verb.
To come or go back to a place or person.
noun.
The firing of a weapon to counter a shooter's shot.
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They recoiled from their pasts, and in doing so found each other.
But the universe isn't kind enough to let a moment of peace last.
It took se...
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Time was running out.
That was the tangible feeling that had hung over Kat ever since they had stepped away from the farm. Since their hurried farewells shared with Nobomi and her sons before they travelled with Ayo back to the lab beneath Mount Bashenga, since their brief reunion with Shuri as she guided them to the lab Kat could use to prep and attach Bucky's new arm, before the young Princess had hurried off to prepare her own lab. It would be needed when the others arrived.
It wasn't until the day had crept well into the evening that they had been summoned back to the palace, and T'Challa had fully briefed them on the oncoming threat beyond what he had managed to swiftly communicate on the plains.
Whatever scale Kat had imagined this fight to be on, it couldn't compare to this. Whatever she had loosely managed to gauge from Sam's hurried messages when she was once again shoving her worldly belongings into a backpack, she couldn't have fully appreciated what was coming. Even the mention of aliens was well beyond her paygrade, she didn't expect to be involved in this.
And yet, here she was – suddenly armed with the names of mystical space rocks that somehow had the combined power to destroy the universe? The more she repeated that thought in her mind, the less believable it seemed. Never mind the attached God-Complex wielding Alien Warlord that was collecting the damn things with the view of wiping out half of the cosmos. Thanos. A name she had never heard before, but now had to fear above all else. Never mind the fact that a spaceship had dropped into the middle of New York City and had now rocketed back into the unknown with Tony Stark, the spider-kid from Leipzig and a wizard in tow. Names were being thrown at her from all angles, but she chose to cling to those she knew. Steve, Natasha and Sam were coming. They'd found Wanda and Vision and were coming to Wakanda. Apparently, all this time the synthezoid had been flying around with one of these all-powerful space rocks lodged in his forehead, and now they needed to try and remove it with the view of destroying the damn thing before the big bad could get his hands on it.
To say she was left reeling was an understatement.
But there was a plan. T'Challa had assured them of as much as they had stood in the throne room, casting doubtful glances at Ayo and the other Dora Milaje as they absorbed this information. The Mad Titan hadn't gathered all of the stones, not yet. Destroying Vision's stone would effectively block his genocide plans, and they could meet his army with one of their own.
They would be alright, that was what she kept reminding herself. They had the shielding dome that protected the kingdom, some of the most accomplished fighters on the planet, and they'd have a substantial handful of Avengers. Any alien who wanted to face up to that didn't have the first idea what they were in for. They would be fine.
Again, she directed that thought at her reflection in the polished glass of the bedroom window that overlooked the Golden City. As the lights of Birnin Zana flickered, gently illuminating the darkened room she stood in, she found herself wrapping her arms tightly around her torso as she stared out at the country that had been their home, their safe haven for so long. The thought of anything happening to it was unbearable, but they wouldn't let that happen.
