Apparently, there was a lot that was great about Wakanda. Just flying through the border into the secret city was enough to take her breath away. The savanna grassland of Africa was replaced with a city that no one knew existed. One that was miles ahead of the rest of the world in regards to technological and medical advancements.

The city itself was beautiful - nestled among the green mountains, the tall buildings shimmered in the morning sun. Other high tech jets gently flew through the city, making no noise nor emitting any sort of fumes. From where she stood by the window of the palace's medical wing, she could look down to see the bustling community made up of tribes that all contributed to the greater good of the country. Despite how intense the city seemed upon their arrival, being there was, weirdly, incredibly peaceful.

Q could understand why the citizens had decided to keep Wakanda a secret from the rest of the world. The country was incredibly advanced in many ways, which could lead to them being taken advantage of by the rest of the world. It had been before, when Howard Stark had taken the apparent last source of vibranium from it to make Steve's shield. Though that turned out to be a lie. Still, better to play it safe than to be sorry again.

Q hadn't had much time to explore the city - nor did she think she would get the chance to; once they landed in Wakanda, it was a bit of a whirlwind. Introductions were made to the Queen of Wakanda - a kind woman, who was also incredibly intimidating at the same time. Then, each of them were shown to small rooms within the palace, splitting them up a bit. The room was almost like a mini guest room; there was a bed, nightstand, a window that overlooked some of the city, and even a shower for her to use. Plus, a change of clothes was laid neatly out for her at the foot of the bed. Nothing fancy, just a pair of light, breathable pants that were cuffed at the ankle along with a plain, short sleeved shirt that came to rest just above the waistband of the pants. She was a bit taller than they had realized. Still, it felt nice to be able to take the time to shower off the stench leftover from her time in the Raft, and the stress of the last few days. She had left the terrible, scratchy Raft uniform in the trash bin of the room, not wanting to see it or be reminded of her time there ever again.

After she had showered and changed, a knock at the door signaled someone's arrival. It couldn't have been Steve; he had stayed with T'Challa to go down to the medical wing to check on Bucky. Something she would have to wait to do. So she opened the door carefully, only to find a palace aid with a tray of food in his hands. At the sight of the warm, fresh food, her stomach growled, causing a slight blush of embarrassment from her and a small, amused smile from the aid.

Q couldn't remember the last time she had a fresh, homemade meal. Not since Peggy's funeral at least. Even though she ignored the brightly colored vegetables, the rest of the meal was unlike anything she had ever had. There wasn't a lot, but what was there had filled her.

Deciding to play it safe and stay in her room, she waited until someone else knocked on her door. This time, it was Steve - relieving her a bit; there was a small part of her that was thinking that the worst would happen. That Steve would've left her in Wakanda with no other explanation. Not that it would be a bad thing to stay in Wakanda, but she didn't want him to leave her without talking.

Though they hadn't had much of a chance to talk then either. Steve had come to give her an update on Bucky: he had decided to go back into the ice until there was a way to get the Hydra triggers out of his head. Even with the technological and medical advancements, the triggers were buried deep in Bucky's head. Over seventy years of wiring and rewiring had been done, layers upon layers had been put down. The triggers had made a home in his head, engrained themselves inside his subconsciousness. Obviously, it wasn't going to be super simple to remove them.

"You sure about this?" Steve's voice got her to turn away from the window, and return her attention to what was going on in front of her. The medical wing wasn't as busy as the rest of the palace, but there were still a few techs and nurses roaming about. All of them focused on the same patient: Bucky.

Arms crossed over her chest, she looked over to where a nurse had stepped away from Bucky after putting in his IV. He sat on an examination table, dressed in a white tank top that allowed everyone to see the stub where his metal arm used to be. The medical team had not only severed the arm completely but took off the metal plating that had been sewn to his shoulder in place of actual skin. If she had to guess, she figured the team had replaced it with something instead of just sewing it up. But the wound had been wrapped in some sort of black mesh so that it could heal properly - the mesh covering the entire area to his collarbone, not allowing her to see the angry, red scars that crawled their way across his skin. She couldn't even imagine what it had felt like to have the metal plating removed after it had been attached to him for over seventy years. Still, no one would be able to tell the pain he was in if they looked at him. In fact, he appeared almost relieved; shoulders slumped a bit in a relaxing sit, the deep v between his brows had finally smoothed out - despite the circumstances, he was doing okay.

