"You wanted a bad guy? Fine, I'll be the bad guy."
Continuing on her vigilante career, Charlie's had a decent two years, that it until it gets interrupted by evil titans, old mentors, theatrical lairs, and her growing feelings for her now-friend Pet...
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Night couldn't describe the darkness Charlie's mind swam through. Nothingness, vast, but empty. Then she woke up.
Nat.
She inhaled sharply and blinked. Birds were the first thing she heard, followed by the rustle of trees. The sky was still a soft blue and the canopy looked slightly denser than she remembered. It was peaceful. "What the hell?"
Wincing she sat up only to find there was nothing to wince about, she even touched her cheek and found no blood. Her eyes scanned the area around her and saw the brown-haired super-soldier on his hands and knees spitting out leaves. Once he cleaned most of his face he stood and went to pull her up. "Where's Steve?"
"Good to see you too. Trying to figure that out myself." Charlie replied, then saw Wanda bracing herself on a tree trunk.
"He's gone." She trembled, her accent thick with grief. "His body is gone."
Brows furrowed, she looked at Bucky, then brought Wanda to her feet. The Sokovian's eyes were glassy and distant, it was a mix of shock and grief Charlie could taste on her tongue. Her stomach twisted.
"Hello?" Bucky called out.
"Over here." T'Challa emerged from the green shrubbery with a perplexed expression on his handsome face. Next to him were Sam and Groot.
"Sam," Bucky greeted, then dropped his gaze to the shortest of thetrio there. "And a tree."
"He's Groot," Charlie explained, giving a slight nod at the tree who returned it.
"I am Groot."
"Got it the first time," Sam said, slightly peeved, then his eyes trailed over to Wanda. His face softened. "What happened?"
Wanda's voice rasped against her throat. "We lost Vis."
A painful pause burned into the air, and Charlie forced herself to push away any thoughts. But then the silence was interrupted by a loud group of chattering coming from the palace. Together they followed the noise, T'Challa leading the group.
The front of the palace was in chaos, with people crying and hugging, posts abandoned.
T'Challa's brows were furrowed closely together as he searched for a familiar face. Quickly, he picked out Okoye frantically trying to make sense of things. He pushed through the crowd with the team behind him. "General—"
She turned around and stood shocked at T'Challa. Something in Xhosa escaped her lips, and her eyes welled up in tears. "My King."
Unexpectedly, she threw her arms around his neck, and T'Challa, surprised, patted her back.
"Let me through." A voice broke through that parted some of the crying people. Shuri pushed her way out of the front palace and ignored the jaw-slack people around her and quickly found who she was looking for. "Brother, what is going on? And who rearranged my lab?" She stopped once she saw Okoye crying and looking at her. "I can just reorganize the lab."
