Steve, Nat, Sam and Shuri told Jane everything they knew and came to learn about her abduction from the prisoners. They were all sat around a table in the cafeteria, having spent nearly two hours recounting the tale of her rescue from each of their perspectives when Jane sat back in her chair.
"I don't know how I'll ever be able to thank all of you." She said. She felt a great swell of guilt, of being undeserving of their efforts and their love as her mind wandered to the broken memory of how she was imprisoned in the earth.
She was about to say something more when a young Dora walked up to their table. "The king has requested that you join him at the palace." She said sternly.
"Tell my brother we are on our way," replied Shuri and the young Dora nodded before she turned to leave.
"Let's continue this at the palace." Said Shuri to the table.
"Li Liweyo!" Exclaimed T'Challa as they walked into the empty throne room half an hour later. "I am pleased to see you." He smiled warmly as she stopped in front of him.
"Thank you for everything you've done," Jane responded, a little emotional.
"Think nothing of it." Smiled T'Challa. "We take care of our own." Nakia appeared at his side and looked lovingly up at him.
"And you were wounded while..." Jane trailed off.
"Occupational hazard my dear." She smiled.
"Come," said T'Challa to the others behind Jane, "we have much to discuss."
Steve sat down next to Jane as he surveyed the room and noted that the Dora Milaje were absent from their usual places and frowned.
"I think it is time that we welcome Jane into our ranks; she is ready." Said T'Challa.
There were nods of agreement around the circle that stopped as they reached Steve.
"You don't agree, Captain Rogers?" noted T'Challa.
Jane looked at Steve and frowned.
"It's not safe." Stated Steve.
"I think that ship has sailed," muttered Nat.
"I am safest when I am with you," said Jane, motioning to the people around her, but meaning Steve in particular. "So it stands to reason that I should be where you are." She finished.
He didn't like it. He hated the idea of putting her in harm's way, as that seemed to be where most of them were a lot of the time.
"I am confident that she can hold her own." Said T'Challa. "Now, I have to inform you that we have identified a member of my Dora Milaje as the traitor that enabled Jane's abduction." T'Challa looked heartbroken as he uttered the words.
A shockwave rolled over the small group in a loaded silence.
"Who?" asked Jane.
T'Challa swallowed, struggling to speak.
"It was Aneka, a long-serving Dora; we thought she'd been on a deep cover mission when in reality she was right here in Wakanda, plotting this betrayal."
"Why?" Natasha was struggling to understand her motive. The Dora Milaje where vowed to be loyal to the Black Panther and Wakanda.
"When I decided to open Wakanda to the rest of the world, she and Ayo were in strong opposition. They argued that it went against their vow to protect Wakanda. That it would endanger our people and lead us to conflict." Explained T'Challa.
"When we took Jane in, she became the perfect embodiment of the outside world and the dangers it posed to our country. Aneka left on what we thought to be a mission, shortly after Jane awoke."
"Where are they?" asked Steve, "the Dora Milaje."
"Ayo disappeared after she brought Nakia back from where we were at the hospital. We've been trying to find her, but we have been unsuccessful thus far." Answered T'Challa.
"We believe that Ayo will make a move to free Aneka soon, the penalty for betraying the king is death, and Ayo cares for Aneka very much." Said Nakia.
Jane frowned as the pieces began to fall into place in her mind. If Aneka was working to eliminate her as a threat, and she and Ayo were close, it would explain Ayo's behaviour toward her.
"As you can imagine, Okoye is both very angry and hurt by this betrayal. She will not stop until she finds Ayo." Said T'Challa.
"Is there anything we can do?" asked Nat.
"Thank you, Miss Romanoff, but I think it best if this matter is resolved by our own." Answered T'Challa.
"What about Hendrik?" asked Jane, anger flaring in her chest. "Have you learned anything more of his involvement?"
"He maintains that Hydra threatened to kill his mother in Germany if he didn't cooperate." Said Steve.
"I would like to speak with him." Said Jane.
Steve opened his mouth to protest, but Natasha interjected before he could say anything. "I'm sure something can be arranged." She said. Steve shot her an annoyed glance.
"We can go to the detention centre now if you'd like," offered Nakia.
"Yes please." Jane accepted.
It was a short flight in the Quinjet to the detention centre. Steve seemed very tense as Jane shot him another glance. She wished she could speak to him, but she'd have to wait until they were alone.
"We've yet to discover who the mastermind of the operation was." Said T'Challa. "They are all protecting whoever it is with loyalty bordering on insanity." Added Nakia.
Steve, Nat and Sam shot each other knowing looks. Jane watched the exchange curiously as she walked next to Shuri behind the three of them exiting the Quinjet.
The detention centre was several hundred feet underground, and access was very strictly controlled. Once they reached the holding cells via the elevator, Steve spoke for the first time.
"I want him restrained, and I want to be in the room with her." He ordered more than asked.
Shuri glanced at her brother, who nodded. She quickly relayed the information to the guards outside Henrik's cell.
They escorted Henrik to one of the interrogation rooms and restrained him. Nat, Sam, Nakia, T'Challa and Shuri walked into the adjacent observation room. From here they could see and hear everything that was happening through the one-way glass.
The guards walked out and took up their positions on either side of the door.
Jane glanced at Steve who looked very stern under his heavily knitted brow and led the way into the room. Steve closed the door behind them.
She stopped halfway to Hendrik as he looked up and registered who he was looking at.
"Jane." He muttered.
She took a few steps closer. Steve stood close to the door with his arms folded across his chest.
Jane stalked around Hendrik without a word. She took in his dishevelled hair, his patchy beard and the black overall he was wearing. Once she'd done a full circle around him, she came to a standstill in front of him.
