Hello, everyone! Yes, I realize that it's been roughly five months: I do have a good reason, or more, though (maybe, ish, kinda, who knows?).

The first one: my laptop's drive finally crapped itself, so it needed to be replaced. Which leads to reason number 2: the program I use to write these stories was gone, so I had to use my sisters laptop. Reason three: while waiting for my laptop to be fixed, I got stuck into knitting a blanket for my Nan, and that took a bit loner than I expected. Reason 4: I got stuck into the new Thunderbirds, and a friggin' plot bunny erupted, or rather several did. And finally reason 5, and probably the best reason I have: the time off gave me a chance to rethink this story a bit. So Now I know how the second season will go, and boy howdy, will it rock your socks?

Anyway, now that I'm back into the game, I present you with chapter 17. Enjoy, my friends!

The Man Who Stole Tomorrow

If someone were to take a photo of me as I am now, and compare me to how I was five months ago, they'd immediately notice the startling changes I've gone through, something mostly in thanks to my loving boyfriend T'Challa, also known as the Black Panther—the king of Wakanda.

It also helped that I also formed bonds with the other Avengers too, and learned from them. With every new experience, I gained more confidence in myself as both a person and an Avenger. Sure, a lot of those events weren't ones I'd really welcome: being attacked by my ex-boyfriend, and nearly having my spine broken by a giant man with a vendetta were just some events that instantly came to mind.

But in the end, I found the strength and courage inside myself to find a solution to my problems with pretty minor injuries. Mind you, any sane person would point out that being put into a death-like coma sleep counts as a major one.

Well, it wouldn't be much of a life without some sort of trouble.

Speaking of trouble, I also had to prepare for the arrival of Merlin—a super-powered teen girl from an alternative Earth. Unfortunately for me, Alenka didn't tell me what I should do when Merlin arrives; all I was told was that the poor kind had an argument with her friends and just needed a place far from her troubles to cool down. Why Alenka chose this Earth, I have no idea, but I was determines to make sure nothing went wrong.

Hopefully.

######

With the soon-to-arrive Merlin, one would imagine that I'd be way too nervous to focus on anything else, and that would be true if I didn't have a couple of secret weapons at my side: my family, my boyfriend and the other Avengers.

I'm not exactly sure when it all really started, but I was getting boxing lessons from Steve, which really came in handy when T'Challa started teaching me the more exotic fighting styles. If I could give myself a score, I'd say my fighting skills would be a 4 out of 10—before the Avengers started and I met T'Challa. Nowadays, I'd be very comfortable in giving myself a 6 or 7 out of 10.

Another improvement was my physique: I will never admit this out loud, but I did have a small problem with puppy fat around my hips and thighs. Thanks to my new lifestyle and fitness buddies, the puppy fat was gone, and I had a very nice body. Something that made T'Challa ogle extra longer if I (rarely) decided to wear a bikini to the pool.

Speaking of wardrobe choices…

######

"Should I be worried right now, T'Challa?" I asked my boyfriend, hoping for both a positive answer and that I could open my eyes soon. We were in his private rooms at the embassy, getting ready for today's training sessions when T'Challa declared that he had a surprise for me.

"Of course not." T'Challa replied, without even bothering to disguise his amusement, "When have I ever given you a reason to worry?" Hmm, should I point out the time when he asked the Avengers to help him invade his home country to reclaim his throne? Or maybe the time when N'Jadaka tried to cause trouble in said kingdom? And of course, how could we forget his actions after the Masters of Evil infiltrated the mansion and brought my ex along with them.

I wisely kept my mouth shut, but I think T'Challa saw the cheeky little pout I undoubtedly had on my face, and so he brushed his fingers against my sides. Earlier in our budding friendship, T'Challa discovered that I was ticklish—it didn't take much of an effort for him to reduce me to a shrieking pile of goop. Something he would often take shameless advantage of whenever I poked fun at him. Like right now.

T'Challa wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me flush against his own body, and with his free hand tickled my side. Squealing with laughter, I tried to wiggle out of his grip, but T'Challa had me pinned tight, so all I could do was giggle like mad.

Eventually, T'Challa took pity on me and stopped tickling, wrapping both his arms around my body and held me close. When I finally stopped laughing, I opened my eyes to look up at the man I so dearly loved. His warm golden eyes looked back at me, the cheerful mirth and love inside making my insides turn into a fluttery jumble, and my heart beat louder, even as a blanket of warmth spread throughout my veins.

"I love you, my Rose." He spoke in a low voice, one that sent shivers down my spine, and pressed a soft kiss to the tip of my nose.

"I love you too, T'Challa." I replied, slipping my arms around his waist, "but that doesn't stop me from worrying about whatever it is you have planned." With this, T'Challa gave a hearty laugh and pulled away from me.

"As I have noticed, but I promise, you will like this surprise." He promised, "Now close your eyes." Tempting as it was to be cheeky, I didn't want to be tickled again, so I did as requested. I could hear T'Challa move about as he got whatever he wanted to show me. It wasn't a few moments later that I was told to look.

When I did as instructed, the first thing I noticed was the mass of black fabric in his arms. Um…ok: new clothes from T'Challa, not quite sure what to make of that, to be honest. But rather than be rude, I decided to just accept them.

