Inimitable

Tony mostly goes back to hiding in his room because he prefers that to most other activities. It doesn’t help that most of the people here speak a language he doesn’t understand, obviously, but it serves to keep him on the outside of life here. He’s picked up a few words from Shuri, none of them very fitting for a prince’s husband, but other than that he has no idea what the hell is going on anyways so he feels no strong need to leave his space. Shuri accuses him of being a shut in but its his personal opinion that he’s just… selective about when he leaves his room. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

She had at least been right about the food though- Wakandan food is a special kind of delicious and he’s always pleased to eat whatever new thing Shuri brings him. T’Challa continues to keep his distance too, obviously sensing that Tony wants nothing to do with him but he sees the way he looks hurt every time Tony ignores him. He has no idea why though, its hardly as if they know each other super well for him to be getting offended when Tony doesn’t give him the time of day. It does mean he mostly relies on Shuri to fill him in on all things culture though and she finds it more tedious to explain things to him than T’Challa did when Tony had asked him about the Black Panther and Bast. He dislikes that he would rather ask T’Challa about cultural cues he’s missing out on than Shuri and he refuses to give in his annoyance with Shuri’s subpar explanations and go to T’Challa instead.

Mostly he keeps to himself so when someone knocks on the door he’s surprised. He considers ignoring who was almost certainly T’Challa behind the door- Shuri stopped knocking forever ago- but he feels kind of bad so he goes to the door. Its not like he couldn’t tell the prince to fuck off to his face anyways but when he opens the door he finds the king there instead. “Uh, can I help you?” he asks, frowning. Something tells him that’s a no but the king came to him so he figures T’Chaka has his reasons.

“Come with me,” he says and with that he turns and walks off, clearly expecting Tony to follow. Normally Tony would find the action irritating but something about the way T’Chaka carries himself doesn’t speak to the usual arrogance he gets from authority figures. The man walks, talks, and interacts with people like he’s a king yes, but there’s a quiet, reserved nature to it that Tony recognizes in his son as well. He doesn’t want to admit that but of all the things he could say about T’Challa arrogant is not on his list of criticisms.

“Where exactly are we going?” Tony asks after a few minutes of walking down the twisting and turning hallways.

“You’re naturally quite curious,” the king says instead of answering his question. “You’ve taken an interest in science and environmentalism in particular.”

Tony snorts, “and the fact that you know that isn’t creepy at all,” he mumbles to himself.

“In our defense between your style of dress and your skin tone you are impossible to miss, and your interests are highly specific. You’ve read nearly everything the library here has on both subjects and you still ask Shuri questions,” he says.

Yeah, because Wakandan science was heavily built into their culture- or more accurately cultures- and it left him lacking in knowledge no matter how much he read. He wonders if other people have the same problem moving to new places- all the books being presented in a way that forces to you already be familiar with all the cultural cues you don’t actually understand. “I like reading,” Tony mumbles.

“Shuri tells me you are an excellent problem solver, a very fast thinker and your solutions suggest that the way you think is quite… what is it that American’s say… out of the box,” he says, pride flickering across his features for a moment for remembering the phrase.

He shrugs, “I’ve always been like that.” People hated him for it too, especially Howard. He’s supposed to be lesser but he is undeniably unequivocally better than what most anyone else his country had to offer at least technologically, and most of the world really. Shuri is the first person he’s met that’s actually smarter than him and aside from her only Vankov even compared. Howard had been pleased to learn that Tony wasn’t a complete moron at first- everyone had been surprised he had his father’s talent for inventing- but then he started to get better. And once he got better than Howard, which was near immediately, that surprise turned more to jealousy and outrage.

Alphas didn’t like that the one smart omega they were willing to give an inch of credit to outstripped them in near every area of intelligence. And even the people that were smarter than him in other fields weren’t much impressed to learn how fast he could pick up information. Except Bruce because he’s not a prick but then his research went sour and last Tony heard he was licking his wounds in South America somewhere.

“You were resented for it too,” T’Chaka says and Tony shrugs.

