Steve Rogers and Johnny Storm stood on the porch of the Stark house in Maine. Leaves rustled from the strong winds that alluded to an approaching storm. The grass shimmered in patterns, the house in its centre the only thing that wasn't fluid in the forest. With the sky a light grey and the sun's beam hindered, the house in the clearing was the best place to be. Steve could smell the fire burning from inside, the bricked chimney on the roof exhausting the smoke. If it wasn't for Johnny's drivel in his ear, the Rogers would have been content with staying outside for a little while longer.
'I really thought I could get him this time,' Johnny sighed at the thought of his ultimate rival; the silver surfer. 'But he's too fast.'
'Do you think this is worth a try?' Steve changed the subject, looking up to the front door. 'I'd hate to overstep some boundaries here.'
'Susie's complicated. One minute she's all for the invincible thing, the next it's too much for her. But it's not just this instance where she's been like this,' Johnny thought about his sister. 'And I get it, you know, she wants a normal life. Morgan is that normal life. But sometimes, I can see that something's missing. The kick-ass life is calling her name.'
Steve smiled at his friend's explanation. The team were set to fly to Wakanda in the next few hours. A quinjet would take them there to speak with T'Challa, the Wakandian King who they encountered around the time of the Sokovian Accords. Steve had met with the king after this event, and the man had agreed to take Bucky in. They intended to eradicate HYDRA's influence on his brain and undergo cryostasis. With their understanding and alliance, Steve was sure that the Wakandian people would be able to help with protecting the Mind Stone.
Johnny went into the house first. The warmth from the fireplace in the living room hit the two immediately and it made them shrug off their jackets to hang on the coatrack. At the sound of their entrance, Sue appeared from the kitchen with raised eyebrows.
'Oh... it's you guys,' she mumbled with a half-smile.
'Were you expecting someone else?' Johnny asked.
'No. Just... curious, really.'
Steve took the time to look around the house as his first visit had been quick and tense. The high ceilings and rustic walls were pleasing with the use of dark browns and soft beiges in the furniture. Without being too much like a cabin, the aesthetic played with textures and wooden structures. It was a house that you would think would have antlers on the wall, as there were colourful blankets that draped over the sofas and wall sconces. But it wasn't as stereotypical as the classic American house in the woods, but it contained the warm and cosy aspect of one.
'What was the outcome of the plan?' Sue questioned, heading into the kitchen. 'Did you guys find a solution? Or something along the lines of one?'
She tried not to remember her embarrassment at the Avengers Headquarters. When she left the room, she was able to make the living space comfortable enough for Morgan to have her afternoon nap. Once her daughter was tucked under a blanket and had her head propped up onto a pillow, the baby was out for the next hour. This gave Sue the time to calm herself down from the event. Wanda came out not long after to check on her, and Sue insisted she was fine. There was the insistence that no one minded from the Maximoff, and Sue knew that, but she couldn't but feel like an outsider. She had drifted from the role of being part of the Avengers, and Morgan's wail during the serious meeting solidified that fact.
'We're going to Wakanda,' Steve walked into the living room. 'I think we can make some progress there.'
Sue hummed. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Johnny head to the window, while Steve walked around the sofas to sit down. While Johnny looked out to the trees that roared from the strong winds, Steve picked up one of Morgan's toys. He let himself fall back against the cushions with a stuffed, white bunny in his hands. A pink skirt sat around it's waist and a stitched cross sat where it's nose would be. Long, white ears hung by its shoulders and Steve let a smile grow onto his face.
A whine followed by a cry rang from upstairs, and Sue let out small sigh. Johnny looked away from the window and saw how she went to head for the staircase. He remembered the conversation he previously had with Steve and decided to put his right foot forward.
'I'll go,' he stated. Sue turned her gaze to him and stopped, looking bewildered.
'What?'
'I'll go,' he repeated with a finger pointing to the floor above them. 'She wouldn't be hungry, right? Don't think I could help with that.'
'No, she... would just need to be held,' Sue was confused at her brother's sudden volunteering to help with Morgan. 'Are you sure, Johnny?'
'Of course. Why wouldn't I be? She's still my niece, after all.'
