Black Sheep
Every family has one right? That one family member that doesn't really fit in. They stick out like a sore thumb and no matter how hard they may try, they don't feel they fit. Sam Wilson knew the moment he saw the family portrait hanging in the throne room that T'Challa and Shuri's middle sister didn't fit. What was her name? That one question leads Sam down a rabbit hole…
Chapter 1: The End
Sam knew he'd had a few drinks but he wasn't drunk you know? Like maybe two glasses of wine and a shot of something Scott had insisted he try but other than that he knew he wasn't drunk enough to see what he was seeing. A quite literal dark figure, like night itself with two eyes that could be moons, was strolling through the Wakandan celebration in a tux. Sam wanted to elbow Steve but he was deep in conversation with some elders. T'Challa wasn't far but Sam couldn't even think of his name without butterflies so he rubbed his eyes. Didn't do anything. The figure was still there, even waved to Sam, who kinda dazed, waved back.
"Who're you waving to?" Ray asked. Now Sam for sure knew no one could see Ray. He'd asked other and looked insane in the process. The man had suddenly appeared in his life after a near death experience chasing crooks on Wakanda's border. Sam had once asked Ray if he was his guardian angel to which the man just laughed, never answering the question.
"The guy over there in a tux! No one else notices him...like you, man."
"Maybe he's another guardian angel?" Sam fought the urge to snap at him. He had to be careful talking to Ray in public. since no one else could see him, he'd end up looking insane. And yes it had already happened several times, the most embarrassing one being in front of T'Challa. "I'm joking. That's the Panther God they all worship."
"Stop lyin."
"I'm not." Ray gave a little wave of his own and surprisingly the alleged god grinned and waved back. "He's a good friend of mine." Sam was about to ask some follow up questions to that comment but didn't get a chance. Shuri had made her way to the stage in her billowy gown. Everyone grew quiet. Sam adjusted the translator in his ear.
"Today is the day my niece turns sixteen. We have all watched you grow into a beautiful, young woman. I am proud of you Nitocris!" All eyes were on the sixteen year old and her mother, both of whom had been mostly shunned in Wakandan upper Shuri didn't care, neither did T'Challa and as he raised his glass to toast his sister, the man Sam had seen before stepped onto the stage. This time there was a commotion because everyone could see him.
"Who are-" With a snap of the finger, Shani was standing beside Sam. Both looked at each other in shock then at the man. He held up his hands to quiet the commotion starting.
"I apologize for the rudeness daughter but I have things I must do and I need Nitocris. Yet before all of that I would also like to apologize to Shani." Sam noticed the Dora Milaje standing in a protective circle around Shani and her daughter though the two were more than capable of taking care of themselves. "Some years ago my friend was cursed to be reborn as a human. Shani, then only fifteen, was crying in my temple…" An excited murmur went through the crowd. Shani was holding Nitocris' hand tightly. "She already felt out of place and I asked her to do something that would alienate her even more. To bear a child at such a young age with no father. She agreed. To make sure she would take her oath seriously, I took her voice. She bore the shame and humiliation, the shunning, with her head held high and though perhaps she could've written down what happened, she never did. She took her oath seriously and cared for Nitocris until it was time."
"What the hell is happening?" Steve whispered. Sam was getting a picture of it. He looked back over at Shani. He'd been told of how horribly she'd been treated after it was discovered she was pregnant. The irony of her doing it all for their god. He could see the shame and embarrassment on the many faces in the room. The looking anywhere but at the Panther God, the nervous drinking, the ones already whispering to her and asking for forgiveness. Sam shook his head. Bastards.
"Shani I honor you for what you have done and I ask that you let Nitocris go," The Panther God said. Shuri wasn't having it.
"I don't understand! What is this! And you will do nothing to my niece!" Ever the hot head.
"Shuri!" T'Challa snapped. "This is our Panther God. Were you not listening?"
"I don't care who he is! Do you know what you have put my sister and our family through!" Sam had to hide a smile behind his hand.
"Daughter you have every right to be angry but let me show you who Nitocris really is." Shani hugged her shorter mini me, wiped a few tears then let Nitocris walk towards the man. He held a hand out, helping her up the stage. "Behold my children, the goddess who walked among you." At the strike of the clock hitting midnight, there was absolute darkness in the room. Panicked shouts rang out. Sam swore he heard Ray laughing close by. When the lights came back on there were audible gasps. Shuri slammed a hand on his shoulder, gripping it as if it was keeping her from collapsing. The pain from the grip didn't even register for Sam. Nope. That's because everyone was staring at a woman with the head of a lioness, staff in one hand , with some sort of headdress on top of her head. She was dressed like one of those ancient Egyptian pictures he'd seen. Then he blinked and she was Nitocris, still in the old clothes and staff but no more lioness head.
"The Lion God, Sekhmet," The Panther God announced.
"Jesus fucking Christ...he might appear too," Clint had appeared beside him. "I am not nearly drunk enough to deal with more gods right now." Sam actually thought the whole thing amazing. The assholes who'd treated Shani and Nitocris horribly were probably wishing they could disappear forever. "You're enjoying this crazy shit aren't you?" Sam didn't bother denying it because he sure as hell was and judging by Shuri and T'Challa's faces, they were too.
Ok so maybe this is a bad place to start. We need to go to the beginning when Sam saw a family portrait and started asking questions. What's that? You want to know who's involved with this story? Well…
There's Sam Wilson- Avenger/Fugitive now I guess?
T'Challa- King of Wakanda and secret crush of a certain Avenger/Fugitive
Shuri- T'Challa's youngest sister who can be a hot head
Shani- Middle sister of the royal Wakanda family and the black sheep
Nitocris- Shani's fifteen year old daughter, conceived in mysterious circumstances
Ray- Someone who only Sam can see after a near death experience. Not an angel like he thinks. Take off a letter in his name and what do you get?
I think that covers it. Ready? Alright this all started the day Sam decided to skip a tour of the palace with everyone else. He ended up wandering into the throne room and saw a family portrait hanging above the throne...
