Maggie stood in front of the house that Friday had located to belong to Johann and Katerina Parlov, now living in Russia again. She'd flown there in the jet and landed an hour ago, hitching rides to the house.

They had been in Sokovia when they'd destroyed/saved the city. She hadn't emailed them back, hadn't thought of them since deciding she wasn't going to see them again, but she had to know if signing the accords was the right thing to do and the only people she could get an honest answer from were people who were present at the time of some of the events.

Maggie sighed and rang the doorbell, hands in the pockets of Natasha's lucky leather jacket.

The door opened and a little boy stared up at her with wide eyes. Maggie stared back down at him with eyes equally as wide. He had the same blonde hair as Johann and Maggie, though Maggie figured it must be a common shade of blonde considering she and Johann weren't actually related by blood anymore.

He had big brown eyes and he was sucking on a pacifier, indicating he was a toddler, at most.

"Andreas, what did your mama tell you about opening the door without an adult?!" a woman's voice came from inside the house.

Maggie heard footsteps and her breath caught in her throat as Katerina scooped the little boy, Andreas, up onto her hip. She looked up and her face dropped.

"Magdalena?" she said. Her Russian/Sokovian accent was stronger than Maggie's, considering Maggie had lived in America since she was fourteen and had moved in with Natasha at the Avenger compound.

"Hi, Katerina," Maggie said awkwardly.

Maggie took a second to observe her sister. Katerina had brown hair down to her shoulders and it had been made lighter with dye. Her eyes were still the same, but she looked exhausted. For eighteen, she looked a lot older and a lot more troubled than Maggie remembered.

Then again, it had been almost thirteen years since she'd last seen Katerina.

Katerina looked around and then grabbed Maggie's wrist, yanking her inside and closing the door over.

"You shouldn't be here," Katerina said lowly.

"You guys emailed me first," Maggie said.

"Johann did. I told him not to, and now you're here and Johann and his wife are on their way home from shopping and I told Claudia that I wouldn't let Andreas open the door to strangers and now he has and this is a disaster," Katerina ranted.

"Well, great. I'll wait for Johann, then," Maggie said. She looked around the house and winced at how messy it was. "How old is he?" she asked.

"Two and a half. He's on his feet and everything he can touch gets broken. You were like that. It pissed me off," Katerina said, putting Andreas back on his feet. He immediately bee-lined for Maggie, holding his arms up at her.

"Hi, small person," Maggie said awkwardly, patting his hair down. "So, uh, it's been a while," Maggie said.

"Twelve years, ten months, sixteen days," Katerina bent over and started tidying up Andreas' toys. He was still holding his arms out for Maggie. "He wants you to pick him up. Don't you know that?" she said snappily.

Maggie put her arms under Andreas' and lifted him up, sitting him awkwardly on her hip like she'd seen Clint do with baby Nathaniel.

"I don't spend much time around kids, you know, so forgive me for not knowing how to hold one," Maggie said.

"What about your motherly instincts? Everyone has them," Katerina said.

"Kind of hard to have a motherly instinct when I don't have a womb anymore," Maggie rolled her eyes. Andreas reached out and put his hand near her mouth. "Don't do that or I'll have to eat them all up," Maggie smirked at Andreas.

He giggled and put his hand closer. Maggie opened her mouth and pretended to bite down on his fingers, making him laugh loudly and drop his pacifier on the floor.

Maggie caught it with her powers, levitating it over to Katerina.

"Can you wash that anyway? Might be something in the air," Maggie said.

"Did you..." Katerina trailed off. "What the fuck, Magdalena?!" she cried.

"Maggie," Maggie corrected her. Only Wanda ever called her Magdalena anymore, or Natasha if she was in trouble. She was so used to Maggie. "I have powers," she said.

"No, I know. It's just... This is too much," Katerina shook her head. "You were abducted. We were abducted. We were dumped and we never heard anything about you again until you turn up in Sokovia with a group of psychos in suits and destroy our home! I mean, what the fuck?" Katerina cried.

