Chapter 6
Rhodey wheels after Tony, keeping up despite Tony’s best efforts to lose him. It was an asshole thing to do but he had made up his mind and Rhodey insisted on harassing him about it. “You need someone on your side, Tony, you know all the other Avengers are there and you know what they think of you,” he says earnestly, half leaning out of his chair in an attempt to get closer to Tony to convey feeling. It was sweet, really, but Tony was fine on his own.
“I’ll be gone for maybe a few days, Rhodes, I’ll be fine. You’re still injured and I don’t want to be dragging you all around the world and exacerbating your injuries,” he says. He’s thought this through and he wasn’t going to put Rhodey’s health in danger, physical or mental. He was having a tough enough time as it was; there was no need for him to go dragging him into another one of his messes only to make it worse.
“No, Tony, you won’t. You’re going halfway across the world to stay with a bunch of people you don’t know or trust and I am not letting you do that alone. Now help me get my shit together because I can’t reach the underwear drawer myself and I am not going commando,” he says. Tony could fight him on it, should fight him on it but Rhodey was right, he didn’t know or trust anyone in Wakanda and more than that this was the most passionate he’s seen Rhodey about something in a long time. So he agrees to bring Rhodey reluctantly, hoping that having him there would help them both a little.
*
T’Challa is standing in a large room with the rest of the Avengers and he can feel the panic squeezing at his heart. If he looks up he knows he’ll see the ceiling but just above that? Aliens. Aliens for fucks sake. Things that he never even considered possible were happening right now and he had no idea what he was going to do about it. They’re all talking about what to do about… whatever the hell they ran into in the forest on their last mission but they weren’t thinking big enough. Who cared about some fast guy when that wasn’t going to matter in the end? He knows he shouldn’t, that is wouldn’t go well, but he brings up New York. “Anyone remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole? Saved New York? Recall that? Aliens came though a hole in space and we’re standing 300 feet below it. That up there, that’s the end game, so how do you guys plan on beating that?” he asks.
He looks at Natasha first because he figures that she’ll get it, she’s a superspy, she has to get it. She doesn’t, instead she rolls her eyes so he moves into Steve because he was the team leader but he rolls his eyes too. One by one they all react the same way minus Bruce, who just looks at Tony like he’s something to be pitied. He wants to yell or scream or something because he can still see the army through the helmet, still feel the shock of knowing that there wasn’t anything on their planet equipped to deal with that and then… black. Next he remembered he was on the ground in New York with the Hulk and Steve leaning over him. He tried to explain, tried to tell them but they wouldn’t listen or worse, like now, they dismissed him altogether. He had to… to do something, anything, to try and keep the world safe and if he was the only one trying then fine, so be it.
When he goes off to the lab Bruce follows, tells him it’s a bad idea to toy with that staff and he would normally agree. Their research was nowhere near complete but it was all he had right now. Bruce resists a little but ultimately he gives in, agreeing to run Tony’s test on the staff to see if real AI was possible using that thing. They set up their equipment and leave it for the night to run, figuring they’d have the results in the morning. In the meantime Tony goes back to his own space, back to Pepper, and holds her tighter than usual that night out of fear that she wouldn’t be there when he woke up. He already saw what would happen if he failed, how all his friends died, Steve’s shield broken in half. Sometimes he could still feel the cold.
It was the anger that woke T’Challa, and the fear, but the fear is quickly chased off by his own feelings. If the Avengers had listened to Tony, talked to him, Ultron would have never happened. He wants to throw something or punch someone but neither would do any good in this situation so instead he takes a few calming breaths before getting out of bed so work off some extra energy.
Upon his return from his run Shuri looks suspicious, or more so than she usually did, and she raises an eyebrow at him. “What?” he asks in a tone far sharper than he had intended.
Shuri’s eyebrow climbs higher, “I am not certain what has angered you this morning, but do not take it out on me,” she says in a cool tone that she reserved for people she was especially irritated with and him. Apparently he got less forgiveness than everyone else but he keeps his irritation with that to himself. Normally Shuri’s high standards for him did not bother him, the reason they did now was because of that dream.
