"Indeed. I'm curious as well."

T'challa's voice carries over the entire room, heavy, thick, and demanding answers.

His voice is soft. It usually is.

But right now, despite his quiet demeanor- his tone is as steely as a kings.

Like their fathers used to be, in the rare moments of his anger.

Sometimes she forgets this. That her brother is so much like their father.

And in the brief moments after his words finally register in her mind, the silence is deafening.

T'challa's muscles are taut as he studies Shuri's reaction.

Her back is to him as she leans over her computer, hands stilling over the keyboard once she knows he's there. Her shoulders stiffen ever so slightly, the muscles in her back tighten, and for a moment there is no movement at all from her before she turns towards him.

Their gazes meet.

His gaze is full of stone before they look into hers, but then he cracks when he actually sees the emotion in them.

They are full of fear.

Not fear of him, at least. Not exactly, he can sense that immediately. But seeing her like this at all feels so alien, so wrong, that T'challa almost growls right there in anger because who the hell would even dare-

A wall forms between them the next second, as if she can sense his growing agitation.

T'challa frowns as her previously wide eyed gaze grows calm and controlled before he can discern anything that can tell him what he needs to know.

T'challa's eyes narrow before he can stop himself. It takes all of his willpower not to let his emotions get the best of him. Because there had never been any secrets between them before, not like this.

There had never been any lies.

Vocal, silent, or otherwise.

And yet she is staring at him, shoulders drawn back and face eerily calm as if she hadn't been gaping at him with a face full of pain and apprehension seconds before.

Seeing her like this, it bothers him.

If he had been the emotional and naive young boy he was before she was born, before his father fully took him under his wing, then the anger and frustration he felt boiling underneath the surface of his stoic aura would have reared its ugly head the second she slipped a calm mask -since when had she ever had the ability to even muster masks in front of him- over her features.

He was hurt that she needed to hide anything from him at all. Confused on what could have possibly happened in such a short time without him noticing.

There is anger bursting within his subconscious whenever he thinks back to the bruise he had stared at dumbstruck, a following desperation to know how it got there- because the thick sweater she's wearing isn't just for show.

And if harm had come to her in any shape or form then not even Bast could tell him to look the other way.

With this final thought the muscles in T'challa's jaw and shoulders tighten as he pushes himself off of the wall he'd silently rested against since entering her lab, and for a moment he almost feels like an old man as he walks towards his little sister, his smoldering eyes studying her with every long stride he takes before he's only a foot away from the princess.

"Well?" He murmurs, an expression full of expectation smoothening across his features.

A hint of the old Shuri sparks before him then as she arches an eyebrow, her own face displaying clear annoyance at how authoritative he's being before her.

Seeing this almost relieves him, until the princess actually opens her mouth as if to answer him.

Only to hesitate.

Even with all the emotions and conflicting thoughts that had been battling against each other as he waited for her to walk through that door, seeing her standing before him now and struggling to think of something to say has him hesitating as well. This entire situation unnerves him.

But one thing he head learned in his short reign as king, was that nothing good became of him digging bigger holes for himself. He didn't come here to drown in silence after all, he had come for answers.

So he tilts his head towards Abdul, who had been struck silent the second the two royals had begun their awkward silent stare off.

"Leave us alone for now. In fact...clear the room." T'challa quietly murmurs, his gaze never leaving Shuri's as he addresses the boy scientist. He knows that if he's going to get anything from his sister, there's no way she'll open up to him if they have an audience.

And he has a feeling she won't appreciate him dragging her out of the lab either.

Abdul hesitates however at the order, his eyes flickering to Shuri, who had immediately turned to her back to both of them in order to sink into her chair once she realized she'd have to face T'challa alone.

"And the pod...?" Abdul finally ask, his voice slightly unsteady, a drop of sweat falling from his brow.

Shuri waves a dismissive hand.

"I'll activate it myself, you can go now Abdul."

Her voice is as quiet as T'challa's. But there is no steel there.

it's simply wary.

Abdul doesn't respond. He can only bow before quickly retreating from the two quiet royals.

When the young scientist is gone, something seems to shift in the air. The lights above them glare, the hums of the machines seem to deafen.

And Shuri seems to grow smaller and smaller as she doesn't turn to meet T'challa's inquiring gaze again. Her gaze blankly pointed towards the computer screens in front of her.

"Shuri. What's wrong." Her brother murmurs, his voice warmer than before.

Not stern.

But almost pleading.

So similar to the voices of the servants from that morning.

And just like then, she can't think of anything to say.

So she doesn't say anything at all.

T'challa sighs once it becomes clear he'll only be rewarded with silence.

After a moment of just standing there, he folds his hands behind his back, head bowed slightly towards the ground.

He closes his eyes for a moment, as if mustering up something inside of him.

