The thunderous commotion of an intense explosion followed by a cascade of bullets was the last thing CIA Agent Everett Ross could remember as he instinctively put his own body between that of Nakia, friend and trusted ally of King T'Challa; the Black Panther of Wakanda and the carnage tearing through the building. A burning sensation in his upper back just below his shoulder blades tore through his body as he laid on his side on the floor of the decimated South Korean base of operations. Yelling, gunfire, shattering glass and a muffled explosion was a fading ambience as the inability to take in a deep breath, courtesy of the bullet in his spine, stole Everett's dwindling strength from his wounded body.

A gentle warm hand rested on his upper arm while the opposite hand pulled up his jacket and shirt to reveal the wound in his back. Unable to speak or move Everett could only stare blankly at the floor while his fate remained at the mercy of his friend.

Nakia hovered protectively over Everett as she examined the injury to his spine. The skilled spy hadn't anticipated being ambushed by an unknown foe through a concrete wall, let alone having to duck from a spray of bullets. If Everett hadn't reacted so quickly and intervened then it would've surely been herself who was laying on the floor bleeding to death.

A second CIA agent who had witnessed the attack had been watching as the Wakandans tended to her injured colleague. She was obviously worried and uncertain of the best possible course of action to save Everett's life or his spine.

"He jumped in front of me." Nakia lamented as T'Challa knelt at Everett's side. She showed her king the injury to Everett's back with a pained gaze. "It is in his spine"

Everett's strained, gasping breaths and unfocused eyes were enough coax the big hearted king into making his decision.

"This will stabilize him." T'Challa stated firmly to his two Wakandan allies: Nakia his love and Okoye his most loyal, skilled warrior. A small sphere of metal that Everett couldn't identify was given by Nakia which was subsequently deftly pressed into the bullet wound by T'Challa's strong yet gentle hand.

"Give him to us." T'Challa urged sincerely to the young, frightened agent at Everett's side. "We can save him."

The pain in Everett's back steadily subsided and his breathing eased as the odd Wakandan bead went to work stabilizing his condition. Closing his eyes Everett let his body go limp and fell into the sweet bliss of unconsciousness on the floor of the destroyed building.

Okoye had visibly disapproved of T'Challa's choice to aid Everett, but her words went unnoticed by the unconscious agent as he was transported to safety with T'Challa, Nakia and Okoye hovering over him.

"Our mission was to bring back Klaue." Okoye lamented openly. "We have failed." She looked down at Everett disapprovingly and angrily. "This man is a foreign intelligence operative. How do we justify bringing him into our borders?"

The strong and confident voice of Okoye was vague yet familiar to Everett's ears.

"He took a bullet for me."

Nakia.

Her voice was also somewhat vague but he could still hear kindness and compassion.

"That was his choice." Okoye argued firmly, unwilling to change her mind on the delicate matter. "So is it ours that we heal him." She turned back to T'Challa with passion burning in her eyes as well as her voice. "It is his duty to report back to his country. And as King, it is your duty to-"

"I am well aware of my duties." T'Challa interjected sharply, his eyes focused and sincere with his words. "I will not just... let him die, knowing we can save him."

T'Challa's voice. Everett recognized the wise and kind words of the new king. A king that was sure to lead a magnificent and prosperous reign for his people and for those he considered friends.

Barely conscious Everett was aware of only a hard surface pressing against his back. He was still alive. Breathing. But unable to move or to speak. It seemed like he was in the throes of a distant dream, helpless to the world around him with only his three allies to protect him.

Okoye was still displeased with T'Challa's decision. "Where exactly are we taking him?"

The discussion suddenly muted as what little consciousness Everett had managed to cling to finally gave out, leaving him completely defenseless and oblivious during the rest of the flight back to the enigmatic and glorious Wakanda.

Darkness stole his mind once again and he would know nothing more until the following day.

T'Challa, along with Nakia and Okoye, walked alongside the gurney that carried Everett's body into the sanctuary of Shuri's astonishing lab. A lab filled with unrivaled technology that was decades advanced over the modern technology of the outside world. If there was any hope in saving Everett's spine, let alone his life, it would come from the prodigious hands, mind and skill of Shuri, the Princess of Wakanda.

As Shuri greeted her brother in her lab she spied the gurney with a gray blanket draped over the body. Swiftly she flipped back the soft cloth and peered down at Everett's unconscious face and welcomed him with a confident smile. "Praise! Another broken white boy for us to fix. This is going to be fun!"

With great care and ease T'Challa lifted Everett up from the gurney and placed him gently down on the medical examination table. Limp, heavy it was as if T'Challa had delivered a corpse rather than a still living man.

Shuri effortlessly set about scanning Everett's body and located the bullet still lodged in his spine. The bullet had caused extensive damage but Wakandan medicine aided by vibranium easily mended the broken bone of the vertebrae after a simply extraction of the bullet.

"Take care of him." T'Challa asked worriedly as he looked down at Everett's expressionless face. "He is an ally. And my friend."

"Of course. I can handle this." Shuri replied fearlessly.

The highly advanced scanner gave a full and accurate read out on the vital signs of any person who laid down upon the exam table: heart rate, respiration, blood pressure, body temperature, blood sugar, renal function, etc. A machine that would truly be the envy of every hospital throughout the world.

T'Challa watched patiently, standing tall and proud beside the exam table as Shuri set to work examining Everett's spine, digitally displaying the damage with simple motions from just her hands.

