Finished my first online exam the moment this chapter went up. As I'm typing this AN, I'm taking a break studying for another exam.

Year One: So Close

Wakanda's Royal Training Room - 5:02 AM

Iqadi woke up before the sun. She snuck out of her room, cautious not to wake Imanu. As if that was hard considering her Black Panther training. After leaving the room, it was easy to get through the palace. The staff was used to seeing her head down to train this early. The only reason she's more aware of her surroundings is because she's been training later in the mornings after getting married. It wasn't that much of a difference, but it was still a change.

She had to get used to sharing her bed with someone, especially since that someone is her husband. And Imanu was pleasant to sleep with. He didn't hog the sheets, didn't snore, and hugged her after asking. Those were qualities she didn't think she was looking for when picking a husband. But thank the Panther God they were there. Sometimes she wonders if she's good to share a bed with since she isn't sure how she sleeps. She'd like to believe that she is.

Iqadi believes she has few flaws. Claustrophobia tops the list and her stubbornness is debatable. She thinks it's fine but her mother disagrees. Then it's her issues with opening up combined with her preference to solitude. But those make up who she is. If she didn't possess any of those traits, she wouldn't be who she is today.

As Iqadi enters the lab, the first thing she sees is the flaw that she will turn into perfection: her Black Panther suit. It isn't who she is but who she has to be. Her entire life has been leading up to that moment.

"One day…" Iqadi mutters to it.

-o-

Edison Residence - 6:46 AM

Daniel wakes up in the dark. He lies in bed for a while. He isn't sure how he's feeling. It's as if he woke from a deep sleep but he's wide awake. Daniel turns over in his bed and reaches for his glasses. Once he sees clearly, he grabs his phone and unplugs it. When it glows in his face, he blinks a few times and then he sees the time.

6:46 AM.

Wow. That's early. But he thought he set his alarm to an earlier time. Daniel unlocks his phone and it opens right away to his exam schedule. He looks at today's date and that's when reality hits like a wrecking ball.

"Fuck…" Daniel mutters before jumping out of bed.

Forget getting dressed and eating something. He has an exam in ten minutes. Ten. Minutes. Daniel grabs his student card and shoves it in his pocket. He sees his textbook and throws it at James. James screams and curses, turning around in pain.

"You didn't wake me!" Daniel yells.

"I didn't know that was my responsibility," James responds.

"What universe am I in?!"

"A universe where Daniel Banner will fail an exam because he was late. Don't worry, you get thirty minutes into the exam before you'd need an accommodation for being late."

Daniel throws another textbook at him. "Damn you."

"Good luck!"

-o-

Operations' Examination Room One - 10:10 AM

'If you're being attacked by missiles, snipers, and grenades, then what does that tell you about the attacker? And how do you proceed?'

Merida sits in her seat, leaning back in her chair as she looks at her exam in front of her. She crosses her leg under the table as she smiles at the question. Easy. She didn't even need to study because it's common sense (and a lot of the answers are open-ended so she just has to make her arguments convincing). Merida stretches her back and turns her paper a bit before starting to write her answer.

They're likely not good with close combat. Merida checks the question again to read the rest of it. You would proceed by going to their heights. They are likely viewing you through a scope so if you were to go face-to-face with them quickly, it would disrupt their spatial view.

Merida smiles to herself as she dots that sentence. This'll be a breeze. She looks at the tables ahead of her, glancing at Xavier and Angela who sit on opposite ends. Both look as relaxed as her.

From her seat, Angela flips the page to her combatant strategies exam. She's glad to see that there isn't much left and she has so much time to spare. Good for her.

Angela tightens her ponytail and looks at the question. 'Can a gunshot break a bone?'

She hesitates because this was a debate the professor had with some of her classmates. Angela tries to recall what either of them said since nobody was right or wrong. Crap. Was this an open-ended question? She's suddenly doubting everything she knows. But it's only one mark.

It doesn't help that Xavier walks by her. She turns over and sees him hand in the exam and sign out. Before he heads out, he smiles at her and she mocks him before grinning.