“So what if I was, I can’t help that I’m smarter than other people,” he says in that same clipped, arrogant tone that got him labeled as ‘difficult’ in America. He’s not difficult at all though, he just demands the respect he deserves and reacts badly when he doesn’t get it. Its hardly his fault alphas and most betas were too fucking stupid to understand that.

T’Chaka laughs at his comment though, “I bet people did not react very well to your strong personality. People don’t react well to Shuri either, when she leaves Wakanda. Took us awhile to figure out why,” he says.

Tony snorts, “the blatant discrimination against omegas somehow went over your head? Wakandans are so not that stupid,” he says. Not when they’ve built such a fantastic technological marvel, and the rest of their affairs seem just as in order.

“We aren’t, but we thought perhaps it was her race or gender. Imagine our surprise when that was not the case,” the king says, shaking his head.

“In your defense those things wouldn’t help her out any,” Tony says. Rhodey’s an alpha but still got shit for his race, and despite having worked with him for years people still assume Pepper doesn’t know what she’s talking about when she talks about his inventions for no real reason aside from assumptions about women and assistants. Both hate Howard in near equal parts and that’s probably how they won their way into his heart. Anyone who hates Howard is a friend of his.

“Probably not,” T’Chaka agrees. “But the point is that Wakanda was never exposed to ideas about omegas that exist near universally elsewhere thanks to colonization and later globalization. What we did pick up on violently opposed our own traditions and beliefs and you will learn Wakanda as a country is firm in its beliefs. Sometimes for better or worse. You will be disliked here but not because you are an omega. You will be disliked because you are a foreigner.”

Blunt, but Tony appreciates it. “I already noticed all the looks and whispers but I’m also new here so in their defense I do technically count as gossip worthy at the moment. But if people are bound to find some kind of problem with where I’m from than why bring me here?” he asks.

T’Chaka smiles at him, “I was hoping you would ask that. Have you ridden the trains yet?” he asks and Tony shakes his head. T’Chaka smiles wider, “excellent then- this will be a first.”

People outside the massive home T’Chaka and the rest of his family live in are polite at least to him. Most people ignore Tony, look at him with mild interest or disinterest, give him looks of outright dislike or ask the king questions he gets the feeling are rude. He wishes now that he would have paid more attention to the words he spent so much time reading because it would have been a good way to pick up the language but he hadn’t done that, go figure. So now he mostly gathers the tone people spoke in and the quiet power T’Chaka held while he responds. He doesn’t need to know the language to know T’Chaka doesn’t speak badly of him either.

When they finally, mercifully make it to a damn train he’s grateful until the thing fucking rockets them forward hard enough that he nearly falls on his ass. T’Chaka anticipates it and catches him while the children off to the side laugh. Tony smiles at them and they laugh more, likely unused to seeing someone new on the train. The ride is shockingly short and he gets the feeling that he’s gone a long distance too but he’ll ask when he isn’t hurrying to keep up with a king that was far too agile for his age.

T’Chaka leads him into another building, which results in more mazelike hallways and another train ride but this one is under ground. “You’ve been missing out on Shuri’s actual lab space,” T’Chaka tells him, smiling as the train shoots them forward. Tony at least anticipates it this time though the people around him take up most of his attention. Not because they’re doing anything strange really, its just that he can feel the heat from their gazes and he really wonders what the hell he’s done to earn such hostile looks. When someone says something to the king it’s the first time Tony hears the man use a sharp tone and he raises an eyebrow, wondering what just happened when the train enters a new area and Tony’s eyes go wide.

“Holy shit,” he whispers as the trains turn purple under the lights above the massive cavern above them. There were other trains too, off to the side, but that’s not what catches his attention. “Vibranium,” he says softly and the king nods.

“I lied when I told the world I had no other vibranium to offer. Come along,” he says, giving someone a sharp look when they look at the king in disbelief.

