HUNTED ~ STEVE ROGERS [2]

Chapter Twenty-Five

I was shaken awake by Taly, sun streaming down over my face. My neck ached from being pressed against the back seat, and I rubbed it and winced. I sat up and staggered out of the truck, my feet landing on thick gravel. I narrowed my eyes and surveyed the view in awe.

We were parked on the top of a step hill, in a deep valley surrounded by mountains. Light snow speckled the ground around me, and the building on the hill. It seemed to be made of old shipping containers, with a small garden and fire pit to one side. There was an alcove, the front door painted yellow, and a boot shaped door knocker stood out on the front of it.

"Welcome to the second SHIELD safe house in the South Island," Taly mumbled, her voice void of emotion. Tasha was nowhere in sight, and I assumed she was already in the house. Taly shoved my bag into my arms and entered the house, her shoulders slumped. I followed suit, my face stiff with dried blood.

The house had a wide-open space, with a fire in the far corner, and a set of couches around a small TV. A desk sat against the far wall, with a computer sitting upon it. Directly in front of me was a pool table, and around the corner was a dining table with six chairs. A small doorway on the right led into the kitchen, and three other doorways on the left led to what I assumed were bedrooms. I dumped my bag on the pool table, marvelling at the stylish decorating and cosy feel the house had.

I didn't have much time to admire the interior decorating because at that moment, two hands grabbed my throat and pinned me up against the wall, my feet barely brushing the floor.

"Who are you?" Tasha hissed, her eyes dark with anger as I squirmed in her grip. I choked, her fingers squeezing hard on my airway.

"I can't tell you that if you kill me," I spluttered. Taly stood off to the side, her face shocked but still she made no move to help me. Tasha growled and let me go. I gasped for air, leaning on the pool table. I looked up at her, her face filled with rage and hurt.

"Tell me the truth. Who are you?" she said, her voice wobbling ever so slightly. I bowed my head, and even though my worst fear was coming true I felt unnaturally calm. I gestured to the couches.

"You might want to sit down for this. If you want to know who I am, I have to start at the beginning. And the beginning means my mother."

"My mother was named Brunnhilde, and she was a mighty Valkyrie of Asgard. From what I know, her and her fellow sisters fought the Goddess of Death, Hela, when she was banished by Odin from Asgard. She killed all but Brunnhilde, and she escaped to Earth, the only planet she could think of that was so often forgotten that she could never be found. So, cut to Earth, Texas. This SHIELD agent called Daniel Walsh was sent to check out a weird electrical disturbance and a strange woman running around a small farm town. He was a good agent, but an incident in Japan left him down a few levels and back to checking out silly weather disturbances and thieves." I shifted my hands in my lap, feeling Tasha's hard gaze on my face as she sat across from me.

"Let me guess; they fell in love?" Tasha said harshly. I smiled grimly.

"Not quite. Brunnhilde, still in mourning and distraught, told Daniel about who she was. She thought that Hela would come after her, and now she had caught the attention of SHIELD she was never going to be safe. Daniel, from what I read, was a good man. Kind, and brave. He too, had nothing left of his team, and agreed to help her find refuge. He took her to a place he knew of that was small, unimportant and often forgotten by the rest of the world."

"New Zealand?" Taly joked. I stared seriously at her.

"Wakanda," I stated, my heart hammering away in my chest. Here I was, spilling not only my secrets but my countries, something that was high treason and I could be severely punished for. Blank stares looked over at me. "Daniel thought to hide her there until the fuss went away, but what they found was far more than a third world country."

"What do you mean?" Tasha leant forward.

"Look, those secrets aren't mine. I would be committing high treason towards the King if I told anyone the truth about Wakanda. And trust me, they would find out if it did. But all you need to know is, well, things aren't always what they seem." I paused, my hands sweaty and the cut on my cheek stinging. I was dangerously close to spilling secrets that could change the world. "Anyway, at first they weren't allowed in. Wakanda is notoriously closed off, and they were stopped at the border. But King TChaka was, well he was interested to say the least in an Asgardian and a SHIELD agent that had turned up on his front doorstep. So, he let them in. He listened to her story, and he provided refuge and care. Daniel, he could have left. But he ended up caring more for Brunnhilde than he realized, and soon they were in love."

"And this is where you come in?" Taly said, handing me a wet cloth, and I pressed it to my face. I nodded, feeling a sudden weight off my shoulders.

"I was born on March 4th, 1991, to Brunnhilde and Daniel Walsh. Two days after I was born, several members of the Jabari Tribe, or the White Gorilla Cult, set fire to the house my parents were living. The Jabari Tribe had isolated themselves to the mountains centuries ago, and hardly ever ventured down into the city. But they were angry that the King had let white colonizers into their country. So, they, they," my voice trembled slightly, and I looked down at the ground. "They burned the house to the ground. My mother escaped the flames with me, but my father, did not survive."

I didn't cry when I said it now, but when I first read it, I had let the tears escape. I knew my birth father was dead, but I had no idea of the circumstances that lead to his death. Even though I never knew him, I felt a compelling sense of honour towards his memory.

"What happened to you mother after that?" Tasha asked, her face considerably softer than last time I looked up.

"She told King TChaka she couldn't stay on Earth any longer. After losing her fellow Valkyrie and now her partner, she knew she could not stay on Earth. But the place she was going to was no place to raise a child." One single tear slipped down my cheek and into the corner of my mouth, and I could taste its saltiness on my tongue.

"So, she just left you behind?" Tasha sounded disappointed, and I could understand that. But I had had a long while to come to terms with what my birth mother had done, and I found I was perfectly fine with it.

"I understand why she did it. And I'm not mad at her for that. Because if she hadn't left, I would never have had the family I have now." I smiled grimly, the cloth dripping water down my neck.

"The family you have now?" Taly was fiddling with her fingers on the couch, her eyes still bloodshot from loss of sleep. I nodded.

I told them about my adopted family, my siblings and parents. How I was raised to be a warrior, and if I had stayed in Wakanda I would have most likely joined the Dora Milaje, the elite women-lead Kings Guard. Every lie, every single thing about my life that I had ever covered up was revealed. The words spilled from my lips, tumbling out like a waterfall as the weight upon me fell away with every word. I told them about the incident when I was 14, when I was attacked by more members of the Jabari Tribe, and how the Heart-shaped Herb, one of Wakanda's most sacred treasures, was used on me in order to save my life, breaking a sacred law that had been around for centuries. How my adopted mother resented me after that, but my adopted father and brother never saw me as any different. I recalled when my sister was born, and how small she had been. Training with my brother, stargazing with my father. All the memories I had buried deep inside me now spilled out of me, and I felt a relief wash over me like cool rain.

"So, your dad is...?" Tasha trailed off. I nodded.

"And that means you are...?" Taly stared at the floor.

"Yeah, thats me," I said bluntly.

"How come we've never seen you before?" Tasha said suspiciously.

"My father and brother do most of the public stuff. I never wanted the spotlight. Thats why I left." Tasha looked at me coldly.

"So, whats your real name?" Her voice was bitter and harsh. I sighed.

"My name is Khethiwe Nkosazana, and I am from Wakanda."