Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Peter James Stark had known for ages that the worst days started out great. He’d been at a playdate when he’d found out about the deaths of his Mom and Step-Dad. He’d been having a blast at the Stark Expo when the Hammerbots attacks. He’d been riding the high of a fun day with his aunt and uncle when they got mugged and said uncle bled out in his arms. The field trip to Oscorp had been fantastic despite his father’s reservations, until Flash locked him in that room with the spiders.

So he really shouldn’t have been surprised when his next major life event happened on a good day.

It was the school day after the Academic Decathlon team had won Nationals and they were having a party. Everyone had brought something. Peter’s contribution was some lasagna, made by his father with his grandmother’s recipe.

He was talking with Ned about a new Spiderman lego set that had just come out when a familiar ringtone blared loudly through the room.

Peter froze a moment before frantically digging out his phone.

Why was she calling him? She was a fugitive! She hadn’t contacted him in months!

Ignoring MJ’s disapproving glare, he answered the call.

“Hello. I admit I wasn’t expecting…”

“Get out of there.” Nat interrupted him, straight to the point as always.

“What? Why? What’s going on?”

“I’d explain more if we had time, but they’re entering the school now. You have less than two minutes until Ross and his team get to your position. I don’t know how they found you, but they’re planning to take Spiderman to the Raft. And they know you and him are one and the same.” Peter scrambled for his backpack. “Leave behind anything that can be traced. We’ll get you out of the city but you need to get out of the school. If you go to the roof and use your web shooters, you should be able to swing over their attempts at surrounding the building. They have helicopters. I trust you know how to get lost.”

“Peter, what’s…?” Ned began.

“Ned, you’re the best friend I’ve ever had. MJ, you’re the most amazing girl I’ve ever met and I love you. Bye.” He ran, ditching his backpack in the hall as soon as he had his spare web shooters out.

Shouting alerted him to pursuit. He sent a quick “I love you” text to his family’s group chat before dropping his phone by the door to the roof and strapping on the web shooters.

He caught sight of the helicopters almost immediately and quickly located the clearest path away from them.

Jumping off the roof, he swung into an alley, grateful that he knew Queens better than Ross or any of his men.

It took less than five minutes to lose them and get to a cache of spare clothes and essentials.

He was unsurprised to find (blonde?) Nat waiting for him when he got there.

She wasted no time checking him for injuries, a flash of relief crossing her eyes when she found none.

“Thank you.” Peter said. “If you hadn’t called to warn me…”

“Conflict or not, the Avengers take care of their own.” Nat replied evenly. “Don’t touch the cache. Tony has trackers and alerts set in all of yours. I’ve got clothes for you here.” She shoved a grocery bag filled with clothes at him. “Be quick. They’re already searching for you.”

Peter obeyed, wondering faintly why he had yet to freak out over what was happening. Probably adrenaline.

Once he was changed, baseball cap tugged down to hide his eyes, Nat led him through the maze of alleyways before finally stopping at a hidden car that looked, simply put, like a piece of junk.

They got in and Nat drove through the city, sticking to packed roads before they finally reached a shady area somewhere in the Bronx.

Peter had no clue where they were, but he trusted Nat. The news that had filled the car through the radio as they drove proved she’d been telling the truth.

So when she got out of the car and headed for a run-down building nearby, so did he.

After a brief exchange with a dark-skinned man Peter most definitely did not recognize, Nat turned to him.

“Pickup will be after dark. Go with them. You’ll be safe where they take you.” She dug a card out of her pocket. “This number will connect you to whatever phone I’m using. One-time use. Stay safe, okay?”

Peter nodded, thanking her one last time as he pocketed it, before hesitantly moving past the dark-skinned man into the run-down building.

Six other kids and teens were gathered in the room. Half of them looked up when he entered. Peter wondered where they came from for a moment before realizing he likely wasn’t the only enhanced kid Ross had gone after. There was likely an entire protection scheme in plan and Nat had just added him to the list.

He wondered where their destination was, and hoped Nat was right as to the safety of it.

Shuri was frustrated. She couldn’t make the formula work. She, girl genius and lead scientist of the Wakandan Design Group, could not figure it out.

She groaned as yet another combination failed the simulator. She’d thought getting some fresh would help her think, but she’d been out of the lab on a bench in the park for two hours and still hadn’t figured it out.

“You’re missing Methanol and Toulene.”

Shuri jumped a foot in the air, let out a curse in her native language, and spun around to see a brown-haired white boy behind her.

“What?” She growled.

“Spiderman’s web formula, right? You’re missing Methanol and Toulene.”

“How would you know that?”

The boy looked sheepish. “Um…”

She glared at him until he finally sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat.

“You know the enhanced refugee program the king helped organize?”

“Yes.”

“I’m one of the refugees, and I am, well was, Spiderman.”

Shuri stared at him in disbelief. He looked completely serious, but still…

“You’ve got the measurement wrong on the Salicyclic Acid too. That much would prevent it from sticking as well as it needs to.”

With a grunt of frustration, Shuri shoved her tablet at him. “You run the simulator with your version and maybe I’ll believe you.

The boy shrugged and took the device from her. After a couple of minutes adjusting what she already had, he ran the simulator.

It came back positive.

“You were really Spiderman? I have so many questions. How did you stick to walls and the ceiling? I was so impressed with the youtube video of you catching that bus with your bare hands. How strong are you really? Screw it. I’m taking you to my lab and you’re going to show me what you can do. This is awesome. I’m Shuri, by the way. In case you didn’t know.”

“My name’s Peter. And yeah. I recognized you when you turned around.”

