※ ※ ※

Jean spun around slowly in her desk chair, watching the light of the Kimoyo Bead bracelet on her wrist pulse. It was an impressive piece of Wakandan technology. Shuri had seemed particularly proud when she gave it to her.

She started when a projection of Hank McCoy's face appeared from the beads. The desk she was sitting at shifted a few inches.

"Jean," Hank greeted with a fanged smile, "It's good to see you."

"Hey, you too." Jean adjusted the bracelet on her wrist. "Can you see me okay? Is this working?"

"I can see you just fine. Why?"

"I'm calling you from a bracelet."

Hank's eyebrows shot up, his eyes sparking with interest. "Really?"

"They're called Kimoyo Beads," Jean said, regarding the bracelet, "They're used for all kinds of stuff. Communication, information, video recordings, building access, controls. It's basically a higher-tech smart watch."

Hank hummed, clasping his clawed hands together. "And what else is there that I should be jealous of?"

"Well, I've been reading a comprehensive history of Wakanda and trying to learn some words in Wakandan." Jean's lip quirked up. "Key word: trying."

Hank sighed. "Oh, what I wouldn't give to be there. Learn their history. See their technology. Experience their culture."

Jean grinned. "Jealous?"

"Impossibly so."

"I'll see if I can send you a few of their books without it being a threat to their national security."

"Please do." Hank leaned back in his seat. "How is Sergeant Barnes fairing?"

"So far he seems to be doing good, all things considered," she added with a small shrug. There were still the decades worth of memories and trauma to deal with, not to mention the programming that Shuri still had to debug. But Bucky wasn't actively trying to kill anyone, so that seemed like an improvement. Over the past few days, he appeared to be adjusting well. "Shuri wants to wait a few more days before doing any procedures, give him time to settle."

"Of course." Hank nodded, hesitating before he spoke. "I've done a great deal of reading on Sergeant Barnes."

Jean smiled. "I would expect nothing less."

"Nevertheless, I'm sure you're already familiar with his history."

"I am," Jean said slowly, quirking a brow, "Are you about to tell me to be careful so I don't get myself killed."

Hank scoffed. "No, of course not. You've proven yourself hard to kill." His mirth faded. "But you have some hard conversations ahead of you."

"I know, but it's nothing I haven't dealt with before."

"That's my concern. This is exactly what you've dealt with before."

Jean frowned and shifted in her seat. An uncontrollable killer was something all too familiar to her. Something she had already lost so much to.

Clearing her throat, she shook herself out of her thoughts. "You said in your message that you had some results for me."

"Yes." Hank's imaged turned to type something, accepting the change in topic. This time. "Cerebro gave the Professor and me some promising results. I'll send them to you right now."

There was a soft knock at the door, and Jean glanced up to see Bucky lingering in the doorway. Ayo stood behind him. Jean smiled as Bucky made his way over to the seat at her desk. Ayo gave a nod before disappearing down the hall.

Jean motioned a hand at Hank's distracted image, pecking at his keyboard, but Bucky only shook his head, opting to sit silently at her desk. She made sure to keep her bracelet angled away from him as he settled into the chair—his chair—with a newer ease, propping his arm on the armrest.

"There," Hank spoke, "It's sent. Although it's a sizable file so it could take a few—"

Jean's holopad pinged.

"—minutes."

Jean chuckled and opened the file to display above the desk. "Wakandan technology. You gotta love it."

The file was full of names. Images appeared with them, everything from school pictures to videos from security cameras. Jean tapped on one profile and details popped up. This one was young, younger than the average manifesting mutant.

"Hydrokinesis," Jean read under her breath with a hum.

"I programmed Cerebro to compile the list by need and potential. They should be excellent candidates for a budding program."

Jean grinned, a new excitement bubbling up in her chest. "I can't wait to get started."

"I'm sure." Hank frowned. "You start today, do you not?"

"Yeah, I have that later today." She hesitated before nodding. "It should be fine."

"Good luck, Jean. We'll all be thinking about you over here."

"Thanks." She glanced over to Bucky, the restless hum of his mind pressing on hers. "I'll call you guys later and let you know how it goes."

"I look forward to hearing it."

After exchanging goodbyes, Jean swiped the mutant files away so she could look at Bucky fully as she settled back in her chair. "How are you?"

Bucky shrugged. "I'm alright."

That was one thing that had struck Jean most since they first met. His voice. It was so quiet and soft. He had been an assassin and, before that, a soldier. He was a man of action. But when he spoke, it was gentle, almost hesitant.

She tilted her head to the side. "Just alright?"

Jean always paid special attention to people's answers for "how are you doing?". She had a mental scale to translate what they meant. Great was, well...great. Probably the best answer someone could give, if it wasn't sarcastic. Good and fine were acceptable, but fine was slightly lower. Alright and okay were the ones that she had to read into to judge their severity. If anyone answered with anything lower than good, Jean couldn't leave it as is.

