T'Challa was beginning to wonder if his family was cursed in some way. It always seemed that just when his life was starting to calm down, something new and almost always completely insane or amazing would happen.
He was still half-asleep, and had been getting his breakfast when Shuri burst into the room. "Bro! You're finally awake!" She exclaimed, grabbing at his hand and dragging him toward the door. "Come on, come on! You have to see this!"
He groaned tiredly, barely trying to fight her grip except for a weak protest. "Shuri, please," He grumbled,"At least let me wake up first, it's been a long few days-"
"Don't worry," Shuri quickly responded,"When you see this, you'll wake right up and the pass out from shock all over again!"
Now the king had to admit he was a little curious, so he gave an exaggerated sigh and said,"Fine, lead the way."
Shuri grinned excitedly, and started to drag him again but then stopped. She turned around, grabbed a plate of lamb meat, and then ran out of the room. T'Challa exchanged a look with Okoye, and then followed after the girl again.
She led him all the way to her lab, and hurried inside. T'Challa followed her and instantly noticed several things. Firstly, Shadow was sitting on the exam table licking his paws; When he saw T'Challa staring at him, he let out a friedly meow, and then kept cleaning himself. The second thing he saw was several displays that seemed to be about the panther, and the final thing he saw was Shuri pick up several vials and then slam them against the ground.
"Shuri!" He exclaimed in shock, eyes wide with confusion. "What did you do that for?! I didn't get you those vials so you could smash them! They were for expirients!"
The princess whipped around to face him and excitedly replied,"This is an experiment! Shadow, show him what you can do."
Shadow chuffed in response and then hopped off the table, stalking over to the shattered remains of the vials. He lowered his head, pressing the tip of his nose against one of the smooth pieces of glass.
Then strange red lines began to glow on the panther's body, from his paws all the way to his nose. Once they reached his nose, the red glow passed onto the glass and the pieces floated into the air, moving around and forming the vials again. The glow then faded away, revealing the perfectly fixed vials without any sign that they had been broken.
Shuri quickly caught the vials before they fell, and then displayed them to her brother. "Ta-dah!" She sang.
T'Challa's jaw had dropped, his plate clattering to the ground. He slowly moved over to Shuri, taking one of the vials and examining it closely. There as no cracks, no markings. It looked as good as news.
"How in the…" He whispered, looking at the panther, then back at his sister. "How did you find out he can do this?"
Shuri's eyes widened and she grew even more excited. "Oh my god, you won't believe this," She said,"I was going to check on Asha, and I found Shadow using his powers on her! He- He healed her like all the way! Her leg and arm are back, her scars are all gone! It's crazy!"
T'Challa's eyes widened even more, f that was possible, and he looked at the big cat. "How in the world can he have that much power?" He questioned,"And… And where did it come from?"
"Somebody had to have experimented on him, I know it," She explained,"There are track marks on his skin, under the fur, and the scar around his neck from chains that Cooper mentioned. I don't think he got his powers willingly, but he sure is using them for good."
The king looked at the panther again, this time with a softer expression. He gently pet the creature's head, and softly said,"You are just full of surprises aren't you, little one?"
Shadow let out a small mewl, leaning into his hand and drowsily blinking. Shuri quickly grabbed the plate of lamb meat, and giving a few sleeves to the panther.
As the creature ate, Shuri brought her brother to the holographic display. "I was wondering if you could look at the data I got from him," She said,"It seems familiar… But I'm just not sure what it could be related to exactly."
T'Challa looked at the data she got on his power, it's potential, and the energy it let out whenever the panther use it. At first, T'Challa didn't really know if he had ever seen such a thing, but then he expanded his thoughts from creatures using it to items that had it, or even humans. Wait a minute… I have encountered this before!
Without a word to his sister, he pulled up three more displays. One was Vision, one was Wanda, and one was the Tesseract. "Look at the similarities," He told her, and moving out of the way as she jumped in front of her screens.
Her eyes darted all over the place, soaking up as much information as she could and then looking at Shadow's file again. "No way…" She whispered,"It's… It's another one of those things."
