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mermaidchansons · 16 days ago

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Divine Indeed: Part Two

Neighbor!Terry Richmond x Divine Wells (black OC)

Story Summary: Divine Wells, a 31-year-old seamstress, deals with waves of change after she picks up her life and moves to San Diego for a new job. She thought she’d finally found peace in her new normal; until Oshun decided to push her path to collide with her fine ass neighbor, Terry Richmond.

Words: 2300+

Warnings: mentions of loss, lust

Author’s Note: Better late than never lmfao. Feedback is always encouraged! Don’t keep your thoughts in that pretty head, share with me, bby <3 - Ashanti

Pt. 1 Pt. 2 Pt.3

Meow!

“I hear you, T. Just give me 5 seconds, man.”

Terry looked down at his watch, watching the seconds hand cross over the 12 and stopping the alarm just as it began to ring out. The music in his ears transitioned to the next song on Death’s ‘…For The Whole World To See’ album. It was 7:30 AM, which meant breakfast time for the one-year-old Maine Coon, and he was intent on making it everyone’s problem. He scampered over to where his human was sitting to tie his sneakers and placed his big front paws on Terry’s knees; claws slightly sinking into the outer layer of his owner's skin. Shaking his head, Terry headed out of his bedroom and over to the kitchen where elevated bowls with the name T’Challa written in black.

Terry tightened the loop of his gym bag at his chest as he briskly walked across the room with his cat in tow; mewling at him in annoyance. He moved to San Diego just over two years prior, intent on putting his past behind him and finding himself again; or whoever he was now that his only living family member was gone. The sense of self that he had felt confident in was shaken and depleted. The Marines instilled Terry with discipline and determination where Michael gave him a sense of adventure and a purpose; a reason to keep going. For years, he had a purpose in two entities. But now that time and circumstance had ripped both out of his grasp, he needed a change of scenery; to get out of the south. Terry was stagnant for once in 10 years and in becoming familiar with the suffocating, muggy feeling of loss, he knew he needed out. Loss would have eaten him whole with no regret or second thoughts.

Terry reached into the tall food container, scooping up dry kibbles and moving to the food bowl. As if on cue, T’Challa stood on his stocky hind legs with his face in the bowl, waiting for the kibbles to drop. Terry attempted to push the cat’s long face away, rolling his eyes at the sound of a very long drawn-out meow. The little man was impatient as hell and acted as if Terry would ever let him miss a meal. T’Challa resisted as always, hellbent on being in the way and Terry poured the food directly onto his head, calling him an ‘asshole’. He would never get over how half of the kibble never made it into the bowl. When he first moved into this apartment, the woman who helped him sign the lease suggested that he’d get a furry companion to help ‘evade the inevitable loneliness’. And yet it was times like this that made him wonder if he should have chosen loneliness instead.

“I better not find any of that food in that damn bed, T,” Terry warned the cat as he walked out the front door, locking it behind him; jiggling the handle for good measure. Bypassing the elevator and heading to the staircase, Terry checked his texts to see that his client would be 15 minutes late. He flexed his jaw incredulously, shoving the phone in his pocket. He’d have to nip that in the bud. Tardiness was something Terry would not tolerate. After being berated by his Creole grandmother in front of her book club for his tardiness, a 7-year-old Terry had decided that he would never be late to anything ever again. And he never was. ‘Cause who would he be if he went against Grandma Thérèse’s orders? A smirk appeared on his face as he landed on the second floor, hearing her voice in his ear saying ‘if you’re on time, you’re late. And if you’re late, you may as well have stayed home, chile’.

Terry waltzed into gym room #7 with his attention to his phone and stopped in his tracks. The music in his ears seemed to also be playing out loud, causing him to blink at the impending confusion. Pausing the music and taking out his AirPods, he finally looked up. A candy pink speaker sat against the farthest wall blasting the tail end of ‘Politicians In My Eyes’ by Death. Across from the speaker was a person high up on the stair master, squeezing her eyes shut as she stepped up each step. Her pink afro bubble braids were half up, half of them hanging down her back; just passed the cup of her thick backside.

Terry hid a growing smile when he took a closer look at the gym set the beautiful stranger was wearing. A light blue with water ripples and bright yellow rubber ducks that warped and jiggled with each hike she made. It was almost comical, but not nearly enough to distract him. His mouth went dry as he observed the stranger, taking in every curve and roll as she climbed the stairs to the beat of a new song. He was staring for far too long and he knew it. But she made it hard to turn away; the swing of her plentiful hips with each step was enough to make him drop to his knees and beg her for an ounce of attention. Just an ounce, he knew he didn’t deserve any more than that. No one on earth was deserving of someone like her. Refocus, be cool.

“My bad, I didn’t know this room was booked up,” Terry yelled over the electronic music.

Her head whipped to look at him before she scrambled, trying to stop the machine and pause the music at the same time. She stood on the side of the machine, frantically ripping out the safety chord and turning down the music with both hands. Her chest bounced up and down wildly, trying to catch her breath. Terry fixed his mouth to ask if she was alright, but she stuck out her index finger, silencing him. He nodded and walked over to the panting goddess, holding out his hand in support. She gingerly placed her small palm in his, letting him guide her back down to safety. He picked up what he assumed to be her pink, sticker ladened hydro flask and handed it to her. Terry watched intently as she mouthed a thank you.

“I didn’t mean to barge in on your time,” Terry apologized, one foot behind him, ready to leave her to her own devices.

“No, no- don’t mind me, we can share for the last 10 minutes.”

Pink bubble braids swayed around her as she made her way over to a pile of weight plates on the floor, left behind by someone in a rush no doubt. Terry watched as she bent down to pick up a plate, but stayed down. She had to have known it was too heavy, but she continued to strain.

How long is she going to keep this up? Terry tried his best to quell the bubbling laughter rising in him. With arms crossed, he observed as she finally lifted the plate off of the ground and practically threw it onto the bench. He watched her face contort in the reflection of the mirror, scrunching her cute little round nose at the sudden clanging of metal. Down again she went, moving into a deep squat to lift the next plate. Terry shut his eyes tight, pulling his lips in as the laugh began trickling out of him, making an audible pffft.

“You could help you know,” the beautiful stranger whined with an incredulous look on her face; which soon melted into a smirk once she saw the smile plastered on Terry.

“Yes, ma’am.” Terry jogged over, trading laughs between them. He didn’t have much experience in the art of flirting, and never really had the urge to engage in it. Leading as many lives as Terry had, one would think romance must have wiggled its way in at some point. Yet, here he stood, unable to remember how long it’s been since he’d been on a date. It couldn’t have been in the last year, he’d been a hermit since he’d moved to San Diego.

“It’s hard to take you seriously with all the ducks and cuteness.”

“Listen, you wouldn’t be saying that if you saw the lack of cute workout clothes in size fat. I had to make these myself.”

Terry took the weight plate out of her hands. “Word? Is that what you do?” He bent down to return the plates, his eyes darting to the rubber duck charms dangling from her blue sneakers.

“Yeah, kinda,” she sighed before taking a long swig of water, “I’m a seamstress so I mostly execute other people’s visions. I don’t get a lot of time to work on my own stuff.”

“By the way you sound saying that you might need to make some time for yourself. Otherwise, you gone sound like a depressed robot.”

Terry nudged her shoulder with his and she dramatically swayed to the side. Her tooth gems gleamed in the light when her chubby cheeks squished up into a smile. Warmth radiated in the tips of Terry’s ears and he swallowed dryly to extinguish the growing desire in his abdomen.

“Marvin? Stop, my mom used to call me that. She loves that movie.” She started to walk towards the door and Terry’s feet moved with hers, no thoughts required.

“That was one of the last movies I saw in theater.”

She scrunched up her face and stopped in her tracks. Terry stopped with her in tandem and waited in curiosity. He looked down at her with his brow lifted in question.

“Wait, that was like a bajillion years ago! You gotta get out more, dude. Listen, there’s a theater two blocks away that does $5 Wednesday showings.”

Terry cheesed hard watching the little deity jump into a myriad of movie titles and where to watch them online. She looked almost offended that he had not had the chance to experience these movies, going into her recommendations for the month. Sure, he hadn’t dated in what felt like a century, but maybe a movie date would be nice.

“My bad, I’m running my mouth about a special interest and I don’t even know your name yet.”

Terry blinked away the date ideas swirling in his head and brought himself back to the present, rewinding and replaying the last sentence sent into the air. “You’re good. Nice to meet you, I’m Terry. Terry Richmond. I’m on level 5.”

She slid a small, gold-adorned hand into his larger one and pulled her shoulders back. “Pleasure to meet you, Terry of Level 5. My name’s Divine Wells, first of her name, keeper, and dweller of level 2.”

He watched her bow into an assisted curtsey, giggling; clearly tickled by her joke. She was an absolute nut and he grew entranced with every word that fell from her pouty pink lips. Her name echoed in his head in a voice other than his own and rushing water sounded in his ears. The voice repeated her name until it melted into the familiar pitter-patter of raindrops against a window. What was she doing to him? Her brown sugar eyes broke away from his to look out the window at the sudden rain. He immediately missed their connection, desperate to be beneath her gaze once more. Looking down at their still connected hands, he felt almost magnetized to her.

When Divine returned her attention to his face, her eyes grew large with shock and she took her hand out of his. “My bad,” she said in hushed tones.

“You’re good, Divine.” Terry’s eyes racked up and down her body once more before offering her a small, genial smile. She bit her lip and drew her eyes away. Was she blushing? Terry slyly dug into his pocket for a business card, getting one ready to hand to her.

“You know I-”

“Hermano, my bad bro, my alarm didn’t go off and I had this honey over last night. I lost track of time, bro.” An olive-skinned man projected his voice as he tip-toed in, vacuuming away the swells of lust in the air. Terry crossed his arms and pointed his eyes like daggers at the man. Divine’s shot between them and let out a small ‘oop’.

“Stretch.”

One word from Terry and the man damn near sprinted to the other side of the gym room, his overly large gym bag rustling loudly with each step. Terry looked over to see Divine gathering her things to prepare to leave.

A waterfall of pink puffs covered her face as she bent down to her belongings into a bag. Rubber ducks jiggled with her behind as she stepped, drawing Terry’s attention again. He had to stop looking at her like this. If he didn’t, he’d have to step away from his client session to take care of the growing pain below his abdomen.

Divine walked towards the door waving with one hand, and put on her headphones with the other. “Nice meeting you, Terry.”

“You too. Hold up.” Terry took three steps forward, his heart jumping a beat as he watched Divine bite her lip once more; those eyes flooding him with heat. “I know we don’t know each other like that but here’s my number. Let me know if you ever need anything, I take this community shit seriously.”

Her eyes lit up as she took the card from his hand and Terry flexed his jaw. He was in agony just looking at her.

“Whatever you say, Terry.” He watched Divine and her rubber duck-lined outfit walk away as the rain picked up outside. He was in trouble.

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#Divine Indeed #MermaidChansons Writes #Terry Richmond #Terry Richmond x black reader #terry richmond fanfiction #Terry Richmond x black fem #rebel ridge #rebel ridge fanfiction #Terry Richmond fluff #Terry Richmond slow burn #slow burn #neighbors to lovers

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lunaroserites · 9 months ago

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It's Okay, We're Okay

Pairing: Established Bucky x Fem!Reader

Characters: Avengers Cast

Summery: Snippets into an OC's life that I love, that sorta follows the cannon events of the Infinity SAGA. She is enhanced and maybe a little OP, but whatever lol

Warnings: Not beta'd! All mistakes are my own. Friends fluff, swearing, implied sex, kissing, flirting, marriage, character death. Sorta cannon compliant. Cannon is a suggestion. No use of YN and very little/no body description

Word Court: 6048

Likes, reblogs, and comments are appreciated! ❤️

Please do not repost, translate or otherwise copy my work elsewhere, without my express permission, thank you! Lunaroserites on tumblr and ao3

“How about a semi stable 100 year old man,” Bucky said with a bright smile as he hugged Steve, his tone lighter than it had been in months. You couldn’t help but smile as you walked up toward the two.

“And how about his semi stable almost 100 year old wife?” You mused, Steve looked at you for a moment before his eyes flicked to Bucky’s face. You held your hand up and a beautiful vibranium ring sat on your ring finger, Bucky held up his vibranium arm and flexed his fingers, the matching ring visibly different from the rest of his arm. Steve’s face broke out into an even bigger smile.

“Congrats you guys,” he pulled you both in a one armed hug each. Bucky’s arm crept around your waist in the hug and you held Steve’s arm tightly.

Natasha ran up to you and wrapped you in a tight hug, “congratulations!” You smiled at her and touched her forehead with yours.

“What are we facing,” you asked, looking back to Steve. He delved into what we were about to face. “Well at least it will be easy,” you said sarcastically, leaning to Bucky’s side for some comfort. He held you tightly into his side for a brief moment.

“I’ll give you two a moment,” Steve turned to speak with T’Challa and the rest of the crew.

Bucky placed his hand on your cheek and leaned his forehead into yours, his metal hand holding your waist gently. You mirrored him, holding the back of his head and reaching up on your tiptoes to meet him halfway, your other hand splayed open on his chest. He stared contentedly into your eyes for a few moments, pouring all his love and affection into that look.

“I love you,” you said softly and pressed a soft kiss to his plush lips.

“I love you doll,” he whispered back after you pulled back. You took a couple deep breaths together and parted from one another. You rolled your shoulders and stretched your arms out, tilting your head side to side a couple times to warm up.

“It’s okay.”

“We’re okay,” he finished.

“Looks like we have a battle to face,” you as you rejoined Steve and the rest of the crew. You cracked your knuckles, pulled your hood up, and unsheath your daggers.“Phantom out,” you faded into the shadows leaving a wave of calm behind as you flitted through the shadows toward the upcoming battle. “You better watch his ass Steve, he’s not as spry as he once was,” you teased into the ear piece.

“You weren’t thinking that last night when you screamed my name, Honey” Bucky quipped back, you blushed.

“Let’s keep the comms clean you two,” Steve said trying to sound stern, but you could pick the amusement out in his tone.

“Oh don’t be a bitch,” you groaned as one of the weird alien creatures dodged your daggers. You screeched when one clipped your shoulder, it picked your scent up even though you were hidden in the shadows. One swift movement and the creature was dead with the blade of your dagger embedded in its skull. Pulling it out and shaking it off you heard Bucky curse on the comms and you were immediately heading toward him.

You ran and dodged everyone and everything on the way to Bucky’s side. Still immersed in the shadows, you climbed up on Bucky’s back, he barely registered your weight as you perched on his shoulder as he picked up a small raccoon and spun around creating a circle of bullets hitting everything surrounding them.

“How much for the arm?” It asked.

“Not for sale,” you answered, reappearing, sitting on Bucky's shoulder with one leg crossed over the other and a smirk on your face. The raccoon looked perplexed as he looked you up and down for a moment before shaking his head.

“I’ll get that arm,” you snorted at the racoon's declaration.

“Doll? Steve?” Bucky called, you turned around, Steve following suit and you watched in horror as Bucky’s legs started disappearing.

“Bucky?” You started running toward him, catching his hand in yours and his eyes bore into yours, you were falling to your knees as he disappeared more and more, dust clenched into your fist as his hand vanished.

“I love…” and he was gone, the dull thunk of his gun hitting the ground filled your ears.

“BUCKY!? BUCKY!” You screamed, an inhuman wail left your lips as your hands moved around the dust that scattered the ground where he fell. You didn’t register Steve’s arms wrap around you as he hauled you up and away from your husband’s body, dust. You kicked and wailed in his arms, sobs wrecking your body as you screamed for Bucky.

“Hey, hey,” Steve’s voice was right in your ear as he gripped your arms to your sides, his other hand pulling your face into his neck. He was trying to sooth you, he maneuvered your body so you were being cradled into his chest, his big hand cupping the back of your head into his shoulder as you shook uncontrollably, sobs wrecking your throat.

“Bucky,” you sobbed, fisting Steve’s tactical suit. “Bucky…” your voice quieted as you cried into his shoulder as he held you tightly.

“I know, I know,” he soothed, his hand rubbing up and down your back in circles like he did after he personally told you Bucky fell from that train. Another sod ripped though your trembling form.

“Steve, I’m dreaming right? This is a nightmare right,” you pulled back and looked into his eyes, he had a far off look in them. That question mirrored the one you asked back then, and right now he wasn’t seeing Phantom, enhanced Avenger, he was seeing you, that tiny woman that held the heart of his best friend in her hands. Your voice was desperate, all you wanted to do was wake up in your bed cuddled up to your husband. But all you were met with were Steve’s saddened blue eyes. He shook his head and pulled you back into a tight hug. You sobbed again, all the strength in your body gone.

1 week later

You sat and stared out the window of the compound, you barely moved from that spot since Steve placed you there a week ago. You barely ate, all food made your stomach turn uncomfortably, everything reminded you of him. Looking at your ring brought silent sobs up, as your tear ducts were long empty from all the tears you shed.

The sound of a glass hitting the table made you jump, you turned your head to look at where the noise came from.

“You look awful,” Rocket said. You scoffed and looked away from him. He had spent the last week drinking Tony’s expensive liquor, your heart clenched at the thought of Tony, you still had no clue if he was still alive or where he was.

You had dark bags under your eyes and your hair was greasy, your clothes only changed because Natasha took it upon herself to get you changed a couple days ago. You felt incredibly numb, the world was devoid of all feeling and colour. You were spiraling and you couldn’t stop.

You flinched when cold glass touched your bare arm, you looked over and Rocket was holding out a glass of amber liquor. You took it and shot it back, welcoming the burn it caused.

“He was your husband?” Rocket asked, tears stung your eyes as you closed them and sniffled before nodding.

“Ye… yes,” you choked out. He gave you a sad look, and placed his paw on your arm where he touched the glass a moment before. Pulling back he lifted the bottle and tilted it toward you. You held the glass out and he topped it up.

“To the loved ones we lost,” he clinked the bottle to your glass and you both tipped the drink back. You finished yours in one go, the burn less than the last time. He refilled the cup.

“Tony’s gonna be pissed,” you couldn’t help the chuckle that bubbled out of your throat. You wanted to blame it on the booze, but you haven’t been able to get drunk since 1946. Maybe it was the fact Rocket was the first person to look at you with something other than pity in the last week or the shock was finally starting to wear off. Whatever it was, you appreciated it.

1 week later

That’s how your nights went for the next week. Sharing a drink or two of Tony’s expensive liquor with Rocket. You barely saw Steve and the rest of the team as they were busy with relief efforts. Whenever Steve was in the compound he had trouble evenlooking at you, like it hurt his heart more to see you so distant.

“Tell me about him,” Rocket said as he topped your glass up. He usually avoided personal questions, so this was unusual. You sucked in a sharp breath before pulling your knees up to your chest and looking at the ring on your finger. A fresh wave of tears welled up and you blinked a couple times, you took a couple shuddering breaths before shaking your head and looking out the window, your chin on your knees.

“He was everything to me,” you started. “We met after Steve saved him from Hydra back in the 40s,” Rocket gave you a questioning look. “Did you look up anything about Steve?” He nodded, “I know there’s not as much on Bucky and I out there.” He nodded again. “He could make anyone feel at ease, he was so effortlessly happy despite everything that was happening. I had heard girls talk about falling in love and it sounded like horse shit,” you chuckled. “But then I met him, and I knew instantly what they were talking about. Everything just felt right.”

“Bucky and I were almost married back then. But it was postponed for the mission he went on to bring in Zola, and then he didn’t come home.”

You pressed your palm to your eyes, “I was inconsolable, I’m surprised Howard didn’t send me back to America,” that name confused him. “Howard Stark is my adoptive brother. My mom died giving birth to me, dad wasn’t around, his mom and mine were best friends. So the Starks raised me as their own. That’s Tony’s dad.” He nodded again, he just listened. It was nice.

“Back to Bucky, there was a celebration happening in the canteen on the camp after Steve saved the 107th, Peggy and I were the only women there who weren’t nurses. She had been speaking to Steve and Bucky, well more so flirting with Steve.” You giggled.

“Steve made a comment ‘maybe she has a friend’ and I just so happened to need to speak with Steve right after Peggy, who was my best friend. So Steve made a comment after I left,” you chuckled thinking back. “Bucky asked me to dance that night and we ended up in his bunk, the rest is history really,” you chuckled.

“He was so sweet, flirty and funny. I was smitten from the second he introduced himself when I was talking to Steve,” you said dreamily. “Howard was pissed, how dare his baby sister date, the horror,” a full laugh came out as you remembered the look of horror on Howard's face when he caught you sneaking out of the bunk house the next morning. Your laugh was light and airy, like sweet bells or chimes. Steve had been listening to you from the door as you recounted your time back then. A ghost of a smile on his face.

“So what happened, how are you still here?” Rocket asked.

“After Steve went into the ice,” you noticed Steve now, your eyes saddened for a moment. “Howard threw himself into trying to replicate the serum. I was his first test subject, it felt right. No one else could do it. I felt like I owed it to Steve and Bucky to try and make their legacies survive. Kinda stupid,” you chuckled again. “In ‘51 we heard whispers of the Winter Soldier, they sent me to investigate. No one else came back alive. I was captured by Cerberus, the human experimentation division of Hydra. They held me captive for 61 years, until someone fucked up and my location was compromised and Fury was able to pinpoint me. He sent Steve in and well, he was surprised to see a face from his past staring back at him when he defrosted me.”

Rocket nodded, and looked over to Steve, “I never expected to see her staring back at me,” he said softly, taking a seat on the sofa. “I never expected her to be an enhanced.”

“I had ended up back in Hydra's hands after the battle of New York in 2012. I had changed hands a few times during my 6 decades captured. Cerberus had gone rouge at some point and it was a constant battle to get me back between the two. Hydra got their hands on the staff and used it on me, to see what it could do,” it was hard to talk about what you went through. It sounded insane. “Steve was on a mission to see if he could find the staff when he found me in cryostasis.”