“I am sorry, that was rude. I had a dream last night though; actually I dreamed one of Tony’s memories. It was right before Ultron was set loose and he was talking about aliens and that wormhole that he went though in New York. He was panicking, unsure of what to do and how to combat the issue. It was confusing, he was remembering all sorts of other things at the same time that I had little context for. But Shuri, when he told the Avengers about what he saw in that wormhole they all rolled their eyes at him. They looked annoyed that he had brought the subject up, like this has happened before and… well they presumably were just as dismissive,” he says, throwing his hands up helplessly. Why would they do that? Steve and the others expressed their annoyance with Tony keeping secrets and he understood why that would be a problem but Tony was honest then so why didn’t they listen.
“Because they think he’s arrogant,” Shuri says and he realizes he spoke his thoughts out loud. “If they assumed that he brought up the wormhole in some attempt at bragging then they would not have listened.”
T’Challa rolls his eyes, “he said he saved New York, that was stating a fact, not bragging. And I could feel his panic, I have seen his face when he is feeling strong emotions, he is easy to read. Why did they not see his worry? Why did they ignore him like that?” he asks, sounding a little desperate.
“You are his soul mate, of course you would wonder that. But they do not care, or at least I do not think they do,” she says softly, laying a hand on his shoulder in comfort. He sighs and tries his best to gather himself, realizing somewhat belatedly that the scene was in full color. Shuri squeezes his shoulder and goes off to do her own duties and he wanders back into the house, pondering Tony’s colored vision. In the first memory he had, the one of himself, Tony had marveled at seeing color his whole life but not needing it when he met his soul mate because he had been dressed in all black…
“Your Highness,” a familiar voice says and T’Challa resists the urge to snap at the man. This was not the time or place for it. He turns to face the Captain with some minor annoyance remaining but he does his best to keep it from showing. He must be at least somewhat successful because he does not seem to notice or perhaps he is simply content to ignore everything he did not agree with. No, that was not quite fair, it was clear that Steve Rogers cared deeply for his team, it was Tony Stark he had a problem with. “The place is in quite a bustle, is there… something going on?” he asks.
It was a fair question, particularly considering that those treason charges hadn’t been dropped yet and he was going to have to talk to Tony about that. He was still tempted to tell the Captain to stuff it in no polite terms but he resists. “I have some legal business with Tony to attend to,” he says simply. In part it was to gauge his reaction but he also wanted him to know that Tony would be here. It was important information to him and the Avengers.
Steve nods, “with the soul mate thing?” he asks as if it was any of his business what T’Challa was doing with his soul mate. He barely resists from clenching his jaw, it would show more than he was willing to share, and doing things out of anger never went well.
“No, with what remains of the Accords,” he says, giving as short an answer as possible. Steve rolls his eyes and then T’Challa decides not to hold back.
“Didn’t he learn that that wasn’t going to work? We all got black bagged and stuffed into an underwater prison for not following a law we never agreed to, why would he still think this was a good plan?” he asks in a snide tone.
“The thing about the law, Rogers, is that you will be held accountable regardless of whether or not you think you did anything wrong. And do not mistake a corrupt government system for a corrupt piece of legislation, which can be amended as many times as needed might I add. Tony, from what I understand, believed in what that law could do, how it could help people, the fact that it went through a system that is corrupt is inevitable. No one is without bias, that does not mean we should not try and it does not mean we should decide that we know better than the system that produced us when we interpret the world through that system. I would also like to remind you that my father was one of the founding members of the Accords and I do not appreciate the repeated insinuations that he had some interest in controlling you personally, you are not that special,” he snaps.
It was intended to use the resource that is the Avengers to benefit the public to the maximum amount possible in any given situation considering they would be dealing with the aftermath of their actions. It was hardly the boogyman Steve Rogers made it out to be, it was not the Accords fault that people were corrupt. If Tony still believed in that than good, one should listen to the people, not ignore them as they see fit. He sounded like Shuri, suspicious of a world that had done little to do him wrong. He would shake it if not for the fact that she would be right in this situation.
