TALES FROM FALLEN WARRIORS ─ marvel

XV. So Long For Now

Chapter Fifteen
Zy'aire

With the assistance of Tony Stark and his AI system we were able to contact the secure network of Wakanda's database. I sent a message to Baba explaining who I was and asking for him to meet with me and my friends. He asked for the time and place and I told him dusk at Stark Tower. I doubt he believes me, he's probably only coming to see if the person who was able to hack their system is a threat that needs to be dealt with, but the important thing is that he is coming.

I'm going to see Baba again.

I don't know how I feel right now about that. Part of me is happy, part of me is terrified, part of me wants to curl up into a ball and cry. The last time I saw him was when he was laid to rest in the City of the Dead. The last time I talked to him was when he was dying from his wounds in the middle of a war. How can I face him now? How can I do what needs to be done and hold my composure when I'm faced with my dead father?

Livy and the others have been sitting on the couch in the lounge with me for several minutes now, my wife's hand tightly gripping mine. My aunt and uncles are whispering to each other near the bar along with Steve, who insisted on being here to make sure things go smoothly. He's worried about Uncle Bucky, this version and his own. The other Avengers have agreed to make themselves scarce, but they're close enough to intervene if things go south. I don't think they will. At least I hope they won't.

I hear the familiar rumble of a Wakandan ship and my heart palpitates. My palms grow sweaty and I feel like I might simultaneously pass out and throw up. Livy must sense all this because her grip tightens on my hand. I force myself to get off the couch and head towards the door that leads to the balcony, where I find my father's personal Wakandan ship parked. The ramp lowers and the Dora Milaje step off the ship and onto the ground, their spears clanging the ground as they stand at attention in a path leading right towards where I stand. I scan each of the Dora's faces and I recognize them all, but I don't find Aunt Okoye among them. As general she probably had to stay in Wakanda to protect my grandfather.

Now Baba comes off the ship. He's wearing a pair of black pants, a black t-shirt, a knee length black coat, his panther claw necklace, and his vibranium ring, the same exact one I'm wearing right now. He looks so young. After a brief mental calculation I realize he's only a year older than I am right now. Despite his youth though, he looks just how I remember him: strong, confident, charming, every bit a leader. He looks like my father, because he is my father, even though he isn't. I feel just as confused as I did when we found the past Uncle Bucky, Aunt Soroya, and Uncle Alex. It's like looking and talking to strangers wearing the faces of the people you love. You recognize them, but you don't know them. It's a strange kind of pain and confusion that leaves you with an unbearable ache for the version of them you know.

I got my version of my aunt and uncles back. I'll never get my version of my father back. He's gone.

He passes by the Dora's and doesn't stop until he is two feet in front of me. His eyes look me over in assessment, and the longer he looks the more confused he appears. I think he sees some resemblance, some evidence that what I told him was the truth. But he brushes this confusion off and says in the commanding voice I am so familiar with: "I am T'Challa, son of King T'Chaka, crown prince of Wakanda. You are the one who sent me that message. How?"

Unable to find words I hold up the wrist that holds my Kimoyo Beads. Baba's eyes flicker to them and his eyebrows crease. "Where did you get those?"