"You know, it's weird that your best friend is a robot," Maggie mumbled as she braided her blonde hair.

She and Wanda had gone to Russia to visit Maggie's family. Johann had made Maggie a room up for when she visited and, often, both Wanda and Natasha came. This time, however, Natasha had said the girls could go alone because she trusted them to behave.

And because Vision had tagged along to visit them after his time on the 'run', too.

"I know," Wanda smiled, resting her chin on Maggie's shoulder as she watched Vision stare off into Russia from the bedroom window opposite them.

Vision gasped a second later, holding his hand to the Mind stone in pain.

"Vis? Is it the stone again?" Wanda jumped off the bed quickly. Maggie followed. The stone had been paining Vision more and more lately and, truth be told, it was scaring Maggie and Wanda a lot more than they let on.

"It's as if it's speaking to me," Vision said.

"What does it say?" Wanda said.

"I don't know. But something..." Vision trailed off as he flinched again. Wanda put a hand on his arm for reassurance. He took it away and placed it over the stone. "Tell me what you feel," he said.

Wanda pulled her hand back, the red mist swirling between the stone. Wanda shook her head after a moment, leaning back into Maggie's chest.

"I just feel you," Wanda mumbled.

"Maggie?" Johann called upstairs. "Vision's train will be leaving soon, if you aren't staying for dinner first," he called.

That was something weird, too. The robot liked riding on other mechanical creations.

"We're leaving soon!" Maggie called back downstairs.

She turned to the other two and nodded.

"Let's get moving," she said.

"I told Andreas that I would teach him coding when I came back for another visit. I hope that wasn't overstepping," Vision told Maggie as she, Wanda and Vision walked towards the train station. Wanda and Maggie were hand in hand, bundled up in thick coats to withstand the cold Russian weather.

"He's just turned five so I don't think he really knows what he's signed up for," Maggie chuckled. "But it's not overstepping, don't worry. Johann likes that the Avengers come and visit his house," she said.

"He is a good host," Vision said.

Wanda stopped in her tracks and Maggie frowned. She followed her gaze to a TV in the store window beside them.

The news was on, showing coverage of an invasion in New York. Two aliens came onto the screen and then Tony's photo.

MISSING.

"What are they?" Wanda whispered as she stared at the aliens on the screen.

"What the stone was warning me about. I have to go," Vision said quickly, squeezing their shoulders.

"No, Vision," Maggie said quickly. "Vision, if that's true, maybe going isn't the best idea. You shouldn't be alone," Maggie said.

"Maggie, I-"

Vision was cut off as a sharp blade pierced through his chest from behind. Vision cried out loudly, losing his human looks and turning back to his regular robot looks.

He was launched down the street and Maggie quickly got her hands up to fight the alien stood in front of them.

"Vision!" Wanda cried. Wanda got smacked from behind and she was launched across the courtyard and into a small restaurant.

Maggie quickly used her powers to blast the two aliens back so she could run and get Wanda and Vision. She got Wanda and the two of them lifted Vison into a courtyard nearby, dragging him down an alley so Wanda could heal him.

"The blade. It stopped me from phasing," Vision gasped in pain.

"Is that even possible?" Maggie cried.

"It isn't supposed to be," Vision's voice faltered to robotic more than human. "My systems are failing. I'm beginning to think... we should have stayed for dinner," Vision groaned as Wanda started using her magic to stitch his wounds again.

A sharp pain stuck Maggie in her side and she skidded across the courtyard, head slamming into a marble pillar behind her. She groaned in pain, clutching the back of her head.

"Maggie!" Wanda yelped as she was launched away from Vision.

One of the aliens, the male one?, flew away with Vision. Maggie struggled to her feet when she saw the other alien, the female one?, starting to fight Wanda with a staff.

"Fuck," Maggie groaned as a dull thud echoed through her head.

She ran over and pulled out the two batons she'd kept from the Red Room, putting them together and smacking the alien over the back of her head.

She turned, brandishing her staff at Maggie while Wanda caught her breath.

Maggie backed away, drawing the alien closer to her than to Wanda. Maggie lunged forward and her baton was met with the staff. She kicked the alien in the stomach and took the opportunity to duck down.

Wanda's magic met the alien and she was launched across the courtyard and into a large lorry, which was on fire next to two destroyed statues and a burning restaurant.

"Shit," Maggie cried.

Wanda grabbed her hand and Maggie held on tightly as Wanda flew them up into the air and onto a rooftop. Maggie could see the other alien had pinned Vision to the floor and was trying to remove the Mind Stone.