As I held up the fabric in my hands, I discovered it was actually two pieces of clothing: a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of long pants. The material was light, but quite sturdy, almost like…wait, it couldn't be…it's not what I think it is!

"Is this…vibranium?" I questioned him suspiciously.

"It is." T'Challa nodded—and smiled at my gaping mouth expression—and gestured to the clothes. "After the incident in Wakanda, and our growing relationship, Iron Man and I had discussions on ways to keep you safe from harm." Any sense of surprise I felt turned into indignation: I was not that weak, thank you very much! I barely opened my mouth to protest when T'Challa pressed his fingers against my lips to silence me.

"We know you are more than capable of defending yourself." He assured me, "But there have been too many instances where you have been hurt, and quite badly at that." That…ok, fine he had me there.

Seeing that I had seen his point, T'Challa continued to explain. "In the end, I offered a solution that your brother found agreeable: you would be given clothes similar to mine." He then lowered his fingers from my lips, and awaited my reaction. I will admit that having my boyfriend and my brother talk about protecting me—without consulting me first—was a bit annoying, but the excitement of not getting hurt anymore trumped that.

"So I am getting a vibranium outfit." I observed, feeling a wave of excitement begin to roll through my veins. The nod from T'Challa only intensified my excitement, so much that I could feel myself starting to bounce a little. Well, almost until I reminded myself why I was getting this gift in the first place.

"So this will, hopefully, lessen my injury intake?" I inquired as I took the pants from T'Challa and draped them over my arm. T'Challa frowned slightly and placed his hands on my shoulders, squeezing a little firmly.

"They will lessen the amount of injuries you acquire." He answered, "The material is a vibranium microweave mesh: no bullet or blade will hurt you, nor will any other physical damage." Ooh, bullet, blade and punch proof! I like that.

I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him soundly, feeling his arms wrap around my waist and his chest vibrate as he chuckled. This would never get old: the feeling of hips lips against mine, moving both firmly and softly, or how his strong arms kept me against his chest, letting me feel safe, love and protected.

We only pulled away when the need for air became apparent, but we stayed close enough to exchange smaller kisses, and rub our noses together.

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" I teased him, still breathless from our kiss. The smug smile that appeared on his face did not help to quell the butterflies in my body, which he undoubtedly knew.

"I believe it is implied on a daily basis." He teased back and pressed another kiss to my lips, "Though I do like hearing you say such things out loud."

"Hm, I bet you do." I replied before breaking into a soft laugh, "You know I only say that so I can hear you say it back to me." The smugness turned into a look of tenderness, and T'Challa gave me a kiss that sent my knees buckling, and if it weren't for his arms holding me, I probably would've fallen to the ground. Instead, I was snugly pressed against a six foot tall mountain of muscle while being kissed senseless.

Unfortunately, all good moments have to end, and the sound of my Avengers ID card going off was what stopped our moment. It took me a few seconds to get my equilibrium back to a degree, and more to find where I put the blasted ting (on the bedside table, as usual).

"Hey, Starky. You'd better get to the Mansion." Hawkeye advised, not even bothering to say good morning beforehand, and why did he sound so chirpy?

"And good morning to you too, Clint," I greeted sarcastically, "and why do I need to go?"

"Because Hulk and I are watching Cap beat up your brother." He replied, then broke off into laughter, a deeper voice in the background joining him—most likely the Hulk. But why would Cap…ah, of course. Steve did mention that he planned to give Tony some boxing lessons: they must have gotten started today. While it's nice not being the one to be getting the bruises, I don't particularly find it appealing to pick on someone else's misfortune.

"Maybe later," I told Hawkeye, "Right now I've got to get my rear handed to me by T'Challa." There was a brief pause before Clint began to snicker, and I can just imagine what it was that set him off. "Yeah, yeah, 'Beat up a Stark' Day. Very funny, Clint." By now he was roaring with laughter, the Hulk's distinctive deep booming laugh in the background. When I disconnected the call, I turned back to T'Challa...who was pouting at me.

"What?" I asked, feeling a bit confused—and let's be honest—apprehensive. A pouty T'Challa is usually an indicator that he needed a favor (rarely) or he wanted to lull me into a tickle trap.

"You make it sound like you never get the upper hand over me." He replied and amped up the wattage on his puppy pout. In response, I merely raised an eyebrow at him, determined not to fall into his trap again.

"Out of a score of five, how many times would I get the drop on you?" I questioned, though it was an obviously rhetoric inquiry: out of that score, I was lucky enough to get a 1, and even then that was usually more miss than hit. In any case, the results were the same: at the end of the day, I was going to end up with some bruises.

Though he didn't admit out loud, T'Challa knew that I had a point there but he would still try to convince me that I was close to getting the drop on him. As sweet of him to try and boost my confidence like that, I'd prefer to work for that boost myself.

With a smile and a wave, T'Challa told me to chance into my new clothes and then meet him down in his lab for training. Since there wasn't any other choice, I trudged into his bedroom and changed out of my pj's and into my new outfit.