It didn’t take long after Shui got Peter to the lab for her to realize just how smart he was. His rambling and well-informed questions about everything in the lab proved he could definitely keep up with her to some extent.

Neither realized just how much time had passed until T’Challa called Shuri.

“Hey, Shuri, remember that important diplomatic dinner I asked you to attend?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

“It started half an hour ago.”

“Oh crap!”

“You’re still in your lab, aren’t you?”

“Sorry, Brother! I’m on my way!”

Peter watched her guiltily as she grabbed her things and dragged him out of the lab so she could lock up.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to distract you.”

“Not your fault. I enjoyed it. Meet me at that bench tomorrow at ten o’clock. You’re my new assistant.”

Peter didn’t get a chance to respond as she ran off towards the palace, trusting him to get back to the refugee camp on his own.

She was looking forward to hanging out with him again.

Chapter Text

To say Tony Stark was on a warpath would be a major understatement. Since the day Ross went after Spiderman/Peter Parker one month ago, he’d dug up every single abuse of the Sokovia Accords since the day they were passed, making countless arguments for their removal and organizing a replacement document that protected the identities of enhanced individuals and barred minors from being forced to reveal themselves or their extra abilities without consent from them, their parents or guardians, AND a UN committee focused on keeping young enhanced individuals and mutants safe from scorn.

Ross was removed from power within three days of his failed attempt at capturing Spiderman, and the new document was set to be finalized and signed into law two weeks after the vote to remove the Accords, taking place in two days now.

T’Challa was impressed.

He hadn’t missed his sister’s growing bond with Peter behind the scenes either. Since they’d met a week after Peter’s arrival in Wakanda, they’d been near inseparable with the exception of diplomatic meetings Shuri was required to attend that Peter couldn't be seen at.

Unfortunately, things were going too well. So well that the universe decided to throw a screw in it.

“My king, there’ve been explosions sighted at the refugee camp. We can’t get close enough to evacuate.”

A big screw.

It was chaos reincarnated. Explosions were going off everywhere. The exits were blocked. There was nowhere to run.

“I can make a tunnel! Get everyone in who you can!”

Cole was one of the few friends Peter had made during his time in Wakanda. Peter could barely hear him over the mayhem, but he managed to catch enough of the statement to help guide those nearby towards Cole’s tunnel opening.

Shuri scooped up one of the youngest refugees and ran towards Peter and the opening. A bomb went off a foot away from her, sending her flying.

“Shuri!” Peter raced towards where she’d landed. Burns coated her skin and she was unconscious, but she’d managed to protect the five-year-old in her arms.

Peter scooped them both up and sprinted for the tunnel. No sooner had he made it inside when there was a large crack like thunder and a landslide blocked the entrance.

A flashlight lit up the interior of the tunnel after ten minutes of darkness. Only 23 kids had made it in.

Peter looked around, realizing that, next to Shuri, he was the oldest. The tunnel shook as another bomb went off on the other side.

“We need to move.” He took charge. “We’re not out of the clear yet.”

After checking the five-year-old could walk on her own, he arranged Shuri into a piggyback-style hold and motioned Cole to lead the way.

For a while, the only sounds to be heard were from Cole reworking the earth into a walkable tunnel. Every few thousand yards, he’d make a thin, almost unnoticeable shoot leading up to the surface so they wouldn’t run out of air. His progress covered the much quieter sound of their feet pattering over the floor as they followed him. No one spoke.

After several hours of this, Cole stopped, breathing hard.

“Do you need a break?” Peter asked. Shuri had woken a while ago, but he was still carrying her due to her obvious concussion.

Cole waved away his concern, making another air shoot. “You have superhearing, yeah? Can you hear anyone above us? Is it safe to emerge? I think we’re past the Wakandan border by now.”

Peter focused, filtering out the breathing and heartbeats of those around him.

“I can hear some elephants, but that’s about it. We’re safe to emerge, but let me go first regardless. I have a sixth sense that’ll tell me if there’s danger.”

Cole arched the tunnel upward, making an opening just big enough for Peter to squeeze through. The teen leaned Shuri against the side of the tunnel and stepped outside.

The sun had set a while ago and the moon was a sliver thick. A couple of elephants glanced over from their herd crowded around a nearby pool of water. A couple of smaller animals poked their heads out too, but Peter couldn’t see any humans within a mile of their locations, despite the flat land and his enhanced vision.

“All clear!”

Cole opened the tunnel wider and the other kids filtered through, a taller girl helping Shuri, who stumbled a little due to her concussion.

“We’ll get a little away from the tunnel and set up camp.” Peter decided. “Then, we need to assess injuries and plan our next move.” His stomach grumbled, but he ignored it. He might have super metabolism that made him feel like he hadn’t eaten in three days, but everyone else was hungry too. They had no supplies to remedy that with.

“Do you think that water is safe for human consumption?” One of the boys pointed towards the elephants.

Peter looked around at the kids surrounding him, all longingly looking in that direction.

“I doubt it’s poisonous. We could get stomachaches, but we do need water. It’s better than not drinking anything at this point.”

The kids all took his word as permission and rushed over to the pond, leaving him and Shuri by the tunnel Cole had blocked off after everyone was out.

“You’re doing a good job. Leading the group, I mean.:

“How’s your head?”

“Hurts like hell, but could be worse.”

“What do you think happened to everyone else in the camp?”

“I can… my kimoyo beads are gone!”

Peter looked at her. Her eyes were wide with panic.

