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-----Sunday, 18th August 2019----

It's now a few weeks after Ironman's sacrifice, and some people, including myself, were still pretty upset with that- but hey, he saved the world, he had found his place up in the heavens with Black Widow, and Loki was never really confirmed dead; many people have many different theories on what happened. I put those thoughts aside and packed my hiking bag- I had a hike today and tomorrow, out in a place I'd never been to before- and tried to put my unrest away. I was nervous, the people going on this hike weren't exactly my best friends. And I found it really hard to make friends on my own, so I spent the bus ride on my own. I stared out the window at the trees rushing past, and began to take a deep breath- I kept thinking about how I can sneak out of my tent and gaze up at the stars. I'm abruptly shaken out of this state of calmness when the bus ground to a halt. We grab our things and step off, legs wobbly from sitting down for an hour. The teacher briefs us on what we're going to do, and then we set off on the trail, my heavy hiking bag straining my collarbones and destroying my shoulders. I kept breathing, in, out, slowly so as to pace myself. Around halfway through dodging snaking tree roots splaying themselves out over our path and watching for loose rocks, I hear a thud behind me. I turn around to see one of my friends on the ground, leg out in front of her, foot straight up, perched on her heel. I drop to the ground and grab out my bandages without a second thought and bandage up her foot. She winces once or twice, but doesn't complain.

"Squeeze my hand. We'll take it nice and slow, you got this," I tell her. She looks at me, eyes beginning to water, and that's when I knew it really hurt her. One of the camp leaders takes my bag as I continue to try to support my limping friend through the rest of the trail. We find a clearing where we sit down and rest, and our leader calls the others to alert them to the injury. More groups catch up, and they hand over my bag to another leader. I help her the rest of the way to the campsite. We get there eventually, the rhythm of our steps synchronized, my shoulders aching from trying to keep my friend standing up straight, one thought driving me through- I'm no-one to my classmates. But she's someone to me. I'm going to help her out. "We're here," the camp leader says as we put down our packs and start to set up our tents. The leaders check my friend's foot and tell her she shouldn't come on the next leg of the hike tomorrow. I could feel her sadness, her want to get through the whole thing. We set up our tents and start making our dinner, pasta and sauce for my group, getting ready to settle down in our sleeping bags. Once we're all settled and everyone is accounted for, we try to sleep. The ground is hard and the air around the tent is cold. I just drift off to sleep but am woken by the sound of rain against the tent's dome. I lie awake, trying to force myself to get back to sleep, but I only get a few minute's rest before something- interesting happens.

Suddenly, I hear rustling behind our tent and two men talking quietly. "I think there's a tent entrance, Mr. Barnes," I hear a younger voice say. "We've talked about this, kid, it's Bucky. No need to be so formal all the time. Also, I am aware of that- oh." I hear the zipper open and see the unmistakable glint of a metal arm. Bucky? Why is that name so familiar? I think to myself. The world thought he retired after what happened to Cap. I then hear the younger voice say, "Sorry, Bucky, sir," followed by a sigh. "Ah Peter." I hear the older voice whisper under his breath. What the hell are they doing here? "Oh! There you are! Ah, we've looked everywhere," Bucky whispers hushedly so as to not wake the other two people in my tent. He invites me outside.

"What-" I begin, still tired and sore and cold. "What- Why do you want me? Why did you look for me?" Bucky sighs. "Peter, you wanna tell her?" He nods proudly. "We're recruiting young Avengers. Now that-" I see him draw a deep breath. "Now that Tony's gone, we need to head up a new force. The next generation, basically." I let my head rest and gain my bearings again. "Look, I don't know what you want with me- I'm usele-" I'm about to finish as Bucky lifts up my sleeve. I stare down in surprise at my swirling paw print mark, the reminder of my abilities. I sigh and look down at the ground. "That's the mark of a shapeshifter!" Peter exclaims happily. Meanwhile, Bucky hides his excitement as Peter jumps up and down smiling behind him, showing no resistance whatsoever. "You look hurried?" Bucky asks. "Yeah- I was, I mean, I guess I was going to shapeshift tonight. You know, meet the locals, all that fun stuff," Bucky looks at the ground. Peter's face lights up. "Can I come with you? I'll just be swinging around in the trees, you'll never hear or see me while we're there!" I smile to myself. "Sure. Buck, you coming?" Bucky nods silently. "I guess so,"

We charge off into the forest, Peter swinging from tree to tree with perfect grace. Bucky arms his gun behind me, no doubt ready to attack anyone if they see me shapeshift or if they see Peter without his suit on. I tap my mark and feel my biosynthetics trace their way up my waist and arms, forming a hoodie and covering half my face. I then turn into a bird and glide through the treetops, feeling the wind ruffling my wing feathers as the wing vortex slices effortlessly through the air, ducking under tree branches and swooping through the dark green canopy. Then, landing on a cliff nearby I turn into a wolf. Ah, I thought, I haven't howled at the moon since I was so little! I open my mouth to let out a howl, feeling the familiarity of every note, the pitch perfect dynamics. It's then echoed by another howl from behind me, more human. I look behind me, wolf formed, and see Peter and Bucky howling at the moon too. They were having fun, and I could tell from the laughter and grins on their faces. I smile to myself before turning human again. "So, I'm guessing that's why you came looking." I smirk. "Well, yes. There are some people I want you to meet, your teammates," Peter exclaims. "Calm down, kid. She hasn't said yes yet." Bucky's sense of seriousness catches me slightly off guard. "Look, I've had my fair share of catastrophic events. My mum kinda says I'm not allowed to go running around fighting oppressive forces anymore; I'd succeeded in that already- but I guess that doesn't matter anymore since she died." Peter nods. "Trust me, I know-" he draws a deep breath again. "I know what it's like to have people who care about you so much they stop you from doing these things."

"Hey, um- also, if I'm going to join this 'team', what's the catch?" I ask. "Not much since the Avengers retired. All we gotta do is deal with the little stuff." I'd heard that before. "Look out for the little guy, huh?" I reply. Peter smiles. "I still don't know how they're allowed to film us all the time," he laughs. I think I can do this, I think to myself. "What- what if I say yes?" I ask. Peter's eyes light up, their sparks catching on Bucky. "We'd love to have you. No, screw that, we need you. You'd make an amazing addition. It's what Tony would have wanted. Here," Peter says, handing me a kind of bracelet, similar to the Wakandan beads, and knighting me with his hand just like Tony did to him. "It will buzz when we need you," I smile down at it. Bucky whispers to me, "Oh, and also, since it's Peter we're talking about, he also added a feature for you to buzz it if you want to- what do the kids call it?- Hang out?" I giggle at his confusion. Asleep for a hundred years. Wow. "Wait, I just realised- these are Wakandan beads! Did Shuri make these?" I ask excitedly. "Maybe," Peter smiles as he swings off into the forest to go back to wherever he came from, Bucky close on his heels.

I pinch myself as they leave, and the pain reminds me that that was all real. Every part of it- I'm a new generation Avenger now. I hide my excitement, clutching the beads in my hands and holding them close to my heart as I catch my breath. I smiled to myself again, feeling proud and happy. I retreat to my tent.