Fire and Ice, Sugar and Spice

Chapter Two-Oversized Pez Dispenser

We had since woken up the sleepers and gotten off the quinjet. Clint was the last one off, of course, he had to finish up whispering sweet nothings to his baby. We're now heading towards a well-hidden facility and I'm already sweating buckets. Just before we enter the building I discreetly manipulate the sweat off me and into the ground. Yuck. I enter the facility sweat free and more than welcome the air conditioning. We all follow Steve like this is a school field trip and he's the principal. Hopefully he knows where he's going.

Turns out he doesn't. We nearly run over a young woman with long, straight, black hair and caramel colored eyes. Steve takes the opportunity to ask her where he can find King T'Challa. Her pretty eyes widen at Steve and we all giggle from behind him.

"Oh! I'll go get his Majesty for you! Right away!" She scurries away before Steve can say another word. He sighs and shrugs.

"Well, I guess that works." Steve leans against the wall and crosses his arms to wait. We follow his lead once again, making room for people to pass by pressing ourselves against the walls.

"Am I going to have to tell Victoria you're flirting with other girls, Steve?" I tease and he chuckles. He looks at me and he seems to come to a small realization.

"I think you two will definitely get along. You both tease. Bucky too." He remarks fondly and smiles genuinely. I'm made just a tad too happy by that compliment. I smile back and look out the windows at the massive amount of green and mist. I move my foot up and down rapidly to distract me and hold in a bored sigh. I'm ready to be put to work. I lower the temperature around just me, so when I breathe out there are little puffs of my breath. My finger draws patterns in the mist as the others stare at me. "How can you lower the temperature like that?" Steve asks, moving closer so his breath makes puffs in the air too.

"Cold is really an illusion. Everything is actually heat. Cold is only the absence of warmth, so I can extract that heat from the air to make it cold. Easy. I could even make it snow if you like?" I ask, but I've already started moving my hands. Focusing on keeping it cold with just my will, I pull water from the air with my left hand. I lower the temperature further and smile when I see Sam shiver. I toss the ball of water up and splay my fingers out to distribute it over all of us. Delicate snowflakes seem to fall from the ceiling and I grin at my success. I've always preferred the cold to the warmth. While reminding me of Russia, the cold also feels cleaner, more honest.

"Very impressive." I hear a deep, accented voice say. I whirl towards the sound and the temperature drops another few degrees from my surprise. A man in a finely tailored suit stands there, smiling at me. His skin is dark, but his eyes are darker and twinkle in the fluorescent lights. Guessing this is King T'Challa, I release my grip on the atmosphere and bow my head towards him. Damn. I'd say this man is a nine at least. I dig the accent especially.

"Thank you, your highness." I say respectfully and straighten once again.

"My people have stories, legends, of people who can control the four natural elements. It is as if you have come from my very history." He says reverently. He walks over and takes my hand, kissing my knuckles gently. I stare at him in shock as he straightens. I blink to regain my composure. Well, then. Who says chivalry is dead?

"I'd be glad to do a demonstration for you if it interests you so much." I offer politely, flirting with him just a tad.

"I'd like that very much, thank you. But maybe right now is not the best time." He takes me up on it and I nod, agreeing with him. He walks past me and shakes everyone else's hands, ending with Steve. "Are you ready to see your friend?" T'Challa asks Steve. Steve nods with a steely expression and looks to me. I nod, telling him I'm ready too. "Someone will be by in a few minutes to show everyone else to their rooms. I assure you the wait won't be long." T'Challa tells the others and begins walking. I wave to everyone and follow in the back. I breathe deeply to prepare myself for what I'm about to deal with. After walking up a slight incline for a couple minutes, we turn down another long hallway. At the end of it is a metal door that is clearly well enforced. T'Challa opens it with no difficulty, but when I shut it behind us I have to tug at least four times to get it to close. Luckily, the two of them are preoccupied with a fogged up glass cylinder, so they don't notice my faux-pas. I walk over behind them and peek over their shoulders at the oversized Pez dispenser. Faintly, I can see a man dressed in sterling white clothes. It's a big contrast to the dark brown, shoulder length hair on his head. While his body is blurry behind the foggy glass, I can tell that he's missing his left arm. The metal one. I look at his face curiously and find it to be peaceful. As most everyone's is during sleep. He has a strong jaw covered in dark stubble and uneven lips, the bottom is thicker than the top. Speaking of thick, by the size of the container I can tell he is. At least his arm and legs anyway. A nine point nine. And that's when he's frozen.