Before the blip

"Knock, knock!" A familiar voice called out as they rapped their knuckles on my door.

"No ones home. Go away." I grumbled, lifting my blanket over my legs as I sat on the couch.

"Obviously someone is home if there's a response." My best friend scoffed.

I rolled my eyes. The doorknob jiggled as I heard loud whispers coming from the other side of the door. Seconds later, the door opened to reveal Gemma and her eleven year old son Jackson.

"'Sup, Aunt Soph." Jackson lifted his chin towards me as a greeting.

Gemma sent me a smile as they walked in. Jackson walked over towards me.

"Hey kiddo." I sent him a smile, ruffling his hair. Gemma closed the door behind her. I sent her a narrowed look. "Why?"

"You've been sitting on your ass for months in a depressed mood." Gemma raised a brow.

"Yeah, that's what happens when you're fired from your job." I started off. "It's- it's not like I used to be like some kick ass super agent for S.H.E.I.L.D. and then had my identity spread all over the Internet- thanks Natasha - only to be hired to be a security guard at Pym Technology."

"Then you got fired." Gemma noted.

"Then I got fired!" I exasperated, throwing my hands up. "Then, I was finally able to find a job at the mall only to be fired once they figured out who I was. B-because people still have a grudge against S.H.E.I.L.D. agents. My work life sucks."

"Well...you're not wrong." Gemma slowly nodded.

"You do have bad work luck." Jackson agreed.

"Thanks, kid." I gave him a look.

Jackson's smile grew as he sat down next to me. He grabbed the remote from the coffee table and turned the tv on. Getting comfortable, Jackson placed his feet on the table.

"You know what you should do?" Gemma strutted towards me waving a Manila folder.

"Sit on my ass and eat my feelings?" I dug my hand into a family size of Ruffles.

Jackson let out a chuckle and changed the channel. Nickelodeon came in, playing reruns of Drake and Josh.

"Wrong answer." Gemma smacked the folder on my head.

"Not to me." I grumbled, swatting the folder away from me.

"You are going to get off your ass and go ask Tony Stark -"

"Actually, Pepper is the one who is in charge of all that." I interrupted.

"To get you a job in his company. Pull the secret agent stuff. I'm sure he remembers working with you." Gemma sat on the other side of me.

"Oh, most definitely." I rolled my eyes and cleared my throat. Jackson heaved a sigh, slouching in his seat. "Hi, what's up Tony Stark? Do you remember me? I worked that one case with you years ago when you first sorta joined the Avengers. I was that one gal behind the scenes with Maria Hill."

"She does have a point Mom. Mr. Stark sees dozens of people." Jackson shrugged. Suddenly, the tv channel switched to the news. The chime of the news stations echoed in the apartment. "Aw no! That was a good episode!"

"We interrupt with breaking news. Minutes ago in New York City, a space craft appeared." An older man reported. The screen showed a shaky video of someone's recoding of a donut-like space ship descending in the sky. "Many witnesses have stated that there have been two sightings of aliens. Iron Man was at the scene along with Spiderman, Bruce Banner, and other men fighting. Here is Bria Allen with more information."

"Not again." Gemma muttered in horror.

"Thank you, Lee." The screen was now showing Bria Allen at the entrance of Central Park. The space craft floating in the distance in the background dust flying in the middle of the park. "From this part of the park, we are able to see Iron Man and Spiderman fighting an alien."

I tuned out the news and made a dash for the window. Pushing the curtain aside, I peered outside. Crowds of people were running down the streets. Some were looking over their shoulders at the sky while others were recording off their phones. I glanced at the sky to see the space craft ascend further up the stratosphere into the metrosphere.

"It's leaving." I mumbled with furrowed brows.

A red blur flew towards the flying donut. Iron Man. I felt someone stand near me. Looking at my side, I saw Jackson stare at Iron Man fly into the space craft.

"Do they need help? Are you going to help?" Jackson questioned, his gaze still on Iron Man.

"They don't need me." I pressed my lips tightly together. That was most likely a lie. "It looks like Stark has a handle on it. Besides, I can't really do anything."

"That's a lie and you know it." Gemma scoffed.

"Yeah, you have those fast reflexes!" Jackson peered up at me with excitement in his eyes. "You were a great agent because of that."

"Well this is now a retired agent with useless powers." I sighed, stepping away from the window.

