Kayla stood at the top of the cliff, two massive twin towers looming behind her. The sky was dark purple and blue and the dark side of the moon did little to illuminate her situation. The ground felt like it was crumbling beneath her boots as she stood in her suit matching her husband's.

Kayla's hair was pulled back into a tight braid as it draped over her left shoulder. There was a cold breeze on the mountaintop that caused her to shiver. Kayla moved to the edge of the rocks, leaning over carefully to look below. Her enhanced eyesight made out two splotches on the ground, one red and one green. She gulped, realizing who the blood belonged to.

I don't think I can do this.

"The stone requires a sacrifice. Are you willing to do what it takes?"

Kayla didn't turn at the dark voice that spoke to her, no, her eyes were locked on the ground below.

Am I willing to do what it takes?

"I already have the stone. It lives inside me, inhabits me, and I'm a vessel for its power." Kayla replied easily, unsure of where the words even came from. The voice was hers, but she didn't seem to have any control over it. The lack of control was really beginning to cause her stress.

"So you want to return the Soul Stone and bring back your friend?"

"Yes."

"When she jumped- she knew it was an everlasting sacrifice. Of all the people who inhabit the Soul Realm, she is the only one who chose her own fate. There's no bringing her back. She belongs to the stone as much as you do."

Kayla shook at the voice, and turned her head slightly, but couldn't see the creature the voice belonged to out of the corner of her eye, "I don't belong to anybody."

"You can't put it back, but you can destroy it. It'll destroy everyone within it. Your friend. But you'll be free. So tell me, Kayla Rogers, are you willing to make that sacrifice to save yourself?"

Kayla looked over the cliff again, imagining plummeting off of it to her death. Imagining what Gamora must have felt being murdered by her father. Imagining what Natasha must have felt knowing she was about to hit the ground. To die. Looking back up at Clint knowing he'd live on without her...

"What do I have to do?" Kayla asked, looking up at the dark sky with golden eyes.

"The same thing everyone does. Sacrifice someone you love. A soul for a soul."

Kayla paused for a moment, unsure if she was willing to do what it took to free herself from this burden. Then she grabbed Steve Rogers by the neck, and flung him off the cliff, watching him fall and fall and fall until she saw the impact, and a steady stream of blood flowed from the back of his neck.

Kayla woke up panting, her face covered in sweat and her hand glowing orange. She wiped her arm across her face, breathing through her mouth as she stared at her hands, willing them to go back to normal. James began to cry, awoken by his mother's heavy breathing.

"Shhh, shhh don't cry baby." Kayla cooed as she swung her legs out of bed, scooping him up and cuddling him in her arms as she sat down on the bed with her back against the headboard, "Everything's okay. I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you. You're safe now."

Steve turned over and pressed his face into Kayla's thigh, moaning as his son continued to cry softly. "Bad dream?"

"That's an understatement," Kayla jumped a little at his voice as she bounced the boy in her arms, shushing him gently in an attempt to pacify him. She knew it was just a dream. A terrible dream, but it knocked the wind out of her, "Can you help me with him?"

Steve sat up in bed and leaned against Kayla as he settled his bare back against the headboard. "He's hungry again."

"I know that. Can you grab a bottle from the fridge?" Kayla answered, stroking the baby's head gently as Steve went to the mini fridge in the corner and got out a baby bottle already made up, "Thank you." Kayla responded as she pushed it into James's mouth slowly. She focused on the baby. Her precious James. She wouldn' let anything happen to him ever again. She watched the child for a moment, taking in the way he tried to reject the bottle before going back to his drinking. "Do you think he knows that I can't feed him?"

"I don't think he's aware he's missing anything," Steve answered as he laid flat on his back, staring up at Kayla as the baby sucked loudly on the bottle. "He's an infant. Plus, at the rate he's growing, he'll be on solid food next week."

"Ha ha." Kayla fake laughed, and she focused on her son, allowing herself to use the powers within her for something good, "He's happy. His soul is so pure. No darkness at all." Kayla's voice seemed to float in the air as she watched the child. Steve thought about her words for a moment, then spoke quietly.

"Is mine?"

Kayla looked down at Steve and saw discomfort in his face, almost as if he didn't want to know the answer. Kayla took her left hand and pressed it against Steve's chest, and her imprint glowed for a second after she pulled her hand away, "Yes. Because even your darkest deeds were done for good reasons. You're a good man Steve Rogers. You always have been. You always will be. It's your light that keeps me out of the darkness. My soul isn't so light."

