Now we're getting to the good stuff in Year Four.

Year Four: Sudden Change of Plans

Nine Year Ago - Somewhere in Brooklyn

On a random night, Xavier and Britney jump the fence of a high school close to Xavier's house and walk towards the basketball court. It was meant to be a shortcut to get into town, but Britney walks over to a deflated basketball and picks it up.

"You know how to play?" She asks. "Or is it only football in your repertoire?"

Xavier laughs as she somehow bounces a basketball that's no longer deflated. That seemingly magic trick distracts him more than knowing the definition of a repertoire, which he doesn't have. He swears it was deflated. Instead, he starts dribbling and she bounces on her toes excitedly.

"Don't go easy on me," Britney states.

"Only cause you said so," Xavier responds with a grin.

He starts dodging her while dribbling but Britney, who doesn't know how to play, jumps on his back. He lurches forwards as she laughs maniacally, a sound that flutters his heart. She pulls her body back so he would lean backwards. To his surprise, Britney kicks the ball out of his hands and jumps off him. The sudden weight change on his shoulders sends him off kilter for a second but he dives forwards to get the ball.

Britney grabs it in her hands and tries to make a shot but Xavier slaps it out of her grasp over her head. She ducks but trips him as he starts running behind her. When he hits the ground, he grabs her ankle and she yelps as she falls forwards. He starts army-crawling over her and she laughs.

Britney rolls onto her back and when he climbs over her, he freezes when they lock eyes and she winks at him. At that moment, Britney shoves her off of him before skedaddling to get the ball.

Xavier never saw her retrieve the ball but it magically reappears in her hands by the time he runs up to her. Britney grins as he grabs the ball out of her hands and makes the shot. A blink later and the whole net and backboard are broken.

Xavier winces. That super soldier-ness got the best of him … for the whole game. But Britney was on par with him the whole time.

Crap.

"Oh shit, are you okay?" Xavier asks, checking if she has any cuts or bruises. He lifts her arms and looks for any marks on her clothes.

"Maybe stick to football," she responds, catching the deflated ball in her hands.

Xavier nods, looking back at the basketball net that is somehow fixed again. He double-takes, looking at Britney who's still smirking as she runs off.

He follows.

-o-

Present Day - Atlantic Residence - 15:54 PM

Angela lightly kicks open the door since her arms are carrying a full laundry basket. She drops it onto her desk chair and digs through it, throwing Merida and Orchid some of the clothes she washed. Angela needed a full load to make it worth her money. The girls catch it without looking, except for a bra that Orchid let land on her head. Merida laughs as she takes a photo from her bunk.

"Orchid, you gave me this to wash, right?" Angela asks, holding up an argyle skirt.

"I did," she responds.

"It's mine."

Orchid glances at Merida since, realistically, Orchid asked Merida to borrow it and she got it from Angela's dresser.

"Whoops…" Merida mutters.

"Good thing you washed it," Orchid says.

-o-

Wakanda's Embassy in Nigeria - 20:55 PM

Iqadi and Imanu, along with both sides of their families, are dressed up and having a diplomatic dinner with officials from all over the continent. They've been to many of these events before, even hosting from time to time. It's a night with many courses and drinks, sometimes an extra event like an observatory walk in botanical gardens or dancing. It's an informal time to talk about formal events like economic deals and strategic moves involving other ally countries and expansion into the rest of the world.

Despite the informal formalities, they're heavily guarded with the different arms from each nation. They have different trainings and routines, but despite all that, they all turn eyes when Kili leaps up from the dining table during one of the courses.

"Mom-!" Kili gasps.

Her cutlery falls on the floor and all the diplomats and their families look at her. Kili shakes her head and holds her throat as she gasps and coughs. Imanu and his parents immediately run over to her and Iqadi follows.

"Has she been poisoned?" Someone yells.

Iqadi mutters a prayer, tears welling in her eyes as her heart races. She looks at her parents who head over, keeping space for Kili as her parents rest her on the floor and continue to help. Iqadi steps back when a Dora Milaje hands Kili's father an EpiPen and administers it to Kili.

It's silent in the gala, but then Kili relaxes, shaking as she settles in her mom's arms next to Imanu. Iqadi wipes her eyes as she heads over to her parents and the rest of the Dora Milaje as the diplomats confer in murmurs.

"She was probably allergic to something in the food," the guard explains to T'Challa and Ororo, "one of my allies is running a rapid allergy test as we speak."

"That wasn't an attempt at anything," T'Challa states but Iqadi knows he wanted to ask.

"Doubt it, my King. Anyone who would strategize anything like that would've done so more effectively."

T'Challa nods before looking at Iqadi. "Check on them."

