"Hey Steve!" Bucky shouts from a few meters away.
Steve Rogers turns around to realize she had outpaced Bucky and the children jogging with them. She stops for a moment to let them catch up.
"I'm sorry Buck'. I'm just letting my mind wander again." She joins their jog as they catch up.
Bucky nods to Steve and they fall in line. The kids giggle and joke in Wakandan as they playfully compete with each other, and make the same jokes they commonly do when jogging with the two super soldiers. They continue for another minute or so before Captain America starts to pull ahead again.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Bucky asks, against his better wishes. This seems to have done the trick as Steve notices she is rushing again and slows down.
"It's okay, Bucky. I know you're not one to lay out your feelings, let alone sit and listen to someone else belting theirs out."
Bucky felt like he was a great listener, but the opportunity to avoid an awkward conversation seemed too inviting, so he just said "Okay."
It does not take long for Steve Rogers to begin pulling ahead again. Bucky feels bad, but he decides to match Captain America's pace leaving the kids behind. They don't seem to mind much and a couple still try to keep up.
"Steve, I was thinking I should sit this one out." Bucky blurts out, unexpectedly.
Captain America stops abruptly causing one of the little boys to bump into her. The kids just giggle as they catch their breath. "What are you saying, Bucky?" Steve asks.
Bucky stopped running also and peers around their surroundings, hoping no one who knows English is listening. He ruffles one of the kids' hair knowing they don't understand. It helps calm his thoughts before talking. "Steve, with everything going on, and especially with the volatile situation between Tony Stark and I, I don't think it's a good idea."
"But we need you, Bucky." Steve tries to reason.
"I know you do, Steve." Bucky responds. "But I saw what we were facing out there. Thanos looked at you like you were a fly then just swatted you aside. What difference is someone like me going to make?"
"A lot of difference, Bucky." Steve tells him. "You held the front line with everyone else out there. You can't tell me you didn't make a difference."
"I know I did, Steve." Bucky responds. "But this is different. I'm going to have my own personal army sized threats wanting me dead... from both sides."
"Tony's not going to do anything to you!" Steve lightly snaps. "I trust him."
"He seemed pretty intent on killing me in Siberia." Bucky answers back.
"That was different, Buck. He was angry. He had just learned the truth. How would you feel if you had just found out if no one told you that he had killed your parents?"
"My parents?" Bucky asks with a disconcerted face.
"OK, your sister." Steve says, giving Bucky a 'don't kid with me.' look.
"I would be mad too." Bucky responds, before continuing. "But it's more about having your head in the game. You know how dangerous it can be if you can't concentrate, and let's face it Steve. I may be a super soldier, but I'm no Ironman." He gives Steve a second to let his words set in.
"Steve," Bucky continues, "not having him at his A-game could mean the difference between life or death."
Steve juggles Bucky's words in her head for a moment and realizes he may be right. She reaches her hand out and places it on Bucky's shoulder. "I need you." She tells Bucky. "I'll talk to Tony. If we can't work something out, I won't try to force you to go."
Bucky looks down and nods his head.
"You'll see, he's a very reasonable man." Steve adds.
Bucky looks up and sees Captain America's face seems lost in thought again.
"You don't project too much confidence." Bucky tells Steve.
Steve looks up, a little embarrassed at getting caught. "I'm sorry. I just keep thinking about last night, and how angry he was. I didn't realize he had so much boiling up underneath."
"Do you think he has PTSD?" Bucky asks, revealing he had the same suspicions.
"I think he does." Steve responds. "He's not trained to deal with something like that, and I'm pretty sure he's too proud to ask for help."
"You're thinking of getting him help?" Bucky asks.
"I don't know..." Steve responds. "I wouldn't even know how to help him. Maybe if he had someone to just talk to?"
"You sure you're not just pining for another kiss?" Bucky says, with a smile, trying to break the tension.
Captain America laughs at this and pushes Bucky's shoulder. "He was just drunk." Steve says. "Pepper said he's always like that when he drinks too much."
