Chapter 56: Turmoil
Mika thought the celebrations would go on for days or weeks, but it was less than twenty-four hours before they were back to business as usual. Except now, there was a piece of the lab missing. She didn't realize it was a habit to stop a the little room with the cryo pods until she was there, this time presented with three empty chambers instead of two. A pang went through her heart, and tears nearly fell, but she choked them back. She asked Shuri if she could go to the village with Bucky, the only thing she could do in this situation, but she gave her a sad smile and told her that it was best to let him rest in the warmth of the village, and let the land heal him. Mika wanted to fight her on this; she was growing antsy, just wanting Bucky to be awake and back with her. She felt like she was suspended, supported but without her feet on the ground. She just wanted to have something solid underneath her again.
That afternoon, she sat at her station working on a way to translate Shuri's code to something she could actually understand, when Shuri came scampering over to her, looking very excited. The girl's white dress made her dark skin even more beautiful, and she'd carefully twisted her hair into an elaborate bun. Mika would never say aloud that it reminded her of a couronne, she just decided that she would make one for her in the morning.
"Do you want to see something funny?" she asked, pulling Mika's attention away from the screen in front of her. She turned to her with a perked eyebrow, wondering exactly what mischief was going on now.
"Depends. Am I going to get in trouble for it?" she asked in return, her eyes glancing around the lab to see if anyone was watching them. It seemed like she had chosen the perfect moment to set whatever plan she had into motion.
"Why do you always assume I'm going to get you into trouble?" Shuri said, her hand going to her heart in mock offense.
"Because you have come very close on multiple occasions over the past week." Mika pointed out, Shuri waving off the comment. "Remember, I'm here out of kindness from your brother."
"Yes, and the bit of teenage rebellion that he never grew out of." she replied. "Which, I'll have you know, still runs full force in me. Which brings me back to my original question."
Mika sighed, knowing that it was useless to try and fight with her. "I don't know why you bother asking. You either convince me or use your Princess orders to make me go anyways." she said. Really, Shuri was quickly turning into another younger sister. But for all of Nicoletta's artistic talent, Shuri's was in science. The best of both worlds.
"Finally, you're learning!" Shuri said, clapping her hands before grabbing her wrist, pulling her towards the stairs to a different level of the lab. "My brother has a mission today, so he'll need new equipment. I've completely modified his suit, and I have a bit of a joke to play on him."
"Shuri…" Mika said in a warning tone. Her brother was officially named the King now; didn't that mean anything to her? She laughed, waving her off again.
"I have to show him how to use it! Whatever happens during the trial is not my fault." she said cryptically, and instantly Mika was nervous. She didn't like the sound of that at all. When they reached the new level of the lab, Shuri set her up at another desk, pulling up the files she was working on previously. "Okay just sit here, and pretend to be working. He'll be here any minute."
Mika muttered to herself in Romanian, mentioning regrets and homelessness and damn teenagers. Shuri, of course, couldn't understand her, and simply ignored her to greet her brother at the door. Mika heard them as they made their way around the lab, discussing the new inventions and Shuri making her jokes. It was moments like these that humanized T'Challa; here, he wasn't the King. In the lab, he was just Shuri's brother. Mika grinned as she caught a glimpse of them, T'Challa looking incredibly proud of his sister and all that she had made.
Then came the part Mika was afraid of. "If you're going to take on Klaue, you need to have the best the design group has to offer. Exhibit A." she explained, bringing him close to where Mika was "working" and showing him the mannequins. He nodded to her briefly before turning back to the models in front of him, trying to see where Shuri was going with this.
"My design." T'Challa said, a bit of affection in his voice. Shuri quickly shut that down.
"Old tech." she chided, making him balk in offense. "Functional, but old! 'Hey, people are shooting at me! Wait, let me put on my helmet.'"
"Enough." he said softly, not taking kindly to her insults of his suit. Mika had to bite her lip to keep from laughing; sure, they were discussing high-tech vibranium super suits, but the sibling argument was so typical that she couldn't help but find it funny.
