...So hi. Been a while, hasn't it? Where have I been?

Finishing college, getting a job, moving to the other side of the world...

But now...now I want to be back with the ChristyVerse. Especially after Infinity War. And certainly once I see Endgame. We need some ChristyVerse damage control. Though I certainly won't be wholesale correcting everything that has gone down in the MCU, I will be adding in my own twists to some things.

IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THE CHRISTYVERSE IS, PLEASE READ MY PROFILE OR YOU WILL BE CONFUSED!

For now, I'm going to start off with some one-shots about Team Cap hiding out in Wakanda after the events of Civil War. This corresponds roughly with Chs 7-14 of "Tales from the River of Truth". When I wrote "Tales..." it was late 2016 and I had no clue about much in regards to Wakanda. I will be going back and fixing a couple things in that story. (After seeing Angela Basset's performance, I felt guilty for saying that T'Challa's mom was dead! Also SHURI!)

If anyone has any ideas for this story, feel free to suggest. This one will just be loose one-shots, probably about 7-10.

Anyway, enough talk: on with the story!

Chapter One: Two Princesses

Princess Shuri of Wakanda did not believe in ghosts. At least, that was what she told herself, as she stood very still and tried to discern where the quiet, scuffling sounds were coming from.

This was her lab. Her lab. Her sanctuary, where she was not to be disturbed without her knowledge.

Besides, things had been very strange lately. And strange was hardly the best word. Baba was gone, her brother would soon be king, and now there were three broken white boys staying as guests in the palace. Apparently with more to come.

"Hello?" she called out quietly. "Whoever you are, can you please not leave me in suspense? I do not bite…much."

For a moment, the lab was so quiet that Shuri wondered if she had simply imagined the noises. She had almost given up and decided to go back to her work, when a small figure eased out from behind one of the worktables.

"I…I didn't know where the door went to. And I got lost."

Shuri blinked slightly. The figure was a pre-teen girl: blonde, a bit tanned, and very sheepish looking.

"I can go back if you tell me how. I-I didn't mean to come somewhere I'm not allowed."

Shuri slowly shook her head, a bit in shock. "You do not need to leave. But I should know who you are."

"Oh! Um, I'm Christy. Christy Rogers. My dad k-knows King T'Challa and we're staying here for a while…"

Suddenly everything made sense.

"Oh, you are with Captain Rogers and the rest of that entourage." Shuri said, grinning. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Shuri…T'Challa is my brother."

Christy's eyes got very wide. "Y-you're a princess? A real princess?"

Shuri laughed. "As opposed to a fake one? Yes, I am real. But I don't wear many dresses. I spend most of my time down here."

"What exactly is this place?"

"My lab." Shuri drew herself up proudly. "My…secret hideout. You like it?"

Christy nodded. "It looks…sciency. Like Uncle Tony's lab." Her face suddenly twisted into a frown. "I dunno when I'm gonna see him again. He and dad had a fight and now they're not talking."

"Tony Stark, you mean?" Shuri asked.

T'Challa had given her and their mother a quick briefing on the situation since the Accords Signing had been attacked. Shuri had covertly followed the billionaire's work for years, anyway.

"Yeah. Everyone in my family is mad at each other. And dad has to break people out of prison now."

Shuri found herself fervently wishing she'd paid better attention to T'Challa's talk, instead of zoning out thinking about her latest prototype.

"Break people out of prison? So, we are harboring criminals?"

"My dad's not a criminal!" Christy's blue eyes got very stormy. "And Sam's not, or Uncle Clint, or Uncle Scott, or Wanda! Or Uncle Bucky! They're all good! They help people and solve problems and beat up bad guys!"

Shuri backed up slightly. "Hey, easy…I didn't mean…"

"We're not…not criminals…" Christy said weakly, not quite able to hide the tears in her eyes. "We aren't…"

Her head slumped and she bit her lip. Shuri frowned and tried to get a better look at the girl.

She's not that old…ten? Eleven? At that age, Mama and Baba still had me taking lessons. I spent all my time dreaming about new tech. And I certainly never had to worry about anything like this…

A bit more gently, she replied, "I know you aren't…my brother told me. I'm sorry. I did not mean anything by it." She reached out and awkwardly placed her hand on Christy's shoulder. "…Would you like to see my latest project?"

Christy sniffled a bit. "W-what does it do?"

"It is a new kind of fabric. I might use it for T'Challa, to make a new suit. His current one is so last year."

