We're tying into Infinity War from here on out...just a spoiler warning!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Will you be my queen?

The question hung in the air for only a moment as your mind raced to catch up. You knew that this would be asked again; he had told you he would, but now that it was here, you felt a sudden halt in your thoughts and you actually didn't know what your answer would be. In the interest of pending panic, you went with stalling.

"Why is this the second time you've asked me when I'm asleep?" you smiled, but he only just barely allowed a smile in return; he was too nervous and too eager for your reply to allow any more. Rolling to your side, you turned on the bedside light and squinted back at him as your eyes adjusted. "T'Challa, I love you, but you really need better timing. What you're offering...this is something that I could only dream of-"

"So, say yes, (Y/N). It doesn't have to be merely a dream. I can give you that. I can give you anything and everything that you want of me."

The look in his eyes was almost enough to break your heart, seeing him with both love and fear battling for the forefront as he waited. The man looked as if he were about to explode from the emotions boiling just beneath the surface, but he maintained a remarkable composure despite the pain it was causing him, and you couldn't wait any longer. "I have two conditions," you finally offered.

"Name them, and they will be done."

"First," you began, "you need to work out whatever is happening between you and Steve. He's my best friend, and you've known that all along. I can't and I won't remove him from my life for anyone. He knows how I feel about you, and that he can't change that. He doesn't even want to, T'Challa, so please, don't ask me to choose."

"I will speak with him first thing in the morning," he answered immediately, and it gave him a burst of positive energy to know that he was half way to the answer he needed to hear. "Whatever it takes to find a compromise between us, I will do, I promise you that. What is the second condition?"

You knew that the next one might be a harder sell, so you pushed yourself up to sit against the headboard, to prepare yourself for what you were about to say. You wanted to be able to see him, and for him to see in your expression just how much this was going to mean to you, but having him stare into your soul like he was had become too intense and stalled your voice. T'Challa watched you, with nerves once again beginning to build.

"My love, please, whatever it is, I'm ready to hear."

"I need to be an Avenger," you sighed heavily, "and that isn't going to change once the baby is born or once we're married. It's who I am."

"Hmm, yes," he paused, now pushing himself to sit at your side, "I assumed that this would be a discussion that would happen sooner rather than later."

"I've given it a lot of thought, and I've watched you with the team over the years. I would be completely happy to maintain my part with them as you do now, being called in only when necessary. I just can't bring myself to fully pull away, I hope you understand that."

"I do. It's much the same as my own obligations, as I would not be able to dismiss my duties as the Black Panther. That too, is who I am."

"Exactly," you smiled softly, "so is that something that you can accept?"

"(Y/N), I already have. I've known that all this time, and that I would never ask you to change for me. I've travelled that path with you when we first met, and I've learned from my error. I was beginning to fall into that broken way of thinking again, that you must set your life aside to become a part of mine, and I am sorry that I entertained it for even a moment. I would never ask you to be anything or anyone than who is here with me now. This person is who I love, and who I want to be with until my final days."

He had brought to life the words that you had been playing out in your mind since the first time he had proposed; you had worried that he would push for you to let go of who you were as an Avenger, and who you were as Steve's best friend. But as you looked into his deep brown eyes now, the warmth of them so overwhelming that you kicked your blankets away as it took you over, you felt nothing but complete acceptance and unyielding love that you couldn't look away from. "I...I want to be there with you," you whispered, finally allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief.

"So, that is a yes?"

"That is a yes."

~~~

Within the next several days, you had packed most of your belongings from the compound and were ready to return to Wakanda once again, this time to make it your new home. You would leave enough behind for when you were there for missions or short stays to visit, but this was the last time you would look at the building as home. T'Challa had sensed your sorrow as you prepared, but now that you were sitting side-by-side on the jet as Okoye piloted it, what he felt from you left him wondering if you were on the verge of changing your mind. His eyes darted down to watch you wringing your hands as you watched the compound fade away into the distance, and he feared a panic attack was again in the near future for you.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, of course."

"You seem stressed," he pushed, "and we still must take care in keeping you from it as much as possible. If this is too difficult for you-"

"T'Challa, I'm fine," you pressed back, "you worry about me more than you need to. I'm just sad to leave, but that's expected. I've lived here for years with the team...it's just that...no, it's going to be fine. I'm good."

"Tell me, please." His hand slid over yours to still them on your lap, and in that exact moment, a very small miracle seemed to find the perfect opportunity to join in the conversation. "What..." he jumped slightly, "what was that?" His forearm had settled against the gentle curves of your belly, not realizing it until the tiniest of movements kicked against it. "That was the baby?"

"It certainly wasn't me," you gasped, unable to hold back a smile. You closed your eyes and waited patiently for another, now with his hand fully resting over you and pressed to get even the briefest of reward. "That was the first time," you whispered in disbelief.

"I am honored to have been here for it. I am the most fortunate man alive." He leaned in closer, kissing your cheek with a contented hum in his throat, before resting his head on your shoulder with his hand still eagerly waiting where it was. "Please, my little one...another."

Okoye had heard everything, though she had kept to herself despite her desire to hear how genuinely happy her King had become. They were friends long before she was tasked to serve, and she was invested in his joy as much as Steve was invested in yours. Watching T'Challa during the death of his father and the tremendous strain that put on him, she was thankful to hear any joy in his voice, and you gave him that like no one else had. She put the jet into autopilot and stood, cautiously turning towards the two of you with the first look of nervousness that you had ever seen from her. "Excuse me," she began quietly, "(Y/N), Your Highness...if I may?"

"Of course," you answered, holding out a hand to gesture her towards you, "Okoye, you don't have to ask. You're family."

She merely nodded and took a step forward, taking your hand and kneeling in front of you. You thought that you saw the sparkle of tears building in her eyes, but your vision was likely just hazy from your own; it wouldn't be in her character to allow you to see her that way, so you brushed it off as mistakenly seen. Little did you know, she hoped that you hadn't seen exactly what you thought you had, and she blinked the tears away. You guided her hand to rest next to T'Challa's, and when she resisted at first, your insistence in holding it there soothed her anxiety until she felt the same tiny kick that her King had felt only moments before.

"Thank you," she exhaled softly, closing her eyes, "thank you for allowing me this gift. I promise you...I promise you both, that I will give my last breath to protect them. I will fight for them as if they were my own."

