True to his word, Hendrik was there at 07:00 sharp. Jane received everything on his list of materials.
Shuri had arranged for a room where they could work. Jane turned out to be a bright student and devoured whatever Hendrik presented her with tirelessly. Hendrik had to rethink the structure of his syllabus after the second day as she had torn through the work he'd set out for the next two weeks, staying up late to take it all in.
Steve started to spend a lot of time at the gym, and on occasion, he joined in the sparring sessions with the Dora Milaje. He joined Jane mostly for lunch and dinner, during which she animatedly regaled him with all the things she had learned that day. He was growing ever more fond of their conversations, and he admired how strong and confident she appeared to be, given her situation. There were moments when he could see a flicker of profound sadness on her features when she thought he wasn't looking, but whatever was eating at her never made its way to the surface after the night in the Lab lounge.
He taught her a lot of the vernacular that she'd be in contact with on a day to day basis and loved the look that played over her features as he explained what an expression meant.
It was Tuesday of the second week since Jane had started with her sessions with Hendrik when Steve stood in front of the elusive Ayo on the sparring mat in the gym. Steve nodded a greeting which she didn't return.
"Shall we?" asked Steve.
Without a word, Ayo launched into an aggressive attack, Steve blocking her every blow. He had to have his wits about him; she was fast and unpredictable. She also didn't pull her punches, even though they were just sparring.
"Where have you been?" He asked as he dodged another blow.
Ayo took a step back, "I think it is a mistake that you have all taken to this alien like she is one of us. Mark my words, she will bite the hand that feeds her."
It was Steve's turn to attack. He drove her back a few feet as she deftly blocked him. "What happened to innocent until proven guilty?"
She fought back harder, and Steve let her gain ground until they reached the middle of the mat, neither one willing to give up any more.
"I think it's short-sighted to give things you dug out of the ground the benefit of the doubt. It will be much safer to assume her guilty until proven innocent."
"You're wrong about her." Breathed Steve.
"Am I?" Ayo pushed herself away, having had enough of both the fight and the argument.
Jane had taken to having her early breakfasts on the steps of the Design Institute. She enjoyed the crisp winter air. The view from the mountain was spectacular, and she had begun to win over a new friend. The stray dog she had seen at the university had made an appearance a few times while she ate. She left him a piece of bacon at the bottom of the steps one morning, and she watched as he crept closer to snap it up before hastily retreating.
After that, he waited for her at a safe distance every morning, coming a little closer every day as she kept leaving the bacon closer and closer to where she sat on the steps. By the end of the second week, since she'd started her 'education', he took it carefully from her hand after much hesitation.
Shuri caught the interaction on the security feed one morning and showed Steve, who took to watching the silent courtship with Shuri on the monitor over coffee every morning.
Jane learned how to access and use the internet via her MacBook from Hendrik and got sucked into it many nights. Steve woke her with three knocks on her door and "Good morning Sunshine!" every morning, she had to get up and open the door to prove she was awake as she overslept a few mornings after he left for the gym. He met her dishevelled half-asleep "I'm up," as she opened the door with a lopsided grin.
Steve taught Jane how to play bridge one weekend with a deck of cards he found in the Lab lounge, and they stayed up late Saturday night to watch the classic movie on a local network. Jane loved the movie experience so much that she wanted to watch one every night, though there wasn't always anything good on the networks they got at the Design Institute.
On Wednesday of the third week, Nakia and Okoye came to greet Shuri in the lab and Steve knew that T'Challa had returned. He made his way to the other side of the Design Institute to go and greet his friend.
T'Challa looked tired but happy to see Steve.
"How have things been going here?" he asked as he sat down in his chair behind his desk.
Steve took up the seat across from him and reported on the events of the past three weeks. He also told T'Challa that Jane wanted to speak with him about getting to the box.
T'Challa leaned forward on the desk. "It was a matter of time before she asked. We knew this was coming." They exchanged a look in agreement.
"Bring her to me tomorrow afternoon after her session with Dr Schnell, and we can discuss it. I may need your help to arrange this."
"Sure," said Steve.
T'Challa took his turn to tell Steve about his trip and asked for some advice before the two exchanged a greeting and parted.
Steve was walking toward his room when Jane rounded the corner, having just finished her session for the day.
He grinned when he saw her. "Lunch?" He asked as she came to a standstill in front of him. She looked playfully up into his eyes, glad to see him. "I was just on my way." She smiled.
The two walked off to the cafeteria together, and Jane launched into a blow-by-blow of what she'd learned that morning. She was on about Homer and the Iliad and Helen of Troy when they arrived at the counter and asked bluntly:
"Do men still do such idiotic things because of beautiful women?"
Steve nearly burst into laughter. "I've seen some guys do some pretty stupid things." He responded. He thought of his double dates with Bucky at Coney Island.
Jane shook her head in disapproval, sucking in her cheeks jokingly at Steve.
"How is it that you always seem to know what's going on in my head?" he shot back.
"Far from it." She mused. "You've refused to share this similar experience you said you had to mine.
"Maybe I'm just not ready for that story yet." He said to her, more sincerely.
Her eyes softened into his. After a long moment, she almost whispered, "let me know when you are ready."
With that, she took her plate and walked to an empty table on the far side of the room, Steve close behind, a strange feeling of contentment washing over him.
When they'd finished eating, Steve told her that T'Challa was back and that they could see him after lunch. She was delighted to hear this and practically dragged him out of the cafeteria.
