Disclaimer: the characters belong to MCU and the song to Demi Lovato.


Stone Cold

You see me standing

But I'm dyin' on the floor

Maybe if I don't cry

I won't feel anymore


"We need to talk".

Done, she said it.

It wasn't so difficult after all, right?

Just lies.

Who was she trying to play? It was true that this wasn't the first time she had said those words to T'Challa, but this time it was different.

Before, it was a temporary thing. She did it because she wanted space; she wanted to be free, to serve her country as a spy, doing something with her own hands instead of just being another pretty face, "the fiancé of the future king".

Then she realized that what bothered her was the idea of being someone else's property. But with time came responsibilities and maturity, T'Challa taking over the Wakanda throne, fighting together and building a future together.

And there it was, all the love, deeper and more important than before. So it was natural for them to come back as a couple. And this time forever and always.

How beautiful it sounded and she believed it with all her faith.

T'Challa would never stop loving her.

He would hold her hands on his own, so sweet and with that warm touch that she only knew. His pupils dilated when they kissed a second more than what good manners allowed. And he would embrace her, protector and possessive.

And she felt privileged. The people knew the King - kind, fair -, and Black Panther - accurate and lethal claws. But she knew him, all of him. She had watched him grow up, became a man's man, sharing his fears with her and overcome them together.

And there was that part. Nakia burned wherever T'Challa touched her. How could someone kiss her with such devotion and rawness at the same time?

Then there was that infinite tenderness, sweet kisses fluttering, and the fullness of knowing that she would be safe in his arms, those that would huddle and protect her no matter what.

And yet, here she was, repeating for the second time those four words that hurt her to the bones.


You're dancing with her

While I'm staring at my phone

I was your amber, but now

She's your shade of gold


"We need to talk".

T'Challa looked at her with concern. "What do you want to talk about, my love?"

"I think you already know," Nakia took a deep breath.

She thought she had gathered enough courage, she was a strong and independent woman, and she could do this with a cool head. But her heart betrayed her and her voice broke a bit as she threw a "we need to break up" into the air.

"I do not understand, my love, we're fine, aren't we?", he said quietly as he approached Nakia.

"No, we're not. And do not look at me like that".

"Like wh-?"

"Pretending that you don't know", a trace of complaint was drawn in her voice.

"I really don't know, Nakia". T'Challa sighed exasperated, "As far as I know everything was fine until you said it's not. And I don't understand what happens".

She took a few steps away from him and looked at him with anger. If he wanted to play the unaware, play dumb with her, very well, then she would explain to him with statistics and graphics what was happening.

What a…!

She was about to explode but - T'Challa wasn't like that. He was a genuine and honest man and that left her disarmed.

He looked at her with those deep chocolate eyes that only reflected surprise and consternation.

He hadn't realized what he felt.

But she did, and it hurt as if a vibranium bomb exploded inside you without killing you completely.

"It's her".

She didn't get an immediate answer. Not even a denial or something rhetorical. Just silence. A few seconds that seemed eternal and then she could appreciate how the understanding took hold of his face. There was that little spot of guilty innocent.

A pronoun was enough for him to know who she was talking about. And that hurt her.

"Nothing has happened with her".

Yet, right? Nothing has happened yet, but she didn't say it out loud.

"But you want something to happen", reproaches, more reproaches.

"I did not say that, Nakia", he sounded serious, as if there was no doubt about that, but she knew him, maybe better than he knew himself.

"It's not what you say, it's what you do".

"I haven't done anything and you know it".

Yes, she was sure about that just because T'Challa was like an open book to her, and precisely because of that she knew that consciously nothing had happened. But it was the natural, the spontaneous things she had refused to accept at first, what was drowning her now.

"But when you saw her you froze".


God knows I try to feel

happy for you

Know that I am

even if I can't understand

I'll take the pain


"I never freeze! I thought we had that clear", his tone of exasperation showing that he wasn't indifferent.

But he did freeze.

