as Tony glared back at her. "Well, guess what, Stark? You did a shit job because Hydra's still on the loose blowing up cities while you're over here sitting on your ass fretting about not causing a panic. God, you just love sneaking around on people, don't you? Ultron, the Accords, and now Hydra. I didn't realize we were living in a world of Tony knows best. Who even put you in charge?"

"Your grandfather did when he walked out on us!" Tony snapped at her. He was heaving with anger at all the things Emma accused him of. He was just trying to protect her but she made him out to be the bad guy in all of this. Why was he always the bad guy?

"Well, you made damn sure of that, didn't you?" Emma said as she sneered at him. Everyone watched the two argue back and forth like it was a tennis match because Emma was probably the only person in the world, other than Steve, who wasn't afraid of standing up to Tony Stark. Emma honestly didn't really hold Tony responsible for Steve and her father's absence anymore but this fight was bringing out old feelings. She was using whatever she could against him but deep down she was honestly just scared about Hydra coming back. The very thing she had always had nightmares about was now happening and there was no telling what would happen. It was then, however, that someone finally decided to step in and diffuse the situation. Vision cleared his throat as he interrupted the heated argument between Emma and Tony.

"Perhaps we should just focus on the issue at hand." Vision said softly as Emma and Tony stared at each other silently, coming down from their angry state. Despite how much Tony cared about Emma, he also found her about as stubborn as Steve sometimes. Like her grandfather, she just couldn't see things from his perspective. It was beyond frustrating. "While Dr. List escaping from Raft Prison and the attack in Oklahoma have all been signs of Hydra's activity in recent times, there have been other signs too." Emma finally looked away from Tony as her curiosity took over.

"What signs?" She questioned as Peter also looked over at Vision curiously. He had stayed quiet during her argument with Tony, not because he didn't agree with her but because he knew that she liked to fight her own battles. Peter understood why Tony had done what he did but he just thought Tony went about it the wrong way. It was wrong not telling Emma what was going on.

"There was some business in Tanzania recently involving King T'Challa and the Dora Milaje." Emma was vaguely familiar with the Dora Milaje but not much was known about them. After all, everyone was still learning about Wakanda since they decided to integrate themselves more into the world. "They came across weapon dealers transporting a shipment of weapons made from Vibranium and an unidentified energy source. We have reason to believe that perhaps the weapons King T'Challa and his guards confiscated are, in fact, the same ones used in the attack."

"You're saying that there are more of these weapons out there?" Emma questioned and Vision nodded before Maria added something else.

"King T'Challa and an agent with the CIA interrogated these men shortly after arresting them and they spilled everything…or at least everything they knew." Maria said as she brought up a video on the holographic screen before hitting play. Emma watched as the familiar face of T'Challa appeared on the screen alongside Agent Everett Ross who happened to be one of the men who led the investigation against her father during the business with the accords. A look of disdain crossed her face momentarily at the sight of the short man before she focused on the situation at hand. The two men were in an interrogation room of some kind, a very filthy looking one, as they both glared down at a Hispanic looking man sitting in front of them who looked scared out of his mind.

"Juan Ramirez, is it?" Everett questioned although it was clear that he already knew the answer. T'Challa just seemed to watch silently and let Everett do all the talking. "You seem to be in a bit of a tight situation, Juan. Care to explain yourself?"

"Yo no hablo ingles." Juan said as he looked between Everett and T'Challa nervously. Everett slammed his hand back down on the table which caused Juan to jump in fright.

"Do we look stupid to you?!" Everett snapped. "We know that you were born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska and we also know for a fact that your Spanish doesn't go beyond high school so don't try and bullshit us.

"Now…are you going to cooperate with us or not?" Everett continued after his voice had taken a calmer tone. "Because it's not looking good for you right now, Juan. You just tried to smuggle a ton of Vibranium based weapons that's powered by God knows what. You're in so much shit right now that you're even on the King of Wakanda's radar. Does King T'Challa look happy to you?" Juan nervously glanced over at T'Challa who looked incredibly pissed. The man swallowed hard.

"Um…no." Juan replied, sounding unsure.

"You see, the men we arrested with you. Well, they aren't talking." Everett told him as he sat down on the edge of the table. "They're really tight lipped as it would seem so they're landing themselves a cell in Raft prison. Do you know how bad Raft prison is, Juan? No human contact, twenty four hour surveillance, and you get let out of your cell twice a day for bathroom privileges. It doesn't sound fun, does it?"