“Fury sent me on a mission to find the staff, but I’m pretty sure he was actually sending me to find her. When I confronted him about it he just shrugged,” Steve added, you nodded along with him, having been with Steve during that confrontation.

“Hydra was terrified of me because my abilities were quite strong. I can disappear into shadows, and manipulate emotions with some mild telepathy and telekinesis. I think it's just my control of shadows, but I don’t really know.”

“I remember not believing my eyes, it was like seeing a ghost,” Steve murmured, you nodded.

“Seeing Steve was shocking to me as well, last I knew he went down with a plane somewhere in the arctic,” you said back. Rocket listened intently.

“I remember meeting Tony for the first time when you brought me back to the tower. I couldn’t believe it, Howard actually had a kid, a son,” you smiled. “He knew who I was. Apparently Howard talked about me a lot, and they had a picture of me in the house,” you looked down. Even though you were technically younger than him, you always felt like an aunt to him. “He called me auntie,” you chuckled, your eyes saddening again. “I miss them Steve,” you sighed and leaned back against the sofa.

“How did you find Bucky?” Rocket asked.

“He found us,” you laughed, and looked over at Steve. “HYDRA sent the Winter Soldier after us. It’s a long story.” You said quickly, “they wanted Cap gone and me back. I’ll never forget the emotions I felt that day in Washington when the Winter Soldier was revealed to be Bucky,” you shuddered thinking back to that fateful day that completely changed the trajectory of your life.

You three finished the bottle that night.

1 week later

You were finally up and about, trying to be useful when a ship touched down on the lawn of the compound.

“Tony!” You shouted, taking off in a sprint toward him as he walked down the ramp, a blue lady following him. You held on to him to keep him steady and he looked at you perplexed.

“I lost the kid,” he said frantically. “I failed, I lost the kid,” he sounded so defeated.

“We failed too, I lost Bucky,” he gave you a pained expression. “I’m sorry about the kid,” you said solemnly as you walked with him into the compound. Pepper hot on your heels.

Steve asked him if he knew where Thanos might be, Tony gave him the most angry look you had ever seen.

“Maybe we should let him rest,” you said softly, Tony already ripping into Steve and then he was given a sedative.

The blue lady, Nebula as she introduced herself, had an idea on where to find Thanos, so you were traveling into space. Rocket had let you sit next to him, you two had grown very close in the last few weeks.

Finding Thanos wasn’t as satisfying as you had hoped. He had destroyed the stones and there was no way to bring your loved ones back. Before Thor killed him you had jumped on his back and dug your fingers into his temples and made him relieve everything, every mistake, every failure and twisted his mind painfully, “this is for taking him from me again,” you ground out, tears pouring from your eyes and your head was pounding. Then Thor killed him, and it was unsatisfying.

Time skip

Tony left the compound, telling Steve it was his. Pepper went with him. You were devastated. It took two years for you and Tony to get back on proper speaking terms. He held a lot of resentment towards you and Bucky, well for you still loving Bucky after he killed Howard and Marie.

“I did horrible things to Tony,” you shouted. “Do you blame me?” He shook his head, fire in his eyes.

“That’s different, it wasn’t you,” he bit back.

“How? It wasn’t him either,” You snapped.

“You didn’t kill my mom,” he said.

“Tony. I know nothing will ever change that. But please, I’m begging you. Please try and understand it wasn’t Bucky either,” you said sadly, reaching out to touch his cheek. “Please. Bucky loved Howard, he wouldn’t have killed him or Marie if he was in control of his mind,” you said tenderly. Tony’s cheek connected with your palm and you rubbed your thumb over his cheek bone. “Please Tony, for me. I’m not asking for you to be friends or even forgive him. I’m asking for you to forgive me, to let me back in. You’re my only family left,” you said softly.

He nodded a moment later, “okay,” he pulled you into a hug. “I missed you, I’m sorry you lost Barnes,” he said softly. You let out a breath of relief and hugged him back just as hard. “I’m sorry you lost the kid,” you felt him nod.

You semi retired over the next few years, only helping out sometimes, you tried to live a semi normal life. You spent a lot of time with Tony and Pepper, enjoying getting to be an actual auntie to Morgan. She was like Tony’s mini me, and it made your heart ache you never got to know Tony as a boy. Tony even broke down after some time and told you about Howard, how he was, you were baffled, as the man he described was nothing like the brother you grew up with.

“If I were around, I would have kicked his ass,” you said one night while sharing a drink with Tony.

“Seeing how you are with Morgan, it would have been nice to have you around growing up,” he replied. “Dad talked about you a lot, he said I reminded him of you, you were just as impulsive and hard headed as I was apparently.” That made you throw your head back and laugh.

“You remind me of Howard actually, I’m sorry you never really got to see that side of him,” your voice tapered off as you looked down at the liquor in your cup.

“I gotta ask, you and Barnes, did you,” he took a deep breath, “did you guys ever plan on having kids, white picket fence, a dog.” You knew it was still hard for him to bring up Bucky, it was a wound that would likely never heal.

You thought for a moment, rolling the ring around on your finger that you vowed to never remove, thinking back to when you and Bucky met and were young, full of hopes and dreams for a future stolen from you. “Yes, maybe a brownstone in Brooklyn though, or an acreage in upstate. A couple kids and a dog or two. The American Dream.”

“I meant now, after you guys found one another again,” Tony said softly.

“Oh, if you really look at it, we only have had a handful of months together that were semi peaceful, so we never really talked about it again,” you said sadly. You watched him nod and he touched your hand.

“You would be a great mom,” Tony squeezed your hand. Tears welled up in your eyes at his kind words. “For what it’s worth, I know the gone can’t appreciate it. But you can, the living can. I forgive him. It will always hurt and part of me will always be raw about it. But I forgive him.” The tears fell now, and you sniffled while pulling Tony into a tight hug, relief flooding your body.

Steve respected that you wanted to try and live life semi-normally. He would only call you to participate in the field when something required your abilities and expertise.

With the help of Tony you were able to claim the trust Howard had set up for you after you disappeared in 1951. He apparently had a gut feeling you were still alive. Out there somewhere. Tony also helped with getting your stake in Stark Industries legitimized. You rented an apartment in New York, so you could still visit the compound easily. Not really wanting to buy a house yet or build one, part of you still held out that maybe one day you would get Bucky back and you two could start that family you both dreamed about.

You were staring at Steve like he had ten heads just magically sprout out of his neck as you both stood in your living room. “Come again?” your heart pounded loudly and your palms were calmly, your brain going into overdrive as you clutched your hands in front of you.

“We might be able to get them back,” Steve said again, and your breath hitched, it was the most hopeful you heard him since before the blip. You stared at him in shock.

“Don’t fuck with my heart Steve,” you voice cracked slightly. He shook his head.

“I’m not I promise, we need to see if we can get Tony on board, I was hoping you would help,” Steve asked, almost begging.

You stood next to Steve while Bruce tested the time machine van Scott brought to the compound. Both of you sighing when he came back as a baby, and then coming back himself in a soiled suit.

Your heart beat spiked excitedly when you saw one of Tony’s sports cars fly up the compound's driveway, you squeezed Steve's hand, and he squeezed yours back.

You didn’t time travel, there weren't enough suits or pym-practicals for you to go as well. You monitored the equipment while you waited for the team to come back. Losing Natasha was devastating, you comforted Clint after he got back. “I couldn’t save her,” he sounded broken and your heart shattered.

You watched in horror as Bruce basically barbequed his arm to undo the snap. Everyone looked around at one another, trying to figure out if it worked or not. Your phone and Clint’s started ringing. You both walked over hesitantly, you grabbed yours. Sam’s face on the screen and you felt a sob get stuck in your throat. You and Clint shared a quick look before you both swiped to answer, placing the phone to your ear your breath hitched when you heard him.

“Doll,” tears flooded your cheeks as you brought your hand to cover your mouth.

“Bucky,” you choked out, “Buc…” a scream ripped through your throat as the compound collapsed around you, burying you and Clint.

“Hello?” Clint groaned as he flashed his light around.

“Help,” you coughed as rubble shifted on top of you. “Clint,” you called out.

“Come on kid,” he said, holding your hand as he pulled you free.

“I’m older than you Clint,” you laughed a dry laugh, rubbing the dirt off your face. He gave you a deadpan expression. “Sorry,” you raised your hand up in surrender.

“Shit,” you looked down at the ground, the gauntlet was sitting in front of you two. Then you heard it, it was faint. Clint immediately sent a torch arrow through the tunnel, revealing creatures similar to the ones you fought in Wakanda. Clint quickly grabbed the gauntlet and you both ran for it.

“God I hate those things,” you groaned as you ran alongside Clint.

“You fought them before?” He asked.

“In Wakanda before the blip,” he nodded as he shot explosive arrows into the pipes. The explosion caused you both to fly forward and you fell on top of him. With a groan you rolled off him and quickly sprang up. More were coming, he looked up and shot a grapple up and offered you his hand. You shook your hand and sunk into the shadows and crawled up the wall in them as he cut one of the creatures down. As he landed from his grapple, you jammed your dagger into the floor and used your momentum to kick one of them back down the hole.

He raised his blade over the hole and yelled before rolling over and lying down for a moment, you followed suit groaning with him.

“Oh hey I know you,” Clint murmured as Nebula came and took the gauntlet.

“Father, I have the stones,” your eyes snapped open and you looked at her. You sunk into the shadows before she could stop you.

“You what?” Clint mumbled, he was shocked and more awake now. She placed her boot on his chest and pointed a gun at him.

“Stop,” a new voice said. A lady whose skin was green entered with a gun pointed at Nebula came in. Nebula moved, her gun still pointed at Clint’s head as you skulked through the shadows to get behind her.

“You’re betraying us?” other Nebula asked, as the other lady held her arm steady, the gun aimed at her. Another Nebula came in with her hands up and Clint jumped out from the middle of them. You sent a small pulse of calm toward him so he could still feel you there with him.

“You don’t have to do this,” your Nebula says.

“I am this,” the other retorts.

“No you're not,” the green lady says, you stayed still and watched. Poised to strike when needed.

“You’ve seen what we’ve become,” your Nebula says softly as she walks towards the other.

“Nebula, listen to her,” the other lady urged.

“You can change,” the green lady dropped her gun, you tensed.

“He won’t let me,” the other Nebula said tearfully and aimed her gun at the green lady. You sprung forward and grabbed her arms from behind revealing yourself completely, as your Nebula shot her. You gasped and dropped to the ground and started hyperventilating, feeling all over your chest for damage. Clint was to your side in an instant checking you over.

“Okay, breathe, breathe,” you took a sharp breath and stared into Clint’s eyes, yours wild and terrified.

“It’s okay, we’re okay,” you repeat your mantra out loud. You scrambled up as Clint grabbed the gauntlet and you two ran.

Wakanda 2023 Post Unsnap

Bucky woke up face down in the dirt, and he was very confused. Sam was to his side instantaneously and pulled him up.

“What the hell happened?” Bucky shook his head and looked around. “Doll? Doll!” He shouted. “Where are you?” He called out, hoping for an answer he was met with silence.

“I have no idea,” Sam looked bewildered, “I’m going to call her,” he said and dialed your number, he didn’t get an answer and Bucky’s stomach tied itself in knots as he heard it ring. When he heard her breath as she answered.

“Doll?” He asked breathlessly, she didn’t answer for a couple beats but then her sweet voice crackled through the phone.

“Bucky,” a breath of relief flooded him as he heard her voice. “Buc..” he heard her scream and the sound of falling rubble and then the line went dead.

“Doll?” Bucky called frantically, “Doll!?” He screamed into the phone.

“Barnes,” Sam said sternly. “Barnes,” he tried again. “Bucky!” He grabbed him by the shoulders and made him look at him. “We’ll get to her,” Sam promised, his own heart twisting.

Golden circles opened up suddenly in front of them, Wanda and Groot joining them as they looked through the portals in bewilderment. “We’re Masters of the Mythic Arts, your team needs help facing Thanos.”

Avengers Compound 2023

“Did anyone ever tell you, you talk too much,” you shouted as you reappeared next to Steve. He looked awful. You looked around you and your heart beat slowed as you took everything in. You couldn’t see Tony or Thor. Or anyone else for that matter, Clint sent you ahead to try and find Cap since you could move faster in the shadows than he could run.

“Ca,” a muffled sound crackled through the comm in Steve’s ears, yours crackling to life as well. “Cap? It’s Sam.” The comm cleared, “on your left,” golden circles opened what looked like portals and T’Challa, Shuri and Okoye walked though. Sam flew out right after and your heart soared as you watched him fly above and circle back, landing in front of you and Steve.

Bucky walked though one of the portals and you could have screamed for joy. Your stomach started somersaulting and your heart rate spiked. “Go,” Steve said softly. You took off toward Bucky, his arm opening to you almost instantly as you body slammed into him a moment later. His arm wrapped tightly around your waist and yours wrapped around his neck. He inhaled a deep breath through his nose that was buried into your hair.

You pulled back and placed your hand on his cheeks and smiled brightly up at him, “Bucky,” you were crying.

“Doll,” he whispered back. In his arm you turned toward Thanos again, Bucky’s arm secured around your waist as you faced the purple monster. You looked at one another once more before nodding at each other.

“I love you,” you said softly.

“I love you too,” he said back tenderly.

“It’s okay.”

“We’re okay.”

“AVENGERS!” Steve shouted. “Assemble.” It was chaos the moment he finished.

“Let’s do this. Phantom out,” you faded into the shadows instantly.

You danced around slicing at anything that got to close, trying to track Clint to figure out where he had made it off too when you went ahead.

You kept close to Bucky and stabbed a rogue creature that almost got Rocket. He whipped around and you half appeared smiling at him before throwing a knife and embedding into the skull of a creature that was too close to Bucky for your liking.

“Hey Daisy,” Rocket chuckled. The nickname he coined for you a few years back stuck hard, and you didn’t hate it. Bucky looked over his shoulder with a questioning expression before shrugging and continuing what he was doing. You slipped back into the shadows and kept fighting.

“Bucky the kid,” you shouted as you tried to dodge the oncoming fire. “I got you, protect him,” you watched as Bucky jumped forward and took a hit, your shadows protecting him. You scrambled forward and checked on him. The gun fire lulled for a moment and started firing in the sky.

A missile like something started taking out the ship. You and Bucky watched in awe as it started to fall apart and fall into the lake.

“You got something for me?” Carol asked.

Peter handed her the gauntlet, “I don’t know how you’re gonna get it through all that.”

“Don’t worry, she’s got help,” Okoye said as you all appeared around him. You emerged from the shadows for a moment and nodded to Wanda, smiling at her, she smiled back.

Pepper was pulling Peter away from him, “Tony,” you ran forward and fell to your knees next to him and took his head in your hands. “Tony.” You felt tears slip down your cheeks as you let him go and crawled backwards, collapsing to the ground, Peter falling next to you, you pulled him into a hug.

It was Bucky that pulled you up into his arms a short while later, you completely gave your strength over to him and went completely limp in his grasp. He looked down at you tenderly and nuzzled his nose into your hair softly. “It’s okay, we’re okay,” his voice was soothing and raw.

“I love you 3000,” you placed your hand over your mouth and stifled the sob that threatened to come out and leaned your head into Steve’s shoulder. He wrapped his arm around you and hugged you to him. Your heart broke for Morgan, his little mini me.

While Pepper gathered the ceremonial ‘Tony Stark Has A Heart,’ bouquet, Morgan toddled over to you. You crouched down to her level and gave her a big hug. She pulled back and her little face full of tears, you whipped them gently and smiled at her.

“It’s okay,” you said softly into her hair as you pulled her back into another hug.

“We’re okay,” she caught you off guard by finishing the mantra you repeated regularly. It was a safety net for you, something that soothed your soul in the darkest of times. You couldn't count how many times you said it to her when she would fall and hurt herself or if she had a bad dream or if she missed her parents when you watched her.

Too hear you say it brought some sense of calm to you and nodded at her. “We are,” you cupped her cheek and smiled at her. “Dad will always love you, and he’ll always be right here,” you touched her heart, “and right here,” you touched her temple. She smiled sadly at you.

“Luv you auntie,” she whispered before going back to her mom.

As you followed Pepper out of the house, you joined Bucky’s side to watch her set Tony's heart adrift on the lake. He wrapped his arm around you and held you close.

“I’m sorry you lost him,” Bucky said quietly as you watched on. You let out a deep shuddering sigh and nodded.

“He forgave you after everything,” you murmured softly, your eyes sad. “I’m sad he never got to tell you himself.” Bucky kissed your temple gently and nodded against your head.

“Don’t do anything stupid until I get back,” Steve said to Bucky with a smile.

“How can I? You’re taking all the stupid with you,” he murmured back and they hugged.

He looked at you and smiled, “it’s okay,” he said softly.

“We’re okay,” you finished. He pulled you into a hug tightly before letting go to bring the stones back.

“I’m gonna miss you punk,” Bucky said softly.

“It’s gonna be okay Buck,” Steve said as he stepped on the platform.

Something screamed inside you that something was going to happen, you and Bucky stood side by side while Sam hammered on Bruce to figure out what happened.

“Hey Sam,” Bucky called as you two looked toward a man sitting on a bench. You approached it first and looked at him, you swallowed hard.

“Steve,” your voice cracked. He smiled up at you.

“I’m so proud of you. Keep each other safe, and love hard,” you reached forward and wrapped him in a tight hug for a moment. You looked at his hand and noticed the ring.

“I’m glad you got to be happy, we’ll miss you. It’s okay,” you whispered as you stepped back.

“We’re okay,” he nodded back. You walked away while wiping a tear from your eye and joined Bucky again while Sam went and spoke with him.

“You don’t want to say anything,” you whispered to him, he wrapped his arm around you gently and pulled you close as he watched.

“No,” Bucky said simply. You nodded and pressed your head into his shoulder.

Feel free you send me a message if you have a request or would like more, or would like to be added to the tag list <3

If you want me to go more in depth into how she fits in the time line, let me know!

#bucky barnes #bucky imagine #bucky barnes x reader #bucky x reader #fluff #bucky fanfic #bucky x you #marvel #infinity saga #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes metal arm #captain america #steve rogers #clint barton #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x female reader #bucky barnes x oc #rocket raccoon #tony stark

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starcrossedxwriter · 1 year ago

Text

Unbreakable Part 3 (Erik Killmonger x OC)

Warnings: none...

A/n: a little pre-Christmas gift. Enjoy!

Naja pushed the knife into his side, not enough to draw blood but just enough for him to feel it.

“Yield.”

“Aight girl, damn.” Naja smirked to herself before letting him go and sliding the knives back into their sheaths at her waist. “You don’t know the difference between friendly training ’n a real fight, do you?”

“Well, this isn’t friendly so…” she shrugged, though she found her tone was not the entirely cold one she hoped it would be as she went to grab water. “And a person who thinks any fight is friendly is a person who won’t live long. No one out there is going to fight friendly so why would I train as such? Easy way to meet the ancestors faster if you ask me.”

His response, not that he did not agree with it, shocked him. Every day, he realized just how truly different she was now. Or at least, how different she outwardly showed herself to be. But it could not have just been their break up, he reasoned. It had to be something else to harden her to this degree.

“May I ask you something?”

He lifted his head. “Well that would involve talking to me?” She rolled her eyes. “I’ll make you a deal. Tell me how you keep beatin’ my ass and I’ll answer your question.”

Naja mulled over his compromise for a moment before nodding, the terms seemed logical and fair enough. She crossed back over the mat to stand in front of him.

“It’s not that hard. You fight like most overconfident men, feel free to take offense to that, by the way.” He merely rolled her eyes. Her jabs seemed to roll off his back, which annoyed her to no end. “Like you’re the biggest and strongest, you merely throw your weight around with little skill. And you can get away with that when you are indeed the biggest and the strongest. Most people can’t overpower brute strength. But I’ve never been the strongest and never will be. Certainly not the biggest in a fight and likely also never will be. So I rely on skill and skill alone. And my other senses. It’s obvious you know how to fight and have skill, even if it is… lacking since you took the herb. Because you know only a handful of equally enhanced people could hope to beat you. You want to beat me? Focus on using your mind to beat me, not those giant muscles,” she gestured at his bulging biceps.

“Damn, you good. And right. That first day I fought you was my first time fightin’ in a year. Maybe you can teach me some of those skills?”

Naja stared at him for a few moments before acquiescing. She would never admit it to him but she enjoyed their afternoon sparring sessions. Though they had been at it for a week, this was the most they had spoken in their sessions. He did not push conversation on her even though she could always tell there was a question on the tip of his lips. But their time together steadily opened the release valve on the tension between them even if they did not speak to each other. Every blow, grunt, and kick chipped away at the barrier between them, just as - she imagined - he knew it would. She hated that his plan was working.

“Deal. We’ll try some new things tomorrow.”

“I’m a man of my word… now,” he added with a chuckle when her eyebrow raised. “What do you wanna know?”

“How did a man who vowed to sooner destroy Wakanda before he stepped foot in it again manage to get his hands on our most sacred herb?”

He scratched the nape of his neck, that was not the question he was expecting. But it was a fair one. He had once vowed to burn Wakanda to the ground for what they took from him. And now he was back, serving the country as loyally as any other soul would, had given up more than most would - though he chose not to think about the long-term freedoms he gave up for it. Only T’Challa knew the road that led him back, that changed his mind.

“You weren’t wrong…” he closed the space between them.

“I rarely am,” she offered, which made him laugh.

Conceded but true, he thought to himself.

“T’Challa and I did reconnect after his father died… couple years before the Blip. He gave me a set of beads and told me if I ever needed anythin’, call him. Never thought I’d need to call it in, never thought I’d need him. And then… shit hit the fan after the Blip, tried to save someone instead of myself and got shot.” He gestured toward the faintest scar among the raised scarring on his chest. “Escaped, used one of the beads to stabilize myself, called T’Challa. By the time they got me back, the herb was the only option.”