"Hey, ET!" Maggie yelled. He looked over at them. Wanda's hands were smoking red and Maggie was brandishing her baton eagerly.

"Hands off," Wanda warned him.

Wanda used her magic to shoot him through a window. He fell into the tall building and Maggie heard him thud down the elevator shaft.

Maggie felt a tug in her stomach as she was suddenly falling through the roof of the train station they'd landed atop of. Wanda used her magic to catch Maggie and Vision and the three of them thudded to the ground a bit less gracefully than if they'd had longer to fall.

Wanda crawled over to Vision and Maggie dragged herself over, too.

"You gotta get up. You gotta get up, come on," Wanda tried to pull Vision up.

"Please, please leave," Vision mumbled.

"No way. We're family," Maggie shook her head, grabbing his other arm.

"Please," Vision begged.

"Get up," Wanda said.

They heard a shatter and turned to see the two aliens falling through the roof. They landed opposite of the three Avengers and Wanda got to her feet, standing protectively in front of Maggie and Vision. Her hands were red again and it was building to be bigger and more powerful.

A train thundered down the tracks behind them and the lady alien frowned. Maggie turned slowly, seeing why the alien was confused. Someone was standing on the platform behind them but it was too dark to see who.

The alien threw her weapon at the figure but it caught it easily, stepping into the light.

Maggie's mouth dropped open as she saw Steve Rogers standing there, a glare on his face as he looked at the aliens.

"Uncle Steve," Maggie sighed in relief, letting herself relax for a minute.

Maggie caught something moving in the corner of her eye and looked up. Sam swooped through the holes in the glass ceiling and knocked the lady alien across the platform, through closed cafe gates and into the furniture. He swopped around and fired at the man alien.

The alien weapon flew over Maggie's head and she followed it. Her gaze fell on Natasha, who caught the staff and ducked under the male alien's swing. She stabbed him in the gut and then booted him halfway across the platform, too.

Maggie got to her feet and ran over to join the fight as the lady alien summoned her weapon back and turned to attack Natasha.

Maggie grabbed the weapon the male alien had dropped and swung it at the other alien, knocking her back enough for Natasha to swing at her, too.

"Duck!" Sam yelled. Maggie and Natasha dropped down as Sam flew at the alien. He kicked her halfway across the platform again, sending her closer to her male alien friend.

She grabbed his arm and Maggie, Natasha, Steve and Sam stepped in front of them with a glare.

"Get up," the lady alien hissed at the man.

"I can't," he muttered.

"We don't wanna kill you, but we will," Natasha said coolly.

"You'll never get the chance again," the lady alien said.

A bright light shone down on them and they were sucked up into it, beamed up into a spaceship. Their weapons flew out of their hands and followed them up. The light disappeared and Maggie sighed.

"Well, this world doesn't get any easier to understand," Maggie muttered.

Steve hurried over to Vision with Sam but Natasha just turned to Maggie, beckoning Wanda over with her mom face on.

Maggie looked guiltily at Wanda. They were in trouble, now.

"I thought we had a deal. Stay close, check in. Don't take any chances, chances like taking trains," Natasha ranted to Maggie and Wanda as she paced up and down the Quinjet. They were loading it up to leave.

"I'm sorry," Wanda mumbled.

"We just wanted some time, mama," Maggie nodded. "We're really sorry. We didn't think aliens would come after us. I mean, the government, sure, but aliens? That is like a one in a billion chance," Maggie said.

"You're not making this better," Wanda muttered to Maggie.

"She's right, you're not," Natasha agreed.

Maggie frowned and stood up, pulling Natasha into a hug.

"Mama, we're okay. I promise. We won't do stupid shit like that again. I promise," Maggie whispered.

Natasha sighed but hugged her back.

"Yelena has too much of an influence on you," she said.

"Says the woman wearing her vest," Maggie snorted.

"Hey, I like the pockets!" Natasha whined.

Maggie laughed as she pulled away, stepping to hug Steve.

"Thanks for saving our asses, uncle Steve," she said.

"Whatever you need, little Romanoff," Steve said.

"Where to, Cap?" Sam said from the pilot seat.

"Home," Steve said, ruffling Maggie's hair fondly.

Maggie followed Steve, Natasha, Sam, Vision and Wanda into the room where Rhodey was having a holographic call with Secretary Ross.

"Mr Secretary," Steve said. Ross turned to face them in the hologram.

"You got some nerve. I'll give you that," Ross said.

"You could use some of that right now," Natasha said.

"The world's on fire. And you think, all is forgiven?" Ross scoffed.