But then...nothing. He doesn't open them up again. He doesn't say anything. Doesn't move.

A few minutes go by before Shuri's unmoving stance across from him becomes uncomfortable.

She wonders how it came to this unsettling place where she can't even tell what her brother is thinking. And wonders why she had to be put in such a position in the first place.

Shuri almost laughs bitterly then. The irony really, she had put herself here. In this place where she wasn't herself anymore. If he was acting like their father then she knew he was upset. Truly upset, not the playful annoyance she was constantly subject to throughout the years of mocking him.

Even now, feeling him silently stand there, eyes closed and body almost a statue, she can sense waves of pure emotion rolling off him, all of it barely suppressed and no doubt because of her.

Shuri can only inhale deeply.

She must've done something to tip him off.

Not surprising either, considering just how out of it she had been that morning.

She almost seethes, because she can barely remember anything from earlier that morning. Everything that had happened before swallowing her very temporary cure for the dreams were hazy, and the memories were distorted as if she had been underwater and barely alive. She doesn't recall saying anything strange other than her abrupt dismissal of him, but then again she doesn't remember much of anything anymore other than trying to keep her sane mind.

Whatever she had said or done, or what she hadn't done- it didn't matter now. Her brother rarely slunk into her lab and waited for her like this, nor did he ever use his 'chieftain voice' in her presence unless he was irked about something. And her brother was rarely angry, and never at her- so she knew she had fallen into a pit that would take a lot of climbing and few miracles to get out of.

It seems that in trying to keep her own mind intact however, she'd hurt him.

That... wasn't what she wanted.

That's exactly what she'd been trying to avoid.

"Brother..." Shuri finally says, her voice a lot steadier than she had been expecting as rolls her chair around to face toward T'challa's still form, hands clenching and unclenching at her sides because it doesn't just hurt to move, it hurts to see him like this. "I don't know what to say."

He opens his eyes then, and his gaze is heavy. Shuri watches as her brothers lip turn upwards into something that is not smile.

"That makes two of us."

She can now see the stress lines that formed in his skin as he stares at her, the emotions she had felt emitting off of him earlier displayed plainly before her in his eyes as he looks up at her now, hand placed against the bottom half of his face as if restraining himself from speaking too soon, too rashly. But she knows him too well. He fails. Because how can he stay silent, when it concerns her.

"You were watching, during my press meeting with the UN." T'challa finally murmurs, his eyes flickering away for a moment. "And when I saw you again, you ran to me, laughing and embracing me. Do you remember why."

Shuri's eyebrows furrow before she bites at her cheek, quickly understanding where he's going with this. He always did love to play puzzles or stalling games with her that she could easily solve, no matter how annoyingly overused she felt they were.

She answers him anyway, since resisting wouldn't do much to help her in the long run.

"Because of what you said to that corny politician." Shuri mutters, smiling slightly when her brother looks at her, his eyes almost scolding. Her smile grows bigger when the facade falls and he shakes his head at her.

"Not just because of that."

"No...not just that."

T'challa looks at her quietly, and when Shuri's eyes soften, he smiles.

"Building bridges..." He murmurs, lifting a hand as if prompting her to continue. And thankfully she does, a mixture of relief and sadness on her face as she lifts her own hand and slides her chair across the room to place it in his.

"Instead of barriers." Shuri finishes, her other hand finally lifting to brush against her sweaters collar.

Near the bruise.

Her brother follows her movements carefully, his eyes growing serious. He leans down on his knees so he's eye level with her, and this time Shuri doesn't hesitate in meeting his gaze, though there's worry wafting off her just as intensely as it had been from him earlier.

"So tell me sister," T'challa says after a moment of inner debate, removing his hand from hers and placing it in the same spot near her neck. "What is the meaning of this?"

He doesn't lower the collar. He respects her boundaries too much for that. But he leaves no room for confusion when he firmly places his hand against hers, over the bruise, so she'll understand exactly what he is referring to.

And going by the twist that her lips form at the question, she does understand.

"I...cant tell you that yet." She says, voice firm, no hesitation in her gaze as she removes his hand along with hers and lowers both to the armrest on her chair. Enough to show him she doesn't want him to pry, but not a complete brushing off of his concern, since she begins to play with his fingers idly after.

T'challa blinks at her. Stunned. Before his own lips twist as well.

"Why." He asks simply, his gaze piercing as well as confused.

"Because this particular bridge isn't one you can safely tread." Shuri murmurs, her gaze falling to their hands. "I need to fix this on my own."

When T'challa's face twists into disbelief, Shuri quickly tries to divert the situation, her expression taking on a taunting air.

"Besides, you have kingly things to attend to, and several places you should have been to by, like, yesterday. And I have a date with one of my pods before I can give you the equipment you need. So if you'll excuse me-"

"Shuri this is no time for jokes," T'challa's voice is incredulous as he places his hands firmly on her arm to keep her from retreating.