"He seemed pretty everywhere." Bucky responds. "Reminds me of his dad... During the war, I mean." He adds for clarity. "You don't think he has a drinking problem as well, do you?"
"No," Steve responds. "Pepper said he hasn't drank that much in nearly ten years. Apparently he had some health concerns and there was a huge incident with Rhodey."
"Sounds like a lot of issues." Bucky says, sounding a little more jealous than he would like.
"That's why I'm worried."
Bucky looks into Steve's face and can see her heavy concern. "It seems like you have your plan of action in order." Bucky tells her. "Is there something else bothering you?"
"No." Steve answers dodgily. "Just thinking about everything."
Bucky knows his best friend well enough to know when she is hiding something. He knows he shouldn't but he asks anyway. "Is it about the kiss?"
Steve Rogers blushes brightly and looks away. "No! It's not that." She says very defensively. "It was just a mistake. Tony wasn't thinking straight."
"I'm sure he wasn't." Bucky tells her. "I mean, it's not like you kissed him back or anything."
Steve Rogers turns even more vibrantly red. "No." She says softly, turning completely away now. "It's not like that happened."
Bucky feels the emotional pain in his chest that everyone gets when they know someone they care about is lying to them. He still chooses to say nothing.
***Just outside Wakanda***
"The ship is handling the changes very well, and most of the orbs already equipped are near full power." The unusually well dressed Shield looking agent tells Nick Fury.
"That is excellent news." Nick Fury responds, while pushing back some curls of hair. "Were we able to get all the Asgardians off the ship? I don't want any stowaways." She adds.
"That we did, Nick. Aside from a fairly eccentric Kronan, who seems eager to help, that is." The agent answers.
"Kronan?" Nick Fury asks. "Isn't that a rock type creature?"
"Yes Nick, from the planet Ria."
"Well, let him help! Lord knows we could use it."
Nick Fury spots the agent looking at another agent not too far away. They exchange nervous glances at each other and share a silent whisper. Nick Fury peers at the other then back to her agent.
"And what are you two whispering about that's so secretive?" She asks.
"Well Nick." The agent answers, drawing emphasis to the name. "Some of us noticed, you seem to be a little nicer than usual lately. Particularly toward us."
"And that's a problem?" Nick Fury asks.
"No, it's just kind of nice, you know." The agent says.
"What are you getting at, Talos?" Nick Fury asks aggressively.
"Nothing... Nothing." Talos says, raising his hands. "I'm just saying, the changes are a nice change of pace."
"You're saying you like me better as a woman?" Nick Fury asks, scrutinizing Talos's reactions.
"Well, I can't say you haven't been pleasant as of late."
"Man, shut up!" Nick Fury says. "Just because you guys aren't affected by the change, does not mean you get to gloat."
"Hey, we were affected by the change." Talos says. "My wife turned to a man for a moment, and a few of the others lost concentration..."
"Oh, what an inconvenience." Nick Fury says sarcastically.
"Don't be upset, Nick." Talos says. "We, a lot of us, think that maybe the changes are a good thing. Humans have such terrible hangups about gender. Isn't it nice not having to worry about protecting your image anymore."
"Says the guy who can change his face anytime and to anything he wants."
"Well yea, that's true, but my race has never had any concerns about gender." Talos says matter-of-factly. "I can be a boy. I can be a girl. I can be old. I can be a stone cold fox."
"Isn't your wife female?" Fury asks.
"Of course, but only by choice." Talos responds. "She's the one that wanted to bear the children, and she does have a strong fondness for decorative articles you humans commonly associate with femenine."
"So if Soren decided to become male, it wouldn't bother you?"
"No." Talos responds. "Why should it? He would still be the same person I fell in love with." Talos lets the answer sink in for a moment before continuing. "For us, changing gender is like deciding what clothes to wear in the morning. Except we don't change our outfits so often." He chuckles at this comment. "Plus, it's not like I haven't dated males before."
