Okoye & Rhodes & Pepper
Okoye
The bookish American man is wandering where he does not belong, below the main parts of the palace, far from the hustle and bustle of the triage.
Okoye follows him silently at first, studying his movement and his direction. What mission has Captain Rogers given him? What is he searching for? She knows the Avengers operate autonomously, that that is the rift her King had found himself embroiled in year ago, at the start of his reign. They may have their own agenda here, one they have not shared. Perhaps he is looking for a way to fulfill it.
It becomes clear to her all too quickly that the man is very lost.
"If you are looking for a place to relieve yourself, you will have better luck upstairs."
She steps out of the shadows, arching an eyebrow when he spins around, wild-eyed and frantic.
"Geez!" His arms open, his posture defensive. It is clear to her she truly startled him, and she knows he is not faking his confusion.
"No — I just. I wanted to find some, you know. Space."
Okoye's expression is skeptical.
"I get claustrophobic."
That is a lie, or at least it is not the whole truth. But Okoye relents her fierce demeanor because she can determine a civilian when she sees one.
She doesn't wish for the isolation of Wakanda any longer; she is more used to the oddities of other cultures and the diplomacy and nuance required. These people -- the Avengers and all who come with them are familiar to her, similar in motivation to T'Challa.
In different circumstances, she imagines many in depth conversations, the need to satisfy curiosities. But now all she sees is her duty to Shuri and her country.
"Are you okay?"
She gives the man — Banner, she remembers — a surprised look.
"Obviously not," he backtracks. There is an odd energy about him. "But I mean...you know, physically. You haven't stopped since we got back up here."
"I will rest when my leader rests."
She's referring to Shuri, whom she cannot yet call Queen, but whose title as Princess is not quite accurate anymore.
"Figured as much," Banner mumbles. "But do you have, I don't know, an apple or something?"
Okoye doesn't understand why he appears so keen.
"Dr. Banner —"
"I'm sorry," he interrupts. "When you're around a bunch of people who just don't take care of themselves, you tend to start mother-henning. I'm sure you don't need to hear it from me."
He sounds frustrated and self-deprecating.
"And what about you?" She asks. "Have you taken care of yourself?"
"Well, despite tripping on my face, that suit really keeps you well-protected. I'm all right."
"Should I leave you alone to recover?" She asks. Her face is steady when he gives her a bewildered look. She's surprised him this time, she knows. But she can tell that he had come away from the work upstairs to seek something. She simply does not know what.
"There are healing spaces," she tells him. "Beyond the medical facilities and the lab you've become accustomed to upstairs. If you need something..."
"And what if I don't know what I need right now?" He asks, stepping up to her. There is almost a threat in his demeanor, though he does not wear such an attitude well. "What if I can't possibly know -- what if it's dangerous for me to even try?"
He appears very calm, but Okoye senses he is frayed.
"Your other self did not appear on the battlefield, Dr. Banner. In controlled circumstances—"
"I don't think you get exactly how uncontrolled the Hulk is."
"Are you not curious as to why you cannot summon him?"
She looks at him pointedly, knowing she does not need to explain her understanding of his problem. Everyone in the world does indeed know who Bruce Banner was. An Avenger. The Hulk. Gone missing, presumed dead. Celebrated and honored. The fact that the great green monster did not come out on the battlefield, leaving the otherwise unassuming man inside of a Stark suit to fight had been obvious to her and to many others.
Banner backs away and shuffles a little, clearly agitated.
"Of course I'm curious," he says eventually. "But running tests right now is, frankly, low priority, don't you think?"
"Perhaps," she agrees. "But perhaps it isn't tests you need."
Banner looks at her and she recognizes the same look she sees in Shuri every now and then. That of a scientist, weighing their options.
"These...healing spaces."
She gives him a curt nod.
"Not exactly an apple."
"Were you hungry?"
"Not even a little."
If nothing else, she's stopped the man's wandering. Okoye is taking wins where she can find them.
Rhodes
Rhodes can't stand the look on Pepper's face, but he guesses that his reflects the same. If he's worried, terrified, close to tears...it only makes sense so is she.
He's really glad Thor brought her here. They've had the chance now to grieve Happy's loss, and so many others. To begin to digest the devastation around them. He's a soldier enough to know to keep it together and she -- she's stronger than anyone he knows.
They're in a laboratory right now and weirdly enough, even though he's not exactly a scientist, he feels more comfortable in here than anywhere else he's seen in Wakanda.