"And I know that." She snaps, her tone growing sharp as she wrenches herself away, knowing he wont dare restrain her if she's unwilling, as she rises from her seat- her hand abruptly leaving his. "But if I thought it was bad enough to involve you, I'd do so. But it isn't."

"What isn't, Shuri. What is this it you're referring to. Because that," T'challa whispers, eyes beginning to blaze as he gestures sharply to her neck. "Isn't nothing."

"It can be if you let it!" She insists, eyes burning with tears she refuses to let fall as her brothers pain begins to affect her.

Why did that demon have to ruin everything, why did she have to be so confused, why did she have to do this to her brother, to herself - why couldn't things just be normal again.

"And why should I let it?" T'challa exclaims, the confusion in his eyes growing as well as the volume of his voice and the little calm he'd managed until now beginning to crumble. "Why Shuri? I'm not just your brother, I'm your king- what kind of king would let someone he loves suffer."

Shuri closes her eyes in frustration.

When he was like this it was always a losing battle.

'He's right you know.' An ominous voice echoes in her mind, following her brothers pained words before she can even think of something to say. It isn't even a second before she realizes whose voice it belongs to.

Shuri shakes her head, fighting off the haze- and turns away when T'challas eyebrows furrow at her sudden trembling form.

'It isn't nothing. I am not 'nothing'. And the sooner you stop fighting the inevitable, the faster this can be over'

Shuri's lips begin to tremble, because she knows this is what he wants.

He wants T'challa to be lured in.

Angry. Confused. Vulnerable.

Because of her.

How dare he.

'No.' Shuri hisses inwardly, her hands lifting to her temples as if attempting to banish him by pure will alone. 'Shut up. NO.'

"Shuri?" T'challa's voice is distorted. Muddled. As if she's underwater.

As if she's dreaming.

"Hey- what's...Shuri? Look at me, why are you- look at me...Shuri?"

She hears her brother approaching her, his hand brushing against her back. He's worried. Almost frantic, and it takes her several moments before she realizes she has stumbled to the floor, T'challa catching her before she can hurt herself. He's saying something. Asking her something as he pulls her closer to him.

His fingers pressing into the fabric of her sweater, near the small of her back.

The cuts on her skin burn.

They burn.

And before she can even stop herself she sees him

Standing there, marks glowing in the darkness

Smiling at her...

No

At him

She nearly chokes

There is a burning within her chest

a cold twist of power surging in her veins

and although his head is empty

his heart is heavy

and full

"If you continue along this path. You will break."

Bast is not smiling down upon him

no god ever has

but she's burning

and so he burns too

and he knows

the time for waiting

it's over

"I've always been broken."

Before she can stop herself, Shuri gasps and wrenches herself away- the pain clear in her voice as she snaps out of the reverie. She snaps her head up and sees T'challa staring at her, trying to register what he'd just seen.

T'challa withdraws his hand, his concerned expression growing dark with realization.

Shuri, now completely light headed and breathing harshly, wishes she could disappear, because for once his touch isn't comforting.

Because it feels like him.

T'challa looks at her covered neck. His eyes trailing down to her arms.

Stomach.

Legs.

His eyes travel over her body, as if seeing every scar.

And then his face grows heavy. The blaze in his eyes flicker like flames. He almost looks ill the longer he stares.

And Shuri can hear the bitter laughter in her head, laughing at her.

And then,

Silence.

Neither of them say a word.

What can they say.

She expects him to turn away from her. She almost wants him to.

There is nothing in his eyes that tells her he can even bare to look at her.

"I..." T'challa says instead, before he pauses, his eyebrows furrowing as he turns to look away from her for a moment.

And all Shuri can think to herself as her brother battles his own demons, is that she wishes she could turn back time.

It's a recurring thought.

When T'challa looks at her again, Shuri notices that the corners of his eyes are wet.

"I need you to come with me. I...I need you to see something."

Shuri's eyebrows arch slightly, confusion filling her as T'challa reaches for her, pulling her to her feet and holding her arms tightly when she almost stumbles again.

She ignores the burn of her injuries, and almost forgets about hiding them entirely as T'challa lifts her into the air, her hands reaching to grab him by the arm. She feels light headed, and desperately wants to get to a pod so she can at least clear her mind to deal with this. Her brother hadn't acted like this since she was a child!

"What-" Shuri demands, or rather begs, as she's carried out of the lab, her eyebrows furrowing in surprise, confusion, and several other emotions she can barely name as they run through her. "Wait. You have a plane to catch T'challa. I have to-"

"Whatever it is can wait." T'challa's voice is firm.

It is clear he isn't in the mood for a fight, and when Shuri opens up her mouth again as if to argue, he silences her with a look.

Shuri bites her tongue.

For once...it doesn't bleed.