They turned to look at Shadow, who stared back at them with a mouthful of lamb meat. He tilted his head while letting out a nervous meow, and T'Challa knew he understood everything they had just said.
Kneeling down in front of the panther, he softly asked,"Shadow, do you remember how you got these powers."
The pain that instantly appeared in those brown orbs gave him his answer, but the panther also nodded in agreement.
"And it wasn't your choice, was it?" T'Challa questioned,"You didn't want it, and yet it happened."
Shadow's ears flattened against his head, and he nodded again. Whines escaped from his throat, and his tail curled closely against his body. T'Challa was quick to pet the creature comfortingly, and quietly said,"Don't worry, little one. We won't let anyone hurt you anymore."
"And if anyone tries to, you can roar them to death!" Shuri cheerfully exclaimed,"Cooper told me about that! I bet that was super cool to see!"
T'Challa felt he panther's shoulders shake in what seemed like laughter, and the king let himself laugh a bit as well.
"Well, me and Shuri have a lot to look at right now it seems. I'm sure she's had you up all night, so you should get some rest. Cooper, Lila, and Nate are probably missing your company right now," He said.
The panther seemed to think for a moment, and then nodded. He walked up to them, pressing his head against one of their legs each and then sauntering out of the room. After the door slid shut, Shuri laughed. "He's quite a character, isn't he?"
T'Challa's inquisitive eyes stared at the closed door for a few seconds before he replied,"Yeah… He really is." The king then turned around to look at the research with his sister, but his mind stayed on the strange panther that resided with them now.
You are a very curious creature, Shadow… Are you even what we think you are?
Tony walked down the hallway, his heart pounding against his chest as he thought of those two questions T'Challa had asked him. They were so small, so simple, and yet they opened up the dam that he had made, letting out the memories he had tried so hard to block.
"The syringes are sanitized, sir."
"The laser is prepped."
"Is the subject tied down?"
"Yes, sir."
"And the RS is on standby?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then begin."
The panther whimpered, leaning against the side of the hallway and shivering as the memories invaded his mind. He remembered thrashing, screaming, crying, the intense pain followed by a few seconds of peace before it happened all over again. Months and months and months of that before he escaped.
His ears flattened against his head, and he placed his paws on top of his head to try and block out the memories. They hurt to remember, they hurt so bad. And he still wasn't free! They were hunting him, he had remnants of that… Thing inside him.
I suppose I should thank those bastards for that, at least. There was no way he would have escapes, saved the kids, or healed Asha without those powers. Still, nothing is worth the hell that they put me through.
His dark thoughts were cut off when he heard a door opening, and he quickly looked up. He saw Steve leaving one of the nearby bedrooms, and instantly turning to the guards nearby. "Have you seen Bucky?" He asked.
"No," The Dora Milaje bluntly replied in a tone that made Tony think they may have spoken to Shuri about Bucky's recent panic attack.
Steve looked a little frustrated at the response, and he quickly asked,"Well, do you know if anyone else might know? He's my best friend, and I want to see him."
Tony's ears flattened again, a growl rising up in his throat. Just leave Bucky alone! Just because he's your best buddy doesn't mean he's at your beck and call! He thought angrily, tail thumping against the floor.
"I do not, I have been at my post all day," She responded cooly again, not even glancing towards Steve with any type of acknowledgement.
Steve sighed, and dejectedly muttered,"I'll go ask around then…" He then wandered down the hall like a depressed teenager, and Tony found he couldn't help but roll his eyes once Steve was far enough away.
Surprisingly, the Dora Milaje noticed his action and smirked. "I feel the same way about his behavior, little one," She said,"Just be happy that you only understand English and don't speak it, or I'm sure he would be interrogating you too."
Tony snorted in amusement and nodded in agreement, he knew that Steve was probably desperate enough to try that. He looked towards the door that Steve had come out of, then back at the woman with a meow.
The Dora Milaje seemed to know right away what he was thinking; She opened the door and then said,"I think I heard someone calling me." She then turned and walked down the hall, giving Tony free reign.