"We're home!" a male's voice came from the door.

Maggie and Katerina turned around, watching as Johann and his brunette wife walked into the living room with arms filled with shopping bags. Johann's bags slipped out of his hands in surprise but Maggie quickly caught them with her powers, levitating them into the kitchen.

"Magdalena?" Johann said slowly.

"Hey, Jo. It's been a while," Maggie smiled sadly.

Johann crossed from his wife and wrapped his arms around Maggie, still holding Andreas. He whined to get down and Maggie would've done the same if she was a toddler instead of seventeen. Instead, she let Andreas slide down and run to his mom and pat Johann's back awkwardly.

"What the hell happened to you? Where did you go? What did they do to you?" he said.

"There's a lot that happened, but that's not why I'm here. Why did you reach out?" Maggie said.

"Because we saw you in Sokovia. We saw you and one of your friends, the one with the red magic, she got us onto a lifeboat before the city was destroyed. We saw you and we knew it was you," Johann said.

"How did you know it was me?" Maggie frowned.

Johann's wife handed Maggie a framed photograph. She took it and frowned slightly. It was a photo of Maggie, Natasha, Steve, Thor and Tony that had been taken for a magazine article they did back after Loki almost destroyed New York.

"You look so much like Alexandra. We knew it was you," Johann said. Maggie felt a weird pain in her heart. She didn't want to look like Alexandra. Not after she knew what she'd done.

Katerina stiffened and marched into the kitchen.

"Rina," Johann's wife hurried after her with Andreas on her hip.

"This was a bad idea. I should leave," Maggie said.

"No!" Johann said quickly. "Stay. Please, stay. You didn't answer my email and I figured I'd just gotten the wrong address, or that you didn't check them yourself because you're like, a superhero now," he said.

"Why did you do it, though? What do you want? Money? Fame? You won't get any. I don't want it myself," Maggie said.

"You're my little sister. You and Katerina are my sisters. I want my sister back," Johann said.

"We all know I'm not your sister. We know what my parents did to you and Katerina. It's why she can't even look me in the eye. She looks at me and she sees Alexandra, not Magdalena," Maggie said.

"Blood doesn't make a family. Look at your family, now. The Avengers," Johann motioned to the picture.

"They're different. They didn't know me before," Maggie said. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Look, I'm only here because I wanted to ask you a question," she said.

"Okay," Johann said.

"Do you think the Avengers are dangerous? I mean, you were there in Sokovia. Were we reckless and stupid?" Maggie said.

"You saved our lives. My son would be dead without you. Your nephew-"

"He's not my nephew. I'm not your sister," Maggie interrupted.

"He is. You are. I don't care what DNA says. I care what I say. You're our sister-"

"She isn't," Katerina said from the doorway, looking over at Maggie with red rimmed eyes. "She isn't our sister. Her parents abducted us. My childhood was a lie and I never would've known if Dimitri didn't kidnap her and made Alexandra dump us back to our birth family," Katerina said.

"That is not my fault," Maggie snapped. "I was four years old, Katerina. I didn't know anything about any of that," she said.

"But you didn't exactly reach out when you found out, did you?" Katerina snapped.

"You just flipped on me for turning up and now you're flipping on me for not turning up? Where's the logic in that, hey? Did they hit you on the head or something?" Maggie said.

"I hate you!" Katerina screamed.

She launched herself at Maggie, shoving her back into the wall. Maggie shoved Katerina back off of her but Katerina came straight back, punching Maggie across the face.

Maggie knew she could easily beat Katerina with her powers, but Katerina was just angry and she did have a right to be, just not to direct it at Maggie. She figured she'd let Katerina get a few good hits in before she put her back in her place.

After Katerina had definitely broken Maggie's nose, Maggie quickly wrapped her left arm around Katerina's waist, head geared towards the floor. She flipped over, throwing Katerina's body with her. Katerina landed on her back on the floor with a groan, Maggie kneeling at the side of her.

