Hello everyone,
Here is Chapter 54, enjoy.
January 10th, 2017
Four months later
A Quinjet somewhere...
The steady beat of the song Serial Killer by Lana Del Rey echoed inside the Quinjet as it cruised on auto pilot. Kat leaned back propping her feet up as she drank coffee from a travel mug and looked across the night sky. She was so glad she observed Mike Peterson piloting the Quinjet back when she was an Advisor to SHIELD. It was nice and peaceful up here, in between missions, even if it was rather lonely. Despite how nice and peaceful it was she also hated when she had time to think because her memories always came back to haunt her.
In the four months since Bucky went into Cryo-freeze, a lot changed. As planned Steve, Natasha, Sam, and Wanda took off from Wakanda making the facility even quieter. For a time Kat stayed there with Tess not wanting to leave Bucky, but his decision only hurt more over time. Both Sharon and Myra knew she just needed to get back out there and vent her anger. Her mood had not improved, as the months had passed and soon Sharon was called away to work for the Shadow network leaving Myra to urge Kat along. What was more was the fact that while she sat and sulked over in Wakanda, Coulson had to step down as Director of SHIELD. Daisy had disappeared to do her own missions as Quake shortly after returning to the States as well. While Steve and the others managed to stop two of the untouchable HYDRA heads.
All this simply made Kat more irritable as she was watching others around her continue on while she felt trapped. Wasn't she suppose to be with Bucky and Tess? "I would be, but apparently Bucky doesn't want to be with us." Came Kat's own bitter thoughts. As it was Kat refused to visit the room where Bucky's Cryo chamber was stored, and had she not been pushed out the door by Myra, Tess would have noticed her mother was not happy with Bucky. So she went back to work to vent her anger. Some had honestly thought she would lash out that day when she rushed into the room just in time to see Bucky frozen. She recalled that day perfectly as she closed her eyes reliving it.
Kat had ran down the hall as she drew closer picking up on Bucky's chain of thoughts, she knew what he intended to do. She even tried to commune with him mentally, but he did not respond. Instead she ran as fast as she could begging him mentally not do go through with it. Did he not understand just how much both Kat and Tess needed him? Some of the Dora Milaje saw her running for the room and were going to try to stop her as Sharon yelled ahead to let her through. Otherwise the Royal guards would not have enjoyed what Kat would have done to them. She got into the room in time to hear the hiss of the machine as the cryo mist froze Bucky and iced over the glass faceplate that showed him.
Before anyone could stop her she was in the cryo-chamber where she placed her hand on the glass. It was ice cold to the touch, and Bucky looked asleep. She remembered calling him by name, but using her voice right then hurt. However nothing hurt more than feeling abandoned. She had only just found him, he had only known his daughter for a month, and they had only been married a little over a week! Then he was gone again. To her it didn't matter what his reason for doing this was, no excuse was ever going to be good enough for what he did. In that moment she tried to reach him mentally, but while she could hear thoughts from a sleeping Bucky; she could not actually mentally communicate. In a way the thoughts of a dreaming person were different from an awake person. Dreaming people's thoughts were often disjointed and random, or hard to follow. They were not thinking of any particular thing, but several things. Often these random thoughts were of things that happened in the day prior. It was also why people had odd unexplainable dreams. Their minds would pick up or notice random things in the waking hours and carry it with them into their dreams.
Sadly in this moment when she wanted to ask why or how he could leave her and Tess, she would get no viable answer. What made it all worse was the fact that he never even came to see her or tell her what he had planned. She just awoke with him no where in sight. She was his wife for God's sake, and he never even uttered one damn word to her! According to many when you marry, you're suppose to make joint decisions and be a team. Apparently that was not true because she was never given a say in the matter. What did that say about their future? Was he always going to take the hard decisions and go it alone? Did her voice matter so little to him?
