Eight Years After the Fall of Hydra...

The clock struck five twenty-five am in the faraway country of Wakanda. The King bowed his head sadly when the country's best doctor's called the time of death. He stood stoically as the man before him fell to his knees and wept openly, still clinging tightly to the woman's hand. His daughter, twenty-two years old last month, sat in a wooden chair at the bedside, crying into her hand as she stared in a trance out the open doors to the city below their balcony. A tear slipped down her cheek as she quivered, trying to keep it together as her father mourned the loss of his beloved wife.

"I'm so sorry for your loss." T'Challa's voice was gruff as he murmured his condolences, then beckoned to his medical staff to give the family time to mourn.

With the King and his medical team gone, Morgan finally let her facade drop, leaning in her chair to drape her arms around a grey-haired Tony Stark as she sobbed. He turned off his nano-mask and discarded it, allowing him to mourn without disguise with his daughter. The young woman sniffled to her father, "What do we do now?"

Tony kept his head low, trying not to look at his lost love, "We go home."

At the same time, somewhere else in the universe, a ping was felt throughout the golden-hued realm. Tiffany looked up from the chair she'd been sitting in to meet Gamora's eyes, and the green woman just nodded toward Natasha. Tiffany's lips were pulled into a tight line as she slowly made her way to the deceased assassin.

"She's gone."

Natasha tilted her head to listen, but didn't turn enough to fully look over her shoulder. After a moment, she turned back to what she was working on. "Kayla?"

"No." Tiffany shook her head, causing a chunk of hair to fall from her ponytail. Natasha studied the movement, noting nothing had changed the little brunette's appearance in seventeen years. They'd stayed frozen, figures in time and space, as they were when they died. Until now.

Natasha's big eyes stared blankly at Tiffany, and the smaller woman's lip began to wobble as she gasped, "This is the event that sets everything into motion."

"Our time here is coming to an end." Gamora called from where she sat. She wandered across the teenage bedroom they called home. The water sloshed at her feet, but Tiffany lowered her eyes to see the level had gone down a bit. Gamora rolled her eyes and snapped at Tiffany, "Did you hear me? The fabric of our prison is breaking apart!"

"We're a speeding bullet racing toward that moment. Nothing can stop it now." Tiffany said, staring out the window into the outside world- into reality, "Nothing lasts forever."

It was ten twenty-five at night when Sarah Carter felt a shiver stream down her spine, shaking her entire body. She stopped working on her school project and looked out the window, as if the dark sky would tell her what this feeling was. She stood from her desk chair and twisted the knob to push open her window. She tried to pull up on the tabs to remove the screen, but they were stuck closed. Sarah huffed as she moved to the bathroom she shared with her brother, gently pushing open the door to find it empty. She moved to his closed bedroom door and knocked softly, "James!" She hissed before knocking again. After several failed attempts to get her brother's attention, she turned the knob and slowly opened the door to investigate.

She found the dark blue room full of dirty clothes and workout equipment, but devoid of the person she was looking for. Sarah narrowed her eyes and stepped over a pair of dirty underwear to James's window, tapping it to find it open with the screen removed. She pushed the window open more and studied the rooftop, finding James's trail from the roof to the shed behind the house, then out to do whatever he was doing at the moment.

Sarah sighed and pulled the window closed, using all her strength to snap the latches and effectively lock her brother out. She smirked to herself as she went back to her room, careful to leave everything else as she'd found it, "Serves him right."

Sarah went back to the window and pulled with all her might, grunting as she finally unlocked the screen of her window. She carefully pulled it off and sat it on the floor beside her gently before leaning out the window into the cool night air. She closed her eyes and let the breeze blow her long blonde hair, succumbing to the strange feeling in her soul.

Without warning, Sarah began to cry, feeling a dark hole in the pit of her stomach, like her very heart was being ripped from her chest. She gripped the side of the window as she leaned out into the air, letting the tears flow as she held her mouth, trying to contain the tears she didn't understand. She gasped for breath, trying not to make any noise and wake her sleeping parents. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to push away the misery that plagued her without cause, but with her eyes closed, she saw a sparkling city, larger and more brilliant than anything she'd ever seen in her dreams.

Quickly, Sarah pried open her eyes and darted to her desk, pulling open a drawer to reveal her sketchbook. She scrambled to find a pencil, and began drawing the place she'd seen. She shaded the buildings, occasionally closing her blue eyes in an attempt to see the city again. Perhaps if she put it to paper, she could find it, and figure out where this feeling came from.

Maybe she could finally understand why she was so different from everybody else.

Sarah sketched until her vision began to blur, then moved to her bed and sketched on her mattress until she could no longer sit up. She tried so hard to continue drawing every detail of the place she'd seen, but sleep finally claimed her.

The blonde didn't even register she'd fallen asleep until the sounds of birds outside her open window pulled her from her slumber at dawn. She pried her eyes open at the sound of barking outside her door, followed by her mother's hushed voice, "It's Saturday, Zaddi, let them sleep."

