SOLDIER ─ marvel

XVIII. Confrontations

Chapter Eighteen
Soroya

"Where did you track him to?" Khari asks us. Alex and I are sitting on a fallen tree at the edge of the woods, with Khari on speaker on Alex's phone.

"I tracked him to Utica, New York. It was easy at first because there's a lot of woods here, but now I've tracked his scent to the edge of the city, which is a huge. There's over sixty thousand people living here, it makes it harder for me to track. Everett is on the phone with his people now to see if they can find any camera footage of Zemo here." I explain to him, glancing at Everett, who's pacing back and forth between two trees as he waits on the phone.

"How's back home doing?" Alex asks.

Khari lets out a sigh, taking a pause before replying; "Things could be better. I had my meeting with the people yesterday and...it didn't go very well. These are some of the same people who were at my original meetings, wanting to join with the rest of Wakanda and become unified, but now they have had a change of heart. I witnessed hundreds of my people blame me for what's happening now. They said that if I had left things alone and accepted our separation, then the UN wouldn't be messing with our affairs now."

"Don't listen to them." I say softly.

"They don't mean that," Alex says comfortingly to his husband, pain written across his face. "Your people are just angry about what's going on. Jabariland is better than it has ever been because you fought so hard to unite Wakanda and bring everyone together. Wakanda wouldn't be as strong as it is without you as one of it's leaders, and I know T'Challa and M'Baku would agree with me."

"I don't feel like a leader," Khari admits, his tone the most helpless and defeated I've ever heard. "There's nothing I can do to make my people feel safer or at ease. These agents are taking away things from our homes, doing background checks on everyone, and treating us like we're simpleminded savages. Some of the things I've heard these agents say...it makes me want to punch them, and I never want to punch people."

"I know, my love," Alex says, sounding equally as defeated, but not as a leader, as a husband. "I'm so sorry I'm not there. I should be."

"No, you should be trying to find James. He needs to be the number one priority."

"No matter what's going on, you're always going to be my number one priority," Alex almost whispers. "Please don't over exert yourself, promise me you're taking things easy. I understand wanting to punch people more than anyone, but please just take things slow. Has Shuri checked your wound lately?"

"She checked it this morning, it's healing fine. I'm doing alright, Alex. I promise I'm not doing anything too physically active."

Alex lets out a sigh, looking and sounding frustrated as he tells his husband; "We should get going. We'll call you once we make more progress."

"Alright, I love you both."

We both say it back to him before ending the call. As soon as Alex sets his phone down, Alex presses his thumb against the bridge of his nose, shaking his head. "I want to murder all of those agents." He tells me.

I place one hand on his back and the other on his arm, nodding my head to his comment. "The ignorance and arrogance of people truly astonish me."