The panther padded into Steve's room, looking at the luxurious bed and other amenities the Avenger got in the palace. I bet he isn't grateful for it either… He thought with a growl, hopping onto the bed. Just like how he acted in the tower, as if he deserved everything just because he was Captain America.
He raised his paw, and flexed out his claws while admiring them. He then placed his paw against the bedspread, gently digging the claws into the fabric. If panthers could smile, Tony definitely would be.
Let me give you a little taste of what you actually deserve, Rogers.
"How curious…" Okoye muttered, looking at the data the two siblings had put together. "He has the same power… Does that mean there's another stone?"
Shuri nodded. "There has to be. The Tesseract and Vision have the same kind of stones, and Thor told he Avengers there were more. It's not unlikely that someone else got ahold of one," She explained.
Okoye nodded, staring at the data and images of Shadow that Shuri made. "But… I don't understand," She started,"If they have the stone, why would they use it on a random panther?"
T'Challa decided that the she said that moment was as good as any. He looked at the two and casually replied,"I don't think… That Shadow is actually a panther. I think he is something else."
"Why do you say that?" Shuri curiously asked, although her tone implied that she may have been thinking around the same thing.
"He's… Well, he's more sentient than the other panthers here. Shuri, you told me he understood every complex thing or instruction you said. And he shows more emotions than most creatures here," He explained,"And with Bucky, he was helping calm him down from his panic attack… It was as if he knew how to help someone who was having one."
Okoye took all the information she had been given and curiously replied,"You… You think he's human, don't you?"
Shuri frowned for a moment, and then replied,"It's not that far of a stretch, actually. If his powers can grow limbs back, make portals, or fix broken things good as new, it's not that far a stretch."
T'Challa and Okoye nodded, both agreeing with her analysis as well. The king pushed all the data into a file and said,"For now, let's keep this between us. We can't know for sure if we're right, I'd like to do a little more observation before we act."
"And telling the Rogues anything would probably just lead to them doing something reckless and stupid," Okoye quipped.
Shuri and T'Challa agreed, and closed down all the displays. "Now, let's go and finish having breakfast," The king said,"It will be suspicious if we don't make an appearance."
The three left the room, and Okoye quickly hurried to his side. "But what will we tell the children when they see that Asha has her injuries completely back?" She asked.
"Well, Cooper and the kids have seen Shadow use his powers before. We'll tell them the truth, that Shadow healed her," He explained,"But they don't have to know any of our other suspicions just yet."
With a nod of understanding, the three Wakandans quickly hurried out of the lab and back towards the dining hall.
Natasha didn't bother with going to get breakfast, she simply didn't have the desire to. Life had strangely gotten much more stressful out of nowhere, even though they had saved the kids. Now they knew they were being hunted by Ross, and that he was willing to go after family members as well.
I guess that's one good thing about my past, I don't have any civilian family… But I still have my friends… She thought. And… I have a feeling that some people are already gone because of him…
She frowned and leaned against the hallway, her thoughts beginning to overwhelm her. She was starting to wonder… If Ross was willing to go as far as hunting down their families, could he… Could he be behind Tony's disappearance as well?
Her hand went to cover her mouth, fear filling her heart. Even if we had our disagreements, he was still my friend… Nobody deserves whatever Ross has planned. And Ross hasn't even publicly acknowledged that Tony is missing… Could he really be behind it?
Natasha was jerked out of her thoughts when she heard a curious mewl. She turned, and saw that strange panther staring at her, his intelligent brown eyes staring into her soul, and head tilted.
"Oh… Hey Shadow," She said softly, adopting her cold exterior once more even though she was only around a cat. "Cooper and the kids are in the dining hall, if you want to go see them. I'll go there soon."
Shadow, somehow, managed to see right through her facade. He padded over to her and then plopped down next to her, cleaning his paw casually and pulling what seemed like pieces of fabric off of them.
Natasha watched him for a little while, noticing that his presence seemed to calm her quite a bit. She reached out, and began to pet the top of his head the slightest bit. Shadow tensed up for several seconds, and then slowly relaxed into her hand.