“They must have fallen off when that explosion threw you.” He softened his tone. “I know you’re not used to going without them, but that’s not our top priority right now. Survival is. We don’t know who blew up the camp, but we could still be in danger. We need to stay hidden and stick together. That's what we need to focus on. Food, water, shelter, medical supplies. Those are our top priorities.”

Shuri took a deep breath. “You’re right. I just… what if T’Challa finds them and thinks the worst?”

“I hate to say it, but that’ll likely happen, if it hasn’t already. There’s nothing we can do about it right now. Come on. They’re not the only ones who are thirsty right now.” He took a step forward before turning to look Shuri in the eyes. “Have faith, Shuri. We’ll be okay.”

Shuri smiled. “Yeah. We will be. I’ll follow your lead.”

They joined the others at the pond.

T’Challa was both furious and devastated.

By the time his forces were able to safely enter the camp, it was clear there were no survivors, some bodies even burnt to unrecognizable crisps.

Eleven adults and over two hundred kids and teens, all violently murdered because he failed to protect them.

As the evening wore on, it became exceedingly clear they wouldn’t be able to swiftly identify all the bodies. And there was no sign whatsoever that there was a single survivor.

It was when they were wrapping up for the night when T’Challa was struck by a fatal blow. A set of kimoyo beads had been found in the center of the camp.

And they were Shuri’s.

It had been hours since the discovery. A press conference was scheduled for ten in the morning. T’Challa had yet to get a wink of sleep and it was approaching five. Not quite sunrise, but getting close.

All he could think about was Shuri and Peter. If Shuri had been in the camp at the time of the attack, that meant Peter most definitely had been as well. The few times he’d met the boy, T’Challa had found himself impressed and charmed. He was a really sweet kid, humble and clever. It was no wonder he and Shuri had bonded faster than he could say "Spider-kid".

Crap. How was he going to tell the Avengers he’d failed to protect the one child they valued most? That that precious and endearing teenage boy was now dead?

He didn’t want to think about it, but time was creeping on and it was sunrise now. By 6:30, he’d given up on sleep and gotten up and dressed in traditional Wakandan colors of mourning.

He dined silently, alone. His mother wasn’t up yet, and he likely wouldn’t see her until the press conference.

He checked on the progress of the search for the perpetrators. They were narrowing down suspects fast. Many people involved had been located, but they had yet to identify the leader. The committee head promised to be at the press conference to report what they’d found thus far.

All too soon, it was time, and he stood in front of a crowd of reporters from at least 50 different countries.

“Last night, we bore witness to a massacre. Someone within Wakanda saw fit to bomb a refugee camp in the Golden City. Staying in the camp were 268 enhanced individuals, only eleven were over the age of 18 and only ten were elsewhere in the city at the time of the attack. Despite our best efforts, we could not evacuate or even get near the camp until the attack was over. All evidence points to no survivors. We have yet to identify all the bodies, many of which are burned beyond recognition. An investigation is underway to find those responsible, and I can promise you that the perpetrators will be shown even less mercy than the children they murdered. Less than none. My intelligence committee head will now report on what has been found so far. M’Naba?”

T’Challa stepped back to let M’Naba share the findings. After he finished speaking, it was time for questions.

“King T’Challa, why has no one heard of these refugees before now? How did they get here?”

“Due to the age of the majority of the refugees and the fact that many of them were being hunted for nothing more than simply being enhanced, we kept the program on the down-low. We worked with a variety of individuals in a number of cities around the world to get them here. It was widely believed they would be safe here in Wakanda. I have never been more upset about being wrong in my life.”

“Your highness, rumor has it your sister was in the camp at the time of the attack and no one has seen her since. If this is true, what was she doing there?”

“My sister bonded swiftly with one of the refugees. They’ve been nearly inseparable over the past few weeks. Last night, Princess Shuri’s kimoyo beads were found at the scene of the crime. We believe both she and her friend were there at the time. Her loss is devastating. She… she is one of many who died last night and I know I am not the only one in the world deeply affected by this tragedy. My sister did not deserve her fate. Nor did anyone else caught in that massacre. I will personally ensure all those involved regret their actions.”

T’Challa hoped no one noticed the tears streaming down his face. There was no hiding the fact his voice cracked multiple times while speaking of Shuri.

“We have time for one more question.” Someone said.

“If you’ve been helping minors hunted by the authorities for being enhanced do you know anything about where the vigilante Spiderman is now?”

T’Challa’s breath hitched. His mother noticed and cast him a sorrowful look before answering the question for him.

“Spiderman and Princess Shuri’s refugee friend are one and the same.”

You could hear a pin drop in that room. Or pens and clipboards. Multiple of those slipped out of reporters’ hands at the response.

T’Challa wasn’t fully aware of being led out of the room. All he could truly register was the magnitude of his failure and the fact the Avengers now knew their kid was dead.

Chapter Text

Elephant meat tasted awful and Peter was never going to eat it again.

Not that he’d wanted to eat it in the first place, but his argument of elephants being an endangered species was defeated by Cole’s argument that the elephant was already dead and Shuri’s argument that the last thing they needed was Peter passing out due to his enhanced metabolism.

He was pretty sure no one else enjoyed the experience either, but they were all hungry from fending off the lion attack and then tearing apart and cooking the elephant that was killed before they managed to chase off the pride.

Rejuvenated by the elephant meat, Peter took watch with the fourth oldest, a girl named Kayla. Cole (who was third oldest) offered to take second watch with Shuri, but Peter reminded them it would be light soon and Cole especially needed to rest with the amount of exertion he’d used that night. They could take first watch the next night.

All was quiet as they inched closer to sunrise.

Amina, the five-year-old Shuri had rescued, had decided Peter was a good pillow, so he was content to stay still while she slept on him.