I had to hand it to T'Challa and his people: they know their way around wearable vibranium. The dark material clung to my body perfectly, a strange feeling of an almost velvet like substance, even though it was capable of stopping a blade or a bullet. The shirt sleeves went down to just above the middle of my palms, the neck line extending to under my chin, and the pant legs reached to my ankles: all in all, I was pretty well protected.

Except for the fact that I feel almost naked in this get-up, though thankfully, I have some other clothes that may help with that. Giving the amount of times Voltaire and I sleep over at the embassy, I eventually started to leave a few spare outfits for any sort of emergency.

Pulling out the backpack I left here, I rummaged around till I found an old pearl grey tank and a pair of khaki short: the same shorts I usually wear on missions, as it turn out.

:Maybe I should think about getting a uniform of my own.: I remarked as I stepped out of the bedroom and began my journey to the private lab at the very bottom of the tower, via the very long staircase. Once upon a time, such a feat would have made me consider taking the elevator down, but not anymore. Unfortunately, the only entrance and exit is the lift—T'Challa didn't or won't see the point of having stairs, or an extra exit, but to each his own.

Pulling my hair back into a ponytail, I opened the door to the stairwell, and nearly got bowled over as a giant mass of white-and-black-speckle fur rushed ahead of me.

"Careful, Voltaire!" I chuckled, coming after him, "You nearly knocked me over just then." The big baby gave an apologetic look, coupled with a tiny whimper, but Voltaire was smart enough to know that I was just teasing him.

"Ready to run?" I asked, stretching my arms over my head before bending to touch my toes. From the corner of my eyes, I could see Voltaire mimicking a few of my own stretches, getting another chuckle out of me. That goof always knew how to make me laugh. Once our muscles were warmed-up, Voltaire took off at a light clip, with me not that far behind him. We reached the bottom of the staircase about 15 minutes later, and walked through the foyer to get to the lifts.

"Good morning, Miss Stark." Someone greeted, and I politely waved back at them. Another thing that I found a bit odd was how comfortable everyone in the embassy was about having me around. Given how secluded their home is and how protective of their king they were, I would've thought they'd be polite yet distant towards me, even if I am dating their leader. But no, they were the opposite, and I have to admit, I'm kinda glad that they are nice and friendly towards me.

######

When I remarked earlier that I'm usually the one who ended up getting bruised in our bouts, I think I must have triggered something in T'Challa—that or his protective nature was working itself into overdrive again. Either way, as we ran through the boxing drills, followed by a wide assortment of kicking drills, I noticed that T'Challa was doing his best to not go hard on me. Even more so when we sparred against each other and it admittedly was starting to irk me. If I wanted to get stronger, then T'Challa needed to up his game.

Of course, if I brought this up, he'd deny it, which would irk me even more. Well, if he wants to play safe, then I can play dirty.

At one point, T'Challa left himself open, so I weakly punched with a dainty grunt of effort: this made him stop whatever he had planned to stand up straight and give me an 'are you serious?' look. Step one; complete.

"What?" I asked innocently, "You were open." To this, T'Challa rolled his eyes and heaved a long-suffering sigh. What surprised me the most was that he seemed to buy into it.

"Perhaps we should call it a day." He offered, "If you are tired." I feigned a grateful look and held my hand out for him, which he took. Step two; complete. Initiate step three.

The second his fingers closed around my hand, I spun down and jabbed my elbow into his stomach much harder than usual. The surprised and winded grunt he gave was soon followed by a short yell as I threw him over my shoulder and down onto his stomach, and using my grip on his hand, pulled his arm behind his back into a lock that he (ironically) taught me not that long ago.

"Gotcha," I declared proudly, "Who's tired now?" Underneath me, T'Challa tried his best to pull out of the arm lock, but he taught me too well. He saw that in the end, and soon gave up trying to get free, but he did manage to look over his shoulder at me with a surprised frown.

"You tricked me." He stated with a tone of incredulity, like he was in real disbelief that I finally managed to get the best of him.

"Only because you went easy on me," I retorted gently, finally letting go of his arm to fold both of mine over my chest, "You say that you want me to be safe, but I can't do that if you go easy on me whenever we fight." T'Challa half twisted his body around to see me properly, giving a slightly ashamed look on his face in addition. The annoyed look on my own face dropped, and I leaned down to press a gently kiss to the corner of his mouth. Now that I wasn't sitting on his back anymore, T'Challa took the chance to straighten out his body and lay on his back.

"I apologize, Rose, but I worry about you." He admitted, reaching his hand up to caress my face, "The times that we spar against each other, I am worried that I will accidentally hurt harm you. The training that I have undertaken over the years has greatly increased my strength to beyond human levels, meaning—" I cut him of simply by pressing my lips against his.

"I know how strong you can be. I've seen it plenty of times." I whispered once I pulled my head away enough, "But I've never been scared that you could accidentally hurt me, so you shouldn't either."

T'Challa had a rather dubious look on his face, but before either of us could argue the point any further, the faint ping of the elevator opening alerted us of incoming company. Huh, must be important news; everyone here knew not to disturb us while we were training.

It wasn't one of the embassy servants, rather it was Voltaire, with my gear belt hanging from his mouth, as well as both mine and Panther's Avengers ID cards, both of them were beeping meaning we were needed at the mansions.

