Chapter Text
Chapter 1
After they escaped from the Raft, the rogue Avengers were holed up in Wakanda. Steve knew they had already overextended their stay but this was the safest place for all of them since they weren’t exactly welcome anywhere else; He was pretty confident that the King of Wakanda preferred it this way as he could keep an eye on all of them. And he wasn’t ready to leave Bucky just yet.
Every day was the same. Wake up. Beat up a few punching bags. Train the team to keep them occupied, to maintain a sense of routine. All the while pretending that he wasn't waiting for one phone call. And today wasn't any different. The team had just finished blowing off steam and Steve was clutching the phone, staring out of the window of his room and wallowing in guilt. He doesn't regret his choice with the accords nor does he regret everything he did to keep Bucky safe, but he does regret not telling Tony the truth. They would have never been in this position and he wouldn't be having nightmares about him killing Tony in Siberia.
It was safe to say that Steve was not having a good day, most days aren’t here. But he knew he had to maintain his cool, especially in front of his team. Clint looked like he was about to shoot arrows at whoever used the wrong tone of voice. Wanda wasn't doing much better either and Scott, he tries to pretend that he's okay with how everything turned out but Steve caught him one day apologizing to a picture of his daughter for leaving and that he regrets it every minute. Sam was calm and collected as ever, even managed to help Steve keep his cool a few times, but Steve knew that they are a ticking time boom waiting to explode if this constant inactivity continued.
“What are we? We're not a team, No, we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos... We're a time bomb."
No. Steve refused to believe Bruce’s words; the world is a safer place with them in it.
“I’m saying there may be a causality. Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict…breeds catastrophe”
Okay, that’s it. It was time to hit the gym again. If he was lucky he would find one of the Dora Milaje to spar with him.
Steve was almost at the door when he felt more than heard the shock wave.
“What was that?” Asked Wanda, who had rushed out of her room. Steve didn’t wait to answer her and rushed outside the building, the team was behind him within seconds. For a moment he thought he was losing his mind because the sky wasn't supposed to be a very dangerous shade of purple in the afternoon and it wasn't supposed to have dark purple rings flashing about like lighting. It was when he saw the black humanoid figures appearing where the rings once were and falling all across the city that he felt déjà vu, he knew this had to be some sort of alien invasion and the rings were some kind of portal. The battle instincts kicked in.
“Spread out and contain them,” Steve ordered.
While protecting the Wakandans and subduing the aliens, he really hoped this wasn't a full-blown invasion. Half of the Avengers wasn't even close by to know what was going on and it'd be too late by the time they did. But then he realized that the random placements of the portal suggested that either this was a sloppy job of an invasion or it wasn't an invasion at all.
Moving on from one alien to the next, Steve ended up in a garden with half a dozen of them, but they were more focused on a lady they were surrounding who was giving them a hard time. He noticed that she was not a Wakandan with her tanned Caucasian skin and by that time, she already had three on the ground. She is fast.
As she was advancing on the fourth, she suddenly clutched her head in both her hands and fell to her knees as if in pain. Steve immediately jumped into action and took the remaining three down. He then turned to the woman, who was on all fours before she plopped face-first into the grass. He rushed to her and turned her gently. She focused her confused brown eyes on him and uttered one word before passing out.
“Steve?”
It was over as quickly as it had begun. After the sky had turned back to its normal shade, Steve and the team along with the Wakandan soldiers had managed to capture all the creatures, who weren't more than twenty. After the initial shock, the people had calmed down and were trying to clean up. King T’Challa had come to the city to aid personally. They were all standing outside the infirmary that held the woman Steve had saved. From the glass windows, they saw the Shuri, the king’s sister, approach them. She conversed with her brother in Wakandan as Steve and others waited uncomfortably to be explained what had happened.
“She is the only human among those beasts to have fallen from the sky. Since you were all there when this happened, is there anything you can tell me that will help me understand what this means.”
“Your Highness, we know as much as you do. They were attacking her and then she just collapsed.” Steve said politely.