"What?!" Fury asks louder than she would like. The skrull agent standing nearby is visibly chuckling now.
"Well, yeah. In my hayday I used to like tearing it up on the dance floor, meeting new people, and partaking in the local Earth customs. Busting a groove to Larger Than Life."
"Larger than Life?" Fury asks with sarcastic concern. "I didn't know you were an NSYNC fan. Now I'm really starting to worry about you."
"It's not NSYNC!" Talos protests.
"Boys to Men, whatever." Fury interrupts him. "Weren't you already married long before you came to Earth? What are you doing trolling the night life of the planet?"
"All I'm saying Nick is, I really like it here, and I wish everyone was handling the changes as well as you are."
"Talos, what are you getting at? Why did you come over here to bother me? And stop calling me Nick. I already talked to you about that."
Talos looks away guiltily. "Well you see..." He starts to say. "Some of the others wanted me to talk to you about something. We agreed it would be best if you heard it directly from one of us before finding out for yourself."
"What is it? Do I have body odor or something?" Fury asks, getting a little annoyed.
"Well, you see." Talos takes a moment to think of what he wants to say. "We understand you and your team are concerned with saving the universe, but things might be getting a little hairy down there... here..."
"Are you talking about the Avengers fighting with one another?"
"No... Something a little more grandeur than that."
"What could be more important than saving the Universe, right now?"
"Well, you know how we all noticed you were a little nicer to us after the changes." Talos gestures toward Nick Fury's body. "And uhm... we noticed, not a lot of people, from your planet, are taking to the changes equally as lightly."
"Oh you think?" Fury asks sarcastically.
"Yeah, particularly the people who've not experienced any changes." Talos says.
Nick Fury gives Talos a confused look and rolls her hand to imply that he should just spit out what he wants to say.
"It might be better if I just showed you." Talos tells her.
After a bit more convincing, Talos leads Fury away from the area, and they enter a small nearby space ship with a large window that doubles as a display. Maria Hill is there, and he is talking with an undisguised skrull. "What's going on?" he asks the two as they enter.
"Listen," Talos says. "You know how you asked Soren and I to keep an eye on things while you concentrated on saving the galaxy?"
"I vaguely remember, yes." Nick Fury answers.
"Well, things may be a little more than we can handle at the moment." Talos says as he presses a control near the driver seat turning on the large display.
"...when the standoff will end, but the protesters are standing their ground." A TV news reporter says. "With much of the police and national guard still disorganized and still no cure discovered, we can only assume tensions will continue to rise."
"Is that the White House?" Maria Hill asks as he approaches Talos and Nick Fury.
General Ross, who is still male, flashes on the screen. "We still have no word from the President, but we can assure you, his comments did not, in any way, intentionally provoke this."
"No Ex-Men?" Maria Hill says, reading a sign being held by one of the protesters. "like the vigilantes?" He asks. Talos just shrugs his shoulders, unsure of what Maria Hill is talking about.
"I hardly think protests in America constitute an emergency." Nick Fury tells Talos, but hesitates with concern.
Talos raises his eyebrows before changing the channel, revealing high powered weapons bombarding a city in the dark. "Egypt," He says before changing the channel to more protests.
"Saudi Arabia." Talos tells Nick Fury, as several women are being led through a crowd and bombarded with rocks, food, and trash.
"India." Talos continues, showing a picture of multiple city fires, burning while the Taj Mahal looms in the background. Talos flicks the channel back to the White House before turning toward Nick Fury.
"Nick Fury, I have lived on your planet for over 20 years, and I have grown quite fond of it, but your world is tearing itself apart in confusion. No one knows what happened. You owe your people an explanation."
Nick Fury watches the screen with heavy concern. It had never occurred to her that the swap would have such a massive impact on the planet. It doesn't take her long to decide what to do next. "Hill, get T'Challa on the line, along with James Rhodes, and Tony Stark. Tell them we need to have a press conference, and fast."