Show Me ↝ Black Panther

14

His head felt heavy as lead. Slowly, he opened his eyes and blinked several times to clear his blurry vision. There were people talking besides him. He managed to briefly make out what they were saying.

"... with us. I know it was risky, everything we do is risky. But I'm sure we could get a thing or two out of him. Maybe we could even trade his life in exchange for more vibranium." This was undoubtedly Klaue.

"He's right." A female voice he'd never heard in his life said. "Think about it. Why would they bring a kid with them? There's gotta be something special about him."

A pause.

"He's waking up."

N'Deke realized the mobility in his hands had been reduced. He glanced down to find handcuffs strapped around both of his wrists. Just great.

A hand wrapped around his arm, pulling him onto his feet with surprising strength. Was this the man he'd attempted to fight earlier?

"I'm done carrying you around, so I suggest you re-learn how to walk real fast. Unless you need help with that too."

This brought him out of his stupor. He shook his head 'no' and followed them outside, squinting as sunlight assaulted his eyes. He gave himself some time to adjust to the onslaught of light before taking in the world around him. They were in a residential area, and a rich one at that. Fancy apartment buildings stretched all around him.

His captors led him into one of the buildings' elevator. As the doors closed, the unknown man said, "Try something funny and you'll regret it."

N'Deke already knew there was no use attempting to escape, not with three dangerous individuals keeping a close watch on him.

"Is he mute?" the woman asked as the elevator doors slid open. "Do you talk?"

He refused to answer her.

"He doesn't speak. But he plays." Klaue waved the flute in front of N'Deke tauntingly. "Isn't that right, Pied Piper boy?"

Still nothing.

"Maybe we need to find another way to make him talk," Klaue said.

"Leave that to me."

"How are you gonna make him speak, Erik?"

The man called Erik fished for his keys and unlocked his apartment. "Don't you worry your pretty little head 'bout that babe."

She chuckled at the nickname and leaned in to plant a kiss on his lips. N'Deke shifted his weight uncomfortably. Klaue feigned disgust. "Please, spare us."

The woman flipped him off and disappeared into her own apartment with a, "Suck it up, Old Man. Jealousy makes you uglier than you already are."

"Me? Jealous!?"

Erik shut the door, cutting off Klaue's rambling. He undid the handcuffs on N'Deke. The latter rubbed his wrists and remained where he was, taking in the decor. It was far more minimalist than what the exterior had made it seem like. The space wasn't overdecorated, furnished only with the strictly necessary. Erik most likely wasn't here to stay long. Either that or he wasn't a fan of decoration.

"What, you a statue? Sit down. And you better not stain anything." N'Deke nervously lowered himself on the carpet. Erik dropped a paper bag in front of him. "Eat. Your stomach's been growling the whole ride and it's driving me insane. Do they not feed you over there?"

N'Deke unwrapped the burger he'd been offered and bit into it. It wasn't the healthiest thing out there, but it sure was tasty considering how little he'd eaten in the last couple of hours. He nodded gratefully at Erik as he continued to devour the burger and the fries, only stopping once to gulp down some water.

"So why'd they bring you with them?" The older man watched him, waiting for an answer. "You still won't talk, huh? I know how to make you open up." He leaned in. "You from the Sound Tribe?"

N'Deke nearly choked. He lowered the glass of water in his hand and stared at his kidnapper as if he'd grown a second head.

"I knew it. I couldn't find too much about your tribe though. Y'all are discreet. But I know you're pacific, which is why it doesn't make sense that you know how to fight."

"How do you know this?"

Erik smirked. He pulled on his lower lip, revealing the unmistakable War Dog tattoo. "Name's N'Jadaka, son of N'Jobu Udaku."

N'Deke's mouth went wide with shock, and he had to put down the burger before he stained the carpet—and faced the consequences that came with. "You're King T'Challa's cousin. You're one of us." He shook his head. It suddenly made sense how Klaue had made it in and out of Wakanda, how he knew about vibranium. "Why?"

Erik's eyes darkened at the phrase 'one of us'; he clearly didn't share the same opinion. Nevertheless, he answered the question with one of his own. "Would you ever kill for your daddy?"

"Excuse me?"

"Did I stutter?"

N'Deke was taken aback by the unexpected question. But even worse, he was taken aback by how long it was taking him to formulate an answer. He felt guilty about it, but the guilt was short-lived.

"You're hesitating, kid. You two don't have a good relationship, do you?"

"And what would you know about whether we have a good relationship or not?" It came out weak.

"Because I used to have a daddy myself, and he wouldn't hesitate to give up an arm for me. All of this? I'm doing it for him. And these monsters? I'll make 'em pay for what they did to him. So I'll ask you again. Are you willing to kill for your daddy? Would he be willing to give his arm up for you?"

This time his answer was immediate. "No, I don't think so."

"Then who're you really riding with?"

"My mother. And... and my sister."

"Ain't that interesting." Erik grinned. "A broken family."

"We're not broken." N'Deke himself did not believe the words that came out his mouth. Even if broken wasn't the right term for it, it would be something close to it. "Why are you doing this?"

Erik sobered up. "I grew up around guns and gangs and violence. Everyday I went out on a limb, not knowing if it'd be the day someone would find my dead body on the street. Everyday, I fought to survive." He clenched and unclenched his hand. "But that ain't nothing compared to the wars you see raging all over the world. It disgusts me that Wakanda can help people out there but won't. So my daddy came up with the idea to sell vibranium so those who needed it could access it. But he couldn't go through with it. You wanna take a guess why?"

N'Deke shook his head.

"Because one night, your king's father showed up and killed him. That's right, he killed his own brother and left his little nephew to rot," he finished with a snarl.

N'Deke lowered his head. Deep down he felt mounting sadness as he imagined what Erik had to go through when he was younger. "I'm sorry. Truly, I am."

"Save it. I don't want your pity."

N'Deke's mind was brought back to his and Akina's most recent spar. The one where she'd told him the same thing. His heart ached. He missed her terribly. He missed her name calling. He missed her taunting. He missed his mother. He missed Shuri. He missed his tribe, his country, everyone, except for him.

"You were right. My father and I don't have the best relationship," he found himself saying. "And I don't think it'll get any better from here."

"In life, there's shit you just can't force." Erik stood up. "You know what kid, you're starting to grow on me. Taking you with us might not have been such a bad idea after all."