He wasn't lying, he just was afraid to admit it because he knew that it would wound her.

When they met her, even she was surprised. Not only she was beautiful, but the way she saw the world, the concern for her special children, the defense of everyone using peace as an instrument, her leadership capacity. Besides, there were her powers. She seemed to be made for him.

So, inexorably, she captivated him.

They started working together. At first, there were occasional missions to save the world. Then the project meetings and reunions began. Then were the trips to bring technology to areas that were still unassisted. The invitations to Wakanda came little by little, because oh she loved nature, and oh, surprise, he did it too.

They went from being professionals who teamed up to being friends who had plans for the future. And, what hurt Nakia the most, was how he opened up more and more with another woman. Why? That side of him belonged to her. The King was from their nation, Black Panther was from the world, and T'Challa was hers and only hers.

Why? Why was there now another name that T'Challa mentioned in the mornings and before going to sleep?

And jealousy, damn jealousy appeared. She started to complain but he insisted that it was nothing, that she was being exaggerated; he asked her to please stop because it was hard to spend time together arguing over assumptions and misunderstandings. Nakia just wanted to believe him so she swallowed all her doubts and pretended that they didn't exist.

But it was as if her best friend now had another best friend and she had become the third that bothers, the friend who walks behind the group because the other two go chatting forward and there is no room for more. And occasionally they asked her if everything was ok so that she didn't feel left behind.

And she looked at him, trying for months to resist desperately what he was feeling just to not hurt her... because T'Challa was so noble that he preferred to think he hadn't fallen in love with somebody else just to protect her, no matter what happened to him and his own feelings.

That irrational loyalty made her hate him a little bit, and at the same time made her love him even more.

She approached him and hugged him. Immediately his arms surrounded her and she felt at home. Only she would have to move out pretty soon. She couldn't cry – not now.

"But you care for her, don't you?".

"She's a great friend of Wakanda", his embrace relaxed a little.

"But she's not just a friend for you." Although she had refused to talk about her, she couldn't help it. "It's just that you haven't realized it".

"Of what?", he was a little annoyed and she was already saying goodbye.

"That you look at her the way you used to look at me."

Silence.

She waited and waited and while the time was passing she knew in the bottom of her heart that she was doing the right thing for both of them.

"I ... I ...", he was freezing and couldn't help it.

She ended their embrace.

She could no longer stay there, struggling for something that was lost and would not return back.

It was time to face the truth.

"I set you free, from us".

Their hands were still held together.

"My love, this is what you really want?".

Nakia smiled so sadly.

The first time they broke up, T'Challa refused. He protested and protested, and it was not until after several months that he accepted that they were taking a time off. But every time they saw each other he asked her to stay, he made her feel like he wanted her back, freezing and flowing and showing that the feeling was still intact.

But not anymore.

T'Challa added a "We can give it another chance". She knew him so well that she could distinguish the doubts in his affirmation.

Nakia interrupted him.

No, she couldn't handle that. It was one thing to be with T'challa without him being aware of his feelings for another person. But not now when he had accepted that there was something there, alive, claiming to be recognized and explored.

"Of course not, the decision is already made".

"I love you, Nakia, why is not enough?", he didn't let her go.

She couldn't keep herself together for that much longer, a few last words before her throat closed.

"You care for me, T'Challa, you love me? Yes, but I'm in love with you, you see?".

T'challa said nothing more. He looked at her with the most desolated eyes and dropped her hands.

Nakia crossed her arms over her chest in a sign of respect and left.

No tears.


Give me the truth, me and my heart

We'll make it through

If happy is her

I'm happy for you


Do you know that quote that says something like "if you love someone, you just want to see them happy even if they're with somebody else"?

Well, that's a lie.

But a lie told a thousand times becomes true, isn't it?

Nakia hoped it would be like that, because otherwise she wouldn't know how to move on while the love of her life married another woman who wasn't her.


AN: I hope you liked it! I bet you guessed who's the girl T'Challa fell in love with? ;)