He glanced down. "It's just been a little weird since Steve and the others left."

"Oh." Jean felt a twinge in her chest. The ex-Avengers had allies with families, but they could only stay under the radar for so long. Before leaving, Steve had said that he knew someone that could help them get a plea deal. But Steve had been an anchor for Bucky. A familiar constant. With him gone, it was just Bucky and Jean amongst relative strangers.

She started to open her mouth, but he beat her to it. "What's Cerebro?"

Jean paused, but she accepted the topic change. "It's a machine my friend Hank and Professor Xavier built," she said, "It amplifies telepathic abilities, so it's basically like a giant megaphone for mine or the Professor's powers."

Bucky watched her with interest, nodding as his mind filed away the new information. "So that's how they were able to find out about the mutants here. He just...reached over here with his mind?"

"Yeah, exactly."

"And you're about to leave."

Jean faltered. She and Shuri had agreed to wait a few days before starting any visits to minimize the amount of change in Bucky's world. But the mutants could only wait so long. "Yes, but I should be back by dinner. I'm about to go meet the others to go."

Bucky shifted in his seat, giving a small, wry smile. "I suppose me coming along isn't the best idea."

"Probably not, but I do appreciate the offer." Jean stood to her feet. "I wouldn't be opposed to you walking me over again."

Bucky smiled. "I think that's something I can do."

※ ※ ※

As the ship lifted from the ground, Jean leaned in the window to wave at Bucky, watching as his figure grew smaller. Her gaze trailed over the capital city, hearing the hum of thoughts below, until the ship lurched forward, and she clamped a hand on the wall to keep from falling.

Once the buildings gave way to fields and fields gave way to forests, Jean sat back in her seat and closed her eyes, feeling the barely-there hum of the engine. It was almost like being on the X-Jet again. The name was horrendous—something Bobby had been all too proud of—but it took her back to fond, old memories. The original X-Men had started off wide-eyed and itching to prove themselves in the beginning, flying off on missions to help people. Even after that gleam had dimmed in her eyes, Jean enjoyed taking off with the newer generation of X-Men and watching them feel the same thrill.

For once, she allowed her mind to wander and open, taking in Shuri's excited thoughts and the flurry of thoughts passing through T'Challa's mind, that unsteady mix of hope and anxiety that was all too common with these visits. Okoye's thoughts were just varying degrees of tension, trying to plan for the unexpected should she need to protect her king and princess.

Opening her eyes, Jean pulled the first child's file up on her Kimoyo bead and smiled. He was young—younger than most new mutants—which meant that he would especially need guidance and direction.

The trip to the Mountain Province was short, thanks to Shuri's upgrades to the ship, and soon Jean found herself sucking in a gasp as she stepped outside onto the mountainside.

It was beautiful. Mountains stretched across the horizon, fading into the blue sky in the distance. From where they had landed, they could see far over the ridges and valleys speckled with cities and villages. The individual homes were spread out, taking whatever space they could find on the mountainside. This made their goal of discretion much easier. Not many people wanted it to be made public that their child had special abilities.

As they neared a hut overlooking a small field, Shuri pulled up the mutant's information on her bracelet. "Chidike Nabiri."

"Are you certain this is the right place?" T'Challa asked, a hint of a smirk on his lips.

Shuri raised a hand to her chest in mock offense. "Do you dare doubt me, brother?"

"Yes, and I don't want to give the wrong family a surprise visit from their king."

The princess looked at the Wakandan letters carved into a post of the fence lining the field. "Nabiri. This is the right place."

Jean marveled at the hut when they drew closer. From a distance it appeared to be a traditional mud and thatch hut, but up close there were unique touches of Wakandan innovation. The thatch of the roof was weaved with solar panels, and the mud walls shone with a tinge of metallic specks that Jean could only assume to be vibranium.

An ornate carving of a panther's face was etched into the door, and when T'Challa knocked on the door, the eyes glowed. The king clasped his hands behind his back and put on an easy smile. Shuri and Okoye stood ready behind him while Jean lingered near the back.

The door opened to reveal and wide-eyed couple that immediately dipped their heads. "My king," the wife—Ode Nabiri, Jean remembered from the file—greeted, "Thank you for coming. It is an honor."

The husband—Jahi Nabiri—stepped out of the doorway. "Please, come in."

The inside of the hut was all sharp lines and earthen tones. Ode clasped Shuri's hand, making Okoye tense ever so slightly. "Thank you for giving us those files, princess. They were a great help in understanding our son's condition."

Jean just barely cringed at the word of choice. As she ducked inside, she felt the couple's eyes and thoughts settle on her uncertainly. T'Challa motioned to her. "This is Jean Grey. She is a mutant and works at an American school designed to help young mutants. We wish to start a similar program here."

