SHIFTER ─ marvel

XXIX. New Plan?

Well I can see their point. He has a responsibility to his people, and I would never want to get in the way of that. It's as if Okoye can read my mind, because she shakes her head at me and gives me a pointed look. "Don't. You are a priority to all of us, as well as Wakanda. The other tribes have seemed to have forgotten that you've defended Wakanda for years now. They are repaying your loyalty with this nonsense."

I shake my head. "Okoye, I understand. I'm not Wakandan. T'Challa's focus should be on his people. They just got him back."

Okoye shakes her head, touching my shoulder gently. "You may not have been born here, but you are as much a Wakandan as the rest of us. As is Alex."

I grip her hand tightly, smiling at her. "Thank you, Okoye. That means a great deal. Will you tell me how the meeting goes?"

She nods firmly, making her way back onto the ship to fly towards the palace. Once she takes off, Scott looks to me, dropping his voice. "That woman scares me."

I let out a laugh, leading him towards the lab entrance. "Come on, everyone is waiting down stairs. Did you bring the Pym Particles?"

Scott brings out four viles of red liquid from his pocket. "Hank wasn't happy about it. He had no idea who you were, and when I explained it to him, he still wasn't happy about it. It wasn't until I drove in the fact that without your help he'd still be dust, that he relented and gave me the particles."

"Shuri and I want to use the particles to make it so I can have a gun attached to my suit that will grow and shrink with me."

"That's cool, but won't that look odd? Am I gonna see a monkey running around with a gun on its thigh?"

"First of all, why would I shift into a monkey? Second, Shuri has technology that will make it invisible when I shift, just like my suit does."

"Hey, don't diss on monkeys. Monkeys are the best."

"Not the best for fighting, Scott."

"Not true. Monkeys throw their shit at people. I bet you could take down many adversaries if you followed a monkey's example."

I shake my head, letting out a sigh as we make our way down the stairs. "You're really immature."

Scott winks. "You love me and you know it."

Shuri and Bruce are working hard at making the two serums we need for this mission; their figures hunched over microscopes and jotting down notes on various scraps of paper. Off to the side of their work space is a mannequin with an unfinished suit on it, identical to the one I had before.

Alex and Bucky have stayed behind in the lab, talking quietly to each other towards the glass wall. When they see us walk down though, they make their way towards us.

"Scott you remember Bucky Barnes. You two met in Germany all those years ago."

Scott smiles widely at him. "Yeah, it's great to see you again. I heard the U.N. got the guy who really did the bombing. You enjoying freedom?"

Bucky gives him a curious look. "I'm still a wanted man from my seventy years of being in HYDRA."

Scott shakes his head. "Well that stinks. But I guess if you're going to be hiding out you might as well do it in the real life Gondor. Seriously, the cost to live here must be ridiculous. I don't envy the mortgage bills these people pay."