"Look at that!"
Katta watched T'Challas younger sister Shuri surrounding a mannequin. She tapped the chest gear draped onto it, and a blueish shimmer surrounded it.
"Bulletproof?" Katta asked, stepping closer.
"Better." Shuri grinned, motioning for her to step aside. She pulled out a gun, shooting against the gear. The bullet flew against the shimmer and bounced back, coming Shuri's way. Katta instinctively grabbed the shield on her back and threw it towards the girl before the bullet could hit her.
"Are you insane?" Katta asked, baffled. Shuri shrugged.
"Where would be the fun?"
Katta inhaled profoundly. How should she explain to T'Challa that his little sister shot herself while she stood directly next to her?
"Chill." Shuri tapped against her chest, and the blueish shimmer engulfed her upper body. Katta sighed, relieved, shaking her head.
"You'll be the death of me," Katta said but couldn't hide a smirk. This girl was too smart for her own good.
"However, I heard you were going on a trip?" Shuri tapped a few things on a pad, checking different values.
"Yes, we're departing in a few minutes."
Shuri pouted. "He never takes me with him."
Katta laughed. "I'm sure this isn't going to be a fun trip."
"I'd like to go out, sometimes."
"You know T'Challa doesn't want you to." Katta surrounded the table and walked towards the door.
"Yes, yes. Big brother problems, I guess." Shuri muttered a few more words before burying her nose into a pile of reports. Katta left the room and closed the door behind her. Okoye stood in the corridor, looking at her.
"You have an eye on her?" Katta asked, nodding towards the room.
"Sure." Okoye walked next to her as they passed a few other rooms on the way to the aircraft runway.
"Very good," Katta muttered. She needed to accompany T'Challa, so Okoye would take over as long as she was gone. "I want daily updates about the other tribes, especially about M'Baku. He's been a bit too quiet the last weeks."
Katta scrunched her nose. Now that the king was away, she couldn't be sure that M'Baku didn't start one of his dumb coup attempts.
"Don't worry. I have a few people watching him." Okoye opened a door and waited for Katta to pass.
"Excellent." Katta nodded at the short-haired woman. They stepped outside, walking towards a jet. A slight shiver went over Katta's body. She was clothed in the typical wakandian armour. A tight red leathern outfit adorned with golden plates. The long tunic almost went to her knees with slits so that she could move her legs properly. The pants underneath were made of the same material, as tight as the top.
Katta had been working for T'Challa for the last two years. He had no interest in attacking other countries but needed personal security to back him during daily business. She knew that he supported the Avengers from time to time since they had caught the winter soldier who had killed the former king. But whenever he worked with them, T'Challa made sure that Katta was not assigned to him - due to their agreement. She didn't want to have anything to do with them.
When she entered the plane, T'Challa was already sitting on a seat, his luggage beside him.
"Where are we going?" she asked as she strapped the security belt over her lap.
"This is kind of secret," he replied with a small smile. Katta glared at him.
"You know that I can't guarantee you maximum protection without knowing the odds." Katta watched him thoroughly.
He chuckled. "The thrill of a little risk is exciting, isn't it?"
"My job is providing you the thrill of no risk," Katta remarked. She waited for a bit, whether he would tell her anything, but T'Challa just remained sitting in his chair, his sight fading towards the window.
Katta leaned back and directed her concentration to the datapad in her hand. She began reading through some new information she had received from Okoye a few hours ago. The tech laboratory had sensed a new kind of interstellar radiation that became stronger every once in a while over the last few days.
"If you allow the question, Miss Harlovsen?" T'Challa said after a while. Katta looked up in surprise and tilted her head.
"Go on."
"Why did you choose Wakanda to work for instead of every other client?"
Katta cleared her throat. Usually, that was a kind of information she didn't give away. "Why do you want to know?"
"I remembered that you were to decide between a few clients when I hired you," he said. "It's just," he paused for a moment, "that I'm interested."
Katta curtly thought about it before she answered. "I prefer people that think about their actions before destroying whole countries."
A slight smile grazed over his face. "That honours you, Miss Harlovsen," he remarked before directing his attention to a little device in his lap. As sudden as this conversation has started, it ended.
The plane flew another two hours until the pilot transmitted that they would land in a bit. Katta stood up and looked through the windows. It was already dark, but it was New York, that was for sure. The nearer they came, the more prominent the Stark Tower got. Katta looked at it and then at T'Challa. And then again to the platform on the tower their plane was aiming at.