"Now, look at these." Shuri said, showing the two necklaces on display. They discussed the pros and cons of both of them, as well as the nanotechnology behind them. Soft clicks echoed through the lab as the suit sprang into being, gleaming in the bright lights of the lab. T'Challa was obviously impressed, and honestly so was Mika. Shuri told him to strike it, and Mika jumped as he did, sending the mannequin across the lab. "Not that hard, genius!"
"You told me to strike it, you didn't say how hard!" T'Challa countered as Shuri ran over to grab the suit from where it landed several feet away.
"I invite you to my lab, and you just kick things around?" she complained, huffing angrily as she put the model back where it belonged.
"Well, maybe you should make it a little stronger." he offered, and Mika could practically feel the annoyed look from his sister. However, he was distracted by something. "Hey. Wait a minute."
"The nanites absorb the kinetic energy and hold it in place for redistribution." Shuri explained, forgetting her anger due to the excitement of the suit. Mika chanced a look over her shoulder to find the suit, which was previously all black, glowing purple in the section T'Challa had kicked before.
"Very nice." he commented, his eyes taking in all the details. Yes, Shuri may be the genius in the family, but T'Challa was brilliant as well. She could see him analyzing and calculating, figuring out exactly how he could use this information. He was trying to solve the puzzle before Shuri told him the answer. Of course, she was too excited to allow that.
"Strike it again in the same spot." she instructed, backing up and pressing on her beads. Mika knew the look of the video recorder; she'd seen it enough times over the past few days working alongside the younger girl. She stealthily turned; if she was going to get into trouble for whatever plans Shuri was enacting, she was at least going to see the entire thing.
"You're recording?" T'Challa asked suspiciously; he knew better than to completely trust his sister.
"For research purposes." she explained, sounding just offended enough that he let down his guard, turning back to the suit. He did as she asked, and a purple wave extended from the suit, launching him back and sending him tumbling to the floor. Shuri's laugh, loud and teasing, echoed through the lab, and Mika quickly hid her face to hide her own giggles.
"Delete that footage!" he exclaimed from the floor, though everyone knew that Shuri would do no such thing. He directed his attention to Mika; she was hoping to escape the moment, but no such luck. "And Mika, you saw nothing!"
"Nothing, Your Highness." she agreed, holding her hands up. Of course, her voice still shook with amusement, but they both pretended that it didn't. He climbed back to his feet, going to admire the technology in front of him. He put his arm around Shuri's shoulders, shaking her in an affectionate manner and making her whine.
"Some of your best work yet, Shuri." he said, making the suit retreat into the necklace. There was an element of pride to his voice that made Mika feel like she was intruding on a private moment. She focused as hard as she could on the screen in front of her, trying to decide which would be better between acting like she wasn't there or trying to sneak out of the lab. Luckily, she didn't have to wait long, as the King took the new offerings from his sister and left, off for whatever mission was so important that he had to stop celebrating his coronation.
"Okay, you can stop hiding now." Shuri called to her, a smirk still on her face as she remembered her joke. "I told you you wouldn't get into trouble."
"I don't actually remember you distinctly saying that." Mika responded, spinning her stool and letting out a relieved breath. It really was funny, what she did to the King. She just didn't allow herself to appreciate the humor in it until he was out of earshot, and therefore she was out of the danger zone to get kicked out of Wakanda. It was certainly not the home she grew up in, but it was slowly starting to feel that way, though she couldn't deny that she missed her friends and her sister terribly. She wondered idly if she would be allowed to contact them again, once everything blew over.
"Well I implied it." Shuri said, getting distracted by one of the pieces on the table next to her and going to fix something. Mika wanted to know what it was like in the girl's mind, with all her knowledge and curiosity. She took the teen by the shoulders, directing her back towards the door.
"Come on, you've got other things to work on first." she reminded her. Shuri skirted from her grasp, trying to stay on this level of the lab.
"But T'Challa said that I need to be available for backup! I have to be close to the sand table, just in case they need me." she said, pointing to the large pit of sand on the other side of the lab. Mika's confusion must have shown on her face, because the Princess continued, "Have I not shown you the sand table?"