“We’ll need to find somewhere to lay low.” Kayla whispered shortly after the sun peeked over the horizon. “An oasis in the middle of a safari zone definitely won’t do. Pretty sure I still have a bit of a stomachache from drinking that water too.”

Peter hummed. “Start waking the others, but not those eight or under. We can carry them and they definitely need more sleep after last night. The rest of us can make do.”

They walked for hours. The few times they came across other people, Shuri pretended to be giving a walking tour. A couple actual tour guides got suspicious, but the tourists always ended up asking questions that allowed the group to slip away.

Peter wasn’t sure when they’d decided to circumvent any and all villages they came across. At one point, it became clear they were headed south.

On Night Three, he, Shuri, Kayla, and Cole made a plan. They were already going south. In a day or two, they’d hit Nairobi, the capital and most populous city of Kenya. There, they’d be able to blend in with the crowds and obtain a better source of food and water. Peter was the only one yet to vomit from the water they’d been drinking, and that was only due to his healing abilities and metabolism working in tandem to prevent infection. Even Shuri had vomited at one point. The Golden City had long had access to clean water, and it wasn’t like they could go into any towns and buy water.

Another bonus of going to the capital was the fact they’d be able to monitor world news there. They could get updates on the Accords and finally find out what happened in Wakanda after they fled.

Night Three was also the night the group officially and unanimously voted Peter the leader.

When he protested Shuri would be a better fit, the older girl looked him dead in the eyes and said, “I’m a scientist, Peter. I’m not a leader. Besides, you are someone everyone can trust. We all know of Spiderman. You have made it exceedingly clear exactly what you stand for.

At that, Peter swallowed down his protests and resigned himself to the responsibility. By the time the sun rose, he’d come up with a dozen ways to prove to the others they’d made the right choice and two dozen ideas to ensure the safety of the entire group.

They reached the outskirts of Nairobi by nightfall the next night.

Under the cover of darkness, it was easy to find an abandoned location large enough to fit them where no one was currently squatting. No one noticed them before they did, at least.

Once they were settled, Peter went out, claiming he had an idea for a first step and thought it better to do so before daybreak.

It took an hour for him to find an ATM connected to the right bank. He got straight to work once he did.

Within another hour, he had the maximum amount of cash he could take out without an alert being sent to Friday and both his parents on hand. He’d used Dad’s code and been careful about cameras, so he should be fine.

Satisfied with the results of his endeavor, he started back to the others.

A discarded newspaper caught his eye. The headline said “Wakanda’s Protection Failure” and the logline under the main headline said “Everything we know about the Enhanced Camp Massacre so far”.

He picked it up and skimmed the article, horror growing slowly as he read it. He recalled that there had been a total of 268 refugees living in that camp along with 12 volunteer caregivers. According to the article, 243 bodies had been identified. 10 refugees and 5 caregivers had apparently been elsewhere in the city. 3 of the aforementioned caregivers had been involved in the massacre while 1 had been sick and another had rather fortunately taken the day off to care for her hospitalized daughter. 23 total individuals were unaccounted for, including Princess Shuri.

Peter took a moment to collect himself. The numbers added up perfectly to paint a sickening picture. The only ones who were present at the time of the attack and were still alive were the ones who made it into Cole’s tunnel.

He looked over the rest of the details. The Wakandans were still sifting through the rubble in hopes of finding the remaining bodies. They did not think there was a chance those unaccounted for made it out alive, the head perpetrator was still unidentified and believed at large. New York’s Spiderman was believed to have died in the massacre, but remained unaccounted for…

Wait! What?!

He gulped and reread that line. When had it been revealed he’d gone to Wakanda?!

“Hey! Kid!”

Peter looked up with a start. He’d been so focused on the news article, he hadn’t noticed the sun beginning to peek over the horizon or the lady arriving to open the shop nearest to where he was standing.

“Oh! I didn’t notice the time! Crap! I’m going to be late for work! On my first day too…” With that excuse, he bolted, not stopping until he reached their group’s new hideaway.

Shuri scowled at him when he arrived. She and Cole were currently on lookout duty.

“Where the hell have you been?”

“I was pulling money from an emergency fund without my parents’ knowledge. Then, I kind of got distracted.”

“You got money?” Cole said.

“Distracted by what?” Shuri demanded at the same moment.

Peter responded by handing the bag of money to Cole and the newspaper to Shuri.

“This is a lot of money! How did you get so much without your parents getting an alert?”

Peter shrugged. “I’m able to pull up to three thousand US dollars or their international equivalent from certain ATMs without it sending a confirmation or alert by using a specific code. I pulled two thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine.”

“That should last us a while. Cole, why don’t you take that inside. Tell the others the good news.” Cole recognized Shuri’s dismissal for what it was, but accepted after a moment that the two eldest needed to talk privately.

Once he was gone, Shuri turned to Peter.

“I don’t like this, Peter. With the perpetrator still at large and us the only true survivors…”

“We need to be careful.” Peter agreed. “Stay Hidden. Groups of no less than three.”

She grimaced. “I feel bad for my brother. Not only is he likely taking the bulk of the hit from this, but he also thinks I’m dead. And it’s too dangerous to tell him otherwise.”

Peter reached out and squeezed her hand gently. “I doubt he’s the only one suffering from guilt and loss. Nat and the other Rogue Avengers were also involved in getting the refugees to Wakanda. We’ve just got to make the best of a bad situation. We’re alive. We’ve got each other. None of us are too badly injured. We’ll be okay. All we’ve got to do is lay low until the Accords are sorted out and the guy who organized the massacre is caught. We’ll manage.”