"No." The weak looking man squeaked.

"But you're not like them, Juan. I can see that. You seem smarter." Everett said and Emma had to admit that even though she despised the man, he was a pretty good interrogator. "You don't have to go to Raft prison like them. We can set you up in a prison back in the states. You could be going to little arts and craft circles…hell, you could even take college classes if you wanted. We might even be able to work out a lesser sentence. That sounds nice, right?"

"Yeah, it does." Juan said quietly as he nodded at Everett.

"We just need your cooperation." Everett said softly as he stared the man down. T'Challa didn't look like he enjoyed the thought of this man getting a lesser sentence but he didn't say anything. "Do you think you can cooperate with us?"

"Yes." Juan said as he swallowed hard. "I would like to cooperate."

"Go on then." Everett told him as he gave him a fake smile. "Tell us everything and we'll be able to work out a deal." Juan nodded as mustered up the courage to finally speak. Everyone started paying closer attention to what the man was about to say.

"I swear I didn't know what was in the boxes, okay? I swear." Juan told them before he continued. "I'm just trying pay off my student loans, man. Do you know how much they charge for college? Anyways…so a buddy of mine said that he knew an easy and fast way to make some cash." Juan took a deep breath before speaking again as Everett and T'Challa listened closely.

"They told me that there was this rich Mexican guy who needed some things of his to be moved around from place to place. I just assumed he was having his art collection move around or something. You know how rich people are." Juan said nervously as he looked between Everett and T'Challa. "It seemed like good money and I got to travel a lot so of course I took the job."

"What was the man's name?" T'Challa asked in his thick accent, speaking up for the first time since the interrogation began. Juan bit his lip nervously before answering.

"Diego Ugalde." He told them and Everett immediately stared at him in disbelief.

"Diego Ugalde? You mean Diego Ugalde like the famous actor?" Everett questioned and T'Challa looked confused. It was obvious that he wasn't aware of who Diego Ugalde was. Emma was only vaguely aware of the actor but that was mostly because Darcy had made her watch one of his movies once. Emma didn't think he was all that great but then again she rarely like any of the movies Darcy watched.

"Yes." Juan told them and Everett scoffed.

"Stop wasting our time!" Everett snapped and Juan hurriedly shook his head.

"I swear I'm not! I know it sounds crazy but it really is Diego Ugalde. That's why I thought everything was legit." Juan rushed to say. "I only met him maybe once or twice in the past year I've been working for him. He was nice then but recently he's been really impatient and pissed. He was wanting the shipments in specific locations at specific times. There's not a lot of guys in the crew so we had a hard time making all his crazy deadlines." Something in Juan's confession seemed to make Everett believe him as he took a second look at the man.

"You're saying that a movie star is somehow involved in this?" Everett asked skeptically.

"Yes. I know it sounds crazy but I swear it's true. Look, we've been moving this shipment across the world for the past year alone. From city to city, state to state, and country to country." Juan told them and T'Challa narrowed his eyes at the man.

"If what you're saying is the truth then how did this…actor get his hands on the weapons?" T'Challa questioned as he began to raise his voice at the man who sank back into his seat. "Who did he get the Vibranium from?"

"I told you I didn't know what was in the shipment. We weren't allowed to look. We signed a contract not to look." Juan explained and Everett raised his eyebrows.

"And you're still claiming not to know what this guy was having shipped around the world?" Everett asked him and Juan looked guilty.

"I needed the money. I didn't ask any questions." Juan said weakly and T'Challa gave him a disgusted look. There was a brief moment of silence before Juan spoke up again but it was only then that he held T'Challa and Everett's complete attention. "I never knew anything about the weapons but I did hear rumors about Diego."

"Rumors?" T'Challa inquired curiously and Juan ran his tongue over his teeth before answering.

"The other guys in the crew, the ones who had been working there longer than me, talked about the shipments like it was someone else needing them and not Diego…like Diego might've been having them moved for someone else." Juan said quietly and Everett stared at him in surprise.

"You're saying this guy was working for someone else?" Everett asked and Juan nodded. "Like who?"

"I heard some of the other guys talking. They mentioned a name." Juan said, seeming almost frightened as he spoke but this time he seemed scared of something else. T'Challa and Everett exchanged a look before glancing back at the scared looking man.