"Sophie. We know you miss being out there in the field." Gemma stated.

"And now I'm struggling with financials and currently unemployed." I shot back, a headache starting to form.

"Are you being serious right now?" Gemma narrowed her eyes at me. "The world needs help right now, and you're turning your back on it when it needs you most?"

"Yup." I collapsed on the couch, reaching for the Xbox controller.

"That's not what a hero would do." Jackson frowned.

"Just proves I'm not hero material. Hey, Jackson?" I turned the controller on. The Xbox released a chime as it turned on. "Want to play COD?"

"Zombies?" Jackson jumped over the couch to sit next to me.

"Presidential map, yeah." I started to set up the game.

"Unbelievable." Gemma shook her head. Jackson grabbed the extra controller off the coffee table. "Soph, the public is in grave danger and you're seriously playing Call of Duty?"

"Uh-huh. Zombie map." I pressed 'A' to start the game.

"Are you that irresponsible? You're going to show Jackson that this is how you handle serious situations?" Gemma crossed her arms at me. Her voice tightened at the end. Jackson rolled his lips together and gave me a warning look. He mouthed "mom card". Gemma rolled her eyes as he did it right in front of her. "Yeah, I'm sure as hell pulling the Mom Card right now!"

"Gems, I seriously can't do anything. I don't have any of their contact information and I have no clue where the new-ish Avengers base is so..." I trailed off, shooting at a zombie crawler. Gemma raised a brow. "Okay, I lied about that bit. If this was a serious situation, Maria or Fury would call me."

Suddenly my phone vibrated in my pocket. An all too familiar ringtone echoed in the apartment besides the sound of zombies being shot at. I let out a sheepish smile and I pulled out my phone. Maria Hill was read on the screen. Worse timing ever.

"Hey, would you look at that." I nervously chuckled.

"Are you going to answer that?" Jackson pointed at the phone briefly. He quickly pressed button on the controller, killing a zombie. "Hell yeah! Head shot."

Not having much of a choice, I answered the phone call. I held back a sigh and brought the phone to my ear.

"Hill."

"Muzychuk, do you still have your gear?" Hill quickly asked.

"Would it be embarrassing if I said yes?" I slowly stood up.

"At this moment, no. Suit up and meet Fury and I outside your apartment complex. We should be there in a few minutes." Hill explained.

"Any intel I need to know?" I questioned.

"Aliens want some fancy ass stones to rule the universe. Is that enough intel for you?" Fury spoke through the phone.

"So they decided to come to earth for these fancy ass stones?" I perked a brow.

"Apparently we're loaded with the kind they want." Hill responded. "Just meet us, okay? We'll fill you in some more once we meet."

"And tell her to hurry the hell up." Fury commented.

"Yeah...I'll hurry the hell up." I rubbed my brow in anticipation. The phone line ended. Licking my lips, I turned towards Gemma. "Looks like you got your wish."

"Superhero time?" Jackson smirked.

"Eh, I wouldn't necessarily call it superhero time." I shoved my phone into my pocket with a shrug. "It's more like sidekick stuff? Or maybe not. I don't even think I'm sidekick material-"

"I don't know. Super fast reflexes seems like super powers to me which goes under the whole superhero thing, ya know?" Jackson stated at the same time as me.

"Just suit up and quit stalling." Gemma rolled her eyes and shoved me.

"Yeah, okay." I grumbled heading to my closet.

A few minutes later, I was dressed in my old S.H.E.I.L.D uniform. My pistol was in its assigned holster. I quickly strapped my dagger to my hip as I jogged out into the living room.

"Okay, stay here. I'll see what I can do to help. Gem, you know where the emergency weapons are in case something happens when I'm not here. Jackson, listen to your mom." I gave them a brief nod before exiting the apartment.

I heard Jackson call out a "good luck" as I closed the door behind me. People were rushing around the hallway and staircase. I squeezed by people, going down the staircase two steps at a time. Screams and honking could be heard from outside the complex.

Pushing open the front door, I saw the hysteria in the streets. Cars were piling up. I quickly surveyed the area, looking for Fury or Hill. I saw a familiar black SUV stop a block down. Hill and Fury stepped out of the vehicle. I started to make my way towards them.

"Hill! Fury! What the hell is going on?" I shouted as I neared them.  I froze on my steps as I saw someone suddenly turn to ash. "The hell?"