Shuri bit her lip slightly. “I hope you’re right, Peter. I really hope you’re right.”

T’Challa was getting frustrated. 

It was bordering on a month since the massacre. They had finally figured out who led the attack, just to discover the perpetrator and his cronies had already left the country.

They’d lost their trail in less than a day.

The only good news available was that the Sokovia Accords had successfully been replaced with the Enhanced Individual Protection and Coordination Act, or EIPACA.

Not that its head activist and author would speak more than two words to him anymore.

It wasn’t something he blamed Tony for. After all, Tony’s son had been murdered under T’Challa’s care. He just wished it could be recognized that T’Challa was in mourning too.

It took nerve to mention either Shuri or Peter by name in his vicinity. Only his mother and Nakia had dared and the latter had ended up thrown out of his suite shortly after.

He’d apologized for his reaction later, but she never spoke of Shuri again.

“My king, I must speak to you about an alleged sighting in Kenya.” M’Naba said.

“An alleged sighting of K’Ella?”

“Not quite.” M’Naba placed down a low-quality image. “We tried to up the resolution, but the phone model used to take it was very outdated.”

T’Challa examined the image, making out the faces of two children under the age of ten.

“What am I looking at?” T’Challa asked as M’Naba pulled out two more images, this time much higher resolution.

“Two weeks ago, we released images of the unaccounted for refugees. Your mother authorized it as there is no sign of them still. Two hours ago, this image was sent to the hotline we set up for tips. The photographer believes these two children, who were purchasing a ton of food from the nearby convenience store, are refugees from our camp.”

T’Challa inhaled sharply. It wasn’t a possibility he wanted to consider. He glanced at the other two images, taken upon the refugees’ arrival to Wakanda.

“Kyle Amore and Sarah Smith. 9 and 7. Both unaccounted for after the camp was bombed.”

“It’s a coincidence. Don’t show me anything like this again.”

“My king…”

“Don’t!” T’Challa stood and stormed out of the room. In the privacy of his quarters, his façade fell.

He wept.

Chapter Text

It had been almost two months since the massacre, over one since EIPACA had been passed, but the perpetrator of the massacre was still out there, stirring up trouble.

They’d moved hideouts twice and, despite another sneaky withdrawal on Peter’s part, using his mother’s code this time, they were running low on supplies and money.

Several of the kids reported feeling watched or being followed in town. Others were feeling agitated at their “in limbo” status.

All this left Peter in a very awkward and tense position. 

They’d decided early on not to truly show themselves until the perpetrator was caught. This choice was compounded by the fact 4/10s of the enhanced kids who hadn’t been at the camp during the massacre had been found murdered before the remaining 6 were moved to a secure location outside of Wakanda. To add insult to injury, that plane was shot down over Libya and only 3 kids had survived, just to be killed later that night in a high profile hotel.

Add in all the Anti-Enhanced riots happening worldwide and yeah. It really wasn’t safe for them to come out at the moment.

Peter was pretty sure the other group leaders were in agreement with him, which was probably why Shuri caught him so off guard.

“I think we should contact the Avengers and my brother.”

Peter whirled around. “What?!”

“They can protect us. All of us. And then they wouldn’t be in mourning anymore.”

“Shuri, there is no way we can communicate with them without alerting the entire world! I thought we had agreed to lay low! Didn’t you hear what happened to those kids in Libya?!”

“My brother won’t make the same mistake twice.”

“That’s beside the point! This guy is determined to wipe us all out! We won’t so much as make it to them before we’re attacked! We’re better off laying low! If they don’t know where we are, if nobody knows where we are, we stand a better chance of staying away from the guys who want to kill us!”

“Or maybe you’re just selfish!”

Peter gaped at her, flabbergasted. “What?”

“Yeah! That’s it! You like being in charge so you’re keeping us all from safety so you feel good about yourself!”

“What?! Shuri! I would never…”

“Well I’m done! I’m going home and your stupid selfish ass can’t stop me!”

“Shuri, wait!” He reached for her and she stormed for the door.

“Screw you, Peter Stark. I hope I never see your stupid face again!”

And then she was gone.

Peter’s knees buckled. He faintly heard Cole next to him, saying she didn’t mean it and she was just frustrated, but it went in one ear and out the other.

Finally, after many, many shaky breaths, he refocused on those around him.

“Pack what you can. We… we need to move locations.” He looked at the door. “It’s not safe here anymore.”

“She’ll be back.” Cole said. “Once she cools off.”

“I know, but we should probably move anyway. If she doesn’t return in the next few hours…” He swallowed hard. “Then we’ll have to leave without her.”

Shuri regretted what she’d said to Peter. She hadn’t meant it, not really, but she needed to get home before…

Before her nightmare from the previous night came true.

She blinked back tears. She couldn’t let T’Challa keep suffering. It wasn’t fair to him. Or to their mother either.

Maybe she could just leave him a voicemail? Say she and Peter were alive with a few others? He might not believe her, but she’d at least be able to say she tried.

“Sir, do you know where I could make an international collect call?” She asked a man she’d seen wandering the area she was in for the past few weeks.

“Whatever for?” The man asked, visually examining her.

“It’s just, I need to call my brother. He’s probably really worried and I need to tell him I’m okay. I’m with a friend, and he’s been keeping me safe. So do you know where…?”

“I see. You can borrow my phone. I don’t mind.” The man handed her a flip phone.

“Thank you so much.” Why was she getting a bad vibe from him? He was so nice.

She flipped open the phone and started typing in the number.