Sarah pushed herself onto her elbow as she heard the massive dog's paws lead him downstairs with her mother. Sarah looked to her left and saw her sketch, partially crumpled from falling asleep on it. She yelped and quickly tried to smooth out the drawing without ruining all her hard work, but her attempts smeared the lead. "Damnit." She mumbled under her breath, quickly looking up to her door in case her father heard her.

"Sarah?"

"Yes, Dad?" She called nervously, closing her eyes and cursing herself for wrecking her work. After a moment of silence, Sarah looked up at the door, "You can come in if you want."

Steve slowly turned the knob and entered his daughter's room. He smiled softly at her as he approached, taking in the open window and the crumbled paper on her sketchpad, "You doing okay? You seem- frazzled."

"I fell asleep on my drawing." She admitted truthfully, closing the cover on her book and looking up at her dad. He was dressed in loose pants and a workout top, clearly stopping by before going on his daily run. Sarah twisted her mouth, "It wasn't important. I just- I saw something. Like a dream, but I was awake, you know? It was a place I've never seen before, but it was beautiful, so I drew it in hopes I could find it..."

"Can I see it?" Steve asked, taking a seat on his daughter's white comforter that was tangled around her legs.

Sarah blanched at the question, stuttering, "Uh, no- no, I... It's not great. It got messed up."

"It doesn't have to be perfect. You know I'll love it." Steve assured his girl, pushing back her hair and wondering where the last seventeen years of his life went. She grabbed his hand and leaned into it affectionately, but shook her head.

"I'll work on it and then show you. You know I like my work to be perfect."

Steve nodded, looking down at her closed sketchpad thoughtfully, "I know. But that's not realistic. Your mother and I will support you no matter what."

"Are you insinuating I should consider art school again?" Sarah asked slyly and Steve just put both of his hands up defensively.

"You can do whatever makes you happy, just know that we'll pay for it." He told his little girl and she grinned down at her book, moving it from her bed to her desk with a knowing smile. Steve watched her, knowing something was bothering her, "What makes you happy, Hun?"

"Drawing. Painting. Art." She shrugged, "I feel like art is a way into the soul, to take something you feel and something you are and put it on a canvas. I can't describe it, but, I just feel things so strongly and I need to express them, you know?"

Steve laughed, leaning back on his strong arm as he tilted his head, his dark hair that Kayla dyed falling over his forehead, "I think it sounds like you have a gift."

"It's not a respectable profession-"

"Your brother wants to go to a party school and he's actually a senior, so I think you can do whatever you want. You have time to change your mind, but in all honesty, I hope you don't." Steve admitted to his daughter. He smiled, but there was sadness in his eyes, "I want you to have everything you could ever dream of. I'll make it happen."

"Don't get sappy on me." Sarah teased, leaning against Steve's side lovingly. He stroked her arm, feeling how thin and weak it was compared to his wife's. His smile fell as she coughed loudly, holding her chest and inhaling deeply to catch her breath. "Excuse me." Sarah apologized as she leaned away from Steve, holding up her index finger to ask him to give her a minute.

He stood, but she shook her head, signifying she was okay, "I'm fine, Dad. I promise. I'm gonna eat and then work on fixing my drawing. Then maybe you can take a peek? See if you know where it is?"

"Of course." Steve pressed a kiss to his daughter's hair and left her room. She watched him leave, and as soon as he was out of sight, she opened up her sketchpad and ripped the page out, trying to distinguish the buildings that were smeared across the page.

After a while, her mother's voice broke through Sarah's concentration, "Sarah! James! Breakfast!"

Sarah sat up and brought her sketchbook down with her, finding her father sitting at the table reading a newspaper of all things, drinking his coffee. "Wow. A physical newspaper? This is a relic." Sarah teased, but Steve just smiled and flipped the page as his daughter pulled the cereal box out of the cabinet. Kayla handed her a bowl and the milk and Sarah made breakfast as Kayla popped a pill and swallowed it down with orange juice.

"Where's your brother?" Kayla asked nonchalantly as she caught her breath from taking the pill. "He's usually the first one at the table waiting to be fed."

"He had a late night." Sarah said truthfully, knowing her brother had snuck out before ten. "He's probably still sleeping."

Steve grunted as Kayla rubbed his shoulders lovingly, pressing a kiss to his dark hair as her own strawberry blonde locks fell over his head. "I was hoping he'd go for a run with me. If we wait any longer it'll be brutal out."

"Just go without him, Love." Kayla hummed as she kissed his beard, wrapping her arms around his chest, "I'm sure he'll catch up."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Steve questioned as he looked up, catching Kayla's lips with his own, "You saying I'm slow?"

"I'm just saying he's faster." Kayla answered, finally releasing Steve, but he caught her wrist and pulled her back, causing her to trip and fall into his lap. She laughed loudly, tossing back her head and sending her fading red hair over her shoulder. "Go, get out of here. Have fun." Steve stood and carefully deposited Kayla's feet onto the tile. He kissed her sweetly before leaving for his run.

Sarah watched him leave, pulling her long hair over her shoulder, then hitting a button on her phone when the door latched closed.