Jesus, this place. One of these days he really needs to have a sit down chat with one of the locals.
But maybe it's the tech. He's savvy enough to see that it's even more advanced than Tony's lab, though not by too much (or maybe he's just biased and loyal, so sue him). But knowing Tony as long as he has, standing by his best friend's side for so long, these kind of spaces felt like home.
He hopes it's the same for Pepper.
"I can't believe this place," she says softly, looking around as various Wakandans put to use all the equipment.
"I know, right?" He says lightly. “Crazy advanced."
He doesn't add what almost comes to his tongue, that Tony would love it, would break things and poke things. That he suspects he'd respect Shuri.
He doesn't want to bring him up.
Of course, he doesn't always get what he wants.
"Rhodey, Pepper?"
Steve Rogers has come up to them. He and Natasha had disappeared a while ago, but Rhodes hadn't minded. After fieldwork, he'd needed to get checked out himself and then Pepper had arrived.
"Steve. Hi."
Pepper sounds both tentative and hopeful and she pauses only briefly before she steps toward Captain America, pulling him in for an embrace. Steve's guarded expression softens and he glances briefly at Rhodes before pulling back.
"Hey," he says. "I'm glad you're here."
"It's a good look," she tells him, gesturing to his beard. Rhodes smirks slightly when Steve looks embarrassed.
"Thanks," he says awkwardly. "I, uh, wanted to talk to you both."
"What's up, Cap?"
Rhodes doesn't feel any animosity toward Captain America. His feelings about the Accords are mixed and neither he nor Tony had ever agreed with the government's decision to brand the man a fugitive. But they'd been on technically opposing sides for a while now. It was good not to be.
"It's about...Tony," he says immediately. Pepper beats him to responding.
"We were on a call," she tells him clearly. Her level of professionalism never ceases to amaze him and he's worried she might crash because of it. "After that ship attacked New York, I called him. He told me he was on the ship, but we got disconnected. About a second later, FRIDAY lost his signal too, but his vitals were good, and I had her run likely trajectories, just to get an idea..."
Steve looks relieved.
"You're amazing, Pepper," he tells her, shifting his weight slightly. "Look, with everything going on, everyone's pretty focused on the here and now. But I want to bring Tony home."
Rhodes doesn't want to be this guy, but he thinks maybe he has to be. He's only ever seen this side of Steve once before and that had ended in a pretty bad way.
"You sure that's something we can even do?"
He avoids Pepper's gaze, steadily watching Steve instead.
"I don't know. But you've seen the technology in this place. Plus we've got Thor now."
"But if we don't even know where to start looking—"
"He's not mad at you, Steve."
Pepper interrupts him just as Steve was starting to look more like he was itching for a debate. The man almost immediately deflates at her words — which is saying something, considering the bulk he's put on.
"I just want to make it right," he says solemnly. "We need him here."
"I agree," Pepper replies briskly. "But if anyone's going to get Tony back to Earth, it's going to be Tony."
She's not wrong, and that woman has been through hell and back with Stark.
"Focus on what we know," she suggests, reaching a hand out to Steve, guiding him to take a seat. He does, looking like he just lost a fight. Rhodes doesn't know what's going through his head.
"We know Tony and a man called Stephen Strange were on that ship," Steve says slowly. "Strange had one of the stones, so my best guess is Tony got caught up trying to extract him." He pauses thoughtfully. "Bruce thinks that Spider-man might have been with them, too."
“What?" Rhodes looks quickly over to Pepper, whose alarm matches his.
"Oh, God," she says, reaching a hand up to the tech in her ear. "FRIDAY, call May."
Steve looks questioningly at Rhodes while Pepper makes her call.
"Spider-man's just a kid," he tells him. “Teenager. Peter Parker, from Queens. Lives with his aunt. Tony's been..." He shrugs. "Let's just say Tony's taken an interest. But I'm telling you, there's no way he would have let him come willingly. Not with how protective he's got lately. Hopefully Pepper can confirm that."
The look on her face when she finishes the call doesn't, and Rhodes finds himself wishing for a break. Anywhere.
"May's alive," Pepper tells them. "She says Peter never came home from a field trip yesterday."
"Which means he never left the fight," Steve concludes. "And probably joined Tony on the ship."
Which is better news, Rhodes supposes, then May telling them that Peter was one of the ones who disappeared.
"Tony deployed a new suit," Pepper nods. "Meant for Peter."
"At Tony's side is a safe place to be," Steve says. Rhodes thinks he's taking it far, this guilt of his. Considering.
