author's note: i started to screw up since I could only see Civil War once so far, and my timeline is a mess. I said Berlin in the last chapter, but it's Bucharest. Oops. *cries in Romanian*
.............
I still had my earbuds in, now switching my music from Fall Out Boy to Beyonce, then Taylor Swift, and now, my dance playlist. Pop-Dance kept me from feeling like punching anyone, or at least, I had a good soundtrack to do it to, if it was necessary.
King- Gryffin remix, by Years & Years came on. Really?
"And oh, oh, oh
I was a king under your control
And oh, oh, oh
I wanna feel like you've let me go
So let me go"
I closed my eyes, this one was kinda mellow in its own way, but hey, I was sitting next to a king now, wasn't I? Might as well enjoy it.
The song, I mean.
Okay, maybe I mean all of it. Even as I kept my eyes closed, I still felt like those women guards were drilling holes into my head with all of their staring.
I felt someone tapping my shoulder- T'Challa, really?
"What's up?" I asked, totally pitching diplomacy out of the metaphoric window.
"What are you listening to?" he asked, like he was genuinely curious.
"Uh, well, it's my music. Here's an earbud if you want to listen, too." I said. Why not? Perhaps the irony wouldn't be lost on him, but who knew.
Surprisingly, he obliged. I passed my right earbud to him and kept the left one in my own ear. The song was halfway over, but he seemed to like it, or at least tolerate it, I wasn't sure.
Here I was, on a place bound for Bucharest with the Wakandan King sitting next to me, sharing my earbuds and listening to my music.
"Interesting." he said, when the song was over. Next on was "Sound of Your Heart." by Shawn Hook.
"You were my courage, my sword and shield, grace under pressure, my wall of steel-"
He turned to me, smiling,
"I was a storm, weighing us down,"
"This is amazing." he said slowly. I didn't miss his smile, but almost missed the blush that crept up on my cheeks as the song carried on. Oh, what I'd give to be blasting this through the soundsystem back at the Avengers compound when no one else but me and Wanda, and maybe Sam to come in and try to yell over the music. I loved this song.
"Baby I'm in love with you, Oh and I'm missing the sound of your heart beating, baby you were mine to lose, oh and I'm missing the sound of your heart beating"
"It's been a long time since I have heard American music." he said once the song was over.
"The last I heard it was when I was at university. I listened to it often then." he said.
"Where did you attend university?" I asked him, recalling how I was held back from even graduating high school, thanks to HYDRA.
"Oxford." he said casually. Oh yeah, no big deal. No big deal at all. I could feel my ears turning red from the shame of my own ineducation, but luckily my hair was hiding it.
"How come you listened to American music in England?"I asked, a tad bit proud to at least know where Oxford was. The Vision was helping me catch up a little bit on things like that- articles and scientific findings and that sort of thing. He'd told me that Oxford was that famous english university where Mr. Stark, (Tony) had once blown something up in a friend's dorm room.
Don't ask me for any further details on that story- I'd rather not share them.
"I had an American roommate while I was there. I wanted the full experience." he continued. "His name was Brian- he let me listen to all of the best American musicians and singers, or at least the ones that he considered to be excellent. I did not always agree."
I couldn't help but laugh. He was so straightforward in his speech that it was adorable.
"You remember any of the names of the bands or artists?" I asked.
........
Twenty minutes later, T'Challa was done telling me about his first time hearing Guns N' Roses, Metallica, and Bon Jovi, he did say that he really liked U2, Coldplay, and Peter Gabriel.
Peter Gabriel, though, really? "In Your Eyes" was his favorite.
"The drums and singing remind me of my country." he told me. "Sometimes, when my studies were hard, I'd listen to the song at night as I was falling asleep. It's my favorite."
Wow, I never saw that one coming.
I looked over my shoulder, glancing at one of the guards. She glared at me icily, so I turned my head back.
"Don't mind them," T'Challa said in a low voice. "They will not harm you, but they despise you because they see you as a threat."
"I'm sorry if my powers threaten them." I said quietly.
T'Challa chuckled.
"It isn't your powers that threaten them-it is your presence. Each one of them thinks she may be the one to become my wife, so they despise each other."
"Huh? Why is that?" I ask.
T'Challa looked solemn for a moment, deep in thought.
"They are the Dora Miljae- the adored ones. They have been the traditional royal guard of Wakanda for many generations, only women can be among their ranks. However, if the Wakandan King so desires, he may choose one of them as his wife, his queen. My mother was among the last generation of Dora Miljae. These women expect that I will carry on this tradition, but I won't."
I peeked over my shoulder-yep, still glaring at me.