"You haven't." Mika said, once again allowing the girl to drag her across her lab. Really, why did she even bother thinking about putting up a fight anymore? She led her to the great pile of black sand, and while it just looked like something she could see at one of those volcanic beaches, she knew it was going to be something special. Shuri pulled up a screen next to the sand, a smirk on her face.
"How has your training been going?" she asked, idly tapping the hologram a few times. Mika looked at her out of the corner of her eye.
"Pretty good, I think. Why?" she asked, immediately apprehensive. She'd seen first hand just a few minutes ago how much of a trickster Shuri could be. After a few more taps, the sand flew into the air, shaping into a form that looked incredibly like Okoye.
"Go ahead, try and strike her." she said, giving her pause. It sounded a lot like what she told her brother earlier. Her thought process must have shown on her face, because she added, "Don't worry, the settings are low."
"I'm trusting you. I may regret it, but I'm trusting you." Mika said, hoping to guilt her into taking it easy on her. She squared up against the sand figure, sending a fist out towards it. It dodged her, grabbing her wrist as it flew by. It didn't try and fight back, simply letting go of her and returning to its original stance. Mika's eyes grew wide, and she tried again with the same result. "This is amazing!"
"I know!" Shuri said before clearing her throat and trying to put on a cool front. "I mean, thank you. It's one of my favorite inventions."
"So this is what you'll use if T'Challa needs your help?" she asked. "Like, a remote fighter?"
"Oh, no. I'll be the getaway driver." she said. She made a few adjustments, and the sand Dora Milaje warrior disintegrated and was replaced with the front end of a car, the windshield glittering with the view of a place that Mika did not recognize. She shook her head, laughing.
"Your brilliance will never cease to amaze me." she said, making Shuri beam. "Well, I suppose I'll go back up to our usual office. And then clearly I need to go to training. Have fun being on call!"
"See you later!" Shuri said, sliding onto a stool and scooting to a table, her mind already moving on to the next thing. Mika shook her head, laughing once again as she went back to the area of the lab she was more familiar with. She passed her day exactly as she said she would, working on her projects and going down to the training room later that night. Now that Bucky was out of the palace and healing in that village on the outskirts, she was trying even harder to exhaust herself so that she could sleep. Usually, she was fine with the situation she was in; but at night, when she was alone in the quiet, she felt the weight of it pressing down on her.
The next morning, Shuri was all excited to tell her about getting tagged in the night before, saying that she was able to drive T'Challa through the streets of South Korea - before their car was destroyed, that is. And now, they were nearly back, with someone who was going to need their help. Apparently, she said with more excitement than Mika thought was healthy, the person's injury was so bad that if they didn't bring him here, he would likely die. That sounded terrifying to her, but the Princess had a heartiness to her spirit that Mika had never seen in anyone else. Again, she reminded her of her age, as she still had the boundless confidence of youth. She hoped Shuri never lost it.
An hour later, Shuri pushed away from her desk, scampering to the hallway. "Great! Another broken white boy for us to fix. This is going to be fun." she heard her say, and looked over to see a table floating beside her with an unconscious man on it. She couldn't see the details of his face, only his greying hair and the pallor of his skin. Shuri and T'Challa pulled him onto the platform, a great wall of hologram rising to give her all the information she needed. Two women followed behind them; Okoye, and someone she did not recognize. "He will live." she heard from beyond the veil, then an exclamation that someone had arrived. Mika did not recognize the name, but used the moment of distraction to slowly inch her way around the wall and see who was so injured that only Wakandan technology could save them.
Unfortunately, she recognized the man immediately. Agent Ross laid unconscious on the table, his face somehow still almost as severe as when he was awake. Mika immediately froze as her mind whirled in fifty different directions. She had escaped arrest from this man - twice! - and was here because she was hiding from him. He couldn't know she was here, it would ruin everything for both her and Bucky, as well as the frail peace with the new King.