"I can't trust my own mind." Bucky responded with a heaviness to his tone. A sad acceptance of what had been done to him and what the consequences of it now were. Even then, he let out a light laugh as if trying to lighten the mood. It didn't help; the sadness behind his eyes was still there, "So until they figure out how to get this stuff out of my head, I think going back under is the best thing." he continued to sum up his decision, eyes drifting over to the cryo chamber that was a few feet away from him, then shifting his gaze to Q, adding, "For everybody." and paired it with a small smile. Steve glanced over his shoulder at her, prompting her to give him a strong smile, even though there was a pit in her gut. She knew how hard this was for both of them.

"I'll give you two a moment." Steve bowed out, glancing in between the two of them before stepping away to go quietly talk to one of the techs. She waited a beat before stepping over to the examination table.

"It's for the best." he said softly before she could say anything herself. She gave him a small smile and nodded, shifting the way her arms were crossed over her chest.

"I know." she agreed with a slight lean against the edge of the table, "But it still doesn't feel very good." he let out a sigh, then nodded, looking over to where Steve was conversing with T'Challa, who had been lingering the entire time.

"Take care of him, will you?" he requested as his eyes shifted back to her, "Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid while I'm in there." he nodded toward the chamber. The corners of her mouth twitched up a bit as she looked fondly over to Steve for a brief moment,

"I'll try my best, but," she glanced back at Bucky, "you and I both know that's impossible." she reminded him with a knowing smile. He let out a small laugh, a half smile appearing briefly, then he became rather serious,

"Thank you, Q," he began to express his gratitude, "for putting all that effort into finding me." she gave him a small smile, eyes locking on his,

"You're family, Bucky." the simple reminder never failed to make his heart skip a beat or two. It had been so long since he had anything resembling family or felt that he was the type of person who could actually have a family and people that cared about him, that he couldn't believe it was all real, "And I should be thanking you." she let out a slight sigh, looking at the chamber in front of them.

"Why's that?" he sounded a bit amused by her statement, but the quick, serious look she gave him made him falter.

"Cause you saved my life." Again, the simpleness of her statement made him pause. If anything, he believed she saved his; she reminded him of what it was like to care about someone, wanting to protect them, and helping them. She brought his sister, and Steve, back into his life when he thought he had lost them forever.

"I think you're forgetting the time I shot you." he redirected with a reminder, not liking how deep the conversation had suddenly gotten. She let out a little laugh, then waved her hand in the air with a shrug,

"Eh, it was an accident." she played it off, then looked at him with a grin, "And who hasn't been shot at by you?" she gave him a look, tilting her chin down a bit. Smiling a bit, he shook his head, giving in and up.

"Sergeant Barnes," a tech in the standard issued white outfit came up to them, holding a tablet, "we're ready whenever you are." she gave him a reassuring smile to which Bucky nodded. His eyes met Q's for a moment before she reached out to wrap her arms around him in a hug. Surprised, he hesitated for a moment before awkwardly wrapping his right arm around her as much as the IV would allow him too.

From there, she stepped back, watching as two other techs dressed in the same uniform came over to help Bucky off of the table and into the chamber. Both Steve and T'Challa stood on either side of her, both watching as the straps were adjusted around Bucky's chest. It looked much more comfortable than the one she had seen in the Hydra files. Vitals were taken and flashed on the monitor beside the chamber itself. In fact, there was a full scan of his body up against a glass pane a few feet away from the chamber, closely monitoring all of his levels. Q didn't even pretend to know how it worked or what it was actually doing.

Instead, she watched as the front of the tube shut over Bucky. A loud hiss came out of the bottom of it as it was sealed. Then another, lower pitched noise joined in as liquid nitrogen filled the chamber. Instinctively Bucky shut his eyes as the nitrogen clouded around him. Q briefly wondered what it felt like to be in a cryogenic state. Did he dream? Or was it nothing but darkness? He didn't look scared or worried - just like he understood that it was what he had to do, whether he liked it or not.

A light touch on her elbow made her tense and pull away, only so she could look over to see that it had come from Steve. He gave her a small smile tinged with sadness, once again feeling the loss of his best friend, his brother, after finally getting him back. Tilting his head to the side, he indicated for her to walk with him.

With one last glance at Bucky, she turned to follow Steve away from the chamber. Falling into step beside him, she let him lead them to an alcove that jutted out of the medical wing. It looked out toward the mountainside where there was a large stone carving of a panther looming in the distance. A warning and a reminder.