"T-That is against o-our agreement," Katta stammered, turning around to T'Challa. He pressed his lips together and got up from his seat.
"I am aware, Miss Harlovsen. I don't ask you to join the Avengers or work for them. I only ask you to proceed with your work as my personal security for the time we're here," he answered, raising his hands in a calming manner.
Katta directed her eyes back at the window, contemplating her options. She would have never guessed that T'Challa would break his promise. It was more than a promise. A contract. He had signed it.
She sighed. What a shame. She would have to quit the job and look for another client as soon as possible. And she had really liked working for him. T'Challa was reasonable.
"Miss Harlovsen?" he looked at her questioningly. Katta met his eyes and nodded her head. For now, she would do her job. The jet's doors opened, and she stepped out to secure the environment. After a short nod, T'Challa followed and went towards the entrance door, where Natasha was already waiting to greet him.
Katta stayed back, carefully watching everything that was happening. She shortly nodded towards Natasha but didn't say a thing. Her job was to let T'Challa do the talking and only intervene when she was asked to. Biting the inside of her cheeks, she followed them with a short distance until they reached an extensive meeting room.
Bucky was the first to notice Natasha and T'Challa entering the meeting room, where they had assembled. With a bit of distance, Katta followed. She was dressed in the typical wakandian armour that suited her surprisingly well. Her eyes steadily looked around, analyzing the new environment.
She curtly made eye contact with him before moving on and positioning herself in the corner of the room, from which she could oversee the whole situation.
"I'm sure most of you already met my security, Miss Harlovsen," T'Challa said, motioning towards her. The group smiled, nodded and waved, but Katta only stayed in her place, keeping her face rid of any emotions. She couldn't wait for this to be over and submerge somewhere quiet to contemplate her situation and make a few calls.
"We already had the pleasure," Steve said. Buckys eyes still were trained on Katta. She was a professional, that's for sure. The way she'd brought down Tony on the last occasion and how she wholly faded out every distraction to keep her assigned person in sight: T'Challa. Her eyes constantly wandered through the room, checking the doors, windows, air vents, narrowing from time to time, trying to watch everybody at once.
"Fine. As we discussed, we'll spend the next two days planning possible fight scenarios. The rooms are already prepared for you. I think it's best you settle down for a bit and meet us later in the training rooms," Natasha said, smiling mildly at T'Challa.
He nodded and stood up, Katta immediately on his heels. When they reached the quarters, she opened the door to his room and carefully examined every corner of it before letting him enter.
"Make yourself comfortable, Miss Harlovsen. We'll meet in a bit," he said. Katta acknowledged it with a curt nod and went to find her own room, where she proceeded with the examination until she was satisfied. A slight knock sounded from her door, and it slowly opened, revealing Clint. He stepped in and closed the door behind him.
Upon seeing him, Katta could feel irritation and disappointment rushing through her. It was him who'd brought this club of freaks and cape-wearing dumbasses on her tracks. He offered her a thin-lipped smile as he ventured further into the room.
"What did you think?" she sharply asked, scrutinizing his facial expression. He sighed, rubbing his forehead.
"It was the only opportunity on getting a second chance, talking to you." A hint of guilt spread over his face.
"Talking me into what? We had an agreement!" Katta hissed, glaring at him. He nodded and looked at his feet. "Out of every person, you should know best that I am not going to agree to that offer."
Clint tilted his head and came closer, raising his hands. "Katta, I know that it's hard. And how much you've suffered after Vikar's death. But you must carry on, and we're doing good things here."
"Don't you dare talk about him." Katta grimaced. She couldn't believe that he would speak about her brother.
"I'm sorry, Katta. I-I–,"
"Leave." Katta felt her lower lip tremble. She waved him off, nodding towards the door. Clint hesitatingly left the room, closing the door behind him. Katta tried to distract herself by unpacking her things. There wasn't much she'd brought with her. Mostly weapons, different combat attires and a few valuable things she'd learned to use in difficult situations.
An hour later, Katta accompanied T'Challa to the training rooms. Since the flight, the tension between them felt crushing. He wore his usual training gear. A towel laid over his shoulders.
The training room was two floors down and contained a great shooting range beside a sparring area. Most Avengers were already there, warming up.
