Sam flew the Quinjet in the familiar direction of Wakanda, making good time, and arriving only a few hours later. He landed the Quinjet on the same landing pad as he did the last time they were here and opened the hatch. Claire grasped Wanda's hand in hers and sent her a loving smile.

"See? I told you we'd come back here," she muttered causing Wanda to chuckle.

"Yes, you were right, but I thought it would be under better circumstances." Claire quickly kissed her cheek as they walked down the hatch and into the warm Wakandan sun. Like last time, T'Challa and his guards were already there, ready to greet them.

"There's still time, baby."

"Should we bow?" Bruce asked Rhodey as they walked down the hatch behind Claire and Wanda.

"Yeah, he's a king," Rhodey said seriously.

Steve walked towards the king and shook his hand with a smile on his face.

"Seems like I'm always thanking you for something," Steve said. Bruce followed behind him and awkwardly bows to him.

"What are you doing?" Rhodey asked as he smacked his arm and pulled Bruce back up as Wanda and Claire tried to keep from laughing. T'Challa held up his hands and shook his head in modesty.

"Uh, we don't do that here," he says as Bruce shoots Rhodey a look. T'Challa took a minute and looked over at Wanda and Claire. "And how are Ms. Maximoff?"

"I'm doing much better, your highness," Wanda said, giving him a little bow and a smile. Claire pulled her closer and intertwined her fingers with Wanda's. T'Challa nodded and looked back at Steve.

"So how big of an assault can we expect?"

"Uh, sir, I think you can expect quite a big assault," Bruce said poking his head out from behind Steve, once again fidgety. Sam and Vision left and followed some of the guards towards another building. Wanda kissed Claire lightly on the cheek before following them. Claire turned her attention back towards Steve and T'Challa.

Natasha bumped her arm and mouthed, "Are you okay?"

Claire nodded and mouthed back, "Just worried."

"It'll be okay," Natasha mouthed as she rubbed the younger woman's arm. "How we looking?"

"You will have my Kingsguard, the Boarder Tribe, the Dora Milage, and..."

"A semi-stable, 100-year-old man," Bucky said as he walked towards the group with a small smile on his bearded face. Steve smiled as they embraced and patted his back.

"How you been, Buck?" Steve asked, happy to see him.

"Uh, not bad, for the end of the world." Steve let him go, and Bucky walked over to Claire and pulled her into a bone crushing hug. She let out a little groan as his new vibranium arm crushed her.

"Yeah, it's good to see you too, Bicky," she said, her voice straining. "Buck, for the love of God, please let me go." Bucky chuckled and released her. Claire coughed as she playfully glared at him.

"Hey, Claire Bear."

"Hey yourself. That a new arm?"

"Yep. You like it?" Bucky asked as he started to flex it. Claire watched as the golden strips rippled as he moved the metal. She giggled at his face, which was contorted in a way that suggested that he was trying to seduce her, and Claire couldn't tell if it was an act or his intention (he was guilty of trying to seduce her in the past).

"It's very nice, Bicky, but the flexing," Claire brought her hand up and gestured to his arm. "Has got to stop. You know I'm gay and in a serious relationship with Wanda." Bucky brought his hand up to clutch his chest as a fake gasp escaped his lips.

"Claire Stowell! How dare you make me out to be some common floozy!" Bucky shouted in mock offense. Claire laughed and playfully slapped his non-metal arm.

"I'm just making sure, Bicky." Bucky rolled his eyes and sighed.

"How long are you gonna call me that?" Claire shrugged and giggled.

"I don't know. Till it gets old, but you want to hear a secret?"

"What?"

Claire leaned in towards his ear and cupped her hand around her mouth and his ear and said in a whisper, "It will never get old."

When she pulled away, Bucky sent her glare until a smile broke out on his face. Then, realization hit him, and he looked around them as if he was looking for something, or someone.

"Hey, where's Wanda? Is she here?"

"Yeah, she went inside with Same." Claire gestured to the direction that they went in and Bucky nodded in understanding.

"How's she doing? Last time she was here..."

"She's good. She's doing much better." Claire looked down. She didn't like to think about that day. Finding Wanda unconscious laying in the grass with her hand tightly grasping her neck had scared her more than...anything really. Bucky's smile fell and guilt washed over his features.

"I'm sorry about what happened. I didn't mean to trigger anything. I just—"

"It wasn't your fault, Bucky. These things...sometimes they just happen. For what it's worth, she doesn't blame you," Claire said as she reached a hand up and rested it on his arm. A smile soon returned on his face and he pulled her into another hug.

"I'm glad that you're happy." Natasha cleared her throat and the two pulled away and looked back over at her, Steve, T'Challa, and Bruce.

"Come on, you two. We got work to do."

○○○

T'Challa led them into his palace and into Shuri's lab. Vision laid on a table as Shuri stood over him, a holographic in-depth image of the interior of the Mind Stone elevated above him and in front of her.

"Woah. The structure is polymorphic," Shuri mutters out loud as she studies the structure of the stone. Bruce stepped up to her and cleared his throat.

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

"Why didn't you just reprogram the synapses to work collectively?" Shuri asked as she furrowed her brows. Vision looked over at him from the table, as if he was asking the same thing. Claire bit her lip to stop from laughing and Wanda lightly smacked her arm.

"What?" Claire whispered and Wanda rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Because, we didn't think of it," Bruce said with uncertainty. Shuri smiled and looked over at Claire and Wanda.

