Chapter 23: Escape

The haze of dim light dulled his senses and the steady rhythm of gruel and footsteps confused his sense of time. Had it been one day or three? He couldn't remember anymore.

"I've changed my mind," Shuri said with a huff as she rubbed her arms to keep warm. "I never want to see any part of Italy again. I never want to go spelunking and I really never want to eat this disgusting mzungu attempt at uji ever again."

"Come here, mwafrika," Bucky said, ushering her into his broad, warm chest. "We can't have you dying of the cold instead of vampires here. I mean, if you are gonna go, at least make it sound good for the news reports."

"Not funny," Shuri said, snuggling into him. "But I'll forgive you because you are warm. You know, for a 'Winter Soldier,' you really don't live up to your name."

"True. But those were my rebel days. I have repented. I think I should now be called the 'Equatorial Soldier' to reflect my sunny, warm heart."

"Well, at this point, I'm more interested in your sunny, warm body."

"I'll try not to be jealous," Bella said.

"Hah! Of who? Bucky or me?" Shuri said.

"Both!"

"Well, you have more than enough cuddling going on there. You don't need anymore."

Bella had long since given up trying to remove her new "friend" from her ankles and instead sat on the floor with him still attached. His sobs had slowly morphed into a sullen whimper and he seemed content to simply curl around her on the floor, oblivious to all conversations and other cell occupants.

"I'd happily exchange. Either of you want him?" Bella said and motioned her hands towards her buried legs.

"Cuddling with an ice cold mentally unstable zimwi? Hapana!" Shuri said.

"Ditto. Why cuddle with a dude when I have two beautiful dolls to choose from? I mean, honestly, I can't even say he'd be my last resort. Has he even said his name?" Bucky said.

"I'm not sure. The last few times he's talked, he was face down on the floor and it kinda came out as a 'aurmphed, haparumnp.'"

"As long as he doesn't decide he's hungry, I can live with that," Shuri said, eyeing the huddled mass skeptically. "I don't exactly consider him as asset to our escape plans. How are we going to remove him from your feet?"

"I could take off his head," Bucky suggested, only half-joking. His discomfort over the stranger's proximity to his wife had yet to abate.

Bella shook her head. "Not helpful. Let's focus on viable plans first and then we can figure out how to ditch the nutcase."

"Yeah. He really smells. How long do you think he's been in here?" Shuri asked, wrinkling her nose.

Bella shrugged. "Focus, Shuri. Back to our previous plan A: I think I could shield us from all the mental attacks. I was impervious to all their gifts when they questioned me earlier. I do not think that made me many friends among the Volturi guard, but it is still useful to consider. But we still have our original problem: three of us against an army of super strong, superfast, and nearly invincible vampires. Babe, how many do you think you could take?"

"I dunno, doll, maybe two at a time, max. Those suckers are fast. But we got Shuri and if I'm guarding her, I can only take one at a time and still manage to keep her within arm's reach."

"That's not a good plan," Bella said, frowning. "I can't hold my shield and fight off more than two at a time."

"Remind me why I don't have any of my anti-zimwi weapons with me…or an extra Panther Habit?" Shuri whined.

"Because the last time you went on an airplane with one of your inventions, you decided to test it at altitude and took out the entire back half of the plane. T'Challa trusts you to make weapons, not use them…and you are banished from travelling with them," Bucky said.

Shuri crossed her arms over her chest in a huff.

Footsteps echoed down the halls and stopped outside their door. They heard first the keys and then the clanking of the door as it opened. A guard draped in a grey cloak impassively beckoned for them to follow him.

They glanced at each other, unsure if this was leading them to their salvation or de-limbing. They stood to follow. Bella struggled. Her self-appointed Siamese twin did not seem to notice the guard or her attempt to stand. She poked his shoulder.

"Excuse me," she said softly. "We need to go. Can you stand? Or move? Or roll over?"

He didn't respond. The guard gave them an impatient glance.

"Here, babe. Let me help," Bucky said. He began to pry limbs and appendages off his wife, but it took all his strength to budge them. Bella managed to stand fully upright. The man clambered out of Bucky's grip again and lunged towards Bella.

"Not my feet!" she said.

Bucky grabbed the arms and ankles of the tall, thin prisoner and folded him in half.

"Put your arms out," he said. Bella obeyed and the man wrapped himself around her arms instead of her feet. He proved a cumbersome, lanky load, all limbs and legs spilling over her petite edges. He wrapped himself in a ball around her, as if he were her winter scarf, and this enabled their movement to follow the guard.

