TW: Thank you.

Gallifrey 22.3: If she chooses. Agreed.

Ellie Bishop: Thank you. Yep, it's gonna be a slow process because Pepepr's been burned by Tony so many times but he'll get there. Killmonger will have to modify his plan now but he's not the immediate threat. The Natasha/Sif scene was fun to write. No, it did not. It's not a question of if W'Kabi will turn traitor, but when. Yeah, Natasha is clearly a bit rattled. Certainly does and I hate that they removed that backstory. The MCU's version of Steve is one of my favorites, but that's definitely a point against him. My best guess is T'Challa couldn't bring himself to have his former best friend executed.

Traveling Guest: Thank you very much. Yes, Steve's father was abusive in the comics, something the MCU cut out. I can relate, more than a few of my relatives served in the military during war time. Indeed it does. Considering W'Kabi turned on T'Challa so easily in the film, it's really not a matter of if, but when. There are just sadly things even foreknowledge can't prevent. Indeed.

Guest 1: T'Challa may want to, but he also knows that the only way to stop Killmonger is to kill him because Killmonger is not someone who will be talked down from his path. T'Challa is a lot of things, but he is neither naïve or a fool.

Guest 2: Indeed. Thank you.

Avengers Compound

Afternoon

Wanda stood just outside the med bay, subtly watching as Helen Cho examined readings from Bucky's brainwaves. She wasn't sure how long she stood there before she felt someone walk up behind her. She didn't need her powers to know it was Steve.

"He'll be alright," Steve told her gently. "Helen is one of the best doctors in the world. If anyone can help him, it's her."

Wanda nodded silently, knowing Steve was right. But she also couldn't help but worry. In the short time she had known him; she had come to care about Bucky very much. It wasn't like anything she'd ever felt before. It wasn't like with Pietro, Steve, Clint or even Vision. It was…she didn't know what it was.

"Come on, we're all meeting in the conference room," Steve said, breaking Wanda out of her thoughts. "It's time."

Later that morning, the Avengers and Sif all sat at the conference table. Steve turned on the screen behind him, which showed a picture of Rumlow from his SHIELD files.

"We have a little more than a week before we head to Lagos," Steve began, in full Captain America mode. "We know what his objective is; we know what he's going to do. We have time to make a plan, to stop him before he and his team can hurt anyone this time."

"Well we know he's gonna use a trash truck as a battering ram. First step should probably be to take that out," Rhodey spoke up.

"I will take out this truck," Sif vowed.

"We appreciate that Sif, but you're not coming," Steve said, to Sif's shock. "Lagos isn't the only thing that happens in over a week."

"In the other timeline, Rhodey was captured and replaced by a Skrull while we were all dealing with Rumlow," Natasha said with a glance at Rhodey, who grimaced at the reminder.

"We need you and Vision here to make sure that doesn't happen. Thor and I discussed it before he left, he wants the Skrull taken alive," Steve explained.

"Did Thor give a reason why?" Sif inquired, ready to do it but curious.

"No, but I got the feeling it was important. He wants you to return to Asgard with the Skrull as your prisoner," Steve said and Sif nodded.

"As he commands," Sif said, remembering her own encounter with the Skrulls darkly. "No Skrull shall touch you."

"Appreciate it," Rhodey said with a nod.

"Back to Lagos, even if we stop the truck, we all know Rumlow is gonna put up a fight. And as we saw in those recordings, he has no problem taking any of us with him," Sam pointed out.

"So we make sure that doesn't happen. We incapacitate him, anything short of killing him. Foreign people killing a terrorist on foreign soil when we have no jurisdiction there would be playing right into Ross's hands," Steve said darkly.

"If we can avoid the deaths of all those people, Ross and the UN won't be able to force us to sign The Accords the way they did," Natasha noted as Wanda grimaced, remembering all the people caught up in the explosion she hadn't been able to contain.

"The Accords are already in the process of being drafted. But it is unlikely the public will have such a reaction to them without the incident at Lagos," Vision added.

"They'll still be a problem, but without the Lagos incident, maybe the public won't be so willing to crucify us," Sam agreed.

"We have two missions. So let's get to work," Steve ordered.

New York

Later in the afternoon

Peter was walking home from school, deep in thought about what to do to help when his Tingle as he called it went off. He looked around before he saw a blond girl a little ahead of him. He couldn't figure out why his tingle had gone off until he saw a guy walk out of an alley, heading for the girl. Only someone paying attention would have seen the knife in his hand.

Peter knew he didn't have time to slip away and change, so he had to act fast. Thankful he still had his web shooters hidden under his sleeve; Peter looked around before spotting a nearby trash can. Shooting webbing at the lid, Peter flung it at the man. He didn't see it coming and it struck him in the head. People looked around at the sound as the men went down, dropping the knife.

It seemed like the people around there realized his intention, as a few young men tackled the man to the ground, restraining him.

"Someone call the cops!" one of them shouted.

"No need," the blond girl said as she pulled out a cell phone and Peter got his first good look at her.

She was around Peter's age, maybe a little older with long blond hair and blue eyes. She was pretty, Peter noted absently.

"I'm Gwen Stacy; my dad is Police Captain George Stacy. Just let me call him," she said as she put the phone to her ear.

As Peter began slipping away, not wanting to draw attention to himself, he failed to notice the way Gwen's eyes followed him, narrowed in suspicion before her father picked up on the other end of the call.

Not a long chapter, I know. This was originally going to be part of the previous chapter but I didn't like how the scene transitioned, so here we are. Hope you all enjoyed it anyway.

The Avengers are starting to make plans for Lagos and the Skrulls while Peter's arc is finally getting underway as he has his first encounter with his future wife Gwen Stacy.

Gwen would be played by Natalie Alyn Lind. Thank you to Aragorn II Elessar for the suggestion.