REUNITED ~ STEVE ROGERS [4]

Chapter Twenty-One

Eric strolled into the throne room like a king, and I stumbled in behind him on a leash like a dog. He handed me over to the Dora by the door who held me close, vibranium handcuffs and chain digging into my skin. Okoye couldn't even look at me, instead her gaze focused on Eric. He sat down on my brother's throne, rubbing his hands over it, smearing it with his sweat and filth. I narrowed my eyes.

"You know, where I'm from, when black folks started revolutions, they never had the firepower or the resources to fight their oppressors. Where was Wakanda, hmm?" Eric's tone was full of rage, a dry anger that came with having enough. "Yeah, all that ends today. We got spies embedded in every nation on earth. Already in place. We even got Captain America's girl." He nodded at me and licked his lips. "I bet he'd do anything for you, wouldn't he?"

I struggled against my restraints but even I couldn't break through vibranium, not while I wasn't at full strength. Eric smirked and stood up, pacing around the room.

"I know how colonisers think. So, we're gonna use their own strategy against then. We're gonna send vibranium weapons out to our War Dogs. They'll arm oppressed people all over the world, so they can finally rise up and kill those in power, and their children, and anyone else who takes their side. Its time they know the truth about us. We're warriors. The world's gonna start over and this time we're on top."

Eric had a fire in his eyes, a most ardent passion, angry and bubbling and hard, the same anger I felt myself sometimes, the most bitter kind of anger. It eats away at you that anger, dry and rough.

Eric sat back down.

"The sun will never set on the Wakanden Empire."

"Wakanda has survived for so long by fighting when only absolutely necessary." Okoye looked to W'Kabi with daggers in her eyes.

"Wakanda has survived this way in the past, yes. But the world is changing, General. Elders, it is getting smaller. The outside world is catching up, and soon it will be the conquerors and the conquered. I'd rather be the former." I stared at W'Kabi too, honestly not surprised at his immediate betrayal. He had always been a little too forward with my brother, and now I knew why. He had only been waiting for the moment to become a traitor, more one than I had ever been.

Eric grinned, flashing all his teeth, like a shark.

"You heard your orders. Let's get to it."

***

Eric had his arm around my shoulders as we walked across the top of Mt. Bashenga, watching the workers fill crates of weapons marked for all over the world, wherever the War Dogs were. He leant in close, so close I could feel his breath on my face and I flinched.

"You see this, Khethiwe? This will be our legacy."

"Our legacy? I'll have no part in this." I hissed, spitting in his face. He recoiled, and wiped his face snarling.

"You will stand by my side, cousin, or I will take away from you what they took from me. And if that ain't enough," he laughed. "I'll make sure you never die."

I bored holes into his soul with my eyes, unwavering, no emotion but determination. He didn't like that, so he twisted his arm around knocked me to the floor, landing on my cast and gasping in pain as my healing bones shifted again. Okoye did nothing except watch. Eric watched me squirm with a grin and then moved on, W'Kabi and Okoye flanking him. W'Kabi stepped over me like I was trash, and I almost spat at him for it.

"Everything is on schedule," W'Kabi reported.

"Have the spies been alerted?" They had their backs to me but I could still hear them. The side of my jaw stung from where it had hit the ground, and it was hard to sit up because my hands were bound.

"Yes. Some have been resistant to our new mission. But the War Dogs in London, New York and Hong Kong are standing by."

"We'll strike there first. The others will come around." Eric glanced back at me and I kept my head down, wincing. "Where should we send her?"

"Are you sure we can trust her? She's been known as a traitor to many," W'Kabi whispered.

"She'll do what I want. She's got no choice. Now where?"

"I think she should start small, easy. Maybe New Zealand."

I growled and threw myself at them, but I was stopped by a spear to the stomach and when I was doubled over, a knee to the face. When I looked up Okoye was standing over me, face blank.

"You know what, I'm sick of her already, spitting in my face and shit. Put her in her room till I want her." Eric said with a dismissive wave of his hand. Two Dora guards grabbed me by the arms and marched me away upstairs, and all I could do was look at her, wondering why she was on his side. Okoye was supposed to protect us, protect me.

All she did look at me and say.

"Don't call anyone. You know what will happen if you do."

***

I paced my room, the pain in my face and stomach subsided.  At least they had been kind enough to take the handcuffs off, my skin raw on my wrists from the metal. The door was locked, and two Dora stood outside. I could escape, but not without killing them and I couldn't do that, I just couldn't. My cast was itchy, my skin hot underneath. I stormed over to my closet, reaching in till I found the small hidden notch in the back and pulled. The secret hatch opened, revealing a dusty assortment of knives, spearheads, books and art supplies. I wasn't supposed to have weapons in my bedroom, but I had hidden some in here with T'Challa's help. A pang went through my chest thinking about him.

I snatched a small knife off the shelf and moved to the light of the window. Sliding the knife under the small gap between my palm and the cast, I gritted my teeth and pushed upwards, trying to make a dent in the cast so I could tear it off. After a few seconds it began to crack, and I put the knife down and used my other hand to tear it off in pieces.

My arm was, if that was possible, even more pale than it had been before, and slightly thinner. All across the skin where small purple puncture wound scars, made where the splinters of bone had poked through the skin. I didn't want to think about it, but I got that prickly feeling over my body again, like needle in my skin. I closed my eyes and clenched my fist a few times, feeling the strength return. It wasn't at full strength yet, but I didn't have any other choice.

Someone flashed behind my eyelids, someone I had never seen before. Small, weasel looking guy in a white coat leaning over me, except the memory was shattered, like I was looking at it through a broken window.

I opened my eyes, breathing hard. For some reason I didn't want to go back to that memory, at least not now. I had better things to do.

I pulled the strings of my boots tight, grabbed a jacket from the closet and crawled into the small space in the back, past the knives and books to the vibranium door at the back. My teenage self had built a tunnel from my room to the catacombs so I could sneak out at night, sometimes to visit M'Baku on the mountain or play under the stars with the farm children.

It took a little push, but the thing opened with a light whine, the musty tunnel still intact, if not a little smaller than I remember.

I smiled. Finally, being a little rebellious had paid off. 

Authors Note

Short and sweet little chapter today my lovelies, finally getting the story moving. 

I made a Keight playlist on Spotify here:

 https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ZWQZmFV90qaBLpsaGnTEZ?si=RCGAEnanR3q7AdcgKQ-oSg

Comment some songs you think should go on there!

I'm thinking about doing a Criminal Minds fic bc its my latest obsession, anyone else love that show?

Stay groovy bbys

~JJ