Black Panther: Rise of the Princess (COMPLETE)

Chapter 50: Peter

I didn't end up doing much for the first thirty minutes. Shuri showed Tony, Dr. Banner, and Rhodey around her lab, which I had already seen. It was a bit deja-vu-y, but of course Tony and Dr. Banner loved it. Rhodey was just kind of lost and kept nodding to whatever Shuri was saying.

After watching for a few minutes, I hung out in Shuri's lab and waited for the others to finish the tour. One month wasn't very long, but Shuri had gotten a lot done in four weeks, and for some reason, she trusted me enough to keep me updated.

All of the Outreach Centers had been searched for any more signs of HYDRA. Thankfully, none of it was actually in the centers, and most of them got up and running again right after Shuri swept through them. More HYDRA stations were found near the bases, and SHIELD had dealt with the soldiers hiding out inside them. Well, technically the U.N. did, but they were working with SHIELD, so...yeah.

Shuri had gotten straight to work on the cloning project for Captain Rogers. She had consulted D'Arku, but he wasn't allowed to work inside the palace anymore, so they had to work with that too. Once she had the DNA and the equipment set up, she was able to reconstruct his body, all except for the brain. I had seen the diagnostic tests she had run, it looked exactly the same. If you got a little sick when it came to anatomy, it was gross, but for someone like me, it was wicked.

Oh, speaking of...

"Hey Shuri," I spoke into my bracelet. "The veterans have arrived, they're out here in the lobby, I think Mr. Barnes is coming to find you."

"He knows his way around," she replied. "Thank you for the heads up. Now that Captain Rogers is here, we can begin the transplant."

I powered off the lights. "I'm on my way. Not that you need my help, but just in case."

When I walked out, the group had already passed me. Raven, in the back of the group, heard me exit and turned around. "I had a feeling you were already here," she remarked, waiting for me to catch up. "Director Fury and Agent Hill are on their way, they expect to land in the next fifteen minutes."

"Perfect," I responded, matching her strides. "And he's okay with her joining?"

"As 'okay' as he is about anything."

"Good enough," I figured. "She needs to complete the surgery before she can chat, but Steve will be unconscious for hours afterwards, so we'll have time to talk then."

Raven adjusted a backpack that was resting on her shoulders. "I hope so. There's one topic in particular that will need that time."

That didn't sound good. I stared at her. "What?"

"The Sokovia Accords," she answered. "I'll explain later, but this isn't going to be a straight shot. We have a lot of obstacles to hurdle before you can officially get a team together."

"I've never been good with politics," I groaned, walking into the medical wing of the lab.

She stopped next to the observation window and watched Steve settle onto a table. "That's what I'm here for. I've studied the first edition enough to know what we're dealing with. Hopefully, Fury will tell us more than what he's been willing to share up until now."

Bucky was standing next to Steve, talking with Shuri about the procedure. Earlier, she had mentioned that Bucky went through something like this to erase the Winter Soldier programming years ago. Different kind of surgery, but same stress levels, I'd imagine. Tony and Dr. Banner were inside too, helping Shuri boot up the system and whatnot. I think they were just in there to see the equipment, but I don't blame them. Rhodey, Sam Wilson, and Natasha Romanoff were watching with us.

Sam turned to the two of us. "Do you guys know anything about what they're doing?"

I shrugged. I did, but I didn't want to confuse him either, or go on a rant. "Well, they're basically powering down his body to do this, so they're just making sure that they don't damage his brain during the transfer. And then, they have to slice open his new head to transplant the brain, and whatnot, so they're just taking precautions. They won't start the surgery they're sure everything is ready to go."

"What's the probability of this succeeding?" Agent Romanoff asked, not looking away from the super soldiers in the next room.

"Under normal circumstances, low to none," I answered, "but this is Wakanda. I'd say mid-nineties, or high eighties, at the very least. Shuri wouldn't have tried to make this work if she didn't think that it would."

The spy nodded, eyes still trained on the operating room. "I hope so."

No one said anything for a few moments, until Romanoff's phone buzzed in her pocket. "Everything okay?" Mr. Wilson asked, and she nodded.

"Fury's on his way, he and Hill just boarded the shuttle."

"I'll go wait for them," I offered, walking back towards the door. "I know my way around anyways. Be back in a bit," I called, darting off towards the mines.

When I got to the launch pad, the shuttle was just barely visible in the distance. T'Challa was accompanying them, and walked up to me once he was on the ground. "Is everyone here?"

"They're all in the med wing, waiting for it to start," I confirmed, pointing inside the lab. "They should be finishing up the pre-checks."

"Good, it's about time we got this show on the road," Director Fury said. "Long time, no see, Mr. Parker."

I nodded, clearing my throat. "You as well, ah, sir." Why did he have to have an eyepatch?

As we walked back towards the others, he asked me, "Are you prepared for our discussion?"

"I think so," I answered, not seeing what other answer would be acceptable. "I mean, as soon as Shuri's done, we can start, so-"

"So let's get started," he finished, only kind of cutting me off. "It's time we got Rogers back to normal."