“You were shot?” She whispered. Without thinking, her hand reached to his scarred chest and grazed over the faint line left behind. It was barely visible against the bumps that marred his perfect skin. The picture of it pained her soul, the idea of him floating between life and death. “I d-don’t understand you,” she whispered with a soft chuckle and head shake.

“What do you mean?”

“You claimed to have no room in your heart for anyone, claimed to love nothing and no one. Who on this planet was worth almost dying for?”

Erik grabbed her hand, holding it to his chest, which tore her eyes from his scar to his deep brown ones.

“Someone who reminded me of the most important thing I sacrificed, the thing I always wanted to get back to.”

She could feel the ice between them, the ice she so desperately clung to, melting away as if someone set it ablaze. It could not withstand this, this fire that brewed between them under the surface of disdain. She could no longer ignore it in favor of righteous rage. He was making it impossible to do so. She wanted to resist it, break free of him and this spell he kept putting her under. But his pull was impossible to resist. She was paralyzed there with him and that terrified her.

“W-why’d you stay?”

“I saw my dad in the Ancestral Plane. Reminded me that I… I had been on the run from hard shit long enough, that I made mistakes and I needed to stay and fix them. Atone for them. So I vowed to stick around this time and do that.”

“And did you? Fix it?” Her voice was reduced to a whisper.

“Some of it. Some are proving harder but I got 5 or 6 weeks left.”

She wished Bast would send her some snappy retort, something to remind him that she hated him. However, there was nothing. No jabs, no anger, nothing she could offer. The old her, the one she buried beneath everything she was today, yearned for him as if he were oxygen for her to breathe. But she couldn’t, couldn’t let her out again, allow herself to be hurt like that again.

“What if t-that isn’t enough? What if t-there’s t-too much damage?”

He shrugged. “With enough work, anything can be fixed. And I ain’t ever let a challenge stop me.”

She let out a shaky breath as his face leaned in closer to hers. It was as if something transported her back to her teens. She was 16 again, sneaking through the caves of the falls with Erik, ready to fall into the roaring river that was him. And here she was, foolishly, teetering on that edge again. And the rope that kept her tethered to the edge, a decade of pain and anger, that was fraying at the middle with each passing moment in his presence.

However, she was thankful when both of their beads rang out loudly, a cannon that forced them away from each other.

Thank Bast, she thought to herself. She still answered some prayers.

“It’s T’Challa,” she mumbled. “W-We should go.”

Erik tried to mask the crestfallen look on his face before he nodded and followed her out. Every day he had to remind himself that movement and rebuilding was slow tedious work. And his road back into Naja’s good graces would a long one.

***

Naja tossed and turned, groaning slightly to herself. Sleep was more difficult in Wakanda than she thought it would be. She was used to holding late hours, whether for her shifts at the bar or for activities that required the cover of night before sleeping until noon. It also did not help how soft her bed was. She had long left the luxuries of Wakanda behind and now they were difficult to grow accustomed to again.

Her family was determined to use every moment of her time with them. A certain adorable prince demanded Naja’s attendance at breakfast before he went to school, which meant early mornings with the family. She spent most of the day with Nakia and the baby before sparring with Erik in the afternoon, an activity she hated to admit she looked forward to.

“You aren’t sleeping,” she mumbled to herself before sliding out of bed. She grabbed her long duster to provide some level of decency to her short sleeping shorts and tank top. She wished she had the company of man to help her at least feel tired but she did not. Besides, everytime she thought about it… there was only one man that came to mind and that was beyond out of the question.

She slid on her slippers and, because she was who she was, grabbed her gun from under her pillow and tucked it in the waistband of her shorts. What would she need it for? She did not know but she did not go anywhere at night without it.

She slipped out of her quarters, nodding at the two Dora who stood guard outside her wing. They did not follow her, thank Bast. But that had been the compromise.

She meandered through the halls, soft candles leading her around as she wandered. A soft wind blew through the open halls of the palace, leading her to the gardens. She walked through, savoring the beauty and quiet of the space. She settled in a patch that grew vibrant blue lilies she knew Nakia had planted as they grew along the falls. They were her personal favorites. She sat there and studied them, noting every shade of blue in each petal. They reminded her of a softer life, a softer time. She used to keep a bouquet of them by her bed when she was young.

She had no desire to go back there but she could not pretend that sometimes she didn't missed it. She missed the girl that could fall asleep on mattresses that felt like clouds and became gleeful at pretty flowers. Who sought out the beauty in every person, not the ulterior motives they had to harm her. That girl was dead and buried, rightfully so but she was missed.

As quickly as her reminiscing started, it ended as she felt a presence behind her. Instinctively, she jumped up and grabbed her gun, pointing it at Erik.

“Ain’t seen someone move that fast in a minute,” he offered, admiration in his voice despite the gun aimed between his eyes. “You a good shot?”

“Better than you I’m sure,” she mumbled. “They didn’t teach you at your assassin school about sneaking up on other assassins?”

“Wasn’t sneakin’. I said your name twice before you almost blew my head off.”

Naja blinked a few times in shock. “Oh, sorry, don’t know how I didn’t hear you.” She stowed her weapon back behind her back and shifted her weight awkwardly. “Couldn’t sleep either?”

“Nah… just don’t need it much anymore. One of the benefits of the herb. Lots of time to wander and think.”

Some nights, the restlessness in his spirit was simply unbearable so he just wandered. He often left the palace and went to his favorite spots in the country. But some nights like tonight, he just walked around the palace. Since he moved in, he imagined he had learned every nook and cranny. No one ever bothered him or even tried to stop him, though he knew every midnight stroll made its way back to T’Challa.

He had free range but he also knew T’Challa kept a close eye on him. He was not intrusive or overbearing so Erik chose to ignore it and let T’Challa do whatever he needed to do to feel secure about Erik’s residency there. And though T’Challa would never admit it, Erik also knew that his spying had an ulterior motive driven by a fear that T’Challa would wake up one day and Erik would have disappeared without warning or a goodbye.

That was not him anymore, he had learned his lesson years ago. Learned the irreversible pain abandoning people without thought or care for them did. And he vowed that he would never make such a callous choice again, especially since he would likely spend the rest of his life making up for the last time. If he could have, Bast knew he would go back and do so many things differently, make so many different choices. That was all the last 15 years had been: years and years to contemplate the terrible decisions he made in his youth.

“And opportunities to steal from the kitchens?” she gestured toward the wrapped up napkins in his hand.

“Another benefit or curse of the herb, dependin’ on how you look at it. Always hungry as fuck.”

She chuckled. “I can relate,” she admitted. “To the hungry part at least.”

Erik studied her for a minute before reaching his hand out, handing her the wrapped up food. She raised an eyebrow before taking it and opening it, revealing her favorite dessert, a Wakandan lime cake that she had not had in years but adored.

“Wanna share? It’s that recipe you always loved.”

She wanted to say no but she saw it for what it was: a peace offering. At least for them at this moment, even if it did not last till the sun rose in the morning.

She settled back in her spot, Erik sitting next to her, the cake perched on his knee as they each broke off pieces. She stifled a moan as the flavors hit her taste buds.

“Bast… I forgot how good that was. Thanks for sharing. I hope you didn’t poison it or something.”

“You hate me, not the other way around, remember?”

Yes, you do hate him. Remember?? A voice yelled in her head. But did she? Really? Cause everything she felt right now was far from hate. Complicated, yes? But hate was not complicated at all.

“Right. Wouldn’t be wise on your part to accept any cake from me then.” She grabbed another piece and popped it in her mouth before laying back in the soft grass. Her eyes studied the stars as they laid there in silence, Erik quietly handing her pieces of cake as he watched her.

“Can I ask you somethin’? You owe me at least that, eating all my damn cake.” Not that he minded.

“I’m nothing if not fair. What do you want to know?”

Erik wanted to know so much, he wanted to know everything that had happened to her in the last 15 years but he knew it was a slow build to gaining her trust again. Which meant he had to start with a soft ball, something simple and easy that would not ruffle any feathers.

“Been readin’ war dog files and most choose jobs and covers that… give them comfort. You chose a bartender in the poorest part of the country, why?”

Naja turned onto her side to look at him. This was the most relaxed Erik had seen her since he arrived and he loved it.

“T’Challa asked the same thing when I picked it,” she chuckled. “When I was assigned to Niganda as home base, I knew I needed to keep a low profile, I needed to be flexible and available for missions. And the poorest village in any country is the most overlooked. Knew no one would look twice. Perfect place to hide. And then I just grew to love it, the people… the heart of it. They don’t have much but everyone does everything they can for everyone. And I became a war dog to help people. If I was going to take lives, I figured I could help them too. And then it just became home.”

“You are so different now…” he mumbled as he stared at her.

She shrugged. “Had to be. Wasn’t going to survive any other way. Suppose I should thank you for that? If you hadn’t…” she did not want to say it. “Left, I wouldn’t be who I am today.”

“And is she better than who you were?” He asked, holding her gaze.

“She’s stronger. She won’t be broken ever again. She can’t be.”

Erik knew he should quit while he was ahead. They were dancing into dangerous territory that could undo the fragile peace they had created between them. But he could not stop himself. He hated that she thought such things about herself, hated that she thought so lowly of herself.

“What makes you think she wasn’t strong?”

“Because she…” Naja stopped herself. She did not think she could go down this road with him. He wanted vulnerability and she was not interested in giving it to him. He did not deserve it. “I believe you asked for one question… not eight follow ups,” she joked. “I should head back to my room.” She stood up and dusted off her clothes. “Thanks for the cake.”

Erik sighed. He figured he was taking it too far but he lost control when he was with her. Forgot about his obligations and all the things his brain knew he should not do. All he could think about was what his heart wanted and that was her, all of her.

“Let me walk you back.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t need an escort.”

“I know you don’t. Humor a nigga, damn. Were you always this stubborn?”

Naja snorted. “Another consequence of your actions,” she shrugged.

“Well your suite’s on the way to mine so we can walk in that direction together.”

“You don’t give up, do you?”

He closed the space between them, heat rising in Naja’s entire body as he stared down at her. “Nope. But I was always like that.”

She did not say anything, there was no response she could offer that did not betray her. If she stayed in his presence, under his smolder much longer, he would end up in her bed. She had far less self control than he gave her credit for.

She turned and walked back in the direction she came. They did not say much as they walked through the silent halls until they were back in front of her suite.

“Thanks for the cake and conversation. It was nice,” she admitted.

“How painful was that?” At her confused expression, Erik added. “To say somethin’ nice to me?”

Naja laughed loudly. Fuck, Eirk forgot how much he missed that sound. “Very. Don’t make me regret it. And say a word of it to anyone else and I’ll show you how good of a shot I am,” she warned.

“Fine if you do somethin’ for me? Next time you can’t sleep and want to go wanderin’, call me. I know all the best spots for us night owls.”

She studied him. Everything in her warred. Her heart demanded she say yes, the voice she listened to the least. Her brain simply demanded she remember everything he had done to her, how he had destroyed her. But her heart recognized his effort, recognized that he was trying to earn her trust back. And what did she gain by pretending it was not working to some degree? But doing so scared her. Her anger and rage toward him had been fuel to survive, she did not know who she was without it. But even that fear was not strong enough to make her say that simple word: no.

He had infiltrated every aspect of her being and there was only so much resistance she could put up.

“Fine. But this changes nothing between us. I just don’t enjoy wandering alone.” She did not even understand the point of adding that caveat. It was not true. The sum of two conversations had changed everything between them.

Erik was not even annoyed or angry at her words. He deserved 99% of the lashings she gave him. He was honestly surprised she even said yes. But he would not complain, the barrier softened with every passing day and he would take whatever he could get.

“I know. You still hate me. Understood. See you on the mat, Naja.”

“Night.”

Naja watched him walk off before closing the door to her room. She slumped against the door.

“Fuck me,” she muttered before climbing into bed.

However, she could not deny that Erik had a certain effect on her because she slept the rest of the night. Though her brain plagued her with dreams, or in her opinion nightmares, of him. Of her falling for him yet again. And each one ended the same way: with him leaving her heartbroken and alone.

She was only pulled out of her dreams at a knock at her door. She groaned, wondering who had lost all common sense and was bothering her. She rubbed her eyes, noticing the sun was high in the sky. She glanced at her clock, breakfast was in a short while which meant she did not need to scream at whatever poor soul stood on the other side of her door.

She slid on her robe and pulled open the door.

“Sister Naja? I have a delivery for you.” The woman held a vase of blue flame lilies in her arms. “There’s also a note.”

“Who are they from?” Naja asked, though she already knew the answer.

“They said you would know.” and with that, she handed her the vase and note and walked away. Naja sat on her bed, sliding the vase down on her bedside table before opening the note.

A girl once told me she liked to wake up to these every day because they were a reminder of the beauty in our world. One of the many lessons that girl taught me was that strength and beauty can co-exist. It took me too long to learn that lesson but when I did, it changed my life. I hope you haven’t forgotten it.

A tear slid down her cheek as she studied the flowers.

“I hate him so much,” she whispered to herself. But she knew the truth, the only thing she hated about Erik was how much she still loved him. And really, that was what she hated about herself more.

***

“Again!” Naja demanded as she jumped to her feet. She spun the spear around her in her hand before stabbing into the soft material of the mat.

Erik braced himself on his knees. “How the fuck you keep doin’ that shit? It’s like I ain’t even tryin’. This shit’s effortless for you.”

“I’m just that good,” she winked at him before sighing. “I think you need an incentive.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Because this isn’t working. It would be easier to teach a penguin to fly than this… and less painful.”

“So you got jokes? I’m gettin’ my ass beat... and you got jokes."

Naja closed the space between them. “You’re getting your ass beat because you aren’t trying. You’re pulling your punches and holding back because you don’t want to hurt me. I’m not a child playing on the grown-ups’ mat. Fight me as you would fight any man out there. But I know you. You’ve always had a competitive spirit so let’s make a bet. Best two out of three and whoever wins gets whatever they want. Once in a lifetime opportunity. You in?”

Erik’s ears immediately perked up. “You serious?”

“Yes. You need an incentive, so make your wager good. Something you’d fight to the death for.”

Erik saw a golden path laid out in front of him. This felt too good to be true. But she was completely and totally serious. She was offering him anything in this world. He knew she would fight equally hard to win but he had to try. Big risk, big reward was always his motto.

“If I win, let me take you out to dinner.”

Naja immediately shook her head. She clearly had not thought this plan through properly. Wandering through the palace and sparring together was one thing. She could be friendly with him again but she would not date him or intentionally foster the romantic feelings she felt for him. Never again.

“Absolutely not.”

“You said somethin’ I’d fight to death for and any good spy knows to be specific and you didn’t give any parameters. So that’s it. One dinner outside the palace with me. Besides… it’s gotta be somethin’ you’d fight equally hard to ensure I lost. Gotta make it a fair fight.”

He knew Naja was principled enough not to go back on her word. She wanted him to fight harder, this would certainly do it. But she hated that he kept trying, kept poking at her soft spots to make her fully cave for him. He was playing her like a fiddle and she was too weak to stop him.

However, a small piece of her demanded she resisted the pull to say yes and let Bast and fate decide what happened next.

“One dinner isn’t going to change anything between us. Pick something else.”

“No. I can be just as stubborn as you.”

“Pick. Something. Else.” She practically screamed at him, everything in her ignoring the electricity that sparked when they were they close. He woke up every cell in her body, charged her with energy and passion and lust. Everything she did not want to feel for him.

There was no space for Bast between them as they stood off. Despite their significant height difference, Naja did not cower. She stood tall before him even though she barely reached his chin.

“No. You can hate me, despise me. I don’t care. But I won’t stop tryin’, Naja. Even if all I can do is show you I’ve changed and that I regret what I did to you so you can hate me a little less. If that’s all I get, I can live with that. But I can't live knowing I didn't try so I’m gonna use every minute I got to show you. That’s a promise.”

Naja pulled herself to the fullest height she could. “It won’t work.”

“If you’re so sure it won’t work, then it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Naja sucked her teeth. There was no retort for that… at least not one that would get her out of this hellish situation. “Fine. Pick your weapon.”

Once they both had their chosen spears in hand, the training center filled with the loud clashing of vibranium. Naja fought with every ounce of intensity she could muster, landing Erik on his back with her spear gently poking his chest in a few short minutes.

“One for me. Feels like you played this little game all wrong. Instead of giving yourself an incentive, you just gave me a better one to beat your ass.”

Erik bared his teeth with a menacing smile, his golden grill glistening slightly in the light before he pushed himself to his feet. “I played the game exactly like I wanted to, baby girl. But I like it when you talk shit.”

Naja bristled at the pet name he used to call her. She imagined he pulled it out simply to touch a nerve but it sounded so effortless too. No one had called her that since him and it, like the flowers he gave her, woke something in her she thought was dead and gone.

What Naja did not know is that Erik had used the first round to his advantage. He used the time to study her, how she attacked, which weak spots she would go for first. So during the second round, he met her blow for blow, blocking every single one with such precision that she could not hide her shock and surprise.

“I knew you were holding out on me.”

“What half assed assassin school did you go to where they didn’t teach you the number 1 rule?” he asked as he slashed the blunt end of his spear against her back, causing her to fall to the ground.

It was the first time he grounded her but even in her shock, she rolled to her side and immediately bounced to her feet, ignoring the lack of air in her lungs.

Fuck, she was exhausted. And she knew then that she was screwed.

“And what’s… that?”

“No one’s your friend so you should never show all your tricks. And you’ve been showing me all of yours for weeks.”

And just as Naja lunged to take him down, Erik grabbed the end of her spear and yanked her against his chest. With a move she had never seen before, he twisted the weapon out of her grasp and her arm behind her back, forcing her to remain flush to his chest. For good measure and to prove he had won the round, he grabbed a knife he kept hidden in his vest and held it to her throat.

“Yield.”

Naja could feel every scar on his chest pressed against her bare skin as she fought him in only a sports bra and leggings. She could feel every muscle and ounce of strength against her.

“Screw you,” she spat angrily as she yanked her arm free and turned to face him.

“I forgot you were a sore loser. One to one. One more round, baby girl.”

“Call me that again and you’ll meet Bast a lot sooner than you want to.”

They both crouched down into their fighting stances and pounced. It was more than a dance this time, it was the performance of a lifetime for both of them. There was too much on the line… everything was on the line. Every trick, hidden skill, ruthless action they could use without killing the other, they did. They were fighting to win and they were two people who never lost.

Everytime each of them thought they had the other in their crosshairs, they found a way to weasel out of them. Naja was afraid of how sore she would be in the morning but she did not care. For all intents and purposes, she was fighting for her life on that mat. Losing her dignity to Erik Stevens again was not an option.

However, Erik knew one thing that Naja did not want to admit. His enhancements meant that he could last longer in a fight than any of his opponents, even if they were better fighters. He did not have to outfight Naja… he simply had to outlast her. And sure enough, as this round went on for nearly double the amount of time as the others, he could see her movements grow tired and slower. She usually moved with the precision and quickness of a machine. But she was not a machine, she was human and the human body had a limit. She was reaching hers.

Erik thought about dragging it out but he was a victor ready to claim his prize. While he was the type of monster who enjoyed playing with his food before he went in for the kill, he knew this win would be delicious without all that.

He waited until Naja lunged for him before he spun away from her and kicked the back of her knee. She groaned in pain as she toppled like a tree. Her usual move to return to her feet was too slow, giving Erik the chance to straddle her hips and pin her hands to the ground.

“Yield.” He demanded, his voice low and domineering.

She bucked against him a few times to get him off of her, frustrated at the heaviness that was him against her small frame. She was stuck beneath him and she had lost. They both knew it.

Her chest heaved and Erik found it difficult not to let his eyes fall to her full chest, the tops of her breasts on display for him. He had forgotten what it was like to have her beneath him. He knew he could never have her like this in the setting he wanted but he could reminisce.

“Say it or we ain’t movin’.”

“I yield,” she whispered through gritted teeth, Erik allowing her to sit up.

He held out his hand to help her to her feet but like the sore loser she was, she swatted it away and stood up on her own. She stomped over to her bag and wiped the dripping sweat off of her in a fit of rage. How did she lose?

Because you’re weak when it comes to him. Always have been and always will be.

She could not even look at him in her frustration at him and herself for this stupid position she put herself in. She supposed she just had not expected it to backfire so spectacularly.

“That was fun. You were right… just needed a good incentive.” He threw her a teasing smile, which her deadpan face did not return. “See you for our walk tonight. I’ll let you know about dinner, just make sure to wear somethin’ black and gold,” he winked at her before grabbing his stuff and leaving the training center.

As she watched him retreat, Naja paced in circles on the training mat before letting out a loud frustrated groan. For good measure, she pulled out all of the knives in her vest one by one and aimed them at the door Erik just walked out of. Each one hit the same square inch of the door with precision right where his head had been only seconds earlier.

“Should’ve been his fucking face,” she muttered to herself before grabbing her bag and stalking out of the center, her hands angrily ripping each knife out of the door before she left.

***

Erik could not help but check his beads and messages every five minutes. Tonight’s usual restlessness had turned to all-consuming anxiety as their usual meeting hour had passed without a call or message. He wondered if she was sulking as she had been all evening since their sparring match. She lost fair and square but he knew she would not be happy about it. But he had hoped she would come around by their late night walk.

He found that his few hours with Naja each day were the only things he looked forward to. There was still a coldness to her when they were around the entire family as if she was committed to the facade. But day by day, he got to see a bit of the old her until she realized and usually became cold again. However, he did not mind. He still had several weeks to fully peel back the curtain and he would take every minute he could.

Maybe she is sleep. She actually needs it, unlike you.