He follows, frowning, “why lie?” he asks,

T’Chaka shakes his head and leads him to an elevator, “that’s not the right question. But I lied because this is a valuable resource- unimaginably so. You haven’t even seen the surface of what this metal is capable of, how many new applications Shuri has found for it and how many more she’s sure to find. In the wrong hands this mountain could be a weapon of mass destruction.”

“What makes you think you’re the right hands?” Tony asks, too used to being suspicious of authority figures.

“When the world nearly ended it was not Wakanda that caused it,” he says. Well, Tony guesses it’s hard to argue with that. The man made a point- if the metal has huge applications like the king implied it stands to reason that weapons would be in that list of applications and it wasn’t Wakanda that nearly wiped them all out so whatever weapons they had they didn’t use them often if ever.

“Fair point,” he murmurs. “Then wait, why am I here if this is some kind of secret?” he asks as they exit the elevator. The room they step into is large and Tony recognizes the patterns on the walls from Shuri’s lab space- or other lab space he guesses, and from other areas of Wakanda that he’s wandered into.

T’Chaka nods, “and that is the question I was waiting for,” he says softly, looking out at the vibranuim mountain through the glass of the lab walls. Its stunning, far more beautiful than anything Tony has ever seen before.

“Well?” he prompts when the king doesn’t go on. Trains flit about through tunnels obviously carved out from the mountain and he can see people working in the space too.

“I want my son to be happy,” he says softly, “and I have no desire to see you unhappy. But right now you are not stupid enough to have failed to realize that being pulled from your country into an unfamiliar, strange land where you don’t know the language, the customs, or anything that would allow you to get any kind of help should you need it puts out in a highly precarious position. If T’Challa was bad man you would not be in a position to do much but what he asks or else. It is not the kind of foundation in which you build a relationship- the power dynamic is wildly skewed in favor of T’Challa. And that doesn’t acknowledge the routine discrimination you’re used to thanks to your omega status. So this is my gift to you and to T’Challa- this secret that you could very well use to destroy us. Now you have as much power as he does. Do with it what you will.”

Tony looks back out at the vibranium and raises an eyebrow, realizing now why people on the train were so offended to see him there. “I didn’t… want this,” Tony says eventually, shaking his head.

“Neither did T’Challa. He thought my methods were unorthodox at best and outright demeaning at worst and not inclined to disagree with him. But if I am to have any hope that you will grow to at least like T’Challa I need to give power, equal standing. And allowing you to continue as you have for the last month would not achieve that,” he says softly.

That doesn’t explain everything though so Tony frowns, “what makes you think I won’t sell you out to America? And what makes you think America would care?” he asks. Neither of them were stupid enough to assume he was anything less than a spy but Tony had been sent here with no instructions to do much of anything. So how and why did T’Chaka suspect something was going on?

The king laughs, “America has amassed a lot of wealth and power- you’d know, you come from one of five families with most of the world’s wealth. When you collect power like that its for a reason and Wakanda will be a target eventually.”

Tony’s eyebrows shoot up, “so this is a ‘keep your friends close and you enemies closer’ kind of thing?” he asks, surprised.

“Of sorts,” the king agrees.

“Why me specifically then. You had at least four other options from America and a good amount of others around the world- why me?” Temperamental, selfish, lacking loyalty, lacking morals, self-serving, and arrogant were the top six biggest flaws he had- why the hell would the king chance him?

“I chose the person I knew would hate America the most for participating in such a demeaning trade- a person for the potential for information. I thought perhaps our way of life would endear us to you- mostly that you wouldn’t face the usual discrimination you see elsewhere though that hasn’t happened. Regardless, you resent your home country too much, I think, to give them this information,” he says.

“That’s a big ‘if,” Tony points out.

“It would be if you didn’t resent Wakanda so much for simple politeness. You’ve been waiting for something to happen for a month, for some reason to hate us. If you look that hard for a reason to dislike someone I can’t imagine how easy you must find hating America,” he points out.

Maybe so but that hardly meant he didn’t still have some kind of loyalty to his country. He doesn’t mostly because he found nationalism pointless and ridiculous, but even if he did Rhodey is in the military. Something tells him he didn’t want to see what vibranium could do to America’s armies.