Needless to say he did more than hurt her with his decision, he broke her heart. He had not physically left her, but the feeling of being abandoned was there. He never even gave her the chance to say 'Goodbye' or 'I'll see you when you wake up.' After feeling all this and wanting to punch him and scream at him, Kat had to back away from the chamber before she damaged it. She clenched her fists at her sides not wanting to hurt anyone else as she wanted to burst into tears. However what no one knew she did was the last thing she thought she would ever do. She sent the icy mental message: "I hate you!"
Then she left the room too upset to stay. Later she regretted the mental message, but consoled herself by saying: 'He's asleep, he probably won't even get it.' Regardless she refused to visit the Cryo Chamber or see Bucky after that. She went back to the single bedroom rather than stay in the room she shared with Bucky. The biggest comfort was Sharon came and stuck close, that evening she spent it in her room crying as her best friend held her.
As time went on she learned that Sharon and Myra were on her side which put them at odds with their respective other half's. Both Steve and Sam agreed and had sided with Bucky, leaving Nat and Wanda to be the neutral parties that saw both sides of the arguments. In the end though all sides could agree that maybe if Bucky had handled what happened a bit better things would not be so volatile. As for Tess the little girl had at least been included in Bucky's decision, so there was a lot more understanding from the one year old who visited the Cryo Chamber everyday to see her dad. When Tess asked Kat to go with her to visit Bucky, Myra stepped in saying she would go with Tess since her mother was busy. Kat was always grateful Myra did that since Kat did not want to see him.
Aside from that Kat and Sharon visited the gym in the facility a lot more which allowed Kat to vent her anger into a punching bag. In the very early hours of the morning or late hours in the evening when Tess was asleep, Kat was often found there often accompanied by Sharon. Soon after Bucky went under Steve and the others left Wakanda, but both Steve and Sam managed to reconcile with Sharon and Myra before they left. For about a month it was just the three women and Tess, until Sharon was called away for missions for the Shadow Network. Then it was down to Myra who now encouraged Kat to take her anger out on the remaining four Untouchables rather then sulk. The ex-HYDRA agent would continue to watch over Tess, and they would stick close to Bucky in Wakanda. At first Kat said no, she would deal with her pain in her own way, but one evening when Myra was out and it was just her and Tess. Her daughter asked again to go visit Bucky with her. Regrettably the girl kept asking and pleading until Kat snapped at her telling Tess she did not want to see Bucky.
Upsetting her daughter was the last thing Kat had wanted to do as the little girl started crying. She held her daughter apologising to her and saying she just had a hard day rather than explain why she was angry with Bucky. It was at that point she realised she was holding onto a lot of anger and her twice a day exercising regime was not helping her. Finally she had to accept the truth, she needed away, not from Tess. She never wanted to be away from her daughter, but she did need to distance herself from Bucky and unleash hell on some douche-bag. So she took Myra up on her offer. In the mean time Coulson, who had heard about what happened before handing leadership over to a new Director; sent her a gift in the form of a Quinjet. Apparently he knew what she would need before she did. So after a lot of hugs and goodbyes for Tess and 'thank you's' for Myra, Kat left to continue her original mission. She stopped by her old New York hideout to collect some of her old belongings including the framed picture of herself, Peggy, Mace, and Sharon, as well as her father's katana, and that old worn book Four had once had.
After Coulson stepped down as Director all communication with SHIELD ceased, nevertheless Kat was still able to commune with Daisy and Yo-yo which she did not mind. The latter was quickly becoming a good friend, and was secretly helping Daisy out to take out a group called the Watch Dogs. While on the other end of the spectrum was Sharon who checked in on her via video and phone calls. Myra also sent little reports on what she and Tess were up to, and how they visited the Cryo Chamber often. The biggest report was they moved Bucky to a main facility further inside Wakanda with the location in the report. At the bigger facility, they also often visited Shuri as the little girl loved seeing what the Wakandan princess made, or how she planned to remove the HYDRA programming from Bucky.