Iqadi smiles softly as she walks over to her in-laws. She puts her hands on Imanu's shoulders and peeks over. Kili is slowly falling asleep in her mother's as one of the guards discusses the rapid allergy test with her father. They're unnerved, as she expected.

Iqadi crouches beside Imanu whose eyes are fixated on Kili. She reaches for his hand but ends up holding on to his arm.

"Imanu, you're tense," she mutters.

"Am not," he responds firmly.

"You've been holding your hand in a fist."

Imanu looks down, sees his fist, and relaxes so he could hold Iqadi's hand. "We're banning whatever she's allergic to."

"Imanu, we are not banning milk."

"It's milk?" He shakes his head. "That's in almost everything. Dear, I'm a pacifist but it's times like this where I'm reconsidering…"

Iqadi grins a little. "We'll have this discussion when we're not in an embassy."

-o-

Edison Residence - 2:09 AM

James returns to his dorm, quickly quieting himself when he remembers how loud he is since his perception of sound is compromised by his AirPods. He pauses, slowly opening the door. He takes out an AirPod and turns on the light. He expected to see Daniel asleep but the bed is empty.

"Oh well," James says walking into his dorm casually.

James exhales as he flies into his bed, lying down as he looks at his phone. The bright 2 AM glows on his face. He has a sparring session in four hours followed by Prof Nine's office hours two hours after that … he could skip the training cause he also has a lab report due today that he hasn't started.

Should he bother sleeping? It takes him about thirty minutes to go to sleep and that means he'd only be getting 3.5 hours of sleep. That's not a sufficient amount, but it's more than zero.

He could start He's not even tired. He told his prof he wasn't gonna start it till today and he doesn't think he can do it. Most people feel nervous and anxious about this but he isn't feeling anything.

James puts his phone in his pocket and heads out, leaving the light on.

-o-

Hudson Residence - 3:26 AM

"What do you do if the condom broke?"

Xavier was awoken by frantic knocking on his door only to see a shirtless and panicking cadet asking that question. Xavier didn't know what to do, nor did he want to deal with his seemingly personal emergency himself, so he told the cadet to sit tight with "his other person" (Xavier's exact words at 3:30 AM) and he'll be back. If anyone asks, he just wanted to get out of there.

Points to the cadet for trying to be responsible.

Xavier's night got even weirder when he walked into the nearby drugstore only to see Daniel and James in the snack aisle, which is the aisle Xavier went to first. The three boys hold different chip bags and stare at each other, waiting for someone to start talking. It's not like this is the weirdest time they've run into each other.

"I'm killing time," James says.

"I napped all day in the lab and now my sleep's off," Daniel responds. "I was just here and then James showed up."

"RA business," Xavier explains.

James laughs a bit. "What happened?"

Xavier sighs as he starts walking over to the pharmacy section. "Kid came asking what to do when the condom breaks."

Daniel winces. "Yikes."

"Oh god, been there," James mutters.

Xavier stops and glares at him. "What?"

"What?"

Xavier shakes his head. "Not dealing with that, but don't know what to get."

The three of them stare at the wide selection of colourful boxes for all things contraceptives.

"ECPs," Daniel says, looking at the different options.

"E-what?" Xavier asks.

"Jesus, Xavier, you and Britney were sleeping together and you don't know what an ECP is?" James asks. "I know it's been years since you were last laid but nothing's changed."

"Shut the fuck up."

Daniel ignores them and hands Xavier a box. "Morning after pills are your best shot. If you can't afford a condom, you can't afford kids."

"Don't have to worry about that," James says grabbing some condom boxes.

Xavier ignores him, as per usual.

"It's nice of you to go yourself instead of sending the cadet," Daniel tells him, snarking.

"Shut up," Xavier responds. "It's better to get into a little trouble on campus than in big trouble off campus."

"You're such a dad."

"Again, shut up."

-o-

Edison Residence - 4:16 AM

Naomi walks through Edison Residence, knocking on Daniel and James' door. There wasn't a response at first and she would've left given the current time, but she sees their light from underneath the door. She takes out her phone thinking it'd be best to call, but she can't have this conversation over the phone. She doesn't even want to talk about it.

She shakes her head and starts to head out. It can be a tomorrow — or a few hours later — problem.

"Naomi?"

Naomi turns around and sees Keith peeking out of his dorm in mismatching pyjamas from different cartoons. She smirks a little, pushing her glasses up and walking to him.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for Daniel," she responds. "Is he here?"

"I haven't seen him all day. Why?"

Naomi shakes her head. "I gotta talk to him about something that I don't think he even knows."

"Can I ask what about?"

Naomi looks around to see if anyone's listening before she leans in closer to Keith. "His fiancée."

Keith's taken aback. "What about her?"

"She owes me money."