Steve felt guilty at that because he knew there was darkness in his wife. Not because she did bad things but because she had dark thoughts. She was selfish and unpredictable and she could be loyal to a fault but not necessarily good. He loved that about her. It was her darkness that reminded him that he too was human, and he was allowed to want things for himself.

"I love you, Kay."

"I love you too, Steve."

"What was your dream about?"

"Vormir." Kayla answered honestly, sparing a glance at Steve to make sure he was really there beside her, alive. "I had a dream that I was on Vorimir. I thought I was alone... but then... I can't say."

"That stone will be the death of you. We have to get rid of it." Steve told her carefully, and she winced at his words, knowing something he didn't.

Or it'll be the death of you...

"I don't even know if I want to bring back Natasha or if the stone just wants to drive me back to Vorimir. I think that's the part that scares me the most." Kayla told Steve as James released the now empty bottle, "I thought I took the stone to get Nat back. But I'm starting to wonder if I ever had a choice. Perhaps I was always meant to return it."

"It should have been me to return it," Steve informed Kayla sternly, and her dream flashed through her mind again. A warning. A prophecy. He could never go there.

"No. No, you shouldn't have. It has to be me. I don't know why, or how, but I know this to be true. You'll stay behind with James, and I'll come back without the stone. And hopefully Natasha in tow."

Steve looked up at Kayla thoughtfully, but he didn't say anything for a couple of moments. Finally, after a deep sigh, he told her to go back to bed. Kayla smiled down at Steve as she slowly inched down the bed, still holding James in her arms. She turned over so James was situated between herself and his father, and she felt both of them, their goodness, and let it lull her to sleep.

Clint landed the quinjet on the lawn of the former First Family's home around ten o'clock the next morning. Hope and one of the puppies followed behind him, running to meet Buddy and Zawadi as Steve opened the front door to let them outside.

"Thank you for coming, Clint. Kayla's in pretty bad shape. She thinks there's a chance she can save Romanoff though. But we need your help."

Clint Barton nodded at Steve's words, biting the inside of his cheek thoughtfully, "I was pretty clear when I brought back the stone that it couldn't be undone."

"She has the stone inside of her, Clint. It's fighting for control of her. Even if this doesn't work, she has to try, because it could be the only way to destroy the stone." Steve answered quickly, gesturing for Clint to come inside the house.

As Clint entered, he nodded casually at Sam and Bucky before formally addressing Mathew Ellis and his wife. "It's nice to see you again, Sir. You have a beautiful home."

"Thank you, Agent Barton. We hope you can be of some assistance. Our daughter isn't doing well, and you were the one to retrieve this Soul Stone in the first place were you not?" Mathew asked gently as he released Clint's hand.

"Yes sir, I was," Clint replied cautiously before turning. He heard her before he saw her, as Kayla's low boots clicked down the stairs. Her hair was wet, but she was already wearing her uniform, ready to leave once she got the information she needed.

"Hey, Barton." Kayla greeted weakly, forcing a smile. "I, uh, need your help."

"So I've heard. You gotta know I'm not coming with you."

"I wasn't planning on asking you to. I have a team." Kayla nodded toward Wanda and Carol who were already suited up. "We'll head upstate and use Bruce's quantum tunnel to go back in time to when we lost Nat. I'm going to try to bring her back, I just have to know how it happened."

Clint looked from Wanda to Carol as he ran his tongue along the inside of his lower lip. His expression said he didn't want to do this, and that Kayla wouldn't like what he had to tell her, "You sure you want to know?"

"You don't even have to tell me. I can see it for myself." Kayla told the archer nervously, as she took a step closer, and he eyed her warily, his lightning reflexes prepared to stop her if he needed to. "Don't be afraid. I've been working hard the past few days to control it."

Kayla pressed her fingers to Clint's head, and suddenly she was in his body, dangling from a cliff. She looked down and saw Natasha holding his hand, but she was slipping.

"Let me go." Natasha said, and even though there was fear in her eyes, there was the smallest smile on her lips, "It's okay." She said again, before pushing her boots against the rocks and lunging off the side of the cliff to her death. Clint looked back up at the rope, and Kayla couldn't change what he saw in his memory. He turned his eyes back to his partner, and that's when Kayla saw her, dead.

Kayla snapped back to reality, pulling her hand away like she'd been bitten by a viper. She cried out as she staggered backward, holding onto her chest. "It was just like my dream."

"What?" Steve asked, coming to her side to hold her shoulders as she shook uncontrollably. "What did you see?"

