TWO
Evelyn sipped her coffee distractedly as she looked through yet another file on her desk. It had been more than a week now since the fight between Captain Rogers and Tony Stark. She hadn’t seen them since then and had only heard about the security breach in The Raft. All of the criminals had escaped, according to Secretary Ross. But she had not liked the word ‘criminal’ at all. Especially after they realized that Barnes wasn’t responsible for what happened in Vienna. It didn’t matter what she thought though. He was still bitter about the whole ordeal.
Her computer pinged and she smiled when she saw another mission update for her. After T’challa had left for the fight there hadn’t been any news of where he was and what he was doing. She guessed he had gone back to his country. After all, he was the king now. So she squished whatever hopes had arisen in her after their last conservation and went on to do her job. She took up more missions now and got the permit to use her powers in the field, but responsibly. They did not want another avenger-esque scandal on their hands.
She opened the mail. This mission was supposed to take her to Busan, South Korea for a transaction with Klaue. She grimaced. Why was her country hell-bent on making deals with this man despite his extensive criminal record? She scrolled through the document and the reason was written in black bold letters in front of her. Vibranium.
Evelyn sighed. As much as she loved her job and her country, she couldn’t get past how often her superiors blurred the lines between good and bad. But what could she do really? She was lucky they were allowing her to use her powers as it is.
South Korea had been welcoming as always. She tucked her dark hair behind her ear as she gave herself another look in the mirror. Klaue was going to be here soon, and she needed to be ready for him. She looked at herself and grimaced at how dolled up she was right now, all of it for the mission. After getting debriefed she realized that she won’t be posing as CIA to Klaue anyway. Another agent was supposed to carry out the dealings and she was supposed to be a starry-eyed woman who would make Klaue susceptible to making mistakes, if the need would arise, that is. CIA wanted the deal to go smoothly. But a man like Klaue was never to be trusted. Even though she was prepared for him, with a gun tucked in her thigh holster under her long silver dress, she felt a pit in her stomach. Maybe it was because she had been prohibited from using her powers here. She was in foreign land and using her powers could end horribly. She had obviously understood, didn’t mean she had to like it too.
Stepping out, she spotted her colleague, Ryan, at one of the tables and smiled flirtatiously at him. It was a part of her cover here. Once she was close enough, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. “What took you so long?” he gritted out. She giggled, covering her mouth with her hand as if laughing at one of his jokes. “I was just checking something. Don’t worry he isn’t here yet,” she spoke in a soothing, sultry voice, “If he was we’d know.”
Her laughter died down when her eyes fell on a familiar face. Ryan noticed and raised an eyebrow at her. “Darling, please give me a minute.” She was about to walk away but he stopped her by grabbing her by the elbow and pulling her back. She glared at him, “Let go, we have a problem.”
“What kind of problem?”
She rolled her eyes, “The kind that I can handle. Wakandans, they are here. I knew it.” Of course, she’d find T’challa here. If the problem involved vibranium, then it involved the king of Wakanda. Again she understood it but didn’t mean she liked it.
“Take care of it now,” Ryan whispered and let her go. As she walked towards T’challa, her heartbeat sped up. After all this time, the prospect of having those dark eyes bore into hers again still had her becoming nervous. Life could be so unfair. He was a king, and he was beautiful. Plus, he had to go ahead and be a gentleman. And always be out of her reach.
Once she reached his table, she quietly stepped in beside him. “You should have a pretty lady on your arm for luck when gambling.”
T’challa looked at her with a smile, unfazed. “What are you doing here, mnandi?” he asked and she shook a little. His voice was still the same, heavy with the accent and so, so rich. “I am doing my job. What does that word mean?” He smiled as he placed his chips on the table. “What? Mnandi? You’d rather not know, trust me. What job is it?”
“The kind of job that isn’t your business,” she replied as the crowd around the table clapped. T’challa had won the round.
“Looks like you’re lucky for me, after all.” He moved away from the table and began walking towards the bar. Evelyn followed, “I know why you are here.” He turned to her, his eyes turning colder by the second. “And you are here for the same thing.”
She took a step towards him, lowering her voice, “I won’t let you get in my way.” T’challa took a deep breath, “Why does your country deal with this man, this criminal?”
Evelyn sighed, “He is the only supplier. But it doesn’t matter. I have my orders and I will follow them whether you like it or not.”
T’challa shook his head, chuckling, “I cannot stop you from doing your job. But I won’t let you stop me from doing mine.”
He left her and Evelyn knew that this wasn’t going to end well. Before she could take another step, she saw someone entering the casino from the corner of her eye, walking like they owned the place. Klaue was here and he was laughing and smiling.
Ryan immediately engaged with him. T’challa or his people hadn’t interfered yet. She decided to distance herself for now. Her eyes scanned the casino, trying to spot any Wakandans. All of a sudden Klaue’s men opened fire. She saw that it was directed towards a woman in a reddish dress. Her wig, made up of wavy hair came off and she brought out her staff. Evelyn had to force herself to peel her eyes away from the gracefulness in the woman’s movements. She was definitely skilled.
“I thought you said you could handle it,” Ryan’s voice came into the earpiece and she huffed in annoyance, “Well I was wrong. He is a king, why on earth would he listen to me.”
“What now?” he asked as she took her gun out after discreetly deflecting a few bullets that got fired in her direction. “Get the vibranium, that’s the priority,” she replied her arms stretched in front of her as she shot one of Klaue’s men.
It was all in vain, however. Klaue had successfully been escorted out of the casino by his men and T’challa had gone after him. But Evelyn couldn’t give up so easily. She rushed to her car and started the engine. She followed the cars but couldn’t interfere. There was a second woman with the one in the red dress and it seemed they could hold their own. She couldn’t let them get to Klaue first but it was clear to her that today just wasn’t her day. Without her powers, she had no advantage over the Wakandans. They seemed to be better equipped than her anyway. She had failed this mission as soon as T’challa had arrived.
It didn’t mean she would simply drive past the two women who had now lost their car in an explosion. Their faces told her that they weren’t expecting this. Even when she offered them a ride, they looked stunned. “I am a friend,” Evelyn spoke and gave them a weak smile. The woman in green nodded to her but the other one was miles away from believing her.
“What are your names?” she asked as silence filled the car. She already knew where T’challa was. It wasn’t very hard to figure it out with all the commotion that was going on. “Nakia,” the woman in the green dress said and Evelyn nodded and smiled. Faintly she saw Nakia elbow her friend and so she finally blurted out. “Okoye”
When they arrived, T’challa was in his Black Panther suit. It looked almost the same as the one she had seen before except for a necklace that adorned his chest. His claws were out and they were about to sink into Klaue’s neck. Okoye stepped forward and said something in her language. Whatever it was, it stopped T’challa and made him look around. There were people recording the whole ordeal in their phones. He retracted his claws and she took it as a cue to cuff Klaue’s hands behind his back.