Erik only felt so bad about keeping her up at night. He knew her human non-enhanced body needed rest that his did not but he did not feel bad enough to cut their time together short. Deciding that he could not wait any longer and could just meet her in the gardens when and if she called, he decided to start his wandering journey without her.

He pulled on his shoes and stepped out of his room, nodding at the Dora assigned to him. She waited for a moment, knowing he hated the shadows he was forced to keep with him.

“Staying in the palace tonight,” he called over his shoulder, the woman’s shoulders easing a bit as she remained in her position. Even he had no interest in walking outside in one of Wakanda’s summer storms. He remembered those from when he was a kid, they were a force to be reckoned with.

The storm immediately made him think of Naja, who was notoriously afraid of thunder and lightning. He wondered if she was still was. Though he imagined there was little she was afraid of these days.

His silent musings were cut short when a soft whimper filled his ears. He whipped his head around, glancing up and down the hall of rooms, his enhanced hearing straining to pick up on the sound again.

When he heard it a second time, it was more pained, agonizing sadness that gripped his soul with incoherent mumblings he could not make sense of. But it was loud enough for him to know exactly who it was.

“Naja.”

His feet moved faster than light itself as he followed the pained sobs to her door. He did not think to knock or announce himself when he pushed inside to find her thrashing in her bed, her sheets tangled up in her limbs. Tears streamed down her face as she cried, he could see the small beads of tacky sweat that covered her.

With only mere feet between them, he could finally hear her words, her soft apologies to someone who was not there. Select phrases hit his ears and felt like someone had stabbed him in the heart, her proclamations that something was her fault, her pleas for forgiveness.

His eyes quickly scanned the papers and journals that were littered across her bed. Surveillance photos, maps, pictures of children, notes scribbled in her journal. None of it made sense to him without proper context but one thing he knew for certain: she was involved in far more than watching and observing.

He sat down on the corner of her bed and gently touched her face, his palm cupping her cheek. His thumb whisked away her tears. At his touch, her body slowly settled, though her tears and mumbling pleas did not.

“Come back to me, Naja,” he whispered. His other hand rubbed her bare arm, hoping his touch would break through the barriers in her mind. “Wake up for me.”

His instructions were low and his touch measured and gentle until he saw her eyes flutter open.

“N-N’Jadaka?” She croaked as she blinked her eyes several times, adjusting to the darkness of her room. A loud crack of thunder caused her to jump slightly, Erik moving closer to her to rub her bare arms. She was shaking like a leaf.

He was so concerned that he did not even get to revel in the fact that she used his real name for the fist time, the one she used to call him.

“Hey, you’re ok. You’re ok. I just heard you havin’ a nightmare.”

“J-just a nightmare… just a nightmare,” she muttered to herself as she forced her body into an upright position. Her eyes frantically surveyed her room as the realization that she was still in Wakanda hit her. Her eyes screwed shut, her arms wrapping around her knees as she repeated that refrain. “Just a nightmare.”

He was not sure what to make of the woman who sat in front of him now. She was such a juxtaposition to the hardened and cold spy who he had grown accustomed to since returning home. Since he saw her again, he felt like he was staring at her through a stained glass window. The other side peeked through ever so slightly but, for the most part, all he could see was the picture she wanted him to see and nothing more. But tonight? That stained glass window shattered and he could see her, the girl he fell madly in love with all those years ago. The girl who felt everything with her whole soul, loved so deeply for others, and lived in her vulnerability fully.

Erik decided to make himself useful by pouring her a glass of water from the pitcher on her coffee table. However, she pushed it away when he tried to hand it to her, Naja suddenly overwhelmed by the shame that he, of all people, saw her in such a state.

“I-I’m good,” she hastily wiped her tears.

Erik ignored her as he pushed the glass into her hand. It shook slightly so he wrapped his own hand around hers to ensure she did not spill it.

“Drink.” She could tell his word was a command and not a suggestion, though the stubborn part of her wanted to remind him that he was in no position to give her orders.

He watched her intently as she took long sips, the tension in her frame easing every time she swallowed.

“So you gonna tell me what that was about? And what all this is?”

“Missing kids in the capital… stolen by the King and his soldiers but no one knows where they are or why. Two girls were taken earlier this evening. Every day I’m here, more of them go missing, more lives ruined and there’s nothing I can do.”

“The dream?”

“I c-couldn’t sleep cause of the s-storm,” she gestured toward the window. “A-and finding out about the girls so I started pouring over my notes. Must’ve dozed off a-and… A-and I was back at my house there and I walked outside and… All their parents were outside, screaming a-and crying about how I couldn’t find them o-or save them. How no one cared about them. But I do… I c-care. I just… I pour over this mess every single night and I can’t…” she gestured at the mess on her bed. “I can’t figure it out. I can’t find them.”

“Why you puttin’ that on yourself?” His thumb wiped one of her tears.

“Because if I don’t… who will, Erik? I tried but I can’t… I can’t just watch and report. It’s not… it’s not me.”

He shook his head. “I ain’t an idiot like T. I know you ain’t built for that watch dog shit. I am asking, why is it only on you to find them?”

She crossed her legs, tugging the blanket around her bare arms. She was not cold but something about the vulnerability made her shiver, shake. It also did not help that thunder and lightning raged outside. She hated storms, ever since she was a child.

“Gotta find some way to earn some of my soul back,” she grimaced. She leaned back against the headboard. “I don’t regret it. I’d lead the same life over again if given the choice.” The conviction in her voice was resolute and unwavering. “Everything I’ve ever done was for our people and this country. But… It haunts me, all the suffering of this world that I ignored for years because it had nothing to do with the mission or serving Wakanda. These kids?” She picked up the stack of photos on the bed and handed them to him. “They aren’t Wakandan but does that mean their lives mean less? That they do not deserve our resources to find them? Save them? And if I can’t do it with all the resources and tech and everything we have that no one else on this planet does… what did I survive this long for then? I spent the better part of my life using those resources to take lives, I just want to spend whatever time I have left saving them.”

Erik bowed his head. He understood the feeling, the ways in which the complex lives they chose haunted them day in and day out. But he had to learn how to make peace with it all. And she did too.

“Naja… listen to me. Probably the last person you want advice from but I might be one of the only people ‘round here who get it. I killed a lot more people than you for a lot less righteous reasons. For revenge and to satisfy rage, not for country and all that shit. And I probably got more pleasure from it than you did. And that shit still haunts me too. I stayed here to save whatever pieces of my soul were left. I get it. But you… The girl I knew wanted to be a War Dog to help people and add to the world, not subtract from it. That girl ain’t dead. Maybe you just buried her beneath barriers to stop someone from ever hurtin’ you again. Because being a cold, unfeelin’ spy is less painful. Believe me, I tried that shit too. But our old selves always demand air eventually, Naja. And maybe this,” he took the photos out of her hand. “Is that air.”

Fuck, I hate him, she though to herself. One thing that never changed about Erik was he knew exactly what to say, exactly what she needed to be whole again. This moment reminded her of the first time she and Erik slept together. They did not do anything but it was still the night she realized how utterly and insanely in love with him she was. It was a night not unlike this one, a summer storm keeping her up to the wee hours of the night. She had called him, expecting him to keep her company till she dozed off. But instead, he commandeered a jeep and was outside her window 20 minutes later. She buried herself in his chest while he offered her soothing words and stories until she fell asleep.

He had always been her rock, her emotional constant when she was in pain. Part of her hated herself for still needing that from anyone, but particularly for craving it from him.

“That girl’s gone, Erik,” she muttered, trying to regain some semblance of control in that moment. She could not remember the last time she was vulnerable with someone and she was not particularly interested in doing it now. “Time and life killed her. This is me now.”

“If that girl was really gone, you would not be screamin’ yourself awake with nightmares over kids you don’t know. We can be as cold and unfeelin’ as we wanna be but who we were back then is still there. And there’s nothin’ wrong with that. I thought the girl you were was pretty dope anyway,” he pushed her braids behind her shoulder with a smile. “I know you ain’t gonna go back to sleep so explain it to me.”

She raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“You ain’t goin’ back to sleep with all that outside.” The wind and thunder seemed to pick up on cue as he spoke. At her surprised expression he shrugged. “I remember everything about you.”

Her voice hitched slightly as she studied him, she felt all of it. So much love and adoration in his eyes that clashed with everything he had once made her believe about herself. A voice in her mind cautioned her with loud echoing words.

He doesn’t love you, he doesn’t care for you. He never did.

But everything in the way he studied her, the way he touched her, the way he intimately remembered everything about her she desperately tried to forget signaled that he did. But she learned the hard way where trusting Erik got her: years of agony, pain, and guilt for choices his actions forced her to make that she did not know if she could ever forgive him for. She hated how he slowly chipped away at the villainous image she had created of him. It was easy to hate a villain, but whatever he was now? The duality of being both her villain and her savior? That was an emotional gray area that she had no interest in living in.

“I’m not worth remembering or sticking around for, remember?” She responded, her only defense to protect herself was to hit low. Though her words did not have the sharpness she intended. Instead they just sounded how she felt when she heard them: heartbroken.

And the blow landed but Erik did not let it deter him. She deserved to land a cheap shot or two, he deserved it. “I can’t undo the past. But you can let me atone for it by helpin’ you out now. If the Nigandans are plannin’ somethin’, I should know about it.” He decided to omit the real reason why he also needed to know what the Royal Family was orchestrating. That reality was a long ways off. “Besides, another pair of eyes might be exactly what you need. Let me help you, Naja.”

She did not want to say yes and give him more opportunities to get close to her. However, the lives of these children and families were more important than her pride, even she knew that.

“Fine. But this changes nothing between us,” she warned as she shifted the materials on her bed around so she could walk him through everything in order.

“I’d expect nothing less,” he remarked.

An hour passed by the time Naja finished reviewing all the materials and evidence with him.

“So? What do you think?”

He shook his head. “Defintiely somethin’s goin’ on. But to stop the peace talks or get Wakanda to intervene, you gotta have more than this. And that takes time.”

She sighed, rubbing her forehead. “I know, I know. I just don’t know how much time these kids have.”

Erik rubbed her knee, trails of fire and heat cascading up her body at his touch. She awkwardly shifted her leg out of the way to avoid his grasp. She refused to fall, not again.

“I’m gonna help you. T got me working the peace talks on my end now. Maybe with your undercover work and my spot in the negotiations, we can piece it all together. And maybe, if I help you bring these kids home, we can at least be friends?”

“Don’t hold your breath,” she muttered under her breath, which made Erik chuckle.

“I won’t.”

“But thank you. Seriously,” she squeezed his hand gently, a spark igniting between them before she tore it away. “Umm…I should try to go back to bed. Sorry for missing our meeting time tonight.”

“All good. Night, Naja.”

“Night, Erik.”

Naja watched him start to head to the door, more loud cracks of thunder echoing around her. Something in her just broke, cracked her wide open and the girl she once was demanded air, freedom. And the only air she wanted was him. She knew it was a bad idea. It was the dumbest idea she had ever had. But she was about to make it. The night had stripped her bare, left her scared and boneless. And she was tired of dealing with all of that alone.

“Erik!” She called after him as he opened her door. He stopped and turned to look at her, tears streaming down her face. “Stay.”

That one word knocked the wind out of him. “Don’t think that’s a good idea, Naja.” He forced the words out, even though it was painful to do so. He wanted to stay, desperately so. But he knew she would hate herself and him in the morning if he did.

“I don’t want… that,” she clarified, though that was a lie. She did want that, she wanted him to fuck her senseless so she forgot everything else. But she was strong enough to resist that. She was not strong enough to resist the part of her that just needed someone there. “I just… don’t want to be alone tonight. Please.”

That was all Erik needed to hear. He walked back over to her bed and slipped in beside her, his strong arms pulling her onto his chest. She curled up into his side and immediately relaxed, no longer jumping or tensing when loud thunder rolled through. They had done this countless times as teens and it felt just as easy and simple as it was back then.

Even Erik felt at peace, his usual restlessness gone as they slept soundly in each other’s arms.

When Naja woke up the next morning, she was shocked to find her body pressed against a hard chest. Before she could even open her eyes, the events of the night came back to her.

What the fuck did you do? A voice accused her.

She immediately extracted herself from Erik’s arms, causing him to shift and open his eyes.

Awkward silence stretched between them as they stared at each other. Naja did not know what to say. One bad night and she had invited him into her bed? How sad, how cliche, how fucking stupid could she be?

As if he could sense or see her internal downward spiral, Erik immediately climbed out of her bed and offered. “If you don’t want it to mean anythin’, then it doesn’t have to. Just a friend comforting a friend and I don’t plan on tellin’ anyone. We’re good, Naja.”

Except… it did mean something. She could lie and say it didn’t but it did. It meant something that he came to her rescue, that he stayed even though she gave him no real reason to show her any kindness. It all meant something to her. As much as she did not want it to, it did. That rope that held her from falling into the sea of him? Well, it was so close to giving out and there was no materials to reinforce it.

Last night was the safest she had felt in years… in the arms of the man she thought she hated most on this planet. Was she so prideful that she could reasonably ignore that? Erik said he wanted to prove that he changed… perhaps she should give him that chance. She was not betraying who she was now by doing so. She was honoring that some part of her, however small, still needed him in some way. And if 15 years of pretending that was not the case did not make the feeling go away, perhaps it was time to acknowledge that the feeling simply would never go away.

“Thank you. See you at breakfast,” she whispered as she hugged her robe around her body. She felt exposed and not just physically.

He nodded and started walking toward the door. However, before he could leave, she said, “For dinner… no where we went when we were together the first time.”

He paused and glanced back at her. Naja took a tentative step toward him.

“Every cell in my body is telling me not to do this. But… you said you’ve changed. So show me. But this is it… this dinner you fought for is it. The only chance you’ll get again to show me something different than the Erik who broke me. Don’t make me regret trusting you again.”

“You won’t. And that’s a promise I can keep. See you at breakfast.

Tag list: @miyuhpapayuh @pipsqueak-98 @injerafiend @themakingsofdion @lishabaybee @certifiedlesbianbaddie @prettyisasprettydoes1306 @dangerous-history @roguekiki @mysteryuz @shyblackgurl

***

A/N: Alright Naja is giving him a chance? Sort of? lol drop a comment and let me know what you thought and how you think their dinner is going to go! As always, thanks for reading!

#black writers #michael b jordan #michael b jordan x oc #mbjordanedit #michael b jordan x reader #black panther #michael b jordan fanfic #creed 3 #adonis creed #creed iii

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bellamer · 7 months ago

Text

I can’t see Storm as straight like she’s too pretty for a man.

Storm x Logan is fine, Storm x Kurt is meh because I see Kurt as a gay man, and Storm x Bishop and Storm x Forge is just meh too and don’t even bring up Storm x T’Challa because that felt like marvel said “Let’s push our two most popular nigga heroes together !” Then realized later it was a stupid idea and divorced them because I’m tired of people treating them like the epitome of black love and that he was a king who treated her like she was the most precious beautiful black queen in the world because they aren’t even together anymore.

Like I actually can’t see her with a man. I need her to be a lesbian. And from my albeit little research, every man she’s been with either can’t appreciate her or do her dirty in some way.

Fuck it I’m making another X Men OC to ship her with, it’ll be ready in four business days even though I’m currently riding the Storm x Rogue train

#x men #x men comics #marvel #storm xmen #ororo munroe #logan howlett #wolverine #kurt wagner #nightcrawler #bishop xmen #forge xmen #t’challa #black panther #rogue xmen

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muse-netuno · 10 months ago

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Hello tag <3

Olá tag, faz alguns anos, que eu não faço um desse, mas vamos lá.

Eu sou a Netuno, tenho 23 26 anos, jogo por Discord, tenho preferido jogar pelo Discord, mas sem problemas em jogar por aqui também, mas eu vivo esquecendo daqui hehe.

NÃO JOGO COM MENORES DE 18!!! (ainda tem?)

Tenho alguns muses no meu tumblr, mas adoro criar novos. Faço tanto homem quanto mulher.

Eu vou deixar abaixo do read more alguns plots que eu QUERO MUITO, mas se ainda quiser jogar e não gostar de nada daqui, é só me chamar no chat <3.

Em negrito minha preferencia, os que não tem nada é porque não há preferencia, e riscados os que já tenho partner, para mais informações é só chamar no chat!

01 — Pepper Potts x Tony Stark — Após a morte de Tony Stark nos eventos de Endgame, Pepper continuou a viver na cabana com Morgan, também voltando para seu emprego como CEO das industrias Stark. Porém depois de 8 anos, eventos estranhos acontecem e duas linhas do tempo se colidem, trazendo assim um Tony Stark que nunca morreu, porém perdeu sua Pepper, nos eventos de Homem de Ferro 3, agora os dois tem que descobrir como lidar com tudo que tem guardado esse tempo todo.

02 — Princess Margarita x Prince ? — Margarita é a filha mais nova da coroa Mexicana, por isso esteve longe de linha de sucessão do seu país e foi prometida em casamento ao príncipe da (País up to you), ambos sabem da condição desde seu 10º aniversário, onde se viram pela primeira vez, agora com 18 anos chegou a hora de oficializarem a união e ela é mandada para sua nova casa, meses antes da cerimonia para se acostumar.

03 — Draco Malfoy x Hermione Granger — Quando um feitiço da errado, Hermione e Draco são mandados para um lugar desconhecido, depois de alguns dias descobrem ser o futuro, apesar de estarem em 2020 continuaram com seus corpos de 20 anos e tem de descobrir juntos uma forma de voltar a sua época. 04 — Elfa OC x Rei Thranduil — O rei elfo achou que passaria seus dias até o fim sozinho, mas o destino tinha outros planos e colocou muse no caminho dele, apesar de resistir, ela consegue quebrar a armadura do coração dele, com o jeitinho atrapalhada e curiosa.

Ships que eu quero fazer.

Marvel:

Natasha x Bruce Banner Tony Stark x Steve Rogers Ororo x T’Challa Bucky x Oc Bucky x Steve

Harry Potter:

Draco Malfoy x Harry Potter Lucius Malfoy x OC Fred Weasley x OC GOT: Lannister x Stark Targaryen x qualquer casa

E outros, adoro mafia, enemy to lovers, friends to lovers, perda de memória, separação.

#1x1 br #1x1 rp #discord 1x1 #br rp #rp brasil #rp br 1x1 #rp br #rpg br #quais as tags?

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goddess-mixmi · 1 year ago

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Felt like indulging on some oc x cannon for my marvel oc.

She has quite a few romantic interests during the course of the marvel cinematic universe, one of which is Bucky Barnes. She met him when he was the Winter Soldier and after he was accused of killing king T’Chaka she convinced T’Challa to let them use the resources they have in Wakanda to help Bucky. And after that they became quite good friends during his stay in Wakanda. That led to Bucky growing small feelings for her from her kindness, but Imani on the other hand hadn’t been fully aware of it especially with her soon meeting Killmonger and afterwards causing a distance between them.

Despite her not knowing how he felt right away the two felt at ease in each other’s presence. There relationship progresses even more after the events of Endgame into The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, I just need to write more about it first.

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ronearoundblindly · 1 year ago

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The Stark Legacy (24)

Tony Stark's daughter (OC) x Bucky Barnes epic slowburn

Daybreak, part of Book III: Power (see previous or series)

Summary: An emergency hits Wakanda, leaving Bucky to race against the current threat. Tony lands in the aftermath, stunned.

Warnings for descriptions of painful Inhuman transformation/canon-level gore and action. Rated Teen/15+ ONLY, please. WC 3.2k A/N: eeee! We've reached one of my fave chapters 🤩 Hope you enjoy 😘

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR—March 2039

“The King of Atlantis and his sentries are still searching the seas for Doom, and our ground intel has garnered no further sightings,” T’Challa finished his portion of the brief in a mumble of disappointment. “I cannot ask Namor to continue to expend resources when weeks have left us no closer to capture or proof of death.”

Shuri nodded toward her brother. “At least the threat of a wide release of D-Lite seems to be handled for now. Romanoff has completed her trace of the tainted heroin from Marshall’s facility after it arrived in Hong Kong and will return to New York soon.”

Bucky remained seated, quiet and watchful. He and the white-haired Ororo were the only two that did not speak. T’Challa’s betrothed sat quietly, eyes turned away towards the windows. Ororo, Storm they called her, always became the most concerned when the weather was beautifully clear. Nature spoke to her, and when nature was quiet, she listened harder. Bucky was mostly distracted by her hair, a silkier, lighter version of T’Challa’s mother’s, and Ramonda had the loveliest hair. Sam Wilson nudged him to participate, but Bucky lifted a palm to indicate Wilson could proceed without him.

Falcon started the hologram, describing several mutated figures captured from across Northern Africa. “Unfortunately, these appear to be victims of the same drug Nat tracked down in China. A portion of the shipment must have been smuggled into a Mediterranean port before we were able to intercept. Less than half of those we’ve found took it voluntarily, but none of those can describe their attackers.”

The whole group sighed in exhaustion. While this was a lazy, mid-morning gathering, mission after mission fighting for a semblance of control across the world left them ragged. T’Challa scanned the information but asked nothing. That part was Bucky and Wilson’s assignment, and the King of Wakanda left it in their hands. Monsters, creatures, mutants, inhumans—whatever you wanted to call them needed to be captured, questioned, and distributed to the proper authority. Criminals to the police, victims to the proper hospital or therapy, and children and young adults to Xavier’s School.

Bucky was a soldier, neither a babysitter nor a therapist, but witnessing the confused, violent suffering of newly transformed people took its own special toll. When a Dosed woman screamed “Who could do this to someone?” with tears streaming down her face before her insides boiled out through every orifice, Bucky thought of Sam’s apparent “choice” to become something else. That woman died in transformation. When another Dosed man viciously slashed at him with thorny tentacles, growling about his right to be as powerful and deadly as he could manage, Bucky thought of Sam becoming an unrecognizable enemy. However, since that first meal after the team dropped Doom off the coast to supposedly drown, Wilson had conspicuously failed to mention either Samantha or Bucky’s new arm. Big Sam did seem to eye him knowingly whenever Bucky’s thoughts wandered to a new sensation or her condition. Bucky thought to say something aloud a few times, but what he wanted to say changed constantly, multiple times a day, for weeks. So while Falcon remained methodical and cool-headed, Bucky felt as though the unknown outcome of each mission was unravelling him like a single thread pulled from a parachute. At some point, his mind wouldn’t hold up his body anymore, and he’d crash.

