The Legacy of Meisal Mendadaughter~ Avengers fanfiction

A Fast One

Nakia eyed Menda warily, not wanting to let the girl out of her sight. From the second she laid eyes on her, she had known that this strange girl was not an ordinary visitor to Wakanda-- she was paler than death, for starters, which would suggest that she had just recently arrived here, having not yet been subjected to the suns brutal heat. Another odd thing that Nakia had noted with great uneasiness was the fact that she was totally alone and lost. If she had just arrived, why was she wandering the streets without anyone with her? She was clearly a stranger to these parts, and she was also clearly not used to being left to her own devices-- this was a mysterious girl indeed.

Furthermore, Nakia had decided that Menda wasn't the girl's real name, although she couldn't figure out much else. 'Menda' had hesitated far too long before telling Nakia who she was and why she was here for Nakia to simply believe her and assume the best. Still, Nakia couldn't figure out where the name Menda had come from-- was it an original name, dreamed up by a pair of creative American parents who were bored of the common and generic names that were used far too often? Was it a family name? For some reason, it sounded sort of Australian to Nakia, although she doubted that was were this obviously cloistered and nervous child had come from. Who, then, was this girl really?

"Menda," Nakia said, trying not to seem to suspicious. "You say you were supposed to meet your father somewhere?"

"Yes," she replied, bobbing her head up and down like an overzealous schoolgirl. "I live with my mother in--" she paused, but only briefly, before saying, "--America. My parents are-- separated." The was she spoke sounded as if she was using all these phrases for the first time, and Nakia assumed that 'Menda' was used to lying to simple folk who would never even bother to suspect her. Nakia, of course, was experienced with people and knew when she was being lied to. She also knew when it was prudent to speak up and tell the liar they had been found out or when it would be a much wiser choice to simply let them go on and lie like the wind.

"My father moved here a few years ago," 'Menda' was saying, still sounding as though she was making up the story as she went along-- which she undoubtedly was. "I stayed with my mother in America. Last month my father sent word that he wanted me to visit. My mother came with me on the journey here, but then she went back right away. I had forgotten where I was supposed to meet my father and while I was looking I got lost and couldn't find my way back to where I'd originally come from. I decided to just walk around in hopes of finding him, but I couldn't."

Nakia raised her eyebrows-- there were several things about that story that made no sense. Still, before she could ask 'Menda' any further questions, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Steve Rogers, one of T'challa's friends, standing behind her, his lips pursed tightly.

"Steve," Nakia acknowledged, nodding to him politely. Steve nodded back, with a respectful and formal-sounding greeting of, "Hello, Nakia, ma'am," on his lips. He then glanced past her and allowed his piercing blue eyes to rest on 'Menda', who was standing stock-still, looking as though she'd rather be anywhere but here. "Who's this?" Steve asked, gesturing towards the said girl. Nakia forced a smile to her lips, knowing that she had to keep this calm in order to avoid a potential street fight.

"This is Menda," the spy told Steve, forcing herself not to wince as she used the phony name. "I'm helping her find her father-- it appears we've lost him."

"Ah," Steve said, then jerked his head towards a corner. "Could we speak in private for a moment?"

"Of course," Nakia replied, smiling with what she hoped was reassurance at 'Menda' before following Steve away.

"That girl's not who you think she is, in case you hadn't noticed," Steve said the moment they were out of earshot. Nakia nodded. "I could tell," she replied, "she was hesitant to answer any of my questions and when she did, half of her answers made no sense. I have no idea what she's doing in Wakanda, but--"

"I do," Steve interjected, his face grim. "This is going to sound insane, but-- a spaceship crashed in a field not to far away from here. Fury and a few agents went to investigate and she attacked them. Their fine, but-- well, let's just say she's not your average kick-and-spit scrapper. Anyways, she ran off and we're out looking for her-- it's kind of a long story," he added at Nakia's skeptical look, clearly brought on by the fact that it made no sense for people to drag themselves around an entire country in search of a girl who could be found easily by a drone or a camera. "But we have very little information on her, aside from her physical description. According to Fury, she's tall, thin, pale, and has long black hair and blue green eyes." The super soldier nodded towards where Menda stood, eying the pair warily. "'Menda' fits that description perfectly."

Nakia swallowed. "We have to get her out of here," she said, "and away from civilians. She's dangerous--"

"She's an odd sort of dangerous," Steve countered, "because she went to a lot of trouble to make sure Fury didn't die. And last we saw of her, she had a crowbar. Now she's empty handed."

"It's a ruse, then," Nakia replied, her heart thundering. "She wants to lower our expectations o that she can kill us."

"I can't--"

"Hey!"

Soldier and spy whirled around to see 'Menda' bolting away and through the streets, knocking everything over and causing general mayhem. She moved fast, Steve noted, and he sprinted after her, doing his best not to leave the same trail of destruction as his target had. Menda looked quickly over her shoulder and saw Steve, shot him a frustrated glare, and then started running faster. Nakia followed Steve closely, struggling to keep up with the super soldier, but still having the advantage of knowing these streets better than both he and this strange girl she was chasing after.

It took about a minute for Steve to catch up to Menda, but when he did, she didn't do what he'd expected at all. Rather than try to fight him off, Menda simply crumpled to the ground as if her bones had spontaneously turned to gelatin. Startled, Steve bent over her to feel for a pulse, but the moment his hand came into contact with her skin-- which was ice cold-- she leaped right at his face and kicked him square in the jaw.

Steve recoiled in shock and pain, clutching his throbbing face. Still reeling, he barely managed to stagger to his feet before Menda had taken off again. Nakia passed Steve in a blur of green, clearly assuming the Steve was fine-- which he was, only it was both painful and humiliating to have a little girl pull a fast one on him-- and he had almost caught her, too!

Steve resumed the chase, this time resolved not to allow this girl to pull any tricks on him. He blew by everyone, not even bothering to apologize to the people who he bumped into as he went. He caught up with and passed Nakia in seconds, and then he was right behind Menda, within arms reach.

Steve lunged at her, and he was both proud and relieved when he felt the smooth leather of Menda's jacket in between his closed fingers. He yanked on it, making sure to grab the girl's arm so that she didn't just wriggle out of her jacket and keep running, and then and only then did he stop.

Nakia came up behind him, panting heavily, and Steve stared down at Menda, who was trying (and failing) to snake out of his grasp. Steve tightened his grip on her arm, but this only encouraged Menda to fight harder.

"Who are you?" Steve demanded, leaning right into Menda's face. The girl just glared at him. "Piss off," she replied, and thankfully stopped trying to escape Steve's grasp. Still, he kept his grip firm, in case this was another trick to try and escape him.

"You attacked our agents," Steve said, sincerely hoping that this was the right girl. "You caused us a lot of trouble. Why?"

"Your agents? You mean the men who came at me with guns and acted as though I was a-- an alien?"

"You fell out of the sky in a spaceship," Steve pointed out. "What makes you think that seems human?"

Menda blinked, then shook her head. "I don't have to tell you anything," she said, suddenly sounding like a pouty child. "Let me go."

"No," Steve replied, nodding to Nakia, who turned on her communicator. "I have a better idea." The wavering image of T'challa appeared, floating above Nakia's wrist. "Your majesty," he said, glancing slyly at Menda, "it appears we have found our guest."