In other reports Myra mentioned that Okoye had a soft spot for Tess who had been caught practising with a long stick near the Dora Milaje training grounds. The General seemed to be encouraging Tess by giving her a practice staff and showing her some stances. While teaching a little girl at such a young age was concerning, Kat had to remind herself that Tess appeared older than she actually was, and it was not like Tess was being taught anything advanced. As far as Myra mentioned it was merely beginner steps like stance, posture, and how to hold the staff. In fact Myra had even taken some pictures and Tess looked adorable imitating the General who could barely keep from smiling.
Lastly there were Steve, Sam, Natasha, and Wanda. Wanda often split off from the group to do her own thing, and Kat had no doubt that included Vision. This left the other three to often look into the Untouchable HYDRA heads. Often going after these individuals took months of surveillance to learn the person's patterns. Find the weak link or opportunity then go after them. Otherwise it was simply too dangerous even for them. Most recently Kat was teaming up with Steve and the others to take out these individuals, but she never stuck around them for any length of time because she did not want the issue of Bucky being drudged up.In fact they had just stopped the third Untouchable in Morocco before Kat wished them well and took off heading back to Wakanda to spend time with Tess and take a break.
Kat opened her eyes when she heard the beeping of an incoming message on the counsel and took her feet off the counsel sitting up. She looked at her watch noting the time as being too late for one of Myra's reports, and it could not have been Steve. Sure enough she clicked the button opening the screen to a very familiar and welcome face. There sat Cutter smiling at her. Easily Kat fell back into speaking Mandarin as she asked. "Evening Cutter, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"You know I honestly wish I was just calling to check up on you and see how you are doing."
"What is it? Is Sharon okay?" Kat asked concerned.
"Sharon is fine. She is currently dismantling a slave trade operation in Burma," Cutter reassured her, "No this one is on us."
"On you? What do you mean?"
"You know how we take out other criminals and have the open door policy?" Cutter asked warily. Kat knew what he meant. The 'open door' policy was how the Shadow Network got so big literally over night. To start with they had taken out a Chinese Triad leader and took everything from him. More than that they offered jobs to his former employees with most happily signing on. As far as Kat knew the Shadow Network continued this policy. Topple real bad criminal organisations then take on those willing to join the Shadow Network. When she nodded that she knew what he meant, Cutter continued after blowing out a sigh. "We made a mistake."
"What do you mean?" Kat asked confused, this policy was a good one after all.
"Some years back we took out a drug ring in Zimbabwe, often the drugs killed more than anything. Those that survived were addicted and if they did not get their fix... their bodies shut down over a lengthy twenty-four hour period. Hospitals were filling up with addicts and no way to help them. Like with Yao the leader was some big shot that we took down as quickly as we could with the help of some of our heavy muscled people. Sadly this drug killed one-hundred and three people, and like we always do we offered those employed by this guy a better option. Some refused, but many agreed."
"So what is the problem?" Kat asked confused.
"The problem is one of the ones we took in. One of the chemists of this drug ring by the name Linda Dennis. A smart lady originally from America, we thought she had been kidnapped and forced to help make this drug. Hell she might have been, but she developed a taste for poisons. After taking her in and training her up, we realised our mistake." As Cutter spoke he sent the image to be printed out on the Quinjet and Kat looked over the image of a young African- American lady with her hair pinned up in a pretty bun. She certainly looked like a nice respectable woman, and so finally looked up at Cutter.
"Thus far I am not seeing a mistake, Cutter. You offered to help a young woman out of a nasty operation."
"True, but later on when we accepted her into our ranks we realised that we trusted too easily. Linda was there to help in taking out another drug ring. This time those making the drugs were slaves bought from the black market. Because of the precarious situation we wanted to get those forced to make the drugs out first. Linda and several others volunteered to sneak in and do just that. Through the surveillance set up by the drug dealers we watched as Linda poisoned some of the guards and got into the main office where she stole the money from the operation. The others that went in with her were trying to get those chained to the tables loose, but to cover her tracks and ensure she escaped... she set fire to the warehouse with our people and those slave inside."
"Jesus!" Kat said shocked that this happened.
"Yeah Shado and I could not believe it even as we saw it. We lost some good people that day. Naturally we responded by freezing her alias' and anonymously reporting her to the authorities. Sadly we taught her too well, she knows how to go off the grid. In the years since our people have been looking for her."