The guard glared at them in irritation. His long, grey cloak swished around his ankles as he gracefully turned and led them with his silent footsteps along the uneven cobblestone foot path. The silence of their journey was only punctuated by the sounds of the humans breathing and the pit, pat, pit, pat of clumsy human footsteps.

One maze of paths led to another and another until the human eyes blinked in the sudden over exposure to sunlight pouring in through above ground windows. Red eyes followed their movements as they walked, inspiring Bucky to pull Shuri closer to him. Huge doors opened into a room with a dais where three black robed figures stood, shimmering in the sunlight. They appeared in heated discussion with another three figures, one clothed in black, the others in red and gold.

Bucky's heart leapt within him as he recognized the deep coffee face of his King, garbed in the black Panther Habit. He glanced at Bella with a relieved grin.

"T'Challa! T'Challa! Never have I ever been so happy to see you in all of my life!" Shuri said as she ran from Bucky threw her arms around her brother. "I'm sorry for every time I stole your Snickers bars and complained about your stupid Bobi Wine songs overplaying. You are the best and most wonderful brother in the whole world!"

"Sister, you are well?" he asked in a low voice, laced simultaneously with adoration and brewing menace. He held Shuri close to him and scanned her tear-stained face for evidence of harm.

"Yes, brother. I am uninjured."

"Bella, Bucky?"

"We are well."

T'Challa nodded. Ayo and Okoye stood on either side of him, faces as grim and severe as the thunder over Lake Nyanza.

"King T'Challa, we did not know she was your sister or we would have released her immediately," a black-robed man with dark hair spoke in a plaintive tone. "Our quarrel is not with her or the quasi-human or your kingdom. This one," he pointed towards Bella as he spoke, "falls under my jurisdiction and I require her services."

"Aro, since when does the law of the Volturi allow the impressment of guards? Have the laws of the mazimwi changed since the days of our ancestors?"

"King T'Challa, our law allows us to offer any of our own the illustrious opportunity to serve in our guard," Aro responded. He wrung his bone white finger together and his thin lips opened in too convincing a smile. "Isabella Swan has been offered a prominent position which she is free to accept or deny."

An entourage of hooded figures followed Aro's movements like his own personal shadows and inched closer towards the Wakandan representatives. Okoye and Ayo, spears in hand, eyed the figures with wary steadiness and drew closer to their King. Bucky, Bella, and Shuri fell into rank behind them.

"As I have said, I do not want to join the Volturi. I will not be staying here. I will return home with my family," Bella spoke quietly and firmly. Bucky felt her hand slip into his. He could see her subtle nervous tension hidden by a calm façade. He rubbed the back of her hand and pulled her a little closer.

"Lieutenant Barnes is a citizen of the Kingdom of Wakanda," T'Challa interjected. "She is the personal bodyguard to the princess and is under the protection of the royal family. From her first day as a zimwi until now, she has been under the jurisdiction of the King of Wakanda and I do not intend to abandon any of my citizens to your care without their consent."

"King T'Challa, you know the laws of secrecy binding our kind. They are not allowed to reveal our nature to humanity or they and the human recipients of such secret knowledge must receive the death penalty. Your subject and her two companions have all breached this law. I am willing to pardon your sister based on the long-standing relationship between Volterra and Wakanda, but this other, he is a liability. And Bella has broken our laws."

T'Challa's eyes flashed with burning sparks of anger. "Our kingdom was established a millennium before your ancestors were weaned, Aro. Our laws are deeper and more ancient than the laws binding your kind to secrecy. We protect our citizens, whether citizens by physical birth or political rebirth, regardless of geographic location.

"Sergeant Barnes and Lieutenant Barnes have both undergone our ceremonial rebirth to seal their citizenship in Wakanda. As such, they are subject to our laws and not yours. As the sovereign ruler of our nation, I will decide who and who does not know either of their true identities. Bucky and Bella are both my citizens to protect and any attacks against them are attacks against the nation of Wakanda and will be treated as such."

Aro's responding smile glowed as genuinely as Christmas snow in Mombasa. "Your highness….I must insist that we stop and talk about this situation further," Aro began, sweeping his eyes uncomfortably around the room at his guard. "You see, the situation is such that…."

"No, Aro. There is no situation. We are leaving now," T'Challa said, much too coolly. He turned and the Dora Milaje followed him with a haughty spin. Four grey cloaked guards stood rooted in front of the towering doors of the ancient room. The Dora Milaje tapped their spears, the sound resonating against the tall, pillared walls. They turned to T'Challa.

