It was all a blur. Mary couldn't hear anything, see anything, or feel anything. The widow was numb to everything as the remaining people of the team regrouped and gathered everyone who was still alive.

M'Baku, aside from Okoye, would not leave Mary's side as she was carried out of the forest by her brother. Steve was still coming to terms with the loss of not only the fight, but of his brother. His team. His sister was not going to come out of this anytime soon, he knew that. Everyone knew that.

He and the rest of Mary's friends and those she considered family were terrified of what this would mean for her mental and physical health. Those that were around her when she lost Winnie knew that her daughter's death crushed her and changed her.

But the death of her husband? Mary couldn't see any form of recovery working. She still refused to believe Bucky was gone. That T'Challa was gone.

Wakanda was in mourning.

And then Mary remembered something important.

Or rather, someone.

"J-Jamie." Mary stammers, talking for the first time since she had run out of tears to shed and was continuously sobbing into her brother's chest.

"We're getting to the palace, Lizzie. Hold on." Steve reassures her, "We'll have our answer soon."

The Rogers siblings could hear others attempting to regroup and figure out who was still alive and who was not. Everything was chaotic. But something else clicked in Mary's mind. Something she knew would help in this moment.

"M-My pocket." She stammered and Steve gently set her down onto her feet. He held her arms with his large hands as she wobbled and nearly lost her footing. Everyone was weary about her and the rest of the world, but out of everyone, Mary seemed to be the one taking it the hardest and actually showing it.

Mary fumbled around in her pockets on her utility belt until she found what she was looking for. The little communicator device Fury had given her long ago rested in the palm of her hand. And she knew it was time to press the call button.

Fury had the matching communicator, and her heart instantly sank as she thought of the possible loss of her close friend.

"What is that, Lizzie?" Steve asks tenitavely, he didn't know what would set her off back into hysterics after having her finally calmed down enough.

The rest of the remaining team had entered the palace in search of the Queen Mother, Princess and Golden Wolf. They needed confirmation about the royal family now that T'Challa had been snapped away by Thanos. The ruling of Wakanda would fall to Shuri or Ramonda. But if neither of them were still alive? The tribal elders would then choose a regent. And Nakia, did she must have been around people that had been snapped away, but had she been informed yet about T'Challa? There were so many questions running through everyone's minds. It was all too much that happened at once. So much loss. So much heartbreak.

"Help." Mary mumbled softly as her thumb pressed the small button and then watched as the communicator turned on.

Steve hesitated but didn't pry as Mary put the communicator back into her pocket. He didn't even know she had that. Parts of her past were still mysteries to him even after being out of the ice for six years and a half years.

"Madam Advisor! Come quickly!" A Dora shouted from the entrance of the palace. Dread and panic instantly rose in Mary and she paled. Steve instantly swooped in and lifted her into his arms again, she had no energy, neither did he, but he had more than her in this moment.

The Rogers siblings and the remaining Avengers quickly followed behind the Dora. Okoye and M'Baku praying to Bast that the royal family and the Golden Wolf were safe.

Mary's heart leapt when she heard crying.

Her precious baby boy's crying.

"Jamie!" Mary screamed as she tore out of her brother's arms and ran past everyone in front of her as she saw Ramonda and Jamie huddled together in the Queen Mother's room.

"Umama!" Jamie cried as he broke from Ramonda's arms and leapt into his mother's. Mary fell to her knees, holding her sweet boy in her arms as tight as he would let her. Steve let out a cry of relief as he fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around his sister and precious nephew.

The remaining Avengers slowly entered the Queen Mother's room, but the brief moment of happiness was cut short instantly when Ramonda's eyes scanned those that had come from the battle.

"Where is my son?" The Queen Mother asked with baited breath, her voice cracking as she slowly realized that T'Challa was among those snapped away. Natasha's eyes scanned the room and saw three piles of dust in the room. They had witnessed the effects of the snap as well. "Where is my daughter?"

Okoye stepped towards the Queen Mother, the General was still trying to hold it together but she was slowly failing. "Queen Mother.. The King.."

"Is my son gone, General?" Ramonda asked, her composure was holding but crumbling quickly as tears slowly began to fall from her eyes.

The General could only nod in response.

"And what of my daughter, what of Shuri?" Ramonda asked, her voice holding onto the smidge of hope that her daughter was alive. But the answer everyone was hoping for was one they did not get.

"She was in the labs last we heard from her." Okoye replied and attempted to call Shuri on her Kimoyo beads, but there was no response. And the people in the room had their answer without it needing to be spoken. The Queen Mother wept openly, having lost her husband two years ago and now both of her children were gone as well.