"Thanos has all the stones, Steve," Rhodes says quietly. "That means they failed."
They all know this. But they're dancing around it. And Steve's expression is resolute.
"I know he's alive."
Pepper's face, this time, isn't as controlled as she's been. There is quiet devastation in her eyes at Steve's words and Rhodes knows better than to share her secret, but he feels for her. God, he feels for her.
"What can we do?"
He wants Steve Rogers' conviction. He wants to feel so certain of something he wants so desperately.
It's a long time before Steve says anything, and Rhodes takes in the silence of their little group, here in the lab while everyone else is busy, working, moving. He looks up when the Captain moves.
"What about a flare?" Rhodes gives him an odd look before he elaborates. "Something to help...mark us, somehow. Make sure he knows where he's going. Make the Earth as obvious a target as possible."
In any other circumstance, Rhodes thinks he might slap Steve right in the face at that kind of suggestion. But given what's happened and what they're trying to do...
"If we're assuming Tony's figured out how to hijack an alien spaceship, which I'm guessing we are..."
It wasn't in the scheme of things a far-fetched notion at all.
"You want to make it easy for him to spot us. I'll do you one better. You know Rocket?"
Steve nods, though Pepper looks confused and Rhodes remembers he'll have to explain who and kind of what Rocket is to Pepper later.
"He says his crew flies around picking up distress signals. That he’s already planning to send some up to draw them in."
There's a sudden, loud klaxon filling up the lab. Bodies are running all in one direction. Rhodes exchanges a look with Steve at the alarm, wondering what the hell else they could possibly face right now and trying to think of where he can take Pepper.
"It's a ship!"
Shuri has bound out of nowhere, Natasha close behind. She glances at him and Steve and they all -- Pepper included -- follow.
Because what else can they do?
"Something's probing the barrier," Natasha tells them as they hurry to the atrium. "Something massive."
Rhodes looks at Pepper, knowing she's thinking the same thing.
Jesus, Tony. Way to make an entrance.
But when they've assembled in the wide space, the great windows their only shield against the expanse of Wakanda, it's a booming voice that rises above all others.
"It's Asgard!"
Pepper
Pepper hangs back while the Wakandans and heroes make plans to meet the Asgardian ship on the field. It's nice to watch Thor — whom she hasn't seen in years, who looks different than she remembers — leap around with joy. It's a contrast to the sorrow in the air.
She thinks about the logistics of this. How to explain away to the rest of the grieving world why this ship isn't one to bring heartache. What will the story be? How did you tell modern, human society to embrace the return of Nordic gods?
It's because of who she is and what she does that she busies herself with the minutiae of that question. Putting out extraordinary fires, explaining away the impossible, handling the press with a firm hand and a perfect story — that's been a part of her job description for a very long time. Since long before Tony Stark became Iron Man.
Oh, Tony. Where are you?
"I really thought it was gonna be him."
Steve Rogers has found her and she's a little surprised again. She'd watched him step forward, ever the leader, dividing up responsibilities and prioritizing what was important. She's always admired him, his quiet strength, and knows Tony does too. That was why they butted heads so often, why Tony's been so stubborn about reaching out.
But she knows how close he keeps the phone.
"Me too," she admits to Steve, but presses on, "But I'm happy for Thor."
"He's been through hell lately."
"We all have."
"He's really not mad?"
There is something in Steve's tone she's never heard before and his face, once almost youthful, idealistic, even green — he's older now, wiser and sadder and she wishes things hadn't had to go the way they had. As much as she hates the danger involved, hates how it almost took Tony away from her again and again...she misses the days the Avengers had been together.
She takes her time before answering him. The truth is Tony is Tony, and pissed or not, he's still never going to let anyone know how he feels. Not really.
Except her. She knows she's the exception and has been for so long.
"Has he ever asked you about his father?"
Steve frowns slightly, tilting his head as he looks at her.
"No — I mean, not in any serious way."
It doesn't surprise her, but it does make her sigh. It's clearly not something Steve has considered, but it's something Tony's talked to her about a lot over the years, especially since he's started dealing with his problems head on. But it's a side of himself he prefers not to let bleed into his 'work,' she supposes. No matter how curious he is, having someone who knew his father back then in his life.
"Tony's always looked up to you, Steve," she tells him quietly. "Only moreso after he actually met you. I can't be the one to tell you how he feels about this...fight you're in. I don't have any comforting words."
Pepper looks the Captain squarely in the face.
"When we get him back, you can ask him yourself."