Steve’s eyebrows shoot up at his outburst, “I mean no offense,” he says slowly.
“You offend me anyway. Now Tony will be here sometime this afternoon and I do not want you or your Avengers anywhere near him. He knows you are here and you will respect him enough to give him space,” he says. Shuro, Okoye, and himself all saw the anger Tony harbored for the Avengers and T’Challa was not going to be the cause of more distress for his soul mate, he has done enough. The twinge in his ribs reminds him that Tony’s pain was not just mental either and that worries him.
“Wait, wait, there’s been some… misunderstanding or something and I need to sort this out. We’re supposed to be a team and I don’t know why he’s mad but we need to be together, as a team,” Steve throws in hastily when he realizes how that sounded.
“No. Tony has not misunderstood anything, he is rightfully angry with you and your team and you will not disrespect him by forcing your shoddy leadership down his throat,” he says in a tone that was perhaps too harsh.
Steve frowns, “is… there a reason you seem so upset with me, your Highness?” he asks, at least smart enough to pick up the change of his attitude. With how blind he was to Tony T’Challa was not sure he would. So Tony was the only one he blatantly ignored, then.
“My bond with Tony is… more than just colored sight. I can feel his pain and I have seen some of his memories. One of which starring you and your Avengers rolling your eyes as he panicked about aliens attacking and completely ignoring the extreme mental health problems he had been having since New York. Had you taken some time to calm him he would have never have been in the panicked state of mind he was in when he created Ultron. You blame him for the results of that but you should blame yourself,” he snarls, turning to leave before remembering another detail and turning back. “And when, pray tell, were you going to inform me that Bruce Banner was just as responsible for the creation of Ultron as you all believed Tony was? I am getting very tired of finding out new information at every turn that contradicts your own so I would highly advise you quit with the selective information giving.”
With that he turns on his heel and leaves the room.
*
Tony frowns as he looks around, confused as to why everything was currently black and white. Someone calls T’Challa’s name and follows it with something in a language he didn’t recognize and he turns as if on his own accord, walking towards the voice. Admittedly he hadn’t seen much of the late King T’Chaka but he easily recognized the man, if a lot younger than when Tony had briefly seen him, looking down at his son. T’Challa pulls his bag off his back and Tony realizes how low he was to the ground. T’Challa must be young, in grade school maybe.
He hands T’Chaka some paper and Tony internally winces, half expecting to be berated or hit but that doesn’t happen. Instead T’Chaka carefully examines the paper and smiles wide at whatever he sees, kneeling so that he is on his son’s level. Tony doesn’t understand what he says but he can feel the emotion behind it, the pride the man obviously felt for his son. More than that he feels T’Challa’s own swell of happiness at having pleased his father. T’Chaka reaches out and Tony finches but T’Challa does not. Instead of hurting T’Challa T’Chaka brushes his hand against his son’s cheek, murmuring more words of encouragement, Tony could tell because of the tone and the way he felt T’Challa felt.
When he wakes up it’s because Rhodey is calling his name. He blinks a few times, frowning because his eyes were watery or something. He touches his cheek and his fingers come away wet with tears. “Are you okay?” Rhodey asks, leaning towards him out of worry.
“I… yeah I’m fine,” he says, ignoring the way his voice broke in the middle of that. Rhodey’s eyes scan over his face and Tony can see that he’s debating on asking Tony more questions but thankfully he leaves it be. Tony carefully curls himself into a ball, doing his best not to hurt his ribs and failing, and looks out the window. He ignores that the tears run down his cheeks long after the dream ends.
*
When they get to Wakanda Tony nervously runs his hands through his hair a few times, unsure of what he was even doing here. “Hey, you’ll be alright,” Rhodey says quietly, reaching up and squeezing Tony’s hand gently. Tony clings back for a moment before letting go and taking a deep breath. Time to forge ahead and do what he needed to do and then he could get the hell out of here forever. Once he knows Rhodey is settled he walks off for a moment to get some air on his own before he had to face T’Challa and maybe the Avengers and whatever T’Challa wanted to alter in that Accords replacement document and whatever soul mate shit he had to deal with. It was all too much too soon and he wants to flee but that was irresponsible and childish so he marches himself back over in the direction that Rhodey had gone off in and grins when he finds him.
