(Tony Stark's Point of View)
"Did anyone tell T'challa to expect us?" Steve asked the jet full of tension. No one answered him for a long time.
"Well they'll know the moment we enter," Nat commented. I stood behind Clint and Nat as they steered the jet. Steve was somewhere behind me, along with Thor, Sam, Bucky, Peter, and Rhodey. Everyone was tight with apprehension and worry. My knees were locked and entirely sore but I didn't bother moving. Whether I stood or sat, I was still going to fell the same. I wouldn't calm down until Lucy was safe with me.
"Aim down Barton. Like at those trees," Steve instructed, appearing next to me. I didn't look at him, still staring out the window.
"Cap, are you sure?" Cling asked.
"Positive," Steve assured. Clint hesitated a moment before steering the jet down toward the trees.
"Cap," Rhodey said from behind me.
"Don't worry so much," Bucky said. Anger flared up in my chest. How dare he! I tried to swallow my anger. He wasn't talking to me or about Lucy, only about the jet. The jet neared the trees. Tense energy flooded through the jet. The jet, instead of slamming into the trees, the trees just melted away into a multi-layer type of portal. Behind it was a sprawling city unlike any I'd ever seen. It was as beautiful as everyone said in such a unique way. But I was unable to appreciate it because of the vice over my heart.
"Land right over there, in front of the palace," Steve motioned for a large platform. Clint and Nat brought the jet down with ease. Steve turned to head to the back, but he hesitated and looked at me, "Don't worry Stark. We'll find her," he assured. I looked over at him.
"Yeah? But in what state?" I asked. He didn't say anything, just clenched his jaw and left. I couldn't help but think, last time she'd been taken from. I didn't get her back whole. Kalahan and the Raft broke her. She'd barely had time to smash all the pieces back together crudely. What would it be like this time? The hatch popped open, oppressive warmth bust in. By the time it was done moving, T'Challa was already halfway to us. Next to him was a woman much younger but with the same face. Behind them was an entourage of female guards in red, holding spears. The one directly behind him to his left was one I'd met, Okeye I think. She was his general. Steve was the first out of the jet, followed closely by Bucky and Sam. Clint and Nat passed by me, exiting with Thor and Peter. I couldn't seem to move.
"Tony, come on. We have to get out," Rhodey said, appearing next to me.
"What if we don't find her?" I asked, my voice failing.
"We will. You can't think like that," he insisted. I swallowed hard.
"You're right. Come on. Showtime," I said, following him off the jet.
"What brings you to Wakanda, Captain?" T'Challa asked as we arrived at the group.
"Well, there seems to have been a break in and we have evidence that they've come here," Steve said, carefully leaving parts out.
"Evidence?" the girl asked. T'Challa eyed her but said nothing.
"Uh, well it's complicated," Steve stuttered.
"Complicated?" T'Challa said.
"What Steve is trying to say," I said, stepping forward and shifting attention to me, "Someone broke into my Tower in New York and stole an Infinity Stone we had and kidnapped my girlfriend, who happened to be the only one who can touch or control the Stone. She left a compass that points to the Stone's location which is what led us here. The compass has coordinated on it that used to say the Stone was in Greenland and then it said it was in New York-"
"And now it says it is in Wakanda?" T'Challa asked.
"It would appear so," Nat said, her voice as emotionless as ever.
"Well, let us see it then," the girl said.
"Shuri," T'Challa said under his breath to her but she ignored him. She held out her hand to us expectantly to us. Nat and Steve shared a quick glance before looking back at me. I didn't look anywhere but at the two in front of me. I felt like a robot, reaching for the chain that hung around my neck. I pulled it off and held it out to them. I felt like my soul was in the compass and holding it out to them made me even more hallow then I was. Shuri hesitated a moment before she reached out and took the compass from me. She took it in her hands carefully and studied it. T'Challa leaned over to have a look at it as well.
"What, is that?" she asked, looking over at T'Challa. He leaned closer.