Hendrik stared up into her eyes, and he could swear the golden threads around her irises were glowing.
"I trusted you," she said with quiet anger.
"I know." He said.
"Why?" she asked him.
His demeanour suddenly shifted from simpering victim to pure malice. Steve did not miss it, and neither did anyone behind the one-way glass.
"Because you, my dear, are the answer."
"The answer to what?" she snapped.
"It was so easy," he grinned, staring at the wall, "you are so naive. You believed everything I told you."
Jane was struggling to keep her anger under control. He looked back at her and giggled.
That was all she could handle, and before she could stop herself, she slapped him across the face.
"You betray my trust, have me kidnapped and tortured and you think it's funny?" She breathed.
Steve felt the pit of his stomach turn. This was the first time she'd said anything about what had happened while she was held captive.
Hendrik took a second or so with his head to one side to recover from the blow, before he flexed his jaw and shook his hair out of his face.
"What am I the answer to?" She asked.
"Everything." He sounded out each syllable before starting to laugh again.
She frowned and turned to look at Steve, unsure of what to do.
Steve walked over and came to a standstill in front of Hendrik. His laughter stopped abruptly.
"I do enjoy our little chats, Captain, but as you can see, Jane and I are having a conversation here. Surely, you won't forget your manners." Henrik drawled.
Behind the one-way glass, Nat was growing increasingly uneasy.
"He knows something." She muttered. "And he's managed to fool us all."
T'Challa looked at her, frowning.
"As I was saying, my dear..." Hendrik started to continue smugly, but Jane cut him off mid-sentence with a savage punch to the face. His head lolled back. He was unconscious.
"Sorry, but I've been dying to that for a while now." She said to Steve.
"If you didn't do it, I would've." He replied, too satisfied by what she'd done to be shocked.
A small stream of blood was making its way down Hendrik's cheek. Jane watched its slow progression, and something occurred to her. She walked around to his side and touched her finger to it, turning her hand to look at the drop of blood on the tip of her index finger.
Steve frowned, realising what she was planning to do.
Before he could say anything, she quickly touched her tongue with the drop of blood and staggered back as images flooded her consciousness. Steve was there in an instant, catching her before she fell. Her eyes darted erratically, seeing nothing for a minute until she came out of it and felt Steve's arms around her. She retook her balance and stood, turning to him, the threads in her eyes glowing. She didn't know how she knew, but she placed her hand on the nape of his neck and let go of the images she just received. Steve let out a sharp breath as he blinked at the pictures flooding into his mind.
She let go of him and took a step back as he brought himself back to reality. He blinked at her, in shock and wonder. "How'd you do that?" he asked.
Jane looked at her hand and frowned. "I don't know."
"What just happened?" Shuri's voice came over the intercom from the room next door.
Steve turned to his reflection in the one-way glass. "She showed me his memories." He said, struggling to believe what he was saying.
"He's the mastermind." He said.
Behind him and Jane, Hendrik came around. "Cut off one head, two more will take its place." He muttered.
They were back in the throne room at the palace talking about what they'd learned from Hendrik.
"He came here many years ago after he'd heard tales of the hidden country with bountiful riches." Began Jane. "He found, through Shuri, the power of Vibranium and Vibranium powered weapons and sought out the mercenary Ulysses Klaue, the two forged an alliance, and Klaue smuggled Vibranium, always sending his clandestine partner, Hendrik, his share. Slowly Hendrik gained a following, and he was able to buy who and whatever he needed to fulfil his duties to Hydra. My discovery and Steve's arrival was most fortuitous for him. If he could be the one to kill Steve Rogers, he would buy himself a ticket to the top of the Hydra food chain and then there was me, his ace in the hole. He's been monitoring the situation at the site where they found me closely, and he believes there is something there that holds great power and that Hydra can harness this power. He believes that I am the key."
"There's more." Said Steve, rubbing his forehead. "I think he's set this plan, to harness this power he believes still lies buried in the ground, in motion to be carried out with or without his involvement. He anticipated being captured."
"What do we know about the site?" Nat asked T'Challa.
"My people on the ground sent their last update a few days ago. Scans of the excavation area revealed a massive chamber in the earth. It's still too deep for them to get accurate readings on what might be in there, for now, it just looks like an empty, half collapsed chamber." He answered.
"Somethin' tells me there's more than just a pile of rocks in there." Said Sam.
Shuri looked ill. She felt betrayed and used by someone who she'd considered a friend. Jane recognised how she felt, because she too, knew what that was like, for Shuri however, the lie had been many years long. "I should have known," she said through gritted teeth, "I should have seen it."
Jane reached over to Shuri, who was sitting on her left and gently squeezed her hand. "We all believed him." She said softly.
"I think we all need some time to process this information." Said Nakia.
The day had gone by in a blur, and it was getting dark.
"You are right," said T'Challa. "Let's get some rest and we can regroup and come up with a plan in the morning."
They took their leave of each other and headed to their respective homes, minds saturated.
Once they were back at the apartment building, Nat and Sam left Steve and Jane at Steve's apartment.
Steve closed the door and looked around to see Jane staring out of the floor to ceiling window at the lights of Wakanda.
He walked over and stood next to her, hands in his pockets. They took in the view for a few minutes before Jane turned to him, her eyes filled with apprehension.
"There something I should have told you." She began as tears welled in her eyes. "I should have told you the night it happened." She knew she had to tell him what she'd remembered about her past, but she was afraid that he would no longer want anything to do with her if he knew.
His face was etched with concern as he looked into her eyes. "You can tell me anything." He almost whispered as he took a step closer and gently tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
She slowly reached up, trembling, her eyes not leaving his as she placed her hand on the nape of his neck.