"I saw her die. Everything I saw was just how Clint saw it. The way she died, it was just like I saw it in my dream. But when I dreamt it, it wasn't her." Kayla cried, thrusting her face against Steve's chest as he wrapped his arms around her, holding him tightly.

"Shhh, it's okay Kay. It's the stone playing with your mind, it's not a premonition. It's going to be okay." Steve assured Kayla, but he didn't know what she'd seen in her dream. He had a pretty good idea though.

"You really think you can bring her back?" Clint asked as his voice broke.

"We're going to try," Carol answered for Kayla. "Let's get moving. The sooner we go, the sooner we get that stone out of you. And hopefully, get Nat back."

Steve tilted Kayla's chin up to look at her, "Hey, I'll come with, I'll protect you."

"No. Please stay with James. I can't let it happen-" Kayla croaked, and Steve's suspicions about her dream were proven correct. Kayla forced her head down, unable to look Steve in the eye, "I'm gonna fix this somehow. For the baby." Kayla held her stomach, noticing that in the two weeks since she'd accepted she was pregnant, she was started to show ever so slightly. A super baby, much like her first.

"When you get home, we're done with this life. We're gonna settle down with the dogs and the kids and we're going to live a normal life. No more Infinity Stones and gods and aliens. Just us. Okay?"

"Okay." Kayla agreed, pressing a kiss to Steve's lips. "I love you, Steve Rogers."

"And I love you, Kayla Rogers." He echoed, allowing her to pull away and turn to Carol and Wanda. "You gonna carry us there?"

"I'll do you one better." Clint offered, nodding toward the quinjet on the lawn. "It's the least I can do, even if it's not on the way home."

Tiffany leaned against Sam as she watched her best friend follow the other two superhumans into the jet. Kayla turned around and gave her family a short wave as Clint closed the rear hatch. Once closed off, Kayla shuffled over to sit near the front of the jet, leaning against the cool metal. She breathed through her mouth as she tried to focus her mind, but she couldn't help but read the people around her.

Clint was surprisingly hopeful. His soul was broken, he'd gotten back his family at a great cost. He was trying very hard to put it back together as he considered the possibility of saving his partner. She hadn't been gone long, and her death was still fresh in his mind. Carol's confidence radiated through her. She had found her purpose in life, and her soul was dedicated to helping make the world better. Wanda was sad. Not for any particular reason, but her very being felt heavy. Kayla wasn't surprised, after all, Wanda had lost almost everyone she loved. Her small band of friends took care of her, but they couldn't fill the void left by her family.

And then there was Kayla herself. Her soul was burdened with purpose. She had a power that she didn't know how to use, and the worst part was the only thing she cared about was saving the people that mattered to her. The fate of the universe didn't so much both Kayla as much as the fate as the people who made her life better. It's not that she didn't care about the greater good, but everything she did was for herself. She'd never been aware of her selfishness until recently. She decided if she ever rid herself of this damn stone she'd do something to help others for once. To be like Steve.

"We're here." Clint called from the cockpit of the quinjet, and Kayla sparked awake from her trance. She stood and looked out the window as Clint landed, seeing the quantum tunnel alone in the woods. "Do we need to contact Bruce-"

"No, I can do it. Let's go." Kayla interrupted and led the others out off the jet to the platform amongst the trees. Kayla looked around, then her eyes settled on the control console. "We meet again." She mumbled, then went into the yellow tent nearby and reappeared with three time-space GPS bands. "Alright, I'll set it up. We all know the plan? I know where and when we're going. It's not going to be pleasant."

"I didn't figure it would be." Carol mocked, running her fingers through her short blonde hair. "Set it up. The sooner we get there, the sooner we get that stone out of you and go home."

"Good luck, Rogers." Clint called from where he leaned against the quinjet as Kayla revved up the quantum tunnel. "Don't do anything stupid."

Kayla climbed the steps to stand with Wanda and Carol, looking back over her shoulder at Clint wearily as she hit the button on her GPS and her quantum suit stretched over her body, "I don't make promises I can't keep." Then she hit the button and the three of them vanished.

Author's Notes:

FernieRee- Yeah, Kayla has a letting go/dying complex because everyone she knows who has 'died' ends up coming back- Herself, Steve, those dusted. Kayla can't let go of Natasha because she's so sure that there's a way to undo her death. But I promise there is character development for her down the road because of it! Also next chapter we get to see more of Carol!

19vanelkc- I love that you guys all love some Carol Danvers! Unfortunately, we won't be seeing too much of her... or anybody... for reasons...