"Is that... blood?" he asked, looking up at us.
"She's the only one who could read the compass, otherwise its completely useless. She figured out that if there was blood on it-her blood-that it would stop spinning and we could read it and it would direct us to her," I said, staring at the compass in her hands, with Lucy's blood. Blood that I was supposed to protect and keep safe. If I had just stayed home...
"How can you tell that they are here? I cannot make anything out of this," Shuri said, looking back up and catching my eye.
"Thor can read it. It's from Asgard," Steve said before I could open my mouth to speak.
"And it says...?" Shuri trailed off.
" 3° 7' North, 35° 36' East," Thor said. T'Challa and Shuri looked up at Thor.
" 3° 7' North-"
"35° 36' East?" T'Challa cut Shuri off and their mouths hung open.
"What is it?" Steve asked. T'Challa and Shuri shared an uneasy glance before T'Challa looked back at us.
"We should go inside," T'Challa nodded and turned around. They started walking toward the door. The guards parted around them and waited for us to pass by before they filled in behind.
"Ubhuti," Shuri said, looking over at T'Challa, "Ngaba le nto ingaxhunyiwe kwizinto esizirekhodile ezimbalwa iintsuku ezedlule?" she said under her breath. It was kinda odd that they were suddenly not speaking English.
"JARVIS," I whispered into my sleeve.
"Yes sir?" he spoke into the earpiece.
"Record this conversation. Translate it," I murmured. I tried to get as close as I could to the two without being obvious.
"Indawo enye iyavela kabini phantsi kweveki? Kufuneka ukuba," T'Challa said.
"Le ndawo ishiywe," Shuri murmured.
"Kubonakala kungekhona," he said back.
"Sidinga ukufumana oku phantsi kolawulo. Oku kunokuba kakhulu, kubi kakhulu," Shuri replied.
"Ndiyazi," T'Challa said with a sort of finality. No one else seemed to be fazed by the conversation that was happening in front of us.
"This will take a minutes sir, it's not a very common language," JARVIS said.
"Double time J, we're on the clock," I hissed. We passed through glass doors and into the palace behind it.
"You should show us that evidence that you have," Shuri said, looking back at us finally. We were led through a maze of hallways that led further and further down until we back to a room where there was no one else but us and a large table. T'Challa and Shuri moved to the end of the table and sat down. T'Challa folded his hands on the table in front of himself. Okeye was standing directly behind T'Challa, spear held in front of her. She eyed us all carefully, surveying us all and the threats that we had directed at her king. We all gathered around the rest of the table and sat down before anyone said another word.
"What is that evidence that you have?" T'Challa asked.
"Sir, I have those translations ready," JARVIS said into my ear.
"Tell me," I whispered into my sleeve.
"'Brother... Could this be linked to what we recorded a few days ago?' Shuri's voice said into my ear. 'Once place, twice in one week? It has to be.' T'Challa said back," JARVIS started.
"Most of what we have is the compass that you have already seen that's coordinates led us here," Steve said.
"'That place is deserted,' Shuri said. 'It seems not,' T'Challa said back. 'We need to get this under control. This could be very, very bad,' Shuri's voice was nervous."
"The coordinates that you seem to know about," Natasha commented.
"I'm not sure what you mean," T'Challa responded.
"'I know,' T'Challa said with finality," the recording JARVIS was playing stopped.
"You're lying," I said back. Everyone looked over at me, the words frozen on their faces.
"Excuse me...?" T'Challa said quietly, his voice cautious. Okeye and Shuri both stiffened. I pulled out my phone and tapped on the recording that JARVIS had linked to me.
"'That place is deserted,' Shuri said. 'It seems not,' T'Challa said. 'We need to get this under control. This could be very, very bad,' Shuri replied," the recording played out. Everyone looked over at me, then turned their attention back to the king.
"You were recording me?" he asked, his voice laced with anger.