"Looks like training's over." I remarked as I got off of T'Challa and held my hand out for him, "How fast can you change outfits?"

As it turns out, he can change pretty dark quick. Since I was already wearing my new armor and Voltaire had brought my gear belt down, I was ready to go, just like Voltaire. We were in the car not five minutes before T'Challa joined us, dressed in his Black Panther uniform, and we were speeding towards the Avenger's Mansion. As the car maneuvered through the traffic, my stomach was trying not to tie itself into knots, but failing miserably, as I thought about the most likely situation we were being called into.

Also, this was the first major call-out we've had since the Gamma World event, and it wasn't two weeks ago that we fought N'Jadaka in Wakanda, so I was feeling a little anxious about whatever near death experience I could be walking into this time.

T'Challa must have sense my worries, and curled his hand over mine and squeezed firmly in reassurance. The small action did wonders to calm my nerves: true, I might be walking into danger, but with T'Challa and Voltaire watching my back, I would come out of this ok.

We arrived at the Mansion in record time, entering the building to hear JARVIS inform us of the trouble: an intruder who had appeared from out of nowhere, and was fighting Captain America and Iron Man in the Armory. Hawkeye caught up to us at the elevator, with his usual cocky grin and suave manner at the ready.

"So, Starky, fancy seeing you here," He teased lightly, "I would've thought T'Challa had you under lock and key at the embassy whenever there was danger, 'specially now that you two are an item." Despite my nerves, I was able to give him a flat look, which made him laugh a little.

"Of course, what was I thinking?" He chortled, "Not even Panther's crazy enough to even try locking you up." Maybe not, but I definitely didn't want my boyfriend to get any ideas, and I really didn't need my subconscious getting any ideas about that either.

"So, how are we going to do this?" I asked them both, getting Hawkeye's mind back onto the problem at hand. I didn't bother trying to hide how my hands clenched and unclenched themselves around my magi-staff. My actions, however, prompted Voltaire to shift so that his side pressed up against my hip; the feeling of his breathing and warmth comforting me.

"How about 'me and Panther first, you and Voltaire as back-up', sound good?" The purple archer offered. That sounded like a bad plan, but we didn't have time to think of anything else.

The elevator came to a stop, letting the four of us out just in time to hear an almighty roar, closely followed by an equally almighty crash. More of my nerves lessened: as comforting as having my boyfriend around to help me, it was an even bigger comfort to have the Hulk call first dibs on an attacker, if only because by the time the rest of us got there, said attacker would be on their last legs and ready for prison. Still, that bit of knowledge didn't stop Panther or Hawkeye from tearing off towards the noise, Voltaire and I trailing behind them in case they need back-up.

We followed the noise to the main gym room, and as previously agreed, myself and Voltaire stayed behind the safety of the newly demolished hole in the wall while the other two rushed in to apprehend the intruder.

:You have to hand it to whoever it is, they have big pair of brass to teleport into the Mansion.: My inner voice commented, and against my better judgement, found myself a little curious about who the mystery intruder was. Ignoring (or at least trying to) my fears, I peeked around the corner, seeing the person my boyfriend and other friend had at dagger and arrow point. And if I'm completely honest, I had no idea what to make of said person.

The person was human, or human looking at least, and wore a green tunic over purple armor that encased his body from head to foot. The helmet he wore had a square hole to reveal a blue male face, with darker blue markings around his eyes and mouth.

:Well, aren't you a strange one?: I asked myself weakly. A soft gasp escaped me as I witnessed a green circle on Blue Man's helmet light up, the spot sending out green ripples of energy, powerful enough to knock my comrades back towards me, and it honestly looked like it hurt.

Before I could get my knocking knees to snap out of it, the Hulk ran straight past us all towards Blue Man. The bad guy raised a shield around himself to protect himself from the attack, but the Hulk easily shouldered his way into the shield, destroying it and seizing our foe with both hands, lifting his entire being into the air. "Hulk, wait!" I nearly jumped out of my skin as Tony and Steve ran past to get into the room.

"We need answers." My brother told the jolly green giant before he could smash (or in this case squash) the bad guy. Tony then addressed our captive, "What do you mean by 'save the world', Kang?" Ah, so Blue Man in really called Kang. That's all fine and peachy, but what was that bit about trying to save the world? If Earth was in danger, then why was this Kang person attacking the Avengers? Surely we weren't the cause of the calamity. I pulled myself out of my thoughts just as Kang began his story.

"In my time, I rule all." He spoke in an imperious tone that sent unpleasant chills down and throughout my body. "But a disruption in the space-time continuum destroyed my reality, wiping everything from existence." Oh, how wonderful: a time travelling galactic conqueror with a humongous chip on his shoulder. Granted, something like this wasn't an everyday occurrence, but it would be nice if we got a nice time traveler.

"I traced the cause of the destruction to an anomaly in the time stream." Kang carried on, "Something that should not have existed in the 21st century: Captain America." The hell of an angry look being leveled at said captain revealed that Kang was dead serious about his claim, shocking all of us.