Emotions suddenly overwhelmed her, and she slowly slid down to sit next to the creature. She wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in the soft fur. She couldn't help but shake as she tried to fight against the sadness threatening to overwhelm her.
"Oh Shadow… I'm so afraid.." She whispered,"What happened to him? What if Ross has him? Why… Why did I leave him behind? He was my friend, we've been through so much together…. I just gave up on him! What if he's… What if he's dead and we're too late?"
The panther whimpered in response, tail curling up around them. It was almost as if he understood what she was talking about… Who she was talking about… But surely that couldn't be the case, he was just a giant cat, after all.
She pulled away from him, looking at those eyes. They were filled with so much knowledge, so much emotion… It was almost human.
"I think about him every day… And to hear from T'Challa that he is missing… I wonder what happened to him," She whispered, leaning against the creature. "I think about what I did, how I left him. Should I have done something different? Could I have prevented this?"
Shadow growled a little bit, shaking his head. Natasha, surprisingly, found herself agreeing with him. "You know, you're right…" She admitted,"Honestly, I think it was inevitable… There was always tensions, especially with Ross… He was just a bomb getting ready to explode."
The panther snorted, as if to say 'that's an understatement' and Natasha once again found herself feeling the same way. Ross has always been dangerous, even before SHIELD had informed her about him.
But her amusement was quick to fade away as she quietly whispered,"I just wish I knew where they all were… Tony, Thor, Bruce… I just want to know that they're okay. But… But I have a feeling it might be too late for that."
The panther looked at her again, but Natasha barley noticed. She was focused on her fingers as she continued,"I want to tell Tony that… That I'm sorry… I know those words aren't really worth anything, especially after what I did… But he needs to know. What we- the rogues -did only made things even worse…"
Shadow's eyes were as wide as a Panther's could go, he seemed shocked by her admittance. He watched her for a moment, and the slowly nudged his head against her side while letting out loud mewls.
Natasha quickly placed her hand against the floor, chuckling at him. "Oh, I see," She teased, ruffling his fur. "You're telling me to stop moping and start doing something, right? You want me to stop acting like a child?"
The panther meowed again and nodded his head firmly, trotting ahead of her and then looking back at her while releasing another much more loud meow.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," Natasha replied with a chuckle, pushing herself to her feet and then following after the creature. Despite all the weight on her shoulders, she was feeling a little bit lighter.
When the got to the dining hall, they were met by the rest of the gang and an incredibly irate Steve. He was holding a torn pillow that had barely any stuffing out of it.
"I was just looking for Bucky and I went back to my room and- and there was stuffing everywhere!" He exclaimed,"My bedroom was completely torn apart! I don't understand how it happened! The door was locked!"
As if they were on cue Natasha, T'Challa, Shuri, Okoye, Laura, Lila, Nate, and Cooper all discreetly looked over at the panther with knowing grins on their face. The panther didn't give them even a glance back, he was suddenly too occupied by cleaning his fur.
"We have to act soon," The king said, pacing the room that held the Avengers and his royal guards in it. "Ross is going to keep attacking, we need to get evidence against him."
Natasha, ever the expert on blackmail, quickly stated,"If we can get confessions or even footage of what he has been doing, the public will turn against him easily."
Okoye nodded. "Exactly," She said,"Then working on the accords the right way" she glanced at Rogers for a split second. "Will be a lot more easier, and you guys will be able to search for your missing teammates. But we need a plan first."
The group nodded in agreement, looking between each other to see if anyone had any ideas. After a pregnant pause, Bucky (who had been sitting opposite of wherever Steve was) quickly raised his hand.
"You need to use me," He declared bravely, despite the slight twinge of fear that could be seen deep in his eyes.
A heavy dose of whispers followed this declaration, but Steve was the loudest of all. "Bucky, no!" He said,"We- You can't! He wants to hunt you down and- and kill you!"
"That's the point, Steve," Bucky snapped back, silencing the other super soldier. "The easiest way to get him out of his hiding spot is to use me. And even if we don't get him, we can get one of his soldiers. I'm sure I'm on the top of their priority list."