“Um… sir? Your phone’s not…”

A hand clamped over her mouth, opposite arm pinning her. She was dragged backward into an alley, out of clear sight.

Her gaze ricocheted until her eyes landed on Lilac. The 8-year-old looked panicked. Shuri tried to communicate that she needed to get help as her brain fuzzed in tandem with something pricking her skin.

She blinked slowly, and Lilac was gone. As her eyelids drooped, her mind drifted to the fight. 

Her last thought?

“Peter was right”

Chapter Text

“Peter!” Peter looked up at Lilac’s shout. She burst through the door, Kyle and Sam close behind.

“Oh good. You’re back. We need to…”

“They took her!”

Peter froze. “Took who?”

“Shuri! The bad guys took Shuri!”

“The bad…” Peter’s skin turned pale as porcelain.

“Are you certain it was them?” Cole asked.

“That symbol in the newspaper. The anti-enhanced one said to be connected to the guy responsible for the massacre and his new terrorist group? I saw it on the van they took her in.” Kyle said.

“There were like, ten of them. They seemed like they were planning to keep her alive, and we knew if we tried to help, they’d just grab us too, and they might not be as eager to keep us alive so…” Lilac swallowed down tears. “We… help her.”

Peter took a deep breath and knelt to Lilac’s height, putting his hands on her shoulders.

“You did the right thing. Nothing good would have come of you three trying to help her yourselves. Let me, Kayla, and Cole handle this. We’ll save her. I promise.”

He stood and turned to his two assistant leaders (Shuri had been a third, but he didn’t want to think about that right now).

“What do we do?” Kayla asked. “You’re the only one who stands a chance against them, and by yourself…”

“I’ve got an idea. But we need to find her first.”

“Peter?” Amina wiggled into the huddle. “I can find Shuri.”

“What? How?”

“I’m a finder! I can find anyone I want!” Amina grinned up at him proudly.

“We never really took note of everyone’s enhancements.” Kayla mentioned. “Amina, are you saying finding people is yours?”

Amina bobbed her head. “Only alive people though. That’s why Mommy said I couldn’t find Daddy. Shuri’s a big distance.”

Peter nodded gruffly, almost hating what he was about to ask.

“Does anyone here know how to hotwire a car?”

“I do.” Kayla said, echoed by several younger kids.

“Right. Cole, you’re in charge. Change locations like we were planning as soon as it’s dark. Do not let anyone see you. Everyone listen to Cole until Kayla, Amina and I return. Stay safe.” He got a variety of acknowledgements and affirmations.

Nodding to Cole, he led Kayla and Amina out,double-checking briefly that a very important card still sat safely in his pocket.

Zigzagging into a busy, touristy part of town, he pickpocketed the first rich-looking person he came across for their phone. A few checks with Amina led them to the outskirts of Nairobi in the direction Shuri had been taken.

A television showing the news nearby caught their attention just as the broadcast was taken over.

“Hello citizens of the world!” Kaula and Amina inhaled sharply. They all recognized the face that had just appeared on the screen. “I’m sure wondering the reason for this announcement. You see, the last couple months, I’ve had the pleasurable company of a very special guest. I felt it best to bide my time before revealing that fact. Figured she’d be of use later on. And I was right! I have the perfect use for her now. My benevolent organization has been declared a terrorist group. Nothing is further from the truth. So here’s my deal. Either the UN removes us from their terrorist group roster and officially recognizes us as the charitable company we are, or Miss Wakandan princess here dies.”

The camera swiveled to show two masked men holding a clearly drugged, semi-conscious, beaten nearly to a pulp Shuri by the upper arms.

“You have 24 hours! And believe me when I say I have other targets in mind for if you fail to comply. Chop chop!”

The screen went dead.

“Yo! SM!” Peter spun around to see Kayla arms deep in the controls of a nearby car. “Hurry up!”

He scurried into the passenger seat just as the car spluttered to life.

Kayla sat up. “Yeah. No. Switch with me. I can’t reach the pedals. Nor do I have any clue how to drive.”

“Hey!” A woman ran towards them shouting just as they were done switching seats.

After a quick glance to ensure Amina was in the backseat, Peter switched gears and, with a quick warning of “Hold tight!”, hit the gas.

The car shot off, quickly leaving its owner in the dust.

“You’re a terrible driver!” Kayla squeaked not 10 minutes later, holding onto her seat and looking quite green.

“I’m 15!” Peter replied. “I don’t even have my permit yet!”

“Can’t you get a permit at 15?”

“Not in New York City!”

“Left there!” Amina piped up.

Peter spun the wheel, not even slowly down.

“You slow down before turning!”

“Do you want to drive?”

“I can’t reach the pedals.”

“Then stop complaining.”

“I think I’m gonna puke.”

“Would it help you to sit on my lap and take the wheel while I work the pedals?”

“I know that was sarcasm, but it actually might.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Do it. Tell me when you need me to slow down or speed up.”

From there, they got into a rhythm with Kayla steering the car while Peter worked the pedals.

Per Peter’s instructions, Amina informed them when they were approximately half a mile from their destination.

It took them a good two hours to get there and the sun was almost completely below the horizon.

Kayla yelped as the car came to a halt.

“You slow down! You don’t stop short!”

Peter snorted. “I know that much. I was messing with you.”

He put the car in park.

Kayla and Amina got out first. Peter stumbled a little as he followed.

“Gah. My legs are asleep. Thanks a lot, Kayla.”

“If you’d driven any longer, it likely would have been worse.”

“Rude. I’m a great driver.”

“No you’re not.”

“Ha! Even Amina agrees with me!”

“Betrayal! I’ll remember this, Little Miss!”