"Obviously something has changed and you have a lead."
"That we do. Ever since King T'Challa took you to Wakanda to treat your injuries and saved your life. We have been trying to make amends for our past." Cutter said looking sheepish, "We bought stolen Vibrainium from black market dealers. It was how we made your wrist daggers."
"Relax Cutter there is no doubt King T'Challa noticed but overlooked the transgression."
"Regardless we felt we owed him a huge debt. So we changed gears. When we returned from Wakanda we vowed to stop all sales of the metal. We have bought out the Vibrainium taken and redistributed it back into Wakanda via little presents. While also tipping off the authorities both within and without Wakanda to prevent further incidents."
"Wow, does King T'Challa know what you are doing?" Kat asked impressed.
Cutter chuckled but nodded, "We sent a letter of apology with the first returned Vibrainium shipment."
"Awe that's a sweet gesture. I am sure he was pleasantly surprised." Kat said confident that the Wakandan King forgave the Shadow Network.
"I hope so, if we visit I am worried we will be thrown in jail."
"Well I will speak to him the next time I am in Wakanda. Hopefully if he is still angry I can smooth things over."
"That might be sooner than you think." Cutter said growing serious again.
"Oh? How so?"
"Well the issue with illegal Vibrainium and our rogue agent Linda Dennis coincide." Cutter hit some keys and the lower part of the screen showed a surveillance recording of a woman inside what looked like a Museum Cafe working. Kat easily spotted Linda working behind the counter. Everything was fine until a woman in a suit dress approached to buy her own coffee. She looked like a museum curator, and as Kat leaned in she had to stop and go back a few seconds to re-watch a scene. Slowing it down and zooming in she spotted Linda slip some power into the woman's coffee, stir it, then put the lid on it before handing it to the woman with a smile. Cutter looked down ashamed again as Kat looked back at him.
"It was a concentrated dose of the drug being sold in Zimbabwe that we stopped. The museum was the Museum of Great Britain. The curator Samantha Wellington is suffering catastrophic organ failure as her body is slowly shutting down. Doctor's are stumped, and she is being given twenty hours left."
Kat sighed knowing the Shadow Network felt responsible for this, but how could they have known that helping a woman would lead to this?! "What was the end goal?"
"According to surveillance it was a distraction for the theft of an artifact being displayed in the Ancient West African Section. The item in question was a weapon from Benin, seventh century, from the Fula tribe." As Cutter spoke she watched through surveillance as the curator spoke to an man about two artefacts before moving to the one stolen. She answered the man's questions, but on the third he shook his head disagreeing with her. By then the woman looked to be suffering after drinking some of her coffee. Sadly there was no audio so whatever happened verbally was lost. It looked like a guard was going to have the man leave, when the curator collapsed to the ground in pain. Soon the guards were more concerned with the Curator than the man in question. Watching the multiple screens for a few minutes Kat watched two paramedics show up, and Linda leave the Cafe. Meanwhile said paramedics turned out to be men there to assist in the robbery as they shot the guards.
Kat frowned as she typed into the computer, all museum security cameras were watched by security, so why was no one responding to the situation? Cutter sighed before answering the question on Kat's mind. "Linda seized control using one of our programs to re-loop earlier footage. The security guard had no clue."
"But since we designed the program we are able to bypass it and see the underlying footage." Kat concluded once more looking at the screen of the two 'paramedics' and the first man. One of the paramedics simply touched the glass the weapon was in shattering it, then he took the weapon and it looked like he shook loose the rust to reveal the shiny under-surface of the metal. It looked too pristine to be any other metal than Vibrainium. After that the first man took a tribal mask and laid on a stretcher. From there they easily escaped the Museum with no one the wiser.
"Have we ID'd the three men Linda is working with?" Kat asked.
