Flightless | P. Parker

chapter six

(Please excuse my description of Berlin, I've never been overseas and I'm relying on tourist guides and maps of the city. If you can help me, let me know please!) Also, Blue Jay costume above!!

My eyes widen as King T'Challa and I walk into the Avengers' Complex. High-tech gear and old super-suits line the walls in cases. I follow him down the halls and into a large room with suit blueprints displayed on large screens. The king stops in a far corner by a large metal tube and presses a few buttons on a nearby keypad. The front of the tube opens, revealing a beautiful blue and white super-suit. Knives are sheathed on the mannequin's arms and a mask rests on its face.

"Miss Grant!" A voice calls from nearby. I swivel to see its owner and nearly squeal when my eyes land on Tony Stark.

"Mr Stark! What an honour!" I reach out to shake his hand and look excitedly between the two men.

"I see you unveiled the suit, did you show her the staff yet?" The king shakes his head and Mr Stark grabs a foot-long metal stick off a nearby table. "Here." The pair takes a step back. I take the item in both my hands and a clicking sound comes from inside it. In the blink of an eye, it grows to be a 7-foot pole. "It's encoded to your fingerprints, if you want to shrink it down to carrying size, just twist that middle piece clockwise."

I thank him over and over for everything he's done as he moves over to the tube where the suit is displayed. "I take it you like the upgrade?" He asks, pressing a few buttons near it. As he talks, the suit is removed from the mannequin and robotically folded and shut in a case. "It should fit you exactly, there's a vacuum seal that should contour to your body when you put it on. If you have any questions, let me know. Preferably before you're called into action." I nod excitedly, taking the case from him. He smiles at me and nods to King T'Challa. "See you in Berlin, your Highness."

The foreign king takes me outside to a small runway where a private jet sits waiting. We enter the aircraft and once we're settled in I look around from my seat. It's been forever since I've been on a plane, I almost forgot the experience. Soon, we're in the air heading overseas. T'Challa glances across the aisle and smiles at me. "We'll be in Germany in a couple hours, you might want to rest your eyes for a bit," He tilts his seat back and grabs a blanket. I do the same and close my eyes, winding down from the day's excitement.

I don't know what rouses me from my sleep when we touch down but when I wake up, a dark, frightening woman sits across from me watching with no expression. I look around for T'Challa but don't see him. Just as I start to open my mouth to ask, the woman gets up and goes to the front of the jet. "He's just in the lavatory," she says in a very clipped tone. Soon enough, the king comes out of the back, looks between me and the woman, and smiles in amusement. "I see you met Nakia." 

The three of us get in a car with dark tinted windows and Nakia drives until we get to a large street with many tourists. "Here is where we get out, the hotel is just down this way." T'Challa steps out of the vehicle and removes the suitcases and the case Tony gave me from the trunk. Awkwardly, I grab my things from the royal and follow him. We weave through vendors and people taking photos on the stone-paved street until we get to a towering building with an august appearance. Once we get to our rooms, I set my things down and flop ungracefully on the king-sized bed, sinking into the soft mattress. "Sleep. We will speak in the morning." The king leaves, closing my door behind him. I don't bother changing into my pyjamas as I slip underneath the heavy down comforter and shut off the light.

\(-_-)/

It's the sunlight slipping through a slit between the thick curtains that wakes me up. Of course, my face is positioned in such a way that it's shining directly in my eyes, blinding me as I wake up. Bleary-eyed and slightly blinded, I sit up and rub my eyes before looking around the room. In the corner, my suitcases and on a table near them, the case containing my new suit. I slide out of the massive bed and go over to it, opening it carefully. The case pops fully open when I unlatch the side and an electronic display hovers over all the tools telling what each does as well as pulling up a body map of where each thing is to be worn.