“Shuri says that she is human and she fell through the portal. Do any of you recognize the woman?”
Everybody answered negatively. Though Steve’s answer was most certainly no, there was something about the woman that felt familiar, like he was supposed to know her. But his memory has been impeccable since the serum so he knew he has never seen that face before.
Steve looked around at his teammates and found Clint eyeing him.
“Well.” The King continued “I thank all of you, for protecting my people. It seems I’m in your debt again.”
“Is she okay?”
“The doctors have not been able to find what ails her. But she seems to have accelerated healing. Also, she is pregnant. Shuri is confident she will wake up soon so hopefully, she will have answers for us” With a final nod, T'challa left.
Scott cracked a joke to which Wanda laughed but Clint turned to Steve.
“You know her.” It was a statement.
“Of course not! It’s just, she knew me.”
“Everybody knows Captain America,” Clint said with a smirk. Steve smiled too but didn't reply.
“Should we be worried about another alien invasion?” Sam asked carefully.
“This could be an isolated event.”
Steve knew nobody believed that.
It was the next day when Steve woke up for his morning run that an alarm was sounded and Shuri personally escorted all of them to a chamber which had the woman from yesterday looking very bored and chained to a table in an interrogation room.
“She escaped around two hours ago but we found her in the kitchens.” Shuri was explaining. “We don't know how she escaped. She managed to get past the locks and the guards and the cameras without effort. The King thought it would be wise to involve you lot.” She said the last bit in disgust.
“I don't think she was planning to run away,” Clint said.
“I agree,” Shuri said.
“Why?” Both Wanda and Scott asked simultaneously.
“Because if she wanted to escape, she would have already,” Sam said, staring at the woman through the one-way glass. The doors opened again as the T’Challa joined them. He signalled the guard monitoring the cell and after a moment, the woman's eyes focused on all of them.
“T'chal- Your Highness! I will answer all your questions with no problem. I just have two requests.” The woman said in a rush.
“And what are those?” asked the king with raised eyebrows, clearly planning to humour her.
“Can I please have the Wakandan special, extra-large? I'm starving! You see… I gotta feed for two.” she said, nodding at her midsection. After a few seconds of staring, T’Challa nodded his sister who gave a very displeased look but complied. When she passed T’Challa, she hissed “She is treating you like a waiter” before leaving the room.
“Oh! Thank you so much. Cravings are such an inconvenience.” The woman exhaled in relief.
“Explains why you were in the kitchens,” said T’Challa. The woman only smiled sheepishly.
“And your other request?”
The woman lifted her finger to point at Wanda.
“She stays out of my head.” The woman said, deadly serious.
“It will be such a waste to not use a witch who can tell if you are lying”
“Sure. But, you have to understand. Like how Wakanda is yours, my mind is all I have here. And if my mind is invaded, I will retaliate, as you would if your Kingdom is invaded. And let me tell you, all your soldiers and the Avengers and yourself won't be able to stop me.”
“Is that a threat?” T’Challa asked with his chin up. The woman only smiled.
“No. It's a request.” She reminded. “I could have gotten out of here just fine. I can still escape from this holding cell without breaking a sweat. I have not because I respect Wakanda and its people. And I respect you, King T’Challa, and let this go on record, I don't respect a lot of people.” she said sincerely. Wanda looked at the King than at Steve. He didn't need telepathy to know that she couldn't read her mind. The lady must have also picked that up from their exchange because she visibly relaxed even further and looked at Wanda.
“Looks like you can't get inside my head.”
“I don't need a witch to know if you are lying. Who are you? ” The King demanded. The woman sighed and looked at everyone in the room, then looked back at T’Challa.
“I'm sorry. I just never had to introduce myself to any for a very long time. My name is Natasha Stark. My friends call me Tony.” said the woman, Natasha, with a smirk.
“That's not funny, lady.” Clint deadpanned.
“This is going to be difficult to explain if I am your first visitor from an alternate universe. I'm not joking. I'm Tony Stark. Iron Woman of earth 3490. Nice to meet you all. ”