"Yes one is wanted by many government agencies including the Joint Terrorism Task force. He goes by the name Eric Killmonger. The other is a well known dealer in Vibrainium and other black market items Ulysses Klaue. The last is a hired mercenary that simply goes by the name Limbandi, he is tied to have worked with Klaue and Killmonger several times before, but aside from that he is small time."
"Ulysses Klaue," Kat said thinking as she started to look up the name, then Aida spoke up.
"Ulysses Klaue wanted for theft and murder in Wakanda. According to reports he was also the one to sell a large amount of Vibrainium to Ultron. This was used to help create Vision."
"Ah thanks Aida." Kat said as she looked back at Cutter. "Any other leads?"
"Yes, since we have 'discouraged' any buyers, we have closed off Klaue from selling the Vibrainium to most interested parties." Cutter said gaining at least this small satisfaction.
"No doubt Linda would have noticed this." Kat said and Cutter nodded.
"She has, sadly we could not discourage government agencies. To top off the insult a meeting has been set up to sell the Vibrainium at one of our more exclusive Casino clubs in Korea."
"A final insult from Linda. If the sale goes through and it is learned that it took place at a Shadow Network owned Casino..." Kat trailed off annoyed.
"Then the King of Wakanda will not be pleased with us." Cutter added grimly.
"So you need me to go in prevent the sale. Want me to gift wrap Klaue and send him to Wakanda? Another present from the Shadow Network?" Kat asked.
"That would be the icing on the cake," Cutter replied then grew serious, "However we want Linda stopped by any means. I am of the mindset to have her made an example of but Shado says that would be wrong."
"She is right, you guys are turning over a new leaf Cutter. Stooping to gutter level won't help that." Kat said.
"Tell that to the dying Curator." Cutter grumbled.
"Look we will do this right, but if it comes to that then one way or another Linda will be stopped."
"Fine." Cutter gave an annoyed sigh, "Sending you the details for the sale. Make sure to wear a dress."
"Seriously?!"
"Hey I said it was an Exclusive Casino Club, what did you think I meant? A sweat pants club?" Cutter teased.
Kat made dramatic eye roll, "Fine, just make sure it is something I can actually move in."
"Don't worry Yuma always thinks of that. Also just a warning... he has been talking shop with Shuri so..."
"Never put two creative genius' together in the same room." Kat grumbled as she took the Quinjet off of autopilot. "Heading for Korea now." Soon the call ended and the Quinjet turned heading for the location Cutter sent. "Aida contact Myra and Tess let them know I will be a couple more days."
"Will do. Happy hunting." Aida replied.
As Kat entered Korean air space, she was once again contacted this time by the Shadow Network team there. The group was led by an excited Yuma who sent her exact coordinates for landing in a large warehouse with a large roof that opened to allow her to land. Once landed the roof was once again closed to conceal the Quinjet, and Kat stepped off the jet to be met by Yuma and a couple other agents. Immediately the man came up and hugged Kat as he greeted her. "It is so good to see you Kat."
"It's good to see you too Yuma. I see your English is getting better."
"Yeah I chat with Shuri a lot, so to make things easier I have practised a lot more." Yuma said as they walked further into the warehouse to a table with briefcases on it. "I have some extra goodies by the way, and something... more appropriate to wear to the night club."
Yuma gestured for Kat to open the first case which held a lovely Cheongsam dress identical in style to her wedding dress, but was a dark purple, with a lovely gold embroidery showing a Chinese dragon that seemed to curl around the long dress and hug the wearer. At least it had the matching long side slit to allow Kat free range of movement. With it was a matching gold clip to help pin up her hair, and deep purple high heels. Lastly there was a matching purse. It was beautiful, but it also reminded her of her wedding to Bucky and seemed to dredge up the painful memory. The last thing Kat wanted was to be reminded of him right then, as she forced a smile on her face for Yuma.
"It's beautiful Yuma. Thank you." The man grinned.
"Just wait until you see what is next!" The man was practically bouncing as he opened a smaller case. Kat looked at what appeared to be two matching bangle bracelets. Before she could really look more carefully Yuma picked them up from the case. "Put them on, put them on!"
