The Panther's IronHeart (Shuri x Riri)

Aftermath

"Well... not necessarily," Solay started

"What does not necessarily mean she's either dead or she isn't dead which is it?"

Lelani chuckled watching the delighted expression wipe away from the director's face

"There were complications. So no she isn't dead."

"Unbelievable, You two are supposed to be my best. You don't do complications. What the hell happened?"

Lelani stayed silent as she turned away from the screen. Neither women spoke

"Someone please say something for the love of God I need to know what happened?"

"Look we have the situation under control Director we retrieved a heart-shaped herb from Wakanda," Solay responded

The Director's face dropped as she looked towards the sky as she exhaled deeply "Are you kidding me? I sent you both to Wakanda to find any relevant research on vibranium and you come back with a fucking plant that we can't even use,"

Solay was about to respond but Lelani came into the conversation " Look Director there was no information on any breakthrough knowledge of vibranium that America doesn't have access to and it wouldn't matter because guess what. America doesn't have access to vibranium. So any new knowledge would be useless to us but with this heart-shaped herb I have a theory that may give us the edge we need against Wakanda."

"Oh so suddenly you're a chemist now? There is no way we can utilize the herb."

"I'll be the judge of that. Also, we couldn't stay in Wakanda after we failed to kill Princess Shuri and with Riri coming in and ambushing us we couldn't stay,"

"Fine. You two better have a plan to bring me results or this little operation you have is finished you have forty-eight hours from the time you touch down to bring me results or you won't like what comes after that for wasting my time."

The screen suddenly went dark as the Director disappeared from view. Lelani took a deep breath as she resumed her position by the window

'Lani, are you sure this is going to work?"

Lelani continued her steady breathing to relax her mind like she did when she was little

Don't worry baby he's going to come back for us. He wouldn't abandon us. He loves you Lelani today is the day that he is coming. A memory suddenly intruded her mind a vision of a smaller version of herself. Lelani quickly pushed down the memory as she noticed that her grip on the heart-shaped herb had tightened. She loosened her grip as she lightly massaged the soft petals again.

"Lani... I know why you're doing this I just don't want you to lose yourself in the process,"

Why didn't he come back for me? He promised. He never loved me.

Another painful memory resurfaced as Lelani continued to look at the early morning sun creeping over the Atlantic Ocean. Today was a beautiful day she was sucked into the vast sky as she watched the birds fly through the sky. Lelani turned to Solay as she said "From what we already know to be true about the herb then nothing should go wrong,"

Lelani then said softly "This is going to work. It's the only thing that I'm certain of,"

Solay nodded as she started to look at the damage from her suit.

As Lelani turned again she couldn't find it in herself to reassure Solay that she wouldn't lose herself because after what she is going to do she doesn't know the person that she is going to become.

WAKANDA

Several hours passed and Shuri awoke to muffled voices outside of the massive hut that she was currently resting in. The throbbing headache was no longer there as she silently stared up at the inside of the hut she was in. Shuri's breathing quickened as the events of last night slowly started to flood back into memory. The fight, the ancestral plane, and Riri. Everything started to weigh on her chest again. Shuri squinted as the bright morning sun crept into the hut. Shuri softly arose from the hammock that she was in and was shocked to find that Riri was still by her side and she was fully awake. Riri must have been hyper-vigilant from hearing the bed dip because she immediately turned as saw Shuri awake and Riri's face instantly softened. Riri's eyes were still swollen from the events that happened a few hours ago and Shuri's heart felt like it had shattered.