Chapter 21: If I don't hate him...
Wanda was anxious to see T'Challa when the latter informed the outlaws that he would be returning to Wakanda by Saturday. She paced back and forth like a caged animal, waiting in front of the king's personal office, as Clint watched her move about uncomfortably.
"I'm not sure what happened last Thursday," he said. "But maybe you should sit down and have a cup of camellia tea."
"Why camellia tea?" she asked, although her thoughts were elsewhere.
"It's supposed to be soothing. Laura always gave me a cup after I returned from a mission."
"I don't need to calm down," Wanda said. The tiny red sparks flying around her, escaping her control, suggested otherwise. "I need an explanation."
Clint frowned. "An explanation about what?"
"She's referring to the video feed I showed her last Thursday. Am I right, Ms. Maximoff?"
The two whipped their head around at the sound of the king speaking.
Clint tensed up, as T'Challa casually passed him by. The man's footsteps had been so silent, that Clint had not noticed him approaching. T'Challa was good. Very good. He definitely did his superhero alias justice.
"What video feed are we talking about here?" he cautiously asked.
"One of my father's murderer giving his confession," said T'challa. "I felt it appropriate to show this to Ms. Maximoff, considering the conversation we had just before I left for New York."
He tried to open the door to his office, but it was blocked by the Scarlet Witch's powers.
"Why?" Wanda demanded. "Why can I not hate Stark!?"
"You know why," T'Challa answered calmly.
Wanda balled her hands into fists and tiny sparks of red flew from them. Clint quickly took a step back. T'Challa also gave the sparks a wary look, but remained standing on his spot.
"Calm down, Wanda," Clint tried to soothe her, "you can hate Stark as much as you want." He then turned to T'Challa with an angry glare. "Look, after everything that Stark has done to us, to her, I think Wanda's anger is justified."
T'Challa narrowed his eyes at the archer. "And what do you think Tony Stark has done that justifies her anger?"
"For starters," Clint argued, "the bastard locked Wanda up after she returned from Lagos. Just like that for no reason!"
T'Challa raised an eyebrow. "For no reason you say?"
"What reason could there possibly be!?" Clint yelled, but his frustration did not affect T'Challa. The young King regarded him coolly for a moment, and then turned back to try the door handle another time.
"Ms. Maximoff," he said, when he failed again, "if you would be so kind as to let me open the door. There's something else that I need to show you and Mr. Barton."
"is it another one of those video feeds?" Wanda asked quietly.
T'Challa shook his head. "No. Not a video feed. Simply an old news segment."
The office door was opened seemingly on its own.
"Come in." T'Challa commanded.
They followed him into his office, and T'Challa gestured for them to sit down in front of his desk as he himself went to turn on his computer. A few clicks later the large screen behind him flickered to life and was duplicating the images shown on his computer screen.
Clint looked at the large screen and raised a brow. "YouTube, really?"
The king ignored him. He typed in a few keywords: Watchdogs, Scarlet Witch. Then he clicked search and a whole slew of videos popped up. Clicking the first one on the list he turned on the volume and showed the two ex-Avengers the horrors that had been kept from them.
There was an enormous mass of people, most of them wearing a mask with the Watchdogs emblem, protesting on the streets. They were holding banners sporting Wanda's face with texts scrawled across them that said such things as 'Unnatural', 'Burn her' and 'Justice for Lagos'. It was the sound, however, that really made the skin of the ex-Avengers crawl.
"Burn the Witch! Burn the Witch! Burn the Witch!" sounded loudly from the sound system through T'Challa's office.
"This is the reason why Tony kept you in the Compound, Ms. Maximoff," said T'Challa as he observed the pale faces of his guests. "It was not safe for you outside."
At first, the words did not seem to register to Clint. He was hung up on the fact that T'Challa had called the genius billionaire 'Tony'. Not 'Stark', not even 'Anthony'. Plain and simple 'Tony'. That's what Tony's friends called him ― what Clint used to call the man. Since when had Tony and T'Challa become so close?
Then the message sunk in, and Clint swallowed with difficulty before tearing his gaze away from the screen. "If that was the reason then why didn't Tony tell us?"
"Mr. Barton," said T'Challa, and he assumed a neutral expression on his face, "in the years you've known Tony, did you find him easy to get along with?"
Clint snorted. "Everyone knows Tony is an arrogant man with an ego the size of his Tower."
"I knew you would say that," said T'Challa, "but you're wrong on that account." He sat down on the opposite side of his desk. "I've been in Tony's presence these last few days working intensely with him on the new Accords and the A-SP2. In that time, I found that his ego was limited only to the inventions he's made, which he, I think we all can agree on, has every right to be proud of. In other situations, I find that Tony is actually quite humble."
