Remnants of Time

Chapter 5

Song Choices: That which you seek (finds you) by Zack Hemsey; Teachings of a Ronin by Zack Hemsey

Wakanda was a mess. After "a mysterious attacker slaughtered over a dozen of palace guards, a failed attempt at assassinating the king", how the journalists put it, the conference was cancelled, of course. No one really knew what was going on, if maybe something else would happen, if people would be safe here anymore. Some were transferred to Birnin Djata, but the majority was sent back into their home countries right away.
The three Avengers had been placed in the medical ward by royal order, all of them injured from their nightly fight with the intruder. Lomawu had made sure they were all safe and then, flown off with a promise to get this situation figured out. To come back with a name belonging to the intruder.
Out of all three of them, Wanda was probably the most affected, not physically, but psychologically. Clint kept an eye on her, guiding her through nightmares like he did with his own children, staying up with her to offer comfort. She was incredibly frustrated she hadn't been able to protect Barnes and she blamed herself for that more than she should. But no matter how bad he thought was with words, for her, he found the right ones. Soon, regret and shame turned into determination. Cap would be proud, Clint thought when he watched Wanda exercise in the gym. Then, all of the sudden, the simple silence was interrupted by doors slamming into walls and footsteps crashing against the floor. Scott barged into the room, immediately picked up by a red streak of energy and pushed into a wall.
"Scott!", Wanda shrieked and brought him down.
"It's Lomawu!", Scott whispered. "He's the Hydra mole!"
"Shit. They're gonna kill Cap", Clint cursed.

"How do you know that, Scott?", Wanda yelped as they were running through the compound. Where they were headed - she had no idea. The man that could shrink to the size of an ant had rushed out of the gym and now, he had Wanda and Clint on his tail.
He stopped all of the sudden and immediately had Wanda crashing into him. Scott sent quick looks to both sides, he looked very confused, then frowned.
"What is it, Scott?"
"I still have no idea which hallway we're on. What!? This palace is huge and every level looks the same!"
"Oh God", Clint mumbled, "not again. For starters, just tell us what you know."
"The ants", Scott whispered. "We found proof he paid a lot of money to the CIA. For what - no clue. But he did. And you saw the Winter - Buck- Barnes's file."
"Okay. Let's go to T'Challa with that. He might be able to do something, at least get us out of here so we can help."
Wanda's head turned and she sent a look through the big windows lining this hallway. She noticed the unusually busy runways of the royal airport.
"Are you coming?", Clint asked, already standing by the other end of the hallway. She nodded, flowing her two friends, hoping that the king would be able to do something for her friends.
They arrived at the palace's royal quarters after thirty minutes, after having had to wait at least ten minutes at the over-conscientious security control of the Hatut Zeraze.
To their surprise, they were urged to wait. The king was busy, in a confidential political meeting right now. Hadn't all politicians been secured?

"It's not a secret that I have a past with the CIA, your highness. Against the council's notion, I could arrange a collaboration and turn this situation to our favor. The CIA in London operates on a lead that points at a yet unknown asset, my king."
He eyed the king, for a reaction revealing what the Black Panther felt about the head of the SIW's leader and his line of action that had undoubtedly been bold. To go behind the Council's back had definitely not been a wise decision, but this wasn't a standard situation either. But T'Challa's face was unreadable.
"Unknown? How is that? No entries in our databases?"
"Not a single one. The only trace you could establish would result from putting his name behind all unsolved victims of the past... fifty, maybe sixty years?"
"Another Winter Soldier?"
Lomawu shook his head, pulling out the modified beads lining his wrist, special high-tech devices every authority in Wakanda was equipped with. Several passwords protected the classified content he stored on there.
A hologram was pulled up, containing a file with not just a few, but more than half the standard categories blank, a true testimonial of this asset's nebulous identity.
"If you were looking for the wind, you would not find it in this breeze."
"Agreed, my king. I have information, however, that claims the current mission of the Remnant is to kill Steve Rogers."
"Is that definitive?"
"Very. Based on the calculations we applied after the incident surrounding Mr. Barnes in his quarter, based on, well, everything we could collect, the asset is unpredictable. There has been a direct attack on Captain Rogers and Mr. Wilson in Belgium yesterday. To continue engagement in my protocols, I require permission of lethal action on sight, Sir."