The others all seemed to understand his idea better, nodding with agreement. Steve looked at them all like they were insane, and yelled,"There has to be another way!"
Clint seemed to finally have enough. He jumped to his feet and angrily snapped,"Like what, Cap!? Wanna drop my kids out in the jungle again and see if another giant ass cat will protect them while we wait for Ross to show up?!"
Steve closed his mouth quickly, and sat back down in his seat. Only after he sat down did Clint follow his lead and return to his chair as well, arms crossed and steaming with anger.
An awkward silence reigned through the room again until Shuri, with a frown, said,"It's not gonna be as easy as that, bro. Ross isn't the only one out here."
Steve and the other Avengers exchanged clueless looks until T'Challa let out a knowing sigh. "Yes… There is the issue of Shadow as well…" He said quietly.
"What about him?" Bucky asked worriedly, his hand squeezing at the armrest of his seat and worry clouding up as he remembered the gentle creature who seemed to listen to him more than any other human.
Natasha turned to address Bucky directly. "When the kids first came back, they told us that their attackers hadn't been sent from Ross… At least not the very last time. Cooper said that they pointed at Shadow and said 'found you' and tried to take him away," She explained.
Bucky frowned even deeper, his human hand rubbing at his stubble covered face. "That sounds… That sounds like Hydra," He admitted,"Way too much like Hydra."
"And it's obvious that they experimented on Shadow, those powers could not have come from the nature on Earth," Shuri mentioned,"If they can do that much to a simple animal, I fear what power they might be hiding."
Another somber mood fell over the room, everyone trying to process things they had heard. Then, Clint stood again, this time with a determined look plastered on his pale face.
"Even if that cat doesn't like me, and even if my kids are still mad at me…" He began, cringing at his own admittance,"He still protected them when I wasn't able to. We'll take those guys out too; not just to get rid of another threat, but also to make sure that they can never hurt Shadow again."
To the surprise of the Wakandans in the room, the Avengers all firmly agreed with the archer's declaration. They quickly looked back over at T'Challa, suddenly eager for any instruction they would get.
T'Challa smiles proudly at them, and turned back to their display to start explaining the few plans he already had drawn up. But, despite his happy exterior, he held a slight rage deep within him at the sight of their willingness to fight. But not a rage for himself, a rage for someone else.
If only you were as loyal as this towards the teammates you managed to lose…
"He's fighting too much, administer the tranquilizer!"
"Sir, he's lost too much blood already. He'll die if we drug him up!"
"Do you think I care? We can revive him if we have to, that's what the stone is for, remember?"
"But his heartbeat is already too fast-"
"INJECT HIM!"
Beep… Beep… Beep…
"In fact, it'd be good if he dies. Let's see just how far this thing can go."
… … .. …
Tony's eyes snapped open, his chest heaving and heart pounding against his rib cage as it desperately tried to get free again. He thrashed against the bonds that seemed to surround him, whimpering in fear.
"Shadow? Shadow!" A familiar voice said, jerking him from his flashback again. He realized in that moment that the bonds around him weren't bonds at all… It was an arm.
He looked up, and saw cooper and Lila looking at him worriedly. Turning his head around, he also saw he was in one of the Wakandan sitting rooms, the television playing what looked like a kids show.
Lila's gentle hand rubbed behind his ears, while Cooper rubbed his side. "Sh.. Shh… It's okay," The girl whispered,"It was just a bad dream, everybody has them."
"Even badass panthers have them," Cooper explained,"But it's okay, it's all in your head. Nightmares are just mean dreams, nothing to be afraid of."
Lila and Nate nodded in agreement, leaning forward and hugging the panther. Cooper followed, all relaxing against him with no tension at all. "Don't worry, Shadow," Cooper whispered,"You're safe now."
Tony mewled a bit, lowering his ears and trying to relax as well. Even as the kids started to fall asleep, he couldn't seem to again. He kept repeating what Cooper said in his head, and tried to make himself agree with it… But he couldn't.
I want to believe you, kiddos, I really do…
But I can't escape the feeling that something bad is going to happen.