"I'm not looking for forgiveness. And I'm way past asking for permission. Earth just lost her best defender. So we're here to fight," Steve stepped forward to eye Ross. "And if you wanna stand in our way... we'll fight you, too," he said. Ross turned to Rhodes.

"Arrest them," he said.

"All over it," Ross nodded. He swiped the hologram away and the computer beeped twice.

"That's a court martial," Rhodey said. "It's great to see you, Cap," he said. Steve pulled him into a hug.

"You, too, Rhodey," Steve said. Rhodey hugged Natasha and ruffled Maggie's hair, making her smile up at him.

"Well. You guys really look like crap. Must've been a rough couple of years," Rhodey said.

"Yeah, well, the hotels weren't exactly five star," Sam said.

"Uh, I think you look great," Bruce's voice came from the door. They all spun to see him walking in from the other end of the room. "Uh... heh... Yeah. I'm back," he chuckled awkwardly.

"Hi, Bruce," Natasha said, voice flat of emotion.

"Nat," Bruce swallowed roughly.

"This is awkward," Sam whispered.

"No shit," Maggie whispered back.

Maggie took a sip of the coffee she'd made herself, then handed the cup to Wanda. Maggie only liked the top half of the coffee and Wanda only liked the bottom half. Maggie thought the bottom half tasted too coffee like, considering she only drank it for the caffeine, but Wanda drank it for the taste. It made sense that they just shared their coffees, now.

They'd moved into another room. Vision stood against a window, while the rest of them were gathered around the conference table.

"So we gotta assume they're coming back, right?" Rhodey said.

"And they can clearly find us," Wanda said.

"We need all hands on deck. Where's Clint?" Bruce said.

"After the whole Accords situation, he and Scott took a deal. It was too tough on their families. They're on house arrest," Maggie explained.

"Who's Scott?" Bruce asked.

"Antman," Steve said.

"There's an Antman and a Spiderman? Okay, look," Bruce sighed. "Thanos has the biggest army in the universe. And he is not gonna stop until he... he gets... Vision's stone," Bruce motioned awkwardly to Vision.

"Well then, we have to protect it," Natasha said.

"No, we have to destroy it," Vision said. He turned to look at them. "I've been giving a good deal of thought to this entity in my head, about its nature. But also, its composition. I think if it were exposed to a sufficiently powerful energy source, something, very similar to its own signature, perhaps... its molecular integrity could fail," Vision turned to look at Wanda and Maggie.

Together, their connections to the stone would be powerful enough to destroy it.

"And you with it," Wanda said.

"We're not having this conversation," Maggie agreed with Wanda. She and Vision weren't as good friends as he and Wanda were but Maggie still liked him. They were still a family.

"Eliminating the stone is the only way to be certain that Thanos can't get it," Vision said.

"That's too high a price," Wanda said.

"Only you and Magdalena have the power to pay it," Vision said. Wanda walked away, Maggie being tugged along by their joined hands. "Thanos threatens half the universe. One life cannot stand in the way of defeating him," he said.

Wanda sat at the table and pulled Maggie down onto her lap. Maggie looked between the other adults curiously.

"But it should. We don't trade lives, Vision," Steve said. Vision walked over to him.

"Captain, 70 years ago, you laid down your life to save how many millions of people. Tell me, why is this any different?" he said. Steve took a deep breath but Bruce replied for him.

"Because you might have a choice. Your mind is made up of a complex construct of overlays. Jarvis, Ultron, Tony, me, the Stone. All of them mixed together. All of them learning from one another," Bruce said.

"You're saying Vision isn't just the stone?" Wanda frowned.

"I'm saying that, if we take out the stone, there's still a whole lot of Vision left. Perhaps the best parts," Bruce said.

"Can we do that?" Natasha said.

"Not me. Not here," Bruce shook his head.

"You better find someone, and somewhere fast. Ross isn't exactly just gonna let you guys have your old rooms back," Rhodey said.

"I know somewhere. Anyone got a phone?" Maggie said.

"Seems like I'm always thanking you for something," Steve grinned, shaking hands with King T'Challa as he, Okoye and a few other guards greeted them as they arrived in Wakanda.

Bruce bowed awkwardly and Maggie stifled a laugh into her arm.

"What are you doing?" Rhodey hissed with a smirk.

"Uh, we don't do that here," T'Challa chuckled. He turned to Maggie and smiled. "You've grown up again," he said.

"I know," Maggie grinned. "So have you," she said. He opened his arms and she hugged him, letting him kiss her temple.

"So, how big of an assault can we expect?" T'Challa asked, leading them towards the administrative building.

"Uh, sir, I think you can expect quite a big assault," Bruce piped up.