"Suit…Black Panther suit? Or dress suit?"

Shuri laughed. "For the Black Panther suit. Though he could use some new dress suits as well…fashion was never what he cared about."

She steered Christy over to a small worktable where swatches of fabric were laid out. They were all black and almost mesh looking. Three were labeled "Version 1," "Version 2," and "Version 3," respectively.

"…so, which one is the final one?" Christy asked.

Shuri proudly pointed at "Version 3". "This one. It absorbs any energy used against it, like in a punch or kick, and stores it. It can then release the energy to be used against one's opponent!"

Christy looked in awe. "Can I have a suit made of that, too?"

"…would your baba approve?" Shuri paused and shook her head. "Bast, what am I saying? Since when am I old and responsible?!"

"You're not old! So can I have a fun suit? I-If it isn't too much trouble."

"It's not! I can make you a little one." Shuri measure the girl with her mind's eye. "I should be able to manufacture a bit more of the material. You aren't very big."

Christy rolled her eyes. "Pietro says I'm skinny."

"And who is Pietro?"

"He's my…. you want the weird answer or the truth answer?"

Shuri frowned. "…both, I suppose?"

"Weird answer is he's my cousin. He's with my dad now. But he's not related to me at all. None of my family is, really. I'm adopted."

"Ah, fine. So, you're adopted. That's not weird."

Wakanda was no stranger to adoption. All the tribes had systems in place to foster orphans, and sometimes families who wanted to strengthen ties would foster each other's children for a few years. It was not uncommon to call people "aunt" or "uncle" or "cousin" who had no blood relation to you at all.

Christy shrugged. "Yeah, I guess not. What's weird is that he has superpowers and can run really fast. Like the old Roadrunner cartoons."

Shuri grinned. "I loved those as a child. Baba liked old American cartoons and we used to watch them together."

"They call him 'Quicksilver'. His sister is Wanda. She can move stuff with her mind and read minds and…other stuff. They call her…"

"Scarlet Witch." Shuri finished. Even she had paid enough attention to the news lately to recognize that name. Especially after Lagos.

Wakandans dead because of a fight in the outside world…everyone was saying it was proof we should stay isolated. Baba didn't think so. And now, he's…

Christy looked at the floor and scuffed her shoe. "She was really sorry…she wasn't trying to kill people."

Shuri tried to break out of her stupor. "…I suppose not. What was she trying to do?"

"Stop a bad guy called Rumlow. He was a traitor and he worked for HYDRA. They're like Nazis but they wanted to take over the whole world and they had an octopus for a symbol."

"They were fighting him in Lagos, then? And the building exploded because…?"

"Because she accidentally slammed him into it with her mind powers."

"Ah…see, and I thought being the princess of a secret technical wonderland was enough of an interesting life."

Christy giggled. "My life has always been interesting. And Dad does call me princess sometimes. But now it's really interesting. My dad, my uncles, and my cousins are now technically in trouble. And wanted. Your brother was really nice to let us stay here."

"Wakanda…we always do our own thing. We don't really care what the rest of the world is doing."

"So, all the stuff…the vibranium…that's why everything is so fancy?"

Shuri cracked up. "Fancy, yes…we have always been very technologically advanced because of the vibranium. But we knew that other countries would be interested in it, especially…" She glanced at Christy uncomfortably. "European ones. And America, later."

"Oh…like how people had colonies in Africa and did…other stuff. And you didn't want people to come to steal the vibranium. So, you pretend to be poor?"

"Exactly! No one wants anything to do with a poor, third-world country, stuck in the dark ages!" Shuri's tone was very joking.

"But it's so pretty here, and everyone is so nice, and there's lots of interesting things to learn and see and people are dressed all different! It's funny that people think that, but…" she paused, not sure how to phrase her thoughts.

"But it's also not." Shuri finished. "It is not. But we don't let what others think control what we do. We have our own culture and heritage and we keep it strong."

"I want to learn things, while I'm here. Your brother said I could call him umzala…"

"Call him cousin?" Shuri smiled. "If you want. He always was such a bleeding heart…"

"A-and…and you?"

Shuri's smile got bigger. "If you want that too."

"I want it! I love having a big family. It means…"

She stopped, quiet, and bit her lip again. Tears once more threatened to break out of her eyes.

"…yes?" Shuri probed, waiting.

This girl clearly had some heavy emotional baggage she was carrying. So did Sergeant Barnes and Captain Rogers, from what she had seen. And even from the little bit she had caught of Quicksilver—Pietro Maximoff—she could tell he ached inside, too.

