"We never did find Uriah Fenice's house," Steve said to Wanda as the two of them reviewed security footage of the night of the gala, "I think we start by finding that and then maybe something will lead us to Bucky and Jak."
"I got the sense that Loki was not being entirely truthful when he said he'd found them in Canada," Wanda admitted, "But he hid his thoughts from me, so I don't know where he actually went."
"And with his magic it would be impossible to figure out what flight he was on if he flew somewhere," Steve sighed, "We'll still start by trying to find the house. Who knows what other secrets Uriah was hiding, we may find something we didn't know we were looking for."
"If the house is hidden in magic, it may be a long process to find it," Wanda said, "Especially now that Loki is gone and I am the sole magic user in the building."
Her voice was sad and Steve turned to look at her.
"It's got to be weird for you not to have Jak here."
"She was the first of you to actually trust me," Wanda smiled softly, "Clint Barton recruited me and checked in on me, but he trusts very few people. Jak and I understood each other."
"I hope you know we all trust you now," he put a hand on her shoulder. "You've saved hundreds of lives as an Avenger and you're a good friend too. You were a good friend to Jak."
"I don't blame her for running away," she sighed, "She was never meant to be caged and she stayed here far too long."
"I wish we could have convinced her to sign on as an Avenger. She would have made a damn good superhero."
"Yes… but it would have just been another cage. She has been following orders for two hundred and fifty years. She needs to be in charge of herself for a while, I think."
"You're not wrong," Steve looked back at the monitor, "I wonder if Bucky feels the same way. I wonder if he just wants to be on his own after being under Hydra's thumb for so long and that's why he hasn't come back."
"He is probably confused. And hurt. And enjoying his time with Jak if they are still together. I only picked up pieces of Jak's memories, but she knew him. She knew him long ago and they supported each other. They were something more than friends."
"Huh," Steve scratched his chin and considered it, feeling a brief, but quickly squashed pang of jealousy, "Bucky always was a big flirt."
"Cap, Wanda, get to the briefing room," Natasha's voice said over the speakers, "We've got news that can't wait."
Putting aside thoughts of Jak and Bucky, the two Avengers made their way to meet up with the rest of the team. It was odd to have Tony missing after he'd been with them for the past few months, but some of the tension from those months was alleviated without both him and Steve in a room together.
"Thor's out, Tony's out, and against my best wishes, Barton's still retired," Natasha said by way of greeting as the team gathered, "So it'll just be us."
"What are we up against?" Sam asked.
"Brock Rumlow," Natasha gestured to the screen in the briefing room and a picture of a man in a skull mask popped up, "We got a hit. He's headed for Lagos. Nigeria."
"Sounds like we're going on a trip," Wanda smiled.
"Let's figure out what we're doing when we get there."
A note from the author: And so Civil War begins! But we're not going to worry about that right now. We've got two chapters left, friends, and then possibly, probably, hopefully a sequel if I have time to write it at some point. I'll be posting the last two chapters soon. If not this weekend, then Monday or Tuesday.
Thank you all for reading and special thanks to CrimsonWitch008 for your review! Yes, I'm a girl or woman or whatever lol. I'm so glad you are liking the story! I was worried that since it's a little heavy on OC content that people wouldn't like it, but it seems like that's not the case! I'm not sure what's going on with the emails, they were working now they're not. smh
Anyway, I'll see you in a little bit in the last two chapters! :D