"Okay," Kat said smiling at Yuma's excitement as she slide her hands threw the bangles and he seemed to adjust them to fit without falling off. Looking more carefully at the jewellery. That was when Kat noticed the metal, and frowned. Vibrainium? Wait a minute they didn't get the metal illegally, did they? Before she could ask, Yuma continued.
"Okay, you know how you throw your hand out extending your wrist daggers?"
"Ye-ah..." Kat replied confused.
"Do that." Yuma said and Kat gave him a funny look, "C'mon, just act like you have your wrist daggers on right now." Sighing Kat did as asked, and immediately the bracelet tightened to fit comfortably around her wrist and extended into bracers? Yuma practically squealed like a schoolgirl. "Oh Fitz would be so jealous!"
Kat looked at the bracer wondering what it did when Yuma took a breath. "Okay, okay, now you know how you flick your wrist and out spin the daggers?"
"Yeah." Kat replied guessing where Yuma was going with this as he nodded at her. So she flicked her wrist and like when she was fully suited up and wearing her wrist daggers out spun matching blades. Like with her original wrist daggers she had full range of motion and could wield them effortlessly without dropping them. While Yuma was grinning like a child at Christmas, Kat looked more closely at her wrist amazed all this was concealed to look like a bracelet. Finally the creative genius recovered.
"Do you like it?!"
"Yes of course! They are amazing, Yuma. But how?"
"Cutter must have told you how I have been in contact with Shuri. Well back in September I told her about the specs for your old wrist daggers and she was impressed. So even after we returned to China we were bouncing ideas off of each other. From that we developed an improved version! I think I am in love."
"Yuma she is a teenager, you are a thirty-two year old man. Her brother will kill you." Kat said concerned, and Yuma looked up confused.
"What? Oh no no no! I meant your new daggers!" Yuma said waving off the idea.
"Oh right," Kat replied remembering Yuma loved coming up with new gear, and often he loved the items he created or helped create. Now there was the trick of getting the wrist daggers to return to bracelet form. "Sooo how do I get it to go back?"
"Like you do your old wrist daggers silly." When Kat turned the dagger so the blade faced her forearm she pushed the hilt and the blade disappeared back into the bracer, but the bracer remained. Looking back up at Yuma he added. "Now wave your hand like this."
Yuma waved his hand as if he were a Jedi Master performing a mind trick, so Kat just could not resist. As she copied the movement she said. "These aren't the droids you're looking for."
"Very funny." Yuma scoffed as the bracer returned to just a bangle on her wrist. However the amusement left as Kat was again reminded of the metal on her wrist.
"Yuma, please tell me because I really need this peace of mind. The Vibrainium-"
"Relax Kat, it wasn't stolen." Yuma stopped her.
"So they are on loan then." Kat guessed.
"Nope," Yuma replied then continued to explain, "After our one-hundred and eighty degree turn. We sent back some stolen Vibrainium we bought from some thieves back to Wakanda with the location of said thieves to the Wakandan authorities. Cutter also sent a note explaining why this was done and the promise of sending more presents."
"Cutter mentioned this already." Kat pointed out.
"Well that first shipment of Vibrainium sent back was used to make those." Yuma pointed to the bracelets.
"Okay why would they do this?" Kat asked confused.
"Cutter wondered that at first too. Here we were trying to thank King T'Challa for saving your life and also trying to make up for our past crime, and they use the first stolen Vibrainium returned to them to make those." Yuma gestured to the bracelets.
"And did you get an explanation?" Kat asked.
"Well I asked Shuri about it. Turns out they knew from the beginning we bought stolen Vibrainium in the past because as Shuri put it: 'It does not take a genius to know Kat's wrist daggers are Vibrainium'. From the way she spoke, the fact that we were honourable enough to own up to it spoke volumes."
"So when you guys came to see me back in September, they knew the whole time." Kat concluded.