But he doesn’t want to give T’Chaka the impression that he’s loyal to Wakanda either so he turns to face then king. “Make no mistake- I am not endeared to you or your country whatsoever. My loyalties lie with myself, my own agenda, and whatever it is this week that I think is right. Always has, always will. If you decide to sell me off like a cow for information instead of just accepting me like one I will happily fuck you over but for now I’m more pissed off with where I came from than where I ended up. You chose someone who is way to temperamental for you goals,” he says harshly, letting each word come out in a clear, enunciated way that left little to the imagination.

He gets the first hint that the king is actually worried after that but that was his goal anyways. T’Chaka wanted to give Tony power, and given the flicker of fear that crosses the king’s face he has it. But Tony isn’t wrong in telling him he chose the wrong person for this- Tony’s whims were always in flight, landing wherever was the most suitable at any given time and they are always subject to change. That’s not the kind of person you want to be handing trade secrets to- America already made that mistake. He may not have a strong desire to sell T’Chaka out, but knowing the king has a weakness that’s easily exploited probably wasn’t a good move on his part.

*

T’Chaka considers his choice to tell Tony about the vibranium and he prays he didn’t just make a massive mistake. “Whatever it is that’s on your mind I’m sure you will work it out,” Ramanda tells him, walking up from behind him.

He sighs, “we better hope so,” he says softly. If they didn’t… he doesn’t want to think about that.

“Tony?” Ramanda guesses and he nods. “You told him about the vibranium,” she guesses again and he nods. She’s always been good at being one step ahead at least and now is not an exception. “He wouldn’t say anything,” she says with certainty T’Chaka is not certain is warranted.

“You didn’t see his face, hear his voice. He would,” T’Chaka says.

Ramanda shakes her head though. “No, he wouldn’t. Don’t look at me like that T’Chaka I know what I’m talking about. If he ever found a way to ruin you or T’Challa he would do it in a heartbeat, but to do something that would ruin an entire country? He’s simply not that cruel.”

“His keeping the vibranium secret is a cruelty to his own country, Ramanda,” he points out.

“Only because we know what it can do. And Tony is not stupid, even when he learns how useful it can be he will not miss the weapons applications the metal has. What makes you think his keeping quiet isn’t his own way of protecting his country, hmm?” she asks.

Like always he hadn’t thought of that and it makes sense minus Tony’s clear disgust with his home country. “I don’t think there’s any love lost for America with him,” he says softly.

“Perhaps not,” Ramanda says, “but his best friend is a Colonel in America’s air force- if we have raise our weapons they’re pointed at someone he cares about. Tony’s loyalties may be fickle by our standards but he has them. Just not necessarily in the same way we do. He will keep quiet,” she says again.

He sighs and sits back, “and T’Challa?” he asks.

“What about him?” Ramanda asks.

“What happens to him in all this?” It occurs to him now that perhaps this was not as good a plan as he thought it was in the beginning. If Tony could hear his thoughts he suspects the omega would tell him its because he didn’t factor in how he would react to the situation, at least not well enough.

“Have you ever known T’Challa to be anything less than loving and caring?” Ramanda asks.

“No, but-” she cuts him off.

“No ‘buts’- you saw what Tony came from. That poor child is starved for love an affection, so much so that what affection he’s gotten from us has been met with nothing but suspicion because he is so unused to it he thinks we have an ulterior motive. He doesn’t dislike T’Challa for any reason except his own assumption that T’Challa is playing a game to get Tony to let his guard down before he strikes,” she says.

“Ramanda, we did have an ulterior motive,” he points out.

She rolls her eyes at him, “for the marriage, not the respect. Keep up,” she teases. “And I’d like to point out that he already fulfilled his obligations to our motives when he married T’Challa and you told him about the rest of our motives freely and gave him the power to ruin us all. We had no motive for how we treated him once he got here, though, except for basic decency. Once he realizes that he will relax and let T’Challa in.”

He certainly hopes so because if he didn’t than he just fated his son to a miserable marriage.