Minutes felt like hours for those who were waiting on news of who was alive and who was not. And after the initial effects of the snap happened, it then registered to the Avengers that they had loved ones to make sure were still alive.

And the Captain was the first one to realize it.

Steve's head snapped up with his eyes wide as he looked around the room, "Evelyn." He whispered and Mary could've sworn she felt her heart stop momentarily.

"T- Tony. My baby girl." Mary whimpered as she clutched onto her son even more.

"Umama, where Baba?" Jamie asked softly, speaking for the first time since being reunited with his mother. Everyone in the room froze in their motions. Steve gripped onto his remaining family members as Mary began to weep, not having the strength to tell her baby boy that his father was one of the victims of the snap. She couldn't relive again without wailing.

"Your dad.. he.." Steve tries to find the words for his nephew to explain how and why his father isn't with him and won't be until they find a way to fix this. "He had to go away, with your Utata."

"Oh.." Jamie mumbled softly as he looked down, he was sad he wouldn't see his baba or utata anymore. He knew what they were trying to avoid saying to him. He knew they were gone, and that they weren't coming back.

"We need to take a count of those who passed and those who are still living." Natasha said, speaking for the first time since it all happened. "Queen Mother Ramonda, will you help us?"

Ramonda looks up at the former spy and simply nods, "I will do all that i can." She says solemnly, "But i suggest that we begin tomorrow. I must speak to my people now." She says, "They must know who in the royal family still lives and what has happened."

"That brings on the bigger question." M'Baku says from Mary's side where he stands, protective of the Rogers family as Steve shifts Mary onto his lap on the ground and Mary has Jamie in her lap. He doesn't care how they perceive him in this moment. "What happened?"

"We lost." Steve speaks softly, his voice breaks as he responds to M'Baku. "Thanos killed Vision and took the Mind Stone for himself, Thor tried to stop Thanos but it didn't work. He snapped his fingers with the stones and before we knew it-"

"Don't." Mary whispered softly into her brother's chest as she held Jamie in her arms, "Not while he's awake." She mumbles, motioning with her red rimmed eyes to her son. Steve nods slowly, moving some hair from Jamie's eyes and the boy looks up at his uncle and sniffles his nose, wiping his nose with his sleeve.

"Mary, you take your family and team back to your home, i can handle things here." Ramonda says to the advisor and Mary snaps her head over to the Queen Mother.

"Ramonda-"

"I am not going to ask again. You may be the eldest here but I am your Queen now for the time being until there is a way to reverse this horrible tragedy." Ramonda states sharply, and Mary knew there was no way around it with her.

"Okay." Mary mumbles and then looks around at her remaining family. Steve, Jamie. Her only remaining biological family until they found out what happened to Becca. Her eyes then looked at Natasha, Bruce, Rhodey and Thor. And then behind Thor's leg was the raccoon that had aided her and Bucky during a brief moment in the fight.

Those seven were all that were left of the Avengers aside from M'Baku and Okoye. Mary didn't care if her home only was big enough for her family plus one or two guests. She didn't care.

"Go home now?" Jamie asked his mother softly and she simply nodded. A weak smile graced her lips as she was lifted into her brother's arms.

"Yes, Sunshine, we can go home now."

They arrived at Mary and Bucky's home shortly after Ramonda addressed the remaining Wakandans, updating them about what had transpired in the battle and what the plan was going forward. A new census would be taken to count all those that lived and those that perished. And eventually soon, they would contact the U.N. with their list and hopefully find out who is alive in the rest of the world as well.

Those Avengers who hadn't been in Wakanda, or had seen Mary in a long time were stunned at her home she had made with Bucky. And their hearts broke when they saw the pictures lining the walls of the hallways, the World War II memorabilia that hung as mantle pieces above the fireplace. The home was welcoming and inviting to them all.

"I- The living room is ahead.." Mary mutters as she is set down onto her feet, still holding Jamie but he squirms out of her arms and races upstairs to where Mary assumes to be his bedroom. "U-Um.. I.."

"It's alright, Lizzie." Steve says softly to his sister, her hazel eyes meeting his blue. "I can help them, you get cleaned-"

"No."

"What? Lizzie, you're covered in dirt, and-"

"And James. I'm covered in the dust of my husband, Steven." Mary snaps and all anyone can do is stand in the entryway of the home and watch the siblings. "And besides, i'm a doctor, i get cleaned last. I should look everyone over."