Rhodey, much to his future self’s embarrassment, was currently flirting with Shuri, who was clearly amused with Rhodey’s efforts. “Rhodes, you know better than to hit on pretty girls without a wing man,” he says, delighting in the horrified look Rhodey gives him.
“That is not a thing, I do need a wing man,” Rhodey says to Shuri, trying to cover his ass.
“Do so, we had a whole system in college, remember that?” he asks, raising an eyebrow. Rhodey gives him that classic ‘fuck off I’m busy here’ look but Tony remains firmly planted, intent on seeing the look on Rhodey’s face when he realized he just hit on the princess of Wakanda.
“No. I don’t,” Rhodey says, raising an eyebrow at him.
“You should, we used it all the time,” he says. And it worked pretty well too, once Tony figured out where the line was in regards to tacky pick up lines and just weird and gross. Rhodey thought the whole learning process, and the many drinks dumped over his head, was hilarious so Tony figured this was payback. Though to be fair he probably should have gotten a lot more drinks tossed on him, he was an ass.
“Oh my god, we did not, that was not a thing, he’s just making shit up,” he tells Shuri.
“I am not making shit up, seriously, we had a good thing going, especially when Rhodey signed up for the military. Remember all fake stories about your brother dying in the war and you joining up to honor his memory?” Tony says, grinning as Rhodey shrunk in his chair, covering his face with his hand.
“Really?” Shuri asks, shaking her head.
“Oh yeah, we had a whole list we’d go through,” Tony tells her.
“I hate you so much right now,” Rhodey mumbles, “I was doing fine before you showed up and ruined it.” Tony looks at Shuri and she smiles, shaking her head at Rhodey’s words.
“Were not, you should be embarrassed,” Tony says, smacking his arm.
“Well I am now thanks to you,” he says, giving Tony a pointed look. “I didn’t get your name, though,” Rhodey says to Shuri, falling right back into bad lines.
Shuri grins and holds out her hand, “Princess Shuri of Wakanda,” she says brightly, smiling wide as the blood drains from Rhodey’s face and he turns to give Tony a horrified look. Tony forgets all about his hurt ribs and bursts out laughing for all of five seconds before his ribs start burning, only his body hated him and he couldn’t stop laughing. It doesn’t take long to turn into a coughing fit, which turns into Tony nearly nose diving into the ground if it wasn’t for someone catching him. The immediate easing of his pain and the small shiver he gives off involuntarily informs him that it was T’Challa who made sure he didn’t eat shit.
“Oh, that was painful,” he wheezes out. He wants to lean the hell away from T’Challa but his stupid brain wasn’t cooperating with the rest of him.
“Are you okay?” Rhodey asks, concerned.
“Yeah,” he says at the same time T’Challa says, “no.” He glares at T’Challa but the man shrugs unapologetically. That’s about when his body gets the memo his brain has been sending it and he pulls away, shaking T’Challa off.
“You sure?” Rhodey asks.
Tony’s ribs felt like they were on fire and he was fairly certain he was going to pass out at any moment, “I’m fine,” he says in a practiced even tone, knowing that he looked it too. The only decent thing about Howard was that he taught Tony how to hide pain like an expert. Rhodey doesn’t look convinced but he leaves it and T’Challa was giving him a very skeptical look. He would have liked to tell T’Challa to stop looking at him like he knew he was lying, except he felt Tony’s pain and his slightly hunched stance indicated that he did actually know Tony was lying because he could feel it. Damnit. This being special bullshit was getting old fast. Thankfully Shuri saves him and launches into an introduction and leads them into a house that was massive. And by Tony’s standards was that really fucking big.