A drop of blood fell onto Maggie's jeans and she wiped her nose with the back of her hand, making sure it didn't get onto Natasha's lucky jacket.

"Don't fight me, Katerina. You won't win," Maggie said. She stood up and held her clean hand out. "C'mon. Get up," she said.

Katerina glared at her but took her hand and stood up.

"Magdalena, I'd like you to meet my wife, Claudia, and our son, Andreas Parlov," Johann beamed at his sisters.

"This family is a lot more fucked up than I remember," Maggie muttered. "It's nice to meet you, Claudia. I'm sorry for causing such a ruckus. I should get back home-"

"Where do you live?" Johann asked curiously.

"New York, but-"

"With the Avengers?" Johann said.

"Yeah, I guess-"

"What are they like? What do you guys do? Do you all eat human food or do your abilities stop-"

"Jo, maybe stop shouting questions at Magdalena," Claudia said.

"She wouldn't answer anything for us, anyway," Katerina rolled her eyes. "After all, she doesn't owe us anything," she said.

"You know, I get that you're pissed off but I didn't do anything to you. Grow the fuck up, Kat," Maggie snapped.

"Your parents hurt me!" Katerina yelled.

"They hurt me, too!" Maggie cried. "I don't hate you for that," she said.

"They never hurt you as bad as they hurt us. We took the beatings so you didn't have to. Jo is deaf in one ear because he jumped in front of a glass vase for you," Katerina said.

"Kat, don't bring that up. We've all grown up. Nothing that happened was Magdalena's fault and you know that," Johann sighed.

"Look, I really should-"

Maggie was interrupted when her phone started ringing. She pulled it out and winced when she saw it was a call from Natasha. She answered it and put it to her ear.

"Magdalena, I promised myself that I would trust you and that I wouldn't track your exact whereabouts but can you please tell me why the fuck you are in Russia near your childhood home?!" Natasha hissed into the phone.

"Uh, very long story, not much time to explain. I'm leaving now, anyway. I'll be home in a few hours," Maggie said.

"Fly straight to Vienna if you're signing the accords. Are you?" Natasha said.

"Who is?" Maggie said.

"Vision, Tony, Rhodey. Wanda is TBD. The rest aren't," Natasha said.

"Steve isn't?" Maggie said.

"No, I don't think he will," Natasha said.

"And Clint?" Maggie said.

"Retired. Mags, what are you gonna do?" Natasha said.

"Are you signing them?" Maggie said.

"I think we have to. It's better to do it and be in control than not do it and let them be in control," Natasha said.

"Then yeah, I'm signing. Will you pack me some clothes, please?" Maggie said.

"Yeah, malyshka. You'll meet us there?" Natasha said.

"Yeah. Send me the address of the hotel and I'll land nearby," Maggie said.

"Okay," Natasha sighed. "I love you," she said.

"I love you, too, mama," Maggie muttered. She ended the call and put her phone in her pocket.

"You still speak to Alexandra?" Katerina glared at Maggie.

"Alexandra was murdered seven years ago," Maggie said. Katerina's glare dropped.

"What?" she said.

"Yeah. Dimitri slit her throat because she was getting close on the investigation. You didn't know?" Maggie said.

"We kept ourselves out of the eye of the media after what happened with our abduction," Johann said.

"What about him? Is he still alive?" Katerina's jaw clenched. Maggie sighed and nodded.

"I think so," she said.

"You think?" Katerina repeated.

"He abducted me, sent me somewhere else and then got me back when I was ten. He used to send me on missions with HYDRA. When I turned thirteen, I'd had enough. I tried to escape on a mission, he found me and I thought I'd killed him. He came back almost two years ago and tried to kill me again. I almost killed him but nobody ever found a body so we're assuming he's still alive," Maggie said.

"Holy shit," Katerina muttered, sitting down on the couch.

"This is a very fun family reunion," Claudia said awkwardly.