"Shuri!" she whispered, getting the princess' attention. She turned to her, as did Okoye and the other woman, confusion evident on all their faces. Mika gave them an awkward smile before pulling Shuri past the wall. "That's Agent Ross."
"Yes, of the United States Central Intelligence Agency." Shuri said, confused as to why Mika was so concerned. Mika took a steadying breath, trying to choose her words wise enough that Shuri could see the urgency of the situation without panicking.
"He's the man that arrested me. And Bucky. And sentenced me to the Raft." Mika explained, and Shuri's eyes widened. "He can't see me, okay? He can't know I'm here. It will put your brother in so much trouble."
Shuri thought for a moment before nodding. She reached for a large tablet on the desk, handing it to Mika, then pressed a few things on her bracelet before holding it next to hers. "There. Now you can keep working in the apartment until things get settled. And I will contact you if you need to move."
Mika's heart felt like it was going to burst. "Princess, I-" she tried to give her usual speech, but Shuri cut her off.
"When will you realize that you are welcome here? Now go. We'll take care of this later. In the meantime, I need to go put his spine back together." she said. Mika nodded; after all, the care of her new patient would need to be her priority.
"Thank you, Shuri." she said, giving the girl's hand an affectionate squeeze before taking off towards the other stairs. Even if Agent Ross looked very much unconscious, she could not take the chance of him waking up and spotting her. Her heartbeat was in her ears the entire way up the stairs, and even if the open living area was probably safe, she still went into the bedroom, closing the door behind her to limit any prying eyes who happened to make it up to the top floor. The open window and balcony would have to be enough for her for the next few days.
The night passed slowly, and she was unable to sleep thanks to her nerves. The next morning dawned bright, just like it had every other morning she'd been there, but something felt different. Something felt wrong. It wasn't just that Ross was here; no, something else was off. She couldn't sit and work, instead pacing as the minutes ticked by. She considered reaching out to Shuri via the beads of her bracelet, but knew she couldn't run the risk of Ross knowing where she was. So instead she just waited, watching the sun travel across the sky, her anxiety growing with every degree it moved. When was Shuri going to call her?
As the sun dipped below the horizon, Mika's answer finally came. She heard a great commotion from the lab below, one that did not match anything she'd heard before. Despite her reservations, and her fear of getting caught, she ran down the stairs. If someone was destroying Shuri's lab, or hurting her in anyway...Mika wasn't sure exactly what she could do, but she needed to do something. She couldn't sit idly now.
But it was only Shuri in the lab, rummaging through everything in a frantic manner. The necklace from the day before was hanging from her arm, and she was shoving things into her pockets. "Shuri?" she asked, but the Princess didn't hear her. However, someone else did. A woman in green held some sort of circular weapon to her throat, and even if it wasn't touching her Mika knew that it was sharp.
"Who are you?" she asked, her eyes sharp. This was the same woman that had come in with Ross and the King earlier. If she was protecting the Princess, that meant she could trust her, right? But what was she protecting the Princess from?
"What happened?" Mika asked, and this time Shuri heard her. She turned to her so Mika could see her tear stained face, her lower lip still trembling. Before she could answer, the woman in green stepped closer. Now Mika could feel exactly how sharp her weapon was.
"Who. Are. You?" she asked again, this time her voice much lower and more danger.
"Nakia, it's okay." Shuri said, her voice thick with tears. She ran to Mika then, burying her head in her chest and wrapping her arms around her, taking a moment to sob and murmur in her own language. Nakia looked just as confused as Mika felt; coming down here was giving her more questions than answers.
"Shh, it's okay." Mika said, rubbing the girl's back. Nakia's gaze softened as Shuri shook her head.
"No, it's not." she said, pulling back. Mika put her hands on Shuri's cheeks, wiping away the tears with her thumbs.
"What happened?" she asked. Shuri opened her mouth to answer, but no words came out.
"The King is dead. And a war hungry outsider sits on the throne." Nakia supplied, and while Shuri couldn't say anything to confirm or deny it, the tears rolling down her face said everything. Mika's heart plummeted. What were they going to do now? She turned to Nakia.