The giggles tapered off after a minute, and Peter squared his shoulders.

“Time to be serious.” He pulled out the stolen cell phone, ensuring it still had service. “Okay. Here’s the plan. Nat… well Black Widow as you know her… She gave me a one-time-use number for emergencies. When we get close enough, we’re going to call it. Kayla, you do the talking. She’d recognize my voice immediately. She’s going to ask questions. You need to call all those answers irrelevant and steer the conversation back to the topic at hand. You know where the princess is, and you need her to track the phone and perform the rescue.”

“We’re not rescuing Shuri ourselves?”

“As much as I want to, we need to be realistic. The three of us don’t stand a chance against the many full-grown adults in that building. Furthermore, I refuse to risk you, and I especially refuse to risk Amina, on the off chance we might be able to save Shuri ourselves. Once it’s clear Nat’s got the location, I’ll place the phone on the roof of the building Shur’s being kept in. We’ll retreat far enough that we’ll be able to see the Wakandans and Avengers arrive without them noticing us and wait. Once they’re here, it’s back to the car, and back to Nairobi. Oh! And don’t hang up the phone when you hand it to me.”

“Will Shuri be okay?” Amina asked.

“I can’t make promises, but this is our, and her, best shot. Shuri’s a princess and she’s not enhanced. She’ll be okay returning to Wakanda. It’s what she wants anyway.” The last sentence was under his breath, but the look on Kayla’s face proved she, at least, had heard it anyway.

“Let’s go.”

Chapter Text

T’Challa wasn’t panicking. All his technicians were working on this, he still had over 21 hours left, and Shuri was still alive.

For now.

After two plus months of torture and captivity he hadn’t known about or even considered a possibility.

He was a terrible older brother and the statement he wasn’t panicking was complete bullshit.

“Anything?”

“Nothing, my king. The signal was carefully concealed against both average and Wakandan signal-tracing technology.”

He turned to Natasha and Bucky, who were looking over the feed for clues.

“On your end?”

“It’s underground, but no further clues.” Bucky reported.

“Spiderpig, Spiderpig. Does whatever a spiderpig does…”

Everyone looked around, eyes landing on Natasha, who was digging for her phone.

“Don’t ask.” Natasha said. “Hello?”

“ Hi. Is this Miss Black Widow? ”

T’Challa noticed she’d put the phone on speaker mode.

“Who are you and how did you get this number?”

The caller took a deep breath. “ That’s irrelevant, ma’am. What matters is that I know where the princess is and I need you to track this call and rescue her .”

A beat of silence as they took that in.

“How did you find her?”

“ Well I… ” There was a noise in the background. “ I have my ways. Which are irrelevant right now. I need you to track the call and rescue her .”

“Why can’t you?”

That clearly caught her off guard. “ I… cuz I’m 14 and no match against… mmph. ”

They looked at each other.

“ I mean, that’s irrelevant. Please come rescue our friend. ”

Murmuring in the background.

“ Shut up! You try keeping your cool towards Black Widow! Don’t look at me like that! And you need to stop laughing! ”

More murmurs.

“ Uh… Please just come rescue her. She needs help and we… we can’t… ”

“Sir! We’ve got the location!” One of the techs said.

“We’re on our way. Stay on the line.” Natasha said.

The caller breathed out in relief. “ Thank god. I mean, thank you. I mean… ”

The voice in the background sounded more frantic now.

“ What?! ”

There were background sounds, but no more speaking as they swiftly gathered a rescue team and boarded a couple Dragon flyers.

They were almost there when speech came over the line once more.

“Well damn you for losing them! Just make sure nobody gets the damn princess while I chase after them with some actually competent men!”

T’Challa inhaled sharply. The voice was clearly recognizable as K’Ella’s.

They got Shuri out easily upon arrival approximately five minutes later.

She was drugged and unaware of her surroundings, leading her to ineffectively struggle against T’Challa.

The goons tried to stop them, but were no match against the Dora Milaje, two former assassins, and a very angry older brother.

T’Challa gave orders to track down K’Ella and those who’d gone with him, judging they couldn’t have gone too far.

He left Natasha and Bucky to coordinate with Kenyan and international authorities while he took Shuri home.

He had a lot to make up for, and he hoped his sister would forgive him for his tardiness eventually.

Chapter Text

Shuri bolted upright, inhaling sharply as she took in her semi-familiar surroundings.

Where was she? The last thing she remembered was that man grabbing her, and Lilac…

Oh Bast. Lilac had to be okay! And Peter… she really needed to apologize to him.

First to figure out where she was.

She leaped off the surface she’d been laying on and promptly fell as the covers wrapped around her.

Wait. Covers?

She took another look around. She was in the med bay of the palace in Wakanda.

She was in Wakanda.

How had she gotten here?

The door opened just as she finished untangling herself. Her doctor came in, T’Challa close behind.

The man looked like a wreck and Shuri felt a stab of guilt knowing she was partially responsible for his pain in the past couple of months.

“Princess, it’s good to see you awake. We’ve been a little worried about how long those drugs were affecting you. We flushed them out as quickly as we could once your brother got you back here, but the time frame is still something to worry about. Can you tell me what you remember about your captivity?

“My captivity?” She knew her tone conveyed her utter confusion.

“Today is July 3rd, 2017. You’ve been gone, held captive, since April 30th.” The doctor filled in.

That answered how long she’d been out. She’d been grabbed midday on the 1st. Plenty of time to be ransomed off and brought back to Wakanda.

“Shuri, we need to know what K’Ella did to you. Were you drugged the entire time?”