T’Challa sticks close by him, likely assuming that he would fall or something again, but Tony was also an expert in moving like he wasn’t in pain too. Thanks Howard for making his childhood a living hell, but also for teaching him how to act normal under extreme bodily duress. Thankfully Shuri’s welcome doesn’t last long and she tells them they can go off to their rooms to attempt to sleep off the jetleg if they wanted, offering to take Rhodey to his room much to his delight. Then, much to Tony’s delight, he tries to cover it in order to not let T’Challa in on the joke. Joke was on Rhodey, T’Challa could see his memories and it was only a matter of time before he got ahold of that one.
Normally Tony would have insisted that he was fine but his ribs felt horrible and he was actually, surprisingly, tired so he takes Shuri up on her offer. Unfortunately for him, though, that meant he got stuck with T’Challa escorting him to his room. They walk in silence, mercifully, because Tony didn’t feel like awkward small talk. The downside was that it felt like an eternity to get to the room T’Challa had put him in. T’Challa opens the door and Tony’s brows rise at the extravagance of the space. First, the bed was huge and he was fairly certain the wood posts had gold pressed into the intricate designs. Panthers and leaves or something from the look of it. The other furniture looks expensive too, something that was difficult to pull off when he’s lived an entire life of luxury and didn’t know what expensive actually looked like.
“Is this alright?” T’Challa asks when Tony doesn’t say anything right away.
“I… yeah this is fine,” Tony says, purposely pitching his tone to suggest he was underwhelmed. T’Challa doesn’t buy it but Tony could hope. He wanders further into the room, looking around at the intricate details on the furniture and the mural on the ceiling. The beauty gave the Sistine Chapel a run for its money. “Tony,” T’Challa say quietly. Tony turns to face him more out of courtesy than anything. “I wanted to apologize for the way I’ve handled things with you, for treating you as if you were a mystery to be solved instead of a person. It was unfair of me,” he says softly.
Tony opens his mouth, and then shuts it again. “Oh,” he says softly because he had nothing better to say.
“I’ll leave you be,” T’Challa says but as soon as he goes to go Tony gasps in pain, the sharp stabbing sensation catching him off guard. “Are you alright?” T’Challa asks, taking a step closer to him out of concern. Tony grits his teeth and makes his way slowly to the bed, sitting on it gently and carefully repositioning himself into a comfortable position.
“I’m fine,” he says more out of instinct than anything.
“Are you sure?” T’Challa asks. Tony cracks an eye open to glare at him and he nods to himself, thankfully taking the cue to leave. Except when he goes that damn stabbing pain comes back only this time T’Challa feels it too, wrapping his arm around his ribs and gasping as Tony does the same.
“Fucking soul mate magic,” Tony mumbles, “guess you get to stay.” He tells his stupid body that that didn’t mean anything at all because he still wanted little to do with T’Challa.
T’Challa, once recovered enough, makes his way to the other side of Tony’s bed, sitting in the far opposite corner to give Tony as much space as possible while also having a place to sit. They don’t say anything to each other, suffering in the awkward silence until a small bell interrupts the noiseless state. Tony looks for the source of the sound and grins when he finds a small grey cat with a bright red collar with the bell that was the source of the noise. “Hello kitty, who are you?” he asks the cat as if it would answer, temporarily forgetting that T’Challa was there to witness his embarrassing love of cats.
The cat regards him skeptically for a moment before jumping onto the bed, sniffing at him gingerly before pressing its head into his ribs lightly enough that he didn’t feel any pain. Tony lets out a small gasp, “I’ve been blessed,” he says excitedly, letting the cat sniff his hand before letting its soft ears.
“How did you know the significance of cats to my culture?” T’Challa asks, ruining Tony’s moment with the cat.
“I didn’t, but when a cat likes you it means you’re blessed, that’s like… the laws of physics,” he says, full well knowing the statement was scientifically incorrect, not that he cared.
“Well, in Wakandan culture when the King’s cat likes you, you are literally blessed,” T’Challa tells him.
Tony grins at the little grey fur ball, “obviously I’d be blessed, I’m awesome,” he says, petting the cat’s cheek and earning one of those droopy eyed looks cats get when they like the pets they are receiving. “What's the cat’s name?” he asks after a moment.
“Cleocatra,” T’Challa says and Tony tries very, very hard not to laugh at that.