Shuri stopped them as they passed the lab. "Jane, can I talk to you for a second?" she asked.
Jane stopped and listened.
"From tomorrow, we'd like to start you on physical training, so after your session with Hendrik, Okoye will meet you here, and she'll guide you."
"Very well." Agreed Jane, she did feel a little cabin fever setting in over the past week or so and was happy for the change.
"Hendrik has also suggested that perhaps we introduce a weekly session with one of our leading psychologists."
"What does this mean?" Asked Jane, her eyes darting to Steve.
"It's someone who can help you... cope," said Shuri.
"Cope with what?" Asked Jane matter-of-factly.
"Well, all of this." Shuri made a gesture with her hands as if to encircle the whole situation.
Jane was still not quite sure what she meant but nodded tentatively.
"Okay great, I'll let her know."
Shuri returned to her work. Steve and Jane continued their walk to see T'Challa.
They'd walked in silence for a bit when Jane asked: "Steve, what will become of me once I have learned all that I need to?"
Steve looked at her; the question seemed to have been bothering her for a while.
"I don't know," he replied, "that's going to be up to you."
Jane looked at him intently.
Steve hadn't noticed, but they had come to a standstill in the open doorway of the primary meeting room of the Design Institute. T'Challa looked up from the document he was reviewing with his advisors and watched as the two stood, staring at each other. A silence fell over the room at the distraction, and it diverted Jane's attention.
Steve realised with a light flush of colour to his cheeks that all eyes were on them.
"What is your custom when greeting this king?" Asked Jane just loud enough so Steve could hear her. She seemed oblivious to his embarrassment.
"Uh..." He tripped over his words. "Just follow my lead."
They walked across the large room toward T'Challa who rose from the head of the table, his eyes darting from Steve to Jane as a knowing smile spread on his face. He was wearing loose linen pants and a long shirt of the same fabric that hung just above his knees. The collar was embroidered with red, orange and golden thread.
Next to him was Nakia, she was wearing a bright yellow dress with heavy gold jewellery.
"Your Highness." Steve nodded his greeting.
"Steve, he smiled, I see you have at last brought our guest." His gaze turned to Jane.
"Your Highness." She copied Steve.
"Jane, it is a pleasure to meet you." Said T'Challa extending his hand to shake Jane's.
"As it is to meet you." Smiled Jane. "Thank you for granting me shelter in your kingdom and for the kindness that has been shown me." She finished with a hint of a bow.
"You are most welcome." Said T'Challa, pleasantly surprised at her expression of gratitude.
"Let me introduce you to the king's love." Said T'Challa as he turned to beckon Nakia to his side.
He was visibly proud to introduce her to Jane.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Jane." Smiled Nakia.
"As it is to meet you." Smiled Jane.
T'Challa made a motion for his advisors to leave them and showed Steve and Jane to the two, now empty, seats on the right of the table.
"What can I do for you?" He said warmly as he sat down.
"I asked Steve to bring me to meet you because I want to talk to you about the box."
"The box we found you in?" Confirmed T'Challa as a small frown sprouted between his brows at Jane's nod 'yes'.
He shot Steve a quick glance before focusing on Jane once more.
"I think that if I could get to the box, I might remember who I am. There must be a reason I was buried there so long ago."
"I understand." Began T'Challa. "Since I last saw you, we have learned more of the box, our spies have been working to gather as much information as possible, and I think you have a right to know it."
Jane was listening intently.
"The box is very large and very heavy, the material it's made of is not of this world. It is far denser than anything we've ever encountered. The markings on it are entirely foreign to us. Our carbon dating, which initially dated it as ten thousand years old has revealed that its contents are much older."
There was a short pause as Jane absorbed his words.
"What is inside it?"
"Other than you, it is hard to say," said T'Challa as he picked up the tablet next to him. He opened the gallery and tapped on an image and handed the tablet to Jane. She took it from him gingerly, but all hesitation disappeared as she took in the picture on the screen.
Laid out on a long stainless steel table, was a series of practically disintegrated objects that were unrecognisable due to age and decay. Some were large and appeared to be somewhat similar, while others didn't make any sense at all.
"There's more if you swipe to the next picture." Said Nakia.
Steve stuck out his arm and swiped the screen to the left, revealing the next image.
"These objects were found beneath the layers of linen you were resting on." Said Nakia, as Jane looked at the image of scrunched up fabric, also falling apart on a table. There were faint markings on it, which she squinted to see. Steve zoomed into the image for her.
"Does any of this look familiar to you?" asked Steve.
Jane looked as hard as she could.
"The markings seem familiar, but they are so faded that I can't be sure." She said.
Steve swiped to the next picture in the series. It showed the outside of the box. The same markings were crammed onto every inch of the strange, stone-like surface.
"They do seem familiar," she breathed in almost a whisper, touching the screen with her fingertips as if to feel the texture of the stone surface. She unintentionally swiped to the next picture, which showed a close up of a section of the surface. Jane stared at the screen for a long moment before she squeezed her eyes shut in frustration.
In Steve's pocket, the burn phone vibrated. Nat.
"I know this, somehow, but it's just out of reach," Jane's voice was shaky as Steve pulled the phone out of his pocket and excused himself.
"Do not worry yourself, Li liweyo." Said T'Challa. "I have arranged to go to South Africa tomorrow to negotiate a scientific exchange of the box; I want Steve to come with me.
Steve re-entered the room.
Jane felt a pang of apprehension at the look on his face.