Kayla raised her brow questioningly from her place at the dining table, "What're you doing?"

"It takes Dad approximately four minutes to get around the block."

Kayla tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, "Okay..."

Sarah looked at the timer, seeing it had been about forty-five seconds since her father had left on his run. "Give it three minutes."

"Okay." Kayla relinquished, watching her daughter stare at the timer. "Your dad said you were working on something. Something about a city?"

Sarah stood up straighter and looked down at her pad that she still held in her left hand, "Uh, yeah, I just, had to get it out of my head. I messed it up though. Fell asleep while doodling." Sarah chuckled, setting the pad on the counter and looking back at her timer. "One more minute."

Kayla considered what Sarah had said, knowing her daughter's oddity for knowing things beyond her realm of knowledge was growing stronger. She drew her brows, "Can I see it? I used to travel a lot, before..."

"The whole witness protection thing? Yeah, I gathered that from Grandma." Sarah chuckled, looking at her timer again and avoiding her mother's question, "I want to fix it up a bit before you see it... Thirty seconds."

"No, I'd really like to see it now-" Kayla said, but luckily for Sarah, the front door began to open and Kayla's attention turned to it. There was a brief moment of silence before Kayla called, "Steve?"

Sarah pulled in her lips in an attempt to stay quiet, making eye contact with the brute who had come in through the front door. Her efforts were futile though, and Kayla sighed loudly, "James?"

The brawny blonde winced and slowly approached the kitchen, preparing for a lecture as he came into his mom's view. "Hey- Mom. Sarah." He turned to his sister and she just stared at him, keeping her lips closed tightly as he looked for any sign of betrayal from the girl.

"You just now coming home?" Kayla asked calmly, leaning against her dining room chair with a smirk, "Did you use protection?"

Sarah's eyes widened and she turned to look over her shoulder at the cabinet, unable to keep her cool if she saw her brother's expression.

James licked his upper lip in frustration, bopping anxiously as he waited to be released from this embarrassing confrontation. "Yes."

Kayla nodded, looking the boy up and down and cursing genetics for how much he looked like his father, "Don't let him find out."

"Yes Ma'am." James mumbled, eyeing his sister then turning back to his mom. "Thank you."

Kayla just shrugged, lifting her coffee to her lips as she eyed her son, "I was young once too. Just don't muck it up."

"She says that, but she means the other thing." Sarah finally said and James shot her a warning glare that only made her chuckle harder. "I'm sorry, I had to."

"I'm not having this conversation with my mom and sister." James groaned before turning to take a step out of the kitchen. Before he could leave though, his mother's voice called him back. He turned to look at Kayla, holding his mouth in a tight line, "Yeah Mom?"

"Just be careful please. With all your... working out and such, you're quite strong." Kayla said knowingly, understanding more than most what it felt like to be held by someone with super strength. She remembered being young and in love and Steve being so, so careful with her. She shook her head, bringing herself back to the present, "Just keep it in mind. Please. And don't go sneaking around."

James just nodded, taking his mom's words to heart before sprinting up the stairs to his bedroom to shower and change.

"Alright, now let me see the sketch." Kayla said as Sarah froze, suddenly very aware she had nothing to hide behind. She sighed and pulled out the destroyed drawing, handing it over to Kayla, who had her hand outstretched expectantly.

Once the page was in her hand, Kayla turned it around and her face fell. She swallowed hard as Sarah looked down at the smeared drawing, "The detail was impeccable, I want to try and fix it up, then do a computer scan and see if I can figure out where it is." She admitted, but Kayla just looked up at her with a shaking jaw. Sarah tilted her head curiously, "What?"

"I've been here before." She said quietly, turning her attention back to the page, "You said you saw this... in a dream?"

"Kinda." Sarah drew out the word and Kayla looked up at her with more anxiety that Sarah had seen in a while. She swallowed and told the truth, "I was doing homework. Suddenly, I felt this urge to get air, so I opened the window and closed my eyes and- and I saw it. This city. And I began to cry."

"Why?" Kayla asked carefully, setting down the photo on the table to look up at her daughter, "Why did you cry?"

"I don't know. I can't explain it. Something just came over me, this overwhelming sense of grief. I drew this until I fell asleep." Sarah explained quietly, "Why?"

Kayla composed herself, fitting her pretty lips with a fake smile, "I just- don't want you to be sad, that's all."

"I'm fine now. Really. It was weird. I think I was overtired." Sarah made up excuses, but Kayla could see the worry in her teenage daughter as well. Sarah finally straightened up, "I think I'm gonna work on my homework some more."

"Sounds good. Tell your brother to start his homework too. It'll be a good alibi when his father gets back." Kayla smirked, nodding up toward the stairs to send Sarah on her way. The young woman grinned and nodded, making her way back to her bedroom.

Kayla studied the sketch, but her mind was still thinking about her trouble-making son. She knew her husband would not be pleased with their son's shenanigans. Luckily Kayla had plenty of blackmail on the former Avenger to keep him in line.

James may have snuck out of the house, but at least he didn't sneak over enemy lines during a World War. Maybe he was his father's son after all.