Ode's eyes flashed with fear. "Are you going to take our son away?"

"No," Jean said immediately, "No, we will offer a place within our school once it's properly started, but it's still in the beginning stages. We just want to let him—and you—know that...he's not alone. There are others like him, and there's help if he ever needs it."

The mother relaxed, and T'Challa stepped forward. "May we meet your son?"

"Of course." The couple led them out to a stream that made the far edge of the field before plunging down the edge of the ridge. Two small boys were crouched on either side of the water, splashing and laughing. Occasionally, one of them would lift his hand out of the stream and the water would follow it up into the air.

"Chidi!" the mother called. One of the boys looked up and scrambled to his feet before disappearing up the mountainside. The other jerked around and jumped to his feet. "Chidi, wipe that dirt off yourself. The king is here."

The boy gave the barest attempt to wipe himself off, staring up at the visitors with wide eyes.

T'Challa crouched in front of the boy. "Hello, Chidi. I'm T'Challa. I've heard you have an amazing gift." The king looked back over his shoulder. "My friend here has gifts too."

Chidi's head snapped up, his eyes growing even larger. "Really?"

Jean always reveled in this despite how much it wrenched her heart. The boy's face lit up with amazement, a tinge of hope in his eyes. She took that as her cue, stepping forward and crouching down in front of the boy. She lifted her hand and a some soil swirled up and around her hand. "I can move things with my mind too."

Chidi held out his hand and a line of water flowed from the stream to puddle in his palm. Jean smiled. "That's very good." She released the dirt and clasped her hands in front of herself. "Chidi, have your parents talked to you about what a mutant is?"

Aside from the initial introduction with T'Challa, the meeting was pretty standard for first visits. Jean explained to him a simplified version of why he has gifts and how there are others like him. The boy only asked a few questions, but Jean could hear a flurry of them in his mind and tried her best to answer them as well. But the most important purpose of the meeting was to invite him into their budding program.

Afterwards, Jean stood with Shuri and T'Challa near the edge of the ridge. Okoye stayed with the family, exchanging polite conversation while Chidi went back to playing at the stream.

"This is good," Shuri said, looking pleased, "They are receptive and he would be great for the program."

"Now we just need the program," T'Challa quipped.

"Yeah, that part may take a little more time." Jean glanced back at the boy. "I'd like to see if his parents would allow for regular visits. So we can start helping him control his powers. That's the most important thing now."

"He seems pretty in control," Shuri commented.

"Most do."

"Do you think our next visits will go this well?" the princess asked. Chidi's cheers echoed through the valley as he started jumping, drawing water up with him.

"Probably not all of them. It mainly depends on the parents and how they feel about it. And how severe the kids' powers are."

T'Challa hesitated. "And the Jabari may prove to be more difficult. We have M'Baku's approval, but his people aren't as open to outsiders," he said, glancing at Jean.

She opened her mouth to speak, but a shrill shriek pierced the air. "Chidi!"

Jean whirled around to see a gush of water rushing down the ridge towards them. The emotions alone nearly bowl Jean over, all varying shades of fear and panic. Distantly, she heard Okoye shout. "Kumkani!"

Jean instinctively threw her arms up. The water just barely grazed her fingertips before spraying outward, flowing past and rushing towards the drop down to the valley. Her mind reached out, piercing through the water, to the panicked boy upstream and took hold of the part of his mind that controlled his powers. The waters subsided until all that was left was the small trickle of the stream.

Lowering her arms, Jean breathed out a sigh. Okoye ran down the ridge to her king and princess, her eyes panicked. T'Challa, now wearing his Black Panther suit, reluctantly relaxed the vice grip he had on his sister's arm and deactivated his mask.

Up the ridge, Ode sobbed as she clutched her son to her chest while her husband rushed down to the others, hurried apologies falling from his lips.

Jean looked up past him at the tears running down Chidi's cheeks. Underneath their feet, the water began to grow unsteady. Stepping forward, she held up her hand, reaching out and casting a wave of calmness over the family. "We're all thinking very calm thoughts now, okay?"

The ridge grew quiet as the sobs and . The mother slowly nodded, tear tracks still marking her face, and the father made his way back up to comfort his family.

Jean turned back to find the others staring up at her. She offered a pained smile. "To be honest, this is still a pretty average first visit."

* * *

A few exciting announcements:
1. I've published my new Heimdall fic, so go check it out!

2. I'm planning on publishing a fic for The Mandalorian soon! Let me know if you want a dedication in it!

3. I've started revising Enchanted! It's separate from the current published version you guys won't see any changes soon, but I'm still excited! I'm thinking about doing dedications for this one too, so let me know if you want one there too!