"What name?" T'Challa asked and Juan looked back up at him with wide eyes.

"Hydra."

Maria then ended the video clip as Emma was left to process everything she learned from the video. Diego Ugalde. Vibranium. Hydra. All this new information astounded her and she had no idea how to put it all together. None of this made sense. At least not right now in this very moment. Supposedly this guy was working for an actor that so happened to work for Hydra? Why would Hydra entrust their most powerful weapons to an actor of all people? Well, maybe they would, after all. Actors were supposedly charming and great at playing a part. Look at Ted Bundy. Although he wasn't an actor people always said he seemed charming which was why he probably got away with killing people for so long. Maybe Hydra would be that stupid. It was plausible but Emma didn't really know what to believe anymore. She had spent nine years with Hydra but she had also spent three years out of Hydra. A lot can change in three years and not to mention Hydra was now run by different people. It wasn't run by her grandfather anymore. Pierce and Rumlow were two very different people so the way Hydra was now run was bound to change.

"This interrogation took place three weeks ago." Maria told them solemnly as she looked across the table. "It didn't take long for the other crew members to eventually fess up when they realized that they were about to spend their entire lives in Raft. They all had the same exact story."

"Are you seriously saying Diego Ugalde is working for Hydra?" Peter asked in disbelief, not believing what he was actually hearing. "The guy who did that talking fish movie is working for Hydra? This is insane."

"It sounds laughable but Hydra's done crazier things." Emma said quietly as she added her view on this new discovery. "If they wanted to maintain a low profile then finding a village idiot to use as their messenger wouldn't be a terrible strategy." Maria nodded in agreement at Emma's statement.

"We've done numerous background checks on him but he's clean. Between several ex-wives and mistresses, the guy's just your average Hollywood A-Lister." Maria told them but Emma didn't look sure.

"Just because he's clean doesn't mean he's clean. This just means he hasn't been caught." Emma replied as she still seemed suspicious. "This story is a pretty elaborate and specific one to just be dismissed. We should still be cautious of him."

"We are." Rhodey told her seriously. "We've got people down in Mexico City keeping a close surveillance of his mansion. So far the guy's done nothing out of the ordinary for a womanizing celebrity."

"What about the weapons T'Challa confiscated?" Emma asked suddenly as she remembered the fact that T'Challa and the Dora Milaje had managed to confiscate these weapons that were apparently property of Hydra. "Is there a way we could possibly match them to the weapons used in Oklahoma?"

"T'Challa's been pretty adamant about keeping the weapons in Wakanda until further notice." Tony announced. It seemed like both he and Emma had cooled down from their prior argument. The situation had gotten slightly more serious than before. "He's having his people analyze them and he'll send us the results when they're finished. Until then we won't know for sure if these are the same weapons although it's safe to assume that it's a match."

"If it's a match then that means that Hydra led the attack on Oklahoma." Maria added.

"It's not safe to assume anything." Ross interjected and Emma rolled her eyes.

"You're just saying that because you're too lazy to deal with Hydra." Emma told him, causing him to glare at her again but Emma didn't care. "This couldn't be anyone but Hydra."

"Mini Cap." Tony said, grabbing her attention again. "What's your take on this? What do you think they're up to?" Everyone's gaze was focused on the blonde as she sighed heavily.

"I think that this is only the beginning." Emma told them as she looked across the room at all of them. "Hydra likes to start out small. If they have these weapons then that means they can do a hell of a lot more than attacking some government building in Oklahoma City. They're trying to get our attention and they've already done that."

"What about Dr. List?" Rhodey asked curiously. "Do you think they broke him out of prison to help create these weapons?"

"No. He wasn't that kind of scientist. List's specialty was human experimentation. Trust me, I know firsthand." Emma said, immediately shutting down Rhodey's theory. "You're right though. Hydra broke List out for a reason. Not because they missed him…no, they needed something from him. That's the only reason they would go through all the trouble."

"So what are you saying?" Ross asked her and it seemed very hard for him to actually ask her for her opinion on all of this. Any other time Emma would've smirked at him and rubbed it in his face but she was feeling slightly more on edge than usual.

"I'm saying that I wouldn't focus all my attention on these weapons. That's what Hydra wants you to do." Emma informed them as she gave them her honest opinion. "They have something else up their sleeve that they're saving for later. That's why they brought List back. Whatever it is, it's probably guaranteed that we're not going to like it."