Not necessarily. Angela pauses for a moment to rethink her answer. Depending on the gun and distance between the shooter and victim, the bullet is more likely to hit and be stopped by flesh. But if the bullet does strike bone, it will likely shatter.

-o-

Sci-Tech Examination Room Two - 10:26 AM

Daniel arrived at his exam right on time. He walked in right when the proctor was reading the protocol. He slid right into an available seat and scribbled his name and student number on the cover page. Daniel caught his breath the moment they were allowed to start and he started writing.

The exam went well for him.

He's more stressed about waiting in line to get an assignment back. He was so calm for the exam and he's more anxious about seeing his grade on the report. The irony. Every step closer makes his heart race faster. He feels his legs about to give in as he watches the students in front of him look at their grades. She seems content. He looks satisfied. They're about to start a war with the professor.

And now it's his turn. Daniel mutters a thanks as he takes his report. He steps to the side and flips to the final page where the rubric was stapled. He skims through the individual sections to see the overall score.

99.5.

Daniel pauses. Is that right? Daniel skims through the mark breakdown to see where he lost half a mark. Presentation. He looks through the subcategories and sees the half mark deducted from clarity. As he leafs through his report, he sees a red mark in the middle of a page that's crossing out a semicolon and replacing it with a comma.

Daniel closes his report, takes a breath, and heads out. He's not exaggerating when he says this but he wants to burn this report. Fucking commas.

-o-

Sci-Tech Examination Room Three - 19:27 PM

During his exam, James stares at his student card for ten minutes while tapping his temple with the back of his pen. Wow. He looks good at that photo. Then, he looks at the clock. Thirty-three minutes left. He glances at his exam and sees that he has lots of time to finish. He could even take a nap if he wanted and still finish on time.

'What can be said about the use of liquid nitrogen on common metals?'

James hesitates. He tries to think of the lectures he was half-awake for (and attended), the textbook he's seen the cover of, and murmurs from classmates cramming last-minute outside these doors. Nothing. Then his mouth shapes into an o when he realizes his mistake. He was trying to conjure the wrong memory. He thinks back further and then grins as he scribbles down the answer.

Thank you, Melissa.

-o-

Three Years Ago - Upper East Side, New York

After school, James sits in the booth of Steeped Beans Café. Across from him is his study date, Melissa. Both of them still wear their private school uniforms and have iced drinks on their table. Prepped against the wall is a chemistry textbook they plan to share. Despite their schools being segregated by gender, they shared the same curriculum. At least, that's what James said when he was convincing Melissa to join him. It's not like she tried to correct him. They really just wanted to hang out.

"This is a lot," Melissa says, turning the page in their textbook.

She pauses to put a strand of her dark hair behind her ear before continuing. Wow, she's hot when she does that. She finds the end of the chapter and groans as she puts the book back to where they were. James smiles at her. Seeing her actually want to study before they get to the point where the café closes and he'll have to drive her home? That's hotter. Thank god he ordered a cold drink.

"Practical uses for liquid nitrogen," Melissa reads.

"Liquid nitrogen can make good ice cream," James says.

"Ew," Melissa says, cringing a little as she sips her iced tea. "I don't trust it."

"Why not? Chefs use it all the time."

"It can turn metals brittle. I don't want that happening to my teeth or insides."

James nods. "Good point."

*coughs* that flashback is kind of important *coughs*

Also, quick storytime. So that snippet in the middle was an idea I created as a joke. I thought, how annoying would it be to get a 99.5 on an assignment? Let's make it happen to Daniel. One time during summer school, my professor told me to stop by her office to pick up some assignments. So I go. She hands me an essay and I got a 98. Wow, I thought, good for me. But then she became wary about handing me my second assignment. She told me, in French, "Kim, I'm so sorry." For a moment, I thought I failed but it was a 99.5, I didn't know how to react. I think I whined because it was literally 0.5 off for the smallest details (like a few prepositions). But then I felt Daniel's pain and regretted putting him through that (but that didn't stop me from writing it). Eight months later (which is when I'm writing this chapter) and I'm still bitter about it. (Eleven months later, when I'm publishing, and I'm still salty.)

I also have issues with commas and another prof, but that's a story for another time.