"So you're a rebel?They all seem so very.... beautiful." I asked. I was partly being sarcastic and partly honest. Yes, these women were beautiful, even with shaved heads, but their attitudes and demeanor were rather ugly.
T'Challa grinned. "Maybe because I've been looking for someone else. And maybe I have found her."
SHIT.
he didn't really just say that, did he? Oh he did. He was talking about me-I can't play stupid. He was still smiling at me in that way that made my heart thud in my chest.
I had a mission to focus on, I reminded myself, not on the handsome Disney prince who sat next to me.
Tony will never let me live this down, I reminded myself, he'll tease me forever about all of this.
"I don't care."I told myself firmly in my head as the plane soon landed in Bucharest.
..........
The Dora Miljae were just as much ice queens when we got off the plane as when we got on. I stayed close to T'Challa and as far away from his guards as possible. I swear he thought my efforts were funny, like it was all some practical joke at my expense, but I kept telling myself that our being here in Berlin was no practical joke-neither was T'Chaka's death or Bucky Barnes' HYDRA brainwashing. Poor babies, both Barnes and T'Challa.
Ohmigod, T'Challa was anything but poor when it came to tangible wealth. There was another grey Audi R8 waiting for us at the Berlin Airport, and a bunch more of those Audi Q7s for the Dora Miljae to use, and presumably whomever the UN allowed from the Avengers to come with. Natasha, god bless her, was waiting for us. The Dora Miljae weren't to happy to see yet another chick, let alone a white one, sitting in the car with T'Challa. Oh well, too bad for them.
T'Challa drove the R8, and for some reason , he made me ride shotgun, and Natasha sat in the back.
.....
My mind went into overdrive as T'Challa pulled away. I could feel Barnes' presence nearby, sense his fear.
"He's here, he's nearby." I said, my eyes flashing green, my voice a little deeper.
"He has nowhere to run."T'Challa said, driving faster.
Apparently he did.
It was all pretty much a blur, as we ended up parking the car, T'Challa changing into his suit, and us taking off on foot. Natasha split up from us after a hit, and I couldn't tell if it was intentional or not. It no longer mattered-I was tracking Barnes like a bloodhound, and T'Challa was the hunter. I had no intentions of letting Barnes come to harm-I wanted to fix him, but T'Challa didn't seem to care.
Anger and bitterness rolled off of him in waves, his vibranium claws extended from his suit. He hated Barnes with everything inside of him.
I knew it wasn't Barnes' fault. Poor thing couldn't help that he was brainwashed by HYDRA. I sympathized with him on that one.
I only needed to make him realize it, but not T'Challa. The less T'Challa knew about my own opinions, the better, at least for now.
Barnes had been looking at plums-just trying to find something to eat. I could see where he had been, recalling all that had happened in the Romanian marketplace where I now stood. This was odd and very un-Winter Soldier of him. Winter Soldier didn't need to wear a baseball cap and attempt to buy plums-Winter Soldier would simply steal the plums when no one was looking, or hell, kill a grocery store owner to get what he wanted.
I frowned. So far, this wasn't adding up, not at all. I didn't get it. Didn't he known that he was a wanted man? Why wouldn't have have lain low, something he was so good at?
Because he didn't know anyone was looking for him, the little voice in the back of my head said.
Shit, shit, shit! This was getting more and more complicated all the time!
"What do you see?" T'Challa asked me as we ran through a back alleyway. Unlike him, I had the talent and outfit for blending in to my surroundings. He, however, stuck out like a cat's tail in high grass.
How come his cute little suit didn't come with a cat's tail for whipping his enemies with?
Ah, well, whatever.
"I saw him here in the marketplace. Black baseball cap, red henely and some sort of black denim jacket. heavy pants heavy boots and gloves." I said. Not my problem if T'Challa didn't know what a baseball cap or a Henley was.
T'Challa nodded.
.........
My impressions of Barnes grew stronger as our hunt continued, until they became so strong that I could practically hear him calling out for help-not out loud and not to anyone specific, just a cry for help, a cry for relief.
My heart went out to him. I wanted to help so badly, but T'Challa was making me keep moving, until I saw Barnes' frightened face, his blue eyes looking back at me.
He stared at me, from underneath his baseball cap, while T'Challa seethed with rage.
"I will kill you for what you have done!" T'Challa shouted, lunging at Barnes. Barnes ran, also no typical Winter Soldier behaviour. Winter solider doesn't run away from a fight, he simply kills his opponents before a fight even starts.
But he never runs. I ran after him, my lungs burning, burning like they did in Nigeria, burning like T'Challa's warm smile when we were together, burning like my sympathetic pain for James Buchanan Barnes and his sky-blue eyes.
......
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UH-OH! What have we got going on here?! mmhmm..