"…it means more people to take care of me if something happens to Dad or Uncle Bucky or Sam. It means…I'm not gonna be alone."

She looked so small, standing there, so tiny and fragile, with eyes full of pain. But there was steel behind the pain.

Not steel…vibranium.

Shuri gently hugged Christy. "No, I don't think you are going to be alone. Umzala."

Christy gave a wobbly smile. "T-thank you, princess."

Shuri swatted at her playfully. "Hey, now, what's that for?"

"Umzala, umzala!" Christy corrected herself.

"Much better! Besides, I am hardly a very good example of royalty. My brother is much better. That is why he is king and I make all the fun toys in my lab."

As if summoned by the mere mention of himself, both girls heard a voice call down the corridor:

"Christy! Christy, did you come down here? You've got to get back; I promised your baba you would be safe and I have a meeting in fifteen minutes!"

Shuri looked at Christy. Christy looked at Shuri.

"…I'll hide under the table." Christy said.

"I'll distract him." Shuri responded, pointing to a suitable table for hiding under. "Go there."

She called back down the hall as Christy hid. "Brother? What is it?"

T'Challa appeared, dressed appropriately for a council meeting and looking a bit frazzled. "Shuri, have you seen a girl come down here? Blonde hair and blue eyes?"

Shuri tried not to roll her eyes at her brother's tactful description.

Avoided mentioning skin color at all; you may make a politician yet, brother.

"A little girl?" she queried. "Come down here? Mm…I might have seen her. At some point. Then again, I wasn't really looking clearly…could have been a leopard."

T'Challa's eyes narrowed. "Shuri, please…"

"I'm here, umzala!" Christy said, climbing out from under the table.

Shuri sighed. "Come on, I had him all set to get really worked up!"

"But he was worried…"

T'Challa looked instantly relieved at seeing Christy. He hadn't really been worried, but he had not wanted to deploy the Dora Milaje to search for the girl. Or face Captain Rogers upon his return from the Raft with the news that he had lost track of his daughter.

"See, little sister, some people care about how other people are worried!"

"I care about you being worried! I care about the funny look you get on your face!"

Rolling his eyes, T'Challa placed his hand on Christy's shoulder. "Do you want to stay here, little one? With my crazy sister?"

Christy nodded eagerly. "Can you tell Uncle Bucky where I am?"

Shuri glanced at her prototype fabrics. She could keep working, but…

"Or, you can introduce me instead." she told the girl. "I want to meet someone that survived cryofreeze."

"Okay! Just don't…ask him about it. He's still not happy that Zemo—the bad guy—messed with his brain."

Shuri glanced at T'Challa. The name sounded vaguely familiar. "Didn't you bring him to the U.N., brother?"

"Yes, I did." T'Challa said. "He is behind bars, as he should be. He is a man too blinded by grief and vengeance to be trusted."

"And when you say he 'messed with his brain'…?"

Christy sighed. "It's kind of a long story." She said.

"Never mind, then." Shuri said quickly. "I have time to hear it later. You are here for how long?"

Christy looked at T'Challa. T'Challa shook his head. "Undecided at this point. Until we have more information. At least a few months."

Shuri smiled, very pleased. "Yes! I have a new test dummy!"

Christy smiled back, a bit uncertain. "I'll help you, if you want! I dunno what we're gonna do all day. I have homeschool on the computer, but I dunno what else to do. I don't know many people here…just you guys."

Shuri's mind was already filling with grand plans. There were many wonders in Wakanda, ripe for exploring, especially with foreigners…

"I can introduce you." she assured Christy. "Now come. Show me this 'Uncle Bucky' of yours. Dr. Okoye was talking to me yesterday about making him a new arm…"

As the two girls walked out of the lab arm-in-arm, T'Challa stood quietly for a moment.

"Bast, what horror have I just unleashed upon my country?" he muttered, shaking his head.

Hope you enjoyed! More to come, hopefully. My school ends for the summer at the end of May, so as things wind down, I hope to write more. As I said, any ideas, please let me know!

I also hope to post a story called "Love is for Children" about Bruce and Natasha in India fairly soon...so stay tuned for that.

Thank you to all of you who have favorited, reviewed, and followed my writing even in this interim. It never fails to amaze me how much my probably over-optimistic take on this universe has brought enjoyment to so many. Here's to the ChristyVerse and remember...

Reviews are wonderful things!