A mile in my shoes

Chapter 20

"Boss?" Friday asked early in the morning while Tony was getting ready to make breakfast. "Clint Barton is currently positioned just outside the perimeter. Also, Colonel Rhodes and the Vision are on their way to the compound, and King T'Challa is on the line, explicitly demanding to speak with you as soon as possible."

"Put Barton's footage on the screen without audio and connect me with T'Challa, please," Tony answered, taken aback by the unexpected turn of events.

"Dr. Stark, I apologise for reaching out to you so early in the morning, but the matter is of urgency." The young King explained, his words rushed and intense.

On the screen, Barton could be seen climbing a tree. The man had always preferred high vantage points, and it wasn't like he could just walk in after everything that had happened lately. Even if the whole body swap thing hadn't happened, Clint would still be in hot water for everything he had done during the Civil War, especially with Vision and the compound.

At that moment, Friday split the screen into two sections. His baby girl had managed to tap into the security grid cameras from potentially all across the planet. Tony probably should have been concerned that his AI was going all skynet right now, but he just couldn't bring himself to care. She was now displaying the whereabouts of the other Rogue members, clearly making their way toward the compound.

"Let me take a wild guess. The Rogues are their way here to try and get some misguided revenge against me. The real question is, how do you have this information if you haven't been in contact with them since Siberia?"

There was a moment of silence on the line. Tony knew that his ex-teammates were in Wakanda all along. They had nowhere else to go really. T'Challa likely hadn't anticipated Tony being aware of all these details already. The King had taken a gamble by making the call, surely considering the possibility that Tony would be prepared for the worst. The genius that was Tony understood the extent of what his former teammates were capable of. He had learned that particular lesson at his expense in Siberia. T'Challa let out a sigh, and Tony could only hope that the young king would finally come clean.

"Actually, Mr. Barnes insisted that I give you a heads up about Rogers. He mentioned something about being out of his own body and having a particular understanding of the situation."

"Who did he swap bodies with?"

"He claimed that he was in Steve Rogers' body for a period of time." T'Challa explained cautiously, surprised that Tony Stark was believing what he thought was an unbelievable story. "According to him, his mind was in the Captain's body, possibly around the events of Ultron events or shortly thereafter."

"Yeah, that wasn't exactly a time when the leam liked me all that much." Tony sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I'm sorry to tell you, but I don't think any member of that team ever held you in high esteem. I'm not sure of all the specifics, but suddenly, as our doctors were attempting to remove the trigger words, Mr. Barnes became uncharacteristically agitated. It took some time for him to calm down before we could fully comprehend the situation."

"Magic is crazy like that. Please thank Sergeant Barnes for me. We may never be friends, but we are no longer enemies," Tony said, feeling a sense of relief from that particular burden.

"Dr. Stark, if you require any assistance there, please don't hesitate to ask. Anything. I have a debt I need to repay," T'Challa offered sincerely.

"Thank you, Felix. If it's absolutely necessary, I will consider involving you, but for the time being, let's exclude Wakanda from this situation."

"That's extremely kind of you. Thank you. I look forward to seeing you at the next accords council." T'Challa said, relieved.

"Same thing here, Bagheera."