LONG LIVE THE KING ▹ BLACK PANTHER ⁴ ✓

i. seven

sᴇᴠᴇɴ  — ᴀɴᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴡʜɪᴛᴇ ʙᴏʏ

♛ ♛ ♛

NAKIA WATCH IN silence as a delivery truck rolled outside the building, blending in with the bustling South Korean traffic.

In another room, stood T'Challa, Okoye, Aretta, and Ross, who all stood behind a one-way mirror. Klaue was on the other side, cuffed, tied, and duck-tapped down to a chair.

"So this is a big mess." Ross commented, glancing at the three, who now wore jackets and sweaters over their formal attire. "I figured we could go good cop, bad cop? I'll talk to him first, then you—"

"We can't let him take to Klaue alone." Okoye cut off Ross in Xhosa, turning to the King. Aretta looked back at Okoye, standing between Ross and T'Challa. "You really think Klaue will talk to one of us though?"

T'Challa looked at Ross with a smirk, pausing. "Better to let him talk to Klaue alone for five minutes then to make a scene here."

Ross looked between the three, confused at what they were saying.

Okoye sighed through her nose, turning back to the window. T'Challa nodded at Ross. "After your questioning, we will take him back to Wakanda with us."

"What? No." Ross shook his head as he side-stepped when the three moved closer to the window. "I like you, a lot, but he's in my custody now. He's not going anywhere. I'm doing you all a favour by letting you be in here." Ross lifted his hand, slapping it gently over T'Challa's chest.

Okoye and Aretta stiffened at this action, suddenly death-glaring the CIA agent.

"If he touches you again," Okoye said, not taking her eyes off Ross. "I'm going to impale him to this desk."

"Are white people always this stupid? Or just him particularly?" Aretta asked, giving Ross an unimpressed look as well.

Ross blinked, looking between the two females. "Do they speak English?"

In union, they both responded. "When we want to."

Ross paused, nodding. "Huh...I'm going in. When I'm done, you guys are up."

"Agent Ross," T'Challa said, and clasped his shoulder. "I do appreciate your help."

Ross glared at Aretta and Okoye. "You see that? It's called diplomacy."

When Ross left the room, T'Challa turned back to the two warriors. "Aretta, Okoye..."

While Okoye made a noise in protest, Aretta avoided his gaze. "Play nice, you two."

♛ ♛ ♛

THE FOUR ALL listened into the two's conversation, thanks to the communication device T'Challa placed on the back on his shoulder.

Mid-conversation, T'Challa moved away from the window with Aretta and Okoye following.

With Nakia, she spotted the same delivery van pass by their building once more, making her suspicious.

Ross stepped towards the three, looking at T'Challa. "Your father told the UN that Klaue stole all the Vibranium you had. But now he's telling me you have more?"

"And you believe the word of an armed stealer, strapped to a chair?"

Ross paused. "How much more you hiding?"

Before T'Challa could say anything else, Nakia rushed into the room. "Something is happening out back."

An explosion within the interrogation room made everyone fall to the floor. Klaue yelled as a man with a mask entered the room, gun raised. He shot at the widow, breaking the glass. Ross dove after Nakia, forcing her to the floor. "Get down!"

T'Challa wrapped his arms around Aretta pulling her down with him. Multiple screams erupted from employees as Klaue was carried out the room next-door.

Making sure Aretta was safe, T'Challa let go of her and activated his suit. Suddenly, a round object clattered on the ground, and everyone looked to see a grenade.

Aretta pushed T'Challa forward. "T'Challa!"

He dove over it, covering it torso with it. When it exploded, T'Challa jumped up into a crouch. He got up, racing over the van as it drove away. Okoye yelled out, calling after the King.

Aretta crawled forward, watching as Nakia looked down at Ross, who was exhaling shallow breaths. Moments later, Okoye and T'Challa rushed back in the room.

"He just jumped in front of me." Nakia explained, keeping hand to his shoulder. T'Challa looked to see the back of his jacket ripped open, and a bullet hole near his spine. "I don't think he'll make it here; it hit his spine."

Aretta plucked a bead from her bracelet before handing it to T'Challa. T'Challa nodded at her before gently inserting the bead into his wound. "This will stabilize you for now."

Within seconds, Ross fell asleep. T'Challa glanced at a blonde-hair woman beside him. "Give him to us. We can save him."

♛ ♛ ♛

"OUR MISSION WAS to bring back Klaue." Okoye said in a stern voice. "We failed."

T'Challa stood across from Aretta, looking down at Ross who lied on a table in the middle of the jet. His chocolate eyes flickered up, meeting her golden hazel ones.

"This man is a foreign intelligence oppilative. How do we justify bringing him into our borders?"

"He took a bullet for me." Nakia shot back, sitting off to the side.

"That was his choice."

"So now what?" Aretta ask, anger slowly seeping into her words. "We are just supposed to cast him aside and let him die?"

"Let us consider that we heal him." Okoye said huskily. "It is his duty to report back to his country. And as King," Okoye trained her eyes on T'Challa. "it is your duty to—"

"I am well aware of my duties, General." T'Challa snapped. "I can not just let him die. Knowing we can save him."

"Where exactly are we taking him?"

♛ ♛ ♛

SHURI RUSHED FORWARD, pulling back the blanket to reveal Ross. "Great, another broken white boy for me to fix."

Once they entered the lab, Shuri smiled. "Iyawa, you were right!"

Iyawa was dressed in white and orange, trying to match Shuri's bright attire. "Haha! You owe me!"

Aretta rolled her eyes. "What were you two up to?"

As she passed by her little sister, Aretta ruffled Iyawa's head. "I put a bet that you would bring back a white man. I was right!"

Aretta patted Iyawa on the back towards the entrence. "Go on now, find Umama."

Iyawa rolled her eyes, making her way out of the room.

Once they were in Shuri's small lab, Shuri lifted a hologram of Ross' spine from his body. Expanding the plates, she nodded at a plate that was red. "He will live."

Shuri's beads lit up and she gasped at her bother. "W'Kabi is here."

♛ ♛ ♛

sorry for the shorter chapter, today has been quite hectic xx