~~~

What none of you could possibly know in that private moment was that her protection would come sooner than anyone anticipated. Several weeks had passed by since you moved to Wakanda, and your acclimation was progressing quickly; once T'Challa had formally addressed his people regarding the engagement and the future of his family, the country finally began to accept you into it. The sideways glances and comments whispered under breath as you passed in the streets began to quiet, and you felt like you could be at home here.

That was why when your home was under threat for the first time since your arrival you felt a desperate need to protect it. The sense went beyond your duty and promise as an Avenger; this was protecting the life you had finally found for yourself, and the one that you were carrying with you. When you had heard that Steve was soon to arrive with several of your teammates in tow, there would be nothing that could keep you from being there to greet them.

"Do we bow?" Bruce asked meekly, trying to fumble his jacket on as he walked from the jet next to Rhodey.

"Yeah, he's a King," the man shrugged, as if everyone should know that. You had caught just the glimpse of his prank about to be realized, but you weren't fast enough to stop it.

The poor, gullible doctor made his way to stand before T'Challa, with a quick and awkward bow before he was halted with a quiet chuckle. "No, we don't do that here," the King said, instead offering his hand in welcome.

"Rhodey, you're the worst," you broke in, taking a step past Steve to hug your friend, "but it's still good to see you again."

"So, how do we look?" Steve asked, his voice deep and urgent as the group began to move. You quickened your pace to catch up to him, meeting their stride and taking your place next to T'Challa. As soon as he felt the touch of your arm against his, he took your hand and held it with a firm grip, and for the first time, you believed that he was actually worried about the threat that Steve was bringing to Wakanda.

"We will have the King's guard, the Dora Milaje, the Border Tribe, the Jabari Tribe, and..." he stopped, turning with a wave towards Bucky as he approached, much to Steve's relief. Bucky had been in Wakanda for several months to help T'Challa in leading his armies, and it was immediately clear how much his friend had missed him. With a threat looming over the world, to have Bucky so far away left Steve uncertain and anxious.

"Hey, Buck," he smiled, pulling his friend in for a quick hug and a firm slap on his arm, "how've you been?"

"Not bad, for the end of the world."

"The end of the world? Are we really there?" you asked. "We've thought that a few times before, and yet here we are."

Steve released Bucky's hand and took yours instead, giving you the long-awaited hug that had evaded him thus far when T'Challa released you to him. It didn't escape you that his hold was stronger than it had been for a long time, and it actually worried you. It took a lot to scare Steve Rogers, and with both you and Bucky in the same place at the same time, and in the place where the threat was headed, you wondered why you were so surprised by it.

"Hey, I've missed you," he sighed and released you, taking a step back to take in the sight. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm good, but are youokay? Is this really as bad as I've heard?"

"Yeah, I think so. Sam, Nat, and I fought off a group trying to get the mind stone from Vision, and (Y/N)..." he paused, taking a long breath and lowering his voice, "I've never seen anything like them. I don't know how to fight something like this. Has T'Challa made plans to get you out of here?"

"No? Why would he?"

"Because I would have by now, if it were me."

"Steve, Wakanda is the safest and most heavily guarded place on the planet. I'd be more at risk if I left. Besides, you'll never believe what Shuri made for me," you smiled up at him mischievously, "T'Challa hates it."

"Do I dare ask? I've seen that look on your face before, and it never ends well."

"Hey, that's rude," you gasped, "and I'm completely offended! Most of the times that things didn't end well, you were a part of the problem! The only plans you ever follow are your own, and there's no way you can deny that." His silence was your only answer, and when you glanced up at him as you continued on into the building, he was making a very pointed effort to not look back.

"Anyway, as I was saying," you continued, "let's just say that T'Challa won't be the only one with a fancy suit around here. Shuri created a nano-tech Vibranium suit for him, and one for me...not that the suit I had with the team was bad, of course. But this new suit absorbs and uses kinetic energy, from the force of any strike. If I were to put it on now and I took a hit, this little one in here would never feel it. It's remarkable."

Steve stopped in his tracks and turned to stare down at you, incredulous and in complete disbelief. The idea that you would have any kind of suit on in your condition terrified him to his core, and the realization that all this new suit did was to give you an excuse to wear it chilled the blood coursing through his veins. If you were pushed into a situation where anyone on the team or in your new family were in danger, he was horrified to know that you wouldn't hesitate to run towards it rather than away as both he and T'Challa would want. This magic suit wasn't completely infallible, and neither were you.

"I shouldn't have asked," he groaned quietly under his breath, "I hate it too."