"You really don't say," Maggie sighed. "Look, I should go. I have to be in Vienna to sign some documents or something and my mom is waiting for me and-"

"Can we meet her? When you've signed the things? Will you bring her back so we can meet her?" Johann said.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Maggie said honestly. "I only came to make sure you were all safe. I didn't come back so we could be a family. We aren't a family," she said.

"Biology doesn't matter, Magdalena," Johann said, a sad look on his tired face.

"Yeah, I know," Maggie said, "But this is a family I don't want to be a part of anymore. My childhood, your childhoods, they were lies. I need to get over my shit and move on. So, uh, it was really great to meet you all and I'm sorry for dropping by unannounced. If you need anything, well," Maggie trailed off with a shrug.

"What's her name?" Katerina said.

"Who's name?" Maggie said.

"Your mom's name," Katerina said.

"Oh," Maggie realised. "Natasha. Well, Natalia Romanova, but Natasha Romanoff in America," Maggie said.

"And you're not Sokolov anymore, then?" Katerina said.

"No. Maggie Romanoff," Maggie said.

Katerina smiled weakly.

"It suits you. You look happy and, well, I agree with you. We don't need to be a family. We aren't a family," Katerina said.

"Kat-" Johann tried.

"Nice to see we can still agree on something," Maggie smiled, though it was more bittersweet than anything. Back when they were kids, it had always been the girls vs Johann.

"Yeah," Katerina smiled back, just as bittersweet.

Maggie's phone rang with a call from Wanda.

"I have to go. Sorry, again," Maggie said. She hurried out of the front door and hailed a taxi quickly, putting her phone to her ear. "Hey, I'm kind of busy right now. Can I call you in like, an hour when I'm on the jet?" she said.

"Are you signing it?" Wanda said. Maggie sighed.

"Yeah. I'm gonna sign. Are you?" Maggie said.

"No," Wanda said.

"Okay," Maggie said.

"Promise we'll still be best friends?" Wanda whispered.

"I promise," Maggie said.

"Pinkie?" Wanda said.

"You know it," Maggie said.

"I'll see you when you get back from Vienna?" Wanda said.

"Yeah, of course. Stay safe, please," Maggie said, ending the call and tucking her phone in her pocket.

"There you are," Natasha turned away from T'Challa as Maggie walked into the UN meeting room, a frown on her face.

"Hey, mama," Maggie said. Natasha wrapped her into a hug and kissed her forehead.

"You okay?" Natasha said.

"Fill you in later," Maggie nodded. She turned to T'Challa, who was grinning widely.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't little Magdalena," he teased.

"T'Challa, you've grown," Maggie laughed. He pulled her into a hug and she smiled.

"You've grown. It's been too long. Summers in Wakanda, I'm afraid, haven't been the same without you there to help Shuri and I cause trouble," he said.

"I'm sure Shuri does just fine without me there to help," Maggie said.

"She does indeed," T'Chaka said. Maggie turned and smiled at him.

"King T'Chaka," she said.

"Come here, child," T'Chaka said. Maggie hugged him.

"I'm sorry about what happened. Truly," she said.

"We know, child. We're glad you're helping us make a chance," T'Chaka said.

"If everyone could please be seated, this assembly is now in session," someone called.

"That is the future calling. Such a pleasure to see you again, Magdalena. We'll have to arrange a visit to Wakanda, soon," T'Challa said.

"Agreed," T'Chaka smiled.

"We will," Maggie said. She let Natasha take her hand and the two walked to find their seats.

They sat down and T'Chaka took his place at the podium, T'Challa standing off to the side near the window.

"When stolen Wakandan vibranium was used to make a terrible weapon, we in Wakanda were forced to question our legacy. Those men and women killed in Nigeria, were part of a goodwill mission from a country too long in the shadows. We will not, however, let misfortune drive us back. We will fight to improve the world we wish to join. I am grateful to the Avengers for supporting this initiative. Wakanda is proud to extend its hand in peace-" T'Chaka was cut off as T'Challa ran away from the window.