"Say what's in your head." she prompted softly after a moment of silence. He took in a breath, but kept his gaze toward the horizon.

"We can't go back." he finally said rather seriously, "After what happened, the Accords -" he stopped himself from saying any more. Both of them knew what he meant. The ones who had chosen to follow Steve had directly broken laws of the newly instated Accords. If they were caught on American soil - or just caught at all, they would be sent right back to the Raft, where they had just escaped from hours earlier.

"That might not be such a bad thing, Steve." she carefully responded, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. His head turned to look at her, not expecting her response, "I mean, this is your chance to go out there and do some good. Without any prior initiatives or plans. You don't have to wait on what the Avengers want to do or do go where the United Nations tells you to go. You can help people who really need help, take down infrastructures that most would look past, or ones that are ignored." she pitched what he wanted to hear first, then added her alternative, "Or, take this as your opportunity to retire." she said with a bit of a grin. She didn't give as much of a pitch with the second choice he had because she knew that he wouldn't take it. At least not right then and there. He couldn't. It was in his blood to stand up for the little guys when no one else would, protect them from the bullies of the world. Saving the world would always come before her, before himself. A fact she had long ago accepted.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked after a beat, giving her an opportunity to give her input. She hesitated, wanting to tell him to retire and live out their days with her anywhere he wanted. Though she knew that she didn't deserve any of that quite yet. She still had to prove that she loved him and would stand by him no matter what.

"I think you should go save the world, Cap." she gave him a light grin, tilting her chin up a bit, "God knows it needs all the saving it can get." he looked surprised by her answer, turning fully so that he was facing her.

"Are you sure?" he asked, doubting her answer a bit. She stepped forward so there wasn't as much space between them, nodding as she did so,

"Yeah, absolutely." she gave him a strong smile, "This is your chance to really do some good for the world. No holds barred. I'm not going to let you give that up." she assured him, knowing it would be selfish of her to ask him to stay when he didn't really want to quite yet.

"What about you?" he raised his eyebrows a bit, "I can't ask you to come with me," he shook his head a bit, "but I can't leave if I know you're going to be in danger of going back to the Raft." she gave him a small smile, reaching out to place her hands on his chest,

"I'm not going back there -" she started to say, having already thought of a way to save herself, but Steve overlapped her before she could explain,

"Clint and Lang are making deals with Secretary Ross because of their families, we could get you in on that -" he offered her an out but she shook her head,

"No, no, that's...thank you," she gave him a look with a small grin before continuing, "but that's not what I had in mind." he raised his eyebrows a bit, wondering what she meant, "You said Zemo was still in custody here, right? Waiting for transpo back to Berlin?" he nodded to assure her that she was right, "Right, so let me take him in."

"What? Queenie, no, I can't -" Steve went to argue but she cut him off,

"No, hey, stop." she put her hands up, "I've thought this through, Steven." he let out a light scoff, shaking his head a bit as he got what she was referring to, "It'll work." she assured him with a pointed look. He kept her gaze for a long moment before his eyebrows raised a bit,

"You sure?" she nodded, letting her hands settle on her hips, "Okay." he gave in after a moment, "As long as you've considered all the outcomes." She had - weighed the pros and cons of being the person who brought Zemo in, figured out the outliers, and understood the consequences. For now, it would work out in her favor.

All in all, the group had spent less than twenty-four hours in Wakanda. The sun was already beginning to set over the city as her friends went their separate ways. As much as she wished she could go with Steve, Sam and Wanda, she knew she would just be slowing them down. Steve needed to do this without her, just as she had gone on her adventure without him. Maybe it would help him realize the same things she had come to terms with too.

T'Challa was more than helpful when it came to lending his hand and some of his guards to help transport both Q and Zemo back to Berlin. The jet was waiting for her on the palace roof, with Zemo secured inside with two undercover guards watching over him. At Steve's request, the guards would accompany her all the way to the CIA building, just to make sure nothing happened.

"Thank you, T'Challa, for all of this." she stuck her hand out to the king for a goodbye handshake. He met her hand firmly, shaking it once.

"Of course, Q. Thank you for bringing him in." he nodded to the jet where Zemo was being held, "The human world is not done with him yet." he looked serious, like he had stopped Zemo from getting an easy out. Good. He didn't deserve it. She agreed with a nod of her own, then pulled her hand back.