"Do you have any idea what that might be? What about the weapons?" Maria questioned as she looked desperate for any other information. Emma honestly didn't know what to tell her. "Do you have any idea what weapons they might be using? Did you see anything when you were there?" Emma took a deep breath before exhaling.

"My job at Hydra was simple. Kill who they wanted and then wait for the next mission." Emma said, looking a bit guilty at her former life at Hydra. Peter gave her a sympathetic look, wanting to convey to her that it was okay. Her life at Hydra was over. "I didn't ask questions but I did see a few things. I know they were using Loki's scepter for human experimentation as well as creating weapons. I also know that they used Chitauri technology to make other weapons. According to your analysis, however, the weapons used in the attack were neither powered by the Chitauri or Loki's scepter. What else they may have used to make these weapons is beyond me."

"So you don't know everything, after all." Ross smugly pointed out and Emma fought the urge to glare at him as she remained focused on the others. She swallowed hard as she tried to come up with the courage to make a very bold suggestion. A suggestion that she had been wanting to make for a long time. It was kind of terrible that she had been desperately waiting for the world to go to shit again so she could even make the suggestion but Emma never thought it would have to come to Rumlow for this to finally happen.

"Look, there are a lot of things I can't tell you about Hydra. I was there for nine years which seems long but there's someone who's been there for a lot longer than me." Emma then paused briefly as she looked at everyone's expressions. Vision and Peter looked slightly confused by her odd statement but everyone else had looks of shock on their faces because they immediately knew who Emma was talking about.

"I think we need to get the others in on this. We need my father." Emma stated and the room suddenly grew very silent. "He was kept prisoner by Hydra for several decades. There's no telling what kind of information he might have. Maybe he knows something about the weapons…something that could help us."

"If you think I'm going to sit by and let your psychopathic assassin boyfriend run loose around the city then you're crazier than I thought, Rogers." Ross hissed and Emma tried to not let herself explode in anger at him. How dare he talk about her father like that! And boyfriend?! Was he nuts?! She really wished that Bruce had smashed that guy's brains in all those years ago when he still had the chance. Emma furiously shook her head as she looked to the others for help.

"Look around! Who's left?" Emma told them, desperate to get them to see what move they needed to make next. "A nerd in a suit of armor, an android, and a man who can't even walk outside his suit. There's Peter and I too but that's not going to cut it. We're seriously understaffed."

"We need Captain America, Black Widow, Falcon, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and we even need the Winter Soldier." Emma said as she tried to get them to see that everyone needed to finally bury the hatchet. "Whatever Hydra has planned for us is going to be bad. We don't know how bad yet but it's gotta be catastrophic if they're hiding it like this. This is why we need the Avengers all back together again. We need to formulate a plan on how to move forward. With Cap's strategy and Winter's knowledge of Hydra we could have a real advantage."

"If your grandfather or any one of those war criminals sets foot on American soil I will have them sent back to Raft with life sentences." Ross said as he sneered at her and Emma scoffed.

"Oh, like your precious little prison is so secure." Emma said sarcastically. "You've already had four Avengers break out of that place and not to mention a Hydra scientist. You think it's working so great? Trying looking into your staff. It's guaranteed that one of them helped break List out so it looks like that stupid prison's corrupt anyways. Are you sure Zemo's even there anymore? Maybe you should go check." Ross looked like he wanted to murder her but he didn't get the chance to respond as Rhodey jumped back into the conversation.

"Emma, it's not that simple." Rhodey stated as he brought the conversation back to Emma's suggestion. "Look, even if we could get the rest of the Avengers here legally, we can't just go running around the world doing whatever we want. The UN has to approve it because the Sokovia Accords-" Emma then interrupted him, tired of hearing about the accords. The stupid accords were all she seemed to hear about these days and she was sick of it.

"Fuck the accords!" Emma snapped and everyone looked at her in shock. "I'm serious. Rip them up and let's just forget they ever happened." Rhodey laughed nervously as he tried to keep things calm in the room. This conversation was starting to become very political.

"You have to understand something about politics, Emma-" He tried to tell her but she just interrupted him again.

"Oh, I understand plenty. It's all Hydra used to teach me but the fact is that I don't give a shit about politics." Emma told them heatedly as she glared at all of them. Ross looked pissed at her but Emma didn't give him a chance to interrupt. "You guys are always preaching all the time about saving the world and protecting people, which I always thought was lame, but the second politics come into question, you just sit on your asses and wait for approval from a bunch of pencil pushers who don't know shit."

