Shattered Souls | 18+

4. The Setting Sun

By the time Toni comes back to the surface of reality, the sun has long since dipped below the horizon. Together, they move from one project on to the next, with Shuri teaching her all about the tech they had in Wakanda (tech that even Toni had to take a moment to comprehend), and Toni offering the young princess advice on how to adjust certain things so they could reach maximum efficiency. All in all, a day well spent, even though Toni's body began to ach profusely in the last hour of their tinkering.

"I'm assuming my brother invited you to dinner?" Shuri asks when they begin clearing papers covered in Toni's chicken scratches off the table.

"He did. Will you be gracing us with your presence as well?"

"Oh, no, I wasn't invited. T'Challa claims this particular dinner is for adults." Toni lets out a small snort at the unbridled disgust in Shuri's tone. "And I was really hoping to show Captain Rogers the shield prototype I've been working on."

Fear, slippery and unwelcome, settles beneath Toni's skin. "Captain Rogers is going?" She inquires, trying her absolute best to sound impartial (but that's never really been Toni's strong suit).

"Yes. The dinner is being held to discuss the matter of the Accords."

"Oh." Oh. And Toni had... She'd thought— "You know, I'm not actually that hungry. I think I'll just skip the dinner, head to bed, catch up on some much needed shuteye."

Shuri's eyes narrow. "Are you in any pain?"

Yes. "No. I'm just... tired. It's been a long week." It really had been.

The princess' eyes soften. "Okay. I'll let T'Challa know."

Toni nods, before dragging herself in the direction of the entrance doors. She's halfway across the lab when Shuri's firm but tempered voice drifts over to her. "My brother is not one who will take your trust in him lightly."

Toni offers a jagged smile. "I never said I trusted him."

"You didn't have to."

. . .

Toni mulls over the princess' words for the majority of the night while she crafts a letter to Pepper, General Ross, the President, and Rhodey (though she'd barely even started that one before her nails were digging into her arms painfully as she tried to catch her breath). Perhaps Shuri was right. Toni put up a front, but that's all it was: a front. A barrier to protect herself from the world, and, in turn, the world from her. But still, Cap's lie—his betrayal—had struck a particularly nasty chord within Toni. Perhaps she was too trusting. Perhaps T'Challa hadn't earned her trust. Not yet, at least (though he did save her life, she supposed).

Settling further into the bed, Toni lets out a small sigh. Shuri had shown her to what the princess referred to as her 'sleeping chambers'—the name of which Toni had scoffed a bit too loud at—and supplied her with a tablet so that she could contact Pepper and let her know she was safe. Toni took the opportunity to contact not only her partner in crime, but also the general who'd tried to have her killed (because what does she have if not pettiness and passive aggressive emails?).

A knock on the door makes Toni jump. She quickly closes the open tab and gets to her feet.

"Miss Stark?" A voice Toni doesn't recognize calls from the hall. "The King has requested your company in his private dining chambers."

Lordie. It's as though she's been taken back in time to a land of crowns and squires and god damn wimples. Toni doesn't think she'll ever get used to the fucking propriety of it all.