"And did not throw us in jail then." Yuma added. This was unexpected, but then again perhaps ones like Ulysses Klaue were the ones that concerned the Wakandans more. After all the Shadow Network only bought the Vibrainium once illegally to make Kat's original wrist daggers. They certainly were not repeat offenders. Perhaps it was their way of calling for a truce or letting go of the past. Either way Kat was grateful for the gift, it would certainly help tonight when she would have to stop a sale inside the Shadow Network's own casino.
Offered a back room, Kat got changed into the lovely Cheongsam dress Yuma had made for her. Once dressed up she slipped the bangles on her wrists and came out, Naturally she had to wear the colour clip in her hair adjusted to black, the purple highlights were a dead giveaway otherwise. Coming out, Kat really wished she could just wear jeans and a t-shirt. As she came up Yuma added.
"Oh one more thing since tonight promises to be dangerous the dress has the same fibre weave as your suits so bullet proof. Just uhhh stay away from Arc-reactors, or if Iron Man shows up-"
"Thanks Yuma I remember what happened last time." Kat said not needing the reminder.
"Oh and uh one more thing..." Yuma added informing her of the clubs secret entrance and the agent there. Offered up keys to a car, Kat drove for the casino intending to arrive early and check out the area. However midway Kat received a phone call that Aida patched in, it was Shado.
"Kat we have a potential problem, or possibly a very messy one heading for the casino."
Knowing Shado struggled with English Kat replied in Mandarin to spare her. "What is it Shado?"
"We have unconfirmed reports that a guest of the Royal variety is heading for the Casino."
"Aida can you run confirmation?" Kat asked the AI while Shado was still on the phone.
"It seems the information is correct. King T'Challa, Okoye, and another lady left Wakanda at 2:33pm local time and have arrived little over two hours ago."
"And when were you going to notice this, Aida?" Kat asked.
"Probably not until the sale was going down. I did not know I was suppose to monitor the King of Wakanda." Aida replied.
"No you're right. It just complicates things is all." Kat said thinking. "Can you locate where they are in relation to me and the club?"
"You will arrive about twenty minutes before them." Aida answered.
"Okay thanks. Shado inform the security I am almost there and am meeting friends there."
"Alright, also the security is instructed to safeguard any patrons, but if possible they will assist if they can."
"Okay just no heroics." Kat instructed before the call ended, and Kat pulled up not far from the club. Walking down a busy market street, Kat came to an older lady that smiled at her. She stood with some others cooking and offering food to the passers-by. However Katrina recognised her from the picture Yuma had shown her. Again Kat was speaking Mandarin as she came to the lady.
"You're Sophia, Yuma warned me against the green tea. He says it is highly addictive."
Sophia openly laughed, "That is because that boy cannot stand the good stuff. You must be the one Shado spoke of. Our own problem solver."
Kat smiled as Sophia nodded to a man further back that stiffly rose to his feet to let her in the VIP entrance.
"Thank you." Kat said as she went past and entered the club entrance. The guards immediately knew she was the one Shado sent so they stood aside and let her go through the metal detectors. She then moved aside rather then go through the hidden door beyond the detectors since others would be joining her. As she waited one of the security came up handing her a tablet with a secure feed to the Casino main room.
"The lady of the house says he is a government agent here to buy the item." Kat frowned as she zoomed in to see someone she could do without seeing.
"What do you know, Bilbo Baggins off on another adventure." Kat said looking at Everett Ross.
"You know him?"
"Unfortunately." Kat said then looked up at the man, "Don't worry he is a kitten compared to what will be coming through the door." She gestured behind her knowing soon King T'Challa and his entourage would be here followed undoubtedly by the bad guys. Handing the tablet back she told him to stick to the plan as she leaned against the wall. Finally a woman entered followed by a familiar face in a black suit. They passed through the metal detectors but were not paying close enough attention to notice her yet.
"I see Sophia let you in. Word of advice don't drink her green tea." Kat said as three heads turned to look at her more closely two of them recognised her, but the other lady tensed. The guards merely stood off to the side watching the friendly exchange between the four individuals. Now that security knew Kat had been waiting for them, the guards knew T'Challa and his entourage were with her.
