Shattered (Sequel to Shadowfax)

Intruder

"Well hello, Mr. Sunshine," Tony Stark greeted a bleary-eyed Steve Rogers. Natasha scoffed as she appeared beside Tony, and nudged him aside to afford herself a better view of the super-soldier. Steve gave them a half-hearted smile. "Hey Tony. Good to see you too, Nat."

"She's still not speaking?" Natasha dead-panned, dispensing with the formalities and jumping ahead straight to the point. Her face was an expressionless mask.

"Oh, no, I'm fine. Good to see you're doing well to, Natasha," Steve grumbled. As Natasha raised an eyebrow, he sighed and nodded his head.

"Yeah, she's still silent. At this point, it's going to take nothing short of either a miracle or a natural disaster. We've literally tried everything," Steve admitted, running a hand through messy blonde hair. He wasn't exaggerating, either. In the past three weeks, they had tried everything from jump scares to bribery. Jax had even convinced T'Challa to allow him to pretend to be hit by a car. Unfortunately for her brother, Jade hadn't been fooled and instead of shouting his name in terror; she had stalked towards him, eyes afire, before blowing a sizeable crater in the dirt beside him for the dirty trick. Shortly after that, the team had run out of ideas and consigned themselves to the reality that nothing they did would force Jade to speak before she wanted to.

Natasha rolled her eyes in exasperation. "What about the therapy idea?" she asked.

Steve winced. "She threw a kitchen knife at my head for even suggesting it."

"Nothing we hadn't expected."

"It went through the wall and lodged in a door in the next hallway."

"Fantastic."

The trio was silent before Tony of all people finally asked, "Do you guys ever feel guilty about this? If we'd been able to keep a cool head, they wouldn't have spooked and run off like they did. We could've kept them safe and out of those freaks hands. It's hard not to feel like it's..." Tony trailed off, but the words 'our fault' still hung in the air.

"How's Rhodey?" Steve murmured, breaking the silence.

A smile flitted across Tony's face, and Natasha chuckled a bit. "Cranky," the spy told him.

"He's still cranky about his wheelchair," Tony elaborated, grinning. "He claims it's bad for his street cred—not that he had much to begin with."

"Like you're one to talk, Tony Stank," Natasha jibed, smiling smugly. Tony sighed, throwing his hands up in the air. "I'm never moving past that, am I?"

"Not while there are still illiterate FedEx delivery men in this world," Natasha laughed, exiting the room. "Later, Steve," she added over her shoulder.

A ringing from Tony end of the line caused the billionaire to groan dramatically. "That'll be General Pain-In-The-Butt calling to ask if I've found you guys yet. Sorry Steve; I'll call you again later."

"See you, Tony." Steve switched off the monitor, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his eyes. It was time for a well-earned nap.

...

Jade watched, amused, as Nutsy's fingers danced nervously over a hand-carved ebony chess set. Across from him, Jax was grinning smugly with his arms folded over his chest. Every time Nutsy would reach out to make his move, Jax would quirk an eyebrow or a corner of his mouth would twitch up, effectively throwing his opponent off his game.

"Would you stop that!" Nutsy snapped.

"Whatever do you mean?" Jax innocently responded, his grin foxlike as Nutsy reached for his rook.

"That!" Nutsy cried in exasperation, changing pieces at the last second and moving a white knight instead. Jax quickly swooped in with his bishop and removed the piece from the board. Jade chuckled silently as Nutsy sagged in his chair.

The door slid open silently on the opposite wall, and Jax's head snapped around as Sphinx padded softly into the room with Smokey on her heels. Taking his eyes off the board, Jax threw her a cocky grin and leaned towards her. "Why, hello there Sleeping Beauty. How are you this fine morning?"

Sphinx yawned, tossing a lock of knotted hair back over her shoulder. "Pretty good—or I will be as soon as I get some coffee. What's up with you guys?"

"I'm currently kicking Nutsy's arse at chess, and Sphinx is brooding in the corner," Jax bragged. Unfortunately for Jax's massive ego, he'd been so focused on Sphinx that he moved his rook straight into the path of Nutsy's queen. The techie crowed triumphantly and claimed the chess piece.

Sphinx giggled, patting Jax on the shoulder and claiming a seat beside Jade. Smokey followed suit, leaping up into Sphinx's lap. She grunted at the sudden weight, scratching under the tomcat's chin. Smokey's rumbling purr vibrated the griffin-girl's bones.

"I was thinking about going out for a nice fly-about if someone wanted to come with me," Sphinx piped up. She shot an expectant glance at Jax's back, waiting for him to say something. A light blush dusted her cheeks. When Jax made no comment, Sphinx's features contorted into a glare and she stood abruptly, causing Smokey to fall to the floor with a startled yowl. A haughty look on her face, she grabbed Jade's arm and dragged her out of the room with her. Jade shot an accusatory glance at her brother moments before the door slid shut once more.

"What did I do?" he questioned Nutsy, a confused look on his face.

"You're such a doofus," Nutsy groaned, his face falling into the palm of his hand.

...

"Of all the bone-headed, slow-minded, Neanderthals—" Sphinx broke off, jamming her foot into her sneaker and drawing the laces with an angry jerk. She winced, loosening the laces a bit.

"Are you sure the two of you are related?" Sphinx finished, directing her question at the younger Tarrow sibling. Jade nodded solemnly, thinking; 'Believe me, I've often asked myself the same thing.'

Inclining her head to the door in a silent question, Jade gave her the universal look for: 'Move your butt.' Sphinx nodded, jumping up and heading for the open door. Both women sighed as the sunlight hit their faces, breathing happy sighs.

Overhead, the birds chirped happily in the treetops, and the shrieks of laughing children could be heard playing a little way down the path. A breeze blew lightly against Jade's face, and she smiled gently. It was a peaceful morning—or it would've been, had an explosion not suddenly rocked the jungle floor.

An arm flying out to steady Sphinx, Jade's eyes narrowed as a burst of light flashed down from the heavens. It was an unsettlingly familiar sight, and she was soon rocketing down the dirt path and in the direction of the explosion. Behind her, there was a great gust of wind as Sphinx—now a griffin—launched herself into the sky and soared ahead of Jade. Diving into the shadow of a nearby tree, Jade shadowed into the clearing near where the Wakandan children had been playing moments before.

The dust was still settling from where the ground had been struck earlier, and as the form of a young man gradually came into view, Jade's eyes widened. Her body now shook—not out of fear, but instead out of lethal rage. She bared her teeth in an angry growl, advancing on the intruder. Around her, the dirt exploded in a red haze.

"YOU!" Jade roared.

A/N Here's the newest chapter! I hope you guys all enjoyed it. Please comment and review! You guys are all freaking amazing!!!!