War Torn || Civil War

Chapter Three: Dark Continent

Music is "Glory and Gore" by Lorde.

Picture is Tatiana Maslany as Emma Barnes.

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CHAPTER THREE: Dark Continent

L A G O S

The flight to Lagos, Nigeria, takes a few hours, even on a Quinjet as advanced as this one. Though everyone knows that FRIDAY is perfectly capable of driving the craft herself, Steve remains in the pilot's seat, a bad habit of his that he just can't seem to break. It's not that he doesn't have faith in the artificial intelligence that Tony created, it's mostly that he can't shake the feeling that every plane he's in is doomed to crash. I learned that much when we were doing missions for SHIELD. If there's not a pilot in the seat, Steve is there.

Natasha sits in the co-pilot's chair, keeping Steve company. The two are nearly inseparable these days. Not that I can blame them. They make a cute couple, and I'm glad they've both moved on and found a bit of happiness. At least that makes two of us.

Sam sits across the space, working on his new favorite toy he's named Redwing. He treats it like a pet bird or something, but in all reality it's just a piece of machinery useful for tracking and espionage. He's grown attached to the little, mechanical thing.

I sit beside Wanda, who has her head buried in a book on Africa. Ever since I woke up, Wanda and I have become good friends. It's been less than a week, as everyone seems to be determined to never let me forget, but she's sweet and we get along brilliantly.

I peak over at the chapter she's reading, seeing the chapter about Nigeria written in bold letters

"Did you know that Europeans had a nickname for Africa before they colonized some of her nations?" I ask.

Wanda shakes her head, closing the book and looking to me. "What was the nickname?"

"They called it the 'dark continent,'" I reply, remembering the history lessons I used to tell the students in both Brooklyn and East Germany. "They called it that, not because of the skin color of the people here, but because they knew so little about it. It was in the dark to them. Everyone they sent their disappeared mysteriously, never to be found again."

Wanda sighs, looking to the book. "That didn't keep them away for long."

I shake my head, a frown forming on my face. "No, it didn't, sadly."

She opens to a page at the back. "There's a section on African magic in this book. I was trying to learn some new spells to keep in my arsenal."

"Sounds like volatile stuff."

"It is, but I'm trying to learn. It's hard by myself. There are no other witches or magicians with the Avengers."

"For now." I give a confident smile, one that she mirrors. "Give it time. I'm sure we'll find others like you. After all, the world is far stranger now than it was when I went to sleep, and that's saying something."

Wanda chuckles, and Sam looks up from his "pet bird." "You have no idea," he scoffs. "When you decided to go all Snow White on us, we had a lot of interesting things happen. And by interesting I mean horrible, awful, terrible."

I stand and shake my head. "If anyone tried to wake me with true love's kiss, I'll hunt you down and kill you."

Sam places a hand over his heart, feigning hurt. "You're a married woman, Emma. I would never!"

"Oh, of course not." I turn from Sam as he gasps in mock shock, making my way over to Steve and Natasha. I'm still upset about what Natasha told me, or rather what she didn't tell Tony, but I can't let my personal feelings get in the way of a mission this important. "How far are we from Lagos?"