"How we looking?" Natasha asked, wrapping an arm around Maggie's shoulder. Maggie leaned into Natasha's side with a smile.

"You will have my Kingsguard, the Border Tribe, the Dora Milaje, and..." T'Challa trailed off and motioned to Bucky as he walked over to them with his metal arm and a kind smile.

"A semi-stable, 100-year-old man," Bucky said. Steve pulled him into a hug.

"How you been, Buck?" Steve asked.

"Uh, not bad, for the end of the world," Bucky chuckled. He turned and his gaze caught Maggie's. "Hi, Magdalena," he said.

Maggie let go of Natasha and walked over, looking up at the man she'd once hated.

"I killed him. For real this time. He's gone. We did it," Maggie said.

Bucky sighed in relief and pulled Maggie into a hug before she could protest. Maggie rolled her eyes but pat his back to say she got it.

"Thank you. Thank you for not giving up," he mumbled.

"Yeah, well, you're like family, I guess. You don't turn your back on family," Maggie said, pulling away. "Shall we get to Shuri's lab?" she said.

"Let's," T'Challa agreed.

"Whoa. The structure is polymorphic," Shuri smiled as she flipped the hologram of Vision's stone on her palm.

"Right, we had to attach each neuron non-sequentially," Bruce said.

"Why didn't you just reprogram the synapses to work collectively?" Shuri said, like it was obvious. Maggie laughed at the look Vision gave Bruce.

"Because we didn't think of it," Bruce said uncertainly.

"I'm sure you did your best," Shuri smiled reassuringly.

"Can you do it?" Wanda spoke up.

"Yes, but there are more than two trillion neurons here. One misalignment could cause a cascade of circuit failures. It will take time, brother," Shuri turned to T'Challa.

"How long?" Maggie asked.

"As long as you can give me," Shuri said.

Okoye's kimoyo beads chimed with an alarm and she flicked one into her palm. It projected a globe with an alarm marker.

"Something has entered the atmosphere," Okoye said.

"Hey, Cap, we got a situation here," Sam said over comms.

Maggie looked out of the window and watched as a large building fell towards the dome around Wakanda. It shattered as it touched it and Maggie nodded to herself. Wakanda was wrong. It wouldn't fall to some alien bitches.

The floor started to shake as more of the buildings landed in the forest outside of the dome. They all stared with wide eyes. Maggie looked at T'Challa, seeing he looked slightly alarmed at what they'd be facing.

"It's too late. We need to destroy the stone now," Vision struggled to get off the exam table.

"Vision, get your ass back on the table," Natasha snapped.

"We will hold them off," T'Challa said, he and Okoye heading to the door with the Wakandan guards.

"Wanda, as soon as the stone's out of his head, you blow it to hell," Steve said warningly.

They'd decided that, since Wanda could powerbank Maggie for energy from wherever, that Wanda would stay to destroy Vision's stone and Maggie would help keep the fighting at bay to give them enough time to get the stone out. When it was time, Maggie would stick to physical combat to allow Wanda to use her mind and their connection to destroy the stone.

"I will," Wanda said.

"Evacuate the city. Engage all defense procedures. And get this man a shield," T'Challa pointed at Steve before they left the room.

"Okay, you got a minute," Natasha looked at Maggie and Wanda before leaving the room with everyone except Shuri and Vision to get ready for the battle.

Maggie looked at Wanda but was swept into her arms before she could even register how close Wanda had moved. Maggie kissed her cheek three times.

"We're gonna be okay, alright? I promise," Maggie whispered.

"You think?" Wanda mumbled.

"I know. We're strong, we're brave and we're Avengers. We can do it," Maggie said.

"I believe you, sweetheart," Wanda said. She pulled back and kissed Maggie properly. "Magdalena, I-" she cut herself off, shaking her head.

Maggie knew instantly what she wanted to say, but she also knew Wanda didn't want to say it like this, when it could very well be the last thing either of them heard. It sounded like a goodbye, then, and they didn't need any more goodbyes. They needed more see you laters or I'll be back soons.

"Say it when we get back, okay? When we aren't looking death in the face again," Maggie mumbled.

"You'll say it back?" Wanda stroked Maggie's cheeks.

"I'll always say something back," Maggie repeated the same words Wanda had told her a few years back.

Wanda kissed her again before nodding.

"I believe you, sweetheart. We're going to do this," Wanda said.

"Shuri, get to work. Vision, I'll see you later," Maggie said, backing away to the door. "Wands?" she said.

"Yes, Magdalena?" Wanda smiled at her.

"See you in a minute," she said.

Wanda smiled.

"I'll see you in a minute," she promised.