Begins several years before The Black Panther Movie and ends several years after. This is an alternate universe (with certain events from the comic and the cinematic universes which have been altered and intermingled together) containing multiple M...
Tamika waited impatiently outside the screen that Shuri set up to divide the rest of the loft from the area that she was now calling her 'workshop'. Several sleek pieces of equipment had been delivered to the door, and Nkem, who apparently doubled as Shuri's lab assistant, was back and forth between the apartment and some unknown destination.
Shuri confiscated Tamika's exoskeleton the night that she decided she wanted to be Wildstreak's sidekick, and was now the designated 'Tech specialist' in a hard won compromise. Since then, she had been working steadily through the nights to complete her modifications. She looked particularly ragged after the weekend ended and she was back to classes with the rest of her program during the day.
Tamika passed the time studying for midterm exams. She only talked to Erik once since he pulled off and left her high and dry on the curb after their romantic date. She hadn't even spotted him across campus. Though she knew she shouldn't dwell on it and Erik was who he was, she still couldn't help herself. She wondered what went wrong. The night had been perfect up until that call. It had been the best date she'd ever been on and yet... Erik still went ghost again.
She knew the obvious answer. But he was definitely not HYDRA. This was not how they operated. His actions didn't make any sense. The antagonizing. The inconsistent seduction. The popping up and disappearing without any rhyme or reason. He should have asked for something by now. But he never asked for anything. Only her time. Maybe that was all he ever wanted. She was so confused. When Tamika finally did break down and call his phone again, the number was disconnected.
But her mind was only half on Erik's unnerving behavior, she spent the rest of her time dodging a new shady admirer who conveniently popped up only days after HYDRA appeared in her dad's lab. They were no longer even attempting to be covert.
"You're one of the smartest students in the class. Of course I wanna study with you." The young man pushed his glasses up his nose as he whispered across the lab workstation between him and Tamika.
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"I like to study alone." Tamika shook her head annoyed. She had spotted him in the lecture hall a couple of times that year but he just seemed like one of the mass of students who crowded this room on a daily basis. But that was how it always was. The most mundane individuals always ended up being the most dangerous. They created an appearance that was as average as possible. The person you noticed least in the room. The exact opposite of Erik Stevens.
As expected over the last few weeks, the stranger suddenly developed an intense interest in her. He stated he needed help in their organic chemistry class and she was his chosen study partner. Of course there was no hole in the story. Fred was able to hack into the stranger's school file and he was actually failing the class. The tall curly haired young man claimed his name was Cameron Rinks. And now he was not only the one student who spoke to her in organic chemistry, he was also suddenly in a few more of her classes and almost everywhere she looked. And he was just friendly enough, not too much and not too little, like they always were when they came sniffing around.