”Stark is due back today,” Wilson added after a long pause. Bucky jolted from his reverie.

Shuri nodded again. “We have tracked his progress in the solar system, a few hours at most an—.”

Ororo snapped up from her chair. “Something is wrong.”

Dora Milaje burst into the room.

“My King, there is…we must go.”

Shuri furiously swiped through her tablet to view the alarm. “The border registers a sea level disturbance.”

T’Challa straightened. “I am not fleeing from an earthquake.” Storm grabbed his arm, eyes clouding as white as her hair briefly.

“It’s not an earthquake, brother,” Shuri stood this time, shuffling across the room, “it is a tsunami.” She said no more before bolting down the hallway.

Without pause, everyone seated rose and rushed out after her. T’Challa ordered transports sent to villages to remove civilians from the ground back to the highest buildings. Shuri sent evacuation instructions to crowded rural populations on higher ground, then divided any remaining areas to select guards and their Kimoyo beads. Falcon got his assigned location and jumped from the nearest balcony. Storm descended to assist the transports heading to the coast outside. The terrain of Wakanda flashed through Bucky’s mind as the orders were given, allowing a sickening thought to awaken: the annex lab sat in a gentle valley closer to the cost.

He spun Shuri around to face him. “What about Samantha?”

“There is no time, James. We must get as many civilians above it as possible.”

“She is a civilian.”

“The cryo tanks should survive the impact. We built them outside of the barrier for a reason, and you know that Barnes. You cannot go—”

Bucky was out the door before Shuri could finish; ‘should’ was not good enough. He took his bike from the platform and raced towards the secluded building where he’d first been stored decades ago when Steve hid him in Wakanda. He had been given the chance to reclaim his mind and his life; he could not let Sam die submerged in a tomb of his own making. He feared her changing, but he feared her death more.

His bike had never felt slower though he topped the speedometer as high as he dared. He could feel the heavy impact of his steps on the soft ground, the concrete floor, the suspended stairs, and finally on the clanking metal scaffold in front of Sam’s frozen, serene face. Bucky tapped the panel to the right of the container. It showed only her unchanging vitals and temperature control; he was not authorized to change it.

“Shuri,” he shrieked through the comms. She didn’t answer right away. “Shuri!”

“I’m sorry, Barnes. I’m not going to expose you both. Get to the highest lev—”

Bucky cut off his comm. He slammed his fists against the clear, solid wall between him and Sam. There must be a failsafe on impact, something, anything to trigger the door. It was only when he stopped beating the glass to pry the seal that he heard the small beeps.

The screen to the right had changed. It showed neon green text against a black screen, like an ancient computer: James Buchanan Barnes? Yes/No

He tapped Yes. Another question: Will you save Samantha Stark? Yes/No

He tapped Yes again. Almost before he hit the response, one more question popped up: Do you promise? Yes/No

What the hell? He tapped Yes, and the modern screen appeared again, flashing the start of the reversal sequence. The vapor and frost seemed to take an eternity to dissipate, and Bucky could see nothing outside of the fogged windows facing the valley. He willed the chamber to warm faster, but a thought sprang up in the back of his mind. If the sequence isn’t complete, or the whole process is rushed, what happens to her? His stomach churned. Time slowed to a crawl.

The fear left him when the glass slid away from a flesh-toned Sam. It had to; there was no time for fear. Bucky gracelessly heaved Sam over his shoulder and fled the building. When the rhythm of his run slowed, approaching the motorcycle, he noticed her moving. The excitement he felt died when he saw her face as she clawed her way out of his arms. Sam screamed, eyes fixed on the bike. What the hell?

“No,” Sam screamed over and over pulling away from him with every ounce of energy she could muster which was shockingly strong.

You idiot, Buck. Her accident. “Sam, I promise I’ll keep you safe. Stop, quit fighting—you have to get on.”

She didn’t relent. For a moment, Bucky thought of knocking her unconscious, but he couldn’t bring himself to swing. Then he saw her skin, orange and raging into a glowing yellow, like a twinkling star up close, but that wasn’t all. Whole areas over her body shone blue and flashed as if the yellow beneath were trying to escape. They still had to move. “Get on the damn bike!”

Dragged forward by his arms, Sam fell to her knees. She’d stopped screaming, now only taking huge rattling breaths, no longer loud enough to hide the rushing sound of water nearby.

If the wave is that close, Bucky thought, it’s too late, and the water slammed him back into the corner of the building.

The flash of the barrier nearly blinded him on reentry. Unable to reach anyone on comms, Tony jetted towards Wakanda pulling so many g’s, he nearly passed out and crash-landed outside the glistening dome. His body fatigued by Earth’s gravity, he kept the entire Iron Man suit on to prop up his weakened skeleton. The fog was thick, the ground covered in nearly two inches of water that rippled slowly as it slid back downhill. Bit odd for this terrain. He looked around. He had to use infrared sensors to perceive anything over two meters away. His scan showed rubble to his right, two prone bodies, and an warning that one more approached from behind him.

He squelched through the mud towards the bodies. Friendlies?

“You filthy, selfish surface dwellers,” a deep voice echoed from behind him. “My wave should have crushed you.”

Not friendly then, but familiar.

“Payment is required for your missteps, human.” This time the growl was personal, delivered with acid irritation, but no form or shadow could penetrate the mist.

Tony leaned down to the first body. Friday sensed a pulse, scanned, and found no other injuries. He rolled the mud-covered figure to face him, wiping hair away and out of the receding water. It was Sam, barely. From a video connection across space, nearly a year ago at Harvard, and a boozy-fog of a wedding reception, he had little reference for her features beneath the caked earth, yet his daughter was laying unconscious in a field with an enemy 15 meters away. He looked at her scan again: no indications of a healed fracture, or any injury at all. Had he been wrong? Worried these weeks for nothing?

“He took her because of you, Stark,” the voice shouted.

Tony spun, blasters ready, struggling to raise his heavy arms. There stood the King of Atlantis, shimmering in the low light of the mist, hardly dressed and dripping wet.

“What did you do?” Tony blurted. His interactions with Namor were more limited than those with Sam. Namor always struck him as an even more arrogant and fool-hardy version of himself, or perhaps just a younger version, except with zero humor. Add in the additional intensity of blood royalty, and King Waterworld embodied everything that irritated Tony.

A long, sharp trident lowered towards Iron Man’s neck. “What have I done? You and that cheeky princess have enabled terror and destruction upon my city. You killed my people.”

Tony touched a finger to the foreign sea metal to nudge it away from himself and Sam. “I literally just got here, so you’re gonna need to be more specific. Last I saw, you were helping zap a zit off that coast,” he pointed, taking the opportunity to stand and step away. Friday beeped that the second form was stirring.

The king’s nostrils flared. “A mutant dosed with my genetic code—the containment for which Princess was solely responsible—attacked my home. My betrothed was taken,” Namor seethed, gripping his weapon anxiously, “Tigershark, he called himself, and when he razed our palace, he claimed we could ‘thank Young Stark.’”

Tony’s mind went into overdrive, processing years of information told in pieces or briefs all at once: Namor’s DNA, ‘Young Stark,’ the glow he’d seen Sam inject into Bucky’s shoulder. Extremis samples in the Wakandan shipment stolen a year earlier, among samples of multiple mutants. Simon Marshall’s experiments to produced new mutants. Marshall taught at Harvard. Sam went to Harvard. ‘Young Stark.’ No trace of a healed break… Stall.

“Yes,” Tony stumbled before catching his stride, “our lifespans must be very comical down below. You look marvelous for being twice my age, by the way. You know, I diet, but—”

“Enough,” Namor bellowed then advanced. “Dorma,” the king whispered, “deserves justice.”

“And just out of pure curiosity,” Tony added, “what would satisfy your…justice? I’m not up on my Atlantean law—”

“You cheek, as the Princess up there does—” Tony kept his eyes fixated on the direction of the trident, now raised to the hill of the city—“It seems the guilty of the surface can do nothing but belittle the lives of my people. You,” Namor snapped at the newly risen figure behind the rubble. “They call you Captain. Are you the one who stopped my ocean’s advance? I doubt it, weak as you appear after a little splash.” The king smirked.

Tony shifted to see Barnes covered head to toe in thick, dripping muck. “You look like shit,” Tony stated flatly. On any other day, Tony would be thankful for that small victory. That irritatingly naive soldier never aged and still acted oblivious to having fangirls across the world ogling his blue eyes. Tony watched those blue eyes roll across the ground, slowly sweeping back when he saw Samantha’s body a few feet away. Today, Tony was simply thankful Namor had no clue Samantha Stark existed. Bucky met Tony’s gaze, a question silently conveyed and answered in an instant. Bless you for being sharper than you look, Terminator—wait, no arm. What do I call you now?

Bucky raised his hands slowly, stepping away from Sam. “You can deal with me.”

“You did nothing,” Namor advanced savagely. “What good does a lap dog do me?”

Tony jumped in to further distract the Sub-Mariner. “Actually, that one is definitely more of a cat. Very anti-social, gives everybody dirty looks. The original Cap, now he’s your golden retriever typ—”

“How then—” the tines of the trident laced around the iron throat “—do you propose to make amends?” Namor slid his hand up the shaft to tower over Tony, face to mask.

Inside the suit, Tony’s eyes shifted to Sam. She hadn’t moved yet. The helmet split open to reveal his own haggard face to the king. “I can bring her back to you,” he said honestly, “Dorma, was it? But for the record, I did not knowingly help anyone to attack you—”

“Stark,” Bucky mumbled in warning.

“I can offer you…myself, as a hostage and helper in finding this—this Tigershark.”

Namor regarded Tony thoroughly, sizing up his ability and his sincerity all in one raking with his pitch black eyes.

“I know what that feels like,” Tony quietly added, “to lose her.”

This seemed to refocus the King on his answer. “And Wakanda’s Princess will give me the tool to rip apart that murderer,” Namor said finally.

“We’ve got all sorts of tools,” Tony chirped, “take your pick.”

Namor twisted his trident to pinch the suit’s jaw and shoulder. “I require the Cosmic Cube.”

Except that one, Tony thought, holy shit, you are not getting an infinity stone. “That’s…not currently available for loan,” he started, though the trident twisted more, “but Cap here will take your request straight to top brass, yes?”

Tony could only assume Bucky nodded behind him when the scraping metal slid away from his own neck.

“There will be other consequences,” Namor allowed, “once Tigershark is killed and Dorma is safe.”

“Of course,” Tony said, “I’ve heard shark is delicious.” From the look returned to him, Tony knew he’d need to hold his tongue as best he could.

“Humans are disgusting,” Namor grunted, yet tossed his head to lead Tony away.

Stark sighed in relief for equipping that suit to be air-tight and pressurized when necessary. Tony checked his oxygen supply left from re-entry. The marker read 79%, so maybe he wouldn’t die…right away. The king grabbed the suit’s arm when Tony delayed, a grip as tight as a vice, and led them back towards the sea. Poetic justice if he snaps my arm, Tony mused. “I will not drown you,” Namor added, “as long as you are useful.”

Ah, there it is, the warm tingle of friendship. As Tony shut and sealed his helmet again, squelching through the mud, he hoped Barnes understood to protect his daughter in his absence.

Bucky was attempting to get an arm under Sam and enough traction under his feet to lift her when Wilson yelled from above that he was incoming.

“Sweet Barbecuing Betty,” Falcon sassed as he landed beside Bucky kneeling in the mud. “Look at the crisp on that wall.”

Bucky looked up to see some of the fog clearing. A black, charred streak defaced the entire side of the four story annex building. Towards the center of the mark were indentation with white ash peeling away in the damp.

Falcon continued, hands on hips, taking a few steadying, wet breaths. “When did Shuri create that bomb, you think? Wish she would have told you about it before you drove right into the line of fire. Your comm wash away?”

“How many did it get?” Bucky asked.

Falcon shrugged, lifting his goggles to rub his eyes. “No one past that hill at least. We’re checking the coast now.” He finally looked down towards Barnes before panic rose in his voice. “The hell— Is she breathing? Lil’ Sam, can you hear me?”

“She’s—” Bucky didn’t know how to describe it, but Wilson bent to check her regardless. Pulse fine, breathing slow and unhindered, but his hands and her face were too dirty for him to check her pupils. Instead he changed the subject. “What do you mean—what did you see?” Bucky planted a foot against a root in the ground to push him and Samantha upright.

“From up there,” Wilson rattled, eyes on Lil’Sam and using a palm to scrape excess muck off of her, “the water was a strange shape, like it pointed to the city, and then it just…exploded—evaporated really. Looked like a bomb went off. Turned the whole thing to fog and mist and rain… Man, it’s hard to breathe in this. Think she’s having trouble?” Falcon checked her for the third time, looking towards the building for the next safest step. The blackened facade distracted both men for a moment, specifically the bottom of the scorch mark that showed a perfect outline of a human bust. Wilson spun around, assessing the newly visible terrain. They were standing in a wide, shallow hole approximately ten meters across, spotted with sharp blades of sunlight. “You’re gonna tell me what the hell happened here, right?”

Bucky remained fixated on the Annex wall, unflinching. “As soon as I know,” he mumbled before meeting Falcon’s eyes. Bucky shifted Sam’s weight to keep the mud from slipping them apart. “We need to see Banner.”

[Chapter 25: Compound]

[Main Masterlist; Light Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

#the stark legacy #tony stark's daughter #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes x oc #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes angst #bucky barnes fluff #slow burn #slow build #epic tale #avengers fanfiction #tony stark fanfiction #marvel fanfiction #mcu fanfiction

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astoldbyaja · 4 months ago

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His Soul Ch.1 ~Wakanda Forever~

Black Female OC X Attuma

Ansara is M'Baku's young sister who becomes princess when her brother takes the Wakandan throne. Wanting to have more purpose, she becomes a Wakandan Ambassador hoping to help create a permanent alliance between Talokan and Wakanda despite her people's fear and hatred for the latter. Attuma meets Ansara and is immediately drawn to her and when she defends Talokanil's children over a misunderstanding, she has unknowingly sealed her fate.

Namor invites Ansara and a few other diplomats as guests to Talokan under the guise of discussing a permanent alliance, knowing Attuma has zero plans of letting Ansara leave. Namor decides to use this knowledge to his advantage to ensure Wakanda's undeniable alliance to him and his people.

MDNI, 18+, violence, heavy sexual content (i mean it's gonna be smutty)

Growing up, it was always M’Baku and I. He is the strongest of the Jabari, and I his only and younger sister Ansara, was labeled the most beautiful of Jabari women.

I think this was only due to my quiet and submissive nature as a young girl. During training rituals, M’Baku was always on top, throwing his opponent to the ground and barking in victory. He was very popular in his teens and young adult years. From the outside looking in, I was in his shadow, and I did not mind. It meant I was left alone to explore my own path without too many prying eyes of elders.

Sometimes they would try and an discuss and arranged marriage for me. Of course, M’Baku being the eldest and my only family, he was in charge of approving or denying a proposal which he always denied. I wanted to choose my own husband, and although I did not voice this to my brother, he knew what I wanted and respected it. He is a strong warrior and deserves the praise he has gotten. When he became the leader of our mountain tribe, I could not have been happier for his success. He kept T’Challa, the former Black Panther safe when he lost his title to the mad king Eric Killmonger.

But now, he took on a new challenge. King and not just of the mountains, but of all Wakanda. All of T’Chaka’s family was gone, except for princess Shuri who recently gave up her royal title as princess after the battle between Wakanda and Talokan. They were of the sea as we were of the land. I was staying in Wakanda as an ambassador between M’Baku and the late Queen Ramonda as we were discussing rejoining our tribe into Wakanda since the Jabari helped with Killmonger a past threat to Wakanda during King T’Challa’s reign, Hanuman rest his soul.

When news came that Nakia had rescued Princess Shuri from the clutches of the Talokan, M’Baku anticipated an attack in response and had sent me back to the mountains as a safety measure. But now everything was different. He was officially King, and the Jabari were now the top tribe out of the five. He had been in the process of speaking with King Namor of Talokan to discuss further plans to strengthen the alliance.

That is as much as I got from my brother when I saw him. I was now titled with Princess and that in itself was quite odd to me…

While my brother ruled, I decided to figure out my new path now as Princess of Wakanda. Most of my days were spent in the cities checking in on the different tribes, our medical staff, and our warriors and resources. I had recently discussed with my brother letting me be an ambassador for him when discussing furthering our alliance with Talokan, but he seemed to want me as far away from those people as he could get me.

That was alright for now, because now I was sitting in my room with Ayo behind me as a merchant showed me the different dresses that his wife had created for me. I mostly wore a wooden breast plate and grass skirt with a black fur around my shoulders. My hair was in long boho goddess braids and pulled back with beads at the bottom.

The dresses were beautiful and long with sashes around some. A lot of them were in different colors mainly of the four tribes and I just tilted my head and leaned back in my chair.

“I don’t see why the clothes I brought from the mountain cannot be worn here.” I replied looking up at Ayo who nodded in respect.

“The weather in the mountains is usually cold, princess. These dresses would help keep you cool in Wakanda and show your status.” she said. I crinkled my nose.

“Aahhh my status is Jabari maidan.” I replied. She nodded again.

“It was… and now you are the Princess of Wakanda, sister to King M’Baku.” she said. I scoffed.

“The men don’t have to wear different clothing.” I muttered.

“Because the men are warriors, you are not.” My brother’s voice cut through our conversation. Ayo immediately turned to my brother and saluted him the Wakandan way. My brother returned it and approached the chair I sat on admiring the dresses the merchant held up.

“The blue one is very pretty. You like blue.” he said looking down at me and I nodded.

“It is… but why can’t I wear what I’m wearing?” I asked. He grinned.

“You want to keep wearing that, fine. But when you are on diplomatic missions, I would hope you would wear something more fitting for the job.” he said. My eyes popped and I looked at him with a big smile.

“You are letting me be an ambassador again!” I replied standing up, and he held his hand up to quell my further excitement.

“I have decided that you will be allowed in meetings with me and my council when we have the Talokan here, so you know what I know. As of right now, King Namor comes here. Until our scientists finish the suits that can make it to Talokan and it is tested with success then we will discuss you doing more larger assignments.” he said. That was good enough for me. I bowed my head at him.

“Thank you, brother.” I replied, and he grinned and pat my head.

“Of course. What is on your agenda today?” he asked.

“I plan to go running, go to the beach and then go into town, see the people and soon make my way to visit the tribal elders and talk with them.” I replied. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ayo smiling at my words. M’Baku nodded.

“It is good you are taking the steps to get acclimated to the city. I am sure the elders would love to see you and appreciate the effort.” he said.

I nodded.

“Everyone is grieving the loss of their tribesmen and women, their homes and merchant shops as well as many of our beautiful buildings. They should not have to come to me. I am honored to go to them.” I said and looked at the merchant.

“I will take all the dresses. Your wife made them for me during a very stressful time in Wakanda, I am honored to wear them.” I replied. The man’s eyes popped, and he bowed.

“Thank you, princess. I am honored to have you wear them.” he said. I nodded and smiled looking at Ayo who bowed.

“I will help him put them away.” she said. I smiled in response, and as she got to work, I stood up and faced my brother.

“I do not want an escort.” I replied. He huffed.

“Too bad. You are a princess now and princesses get escorts.

I pouted some, but I knew my brother had made up his mind. Ever since our parents passed away, my brother has become even more protective of me.

“Fine.” I replied. He crossed his arms before nodding.

“Good. Now don’t go getting yourself into any trouble. There will also be a celebration tonight in our mess hall. All the elders and their family will be attending. It will be to celebrate Wakanda completely shutting down from the world again.” he said. I nodded.

M’Baku had made this ruling just recently due to the recent attack by Namor’s people. It was only temporary so that Wakanda could recover from the attack and work on our defenses and weaponry while we worked on solidifying our alliance with the fish people. The war dogs were instructed to continue their missions and only they were allowed back into Wakanda if they had been ordered to return by M’Baku himself. Until then, no one left or came into the city.

“Yes, my king.” I replied with a smile, and he gently hit my shoulder and we laughed before he left. Once my room was empty, I changed into white robes, and braided my braids into a long braid and pinned flowers down them before leaving the room. Two Dora’s were standing outside like statues.

Once I stepped between them, they saluted me, and I smiled and began to walk through the halls with them moving behind me in sync. Before I started my day, I had to go visit the former princess. Shuri may have given up her title, but she was still the head scientist of the kingdom and one of my closest friends.

The last I spoke with her; I had asked her to create for me gadgets to help me swim better under water. It would in time help with my journey to Talokan, if given the opportunity. I wanted to be ready. I moved into one of the elevators and it took me down into the ground, where our lab was. M’Baku didn’t go down often, but I tried to go down to see all the new inventions that were being created.

Once the elevator stopped and opened, I stepped out into a large room filled with holograms and computers, and scientists in white walking around with pads in their hands. Everyone began to salute me, and I returned it.

“Princess!” the melodic tone of Shuri rang through my head. I smiled and approached, and she saluted me before embracing me in a big hug.

“Shuri, I know that level of excitement in your voice. You’ve done something wonderful!” I replied, and she nodded quickly taking my hand.

“Come see!” she said pulling me into the lab. The two Doras with me remained back at my command. Shuri had become the black panther previously to get revenge on Namor for killing her mother. But she had a change of heart and decided to align herself with him instead to stop the fighting. In her alignment with Namor, she promised to keep Talokan’s existence along with its people a secret from the outside world. She told M’Baku this and he told me. No one would betray their secret and risk another attack.