"Bella, have they been attacking us?" T'Challa asked, turning his head towards her and speaking in a hushed whisper that every vampire ear could easily hear.

"Yes, my King. I have felt at least five separate attempts on my shield," she answered. "From three separate guards."

T'Challa shifted around and pulled himself to his full height. He stalked towards the black cloaked figure with the deadly precision of a leopard on the hunt.

"Aro, need I remind you that, while your guards might overcome in hand-to-hand combat, Wakanda is more than capable of defeating you on the battlefield…again. We have three separate aircrafts circling Volterra as we speak and at my signal, they will not hesitate to flatten this entire building and all inside. Must we continue this dance? I have travelled long and far and I would like to go home now. I would much rather not tell them to fire."

Aro's smile stretched thin as if his teeth alone could shield Volterra against Wakandan weaponry. He pulled aside to confer with two other black robed figures. They silently argued, Aro clasping each of their hands in turn and then turning back to face T'Challa.

"You are free to leave," Aro said, with a slight bow. "You have our deepest apologies for this unfortunate incidence. Of course, we would not want to cause a rift with our oldest human allies. This has all been a simple misunderstanding. Lieutenant Barnes, of course, as one of us, you are welcome to visit us in Volterra at any time you wish. We would welcome you into our happy family here at any time."

Bella simply nodded and remained shrouded in a distrusting silence.

Aro motioned towards the remaining company. "Sergeant Barnes, Princess Shuri, please forgive us for our less than hospitable accommodations. If you ever choose to pay us another visit, I can promise you will receive only the best. You are all free to return to your home now with our best wishes…But you must leave Edward Cullen with us."

Aro pointed towards the unkempt creature still cradled in Bella's arms. In the bright sunlight and opulent cleanliness of Volturi chamber, the figure appeared as a grey, empty shell, even more tattered than he appeared in the dim catacomb. He wilted his shadowed face deeper into her chest as if she could shield him from the battalion of red eyes boring into his back.

"Edward Cullen?" Bella said, looking down in surprise. "This is Edward Cullen?"

"Yes, my dear, did you not recognize him?"

"No. I have no memories of him."

Aro clapped his hands together and his eyes sparkled with a twisted delight.

"How interesting! I wonder how it is possible that you came into this life without the memories of your past? Especially, such formative memories as those should have been….How I wish I could read you and understand the way your mind works! Alas, if wishes were horses…

"This spawn of Carlisle came to us quite a few years ago requesting us to assist him in suicide. He broke one of our most sacred laws and has been serving his sentence ever since. He is still our prisoner and must remain with us."

T'Challa's keen eyes swept over Bella and her charge. He stared deep into the burgundy mire of Aro's eyes until Aro's false smile faltered.

"He comes with us," T'Challa said, voice firm as smelted iron.

"You have no jurisdiction...," Aro began. "King T'Challa…But why? What benefit can he be to you?"

"Maybe none. If, when he wakes, he chooses to return to you, I will not force him to stay with us. However, at the moment, it does not appear as though he wishes to be parted from our company."

"I must insist against this," a fair-haired man, one of Aro's two companions, interjected harshly. "You are overstepping into the affairs of our kind and it will not be tolerated. The prisoner may be a pathetic wretch, but we have need of him and you, Wakandan King, have not the right to meddle in the affairs of Volterra."

"Consider it repayment for the injury and insult you have caused my people. I will accept him as tribute or I will take the head of one your guards in his stead."

T'Challa nodded towards the two Dora Milaje and they surrounded Bella and Shuri, crouched in defense with their vibranium spears directed outwards. T'Challa threw a sleek, black firearm at Bucky and he caught it, holding it in his good arm, his vibranium arm poised as a wall to protect Shuri. T'Challa held his mask in his hands, waiting on the Volturi's next move.

The Volturi guard surrounded them in a grey-robed cage, shrinking inwards. Aro's smile now slipped off his face and shattered onto the cold reality of his current dilemma. Aro threw up his hands in surrender.

The ocean of guards parted and the company of seven left without a backwards glance.

"My King," Okoye whispered as they hurried their departure. "Why? I do not understand."

"Nakia had a dream," T'Challa said.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Translations:

Uji: porridge. East African variety usually made out of millet flour or maize flour. Sometimes made with milk or lime and sugar.

Zimwi/mazimwi: vampire/vampires

Hapana: no

Mwafrika: African