Choruses of denial erupted from those in the home. They just wanted Mary to take care of herself before she placed her focus on anyone else. They could all see that she wanted to collapse where she stood.

"If i get cleaned up, will you let me look all of you over then?" Mary asks softly, her eyes pleading with them to give her something to take her mind off everything that had happened. "Please?"

Before they could respond, Jamie rushed back down to where his mother stood and he held up a small gift box that was wrapped. "Haby birfday, Umama!" Jamie says with a smile. Mary froze as she looked down at her son and the tension that suddenly filled the room was palpable. In the heat of battle and fighting Thanos's army, they had forgotten that it was Mary's birthday. She had turned ninety-eight and Jamie turned three.

"Thank you, Sunshine. Why don't you set that on the coffee table while i get cleaned up, okay? You and Uncle Stevie can show everyone around." Mary says, putting on a brave face for her precious gift from Bucky. Then her eyes snap to her close friend and brother, Thor. "But before that, i want you to meet someone." She says as she lifts Jamie into his arms and walks over to where Thor stands in the corner of the room. "Thor, this is Jamie, my son."

The god of thunder's eyes widen as he snaps up his head to look at his close friend and her son. He didn't know she had had another child, or that her husband had been found since he departed from Earth. So much between the two had been missed.

"Hewo!" Jamie greeted Thor with a smile, "Me Jamie."

Thor chuckled softly under his breath, "I am Thor, son of Odin, god of thunder and King of Asgard."

"Das a long name, For." Jamie whispers and Mary lets out a genuine laugh, as does the others in the room. The Golden Wolf was healing them slowly.

"I suppose it is, young one." Thor chuckles weakly, but a moment of happiness nonetheless and everyone in the room will happily take it.

Mary then hands Jamie to Thor and turns to the group. The god eyes the child now in his arms, his axe by the door, the small boy smiles up at the god and then holds up his gift for his mother, "Dis for Umama."

"If it is from you, she will surely love it."

"I fink so too, For." Jamie says proudly with a nod of his head.

Mary looks between her family and breathes shakily, "I- um.. This is my home.. James.. He built it for us, there is a bathroom here on the first floor you all are more than welcome to share, one also upstairs in mine and James's bedroom that i will be using shortly, and then another bathroom upstairs as well." She mumbles, pointing to the bathrooms, "I- um.. I'm not sure where spare clothes are though.."

"Let us worry about that, okay, Lizzie?" Steve says softy, his hand placed on the middle of his sister's back for support not just for her, but for him as well. They all had no idea if there would be more vanishing happening or when it happened the first time was the only time. They were all still so much on edge. Steve then leans forward and presses his lips to Mary's forehead, his beard tickles her but she doesn't care. Her eyes close as does his as they linger in that moment for a few more seconds before Steve pulls away and guides his sister upstairs.

Once she's out of their earshot, at least out of everyone but Jamie's, Steve's and Thor's, she walks into hers and Bucky's master bedroom. She closes the door and sits down against the door.

Her knees draw into her chest as tears begin to fall from her eyes once more. Her arms wrap around her knees as she looks up at the skylight in their ceiling. And what she sees is not the night sky she is used to seeing.

The night sky is dimmer. Stars are missing.

And her heart shatters all over again.

"Jamie, these are your uncles you haven't met yet." Natasha says as Jamie sits on her lap in the living room. "Rhodey, Thor and Bruce." She tells him and his eyes are wide with a smile on his face.

"Hewo!" Jamie waves at his new family and smiles as he snuggles into his godmother, holding his panther stuffy tightly to his chest. The godmother smiles warmly at her godson. She loved the precious boy in her arms as much as she loved his sister. But the ache in her chest reminded her that it was possible that Becca was one of the snapped victims. "Dis if Panthy. Utata gave him to me!" Jamie says proudly as he holds up his panther stuffy for his family to see.

Rhodey smiled at the boy, he walked over slowly and began to sit down in one of the recliner chairs in the living room but Steve extends his hand and shook his head, "That is-" Steve catches himself, his eyes watering as he turns his head to compose himself, "Was Buck's chair." He says solemnly and the room falls silent.

Natasha can see the anger behind Thor's eyes as he watches his new nephew snuggle into his godmother more, the failure he holds upon himself for not killing Thanos. Everyone could tell Thor blamed himself, and it was only a matter of time whether he overcame it or it crippled him.

The water upstairs turned off and Steve glanced up at the ceiling, hearing the soft footsteps of his sister above on the second floor. He had a feeling half of her shower consisted of crying. It made him weep within.

"We need to talk about what we can and will do." Natasha says to the group, Steve nodding, "We need to get back to the states."