She then gave up the herb and the title of the black panther to mourn her family peacefully. Then she gave up her title as princess and welcomed my brother and I into her home. She has been making many break throughs with her technology and seemed to be grieving healthily. The pain would never go away, that much I knew, but it would only get smaller.

“What have you done?” I asked as she moved me to a table of different items. One I was familiar with. She held up my kimoyo beads.

“First, your Kimoyo beads. I have updated them with the language translator so you can speak both active and dead languages. They can also transmit a locator beacon in case we ever lose you, because we both know how the king would react.” she said. I nodded and she slid them on to my wrist.

“He would start pillaging.” I teased. Next, she pointed to two black wrist cuffs and ankle cuffs.

“These cuffs will allow you to swim faster in the water. They also are laced with vibranium and can absorb damage and then expel it with stronger force.” My eyes popped as she held them up and began to move around the table so she could put them on me. I let her. They fit comfortably and I turned my wrist some admiring the markings carved into them.

“And they will go with all of your outfits so you can accessorize with them. Last is… the mask!” she said with even more excitement moving to grab a black mask off the table. I noticed it was carved to look like a cat. I arched a brow and Shuri caught my look and nodded.

“I know you all worship a different God, I just… subconsciously made a cat mask you know because of the Black Panther.” she said. I took note of the softness in her voice, and I nodded.

“It’s okay. What can the mask do.” I spoke. Her eyes yet again popped, and she smiled.

“You will be able to breathe and see under the water.” she said. Now my eyes brightened in happiness matching her expression well.

“Has it been tested?” I asked gently taking the mask and observing it. She shook her head.

“No. I figured you’d want to be the first to test it seeing as it would be on your face.” she announced. I nodded.

“True. Thank you, Shuri.” I replied, and she smiled and nodded.

“Of course. I am excited to see what you and your brother do for Wakanda.” she said warmly. I smiled at her words and gave her a warm hug.

“I will try these out once I finished my duties for the day and let you know the results.” I replied before waving at her and leaving the lab. The beach will have to be last as I wanted to see the people and tribal elders first. I wanted to make them my priority before the real fun started.

#wakanda forever #blackfemoc #blackfemaleoc #attuma #Attuma x Blackfemaleoc #Attumablackfemoc #namor #princess shuri #m'baku #nakia #smut #hostage

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ofdarkestdesires · 2 years ago

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The Canon Muse List of Of Darkest Desires and Darkest Desires Erotica

So many people have been asking about this...for years now. I specifically don't list the canon characters that I write for because that list is lengthy, and changes with the wind and my personal muse. However, since it is a new year, I suppose it's time we did a full canon character list for this blog. And, as an added note, I will also add at the end of each section notable OC muses that belong to these specific worlds.

Quick key before we get to the list, though: if a character is one of my favorites, they will be bolded and colored. If a character can be written genderswapped, they will be italicized. If a character is written non-canonically, they will be struck-through.

Avatar: Aang, Katara, Sokka, Prince Zuko, Toph Beifong, Suki, Jet, Azula, Mai, Ty-Lee, Princess Yue, Kyoshi, Korra, Mako, Bolin, Asami Sato, Kuvira

Bleach: Ichigo Kurosaki, Rukia Kuchiki, Orihime Inoue, Yasutora "Chad" Sado, Uryu Ishida, Tatsuki Arisawa, Yoruichi Shihoin, Kisuke Urahara, Kukaku Shiba, Sosuke Aizen, Rangiku Matsumoto, Toshiro Hitsugaya, Sui-Feng, Shunsui Kyoraku, Nanao Ise, Isane Kotetsu, Yachiru Retsu Unohana, Isshin Shiba-Kurosaki, Neliel tu Odelschwanck, Grimmjow Jaegerjacques, Tia Harribel, Francheska Mila Rose, Ulquiorra Cifer, Coyote Starrk, Lisa Yadomaru, Mashiro Kuna, Kensei Muguruma, Kirio Hikifune, Bambietta Basterbine, Meninas McAllon, Candice Catnipp // Ryuko Yorukitai

Critical Role: Vax'ildan, Vex'ahlia, Keyleth, Grog Strongjaw, Percy De Rolo, Pike Trickfoot, Scanlan Shorthalt, Allura Vysoren, Kima, Cassandra De Rolo, Delilah Briarwood, Sylas Briarwood, Caleb Widogast, Nott the (Thicc) Brave, Veth Brenatto, Jester Lavorre, Fjord Stone, Beauregard Lionette, Mollymauk Tealeaf, Kingsley Tealeaf, Yasha Nydoorin, Essek Theylyss, Reini, Queen Leylas Kryn, Imogen Temult, Laudna, Ashton Greymoore, Orym, Dorian Storm, Fearne Calloway // Scourge Maelstrom, Twilight Obsidia, Verdexis Sylvain

DC Comics: Bruce Wayne (Batman), Dick Greyson (Nightwing), Jason Todd (Red Hood), Barbara Gordon (Batgirl), Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Selina Kyle (Catwoman), Clark Kent (Superman), Lois Lane, Supergirl, Powergirl, Starfire, Blackfire, Rachel Roth (Raven), Princess Diana (Wonderwoman), Darkseid, Aquaman

Disney: Princess Jasmine, Genie, Jafar, Aladdin, Mulan, Esmeralda, Nani Pelekai, Moana, Maui, Queen Elsa, Pocahontas, Princess Ariel, Ursula, Merida, Princess Kida, Megara, Jessica Rabbit, Kim Possible, Shego, Pacifica Northwest, Dipper Pines, Mabel Pines, Wendy Corduroy, Eda Clawthorn, Lilith Clawthorn, Amity Blight, Luz Noceda, Willow, Hunter, Helen Parr, Violet Parr

Fairy Tail: Natsu Dragneel, Lucy Heartfilia, Gray Fullbuster, Erza Scarlet, Wendy Marvell, Mirajane Strauss, Lisanna Straus, Cana Alberona, Juvia Lockster, Gajeel Redfox, Laxus Dreyar, Ultear Milkovich, Jellal Fernades, Minerva Orland, Sting Eucliff, Rogue Cheney, Yukino Agria, Sorano "Angel" Agria, Erik "Cobra", Irene Belserion, Brandish // Nyx Sylvain

Final Fantasy: Tifa Lockhart, Cloud Strife, Aerith Gainsborough, Barret Wallace, Jessie Raspberry, Yuffie, Scarlet, Sephiroth

Harry Potter: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, Daphne Greengrass, Susan Bones, Hannah Abbot, Cho Chang, Parvati Patil, Padma Patil, Lavender Brown, Bellatrix Lestrange, Nymphadora Tonks, Fleur Delacour, Fred and George Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Voldemort // Romulus Antares Lestrange-Black

Marvel Comics: Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Spider-Gwen, Miles Morales, Black Cat (Felicia Hardy), Mary-Jane Watson, Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff), Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff), Iron Man (Tony Stark), Captain America (Steve Rogers), She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters), Wolverine (Logan), Wolverine (X-22), Kitty Pride, Thor, Loki, Jean Grey, Storm, Rogue, Wasp (Janet Van Dyne), Nebula, Black Panther (T’challa), Black Panther (Shuri), Captain Marvel

My Hero Academia: Izuku Midoriya, Katsuki Bakugou, Toshinori Yagi (All Might), Ochako Uraraka, Momo Yaoyorozu, Todoroki Shoto, Mina Ashido, Kirishima Ejirou, Tsuyu Asui, Toru Hagakure, Yu Takeyama (Mt Lady), Nemuri Kayama (Midnight), Rumi Usagiyama (Miruko), Mei Hatsume, Itsuka Kendo, Camie Utsushimi, Keigo Takama (Hawks), Nejire Hado, Himiko Toga, Dabi, Nomu // Tetsuga Bushido (Iron Midknight)

Naruto: Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, Kakashi Hatake, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, Kurenai Yuhi, Tenten Higurashi, Anko Mitarashi, Tsunade Senju, Gaara no Sabaku, Temari no Sabaku, Kankuro no Sabaku, Tayuya, Orochimaru, Mei Temuri, Raikage Ei, Samui, Mabui, Yugito Nii, Konan, Kushina Uzumaki

Nintendo: Princess Zelda (SS/TP/BotW), Link (BotW), Ganondorf (TP/BotW Rehydrated), Impa (SS/Warriors), Midna, Urbosa, Riju, Mipha, Sidon, Paya, Purah, Robbie, Princess Peach, Bowser, Bowsette, Princess Daisy, Pauline, Donkey Kong, Luigi, Samus Aran

One Piece: Nami, Nico Robin, Yamato, Boa Hancock, Luffy D. Monkey, Portgas D. Ace, Trafalgar Law, Roronoa Zoro

Pokemon: Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Misty, Lt. Surge, Sabrina, Lorelei, Bruno, Lance, Giovanni, Gold, Silver, Krystal, Whitney, Jasmine, Clair, Karen, Brenden, May, Roxanne, Brawley, Flannery, Winona, Tate, Liza, Maxie, Archie, Admin Shelly, Admin Courtney, Phoebe, Drake, Steven, Wallace, Lucy, Anabel, Lucas, Dawn, Cheryl, Gardinia, Fantina, Volkner, Commander Mars, Commander Jupiter, Lucian, Cynthia, Hilbert, Hilda, Rosa, Ashley (B/W Mom), Lenora, Cheren, Bianca, Roxie, Elesa (B2W2), Skyla, Brayden, N, Caitlyn, Grimsley, Shauntal, Marshall, Iris, Professor Kukui, Professor Burnet, Olivia, Guzma, Lusamine, Sonia, Leon, Bede, Marnie, Nessa, Kabu, Bea, Gordie, Melony, Raihan, Oleanna, Klara, Honey, Burgundy (Scar/Vi Mom), Cylene, Adaman, Irida, Arezu, Mai, Ingo, Palina, Gaeric, Lady Cogita, Nemona, Penny, Arvin, Dendra, Saguaro, Raifort, Brassius, Katy, Iono, Tulip, Grusha, Professor Sada, Professor Turo, Mela, Giacomo, Atticus, Eri

RWBY: Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao-Long, Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, Glynda Goodwitch, Professor Ozpin, Cardin Winchester, Coco Adel, Fox Alistair, Velvet Scarletina, Yatsuhashi Daichi, Roman Torchwick, Cinder Fall, Emerald Sustrai, Mercury Black, Neopolitan, Hei Xiong, Miltia Malachite, Melanie Malachite, May Zedong, Arslan Atlan, Sun Wukong, Adam Taurus, Qrow Branwen, Raven Branwen, Taiyang Xiao-Long, Summer Rose, James Ironwood, Salem, Oscar Pine, Kali Belladonna, Ghira Belladonna, Sienna Khan, Ilia Amiitola, Saphron Cotta-Arc, Terra Cotta-Arc, Winter Schnee, Willow Schnee, Harriett Bree, Elm Ederne // Stark Ryker/Fall, Fenris Silbern, Russet "Rusty" Vulcan, Hozukimaru Wukong, Cherrybomb Alistair, Baelfieyr Zirconia, Zephyr Zirconia-Nikos, Scarlet Zirconia-Nikos, Lupin Zirconia-Nikos, Bast Zirconia-Belladonna, Shrike Zirconia-Branwen, Kyrstal Zirconia-Schnee, Sirius Silbern, Orion Braith, Clay Taurus

Skyrim: Yngvelja Ashkeeper (Dragonborn), Serana Volkihar, Lydia, Aela the Huntress, Mjoll the Lioness, Maven Black-Briar, Astrid, Queen Elisif, Thalmor Ambassador Elenwen

Xenoblade: Shulk, Reyn, Fiora, Dunban, Sharla, Melia, Rex, Pyra, Mythra, Malos, Jin, Nia, Mòrag Ladair, Brighid, Vandham, Eunie, Mio // Gairic Dáraig

Other: Chel Dorado, Ember McClain, Desiree, Danny Phantom, Gwen Tennyson, Charmcaster, Ben Tennyson, Kevin Levin, Gwen (TDI), Courtney (TDI), Bridgette (TDI), Heather (TDI), Bulma Briefs, Android 18, Android 21, Bayonetta, Lara Croft, Daenerys Targaryen, Sansa Stark, Jon Snow, Melissandra, Sandor Clegane

#muse list

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theunsweetenedtruth · 9 months ago

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Yours (7)

Summary: The ending and beginning of new things.

Previous Part

Pairing: T'Challa x Nereyda (OC) Word Count: 3,130 words Warnings: Smut (we're back in love baby!), Breeding kink A/n: Originally written in 2018. Translations: Mka-Fuck, Sithandwa sam-my love, usage-baby, ndiyakuthanda- I love you

Of course the press knew who Nereyda was, who she was to T'Challa, could see the way he seemed unable to keep his eyes off of her. The day after the ball, the news was filled with both the news of the outreach center and speculation of T'Challa's relationship status. Lunch with Nereyda had to take place in the palace gardens, where he did his best to entice Nereyda into a nearby bedroom or closet. She resisted, but T'Challa didn't mind. As much as he wanted her—and he wanted her so bad he could taste her—T'Challa wanted her back next to him more. He had plans to make her his queen.

Unfortunately he hadn't accounted for rivals.

Nereyda must have made a bigger impression on M'Baku than T'Challa had been expecting. But how could she not have? She was beautiful, smart, sensual. Anyone could tell from just a look and M'Baku must have been enraptured by a dance. Even if it had been cut short by the king.

M'Baku did what he could to court her in the months after, using the same methods that T'Challa himself had used in the beginning of their relationship. He sent vegetables that could only grow in Jabari lands, expensive furs for her bed and her body, and uncut gemstones. When T'Challa arrived to her apartment to find that M'Baku had sent hand craved figurines, he felt a bit put out.

Nereyda did her best to reassure him that she wasn't entertaining M'Baku, that she'd set up a meeting with him to return the items, but T'Challa was more upset with himself. M'Baku was a consequence of his actions; had he not lost Nereyda, M'Baku would not have had the chance to try his hand. T'Challa tried not to let it affect him in the council meetings but everyone could tell he was bothered and the reasons for it.

The next week, the gifts stopped coming, or at least they did as far as T'Challa could see, and though the previous gifts stayed, he didn't mind as he snuggled up next to Nereyda wearing a fur blanket and nothing else.

He lay in bed thinking about the past year and a half and the strides they'd made in their relationship. They had taken things slowly, careful not to fall into old habits and repeat mistakes. T'Challa was adamant that it would fall into place and Nereyda would be his queen. He just had to work on her time now and be patient.

But patience had never been his strong suit. He understood they were essentially starting from scratch but Bast. They had moved at a glacial pace in the beginning. She had kept the apartment, a fact that annoyed T'Challa. He didn't just want her back in the palace, he wanted her in his bed, sharing his rooms. But again, he tempered himself and allowed her to take the lead. On the weekends, he would take a car to her apartment on the edge of the city to spend the night with her. No sex though. They would kiss, making out like teenagers and dry humping on her couch. T'Challa's head would be full of her, her taste, the softness of her skin and the breathy moans she would make. He would be hard, a king ready to soil his pants for this woman, before Nereyda would pull away.

"We should stop," she would say and he would swallow his groan of disappointment and just hold her, his dick poking her as he tried to will it away.

They lasted six months like that and when he finally could have her, T'Challa thought he would cry at how good it felt to lose himself in her again.

A hand ran through his hair. "You're thinking too loud my king."

T'Challa smiled. He grabbed at the hand and pressed a kiss to Nereyda's wrist. "I'm sorry to have woken you, my queen."

"I'm not queen." He could hear her gearing up for a fight.

It was a point of contention for them, the fact that Nereyda had no desire to be queen. The council still made jabs at her, though Ramonda had relinquished small duties to Nereyda to ease her and them into the idea. Nereyda wanted nothing to do with it the idea though. The most she would do is sit in on council meetings—in the seat reserved for the queen—and offer sound advice that made even the council tone it down. It was also T'Challa's heavy gaze on them that held their tongues.

T'Challa assumed that her aversion to being queen would calm at her inclusion to the council meetings six months ago but if anything, Nereyda had become more adamant that she didn't desire the position. It led to arguments that T'Challa tried to avoid but he felt like she was being a little unreasonable. If she was gonna be with him, be his wife the way he wanted, she would have to be queen. She was great at her duties and balancing them but when he brought it up, Nereyda went almost as far as sticking her fingers in her ears and screaming at the top of her lungs. He wouldn't force her though. He was willing to move as fast as she wanted

"It's okay. You're my queen. " He rolled over on her pressing a kiss to her lips.

She rolled her eyes at the corniness but he could see the darkening of her cheeks. He settled in between her legs and found her ready for him, as usual. T'Challa bit at her bottom lip before sliding his tongue into her mouth. It wasn't a fight for dominance; the bedroom was one area Nereyda had no problem with submission if T'Challa demanded it.

He trailed kissed down to her breasts, suckling a nipple into his mouth. She moaned and pulled at his curls tangled in her fingers. Her breasts had been so sensitive lately, he was careful not to hurt her. He lined himself up with her pushing in slow, slow, slow. There was no rush to things; T'Challa wanted to take his time with the woman he loved, the woman who loved him. And finally everyone knew it.

Nereyda was panting in his ear at his ministrations. The slow pace had her wetter than he'd thought possible and she was clawing at his back. The pinch of her little nails on his back only exacerbated his need to come. He wanted to hold on as long as possible, had the stamina to do so, and their fast coupling from a few hours ago had taken some of the edge off.

"Don't hold back," he whispered in her ear. "Let me hear you usana." T'Challa pulled her knees up around his hips for a deeper penetration. She let out a breathy moan and he pulled back to look into her face. Her eyes were scrunched tight. "That's it." The sound of his dick moving inside her was almost too much for him and he picked up the speed of his thrusts. He was forceful and deep and Nereyda was moaning louder, pulling him in with her feet. When she came, it was a tightening of her insides that made T'Challa groan out of the effort not to follow her over the edge but he kept going.

"You will be my queen no matter what you say," he panted out. Nereyda was mewling, her pussy sensitive. "Rule beside me. You will carry my heirs. Mka...mka. Look how you're gripping me. Like you want me to impregnate you." She shuddered and cried out. "Is that what you want? For me to get you pregnant? I'll have your ass waddling around this whole palace." The thought of her pregnant, carrying his son or daughter is what did it for him. "Mka, ndiyakuthanda!"

When he pulled out, he gathered into his arms to watch the sunlight stream through their bedroom windows.

Nereyda walked around the courtyard of the orphanage watching the fifty girls who lived there play together. This was her hard work come to fruition and she had done it mostly alone, as was her plan. Once T'Challa caught wind of her idea for a girls orphanage, he tried to step in and handle things on her behalf. But Nereyda was determined to prove that she could build a life separate to his. He was upset at first; he was used to taking care of her and this independence she kept wanting to exercise was a blow to his ego. Nereyda had to sit him down one evening and let him know that while she loved him, she also loved herself. She wouldn't put herself in a position to not be able to keep going if something were to happen between them again.

He understood then and Nereyda used tribal events she attended with him as opportunities for networking. It wasn't enough for her to have the backing of the temporary agency; if she could get the support of the tribes, she would be able to eliminate the middle men and get full access to girls who had no where else to go. Joining the council went a long way to build relationships with the tribal leaders, as much as she didn't want to do it.

Nereyda had aversions to joining the council. Why would she want to spend time with the people who blatantly disliked her and wished she would disappear? They were willing to have T'Challa and Nakia be miserable for the rest of their lives before they decided to help people that looked like them. But her being queen was very important to T'Challa, and as much as he threatened to replace them, having a council that stood behind them would make things easier for them. She'd had some help arriving at that conclusion.

Nereyda was in the office of the orphanage. She had only six girls that were being watched by a woman who she'd hired upon opening. She had to get her numbers up or else the agency would stop sending girls her way and they would be sent to the dora or the Dora Milaje. As much as it had worked out for her, she wanted girls like her to have more options.

A knock sounded at her office door. "Come in." She didn't look up from the bills she was reading. They were piling up.

"Excuse my interruption, but you should really have a Dora with you."

Nereyda's head snapped up at the voice and immediately stood. "Queen Mother," she curtsied, more out of habit than anything else.

Queen Ramonda waved her off, looking around the office, a thoughtful look on her face. Nereyda desperately wanted to know why she was here.

"You love my son, right?"

She knew the answer; Nereyda would not have allowed herself to be publicly ruined further if she didn't love T'Challa. "Yes. With my everything."

Queen Ramonda nodded and they stood there awkwardly. It was the most they had spoken since Nereyda had moved out of the palace and the first time they had been alone since the night of T'Challa's ascension.

Finally, Ramonda spoke. "I think we both know that if T'Challa has anything to do with it, you won't be going anywhere, ever." Her tone was dry.

"Does that bother you? That your son loves me?"

She smiled a little. "No. Not anymore. I see that you are more than your status. What you have built here," she gestured around the office, "is proof that you have goals beyond being a king's wife. That you would publicly endure ridicule and show how much you love him is enough for me."

Nereyda did her best to keep her features still but she wasn't impressed with Ramonda's speech. It was a nice thought but Nereyda would proceed with caution before trusting her. Her silence was speaking for her though because Ramonda gave a small smile and sat in the chair across from the desk.

"Perhaps with time I can earn your trust, along with my son's." She looked a bit sad before shaking it off. "In the meantime, let's see how I can help you."

It was Ramonda who advised her to work the council to benefit her. After all, it was what T'Challa and Nakia had done, allowing the council to think that they were succumbing to their influence when in actuality the duo were playing the elders. Nereyda needed to take on small responsibilities to show that she was there for the long haul. Which she undoubtedly was. But now it was time to show the council. Moving back into the palace had been an exercise in patience but seeing the look on T'Challa's face the day she had shown up with all her things had made it worth it.

