Combustion ✦ STEVE ROGERS² [✓]

24 | MANTLES PASSED & PAST MEMORIES

STEVE'S EYES WERE DOWN AS HE SAT IN AN SUV, HIS HANDS IN HIS LAP. The SUV was part of a police convoy as it drove beside the river Spree, and amidst the convoy was a gray armed truck, which contained a restrained Bucky inside a prison pod. Inside the SUV the man (who Steve found was prince T'Challa of Wakanda) sat in front of Steve and Sam.

"So, you like cats?" Sam asked the prince after several minutes of tense silence.

"Sam," Steve warned, giving Sam a look.

"What?" Sam said. "Dude shows up dressed like a cat and you don't wanna know more?"

Steve shook his head slightly before looking at T'Challa. "Your suit... it's Vibranium?"

T'Challa was silent for a moment, his eyes narrowing as he glanced sideways. "The Black Panther has been the protector of Wakanda for generations," he said. "A mantle, passed from warrior to warrior. And now, because your friend murdered my father, I also wear the mantle of king. So, I ask you... as both warrior and king... how long do you think you can keep your friend safe from me?"

Steve was silent, his face stony as the convoy headed underground.

Eventually the convoy entered a light gray-walled bunker. As the cars slowed to a stop, Bucky's pod was carried away by a forklift, and nearby Steve, Sam, and T'Challa got out of the SUV. With his friend and T'Challa, Steve approached Sharon, who was standing with a diminutive, gray-haired man.

"What's gonna happen to him?" Steve asked, referring to Bucky.

"Same thing that ought to happen to you," the gray-haired man said. "Psychological evaluation and extradition."

Sharon gestured to the man. "This is Everett Ross, Deputy Task Force Commander."

"What about our lawyer?" Steve asked.

Everett laughed at his words. "Lawyer. That's funny." Turning to the guards, he told them, "See their weapons are placed in lockup." Then he looked at the two Avengers. "Oh, we'll write you a receipt."

"I better not look out the window and see anybody flying around in that," Sam said, nodding at his falcon suit as someone carried it away.

As they left, Steve looked back and caught Bucky's eye. The two shared a look, but nothing was said. Steve was determined to get his friend out of this and prove his innocence. No matter what.

Eventually they stopped on a covered skywalk. Everett turned to them, nodding as they faced him. "You'll be provided with an office instead of a cell," he said. "Now, do me a favor, stay in it?"

T'Challa crossed his arms and shrugged. "I don't intend on going anywhere."

Everett held his gaze for a moment, then turned and walked off. As he left, Kato walked up, shaking her head at the two men before her. Steve's heart dropped when he saw her face. Though her expression was stern, he'd worked with her for long enough and laid with her enough times to see the heartbreak in her eyes. Speaking to him in this manner was killing her, and Steve could see it. But even though it pained him to hurt her, he knew he had to prove that Bucky wasn't behind the bombing. If he could do that, Kato might just see reason, and then help him convince the others of that.

It was a selfish reason, Steve knew, but he couldn't help it. He loved Kato, even if she didn't love him. And being at odds with her was probably one of the worst feelings he'd ever experienced. So he wanted to make the feeling go away as quickly as possible.

"For the record, this is what making things worse looks like," Kato said to the two men, tearing her eyes away from Steve to nod at Sam.

"He's alive," Steve told her, keeping his voice calm despite hearing the turmoil in Kato's voice.