Seriously?! Cap was the cause of the problem? No way, not poss—

"Watch out!" I yelled. When Kang dropped his bombshell, the others were off their guards, so Kang made his move by creating little green spheres from the tips of his fingers and sent them flying outwards. My cry managed to get to the other Avengers, but the little balls made contact with their bodies, and turned into arcs of electricity. Small as the balls were, they clearly packed enough charge if it even brought the Hulk to his knees.

My heart jumped into my mouth as they all began to cry out in pain, Iron Man's and Panther's the loudest and more painful to hear. Without thinking properly, I ran into the room. Kang looked up just as I launched a flying kick to his head, but an invisible force caught me mid-flight.

"Your courage is commendable, if not misplaced in its naivety." Kang sneered at me, and then I was flung backwards into something big, though the yelping was enough of a clue to realize that I was thrown into Voltaire. We hit the ground in a tangle, but I was quickly on my feet, when another invisible force threw onto the ground again, this time pinning me there. And trust me when I say I'd rather go a second round with the sound monster in Wakanda than this!

It felt like my own body was trying to physically melt into the floor, regardless of my internal organs and bones being in the way. I can't imagine Voltaire having a better time than I was, or the others being electrocuted. Whoever Kang really was, I highly doubt any of us will be making it out of this in one piece.

Beyond my pain, I could see and hear Kang as he levitated himself to the floor and moved over to the incapacitated Captain America, pulling a really big gun from behind his shoulders.

"Your actions in this era have destroyed my empire, Captain." Kang addressed, leveling the gun muzzle at Cap's head, "Ending your life is a first step in restoring it." The muzzle began to glow, and my heart—plus a few other organs—jumped into my throat, just as Kang looked up again, this time successfully greeted by Mjolnir flying into his chest, sending him backwards into the wall.

:About time you showed up, Thor.: I grimaced. When the hammer hit, Kang's powerful hold over the rest of us was dropped, and it felt good not having my orders being squeezed, or being face planted against the floor.

"If you wish to end a life, villain, then try ours!" Thor boldly declared as Ant Man turned huge and Wasp shrunk. Wasp began to agree with the Asgardian until she realized what he said. I know he means well, but I think Thor occasionally forgets that the rest of us aren't as durable as his is (apart from the blatantly obvious).

The rest of us got to our feet again when lasers started shooting at us and a large floating throne-like contraption raced towards Kang. The damn thing would've taken me out if T'Challa hadn't seized me around the waist and hauled me out of the path.

"You know, this wasn't exactly how I planned today going at all." I grunted as I was placed back on my own feet, rubbing at a particularly sore spot on my hand, "At least the armor is doing as hoped for." His mask concealed his face, but I'm willing to bet that T'Challa would totally have given me an exasperated smile, if it weren't for the imminent threat. Kang had gotten onto his flying throne, and the Avengers stood at the ready.

"Give it up, Kang!" Iron Man ordered.

"Kang doesn't 'give up', primitive." The galactic conqueror sneered, "If you insist on fighting for the captain's life, then I will show you fools exactly what you are fighting for." Without another word, a bright light flared from behind Kang's chair, making the rest of us run towards him. The light became blindingly bright…

…and died down just as quick. What we saw next was nothing short of horrifying. Instead of the gym in Avengers Mansion, we now stood in a world literally bathed in fire. Every building in sight was in a state of absolute disrepair, the ground dried beyond anything, and the sky was an aggressive red, further emphasizing how chaotic the sun was.

"No." I could hear Tony whisper, and I felt my hand blindly search for Panther's. His hand immediately clasped around mine, and Voltaire leaned against me with a soft whimper—both actions that sadly did very little of bringing comfort.

Before we could be too lost in our despair, Kang reappeared before us. In spite of the fear and anguish I could feel in every fiber of my being, a swelling rage began to ignite in my belly at the very sight of him.

"This is what Captain America's presence in your time has caused." The slimy bastard informed us all, turning to face us, "This is all his fault."

######

The other could only stand in disbelief at the environment around us, some of us still trying to figure out how the hell Kang could blame Cap for all of this destruction. Amidst the wreckage by his foot, Thor found an old doll, its poor owner probably having been killed by the extreme shift in climate and temperature.

"Where have you taken us, Kang?" Iron Man demanded, being the first of us to partially get over his shock. Or his was in denial about the whole thing.

"Not 'where', Avenger, but 'when'," Kang corrected my brother, "You stand in your New York City just 10 years from your present day." 10 years?! All of this destruction is just 10 years away from happening?! My intense fear and gut burning rage struggled for control inside me, neither emotion budging an inch. How could so much chaos be wrought upon the Earth in so short a time, and what kind of force could rip apart the sun like that?

"You did this!" Hawkeye growled, notching an arrow back, the action prompting Voltaire to snarl at Kang viciously.

"You are not listening, archer." Kang reiterated, "I am not responsible for destroying your world: Captain America is." I felt a deep growl vocalize in my own throat as the rage began to erupt.

"You lying, arrogant piece of—" I started only to have T'Challa wrap his arm around my body and his hand cover my mouth, preventing me from saying anything more. He didn't tell me to calm down or to be quiet, the firmness of his arm and hands were enough to bring my anger back under slight control again.