He had been so patient with her and she had not made it easy for him. He believed Nereyda didn't want to be queen and it disappointed him because his royal status was a part of himself that he—nor she—could avoid. But he was only partially right; Nereyda didn't want people to think she only wanted to be with T'Challa to be queen. If she'd followed him, she would've been his wife and queen within weeks and no one would have taken her seriously. As much as she wanted to be his wife, Nereyda still felt that she had to prove herself to the people of Wakanda, that she was more than T'Challa's dora or an inspiration to all doras out there. She was a business woman, head of an orphanage for young girls, that with her hard work would remain a place of safety for them that she'd never had until she met T'Challa.

But now things would change. As she stared out the window, she pressed a hand to her stomach and thought back to this morning. Nereyda was surprised that T'Challa hadn't already picked up on the changes to her body, the tender breasts, the small pudge that wasn't there previously, but she figured he'd been distracted as of late, getting ready to open another outreach center. When they were together, they were making love or he was knocked out after barely kissing her goodnight.

The only people who knew were Ayo, who'd been assigned to as her personal guard once she'd moved back into the palace, and Shuri, who'd confirmed Nereyda's suspicions. They'd both been sworn to secrecy but there was no denying it.

Nereyda was pregnant.

She'd been terrified before having an ultrasound with Shuri but after seeing the product of her and T'Challa's love, Nereyda felt a sense of peace wash over her. T'Challa would be ecstatic, especially if his words from earlier were to be believed. Nereyda kicked her work into high gear at the orphanage, hiring three more women in addition to the two who had been with her from the beginning and training someone to act in her stead to sustain the home for girls in her absence. She felt like they had their suspicions but no one mentioned anything to her. Luckily, her only symptom seemed to be a deep exhaustion that could be explained with the amount of hours she'd been putting in at the orphanage.

She could barely wait to tell T'Challa and have him shout it from the mountain tops but she knew that if she told him immediately, there would be no stopping him. T'Challa would have her on lockdown, meals at a certain time, three or four guards following her around, bed rest. She had to handle the orphanage first and make sure it would be in good hands before she succumbed to T'Challa's nagging.

She couldn't wait much longer though. Her stomach was growing by the day and she couldn't fit into most of her tighter fitting dresses. She patted her stomach. "You want to be seen now so I gotta tell your baba before you expose me." She smiled at the small flutterings she could feel.

She looked back out the window to see T'Challa himself coming into the courtyard. Older girls saluted him while some of the little ones crowded around him. He stooped to their level, listening to their questions and answering. Mia, a four year old who was one of his favorite children whispered into his ear. T'Challa glanced up at Nereyda and she waved from her place in the window. He quickly separated himself from the girls to enter the building and Nereyda watched him until she couldn't see him anymore.

She heard him enter the room and turned to face him. Just like that first time in the market place, she was struck at how handsome he was. He was an imposing presence that still took her breath away. She couldn't believe Bast had blessed her to get to love this man.

T'Challa crossed the room, and cupped her cheeks. "Sithandwa sam, what is the matter?" Nereyda had begun crying without realizing. Blasted pregnancy hormones.

"I'm pregnant."

She hadn't meant to blurt it out to him but she was tired of keeping it from him. He stood in shock, slack jawed and confused. "You are pregnant?"

"Yes, seems as if my birth control is no match for the Black Panther." T'Challa smirked before gathering her into his arms. Nereyda pressed her face into the crook of neck, allowing his scent to wash over her and calm her.

"You're having my baby," he murmured. She nodded, squeezing him closer. He pulled back after a few moments. "I've been waiting for the right time to do this."

He dropped to one knee, pulling out a ring. The newly dried tears flowed again and she covered her face. "Nereyda, will—"

"No wait. I just need a moment." She looked around the room, analyzing the way her life had turned out, the man at her feet, the fact that she was carrying his baby. She couldn't believe that this was her life.

"You can not possibly say no when you will be having my son," T'Challa joked.

"No, I just want to remember this moment for a while. I want to remember my life in this moment and how happy I am right now." They were there for a while. "Okay I'm ready."

T'Challa looked deep into her eyes. "Nereyda, my adored one, will you do me the honor of marrying me?"

"Yes." He slipped the ring on her finger before standing and drawing her in for a long kiss.

She stood there in his arms, basking in his scent and his warmth. She was happy, T'Challa made her happy, and she wanted to spend the rest of her life just being his.

#unsweetimagine #black panther #t'challa x black!oc #t'challa fanfiction #t'challa imagine #t'challa x poc #t’challa x black reader #t’challa x black!reader

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saiilorstars · 2 years ago

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OC Valentines Challenge

‘Every good couple starts with a solid foundation than adds building blocks to make a strong home out of each other. In OC ships, you could even say these building blocks are ship tropes. Tell everyone what tropes you think your ship is made of!’

1. Aitana Serrano x Spencer Reid - Friends to lovers - Two characters go from a platonic relationship to a romantic one. 2. Emilia Hartley x Sonny Carisi - Fake relationship - Two characters start out faking a relationship for one reason or another and along the way, they fall in love for real. 3. Minerva Souza x 10th Doctor - Star-crossed Lovers - Two lovers doomed to be kept apart no matter how hard they struggle to be together. 4. Renata Cartwright x 11th Doctor - Forbidden Love - Two characters in a romantic relationship that is highly discouraged or strongly opposed by a third party, such as the public; either due to cultural, societal, political, or religious reasons. 5. Citlalli del Rio x T’Challa - Lovers in Denial - Two characters are just perfect for each other, but neither realizes it (or only one realizes it). However, everyone around them — such as their friends, family, and enemies — can see their obvious feelings for each other. 6. Maleny Rowan x Klaus Mikaelson - Eternal Love - Two characters maintain a romantic relationship over the course of eternity. 7. Belén Palayta x Barry Allen - Partners in Fighting Crime - Two characters who are each other's companions in whatever they seek to do, whether good or bad. 8. Montserrat Novak x Rafael Barba - Sunny and grumpy - Two people with opposite personalities meet, one a positive and upbeat person and the other a grumpy and pessimistic person, and learn to love each other 9. Seren Soul x Steve Rogers - Destined to be Together - Two characters who despite their individual (sometimes mutual) struggles always find themselves gravitating towards each other in the end. 10. Chloe Winters x Bucky Barnes - Impossible Love - Two characters who love each other romantically, but they cannot be together because of their external circumstances.

taglist: @ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @averyhotchner @abzidabzy @foxesandmagic @xovalliegirlxo @gloryekaterina @lenonizi @ochub

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ao3feed-sambucky · 1 year ago

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The Mimic

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/IkUubDX by lovely_person ᴛʜᴇ ᴍɪᴍɪᴄ | ❝ mankind has always feared what it doesn't understand ❞ 𝐎𝐑 𝐌𝐀𝐁𝐄𝐋 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐑𝐀 𝐗𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐑 was brought in at S.H.I.E.L.D half-dead when she was just 7 years old, along with her eleven-year-old brother. After the 10-day comma she was in, she experienced amnesia, as the doctors told her. The medical team had told her she would gain those lost fragments of memories back in no time, but her memories had faded and never returned-they never will. How ironic for a telepath. 𝐇𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑, she didn't let this inconvenience wear her down, so she set her sights on the present and not the past. 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍-𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑-𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐌𝐔𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐓 has spent her days in a facility ever since she arrived. It wasn't all bad; she would wake up, train, eat, 20 minutes of playtime, train, learn, eat, and then sleep. It was a constant cycle that would drive many crazy, but with Mabel, it allowed her to distract herself from the questions that blurred her mind. ( avengers x fem! oc ) ( The Avengers- CATWS ) ( book one ) Words: 1723, Chapters: 4/?, Language: English Fandoms: X-Men - All Media Types, X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men: First Class (Comics), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, The Gifted (Marvel TV 2017) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: F/M Characters: Thor (Marvel), Tony Stark, Wanda Maximoff, Pietro Maximoff, Steve Rogers, Loki (Marvel), Phil Coulson, SHIELD Agents & Staff, Bruce Banner, Betty Ross, Jean Grey, Charles Xavier, Erik Lehnsherr, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Sam Wilson (Marvel), James "Bucky" Barnes, Emma Frost, Logan (X-Men), Matt Murdock, Jessica Jones (Marvel), T’Challa, Wakandan Characters (Marvel), Original Female Character(s), Original Male Character(s) Relationships: Peter Parker/Original Female Character(s), Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes/Sam Wilson, Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier/Original Female Character(s), Avengers Team Members & X-Men Team Members (Marvel) Additional Tags: Angst, Brother-Sister Relationships, Daddy Issues, Mental Breakdown, Mutant Powers, Alternate Universe, Telekinesis, Telepathy, Phoenix Force - Freeform, Powerful MC, Dad Steve Rogers, Avengers are one big happy family, Avengers Family, Protective Avengers read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/IkUubDX

#Bucky #Captain America #Winter Soldier #Sam Wilson #James Barnes #Falcon #SamBucky #BuckySam #IFTTT #ao3feed

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starcrossedxwriter · 1 year ago

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Unbreakable Part 2 (Erik Killmonger x Black OC

Warnings: none, just some angst featuring your two favorite neighborhood assassins lol

She knew it was wrong but every night, Naja counted down the days until she could leave. However, with only one week behind her and seven more in front, she quickly found that practice more disheartening than helpful.

She had kept her word to T’Challa thus far, no outward complaints nor did she sequester herself from the family just because he was around. She actually found it fairly easy to simply pretend he was not there. At every meal and family gathering, she talked to everyone but him and he did not speak to her. They just orbited around each other like two planets forcing themselves not to collide.

Was it childish? Perhaps. But was it the best she could do? Yes. And T’Challa and Nakia seemed grateful for it even if it was a bit awkward for everyone.

She missed the days when Erik was kept securely out of sight and out of mind. He and the memories only resurfaced when she was here, which is why she avoided Wakanda. She knew it was foolish to avoid an entire country because of one man. But when you saw and felt that man in everything, his barking laugh in the wind, his youthful smile in the sunset, his passion in the roaring of the falls; and when the dull but still painful edges of heartache accompanied all those memories… It was difficult to find beauty in it. Erik was wrapped up in so much she loved about Wakanda. And when he left, everything felt tainted.

When she was not in these borders, she rarely thought of him at all. Her missions, those in need in Nigada, had always been better occupants of her time. Pretending to be someone else meant that she could lay Naja and her feelings about Erik and her life overall at the border until she returned. Of course, that meant that Naja herself had no time or energy to deal with the insecurities, heartaches, and trials life placed upon her. She just did not think of any of it. But she realized now, confronted every day with a pile of her unresolved feelings, that time did not diminish them. It only made it worse.

She did not think of love either, had yet to find a man worth her time for more than a single night. And she knew she never would. She rarely trusted anyone, occupational hazard, but she could never trust her heart with someone again. At least not in the way she did with him. She had no proof her heart even functioned like that anymore.

She could not stop herself from stealing glances at him every once in a while, studying the ways in which the time had changed him. And it had and not just physically. Like her, he was a different person. Though it seemed as if the teenager she knew and loved, one full of light and laughter was still in there somewhere, beneath everything else. Every once in a while, he would say or do something that reminded her of the old him and she would have to stop herself from smiling or laughing or reminiscing on the memories it would spark. And then she would remember their last conversation, remember what he truly thought of her and their time together, and that little flame died out immediately.

During the day, she spent most of her time with Nakia, only stepping away for the rest of the day to practice her training. It was her favorite stress reliever and helped clear her mind. After which, she would retreat to her room until dinner to pour over her notes once again, praying a clue or lead would jump out at her.

The couple that did were dead ends when she relayed them back to Dayo. But she kept trying. She supposed she was grateful that no child had gone missing since she left but she knew that by the time she returned, that would not be the case. Despite being in another country, she still felt responsible and that she needed to do her part to find them.

“Malika, calm down. We will find them, I promise.”

“I know, I know. I just wish I was there to help you.”

She could practically see Dayo shaking his head. “You are caring for your ill sister. That is hardly unimportant. You’ll be back in two months and we will bring all of them home. For the liberation of Niganda.”

“The liberation of Niganda,” she muttered back before ending the call. She bundled up her notebook and slid it back in her bag before heading down to breakfast.

She greeted the entire family, excluding Erik before sitting down next to TJ. He all but demanded his aunt sit next to him at every meal.

“So what do you have planned for the day, Naja?” Nakia asked as Naja filled her plate with food.

She could already tell she was putting on weight, even in a week. The hard lines of her muscles and body rounded out ever so slightly. She was not complaining though, she looked good.

She sat her glass down and shrugged. “It is the first day of training for the new year of War Dogs so T’Challa requested I spend some time in the training center, meet them, share my ‘more tamed’ experiences in the field.”

Shuri chuckled. “His attempts to lure you into staying are not even subtle anymore.”

Erik’s head jerked up, Naja choosing to ignore it. She could feel his eyes boring into hers as if he was waiting for her answer.

“Well, his attempts are in vain. I am more than happy to visit and see the other War Dogs but once the baby is here and you two are settled, I need to go home.”

She threw Erik a glance and watched as the tension seemed to leave his body but not his face. His face still looked angry for some reason that she could not place.

Shuri groaned, her face twisted up in disgust. “Hearing you refer to Niganda of all places as home is too much to handle.”

“I’m sorry,” Naja offered with a smile as she swiped a piece of fruit off her nephew’s plate, causing the young man to laugh and try to take something off hers. Before she knew it, they were in a play battle with their forks, her prince winning handsomely. “It is a shame my sister can’t join me on the training mat this time around. I miss our sparring sessions,” she winked at her.

Nakia smiled, patting her belly. “I know. But the closer we are to my due date, the less often T’Challa is ok with me even leaving our quarters. I think he’d have a heart attack if he saw me within 100 feet of the training center.”

Shuri shook her head. “He’s going crazy. He was always overprotective but he basically wants to wrap her in bubble wrap.”

“You know I love to rag on the king just like the next girl,” Naja teased. “But you can hardly blame him, missing most of the pregnancy and Prince T’Challa’s birth. It must weigh heavily on him. He has earned the right to bubblewrap you and I’m inclined to agree.”

Nakia scoffed. “I may have been out of the field for some years now but let’s not forget who taught you everything you know. I may not be able to beat you in combat anymore but I am still the older sister who protects you, not the other way around.

Naja offered her a soft smile. “My first and fiercest protector. I know. Just trying to return the favor,” she winked at her.

“I… um… gotta go meet T for meetings. I’ll catch up with y’all later,” Erik mumbled, getting up from the table awkwardly, leaving his breakfast half uneaten.

It was not odd to anyone in the room. Each of them often were the first to leave the table during meals, only able to sit in the same room with their emotions for so long. Naja merely read it as him not wanting to be around her, which she did not mind. It made avoiding him significantly easier if he was also avoiding her.

Naja watched as his back retreated before Shuri’s voice caught her ear.

“So you really aren’t ever going to tell me what really happened between you and N’Jadaka? Have you two really not seen or spoken since you were 17?”

Naja used her fork to stab a piece of fruit on her plate before popping it into her mouth.

“Nope. Not a single word. Neither of us even knew where the other was since he left Wakanda. I knew of his moniker, Killmonger, but other than that, nothing. I don’t even know if he survived the Blip.”

“He didn’t,” Shuri supplied. “So I guess it was more like 10 years for him. Still a long time.”

Naja felt a wave of sadness hit her. He was the sole person she tried to look for during that period. Even with the entire world in shambles, she called in every favor, poured over everything she could get her hands on to find out whether he survived. She never breathed a word of it to anyone, hating herself for even caring what happened to him. But she had never gotten an answer, his whereabouts and life a complete ghost with no discernable trail. So she convinced herself that he survived, that he was somewhere still happy without her. It was easier than thinking of him flaking away as dust in the wind.

Naja cleared her throat, a sorry attempt to lighten the conversation again. “Well, long time or not, you seem to know every other secret around here, Princess. Am I expected to believe no one has told you that one yet?”

Shuri shrugged. “What can I say? I am inquisitive. But I was so young when N’Jadaka left. I remember the engagement,” Naja stiffened uncomfortably. “And then he was gone. But even he doesn’t speak of what happened between the two of you. Why you decided to end things?”

The memories flooded Naja’s mind but she shook them off. She caught eyes with her sister, only holding them for a second before she glanced away. She could not take the pity that floated around in them, as if Nakia would always see her as the emotionally broken girl she found that night.

“Well, it seems as though you have the full story, Princess. He left and naturally, it only made sense to end the engagement.”

“Yes but that doesn’t ex-”

Naja stood up abruptly, unable to start her day rehashing how the love of her life abandoned her without a thought.. “My apologies, Princess. I really should be heading to the training. I can give you all the details on Erik and I another time. I shall see you both later.”

She knew it was wrong just to abandon the conversation like that but she had never even really discussed that night with anyone. It did not feel like breakfast conversation as if she were relaying her latest tryst with a one-night stand.

She hated being in her own head, her own thoughts and feelings. She wished she could be Malika again, a woman who thought of nothing beyond her job at a bar and liberating a country from a tyrant. Those were actionable steps, things she could actually do, problems she could fix, plans and thoughts that consumed every waking moment. Her job was her escape from everything else, from her life. She had been running from Naja and her mess for 15 years. And with the chains T’Challa had placed on her, the bitch was finally catching up.

Naja took a deep breath as she entered the training center beneath the palace. It was vast, home to both the Dora and War Dogs’ training programs. Her eyes twinkled as she took in the upgrades they had made since she was last there. It was advanced when she attended her first session. But now? The tech, the weapons available to them were truly a sight to see.

“Naja!” Eshe, the leader of the War Dog Initiative, waved her over. “Welcome home.”

They shared a salute as she gestured for Naja to follow her. She glanced over at the young women all practicing with spears. They were focused, moved as one body as if they shared one singular breath. It did not matter how often she saw the Dora train, they were mesmerizing every single time.

“Why did you not take the Dora route?” Eshe’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

“Oh…” she shrugged. “Wanted adventure, wanted to see the world outside our borders, and I wanted to do the thing that would be the hardest. That would challenge me the most.”

Eshe nodded as they walked to the War Dog portion of the center, the students sitting in neat rows waiting for their session to begin.

“Don��t let a Dora hear you say such a thing,” Esha warned, causing Naja to laugh.

“Our General would certainly have an opinion on that,” she admitted.

Eshe took her around to each of the new recruits, each one introducing themselves individually as they asked Naja questions. She was more than happy to share her experiences, or at least the ones that aligned with the War Dogs’ new purpose.

Watch and report, she kept having to remind herself as thrilling tales came to mind. She knew those would be far more interesting and entertaining but T’Challa wanted to keep that aspect of the initiative quiet for as long as he could. And that meant that, even within the program, most were not privy to what their fellow spies once did in the field. She was the old guard now, at the ripe age of 32. She had so much she wanted to tell them about the world and the trouble they would see. But then she would have to tell them to ignore it and she could not. Because she was not able to ignore it either, not anymore.

“Perhaps you would like to show them the type of combat skills they will learn during their training?” Eshe tilted her head toward the training mat.

Naja groaned. “Eshe…” It was not that she could not do it. But Naja did not enjoy being on display, having a group analyze every movement while she trained.

“Please? Who would like to volunteer to test out their skills with Naja?”

“Me!” N’Jadaka’s American accent filled the training center, Naja having to force her face to remain neutral.

This fucking bastard, she thought to herself.

“Oh Prince N’Jadaka! Bless Bast you were able to join us for our first day of training.” She glanced at Naja. “The prince is the Panther’s Tribe’s liaison with the WDI, all requests from the palace and briefs go through him and Princess Shuri for now. But soon they will transition to him fully.”

I am going to fuckin’ kill T’Challa.

“Is that right?” She offered through gritted teeth. “Well, I’d hate to harm a member of our royal family. I suspect I’d be thrown in Fort Hahn for such a crime.”

Erik grinned slyly. “I can handle it.”

But first, I’m going to kill him.

Eshe ushered them to the training floor. “No weapons. I want to show the recruits what you can do with just yourselves.”

They both nodded. She rolled her eyes as he stripped his shirt off, forcing her eyes not to follow the trails of scars across his chest and abdomen, all of them leading to a deep V that poked out of his joggers. She might despise him but she did not have to like him to recognize that he was still the most gorgeous man she had ever seen. She knew it was pure lust and nothing more but it made her uncomfortable. To feel anything toward him that was not indifference and dislike.

Everyone watched intently as the pair sunk down into their fighting stances. They circled each other, Naja sizing him up. Time outside of Wakanda had done much for his physique. His body was a brute weapon, carved over time and experience.

And she could practically smell his arrogance from across the room, the arrogance of a man who never lost a fight. Amusement danced in his eyes as he watched her studying him. Because she was not the strongest person in the room, Naja had to attack first and fast. She benefited from her short stature and lean body, years of dance lessons that she hated parlayed well into hand to hand combat.

She took a deep breath, clearing her mind of all else, even thoughts of the man in front of her, before she pounced. That was her strategy. Every person across from her in a fight was the same: her opponent. And her personal feelings, positive or otherwise, did not play a part.

Erik’s arrogance quickly faded as he took in the ferocity of her attacks, making him question his choice to get into the ring in the first place. He had been trying to find his in all week, a soft spot to just speak to her. But they were rarely in private and she did not even glance his way any time. After hearing her intentions to attend training, he convinced T’Challa that he also needed to be there. He thought, perhaps, if he let her use him as a punching bag at training, it would give them a chance to speak if nothing else. But now he wondered if he would even live to get the chance to speak with her. His lack of consistent training and refined skills showed. And the only thing that made him a match for her was the heart-shaped herb that coursed through his veins. Otherwise? She would have had him on his ass in no time.

Naja ignored the ache in her limbs as they both threw blow after blow. Moves and countermoves back and forth across the mat.