Katta, again, positioned herself in the corner of the room and watched T'Challa join the group. Over the previous two years, Katta had spent a proper amount of time training him and was satisfied to see that it paid out. He was a good fighter with outstanding sparring skills. And the black panther suit - well - showed his advantages.
Who was she trying to be kidding? - it looked good. Very good.
Effortlessly, T'Challa took down Sam before proceeding with Barnes. Katta had rarely seen somebody fight as he did. Though he was widely built, he graciously moved his body and iron arm. His middle-length hair flew around as he tried to punch T'Challa, who repeatedly dodged his fist. A slight smirk skimmed over Katta's face as she watched the encounter with growing pride. It quickly vanished when she saw T'Challa being hit in the chest and flying against the wall behind him.
Katta cursed under her breath, heading towards him. She quickly scanned his body, searching for injuries. He hissed when she applied pressure to different parts of his chest.
"That rib might be broken," she muttered, helping T'Challa up. He tried to smile but groaned as he inhaled. Katta placed him on a bench before turning around to the Barnes, who watched them indifferently.
"A training's sparring is not supposed to break another person's ribs," she snarled at him.
"It's alright, Miss Harlovsen. He didn't do it on purpose," T'Challa said from behind her. Katta turned around and glared at him.
"A broken rib would take months to heal up entirely. You don't have months. You have to be in your best form to defend yourself when needed," she snapped. T'Challas's slight smile never wavered as he listened to her and finally sighed.
"You should spar with him."
"What?" Katta looked at him dumbfounded. "I'm not here to train."
"You should relieve some stress," T'Challa carefully stated.
The audacity. Katta couldn't decide on the reason why she would punch T'Challa sooner or later. Today he'd given her enough to justify a broken nose and maybe a dislocated knee. She internally contemplated and sighed. She couldn't punch him. Not yet. He still was her client. However, a bit of sparring would do her good to 'relieve some stress'.
Katta saw T'Challa's eyes lit up as she finally nodded and walked towards the ring. Barnes followed on her heels and positioned opposite her in the corner. She mustered him and felt her mood lighten. He seemed like he could take a few more brutal blows.
"No weapons," he stated gruffly. Katta rolled her eyes but grabbed behind her back and pulled out two knives. She placed them on the ground and stretched out both arms, raising a brow.
"No weapons. Want to check it yourself?"
She watched him, amused how he shook his head, annoyed and slightly bent his knees to get in fight position.
Katta let him throw a few punches to get used to his fighting rhythm before attacking. They circled each other for a few minutes, throwing and blocking punches and kicks before Katta lunged forwards and brought him to the floor, a knee on his back.
She waited for him to try something and continue to fight. But to her surprise, he tapped out. Katta got up and watched him closely as he turned on his back. His face was equally drawn with surprise as he stood up.
"I expected more." Katta glanced at him again before she turned around to leave the ring, patting her trousers. Suddenly, something tightly gripped her ankle. A surprised yell escaped her as she fell and was being pulled over the ground.
Turning on her back, she recognized Barnes, holding her right leg. Katta kicked him with her available leg and managed to get away from him, jumping up. Without thinking further, she pulled out a third knife and threw it right at his chest. Barnes quickly raised his metal hand, in which the knife got stuck. A few surprised yells sounded from the other Avengers who'd assembled around the ring, watching the encounter.
After a few deep breaths, Katta had collected herself again. All her fun had changed for severe irritation. Her eyes were trained on Barnes. With an abrupt movement, he pulled the knife out of his metal hand and moved his fingers as if to see if they still worked. Slowly, he looked up, his lips in a tight line.
"We said no weapons."
Katta snorted. "That's what you get from attacking me from behind, tin arm."
She went over to him and grabbed the knife from his hands. Katta turned on her heels and went back to T'Challa, who grinned at her.
〰〰〰
Bucky, on the other side, walked over to the water bottles. Stunned. Although he had put quite an effort into the fight, Katta had been equally good and even won – however this had been possible. Something about her wasn't right. The strength she'd had. And it had only been a few minutes of sparring.
〰〰〰
Katta accompanied T'Challa to the infirmaries. He didn't want to see a doctor, but she had insisted on it. It still was her job to keep him safe. If he liked it or not.
Upon entering the laboratory, she recognized Doctor Banner. A quiet man with not a lot of expression. At the moment, he was probably her favourite out of the Avengers because he seemed to mind his own business. It only took him a few minutes to exclude a bone break. Katta inhaled, relieved. She wouldn't give T'Challa the satisfaction to have him harmed at her last few days in his service.