Clint blinked in surprise. "Humble? Tony Stark? Are you sure we're talking about the same man here?"
T'Challa gave the archer a quick smile. "If I hadn't worked with him myself, I too would have thought him an arrogant man. Especially when he uses his quick tongue to fire off bullets; it would make him seem like a complete show-off, who thinks himself better than everyone because of his intelligence;" T'Challa folded his hands, placing then on top of his desk; "the truth is, however, that Tony does not believe himself to be better at all. And that is exactly where the problem lies and why he is so difficult to get along with: he assumes that everyone is a genius like him."
"Okay…" Clint frowned. "So, that makes him difficult to get along with. But what does this all have to do with him not telling us about the reasons for Wanda's containment?"
The smile T'Challa wore on his lips morphed into something smugger. "As I said, Tony thinks everyone is a genius. I believe he simply thought that you would understand why he had to contain Ms. Maximoff without needing any explanation."
Clint opened his mouth, but no sound came out as he was struck speechless. When he finally regained himself, he huffed in annoyance, muttering: "Poor communication definitely kills."
T'Challa sent Clint another quick smirk, before he schooled his features again. "Mr. Barton, I must ask you again, what do you believe Tony is guilty of that justifies Ms. Maximoff's anger?"
Clint was silent for a moment, as he finally gave himself time to reflect upon the question. "He threw us into the Raft…?"
Even as he said it, Clint was less certain of his answer. In the Raft, his anger had made the situation seem like a clear cut good-versus-bad scenario, but with the time he'd been given since then to think on the subject; not to mention, T'Challa's explanation of why Tony had contained Wanda, that it had been done for her safety; things seemed less black-and-white. Tony may be a jerk, but he was not evil.
"First off, Secretary Ross threw you guys into the Raft, not Tony," said T'Challa. "Secondly, may I point out the reason why you were thrown into the Raft in the first place? Namely the fact that you, in the process of aiding a mentally unstable terrorist in his escape, destroyed an entire airport? As far as I know, this is against the law of any country."
Clint gritted his teeth. "Then what about the fact that Tony created Ultron with Bruce, huh? That damn robot killed Wanda's brother!"
T'Challa raised an eyebrow. "Bruce?"
"Tony and Bruce experimented with that damn alien staff, which led to the creation of Ultron," Clint growled. "That's not the kind of PR the Avengers needed, so Fury told us not to say anything and that he would find someone to cover it up." Slumping forward, he added: "It doesn't matter now anymore, though. The Avengers are gone."
"If what you say is true, then why is Tony alone being blamed?" asked T'Challa. "Should Dr. Banner not also shoulder half the blame?"
"Bruce is gone. That makes Tony the only one we can still blame."
T'Challa nodded once. "Very well. Let's say that Tony is to blame for the creation of Ultron. That still only makes him the inventor of the gun, not the one who shot it at Maximoff's brother. I also remember Ms. Maximoff telling me that Tony created Ultron by mistake. Considering all these factors, I must ask: should we now demand the death of all weapon designers?"
Clint blanched. "What? What do you mean by 'death'?"
"I was concerned for Ms. Maximoff after my last conversation with her," T'Challa revealed. "She told me how angry she was because of what happened to her family, and I do not blame her; I know what it feels like to have the people closest to you die brutally and unjustly; but I felt that her thought patterns became worrying when she expressed her desire to kill Tony."
Upon hearing that revelation, Clint felt his blood turn cold. He set his worrying eyes on Wanda. "Is this true?" he asked her.
Wanda looked away in shame. "I know that I shouldn't, but… if I don't hate him, then who can I hate!? Who will pay for what happened to grandma and grandpa, and to my mother! And what about Pietro…?"
While the two men watched over her, Wanda crumbled in on herself. Another flash of red sparks emitted from her being as the tears fell from her eyes; and finally, finally, she confessed that which she had kept hidden all along.
"If I don't hate him, then I'll only have myself to blame for Pietro's death! I was the one who put the suggestion into Tony's mind; I pushed him to make Ultron; and I don't know how I can live with that guilt!"
xxx
Far, far away from Wakanda
The spaceship that rose up in front of Loki and Thor's eyes was not nearly as impressive as the group waiting for them inside.
"Well," said Loki, "I already know the man hiding the raging beast, my dear brother. But as for your other companions… a Spartoi-half blood; a lady with the most beautiful skin-color I've ever seen; a warrior with a mind that's as straightforward as you are brutish; and lastly, a fur ball with his sentient houseplant… perhaps you could indulge my curiosity by introducing me to them?"
TBC...