A hard push sent Naja tumbling to the ground, the young woman immediately able to catch her footing and bounce back to her feet. She chuckled as she approached him again, faking him out with a punch before delivering a swift but powerful kick to his abdomen, the man also falling down.

“I see someone got some Bast-ordained enhancements. It’s a shame we both know you would not win in a fight without them. Not so weak now, am I?”

Her chest heaved slightly, the young woman slightly out of breath but that did not deter her. She would win, her pride would not allow anything else.

He chose to ignore her last statement, his own voice from their last conversation ringing the shame bell loudly in his ears. Around her, it was deafening. “You know I can take you with or without ‘em.”

“You sure about that? Our King would’ve had me on my ass minutes ago. I guess all those blessed by Bast are not… created equal.”

He let out a vicious growl before pouncing again. Their skillful movements were more like a piece of art than combat, everyone mesmerized by their dance as they responded to each other as if they shared one mind. Everyone, including the Dora, stopped to watch them. One could have heard a pin drop in that room, only their grunts and the sounds of their blows filling the room.

Erik found it hard to keep up with her the longer they went. He did not even recognize her now, not really. On that mat, he saw everything T’Challa had warned him about. The woman he knew was still in there, he had seen glimpses when they were around the family. The soft, caring, and gentle girl he loved beyond reason. But the woman who battled him as if he were a sworn enemy? She was lethal, she was unforgiving, and she would not stop until he was on the ground begging for mercy.

And a moment of weakness on his part would give her her moment to shine and remind everyone why she was Wakanda’s fiercest warrior. His mind was not fully on the battle at hand as he examined her for the first time. Even in just a week, her body had started to fill out a bit compared to when she arrived. It looked good on her. She still had the same body shape as he remembered, her hips a bit fuller as she grew older. But she was still as beautiful as he remembered, perhaps even more so. In the heat of the battle, she had shed her tank top, fighting in only a matching sports bra and leggings set, that showed off her hourglass shape.

He could not help but study her smooth skin, it was flawless. Well, all except for one scar that caught his attention. He could only see half of it, part of it poking out of her leggings on her left side. He imagined it covered the entire length of her torso. In his curiosity and concern of how she got it, he gave her an opening for a punch and kick combination that knocked the wind out of him and sent him flailing to the floor.

One minute, his eyes were trying to memorize her form and the next, he was seeing stars against the ceiling. Naja straddled his hips, her forearm pressing into his neck with slight pressure.

Her long braids shielded both of their faces from the crowd as they laid on the mat for a moment. Both of their chests rose and fell quickly, their heavy labored breaths loud against the silence. His hands moved to her hips, anchoring her against him even as her arm partially crushed his windpipe.

It was the first time Naja had made eye contact with him, expecting to find nothing there for her. But instead, she saw a look of adoration, pride, and love. A look that sparked something in her that had been long buried, something that thawed the frigid ice surrounding her heart and soul, even if just a bit. It was warm and comforting, like hot tea when you’re sick, and her soul begged her to bask in it. She allowed herself to feel so little, it was a necessity for her survival. But her heart begged her to linger in this feeling, to remember how it felt to have someone look at her like he was right now. However, the moment was fleeting. Her brain could not stand it, quickly reminding her who he was, convincing her she and what she saw were wrong.

You don’t know him. You never really did, a bitter voice reminded her, the voice snapping her out of that trance and reminded her that she hated him.

“Yield,” she muttered, increasing the pressure on his neck. Her eyes remained on his, though the glare she usually had returned with a vengeance.

She only released him when she heard the three distinct pats against the mat and his voice call out, “Damn, aight. I yield.”

She removed her arm and sat up. Neither of them moved immediately, both of them paralyzed on the floor as they stared at each other, his grip tightening on her hips. It was not painful but it reminded Naja that he was there, his touch strong but still gentle in a way she remembered from their youth. Her brain immediately began to wander down dangerous pathways, ones that she knew would lead her nowhere good. That ironclad facade she held to so tightly? It was now splintering, hairline fractures stemming out like a web from one single blow.

She immediately shimmed out of his grasp, overwhelmed by how uncomfortable the last 2 minutes had made her.

It seems their moment was lost on everyone else as thunderous applause filled the center. She merely smiled and thanked Eshe as she quickly put her shirt back on. She made quick work of her goodbyes after vowing to return the next day for a lesson, desperate to put as much distance between her and Erik as quickly as possible.

What the fuck was that? She thought to herself as she rushed down the hall to return to her quarters.

She knew what that feeling was. It was not hatred, it was not lust, it was not indifference. It was something much worse… longing. It had felt so foreign and odd that it scared her. A feeling she had not felt in 15 years, a feeling she had sworn off with all other notions of love. But she had felt it, even if it was just a short burst for a mere moment. And she felt it for him. In that moment, she found herself wanting to give into that feeling. She longed for, not just him, but the things he once provided: love, comfort, safety. It was not until she was in his arms again, even in a fight, that she realized how desperately her soul had missed receiving those things from someone.

She shook her head quietly to herself. You can’t do it, that bitter voice screamed at her, drowning out every other positive feeling with a tsunami of rage and pain. You’d be the weak idiot everyone thought you were if you ever give into that again, ever let him or anyone else break you again. You don’t need him or anyone else, it reminded her. Love is nothing but heartache and misery.

It hurt but she knew that voice was right. That was how she survived this long.

“Naja! Yo! Wait up!”

She tried to keep walking and ignoring his voice but her short legs were no match for the heart-shaped herb. She reminded herself to ask T’Challa how his cousin even came to take the herb, a shocking turn of events she had not been expecting. She was not surprised, but fairly annoyed, to find him standing in front of her blocking her way moments later.

“Good fight. Where’d you learn all that shit?”

“Training.” She offered him nothing else before trying to turn and continue down the hallway.

“Hold up, hold up. Just give me 2 minutes, aight?” He asked.

As much as she wanted to deny him even that courtesy, she found herself wanting to hear what he had to say.

“One.”

She watched as he rolled his eyes and sucked his teeth for a brief moment before he recovered.

“I just… we ain’t talked since you got back and I wanna clear the air. Make sure we good? Since we both gonna be around for a while, we should be cool, at least. I’m sorry, you know… for what happened between us. It wasn’t my- ”

Naja shook her head, raising a hand to stop him. She should’ve followed her initial instinct because she could not listen to this. And then she felt it. Those fissures may have let in a bit of light, a positive feeling that she had suppressed for years. But it also let in the ache she had built the facade to keep out. She could not have one without the other so she decided long ago to feel neither.

“Stop. I do not want your apology nor do I need it. We both know you aren’t actually sorry.”

He scoffed. “How you know that? You don’t me.”

“The sad thing is I do know you. And you don’t say shit you don’t mean. So you might be sorry but it is to ease your own guilt and shame, not because you actually think you did something wrong. Because if you did,” she raised her voice as he tried to interrupt. “You would’ve found a way to apologize before 15 years passed. And don’t act as if you and T’Challa did not keep in contact during those years. It insults both of us. If you were truly sorry, all this time wouldn’t have passed before you decided to do something about it. This,” she gestured at him. “Is merely a sad and unnecessary attempt to assuage your own guilt so you don’t have to feel like the villain anymore.”

She closed the space between them and looked up at him. “And I do not care how many good deeds you perform in service of Wakanda. In our story,” she pointed between the two of them. “You’ll always be the villain. And I’m not required to forgive you simply because you’re tired of living with what you did.”

He bowed his head. He did not argue or fight back, even though his pride made him want to. Her words, her anger, were justified even all these years later and he knew this was his punishment for taking the coward’s way out back then.

“I broke your heart, I know that shit. And I fuckin’ hate myself for it. But if you just let me explain w-”

She let out a mirthless laugh. “You didn’t just…” she took a deep breath to steady herself. She hated how he still had this effect on her, how angry she still was after all this time. “You didn’t just break my heart, Erik. Y-You… took pleasure in toying with it before you crushed it. But hey,” she shrugged. “I get it. I made it easy for you. I’m weak, right? A pathetic liability that was forced on you? A hindrance to your goals and plans… Seems like you did well for yourself without the weight of a weak, unloveable thing like me holding you back.”

He flinched at the venom in her tone and the words she chose: weak, pathetic, unloveable. They were words designed to deliver the sharpest of blows. But they weren’t her words. They were his own, daggers he had thrown once because he knew they would cut the deepest. He had not meant them and he regretted them the moment they left his lips. And her reaction in that moment still haunted him. But there was no way for Naja to ever know that.

“The shit I said was inexcusable… I know that. But -”

“And yet here you stand… full of excuses. My life would be better served if I never had to see you again. But since our King does not see it fit to allow that, I will only say this one time to you. If all you can offer me is excuses for what you did, we need not speak again. You did what you did, you said what you said. We can coexist in this palace for my sister and T’Challa’s sake but I will sooner join our ancestors and Bast in the fucking Ancestral Plane before I ever forgive you for it.” She started to walk away but stopped turning back to him.. “Oh and don’t think I didn’t know what that little game was. Your shallow attempt to break the ice? Didn’t even make a dent.” She knew that part was not true but he did not need to know that. “Learn to live with your guilt as I’ve learned to live with the pain you caused. And perhaps, I can get through the next seven Bast-forsaken weeks without wanting to stab you as I do right now.”

This time, she was truly finished, turning away from him and walking down the hallway to the elevator that would take her back to the main portion of the palace.

However, as the doors slid open, his voice called out behind her.

“What did you do with it?”

She clenched her eyes shut. She knew exactly what he was talking about. She stepped into the elevator, holding the door so it would not close.

“The night before my first mission, I went to our spot on Warrior Falls and I threw it off. And I walked away from you and that life forever. Any more questions?” Hurt flashed across his face but he covered it quickly. At his silence, she nodded. “Good. Goodbye, Erik.”

***

“These are amazing, Shuri. Thank you.” Naja’s finger ran over the sharp blade of a set of four knives, her eyes drinking in all the new gadgets Shuri showed her.

When she saw the message to meet Shuri at her lab at 3 am, she knew she was in for a real treat. And the young scientist did not disappoint.

“Figured you'd like them. They’re yours to test in the field. Just… keep it to yourself.”

Naja’s face lit up with a sly smile.. “Ah so these are not standard issue for all us leashed war dogs?”

Shuri did not look up from her computer as she responded. “My brother is the only gullible idiot here who believes you are merely watching and reporting. If you’re gonna break the rules, which I wholly support, you should be safe while you do it.”.

She walked around and kissed the young woman on the forehead. “You know you’re my favorite one here, yes?”

“I’m everyone’s favorite,” she muttered nonchalantly.

Naja did not argue with her, she was not wrong. She gestured toward a few mannequins across the room. “May I?”

“Of course. It’ll be good to see them in the hands of someone actually skilled. I almost took my assistant’s eye out last week.”

At that, Shuri finally stopped working to watch Naja. She picked up two of them and twirled them in her hands, getting a feel for them and their weight for a moment. They were perfect as if Shuri had created them with her hands in mind.

With perfect precision, she hurled each one across the room at rapid fire, Shuri not even noticing her pick up the other ones before they were lodged directly in the heart of each mannequin.

“I see why Nakia said you prefer a knife,” Shuri muttered, letting out a low whistle.

Naja laughed. “Guns and knives both are highly effective. But knives are quicker, stealthier, quieter. And in interrogation, more intimidating than a gun could ever be. But it’s a poor marksman who pretends the tool matters at the end of the day. Regardless, I hit my mark every time.”

She plopped down in the seat across from Shuri, continuing to examine the less lethal tech the young woman offered her. Advanced listening devices, updated kimoyo beads, bullet proof clothing, computerized glasses for in the field. They sat in silence for the most part, Shuri only speaking up to offer directions or side notes on each device. However, most were merely upgrades of what Naja already had so she knew her way around most of it.

“I’m sorry for the other day,” Shuri offered, ending a particularly long stretch of silence. At Naja’s confused expression, she added. “For bugging you about you and N’Jadaka. We just haven’t had a minute alone for me to apologize. I shouldn’t have pushed. T’Challa says I’m too inquisitive sometimes.”

Naja waved her hand. “Long forgotten, Princess. Your inquisitiveness is why you are our greatest scientist. And my attitude toward him doesn’t necessarily dampen curiosity,” she admitted. “I thought just ignoring him would be easy but even his breathing vexes me,” she muttered.

“You two were in love?”

Naja bowed her head, her restless energy forcing her to walk over to pull the knives out of the foam statues across the room. Her mind recalled her friendship and relationship with Erik, one that took up all the formative years of her youth. She had not been able to stop thinking about him since the training center, her emotions far more complex and jumbled than the first time she saw him. At first, all she felt was rage at being blindsided. But being back here in such close proximity to him made her feel so much more, all the good and all the bad. But that voice in her head still yelled above them all. Anytime she lingered in the good memories for more than a moment, it reared its ugly head, reminding her that those moments were a fantasy and a lie.

Though she loathed talking about her feelings, about as much as she loathed acknowledging her feelings at all, she wondered if Shuri was the only person in the entire palace she could actually talk to without judgment. T’Challa and her sister would merely offer her pity and sympathy, which she did not want. Okoye would offer her nothing except a reminder to get over herself, which would not be unfair, but she also did not need. Her parents… well, that was a foolish notion to even consider. But Shuri, she was the only one who did not remember the broken Naja, the person she tried to erase from all their minds. And perhaps that meant, she was the only person Naja was safe to peel back the curtain with even just a little, the only person for whom vulnerability would not confirm Naja’s weakness.

“Well… I thought we were,” she admitted. “I mean we were 17 so love is an odd concept for that age, I suppose. But yea, for all I believed and still believe love to be, I thought we had it.” She spun one of the blades in her hand as she walked back to Shuri’s desk. “He did not agree. Rather foolish now that I think about it. Girl loves the boy and the boy does not love her back. Tale as old as time. Not even an original one, I’m afraid.”

“But you two were close before you dated?”

Naja chuckled. “Yea we were… I was the forgotten younger sibling. You know I adore my sister but when we were young… She was the eldest, heir to the River Tribe, and she had caught the eye of the future king. My parents knew, at worst, she would be on the tribal council one day and, at best, she would be Queen of Wakanda. Nakia was the Sun and I was Pluto or one of Jupiter’s moons floating in her solar system. Insignificant. She never made me feel that way but my parents took every opportunity to remind me that I wasn’t as talented or strong as she was, that I couldn’t do the things Nakia could. ‘A beauty to gaze upon,’ my father used to always say. ‘And nothing more.’” She sighed. “When Erik moved here, we were like 12. He was the only outsider and didn’t quite fit in so he was always running after T’Challa. I was always running after Nakia. One day we realized that we had more fun running after each other.”

Naja smiled, picking up one of the sonic guns Shuri showed her. She shot a few rounds into the target before turning back to her. “You know we used to sneak to the Falls and find caves? We did it for the last couple years. Became a competition on who could find the best ones with the best view of the sunset. I won in the end, I suppose. The last one I found, the night of our graduation, gave a perfect look at all of Bast’s glory.” Her eyes stared off into the distance for a moment as if she were back in that perfect moment. “But we’d just sit in those caves or by the river for hours and hours and listen to the falls and talk. About our parents, about the future. The adventures we wanted to have and the places we wanted to go. He’s the one that inspired me to be a War Dog, we were gonna join together after graduation. We even submitted the application together in our final year of school. He was the first person, outside of Nakia, to make me feel like I was worth something more. That I could do more than serve as Nakia’s right hand and marry the son of the merchant leader or whatever second-best option my parents had designed for me. And he proposed in that last cave I found… a month before training was to start.”

“That sounds beautiful. And then he just left?”

Naja nodded, the happy memory that was floating around her eyes immediately souring. “Yep. Three days later? He called me, ended things, and was on a plane out of Wakanda an hour later. No phone, no way to contact him, and a vow that he’d never come back.”

“And you never found out why?”

“Why he left?” She shook her head. “Nope. You’d have to ask him. Or T’Challa. I tried to press T’Challa for it but he would never say. And eventually, the reason stopped mattering. Our time together, the promises we made, they meant nothing to him. So I just decided it would be the great mystery of my life and another person to add to the list of people who believe I’m not good enough… worthy enough...”

“Is that why you prefer to be in Niganda as Malika?”

Naja laughed, her head tilting as her eyes found her reflection in the pristine metal of the blade in her hand. “Well there’s not much joy in being me. But Malika… she has a purpose, people need her… Wakanda needs her. She’s the best version of me. The only version of me that is worth being.” She stopped herself, realizing she was being far more vulnerable than she intended, more vulnerable than she had been in as many years. She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, my princess. I didn’t mean to drown on and on about my issues. You wanted to know what happened and that’s it. Not that interesting of a story. I should head to bed. They are inducing Nakia tomorrow, will be a long and exciting day for us all. You’ll be ok in here by yourself?”

“Of course. And yea, Ayo’s on shift tonight. But before you go, I don’t mean to speak out of turn and you can tell me to shut up if you want but I see the way N’Jadaka looks at you, Naja. And the way you look at him. That is not nothing.”

“I wish that were true. Then my memories would feel more like memories and not like fantasies I was too foolish to realize weren’t real.”

With that, she turned to leave. When she made it back to the palace, she returned to her room and slid into bed. She groaned loudly, frustrated at her emotions. They felt like an avalanche barreling down on her and she did not want it. She had let a weakness she thought was long buried show tonight, let her guard down when she should not have. A week and some change in his presence and she was already turning back into that pathetic girl again, so weak and emotional and soft. And all it had taken was one conversation and a couple stray looks down the dining room table.

You’re pathetic… were back then and still are. Some things never change.

But she had changed. She stared up at the ceiling, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. She tried to force him out of her mind, tried to feel rage… at least that felt good. But even that was hard to conjure up. She just felt lost.

She reached into her side table and pulled out her notebook and grabbed her phone.

She hit the callback button, waiting patiently until she heard Dayo’s voice on the phone.

“No new news yet, Malika.”

She nodded. “I know, I know. But I thought we could go over the evidence one more time? Figured you were just sitting in the back, tonight’s always a slow night anyway.”

She could almost hear his smile through the phone. “You really never rest, do you?”

Naja scoffed. “Not when there’s work to be done.”

Dayo’s deep laugh filled her ears before he nodded, going over the latest details with her again.

She took meticulous notes, every brain cell devoted to his words and this task. If she could not avoid the avalanche of feelings barreling toward herself, Naja could press pause on it to escape behind a wall that even Erik could not breach. Even if it could only last a few hours, she could retreat to Malika whose life was an entire lie but still somehow easier to deal with than her own.

***

Naja worked on her footwork as she moved across the mat alone. She was not surprised to find no one willing to practice with her when she took a break from sitting with Nakia to train. Labor was moving slowly and Nakia was asleep, which meant everyone could go off and do what they needed to do until she woke up again.

She had returned to the training center several times, sparring with the new War Dogs as practice. However, after accidentally injuring one of them, most were not willing to risk bodily harm to get on the mat with her. In her defense, the woman had asked her to push her but Naja did not realize she had pushed a bit too far. Thankfully, her injury was fixed within minutes. Now they all still enjoyed watching and taking pointers from Naja but no one volunteered to fight her.

She had been working for a while, only stopping to check her beads for an alert from T’Challa to return to their quarters. However, her concentration was quickly broken by Erik standing on the mat watching her.

She glanced down at her beads, figuring T’Challa had sent for her, though she did not appreciate the messenger. “Is it time?”

“Nah, no change. Docs said it could be a couple more hours.”

“Ok so why are you here?” She knew her tone was rude but she could not hope to care.

“Heard you scared all the puppies,” he remarked. His hands waved down at his workout clothes. “Figured you needed a sparring partner.”

All she could do was scoff. “I’m good. Besides, nothing I said in our last conversation should’ve given the impression I wanted to speak to you again.”

He chuckled, stepping onto the mat as he kicked off his shoes. “You ain’t gotta speak to me. You were right. Last time was a sorry ass attempt to break the ice. My bad. But that fight was the best training I’ve ever seen. So I figured if we train together, we both get what we want. You get to use me as a punching bag every day, which I figured would make you happy and I get more chances to break that ice between us. Worst case, I’m the only nigga who loses here.”

Naja eyed him, searching for an ulterior motive or some other plan she was missing. But she did not see anything. He did have a point, he was a far better opponent for her than any of the students and it would be nice to use his face as a punching bag. However, she knew it was dangerous waters. However, as much as every fiber in her being wanted to scream no, demand she stay the course of avoidance where he was concerned, she found herself doing the exact opposite.

“Fine. But just know, you’re gonna lose. I can use you as a punching bag but you can't break the ice if I don't talk to you.”

He merely smirked and sunk down into his fighting stance. “I think you forgot how much I like a challenge, baby girl.”

And at the sound of those two words, Naja realized that maintaining her hatred for him would be a far harder challenge for her than breaking the ice would be for him.

Simply put? She was fucked.

Tag list: @miyuhpapayuh @pipsqueak-98 @injerafiend @themakingsofdion @lishabaybee @certifiedlesbianbaddie @prettyisasprettydoes1306 @dangerous-history @roguekiki @mysteryuz

***

A/N: Ok so some of the tags aren't working (so sorry friends!) I'm gonna see if I can fix it asap cause that's so annoying! Alright so, I actually LOL'ed that everyone's comments on part 1 were just "well wtf did that nigga do??" hahaha y'all really wanted sis to like get her life together and that made me cackle. But I really wanted to focus on Naja this chapter and how she handles (or rather wholly avoids) her emotions, which is why she is still BIG mad 15 years later lol

So we got some insight this chapter, bits and pieces of the puzzle to answer the "wtf did this nigga do" question, but we have miles to go :)

Drop a comment and let me know what you thought! Thanks for reading!

#black writers #michael b jordan #michael b jordan x oc #mbjordanedit #michael b jordan x reader #black panther #michael b jordan fanfic #creed 3 #adonis creed #creed iii #erik killmonger #erik killmonger angst #erik kilmonger x reader

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