"We're doing the best we can with what we have, okay?!" Tony snapped at her and Emma glared back at him as she shook her head.

"It's not good enough, Tony. We're just a fraction of what we used to be and it's not going to hold up against Hydra this time." Emma told him honestly.

"I agree with Emma." Peter said quietly from next to her. He had remained quiet for a large part of this heated debate like Vision but he was going to support his girlfriend because she was right. Peter knew that she was only trying to do the right thing even though she was a little rough around the edges. Everyone turned to look at him. It was kind of scary standing up to the Avengers but he had faced worst.

"She's right." Peter said as he continued to speak. "We need the Avengers back together again. There's hardly any of us left. Politics shouldn't stand in the way of helping save lives. People are in danger and we need to do something about that." Emma gave him a small smile of thanks as he once again squeezed her hand and returned her smile. She was happy that he was being supportive of her even though she knew it was difficult for him to disagree with Tony. He was there for her and she appreciated it.

"They're right, Tony." Maria told the billionaire as she nodded in agreement with what Emma and Peter said. "There's going to be a lot of lives hanging in the balance over this. A lot of people have already died and the body count's only going to rise."

"I also see the logic in Emma's reasoning." Vision stated as he momentarily glanced at her before looking back at the others. It was one of the rare occasions he called her by her first name but Emma was more shocked because the android was actually agreeing with her. Who knew? "Many people have already perished and more will if we sit here and keeping talking amongst each other. This calls for action and perhaps Sergeant Barnes could give us some insight into Hydra. We have a better advantage as a full team than a partial team."

Tony glanced from face to face, not liking the fact that everyone other than Rhodey and Ross were agreeing on this issue. He was slowly losing his mind over this. Barnes coming back? Could he really handle that? Tony knew deep down that it wasn't Barnes' fault that he had killed Tony's parents. It was Hydra controlling him and brainwashing him. Tony knew all of this but he still didn't know if he could handle being around that man. The one that Steve had thrown everything away to save and the one Emma seemed to love so unconditionally. Tony didn't know if he was ready for something like that. It had been a year but the pain of finding out about his parent's death and the fight between himself and Cap was still raw. Tony finally managed to take a deep breath as he collected his thoughts and looked Emma straight in the eyes. The same eyes that she shared with both her dad and grandfather.

"I get that you want to do the right thing, Emma, but this can't happen." Tony finally stated much to Emma's shock and anger. "We signed the accords for a reason and the rest of the others made their choice the day they refused to sign. There's no other way around this." Emma immediately stood up from her seat as she glared at the billionaire. Everyone held their breath as they watched her glare at Tony who did his best to maintain his composure.

"You're lying." Emma said as she forced herself not lose it over Tony. She would be damned if she cried over Tony Stark. How could he do this? How could he still sit there and tell her that he couldn't let the others come back even if the world was in danger? "This isn't about the accords. This is about you." Emma shook her head in disbelief.

"You won't let them come back because your ego won't let you." Emma accused but she could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. Peter looked up at her in concern, wanting nothing more than to comfort her but he knew better than to interrupt Emma when she had something to say. Tony looked down at the table, refusing to meet her gaze because it was too difficult. All he could see was hurt, disappointment, and anger swirling around in those blue depths. He felt like he was letting her down and maybe he was.

"You're being selfish. This isn't about you…this is about Hydra and what they might do but you don't care." Emma told him, sounding completely hurt by his decision. Her expression then hardened as she quickly became angry.

"You know what? All those deaths are going to be on you." Emma said coldly as she acted out of anger. She was angry at a great many things but she was mostly hurt by Tony's actions. "Because you had the chance to do something about it but you didn't. You had the chance to get over yourself and ask for help but you refused because you're an egotistical asshole who doesn't care about anyone except himself." Tony swallowed his emotions down because he felt like a little boy again getting lectured by Steven for doing some bad although Steven never sounded as hurt and angry as Emma did in that moment. He closed his eyes tightly as he tried to wish away the regret he already felt from hurting her.

"I'm finished here. I can't spend another second in this fucking room." Emma hissed before she abruptly made a beeline for the door and vacated the conference room. There was a brief moment of silence as everyone stood in shock from what they just witnessed. Peter had only experienced Emma and Tony fighting once before but this was equally as bad. He could tell that Emma was really hurting. Without giving it anymore thought, Peter got up from the table as well. He only glanced at Tony for a moment.