"Katrina Barnes." T'Challa grinned happy to see her. Unexpectedly the King came up giving her a friendly hug, "It has been too long."
"Thank you your Highness." Kat replied and looked to see Okoye who nodded at her. Then Kat added as she held up one arm with the bracelet. "Also my thanks for the upgrade."
"It was Shuri that sent them to Yuma." T'Challa pointed out.
"Yes those two love to bounce ideas off of one another. Still I appreciate it especially now. Hiding my original wrist daggers here would have been a nightmare." T'Challa smiled then glanced around at the security concerned they might try to disarm them. "It's alright they already know trouble has yet to walk through the door. They're on our side."
"I see." T'Challa said and finally the other lady had to ask.
"T'Challa who is this?"
"She is a friend, Nakia. Katrina Barnes, this is Nakia."
"Nice to meet you."
"Likewise," Nakia replied then asked, "How do you know Sophia?"
"She is an agent of the Shadow Network. Often she runs interference for places like this. Other times... well she has a knack for going unnoticed and gathering information." Kat explained however that meant T'Challa caught onto the implication faster.
"This is a club owned by the Shadow Network."
"It is." Kat confirmed as Okoye was the one to ask another vital question.
"What are you doing here?"
"I was originally sent to prevent the sale of some Vibrainium." Kat replied with a shrug of her shoulders, "No doubt you heard of the theft in England and followed the trail here."
"Indeed Mrs. Barnes." T'Challa said calmly.
"Well one of the ones involved that poisoned the Curator is a former Shadow Network agent with an axe to grind. The reason the sale is taking place here is because Cutter and the others discouraged anyone from buying, but that does not include government agents. That and the former Shadow Network agent wanted to make a statement."
"A final insult." Okoye replied catching on.
"So you are here to catch this former agent." Nakia concluded.
"Yes." Kat replied calmly. "Wanna team up?"
"We are here for Klaue. No one else. This Shadow Network business is not our concern." Okoye pointed out.
"Well it should be," Kat said sharply, "Klaue was in that museum for the Vibrainium artefact held there. There are five security guards that are dead and a curator that is dying a slow painful death as her organs shut down. Whoever Klaue killed in Wakanda, they are not the only ones killed by this asshole. Now by all means have Klaue. Drag him to Wakanda and disembowel him for all I care, but give me a lead to locate the one that betrayed the Shadow Network so I can stop her."
The simple request was answered with a nod after T'Challa considered it a moment. "Very well Mrs. Barnes."
"Thank you." To help coordinate their efforts, Kat was given an ear pieces to allow them to speak to one another. Then Kat added. "Also there might be a complication, the other buyers being discouraged means we already know who is buying."
"Who is it?" Okoye asked and Kat looked to T'Challa as she answered.
"We already met him."
Author's Notes:
First off thank you all for the lovely reviews. As always I do love hearing from you guys. It was a lot of fun also hearing what you thought of the situation and who's side you took.
As for this chapter is it four months later with Kat back out doing her own thing. We get a bit more explanation of what is happening to lead up to the present, and why Kat is again by herself. Then we enter Black Panther territory.
For this I figured Kat would have to have her own natural reason for entering the movie. Hence the issue arising with the Shadow Network and it's former agent Linda. That and I felt Linda (Killmonger's girlfriend) was sadly underused. Her brief role in the movie was cut short when her 'boyfriend' Killmonger shot and killed her so that Klaue could no longer hide behind her. The unique talents she brought to the table were not really explained in the movie, but she looked to have a good knowledge of poisons and hacking. So rather then just leave her as some extra side character I gave her a bit more backstory to explain how she has those skills.
Also for those wishing to see more of the Shadow Network we get some communications from both Cutter and Shado, as well as a visit from Yuma. To top it off Kat gets her upgraded wrist daggers courtesy of Shuri and Yuma.
Aside from that not much to say about this chapter as it is merely the beginning of the Black Panther movie. Other then I do hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to hear from you about it.
Please let me know what you think by leaving a review.
Lesliezin