"Everyone just….just wait!" Iron Man ordered before speaking to JARVIS, possibly trying to connect to a network somewhere. A small part of me hoped that there was something or someone out there, but soon enough that painful reality settled in us all as Tony took a slight step backwards.

"There's nothing out there." He murmured in shock, "There's no one left." That did nothing to help control my anger—if anything in only intensified the rage inside me. A rational part in me urged to keep calm, to think clearly in case of an attack, but it was silenced all too easily by the burning fires of anger.

Then, for some reason, it completely disappeared. In its place was a calmness that soothed every frayed nerve inside my being. Strange, what caused this…

…Oh, yeah. I totally forgot about him!

T'Challa must have felt the tension leaving my body, yet he didn't question it out loud, and carefully lowered his hand from my mouth.

"Of course not." Kang admonished us all once the truth (or at least the part about this being the future) finally sunk into our brains, "You see, very soon in your timeline, Earth will be consumed in a war. Earth's sun will be a casualty in that war, along with all life on the planet." Ah, that explains the state of the sun…sort of. In the back of my mind, I heard something give an amused 'whuff' noise.

"What kind of war could do that?" Wasp finally asked.

"A war between two alien empires: the Kree and the Skrulls." Kang oh-so-kindly explained, "But in the end, it was Captain America that was truly responsible."

"Nay! You lie, conqueror!" Thor declared firmly, defending his ally. "No one man could be responsible for such destruction, lest of all Captain America!"

"Not knowingly." Kang added as his chair began to descend to ground level, "But the captain should not exist in your time. He should not have lived. I am here to correct this." Uh, this guy is beginning to sound like a broken record player, and it's starting to get a little bit more than annoying.

"Let me get this straight: handing over Cap to you is gonna save the world?" Hawkeye challenged, though it was blatantly clear he wasn't even close to buying it.

"Stupid future man!" Hulk growled, and with a loud bellow launched himself at Kang. The smarmy jerk merely raised a shield around himself, so no matter how hard Hulk smashed at the shield, Kang was still safe. His last punch sent a crackle of electricity sparking and sent the green giant backwards a few yards.

"It may. I came to eliminate Captain America, but just to be sure, I'm going to advance the planets technology in your time. I will ready your military and prepare for the coming war. Earth will be able to repulse the alien forces."

"And how do you plan to accomplish all this?" Ant Man asked, though I had a sneaky suspicion that the answer will be the typical one all universal bad guys use to justify their actions.

"By conquering your world." Yup, I called it. "I tell you as a courtesy; this is going to happen. Hand over Captain America, stay out of my way, or face my wrath." And, aside from the unintended Star Trek movie reference, came the typical impossible decision anyone could make. I know I wouldn't give Steve up for anything or anyone, neither would the other Avengers. Problem is though that Cap is a very honorable man, and sometimes it can backfire on a lot of people. Like us right now.

"If I really am responsible for all this, I have to stand down." The annoyingly predictable man addressed to all of us, "there's too much at stake. But the rest of the world…it's your decision, Tony: you're the futurist, after all." This caused somewhat of a reaction in a few of us as the final say landed squarely on Tony's shoulders.

"Tony, you can't possibly—" Wasp started to protest, but Iron Man was already thinking.

"We already know the Kree are coming—we're already met them." He reminded her and everyone else, "Kang's go technology more advanced than anything I've ever dreamed of. He could be the world's only hope." Typically, Kang gave a smug grin, seeing his demands were possibly going to be met. Possibly, but knowing Tony? Highly unlikely.

"But he's being a real butt smear about it." Tony finished in a tone that none of us could mistake, "Avengers, take him!"

We all ran into action. Iron Man took to the skies and fired his repulsors at Kang's shield, Hawkeye firing an explosive arrow, as Cap and Thor threw their weapons, and to finish it all off, Wasp and I fired off our own attacks. They all hit with an ear-deafening boom, and the resulting smoke cloud hiding a hopefully crispy Kang.

The cloud of dust settled, revealing that Kang was not even a little scratched.

"I hope you enjoy the rest of your days on this dead earth." Kang sneered, just as I felt a certain somebody racing towards us, "For this is where I am leaving you." He activated the device to return himself to the present, but the process was stopped thanks to a veritable swarm of cockroaches crawling all over Kang and his chair.

"Ew!" I cringed in disgust, giving Ant Man a look—I hated cockroaches just as much as I hated spiders.

"Ok, Hank. I'm impressed." Wasp commented with a smile, making Ant Man smile in response. You know, I think that's really the first time Wasp made such a comment about Ant Man's hobby. And yes, it was a little cool, but the gross factor was really big, too.

"I sensed them the second we got here." He explained proudly, "Cockroaches can survive anything."

"Not just cockroaches." I added then turned to the Hulk, "Hulk, pull!" Without missing a beat, the green giant slammed his big foot onto the ground and the resulting tremor not only split the ground but also launched Kang into the air. As Kang reached his zenith, a large—and I mean freaking huge—black and brown blur seemed to fly into the air, colliding with Kang in an impact that would most definitely have broken Kang's bones, and the pair of them fell to earth.

