Just to be clear, even if Shuri and Ned weren't basically the same age, which I still don't believe, I would ship them. I will reiterate once more, nothing can turn me away from this ship.

Also thanks to everyone who reviews it means a lot to me! You inspire me to write faster! Or to write anything at all tbh. And I'm sorry for cliffhangers? I have this arc completely planned out, and I worry about filling chapters, so I try to have them lead into each other.

Chapter 7-Shuri

New York is all lights and neon. I don't think there's a single star in the sky. Even if Wakanda's city is lit up most of the time, there are still places where you can see the stars. Places I would escape to with my brother- and a guard. Always a guard.

I find the place Ned mentioned. He talked to me all the way here. I stayed on the line in part for him, but mostly for me. I'm a little scared. I know this is the right thing to do but I'm scared. Not of the night or the neon or whatever happened to Peter, but of T'challa. Because if he finds out, I don't think I'll get to work with the outreach program anymore. And it's not like I have a choice, I have to help Peter and Ned. I'm not going to let my friends suffer, even if it puts my career in danger. They're more important.

I pause outside the door with a random thought before pulling the door open. This is the first time I'm meeting Ned. It will be a relatively brief meeting, though, probably. Since I have to go find Peter and rescue him. I step inside the convenience store and look around. There are three people here other than the cashier, who looks very bored. I take a deep breath and find Ned looking through the gum, glancing up every now and then and scanning the area for me. He nearly jumped when he saw me. Tonight must be pretty stressful for him, I know the feeling.

"I have the Oscorp building in my gps already. Here, this is for you." I hand over a band of kimoyo beads.

"I can talk to you on this so that you can leave the phone open for Peter. You're my guy in the chair. I need you." His face reddens and he nods, taking the bracelet and slipping it on.

"I know that you'll do great."

"Can I track you through the bracelet? In case something goes wrong and someone needs to be called?" He thinks of everything…

"Yes. If something does go wrong, there is a second contact you can reach. My brother. We really don't want to have to call him, but if anything happens, T'challa needs to know." I hate to admit that something might go wrong and that I might need my brother to rescue me.

"Okay." I realize that Ned is also scared of the prospect of contacting my brother. After all, to Ned, T'challa is a king, not a friend. I wonder if he was ever scared of talking to me. That's irrelevant now.

"I want you to sneak back into your house and stay there, on the line. Stay safe, you're the guy keeping us safe."

"I will." He seems a little less scared. Good, because I'm not.

"Do you want an energy drink or something? You could be up all night and we should probably buy something before the cashier gets suspicious."

"I doubt Ricky cares, but yeah let's get a red bull. And be careful out there..." I buy him a drink and on a whim grab two packs of tic tac gum because it sounds amazing and I want to try it. Then I go on the hunt for Peter Parker.

I immediately regret everything. Ned hasn't called yet because he's sneaking back into his house. I don't know if my guard knows I've snuck out yet. If she knows, T'challa knows. And if T'challa knows, he's probably already stalking me, like prey. Which means, just maybe, that I only have a little while to find Peter. But it's so late and dark and creepy and I'm tired and hungry and everything feels like a mistake… Until I hear a voice jump from my kimoyo beads.

"Guy in the chair, reporting for duty. Where are you?" I mumble out a street name, trying not to let on how nervous I am. I'm not the one who's supposed to be nervous, I'm the one who's supposed to make Ned feel better. But just hearing his voice makes me feel better.

"Oh, be careful, that's not a great neighborhood. Stand up straight, walk with purpose." I kind of laugh out of fearful delirium.

"You sound like a self-help book."

"Well, I've been working on one," I wonder if he knows exactly what he's doing. I wonder if he's brilliant and knows that just talking is helping me keep going as I move through the city.

"Oh yeah?"

"I have a few potential titles. How to get a Ned, Ned ahead, Ned start."

"I like How to get a Ned. I'd get a Ned."

"You have a Ned. Are you getting closer to Oscorp?"

"Yeah, I'm going as fast as I can. Are you still trying to get a hold of Peter?"

"Uh huh, I'm running a program that basically sends something out to all of his socials all at once. He's going to hate me when he's back, but it's necessary."

"Did you just make that program?"

"Well, I updated something I started a while ago..."

"That's smart," I compliment, taking a deep breath.

"We should have gotten you a red bull."

"I'll be fine," I lie, focusing on the chase. It's not a great chase if I haven't gotten anywhere yet. I'm not the superhero in my family, I've fought for my kingdom and for what's right, but I'd feel a lot less nervous back in my lab, or at the lab at the outreach program.

"Ned?" He fell silent for a second, and I wondered if something had gone wrong on his side. I hadn't been about to let him go on this crazy risky mission himself. He has less experience than me, and I'll need to get him a super suit or something before taking him from his position as guy in the chair. I guess I understand how T'challa feels about me because I feel a sense of overprotectiveness for Ned.

"Sorry I thought I heard someone get up and I didn't want them to know I was still awake. Are you okay?" He whispered, reminding me of ASMR.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Then suddenly he abandons the whispering and loudly proclaims, "Crap, crap, crap, Peter is calling! I can track him through this call! Hold on Shuri!"