"Everybody get down!" he screamed.

Natasha grabbed Maggie and pushed the two of them under the desk. A large explosion shook the building and Maggie put her hands over her ears to try and block out the noise.

"Maggie?!" Natasha pulled Maggie's hands off her ears after the explosion had stopped. "You hurt?" she said.

"What the hell was that?" Maggie gasped.

"I don't know. C'mon," Natasha eased Maggie to her feet. Maggie coughed through the dusty smoke, the two of them walking forward to try and find someone to help them look for survivors.

Maggie stopped when she saw T'Challa on the floor, cradling T'Chaka's dead body in his arms.

"Oh," Maggie whispered. Natasha looked down and her breath caught in her throat.

"Oh, god," Natasha whispered.

"I'm sorry," Natasha told T'Challa as she and Maggie sat on the bench beside his bench. He was holding a ring in his hands.

"In my culture, death is not the end. It's more of a... stepping off point. You reach with both hands and Bast and Sekhment, they lead you into the green veldt where you can run forever," T'Challa said.

"That sounds very peaceful," Maggie said.

"My father thought so, too," T'Challa slid the ring onto his finger. "I am not my father," he said.

"T'Challa, task force will decide who brings in Barnes," Natasha said. They'd just gotten a call to say it was Bucky who was the main suspect due to him being seen at the scene.

"Don't bother, Ms. Romanoff. I'll kill him myself," T'Challa said. He walked away and Maggie sighed, leaning into Natasha's side.

Natasha's phone rang and she put it to her ear.

"Yeah?" she said.

"You and Maggie alright?" Steve's voice came through the phone.

"Ah, yeah, thanks. We got lucky," Natasha said. She smoothed Maggie's hair down with a frown. "I know how much Barnes means to you. I really do. Stay home. You'll only make this worse. For all of us. Please," Natasha said quietly.

"Are you saying you'll arrest me?" Steve said.

"No. Someone will, if you interfere. That's how it works now," Natasha said.

"If he's this far gone, Nat, I should be the one to bring him in," Steve said.

"Why?" Natasha said.

"Because I'm the one least likely to die trying," Steve said, ending the call.

"Well, shit," Maggie sighed quietly.

"Shit indeed," Natasha mumbled, kissing Maggie's forehead. I don't want you running off after him, either," she said.

"I won't. That's not where I went, either," Maggie said.

"Where did you go?" Natasha said.

"I went to see Johann and Katerina," Maggie said.

"And? Did they see you?" Natasha said.

"Yeah. Katerina blames me for what happened. She hates me. Johann wants us to be a family. He, uh, he has a wife and a little boy. Claudia and Andreas. And he looks happy with them. And Katerina, she looks exhausted but she's still the same as she used to be. She's still Kat," Maggie said.

"Are you going to?" Natasha said nervously.

"Going to what?" Maggie looked at her.

"Be their family again. Like, properly," she said.

"No," Maggie shook her head. "I can't do it. They didn't do anything wrong but it's better for all of us if it doesn't happen. I'm always going to remind them of what happened with my parents. They're always going to remind me of the only good part of my childhood and the fact that it was a lie the entire time. I just can't do it. They're not my family," Maggie mumbled.

"You know, I have a family like yours. They were never really my family. We were in Ohio together for three years on a job. I haven't seen them since, so I don't know what I'd do if I met them again. I probably wouldn't want to be in touch with them, either," Natasha said.

"Yeah?" Maggie said.

"Yeah," Natasha said. "But if you ever did want to get to know them, I'd stand right beside you the entire time. You don't have to just have one family and your family doesn't have to share your DNA to be one," Natasha said. "Just look at us," she added with a cheeky smile.

"You're so annoying," Maggie sighed, leaning her head against Natasha's chest.

"You love me," Natasha kissed her hairline softly, just over the scar from her experiments.

"Yeah. I do," Maggie mumbled.