"So this is a big mess, huh? I figured we could go good cop, bad cop. I'll talk to him first, then you guys go in." Ross suggests, joining T'Challa and Okoye at the window.
"We can't let him talk to Klaue alone." Okoye tells T'Challa in Xhosa.
"Better to let him talk to Klaue alone for five minutes than to make a scene here." He replies. "After your questioning, we will take him back to Wakanda with us." He says to Ross in English.
"What? No. Look, I like you, a lot. But he's in my custody now. He's not going anywhere." He argues. He points to Aleks, who leans against the wall near them. "I'm already doing you a favor by letting you be here and not cuffing her. We've got an entire drawer on her." He pats T'Challa's arm.
"Really? I'm flattered that you're such a fan of my work." Aleks jokes as Okoye threatens him in Xhosa.
"Does she speak English?" He asks, ignoring Aleks' jab.
"When she wants to." Okoye answers.
"Huh. I'm going in. When I'm done, you guys are up." Ross says.
"Agent Ross." T'Challa calls as he approaches the door.
"Yeah?" He asks, stopping to look back at him.
"I do appreciate your help in Busan." He tells him, patting his shoulder.
"You see that? It's called diplomacy. You're welcome." He says before walking through the door.
"Okoye. Play nice." T'Challa scolds after he disappears inside the room.
"Please don't." Aleks argues, grinning at her. T'Challa shakes his head at her, and she sighs, pushing off the wall to wander around the room as they listen in on the interrogation. She tries peeking over the shoulders of the CIA agents but they quickly block it so she can't. She rolls her eyes, knowing that if she really wanted the information, she'd get it easily.
"Your father told the UN that Klaue stole all the Vibranium you had. But now he's telling me you have more." Ross tells T'Challa after he leaves the interrogation room.
"And you believe the word if an arms dealer strapped to a chair?" He replies.
"How much more are you hiding?" He asks. Nakia rushes into the room before he can answer.
"Something is happening out back." She says in Xhosa.
Everyone in the group ducks as the wall in the interrogation room explodes. Some scream as someone begins shooting through the window, and Aleks joins Okoye in taking cover behind the wall.
"Grenade!" Someone yells, alerting everyone to the threat. T'Challa jumps on top of it, his suit absorbing the blast. He chases the people out of the building, but he's knocked back and they escape with Klaue.
"Fuck." Aleks curses, seeing the CIA agents and Nakia surrounding Ross. She inspects the wound and curses again when she spots where he was shot.
"He just jumped in front of me." Nakia tells T'Challa as he and Okoye return to the room. "I don't think he'll make it here."
"Yeah, that's his spine. If it doesn't kill him, he'll be paralyzed." Aleks adds, inspecting the placement of the wound again.
"Give me a Kimoyo bead." He says. Nakia hands him one of hers and he presses it into the wound. "This will stabilize him for now." Ross relaxes and the CIA agents stare at T'Challa. "Give him to us. We can save him."
***
"Our mission was to bring back Klaue. We failed. This man is a foreign intelligence operative. How do we justify bringing him into our borders?" Okoye asks on the flight back to Wakanda.
"He took a bullet for me." Nakia tells her.
"That was his choice." She argues.
"So now we are just supposed to let him die?" She asks.
"Let us consider that we heal him. It is his duty to report back to his country. And as king, it is your duty to protect ours." Okoye says.
"I'm well aware of my duties, General." He replies. "I cannot just let him die...knowing we can save him."
"Where exactly are we taking him?" She asks, already knowing the answer.
"Hey. You've got an assassin right here who could kill him before he even thinks about reporting back." Aleks jokes, trying to defuse the tension in the room. They glare at her, and she sighs, moving to the cockpit to look out the window.
***
"Great! Another broken white boy for us to fix." Shuri says as she lifts the blanket off Ross' face.
"Hey!" Aleks protests, making Shuri laugh.
"I meant it in a good way. This is going to be fun." She replies. She leads them further into her lab and gets set up. "He'll live." She assures them. Her Kimoyo beads trill. "W'Kabi is here."
T'Challa walks up the ramp to speak with him as Shuri gets back to work. She updates Aleks on her progress with Bucky, letting her know that she thinks she'll have it figured out pretty soon.
As T'Challa and the others leave, Aleks stays in the lab, loving to watch Shuri work, fascinated by her creations.
"All right, where am I?" Ross asks, breaking the silence the two had been sitting in as Shuri worked.
"Don't scare me like that, colonizer!" Shuri scolds making Aleks laugh.
"What? My name is Everett." He replies, eyeing Aleks suspiciously.
"Yes, we know. Everett Ross, former air force pilot and now CIA." She says.
"Right. Okay, is this Wakanda?" He asks.
"Are all people in the CIA this dumb?" Aleks scoffs as Shuri jokes about them being in Kansas.
"How long ago was Korea?" He asks.
"Yesterday." Shuri answers.
"I don't think so. Bullet wounds don't just magically heal overnight." He argues. Shuri chuckles.
"They do here. But not by magic, by technology." She explains. He looks around the lab. "Don't touch anything. My brother will return soon."
"What are you doing here?" Ross asks, eyeing Aleks. She rolls her eyes.
"Afraid of me?" She taunts.
"No." He scoffs. She rolls her eyes again and turns her attention back to Shuri as she continues working. "These train things, that's magnetic levitation, right?" He asks, turning from the window to look at Shuri.
"Obviously." She answers.
"Obviously, but I've never seen it this efficient." He chuckles. "The light panels, what are they?"
"Sonic stabilizers." Shuri tells him.
"Sonic what?" He asks.
"In its raw form, vibranium is too dangerous to be transported at that speed, so I developed a way to temporarily deactivate it." She explains, moving to stand at the windows with him.
"There's vibranium on those trains?" Ross asks.
"There's vibranium all around us. That's how I healed you." She says, chuckling when he stares at her, shocked. She holds up a finger as she answers a call from Okoye on her Kimoyo beads.
"Where is T'Challa?" The general asks. "His Kimoyo beads have been switched off."
"Well, we are not joined at the hip, Okoye." She jokes.
"A man showed up at the border who claims to have killed Klaue." She informs.
"What?" Aleks asks the same time as Shuri, moving to stand next to her.
"W'Kabi is transporting him, as we speak, to the palace. We need to find your brother!" Okoye says.
"An outsider?" She asks, pulling up the information on the man.
"No, a Wakandan." She replies.
"He's not a Wakandan. He's one of ours." Ross tells them.
YOU ARE READING
The Spring Soldier | Bucky Barnes
FanfictionThe Spring Solider was HYDRAs secret weapon. As the only person able to calm and keep the Winter Soldier under control, she was an important asset. That was until they found out that the two had gotten closer than what was expected or allowed. Alek...