"Please, keep me updated on Bucky as much as you can." she asked of him, receiving a nod of agreement from the new king of Wakanda. He would do as she asked.

Leaving him with a kind smile, she shifted over to where Steve was finishing a conversation with Sam. She gave them both a smile in greeting before focusing on Steve. Crossing her arms over her chest, she glanced over her shoulder to look in the direction of where Sam was walking off to,

"Do you know where you're headed first?" she asked to start their conversation. He took in a breath and shrugged,

"There's a lot of places that need help. Syria, Lebanon…" he named a couple without going into too much detail, "We'll figure it out." he assured her with a brief smile. There wasn't much more that they could talk about considering the time constraints put on their reunion. She had to get back to Berlin so she could deliver Zemo to Ross in a timely manner.

"Just keep me in the loop." she reminded him with a tight smile, having a feeling he probably wouldn't. After all, she hadn't. It was only fair. Still, he nodded once, and she moved on, "I should probably get going." she said rather lamely, not knowing what else to do or say. Steve stepped closer to her, hands going to rest on her arms that were hanging by her sides.

"Don't do anything crazy." he advised with a quick raise of his eyebrows. A smirk appeared across her features as she responded,

"I appreciate you not saying stupid." he laughed a bit, sliding his hands up and down her arms for a moment before bringing her in for a tight hug, "I love you." she murmured, not expecting to hear him say it back and not being disappointed when he didn't. He would say it again. It would just take a beat or two. Instead, he squeezed her a bit tighter, then let go, stepping back to slip his hands into his pockets.

"I'll make contact as soon as I can." he promised her with a quick smile. With a nod, she stepped back from him, turning as she did to board the Wakandan jet. Until next time.

The trip to Berlin took as long as she expected it to. Obviously not entertaining the man who tried to destroy everything from the inside out, she spent the length of the trip catching up on the news she had missed while in the Raft. Reports were coming in declaring that Bucky had been framed in the bombing of the United Nations building in Vienna, and now the hunt was on for Zemo. There wasn't any chatter regarding her and her friends' escape from the Raft; since it was a secret prison in the middle of the ocean that no one knew about, but that didn't stop reporters from discussing the assumed whereabouts of Steve and Bucky. No mention of her, Sam, Wanda, Clint or Lang, but she figured Secretary Ross would keep that under wraps as much as he possibly could. Only one news channel was talking about the bunker in Siberia, though the information was barely something that would hold up in court. It was speculation at best, but still pretty on the nose.

Along with the Raft not being talked about, Wakanda was still being referred to as the third world country everyone thought it was. There was no mention of T'Challa being the Black Panther, nor the fact that his country was one of the most advanced countries in the world. Agent Ross had clearly made a deal of sorts with T'Challa. Something she could use to her advantage if necessary.

Though it wouldn't be. Once the van pulled up to the back docking area of the CIA building, she got out with her hands in the air - prepared for the small SWAT team that was waiting for her. It was to be expected; she was a criminal after all.

"Agent Proctor," Ross greeted her as he walked through the barrier of guns and soldiers, "this is a surprise." he raised his eyebrows up expectantly, knowing where she had been placed and wondering how the hell she had gotten out of there.

"Just wait." she taunted him a bit, then gestured with her head to the back of the van. He eyed her suspiciously for a moment before his curiosity got the best of him.

Waving at two of the SWAT team guys, he had them go to the back doors of the van before him. He stood behind them, half watching Q at the same time he was watching one of the men open the doors. Inside, Zemo was handcuffed both by the wrists and the ankles.

"How the hell did you manage this?" Ross asked, looking over at where Q was still standing with her hands raised. She made a face, shrugging as she did so,

"Give me my job back and maybe I'll tell you." she offered up a deal. She let her offer hang in the air for a moment. The tension was palpable in the air as he considered her. Then, he looked back at Zemo before looking back at her.

"Get him inside." he ordered his team, waving his finger at Zemo, "Sublevel, west wing." the opposite wing Bucky had been kept in during his brief CIA stay. Ross turned to her again, hands on his hips, "My office. Now." she grinned to herself, but then quickly forced it away, nodding once as she lowered her hands to her sides.

All according to plan.

A/N: And this story is OFFICIALLY 100 HUNDRED CHAPTERS LONG! Can you believe it? I can't! Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing. You truly are the reason why this story has this many chapters haha. Please let me know all of your thoughts. I can't wait to hear what you think is going to happen next! LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!