Steve looks over at his close friend and nephew, "Jamie's never left Wakanda but once. And the governments won't take kindly to us, especially Mary." He points out.

"The young one has only left here once?" Thor asks curiously.

Steve nods, "To meet Tony last Christmas." He says softly, "A lot's changed, Thor." He states with an absent minded chuckle.

"Clearly, what important things have changed since i have been away?" Thor asks as he takes a seat in a chair around the kitchen island. His eyes glanced around the decor that lined the rooms and made it feel like home. Mixtures of American and Wakandan touches surrounded the remaining Avengers.

"Where do we start?" Natasha chuckles softly as she pulled a blanket from behind her on the sofa and draped it around Jamie's sleeping form on her.

"After Sokovia, brought the Sokovia Accords, that changed the Avengers forever. Some of us here chose to support them, while others decided against it." Mary's voice states as she walks down the steps in sleeping shorts and a Henley shirt that was once her husband's. Her feet were warmed inside of red fuzzy socks and her wet brown and auburn hair was pulled into a half bun that sat atop of her head.

"Then a former Sokovian operative named Zemo bombed the U.N." Steve adds as he walks over to his sister, "You okay for now?"

Mary hesitates, shaking her head, "But i have to be right now. For Jamie." She mumbles as she walks over to Natasha and the godmother hands the sleeping boy to his mother. Mary holds her son close as she stares at Bucky's chair before sitting in hers beside his.

"What else happened?" Bruce asks, "You guys and Tony gave me the short version because of everything that was happening."

"We found James." Steve states, "But he had been framed for the bombing and so the governments wanted him captured. That was the tipping point for us as a family." He says, motioning to Mary and himself. "Becca, Lizzie and I, along with Sam found Buck in Bucharest."

"Governments chased us, and T'Challa was there too. His father was among those that perished in the bombing. He, like everyone else, thought James had bombed the U.N." Mary adds on to their story. "Eventually it all came to a tipping point and it ended up with the Avengers bisbanding. James needed rehab for his mind and after everything that had happened, T'Challa has offered our family sanctuary here in Wakanda."

"Lizzie went on to be Advisor to the King, all while being pregnant with Jamie." Steve says with a small smile as he looks down at his sleeping nephew. "Bucky was rehabilitated and they made a life for themselves here. I took Sam and Pietro back with me and we pursued missions undercover, avoiding the governments who now wanted us captured."

Thor smiled softly, "I always knew you would make a great diplomat, Lady Mary." He compliments his friend, "You have a way with people that less and less possess now."

Mary smiled weakly at her friend and the room was soon filled with chatter of those catching up with one another. Thor explained how he faired being away from the Avengers, Asgard succumbing to Ragnarok and the migration of the Asgardian people until Thanos attacked his ship and killed half of his people along with Loki.

Bruce explained his time with Thor on Sakaar, meeting Valkyrie, Korg and defeating Hela. Thor had dubbed the team, The Ravengers. He was proud of his small team and it made those around the Norse god smile.

Steve then went on to explain his time away from everyone and how he and his team faired. His time split between missions and family. He even talked about his relationship with Evelyn and Mary knew of his plans to ask Evelyn to marry him. He just needed to know if she was still alive.

Natasha explained her time away and on the run, how she and Becca did with their time together. It made the mother smile as she finally learned what happened with her daughter after she left Tony's care.

Rhodey took his time to apologize again to Mary for what had happened in Germany and everything after. He explained to those who didn't know how his legs had been harmed. How he played interference for Steve and his team to keep Ross off their backs. He commented about how Mary was able to go to the states and the governments couldn't touch her because of her Wakandan status now. They were all proud of their Mama Avenger.

A week after the snap, the team returned to the Avengers Compound, they all felt that they had a better chance at solving the case of who was alive and who was not at the compound with the aid of the foreign governments. No one was complaining about Steve and Mary anymore, they all had bigger problems now.

Mary was in the kitchen of the compound with Jamie being her helper while Steve and Nat watched the device she and Fury both had. They had tracked Maria's car and saw that it was empty with dust around the car and the lonely communicator on the ground. Steve knew instantly that neither Nick or Maria had made it out of the snap alive.

The table in one of the meeting rooms had a hologram of Earth taking a count of those missing, the numbers kept increasing. Steve stared at the hologram and watched the numbers increase in each continent. "This is a nightmare." He muttered solemnly.

Natasha stood on the other side of the table, trying her best to retain her composure while the numbers only got bigger, "I've had better nightmares." She mumbled hoarsely.