"It seems like it was a good idea since you were planning to hide things from us," I hissed. Shuri shifted in her seat uncomfortably and Okeye eyed me from behind T'Challa.
"We've told you everything that we know. What is it that you are hiding from us?" Steve asked. T'Challa took a moment to think, his face drawing into itself in contemplation.
"How dare you come into our country and tell our king that he is lying to you!" Okeye roared, stepping forward. Her sudden outburst made a few around the table jump. T'Challa held up his hand to calm her, unfazed by her anger.
"It is okay Okeye. They are right. They have come here for our help and we must be honest with them," T'Challa said. Okeye bowed her head and stepped back into her original place. T'Challa leaned forward in his seat and rest his elbows on the table. "Please forgive me for holding back information. I am just not entirely sure if it is relevant to the situation that we are dealing with right now. But I will tell you anyway and then we will decide from there," he said. He took a deep breath before starting his story, "About a month ago, we got a minor activity reading up in the mountains where an abandoned village and military base is located. We assumed that because it was such a small reading that it must have been some sort of animal that had been in the area. That happens all the time. It happened on and off for a few weeks, it just seemed that whatever animal had tripped it had moved into the area and kept setting off the alarm. Last week we caught a reading in the area that was higher than ever. We sent out agents to scope out the area of the activity- 3° 7' North, 35° 36' East. There was no one there upon their arrival, but they did find some curious things," he pulled his sleeve up to show his beads around his wrist. An image popped up from them for us all to see. It looked like it was taken from a vest cam on a soldier. Orders were being yelled out in the native language to the other agents, "There was nothing that was out of the ordinary that really shocked us but there were a few things that were odd. There seemed to be newer landing tracks on the streets and a few puddles of what looked like jet oil," on the video, the camera showed tire tracks and puddles of oil that didn't look fresh but also weren't old either. "A few days ago we got another reading that was strange. We got a reading from the shields around the city that someone had flown through but we could not see them. None of our scans could find anything in the air. There was no unidentified device in the sky and there was no heat signature either. Our jets here have the ability to make themselves invisible but even ours will come up when scanned with heat signatures. There was nothing," T'Challa said.
"You can make your jets invisible...," I breathed.
"Yes, why?" T'Challa asked. I flipped through the videos from JARVIS until I found the one I was looking for. I clicked on it and the video popped up in front of everyone. It was the video of the kidnappers pushing Lucy over the edge of the tower. As she tipped over, Shuri gasped and covered her mouth from shock. T'Challa didn't move but it was clear he was caught off guard. The camera switched to the one that was the on the side of the video. Lucy fell through the air and then disappeared. T'Challa and Shuri both jerked forward. They glanced at each other then back at us.
"Are all of your jets accounted for?" Nat asked. T'Challa looked back Okeye. She didn't answer but she raised her arm and started checking the screen that popped up in front of her.
"All the jets in the hanger are accounted for. There is the one that was out for servicing for a month is gone...," she trailed off and her face twisted in confusion.
"What is it?" T'Challa asked.
"It says that the jet was done really early and that they had already returned it but it is not checked in," she said looking up.
"So you are missing one," Steve confirmed. T'Challa looked back at him.
"Do you have any idea who could have possibly done any of this?" he asked.
"I have an idea," Thor spoke up finally. We all turned around to face him.
"Who?" I demanded.
"Your planes can make themselves invisible to the eye, but I know that only one person is so cold that he can mask anything warm," Thor said.
"Who!" Rhodey urged. Thor looked over at him and me.
"My brother," there was a long pause where no one said anything.
"Loki," I finally broke the silence. Thor nodded solemnly.
"If it is Loki, then how are we going to fight him. He can make anything he wants to, to happen. Last time we fought him, he leveled sections of Manhattan," Steve reminded. I flinched away as I thought about the Battle of Manhattan.
"You do not have to worry about that. We will section that part off from the city and shield them from whatever will happen. And I will join you," T'Challa said.
"Great. Now, how are we going to get there without Loki knowing?" I asked.