"I still think you're wrong, Mr. Stark." Peter said quietly, giving his mentor a disappointed look which didn't make Tony feel any better. If anything it just made him feel even shittier than before. Now the kid was mad at him too? Wow…he really fucked up, hadn't he? "We need the others more than you know." Peter then looked away from Tony sadly and followed his girlfriend out of the room, leaving Tony and the others alone to wrap up the meeting although Tony couldn't stop thinking about the look on Emma and Peter's face. This was really bad.

---

The second Peter stepped out of the conference room to go find Emma; he realized that he wouldn't have to look far. The blonde was leaning against the wall outside the room with a haunted look on her face and her arms wrapped around herself. Tears were silently streaming down her face and Peter didn't hesitate in going over to her. Peter immediately pulled her into his arms and Emma melted in his embrace, not wanting to be alone right now. Not after everything that just happened during the meeting.

"Why is he doing this, Peter?" Emma questioned as she let Peter hold her in his arms. "He knows that we need them but he just won't move on. He can't let go and people are going to die."

"I don't know, Emma." Peter murmured and Emma sniffled. "I just think it's a lot for him to get over."

"He told me he forgave my father. He said it straight to my face." Emma told Peter.

"It might've been easier for him to forgive your father since your father isn't here. I think he might be scared to face everyone after what happened last year." Peter said to her as he tried to keep the peace between Emma and Tony. Of course Peter was on Emma's side but that didn't mean that he wanted Emma to be angry at Tony. He knew she said a lot of things she didn't mean when she was angry and she said a lot of those things to Tony just now. Tony might not have been as aware of this as Peter was.

"Peter, it's not just Tony." Emma said suddenly as she held onto him tighter, fear clenching her heart. Peter looked down at her in concern.

"What are you talking about?" He questioned and the look on Emma's face scared him. She looked absolutely terrified as she looked back up at him. It was rare that Emma ever looked scared and he didn't like it.

"Hydra's back which also means Rumlow's back." Emma told him, her voice trembling. "He's going to get me, Peter. Just like in my nightmares. He's going to get me and he's going to rape me again. I know he is."

Peter felt an overwhelming amount of fear wash over him at Emma's statement. In all his shock over Hydra launching the attack in Oklahoma among other things, he didn't have time to think of Rumlow. Now, however, he realized that things were a lot more serious than he originally thought. Hydra coming back also meant Rumlow coming back…the man who raped his girlfriend. The man who still haunted Emma's nightmares on a regular basis. Peter wanted so badly to hurt the man who had hurt the girl he loved. He even wanted to kill him which went against everything he believed in but this was Emma he was talking about. This man had done evil things to Emma and he needed to pay. Peter pressed a chaste kiss against Emma's forehead before pulling away to look at her. He brushed his thumb across her cheek, wiping away the tears, as he locked eyes with her.

"He's not going to get you, Emma. He's not. I won't let him." Peter told her sincerely and it was clear to Emma that he meant every word. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you. You're safe with me."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Peter." Emma whispered as she tried not to let herself break down. "My parents couldn't even save me from Hydra."

"I won't let anyone ever hurt you. Please believe me." Peter pleaded softly with her but Emma seemed distant…her thoughts somewhere far away. She shook her head as the fear started to overwhelm her.

"Whatever Hydra has is really bad, Peter. I don't know if we can hold them off on our own. There's no one here anymore." Emma stated as she tried to come to terms that things were only going to go downhill from there. There was just three Avengers plus her and Peter. What use was that if Hydra was planning something catastrophic? "We need the rest of the Avengers. Without them…I don't know what will happen."

"Maybe if you told Tony about what Rumlow did to you-" Peter started to say but Emma interrupted him as she scoffed.

"Telling Tony's not going to change a thing. He doesn't give a shit." Emma said bitterly, still pissed off by Tony's stupid decision. "You heard him in there. No, I'm not going to give him the satisfaction of knowing what Rumlow did to me." Peter gave her a look of disbelief.

"You think Tony would take any pleasure in knowing what Rumlow did to you? Emma…he cares about you." Peter told her as he tried to get her to see some sense. "If you told Tony the truth then I know he would change his mind about the Avengers. He'd bring them back in a heartbeat if he knew."