"What do we do?" she asked resolutely, and the woman shook her head.
"Where we must go now, you cannot follow." she said. Shuri looked like she was about to disagree, but was silenced by a look from Nakia. They seemed to have a silent conversation before Shuri finally nodded, tapping her beads again before holding the bracelet to Mika's.
"This was supposed to be a surprise." she said, her voice still wavering. "But there is a place, in the countryside that I was preparing for you and Sergeant Barnes. It's not quite ready, but it will keep you safe for the time being."
"Princess, I can't ask-" Mika was once again interrupted.
"This is literally all I can do for right now. We will come back for you, once we-" This time, the Princess was interrupted by Nakia.
"We should be going." Nakia interjected, and Mika knew why. She didn't want her to know the plans; plausible deniability. Plus, this woman didn't know her, didn't know whose side she was on. Mika was not offended, as it was the smart thing to do. She nodded, pulling Shuri into another hug.
"Be careful." she told her before saying a prayer over her in Romanian, one that she only heard her mother say in great times of distress. She'd forgotten it until this moment, but it felt necessary. She looked to Nakia, whose expression was resolute. The Princess was in her charge, and she would look out for her. Mika let go of Shuri, watching as the two ran out of the lab. She was stunned at that moment, and she felt completely paralyzed. Should she follow them? Or just do as she asked?
She finally decided that she couldn't just sit by, taking off at a run and trying to track them down. But as soon as she went a direction that the beads didn't like, they started vibrating at a painful frequency, as if Shuri herself were yelling at her.
"Dammit, Shuri." Mika said, finally giving in a turning away. A coolness spread over her wrist; the bracelet had oscillated so hard that it had broken the skin, and now the beads were healing the damage they'd done. Very well, she would listen, no matter how much she didn't want to. She took off at a run, following the beads through the city and out into the grasslands. When she could no longer run, she dropped to a walk, but never stopped moving. Even to an outsider who only arrived today, it would be obvious that Mika did not belong. She needed to hide, now.
The moon was high in the night sky by the time she made it to the little cottage. Shuri seemed to have carved out a chunk of the mountain and wedged it in there, three sides of it still exposed to the outside. The front porch overlooked a field, with a dilapidated house and pens for animals still barely standing. In the darkness, Mika thought they looked as if they were for sure haunted. The beads let her in to the front door, and while the cottage was built, there was no furniture or anything in it. It was a beautiful design and wonderfully made, so nice that it brought tears to her eyes. When did Shuri have time to organize all of this?
There was no bed, but the water and electricity worked. There were enough essentials in the fridge for her to get by for a few days, hopefully long enough until Shuri and Nakia were able to complete whatever they needed, or at least make their escape. And now, that she was sitting alone, she worried about Bucky as well. What would all this mean for him? Where was he?
"Can you take me to the Amari village?" she asked her beads, but for once the beads were silent, and Mika did not know enough about how they worked to configure them. "Can you take me to Bucky?" Nothing. "Can you at least tell me if he's okay?" This time, they blinked green once before falling silent again. Green meant good, right?
She took a deep breath and went to the front porch, sitting down on it. With the open grasslands in front of her and the empty house behind her, she felt more alone than she had in her entire time here, perhaps her entire life. The King was dead, Shuri was gone, and Bucky was, as far as she was concerned, lost. She decided she would give Shuri three days; if she didn't hear from her by then, she would take matters into her own hands.
With that resolution in place, she let herself break down and cry. It was all she could do for right now - cry, and wait.
Lolz remember that time it took us ten chapters to get through Civil War? And here Black Panther took us...a chapter and a half. Oops. But you know what that means - next chapter, we get a sweet sweet reunion!
Thank you! So much! For the reviews! Y'all always inspire me to keep going with this story, even when I get stuck (which is often). I love love love hearing all y'all's thoughts. So thank you for taking a second to tell me what you think, it literally makes my soul ascend.
Hope y'all liked this chapter! Please tell me what you thought!
-XM