The giant black and brown thing landed elegantly beside me, allowing everyone else a better look at what came to our aid: a freaking huge wolf-beast. This thing stood 6 feet at the shoulders, with paws the size of dinner plates, and when it opened its mouth, you'd die in fright of the fantastically huge, sharp and pointy teeth.

"What in the world is that?" Wasp exclaimed as everyone else eyeballed the new arrival.

"This is Diego." I introduced, giving the mega wolf a fond pat on his side, "Alenka's twin brother." I'm pretty sure that if it weren't for Kang still posing a threat, they'd all be firing off questions about my friend.

As it was, they all refocused on the conqueror. Thanks to the Hulk and Diego, Kang was now separated from him chair, so we wouldn't be left in this wasteland. Now all that was left was to keep Kang off it in a really deadly game of Keep Away.

Like Diego, Kang landed easily on his feet, surrounded by all of us. Hawkeye made the first move of firing two arrows at him, but Kang simply stopped their path with a mere gesture of his hand. Iron Man took to the skies again, this time firing a missile at Kang. Typically, Kang stopped the projectile from hitting him, and sent it towards Cap instead. Luckily, Cap's shield was more than strong enough to withstand the blast.

"Iron Man, get to the chair! That's our ticket home!" Cap ordered, shielding himself one of Kang's lasers. Seriously, what is it with bad guys and lasers? Do they like the sound of it or something?

"What?!" Tony cried out, quite possibly feeling very put on the spot with such an important feat.

"You're the only one who can!" Cap told him. Whether Tony liked it or not, Steve had a point: the Iron Man suit was the only thing with the remotest chance of all of us getting home in one piece and alive. Tony conceded the point and flew over to the golden chair while the rest of us kept Kang busy.

"Briar, protect Tony!" Cap called out to me, ducking in time to avoid another laser. I almost asked how the hell I was going to manage that when I remembered how. If I could create a dome to protect and entire village, then I could definitely protect Tony and myself.

I reached Tony's side just as he plugged himself in and got to work. Using the briefest of seconds given to me, I took a deep breath to gather myself, even as I hoped that creating a small shield didn't hurt nearly as much as the bigger one. Driving one end of my staff into the ground, I focused on making the shield to go around the pair of us. Sadly, the pain and heat was there, but not nearly as bad as it was in Wakanda.

The other down side was that I was pretty much a sitting duck here, watching the others fight Kang but not able to help them. At some point, Hulk began throwing boulders at Kang, but the smug fiend merely caught the first rock telekinetically, and used it to smash into the following rock.

"You really hope to defeat me by throwing rocks at me?!" Kang snarled in anger, "You mindless monster!"

"It's called a distraction, smart guy." The green giant responded smugly, and a lithe black figure pounced at Kang's unguarded back, swiping his claws in an X pattern, and successfully tore at the tunic and armor. I felt a big swell of pride for my boyfriend landing a blow, but then my pride turned into panic as Kang sent him tumbling backwards.

I winced at Panther's heavy landing, and cringed as Hulk, Diego and Voltaire launched themselves at Kang, only to be thrown backwards, too. It really didn't help the matter when I could hear Tony getting frustrated at not getting into Kang's systems.

When I saw Thor try to break through Kang's defenses, my insides clenched and dropped into my feet as Kang finally noticed Tony and me, mostly Tony sitting in his chair. And boy, did he look mad? He growled something before pushing Thor away and began walking towards us.

"Oh, this is not good." I told myself through a gulp, which turned into a scared sounding cry as Kang easily—way too freaking easily—sent Giant Man spinning to the ground. Hawkeye tried his hand again and sent a whole bunch of explosive arrows at the ground around Kang. When the dust cleared, there was a giant crater in the ground, but Kang was hovering on thin air like nothing happened, before he continued his way towards Tony and I.

"Definitely not good!" I yelped louder as Hulk went flying wa-a-a-y into a distant building. Thor and Cap stood in front of my shield, ready to defend me from Kang while I protected Tony. I nearly dropped the shield in fright when two continuous beams were fired at us, but Cap's shield and Thor's hammer kept the powerful beams at bay…for the moment.

"Uh, Tony? We're on the clock here." I gently reminded him, trying to ignore the frustrated snarl he gave in response. In my periphery I could see everyone else getting to their feet, but they wouldn't be able to help me in time if the worst came to it.

"JARVIS, stop!" Tony suddenly commanded, "Connect to port 2902920 now!" Oh, please, tell me that was some very good news. The glowing light that erupted from Kang's time chair seemed to indicate that it was the case, which did much to lift my spirits. Not even the galactic conqueror with the look of pure hate and outrage could dampen them.

"A very smart man told me once: those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it." Tony gloated quite proudly, "Your tech is incredibly advanced, Kang, but some of its physical systems are based on very, very old technology: Stark Industries technology." Ha-ha, brilliant!

"Take us home, Mr. Sulu." I playfully teased my older brother, dropping the shield as Tony activated the temporal drive thingamajigger, and a bright light engulfed my vision. When I could see again, I felt intense relief upon seeing the familiar gym in Avengers Mansion.

"You will pay for this." Kang snarled angrily and ran towards Tony. Thor and Cap ran towards him to intervene, but they were easily pushed aside. My euphoria turned sour as I raised a shield, but I was just as easily thrown aside. Thankfully I had a softer landing in the shape of Diego.

