Moonface

In the Blip

The jet rose and sped out of the dock, leaving the ship behind. As soon as they were clear, they sent a signal to Nova and Loki, and they watched the ship explode in a burst of light. It must have looked like a bright star from down on earth.

No one saw the little two seat jet come out from behind the breaking ship.

☾

They had had to knock Sola out. Kiki sat next to her sleeping body, just watching.

"You know that's really creepy, right?" Bucky said from the doorway. He walked over to her, smiling. "You have her back, Ki. You don't have to look at her every second. No one's going to take her, they would be too scared of you."

Kiki rubbed the side of her head and let go of Solana's hand.

"Tell me about it. There is something more, something you don't talk about." Bucky had been wanting to ask her since he found her again. Maybe this time she would answer.

"Fine, but you're the first one to know. Don't... make a big deal of it.

"When I was 9, my parents died. They were shot by Gabriel's father, Daniel Whitehall. They found out what he was doing and he eliminated them. Sola thinks I don't know.

"Then when I was 15, I was taken from my boarding school and trained to be an assassin. That was where I met Lee. Lee took care of me, helped me survive. I don't know where I'd be without Lee.

"It was true, Steve was going to be my last target. It had been 7 years and I had distanced myself enough from my family to return, even if it was only for a day.

"But then the blip happened. And they didn't make it.

"Except Rosa. Of course, then she was called Maria. She was 8 years old and terrified when I arrived. It had been an afternoon since everyone disappeared. So I took care of her. We travelled the world, me picking up jobs to feed us, her going to school whenever she could. Steve, Steve tracked us down. I attracted too much attention, but for once I don't regret what I did. We became friends, and he did his best to help me and Rosa.

"The thing was, if we went back, there was a lot of money waiting for us to access, but Maria was dead and Alkina had been missing for over 7 years. I guess I kind of became a second mum to Rosa.

"I was 22 when I basically adopted my little cousin. 27 when she went back to her real parents. I haven't even seen her in a year, let alone the rest of them. Steve told me about Shield. He told me they would help me, but I had no guarantee and I couldn't leave Rosa.

"I know that you think I had a choice but the truth is: I did it all for Maria Rosalie Smith. I did it because I had to, not because I wanted to, not because I enjoyed it. If I ever find Lee I would thank her forever, because Rosa would be dead without my training."

Bucky was thinking furiously. He had never considered that. He always thought that anyone who wasn't brainwashed had a choice, but he could see how much Kiki cared about her family and that she wanted to protect them. "But what about when Rosa's parents came back? How did you find out?"

Kiki sighed. "Rosa's house was our safe house. Her old bedroom became the safe room, because when her parents blipped they were reading to her in that room. She always hoped they would come back and she would see them again in that room.

"When they did, some rival assassins had tracked me back to the house somehow, and were attacking us there. Rosa was in the safe room when it happened, but they didn't even recognise her since she was five years older. They remembered a lovely 8 year old girl, not a teenager who could use a gun in her sleep.

"In some ways I regret teaching her those things. They took away her innocence.

"She ran through the house to me, screaming with joy. I told her to take all of them (because her brother and sister were back as well) and get clear. Tía Ayla called the police so I had to leave. I knew where I was going, though. Rosa had told me the coordinates Sola had disappeared at, so I went searching there. But when I got there, it had turned into a underground bunker I couldn't access.

"It was with the third Snap that my power awakened. The one that killed Tony Stark brought me to life. I think it was something to do with the fact that there was an energy surge that both Sola and I was there for."

She was interrupted by a voice behind her. "Do you have magic too?" Sol said in a sleepy voice.