"You think too much of him." Emma muttered, still clearly angry with Tony. Peter didn't really agree with her on that but he didn't want to argue with her. Not when she was in such a scared and hurt state.

"I think it would be for the best if you finally came clean about everything. No one would hold it against you, Emma. I know you think they will but they won't." Peter said as he tried to convince her to tell everyone about the rape. "If Hydra's coming then it might be better if they know."

"I'm not telling them anything. It's none of their business." Emma said, showing her stubborn side and Peter sighed. He knew he couldn't force her to tell the others if she didn't want to. She had to make that decision herself and if she didn't want to tell them then…well, Peter didn't think there was much he could do about it.

"If you don't want to tell them then maybe I could if you want…if that would be easier for you." Peter suggested but he immediately regretted the suggestion when Emma glared at him.

"You promised you wouldn't tell." Emma said, her voice low although Peter could still detect a small amount of fear in her voice too. Peter just shook his head as he pulled her back into his arms and held her.

"I won't. I won't." Peter hurriedly reassured her. "I just want you to know that I'm here for you. I'll do whatever you want. Okay?" Emma buried her face in his chest in an attempt feel closer to him. Despite her fear, she did feel safer in Peter's arms. She knew it was silly but she felt like nothing could hurt her if Peter just held her like this.

"Thank you, Peter." She murmured and Peter just soothingly rubbed her back as he comforted her. Emma tried to listen to his heartbeat because she knew the sound of his heartbeat always calmed her down. Everything about Peter could calm her down.

"We'll be okay." Peter whispered as they stood very still in the hallway. It was quiet so Emma just allowed herself to focus on nothing but him and the steady pattern of his breathing. A million thoughts went through her mind as she stood there with Peter but she couldn't help but panic over what was going to happen next. Whatever it was, Emma knew that it definitely wasn't going to be good. They might've even been able to get through it if everyone was here but the compound was a pathetic excuse for an Avenger's facility since there was barely any Avengers left. Without the others, Emma didn't know if they were going to come out of this one alright. She just didn't know and that terrified her. One thing she did know was that Rumlow was finally coming for her and he might even be able to get her this time too. There was no telling how the future was going to unfold at this point. Emma was just sure that no good was going to come out of this. Nothing good was ever associated with Hydra. All of Emma's fears were finally coming to light. Hydra was coming and they weren't going to stop…no matter the cost.

---

Wakanda

T'Challa walked across one of the Wakanda hilltops as Okoye, the general of the Dora Milaje, gave him updates of the status of all the tribes still within Wakanda. Several members of the Dora Milaje trailed after them as T'Challa looked over the countryside of Wakanda. He had lived in Wakanda his entire life but never did any of Wakanda's beauty grow old to him. It was just as beautiful as he remembered it when he was just a young boy.

"The King's Guard and the Dora Milaje ready at your request." Okoye informed him as they walked ever so slowly over the hill. Although Wakanda looked as beautiful as ever, even after the incident with Killmonger, there was still a threat worldwide now that they had learned their Vibranium had ended up in the wrong hands. There was no telling how but T'Challa had a few sneaking suspicions. Even though Ulysses Klaue was now dead, it was clear that he was not finished with the living just yet. It seemed like he had left them a surprise in the form of these weapons. T'Challa just wondered who he had sold his leftover Vibranium to.

"The Border Tribe?" T'Challa inquired, wanting to know how many tribes were in position in case the fight was ever brought back to Wakanda. Hydra, as Everett Ross suspected, seemed very eager to launch attacks in the US but there was no telling whether or not they might come to Wakanda to take more Vibranium. If that day came then you better believe T'Challa was going to be prepared for it.

"Those that are left?" Okoye questioned.

"Send them away to the Jabari as well. M'Baku likes a good fight." T'Challa ordered as an amused smile came over his face at the thought of his rival turned ally. T'Challa and Okoye finally came to a stop just a short distance away from one of the villages that the Border Tribe occupied.

"Here we conquer." Okoye said as she smiled at her king but soon grew serious once more as she and T'Challa looked down at the form of a tall white man hard at work as he helped the local farmers do their daily tasks. Okoye nodded at the man.

"And what of this one?" Okoye asked. T'Challa stared thoughtfully at the man for a moment before he finally spoke.

