surge | loki laufeyson ¹

fifty-seven

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THEY TOOK THE QUINJET TO WAKANDA, WHERE STEVE HAD SUGGESTED THEY GO. THE VIBE IN THE JET was lighter than the previous jet ride, but stress levels were still high. Alex had never seen Wakanda, but she had heard amazing things. She was excited to say the very least.

As they flew over the hidden city, Alex took in the sight. It was a mixture of developed but also urban. She was impressed with how well they'd kept their home hidden, and even more impressed that they had technology that far surpassed America's. 

They finally landed, and there was a line of Wakandan soldiers standing behind their king. The team stepped out in unison, walking toward them on the tarmac. 

"Should we bow?" Bruce asked, not having a single clue who T'Challa was.

"Yeah, he's a king." Rhodey responded.

Steve was the first to shake T'Challa's hand. "Seems like I'm always thanking you for something."

Bruce awkwardly bowed, making Alex giggle.

"Uh, we don't do that here." T'Challa waved him off. "So, how big of an assault can we expect?"

"Uh, sir, I think you can expect quite a big assault."

Once T'Challa reached Alex to shake her hand, she grinned. "We got off on the wrong foot, Cat Woman. Or should I say, paw?"

Steve's eyes almost bulged out of his head, but T'Challa spared her a smirk.

"How we looking?" Steve asked.

"You will have my King's Guard, the Border Tribe, the Dora Milaje, and I was told Miss Clark needed a bodyguard, so you have--"

"--A semi-stable, 100-year-old man." They heard.

All parties turned to see Bucky waltzing over with a shiny new addition to his torso. Alex rose an eyebrow, ignoring his smug grin.

"Bodyguards are supposed to be capable of fighting." She jabbed.

"Guess we can arm-wrestle over it." Bucky responded. "How've you been, Clark?"

"Been better."

Steve then embraced his old friend, a grin evident on his face. 

"How you been, Buck?"

"Uh, not bad, for the end of the world." 

"Let's get you all situated inside," The woman next to T'Challa spoke. 

She introduced herself as Okoye, showing them into the building. Alex was in awe of the place--something about it just seemed so mysterious. Maybe it was the fact that it was hidden from the world, but nonetheless, it was beautiful. 

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

They all collectively went to a lab, where they met T'Challa's younger sister, Shuri. 

Vision laid on a metal table, while Bruce and Shuri stood over him. Alex was in awe of the mind on the young girl, who seemed to take the matter into her own hands. 

"The structure is polymorphic." She spoke. 

"Right, we had to attach each neuron non-sequentially." Bruce agreed. 

"Why didn't you just reprogram the synapses to work collectively?" 

Bruce was dumbstruck. "Because, we didn't think of it." 

"I'm sure you did your best."

Alex smiled. She loved when women showed up men. 

"Can you do it?" Wanda nervously asked.