With a flash of a smile, Johnny headed out of the kitchen and the thuds of his feet against the stairs climbed to the next floor. Morgan's cries soon died down and the howl of the growing winds outside filled the silent space. Sue looked at Steve, who waited on the sofa with the stuffed bunny still in his grasp. She knew he was waiting for her to sit, so she relieved him as a reward for his patience.
'You didn't even have to do anything to get me alone,' Sue plopped herself down on the other sofa. 'Morgan did that all on her own.'
'It's almost like she knew,' Steve thought aloud with a chuckle. He was yet to lift his eyes from his hands' occupant. Sue was slightly irritated by this, and she knew why the Rogers was here. There was a reason he came with Johnny, and there was a reason for his delay in cutting to the chase.
'When you went into space, all those years ago, did you think that anything would change?' Steve looked up, his blue eyes meeting hers. 'Obviously you didn't know about the cosmic storm, but did you feel like you would be different when you went back to Earth?'
'I suppose...'
'That's how I felt. Went into the ice, came out years later. I was different,' Sue watched Steve fumble the bunny back and forth between each hand. 'I said to Tony that I thought the quiet life was past me. The man before me would have wanted it, the white picket fence, the whole American dream. And when I saw that the world was never going to change, I thought that I could never sit back and watch. But if I could find a pretty woman and a place where no one could find me, I would do it.
Susan, I don't want you to think that I'm here to force you. Tony would never forgive me if he found out I did something like that. But we need you. All of this is beyond me. Thanos, stones, spaceships, all of it. I'm just here to lead, because it seems to be what I'm good at. I've seen you out there. On the battlefield. You might not consider yourself a soldier, but you will lie down everything for the small guy. Even for the big guy.'
Sue swallowed. The big guy. Did he mean Tony?
'I want you on my team, Sue,' Steve stared pleadingly at the Storm. 'We all do.'
'What if we lose...'
Her voice was small, barely audible. But Steve heard it. The woman was afraid, he could see that. With no Tony and a junior to guide, Sue had things to lose. Always the sensitive Storm. One that didn't barrel through society and tear through structure with rain and wind. Johnny was more that type. But Sue was the bringer of water to droughts and the lullaby that was welcomed by those slept to the roars of thunder and lightning. If the Storm lost its will, the Earth lost its way.
Steve put the stuffed bunny down next to him on the sofa. He leaned forward, a stray hair of brown and blonde falling onto his temple. Sue's hand sat on her knee and the man took it into his own. She held her breath and his lips parted, the words that fell out genuine.
'Then we lose together.'
---
The quinjet landed on Wakandian soil. As T'Challa walked up to the aircraft with a group of the King's Guard and the head of his armed forces, an opening extended a ramp out to the grass. A forcefield enclosed the city and the sky was a light orange with purple clouds. Wakanda consisted of sleek architecture and plush nature, the sides of buildings contrasting from their alters and lakes running under bridges. It was by far the most advanced city on Earth, and the Avengers wondered how they had never travelled there before this point (besides Steve of course).
The Avengers exited the quinjet and met with T'Challa, Bruce questioning whether they should bow. Steve shook the king's hand and Johnny went to grab Bruce before he descended to the royalty. But the Banner was already looking down at his shoes in the grass, making the woman stood next to T'Challa look down at him strangely.
'Uh, we don't do that here,' T'Challa cleared his throat before motioning for the group to follow him. 'So, how big of an assault can we expect?'
'Sir, I think you can expect quite a big assault,' Bruce informed, jogging to keep up with the king.
'Whatever you're thinking, think bigger,' Johnny added from behind Steve.
As they walked, Sue dwindled towards the back. She looked over her shoulder and saw the King's Guards behind her. They walked in a straight line with their weapons in hand. Their steps were synchronised, and she was afraid that one trip would make them act to protect their king. She turned to look to the front, where Bucky had appeared to greet his long-time friend. There was a bit of tension at first between him, Natasha and Rhodey, who at one point were given the orders to detain the Barnes. Rhodey was particularly hostile, the man stood rigid at the arrival of the Winter Solider. But he soon relaxed, when Bucky sent a small smile to each member of the group.
'How you been, Buck?' Steve grinned.
'Uh, not bad for the end of the world,' he shrugged his shoulders, his long hair blowing in the wind.