"This one may be tired of war." T'Challa proclaimed as he watched Bucky Barnes help one of the farmers lift something heavy as if it weighed nothing. T'Challa, however, knew better than that. "But the White Wolf has rested long enough." T'Challa then nodded for the guards to follow him and Okoye as they moved in towards Bucky who they now called White Wolf.

Bucky Barnes had spent two months out of the Cyro-Chamber and in those two months he felt better than what he had felt in a long time. He no longer felt the inner turmoil of the Winter Soldier but he just felt…well, he felt like himself. He felt like the old Bucky but still different at the same time. Bucky didn't really know how to explain it but he just felt healthier and more free. It had taken a while to get used to it but thankfully Shuri had helped him through it. The Wakandan princess and T'Challa's little sister was a big help although Bucky at times forgot she was a princess. She was very sarcastic, witty, and informal for a princess. Not to mention she was a teenager who was probably around Emma's age.

Emma…

It hadn't felt like a year since he had last seen Emma but he knew that it had been that long. The Cyro-Chamber made him feel like it had only been a couple short months when, in fact, it had been a lot longer. One of the first things he had asked after he had woken up in the tent was where Emma was. He must've asked Shuri a million questions about his adoptive daughter but it soon became clear that she didn't have much of a clue who Emma was. It wasn't until she brought him to T'Challa that he was able to get some questions answered.

T'Challa informed him that Emma was living in New York under Tony Stark's care and that she was as safe as can be. The thought of Emma living under Tony Stark's watch made Bucky hesitant since Bucky and Tony hadn't really met or parted under good circumstances and Bucky couldn't blame Tony for that. Still…Bucky had been worried about whether or not Emma was really safe with Tony Stark but T'Challa assured him that she was. Steve had left her in Tony's care, believing that no harm would come to her there and Steve's opinion was good enough for Bucky. This still didn't mean that Bucky didn't miss her at the end of the day. There wasn't a day that went by that Bucky didn't miss her or long for her company. T'Challa mentioned that Natasha met with Emma a few months ago and that she seemed to be doing well. She was going to school and had even made some friends. Bucky found that hard to believe but he was happy that she was doing well. He just wished that he could be there for her.

Steve and the others were gone as well apparently. They had left Wakanda a couple months after Bucky had been placed into the Cyro-Chamber to put some space between them and Wakanda. They knew T'Challa could get into a lot of trouble over offering aid to the Winter Soldier so they didn't want to put the king in anymore jeopardy by harboring all the Avengers too. Bucky hadn't had contact with Steve since waking up but T'Challa said that it was only because everyone was on the run. No one knew where they were. Despite feeling welcomed into the Wakandan community, he couldn't help but feel alone without the presence of his daughter and best friend. Sometimes he just wished everything was a lot simpler than it was.

Bucky was then broken out of his thoughts as he glanced over at the forms of T'Challa, Okoye, and some of the Dora Milaje approaching him. He immediately stopped the work he was doing to give them his full attention. Bucky was bit curious as to why the king himself had come all the way down to where the Border Tribe lived. Usually if Bucky was needed by T'Challa, someone would bring him up to the palace. He really liked T'Challa even though they didn't meet on the best of terms but he was grateful that T'Challa had been so helpful since he had woken up. Bucky owed him a lot and he had no clue how to ever repay him.

Bucky's eyes then drifted to an official looking metal suitcase that one of guards had. The guard immediately set the suitcase in front of Bucky, managing to capture his complete and undivided attention, before popping it open. Bucky's eyes widened in surprise as he stared at the contents of the suitcase. Inside, much to his surprise, was a new and much more advanced looking version of his metal arm but this one looked different than the one Hydra made for him. This one looked a lot better and there wasn't a doubt in Bucky's mind that Shuri was the one who designed it. It had Shuri written all over it. Bucky hesitantly traced his fingers over the cool, metallic texture of the arm as he stared down at it in astonishment while T'Challa and Okoye just watched him silently. He had almost forgotten they were there in the midst of everything. Bucky looked up at the king, locking eyes with him.

"Where's the fight?" Bucky asked knowingly and T'Challa just gave a solemn look that said more than words could. Somehow Bucky knew something was very wrong. He could feel it and it was rare that he was ever wrong about that sort of thing. T'Challa wasn't about to tell him he was wrong either as he spoke quietly to the former assassin. The situation was a lot more serious than either of them could even begin to comprehend.

"On its way."