I raised my head in time to see Kang get electrocuted with his own technology and bounced to floor, and to add salt to an open wound, Thor unleashed one hell of a lightning storm directly at Kang.

:Well, that should've at least done something.: My inner voice commented, and it gave a triumphant cheer when we finally saw Kang looking on the far side of crispy.

"This is not over." Kang growled lowly as he carefully raised himself up, as Iron Man got off the chair and stood beside Cap.

"Cap and I don't agree on a lot of things, but on this we do." Tony remarked, aiming a small missile directly at Kang, similar to how he had Cap when this began.

"Damocles, recall now!" The conqueror suddenly called out, and he and the chair disappeared. All of us were still for a moment or two, waiting to see if Kang would suddenly reappear, and with back up. But it didn't look like he was coming back here any time soon yet.

"Finally, I thought he would never leave." I leapt into the air with a shriek, much to the amusement of Diego. Of course, being Alenka's twin did mean he was capable of talking: he just chooses not to most of the time.

"Do not do that, you mean thing!" I reprimanded him as I got back to my feet. The mutant mega-wolf just chuckled throatily, and Voltaire commandeered his attention by playfully pouncing on him and began to play wrestle with the bigger wolf. I watched them for a few minutes till the presence of radiating warmth on my back called my attention to the man standing behind me.

When I had turned to face him, T'Challa wasted no time on words: he just pulled me into his arms and close against his body. His chest rose and fell as he gave a relieved sigh that the nightmare was over, and that we were both safe.

"Are you ok, T'Challa?" I asked softly, nicely cocooned in his embrace before tilting my head up to look at him, my chin resting on his chest. He lowered his head forward slightly, his masked nose brushing against mine.

"I am fine, Rose." He replied in a low tone, "Wasp's stingers had no effect on me, and Kang's attacks will not leave much bruising." That's wonderful to know: being blasted backwards by an invisibly force, or hit by electricity, did not look like it was fun at all.

"And you?" He questioned, "You were quite riled before." Riled would be a polite and pleasant way of putting it.

"Yeah: I guess being sent into an apocalyptic future brings out the worst in me." I grimaced slightly, "Thank goodness it doesn't happen all that often, otherwise I'd be a mini Hulk 24/7." My very lame attempt of a joke got a wry chuckle from T'Challa, and he held me a little tighter.

I let myself savor the feeling a bit longer before a snaked my hands up his chest and lifted his mask up enough to reveal his mouth and nose. T'Challa gave a warm and loving smile—with a hint of cheek for good measure—as he lowered his mouth onto mine, his lips moving firmly and deeply against my own responding lips. My arms settled in place around his neck, keeping the pair of us lip-locked till we needed oxygen again.

"Since when were you two a couple?" Or at least until Diego noticed us and got very curious. I pulled away from T'Challa, but didn't step away from his embrace as I turned to look at the mega-wolf. He was lying on the floor, with Voltaire half sprawled across his shoulders, the silly puppy with a comical look on his face.

"Since two weeks ago, or there about." I replied innocently. Diego said nothing as he lay there, observing the pair of us. When I first met Alenka, she warned me that her brother was intensely overprotective of his family and friends—the latter which I am, and I really wasn't all too keen on finding out how protective Diego was. However, my concerns were laid to rest when he merely shrugged in casual acceptance.

"Mind you, Briar, I had you pegged as more of a dog lover." He added, barely noticing when Voltaire began nipping at his ears again, "That's mostly why I sent my son to live with you." I began to give a response when his words smacked me right in the eyes. His son…as in…no way!

"You do not mean…" T'Challa slowly trailed off, clearly thinking the same as I was. Voltaire couldn't be Diego's son, right? I mean…right?

"Indeed he is." Diego nodded, and then was drawn back into play by Voltaire. T'Challa and I stood however long, staring at the pair of them in shock and disbelief with the revelation still hovering in our minds.

"It happens, apparently." The pair of us turned to Hawkeye. He merely gave a nonplussed shrug before gesturing to Diego, "Alenka mentioned how his mutation woks: it doesn't turn him into a human wearing wolf fur, but into a pure-blooded wolf, or something like that." That didn't make much sense to me, but I'm sure when the shock of today wore off, I'd be able to understand it better.

Clearly, T'Challa had the same idea as I did, and pressed his lips against mine once more, and hugged me a while longer before we went upstairs for something to eat.

Hopefully, all of this craziness will have ended by the time Alenka arrived with Merlin, so the poor girl isn't any more stressed than she is. Hopefully.

Well, that's this chapter out of the way. And the next one, we finally meet the mysterious Merlin. Sort of: I can't wait to write her story, it'll blow your mind.

Also, I'm very sorry about the Stark Trek references I put in, and kudos to anyone who finds the Friendship Is Magic reference.

So...I guess that's it for now. Don't worry: I won't take another five months to write the next one. Let's just say that...T'Challa has an...agreement...with me of late (looks around worriedly). I know you're there, you scary quiet person. Bye guys, and I hope to see you all soon...if T'Challa forgives me, that is.