Rhodey stepped passed the kitchen and into the main room, "Hey." He muttered to Nat and Steve, gaining their attention as well as Mary's. "So that thing just stopped doing whatever the hell it was doing. Both of them." He states.

Mary steps into the lab following her brother with Jamie in her arms. They had asked her what the device was, but she couldn't tell. It was to be used only for dire circumstance and then everything would be revealed afterwards.

"What do we got?" Nat asks Bruce as he monitors the two devices.

"Whatever signal they were sending finally crapped out." Bruce states as they all walk over to the devices. Bruce had hot wired them to keep sending the signal it was sending when they found Fury's matching device.

"I thought we bypassed the battery." Steve questions as he takes Jamie into his arms. The nephew snuggling into his uncle's arms. And then from his tiny hand, holds up a small cookie.

"For you." Jamie said softly and Steve smiled at his nephew, taking the tiny cookie and eating it.

"We did." Rhodey replies. "They're still plugged in. They just stopped."

Mary felt bad for not telling them what the device meant and who it was calling but it wasn't her secret to tell. She sat in the corner and let her brother take charge like he always had. He understood his sister couldn't help them any more that she had already. Her job in the compound was to keep them stable minded, keep them grounded. Her and Jamie both helped them with that.

"Reboot it. Send the signal again." Steve commands.

"We don't even know what they are." Bruce points out.

"Fury did, and Mary does." Nat states, "She just can't tell us, it's not her secret." She adds then looks over at Bruce, "Just do it, please." She pleads with Bruce. "You tell me the second you get a signal. I wanna know who's on the other end of those things." Nat finishes and when she turns around, she comes face to face with the person on the other end of the devices.

"Where are Fury and Elizabeth." The woman asks, her voice laced with concern. She had long blonde hair and her uniform was red, blue with gold accents.

"Carol?" Mary asks as she stands from her spot in the room and rushes over to her friend. "Oh, you came." She states with tears in her eyes as the two women embrace.

"Lizzie, is this who you and Fury contacted?" Steve asks as he holds his nephew in his arms, not letting him go.

Mary breaks away from Carol and nods, "Guys, this is Carol Danvers. I met her in the 90's with Fury when he was still just an agent in Shield."

Carol looks at Mary, "You haven't changed at all." She says softly with a smile. "But where is Fury?"

Mary hesitates, "Gone. As is half of the people and animals on this planet and who knows how many others in the universe." She tells Carol. Over the week it had become slightly easier for Mary to talk about the Snap but it didn't make it any less hard at reliving the moments of her husband's death and those they all loved.

"What? Is that what happened?" Carol asks in disbelief as her eyes scan the others in the room and the small boy.

"Yes." Steve states, and then shifts Jamie into his left arm and extends his right hand in greeting to Carol, "I'm Steve, Mary's older brother, you know her as Elizabeth though."

Carol nods slowly and then looks at the others as they introduce themselves as well. "Elizabeth and I met when i crash landed on Earth back in the 90's like she said." She explains, "I'll help in any way I can, Liza." Carol says as she turns to Mary. "But you're explaining to me how you have a brother and everything else after that." She states and Mary smiles softly, nodding.

"Deal."

"What do i need to do?" Carol says as she looks over at the group for her orders.

"My godson, Tony, and my daughter are in space from what Bruce says, but we have no idea where or if they're even alive." Mary states to her Air Force friend, they two bickered over which branch of the military was better, Army or Air Force but it was all in good fun.

"You need me to look for them?" Carol sums up what they need her to do and she nods, "I'll do what I can, but space is endless, even if i do find them, it might not be in time."

Mary nods slowly and Steve wraps his free arm around his sister's shoulders, "But we need them here, home, not in space."

Carol nods, "I'll do what i can." She tells Mary, the two women hold each other's hand before Carol takes her leave and ascends into the sky.

Mary wipes her eyes and then looks over at her family. "That's who Fury and I were calling. She has incredible power and can help alter the course of all of this." She states, sure of her friend and her capabilities to search space for Tony and Becca and whoever is with them possibly.

"I hope you're right, Mary." Nat mutters softly, "We need something hopeful to hold onto right about now."

Introducing

The Air Force

Charlize Theron as Carol Danvers

Y'all can dislike that i changed Carol's actor but i'm not sorry. This is my book, and since i am writing them, i want to feel happy writing the characters. I do not like Brie Larson as Carol, she's a good actress in her other works but i don't think she was the right choice for Carol. She doesn't really show any emotion and she's hard to like as Carol in my opinion.

So that's my hot take.

~ Red