Red Thorn

Chapter 22

Early 2016

"What the hell, Red?" Steve's outburst came as soon as the door closed, leaving the Avengers alone for the first time since their arrival in Wakanda.

She cocked an eyebrow at him, arms folded over her chest.

"Don't give me that look, you know exactly what I'm talking about," he told her. "You've had this whole other life for seven years and never once mentioned it to any of us. Not even Natasha. You've been keeping secrets for them. Keeping them from us, from your team..."

Despite the anger in his voice, Red could see the hurt lurking in his baby blue eyes, and the unspoken words that came with it. From me...

"Why?"

"She was protecting them," Natasha cut in. "She already told us that, Steve."

"Protecting them?" Tony all but scoffed. "Look around, they don't need protecting."

"Imagine if the world knew about vibranium, about what it can do. Wakanda would be wiped off the map, without hesitation. For thousands of years they have kept Vibranium a secret to stop the world descending into chaos," Natasha explained, smiling fondly at her sister. After seeing the real Wakanda, she understood. "She not only kept their secret to save them from the world, but to also save the world from itself."

"But we're your family, Red, you could have told us," Steve insisted.

She shook her head, denying that word once more.

"Bullshit, Red," he spat. "This whole situation is bullshit. How are we supposed to trust you?"

"Take a breath, Rogers," Natasha warned.

"Seriously?" Tony sassed. "He has a right to be annoyed, we all do. Wakanda wasn't the only secret she was keeping." He turned his attention towards Bucky. "When bringing him back to the Compound, our precious Red Thorn forgot to mention that he could still be mind controlled into, I don't know, killing us all."

"Stark..." Steve's voice held a hint of warning. Yes, the supersoldier was annoyed with Red, but this had nothing to do with Bucky.

"He already killed my parents. I won't let him take anyone else from me," Tony's words were sharp as he edged towards Bucky.

Red stepped between the two men, instinctively using herself to shield the supersoldier from any sudden movements Stark might make. Her eyes shone with defiance as they met his, her enhanced hearing picking up the way his heart rate increased. Even after all these years, he was still scared of her and though it could have been something for her to dwell on, at that moment in time, it was proving useful to her.

After a beat, Tony sighed in defeat.

"Good," she said. "Now go to bed. Your room is two doors down. Boys, you're sharing the one opposite. Nat's in here with me."

No more words were spoken after that as the three men skulked out of the room into the hallway. And it was only now that Natasha took her time to really take in her surroundings. The room was big, about the size of their entire apartment at the Compound. It had large windows that looked over the land, though it was night so there wasn't much to see, and tropical plants were scattered here and there. At the far end was a large four poster bed, intricately designed to look like a canopy of trees.

"So, has this always been your room?" Natasha asked.

"Toujours," Charlotte confirmed, this was the room Ramonda had set up for her upon her first arrival in Wakanda.

The redhead nodded. "Seven years ago would take us back to–"

"Just before the rules," she agreed, ridding herself of her mask. "My second to last mission."