"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Banner asked.
"Common sense," Katta muttered under her breath while T'Challa shook his head. "Thank you very much, Doc."
Banner nodded and proceeded to work on one of his projects. T'Challa turned around to her and mustered Katta. "This situation is far away from being ideal, and I know that you're pissed. Miss Harlovsen, you should take the rest of the day off. I will spend it in my room, resting."
Katta inhaled and dodged his look. She wasn't a good employee if it was so evident that she was pissed beyond borders.
"It's alright. You have all reason to be displeased. But maybe, if you give it a bit of time, you'd see the advantages of you becoming a part of this team," he said. Katta hated how wise he sounded whenever he had one of his famous pep talks. She would make bets with Okoye regularly on who would receive the next one.
She didn't answer and opted for a curt nod. T'Challa lingered for a few more seconds before he dismissed her and walked towards his room. Venturing the Stark-Tower seemed like a good thing to do now, so Katta started walking through the corridors to imprint the building's floor plan before heading back to her room to get changed.
She rebraided her hair and left her room to look for something to eat. In the kitchen, she met Thor, eating Poptarts.
"Lady Harlovsen, what a pleasure to meet you again," he greeted her with a mouthful.
"Katta is perfectly fine," she muttered, opening the fridge. It was filled with enough food to cook for an army.
"Lady Katta it is, then." Thor nodded and stepped closer. "That was an impressive fight. My brother would have been delighted to see it."
Katta cringed at the mention of Loki and grabbed an apple from the fridge. "Your brother would be doing better never to meet me if he wants to stay in one piece."
"I am very keen to introduce you to him," Thor went on, smiling genuinely. Katta slowly turned around, mustering him. "And why would that be?"
"You would make a great match. Tony would say that I 'shipped' the both of you," he answered, shrugging. Katta's mouth dropped as she watched Thor smiling. She and Loki would probably be the two beings farthest away from ever - EVER - ending up as --
She shivered, only thinking about it.
"You are both great warriors, and I think that he would very much like you," Thor added, trying to explain. "He always had a thing for Valkyries, and I'm pretty sure that I saw him once with Lady Sif when–,"
"I would more likely suicide myself than spend a second of time with him," Katta interrupted him harshly. She quickly turned around and left the room.
She strolled the corridors again, biting from the apple, when she heard a sound behind her. Acting as if she didn't, Katta went on, carefully grabbing the knife in her trousers. She swiftly turned around to aim it at whoever was creeping behind her, but her wrist was captured in the movement. Barnes stood in front of her, watching her face while he slowly loosened the grip around her wrist.
"You should stop throwing knives at me," he said in a low voice that sent shivers down her spine.
"Then you should maybe not be sneaking behind me." Katta glared at him but placed the knife back into the holster on her thighs.
"Where did you learn how to fight?" he asked, coming a bit closer. Katta looked up again, narrowing her eyes.
"None of your business."
He pursed his lips and nodded to himself. "Hail Hydra," Barnes quietly said. For the matter of a millisecond, Katta froze in her movements before she caught herself and huffed.
"You're a delusional prick, Barnes."
"Sure," he answered plainly, turning around and leaving.
Katta mirrored him and walked towards her room with quick steps. Her heart beat loudly in her chest. What had given her away? The fight, for sure. It must have been only a matter of time before Barnes found out that she also was H.Y.D.R.A - trained.
Katta slammed the door behind her, her eyes frantically searching the room. Her palms began to sweat. Did he know, or was she just imagining things?
However, Katta couldn't risk staying here, knowing Barnes would tell somebody about his suspicion. Quickly, she packed her things and pulled out a knife, positioning herself in front of the mirror. Carefully, Katta took a strand of hair between her fingers and started cutting it off until it reached shoulder length. She put on a black baseball cap to cover her face and changed into everyday attire. Looking in the mirror, Katta examined herself. It was not enough to completely submerge, but it would do it for her to leave the building.
She wrote a quick note and left it on the bed. Her termination for T'Challa.
Unpacking her laptop, she hacked into the safety cameras and let explode one of the bombs that she had precautionarily hidden. The fire alarm went off, and the automatic water sprinklers started spraying. While the Avengers ran to its cause to oversee the situation, Katta used the fire stairs to leave the tower and vanished into the crowd of people built in front of it after the explosion.