The Eternal Avenger

Chapter Thirty-One: Making a Choice

(Claray's POV):

I wanted to rest, but everything was so new I couldn't relax. I grabbed my phone, dialing Natasha's speed dial, only to be met with a message relaying that the number was no longer in service. I frowned at the phone, as if it was going to provide some kind of answer. Was Natasha okay? If she was okay, where was she? Why would she turn her phone off? I replayed the events of the last few days repeatedly in my mind before I soft knock at the door stirred me from my thoughts. "Come in," I murmured softly. Shuri poked her head through the opening in the door, greeting me with a smile.

"I wanted to see how you were doing," she greeted me by coming in the room and flopping down on my bed beside me.

"Not going to lie, princess, this place takes some getting used to." I smirked at her eye roll.

"I'll make you a deal," she turned to face me, eyes gleaming in excitement. I quirked my eyebrow, gesturing for her to continue. "I've been designing something for you, but I'll let you see the prototype now if you stop calling me princess." I laughed.

"You know, if I had the technological brains that you did, maybe I could get people to stop calling me princess, too." I chuckled, my mind instantly traveling to Wanda and Natasha.

"Who would dare call you that?" Shuri asked incredulously.

"Natahsa and Wanda both." Her eyes opened wide.

"You mean Wanda Maximoff and the Black Widow?" She asked, confirming, seemingly unable to wrap her mind around the concept. I nodded. "Why do they call you princess?"

"Wanda does because she knows it annoys me," I chuckled, feeling a sudden stab of guilt for leaving the witch behind. "Natasha does because she...I...we..." I couldn't stop the blush from creeping up the sides of my cheek. Shuri grinned at me, knowingly.

"You and Natasha are together?" I smiled, glancing down at my hands.

"Something like that." I acknowledged. I frowned for a moment. "I guess I'm here now because of her."

"You're here because she cares about you and didn't want you to end up a prisoner of the government," she corrected, gently. I looked up at her, questions filling my expression. "We already knew about what you were before my brother made a deal with Ms. Romanoff."

"How...wait what deal?" I asked, furrowing my brow, staring at the young woman.

"I think that's a question better suited for my brother, Claray. But there's so much I want to show you, follow me!" Shuri seemed so excited that she was practically bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. I stood up, following her out the room, expecting to head back towards the lab. I was surprised, therefore, when she took a different hallway, and I followed her into a suite of rooms that was crammed floor to ceiling with contraptions that I couldn't recognize.

"What is all this?" I asked, taking in my surroundings as much as possible.

"Oh, this is the design group headquarters," she called over her shoulder. "We make this stuff and keep it here while it's in process so I have easy access to it."

"You made all of this?" I asked, incredulously. The young woman couldn't be more than 18 years old at the very most. Intelligently speaking, I was way out of my depth. She pulled a contraption out of a drawer, handing it to me. I held it gingerly before she grew impatient, taking it back out of my hands.

"This is going to be of use to you, regardless of what form you're in," she said softly. She held her wrist up to the contraption that had been placed behind my ear, and I heard a vague beeping sound. She wrapped a set of wires around a human-shaped dummy, looking over at me expectantly. "Tell it to go on," she ordered, watching closely.