"I'm sure you did your best," Shuri said in a reassuring voice with a smile before looking over at Claire and sending her a look. Claire giggled quietly to herself. Shuri went back to studying the hologram of the stone, trying to figure out a way to fix this situation. The gears in her head turned as she mentally solved the problem. The air soon became serious, and Wanda's face dropped in worry.

"Can you do it?" she asked, stepping closer to the table. Shuri looked over at her, a serious look on her face.

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

"How long?" Steve asked, causing her to look at him.

"As long as you can give me," she said. A chime filled the room, and Okoye removed one of her kimoyo beads from around her wrist, and a projection of the globe appeared with a pulsing location marker.

"Something's entered the atmosphere," Okoye said. Everyone stiffened and Claire stepped closer to Wanda, her eyes glowing.

"Hey, Cap, we got a situation," Rhodey said over the comms. The team watched as a giant alien vessel fell from the sky, crashing into the blue forcefield that protected the city. More vessels fell a little ways away from the barrier, shaking the earth. Vision sat up on the table.

"It's too late. We need to destroy the stone now," he said. Natasha turned and ran from the window.

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

"We will hold them off," T'Challa said as him, Okoye, and some guards moved to leave and suit up. Steve ran after them, with Natasha following him, but stopped and turned to Wanda.

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

"I will," she said as she turned towards the look out the windows. They had a great view of the where the alien vessels were landing and fear rose in her as more started to land. T'Challa started barking orders as he moved to leave the room.

"Evacuate the city. Engage all defense procedures." He paused and turned towards Steve and pointed at him. "And get this man a shield."

○○○

The team left the lab until it was only Claire, Wanda, Vison, Shuri and a handful of guards. Claire watched out the window as the troops started to mobilize, heading out of the city and into the outskirts to face off the alien army. She giggled a little when she saw a giant hulk-like Iron Man suit trip and fall, skidding into the dirt.

Wanda paced along the length of the examination table, playing with her rings. Claire's attention fell on her, and the redhead moved away from the windows and walked over towards Wanda. She placed her hands on her shoulders, stopping her from pacing. She knew Wanda was worried, and while she never really mentioned him, she knew how much Vision meant to her, and she really didn't want Wanda to lose another person that she cared about. Claire pulled Wanda to the far side of the room, and brought her face into her hands, framing it. Looking into her green eyes, Claire placed a little kiss on her nose.

"Are you okay?" Claire asked. "I mean, I know you're no okay, but are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Wanda lied. Claire grimaced, knowing that she was lying. Wanda sighed and looked back over at Vision. "It's just...he saved our lives. Without his warning, we would've been killed. I know what I have to do if this fails, but I'm not sure if I can do it."

Claire embraced her, a gentle hand rubbing up and down her back.

"I know it'll be hard. I know you've lost so many people in your life, and I know it feels like you'll lose every ounce of sanity you have left if you lose one more person. But Wanda, you haven't lost everyone and you never will. I'm still here, baby, and I'm not going anywhere. I plan on staying here and annoying you for a long time." Wanda giggled and Claire pressed a kiss against her light red hair. "Everything's gonna be okay, love. I promise."

Time passed by slowly in the lab. Claire and Wanda alternated between watching the battle going on outside and watching as Shuri worked on Vision. T'Challa's voice cuts through the room through the comms, along with the sound of battle.

"How much longer, Shuri?" he asked.

"We've barely begun, brother," she replied, seriousness and worry filling her voice.

"You might want to pick up the pace," T'Challa responded. Shuri sighed and slightly picked up her pace, carefully taking apart the synthetic mental connections of the Mind Stone. A delicate and intricate construction of gold light hovered at her eye level; as she manipulated it, the waldo tools reproduce her commands on the Mind Stone itself.

Wanda started to fidget again, playing with her rings as she stared out at the battlefield. The hordes of aliens flooded into Wakanda through the open barrier and they fiercely leaped and attacked their army. Worry consumed her as she itched to get onto the field and help. She knew she was a greater asset on the field than in this room and that they didn't stand a chance against her, but she couldn't leave Vision.

The itch to help grew stronger as the remaining Avengers and Wakandans soon became overwhelmed by the Outriders. Wanda watched as they leaped into dog piles on the Hulkbuster suit as it wasn't fast enough to shake them off. Both Steve and T'Challa were knocked off their feet by the speed of these creatures and soon became trapped as they leaped onto them, snapping their jaws. Claire growled as she came over to look out the window.

"It's getting bad," she said. Wanda looked over at her and pulled her face to her, kissing her on the lips. Suddenly, a bright blast of rainbow light came crashing doing in the middle of the field. When the light disappears, three figures stand in the center of a burned circle in the grass. One of them, which Claire guessed as Thor ran out of the circle and leaped into the air, bolts of lightning surrounding him as he crashed to the ground, electrocuting all the aliens in his path.

Claire let out a small groan, causing Wanda to look at her.

"Ohyeah. I'd totally hook up with him if I wasn't gay." Wanda scoffed androlled her eyes. Claire's face turned a bright red as she looked over at hergirlfriend, eyes wide. "But, I am and I'm in a happy relationship with the bestgirl in the world, who by the way, puts Thor to shame." Claire reached out andtried to hug Wanda, but she only scoffed and walked away. "Come, on Wanda. Youknow I would never do anything."