"He will live." Shuri stated boldly to T'Challa as she lightly patted Everett's chest confidently.

"Thank you sister." T'Challa left his friend under the care of the fiery princess knowing that his friend couldn't be in more capable hands.

Nakia and Okoye accompanied T'Challa leaving Shuri alone with the injured CIA agent in the safety of her lab.

The kindness, the wisdom and the open hearts of the Wakandan people is seemingly unmatched by any other civilization across the entire globe. To take in a man that had only spoken with T'Challa briefly once before reuniting in South Korea, a man who had made a career out of gathering information and exposing secrets, a man who had no reason to trust anyone but himself, and to heal his broken body in a way that medicine in the United States never could was sure to cause controversy amongst the village elders and tribe leaders.

But it was a controversy that King T'Challa was willing to risk.

In his short time as king T'Challa had come to realize that despite Wakanda's isolation from the rest of the world it didn't mean that they were disconnected. Everything and everyone in the world; a world torn apart and corrupted by avarice, fear, anger, hatred, grievances, mistrust and delusions, could no longer be ignored in favor of one kingdom.

Wise men build bridges. Foolish men build barriers.

Offering his hand to his fallen friend, offering aid to a dying man, was the first of many risks that the great Black Panther was ready to endure for the betterment of the entire world as a whole, rather than one little piece.

As Everett slept under the care of Shuri his body healed. However the advanced medical science and technology was completely foreign to Everett and his body responded to this unknown intrusion as any human body would to an invasive serum.

Sweat formed on Everett's forehead as his limbs began to twitch slightly. His head lolled back and forth slowly as his breathing hitched in his chest. Distress set in and quickly overwhelmed the agent's already taxed body.

Ever observant Shuri hovered over her unconscious patient and ran another scan to identify the source of his current state: Fever.

"Why do Americans always have to make everything so difficult?" The brilliant teenager murmured under her breath as she adjusted the Kimoyo beaded bracelet wrapped around her wrist to remotely respond to Everett's negative reaction to the treatment. "We need to bring your temperature down."

A slight alteration to the dose of vibranium laced serum would reduce the strain on Everett's body as he fought to recovery in tandem with the wondrous healing capabilities of Wakandan medicine.

"One hundred and three," Shuri noted the current degree of his fever and watched knowing that soon the number would fall. "one hundred and two and half... one hundred and two... Good."

As his fever began to break Everett stopped twitching on the table and his breaths evened out once more.

"Good. Now stay that way. I have enough work to do as it is!"

Noticing that Everett's clothing was saturated in his sweat Shuri rolled her eyes as she made one final adjustment on her Kimoyo bracelet.

"You'll need a change of clothes." She put one hand dramatically over her eyes as she set her final command. "I will not have you stinking up my lab!"

Within a matter of seconds the sophisticated machine that had been monitoring Everett's vital signs shrouded the man behind an opaque barrier of energy as his tarnished garments were removed and replaced with a dark blue silken gown. The barrier faded leaving Everett with his dignity intact.

"That's better!" Satisfied that Everett was stable and no longer in any danger Shuri resumed her work at her desk on the far side of the lab while her patient continued to sleep on the table under the constant registration of her scanner. "Now do not move. Some of us have some work to do!"

Hours passed by without further incident.

Gradually a sense of awareness stimulated Everett's resting mind. His eyes fluttered open as the whirring sound of machines busily recording and calculating endless equations filled the air and his ears, his vision came into focus. Looking about the unknown room his memories of the attack in South Korea crept in, and with those memories came the painful memory of the bullet that had been lodged in his spine.

Sitting up on the table he took a breath and was shocked to find no pain as he swung his legs over the edge of the table from which he had been laying. Pressing his hand down his back between his shoulders he sought the location of the wound that was surely still healing but couldn't find any sign of injury. Awkwardly he used his other hand to search along with his first and yet he could not locate the entry of the bullet wound. He pulled his hands back and looked down at his palms still expecting to see some trace amounts of blood staining his skin but there was nothing there.

As he gathered his senses he jumped down from the exam table and looked about the lab curiously, muttering quietly to himself as he walked about the unfamiliar room in absolute shock and wonder. Spying Shuri sitting at her desk with a highly advanced prototype beneath her dexterous hands he called out to her.

"Alright, where am I?"

Shuri turned her gaze jumped in response to Everett and gave him an appropriately bitter reply as he walked up to her. "Don't scare me like that, 'Colonizer'!"

"Co-? Wha- My name is Everett." He introduced himself quickly as he continued to walk over to the bright young girl.

"Yes, I know." Shuri replied sharply as she briefly turned her focus back to her work on the desk and away from Everett. "Everett Ross: Former Air Force pilot and now C.I.A."

Perplexed by her pre-existing knowledge of him Everett could only confirm her statement. "Right." He looked about the room still confused but decided his best bet for answers was to continue speaking to the young woman. "Okay, is this Wakanda?"

"No, it's Kansas." Her sarcasm was palpable yet sweet as she focused on her project.

"How long ago was Korea?"

"Yesterday."

"I don't think so. Bullet wounds don't just magically heal overnight."

Shuri gave Everett a smug smile and a light chuckle of amusement as she turned to look at him. "They do here. But not by magic, by technology." She pointed upward indicating their location as unique and special.

Everett skeptically looked about the lab still confused while Shuri resumed her work.

"Don't touch anything." Shuri warned firmly but kindly. "My brother will return soon."

-The End