A numbing sensation started to crawl up my arms. Inhaling sharply, I looked at my left arm to see is turn into the similar ash. My eyes widened in shock as I stumbled backwards. I glanced up at my apartment window to see Jackson and Gemma staring at me with wide tearful eyes.

"Motherf-"

5 years later

I gasped as someone shoved me away from them with a loud shriek. Stumbling, I braced myself against a brick wall. My chest heaved as my brain tried to process what happened.

"Ma'am? Hello!" Someone waved their hand in front of my face. I blinked and stared up at them. A man in his nineties looked at me in concern. "You okay?"

"I-what? Where's the aliens? What happened?" I stuttered out, pushing myself off the wall.

"Kid." I held back the urge to send a glare at the man at his calm voice and lack of urgency. "Are you talking about the alien invasion?"

"I-what else would I be talking about? Forgive me for my rudeness, but the world is freaking under attack." I started to walk away from him.

"No-it's not. Not anymore. They won." He frowned.

"The Avengers? Thank God." I sighed in relief.

"N-no. Thanos won."

"I'm sorry, who the hell is Thanos?" I blinked in confusion. I shook my head. "Okay, you know what? I'm just going to go home, sleep this nightmare off and then wake up to my godson coming over to play Call of Duty."

"Sorry to burst your bubble lady, but this isn't a nightmare." A male voice called out behind me.

"I really hope it is." I turned to face them with furrowed brows. The older man just walked away. The male voice belonged to a teenager who was texting on his phone. He looked up at me. The young teen's face paled as his mouth opened in shock. "Because this feels like a nightmare and I don't want to deal with this shit being real-"

"Aunt Soph?" He uttered.

"What? Sorry kid, I think you got me confused with someone else." I shook my head.

"No, no. It's me," the teen grasped my shoulders in urgency, "Aunt Soph, it's me, Jackson. Oh my God, you're alive."

"I'm sorry, but Jackson was a lot smaller," I looked up at him with furrowed brows, "with a higher pitch voice. Yours is all deep and stuff."

"Yeah...puberty does that." Jackson squinted his eyes before shaking his head. "Aunt Soph, I promise you it's me. It's been five years-"

"I must be going delirious, because I could have sworn you just said five years." I smacked his hands off of me. "And never grab onto a lady like that."

"We got to go tell Mom." Jackson ignored me, reaching for my wrist.

I moved my arm away from him in nanoseconds. The teen let out groan, throwing his head back.

"What did I say about grabbing ladies!" I pinched his wrist.

"First of all, ow!" Jackson pulled away and sent me a glare. "Second of all, you're wasting precious time! Mom should be at your old apartment right now."

"Look kid, I think you must have hit your head. Maybe you have some amnesia stuff going on." I motioned towards his head.

"I did not hit my head, nor do I have amnesia. Maybe you do." Jackson grumbled.

"Rude." I scoffed.

"Look, I can prove to you that I'm Jackson!"

"Yeah, okay." I rolled my eyes and started to walk towards my apartment building.

"We were both playing COD," the blonde quickly followed after me, "while Mom lectured you about your bad work luck and being useful-"

"Yeah, okay, that can happen to a lot of people. Lots of people go through bad work luck, kid." I pushed opened the building's door.

"But not everyone was playing the presidential zombie map when Hill and Fury called you." Jackson's words caused me to still. "Not everyone knows about your superhero fast-"

"Yeah, okay. Shut up." I quickly placed my hand over his mouth. Jackson only grinned in response. Then it hit me. The teenager in front of my was my godson. My hand fell to my side. "Holy shit. You're a teenager now."

"I also got my first tattoo without you." Jackson started to jog up the stairs.

"You did what now?" I narrowed my eyes, chasing after him.

"Just kidding." Jackson chuckled. "C'mon, I'm starving and I want to kick your ass in COD. You should see their newest maps. The quality is insane!"

A/N: Yeah so I may have impulsively made a new fanfic because the Falcon and the Winter Soldier started to stir up some ideas and here we are!

Ta-da!!!

So...just a heads up. I work full time so I barely have time as it is to write (cuz that takes hours) so bare with me when it comes to the chapters and stuff.  That also means little to no editing 👍🏽

I'm stoked about this story. Not gonna lie I've always wanted to do a Bucky fanfic but never had the right idea until this show came out 😁

Also. Comment your thoughts so far about this book and the new show.

Love y'all lots 😘