Well, having a suite in a palace has its perks, I guess. I mean, the place needed a Friday or a Jarvis of course, but I was willing to make do with the fully stocked kitchen, big-screen TV, Wi-Fi, and king-sized everything, including the huge patio with a breathtaking view overlooking a tropical garden and river beyond.
I was out on said patio the morning after my less-than-satisfying-but-at-least-I'm-not-dead meeting at the hospital when T'Challa paid me a visit.
"How was your meeting with Sergeant Barnes?"
"Didn't quite go the way I was expecting. Then again, I'm not 100% sure what I was expecting."
"What did he think of your offer?"
"He's willing to let me try and get the trigger words out of him, which is good. But he didn't want me to even try and touch his memories, which – " I trailed off, recalling Barnes's adamance. "His choice, though, right?"
"As so little has been in his life."
"I know. I get that. I just – I can't imagine why he'd want to keep those memories intact. Not when he doesn't have to."
"Did you ask him why he prefers to keep them?"
"Yeah. He said – he said the families of the people he killed don't get to forget, so neither does he."
"That answer disturbs you?"
"I guess I'm used to my offers of help being accepted a little more willingly."
"I'm sure he's grateful," T'Challa said.
"I'm sure he is – or, even if he's not, I don't need him to be. That's not why I want to help him."
"Why do you want to help him?"
I couldn't stop a burst of irritation. "Maybe because everyone seems so surprised that I want to?"
Well, he smiled at that. "Perhaps you've surprised yourself as well."
I shrugged. I was aiming for nonchalance but I'm not sure I pulled it off. Yeah. Maybe I did surprise myself. I wasn't about to admit that to T'Challa. Or to myself.
"And if he doesn't agree to altering his memories," T'Challa kept on, "Will you feel you've failed? That some point you wish to make will not have been made?"
What was with all the hard questions? The incredibly hard, impressively incisive questions?
I shrugged again, trying to keep up the pretense of unconcern. "I'm just trying to help a guy out."
tbc