“It seems so.” Shuri didn’t know what her brother was thinking, but there had to be a misunderstanding somewhere.

T’Challa took a deep breath, pinching between his eyes. He indicated Shuri should sit back on the bed.

The doctor performed a swift checkup before murmuring something about finding Shuri’s kimoyo beads and leaving them.

T’Challa sat next to her sister. “I’m going to catch you up on what happened. Please don’t interrupt.”

Shuri nodded, knowing his ideas on what happened could help clarify for her what actually happened.

“Two months ago, there was an attack on the camp of enhanced refugees. Where Peter was staying.”

She knew that already. Everyone knew that. Why was he telling her?

“There were no survivors and… your kimoyo beads were found among the rubble. We thought you’d died with everyone else. Then, two days ago, we found out you were wrong. K’Ella, the man behind the massacre, had abducted you and placed your kimoyo beads there to cover his tracks.”

That wasn’t what had happened. She’d been at the camp. She’d survived.

“Two days ago, he sent out a broadcast on the airwaves. Wanted his terrorist group redefined as a charity organization in exchange for your life. Less than three hours later, Black Widow got a strange call that led us to you. We got you out, but K’Ella and a few others went after the caller. They’re somewhere in Kenya but we don’t know where. The hideout was closest to Nakuru, so we’ve been combing the area there. We’ve placed squads in other major areas nearby, but haven’t found him yet.” He took a deep breath. “Shuri, do you have any idea where they might have gone?”

“Do you… who called Black Widow?”

T’Challa played a recording of the call.

Wow. Kayla was surprisingly bad at limiting what could be drawn from her speech. She seriously stated her age? That was definitely Peter in the background.

Then, the audio reached the part about K’Ella going after them, and Shuri paled.

“Nairobi.” She murmured.

“Nairobi?”

“It’s the biggest city in Kenya. A good place to lay low.”

“You think K’Ella went there?”

“If he was following the caller, yes.”

T’Challa nodded and stood. “I’ll take care of it. Stay here and heal.”

Shuri schooled her expression so as not to show that that was the last thing she intended on doing. Fortunately, T’Challa wasn’t paying attention and left soon after the doctor had given her her kimoyo beads back.

She counted to 60 once they were gone before making her way to where they kept the Royal Talon Fighter.

She had just finished concealing herself when she heard her brother’s voice.

“Thank you, Nakia. Let me know if she gives you any trouble. Tony, I know why you’re here. You want to get at K’Ella? Come on. We’re leaving now.”

“Nairobi?” And that was Tony Stark. Crap. This wouldn’t end well.

“Yes. I suppose someone’s meeting us there?”

“Rhodey, Wilson, and Rogers are on their way in the Quinjet. They request we save a few hits for them.”

Shuri successfully avoided attention the entire ride. She had just slipped out after them when Nakia called T’Challa.

“Not there? Where could she have gone?”

Tony Stark’s eyes met Shuri’s. “Uh. T’Challa?”

“Just a minute. Did you check her lab? You didn’t tell her about Peter, did you? I know I hadn’t told her he was probably in the camp, but…”

“T’Challa.”

Shuri took advantage and ran off, basking in the curses Stark let out as T’Challa continued ignoring him.

“T’Challa! We’re about to lose sight of your sister!”

“What?”

Too late. Shuri felt smug as she wove through the alleyways, heading for a shop she knew had often given them food.

A faint explosion caught her attention and she spun, eyes landing on smoke billowing from the direction of their very first hideout.

Smart to go back to a previous spot. Reverse logic and all that. But explosions?

She ran for it.

About a block away from her destination, she found Lilac, Stevie, Kyle, Amina, and Sammy in a huddle.

“Shuri!” Lilac cried, leaping at her for a hug.

Shuri turned to Sammy, the oldest of the five kids at the age of 12.

“What happened?”

“The bad guys found us. Peter told us to run and hide in two groups of five while he held them off. We haven’t heard from Cole and Kayla’s group since yesterday. I think the other group of us went for them, but Peter…” Sammy blubbered.

“Where is he?” Sammy shook her head at Shuri’s question.

Amina pointed towards the smoke, flames now high enough to be seen.

“He’s still in there.” Shuri bit back a curse and shrugged off Lilac. “Stay here.”

“Shuri, no! Don’t go in there!” Lilac called after her.

It was no use. Shuri was already analyzing the best way to enter with her tech, pausing no more than five seconds before entering the burning building.

The warehouse wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t tiny either, it had two floors at least 15 feet in height each. The building itself reached an estimated 40 feet high and was about 3000 sq feet on the ground floor.

Navigating the burning debris was terrifying, but Shuri didn’t let herself dwell on it. Her beads allowed her to find Peter quickly, but the area behind her collapsed just before she got to him.

“Not going back that way.” She let out a cough and plowed forward. She couldn’t see Peter, but his signature showed he should be nearby.

Rounding some debris, her eyes landed on him, and man was he a wreck. Ash from the fire mixed with blood from two distinct gunshot wounds, one in his right shoulder and one in his left leg. He looked dirty, but much, much more worrisome was his lack of movement and shallow breathing.

“Peter!” She could barely hear her own voice over the crackling flames.

She climbed over some debris separating them and shook him roughly.

A few coughs and then a murmur she figured was probably her name. Peter cracked his eyes open.

“Come on. We need to get out of here.”

She hefted him into a more upright position, intending to get him on his feet, but froze when the movement brought fresh waves of blood from his wounds.

Peter moaned.

She didn’t have any medical-type beads to staunch the bleeding. That meant they’d have to do this the old-fashioned way.

She tore a strip of her shirt and wrapped it around her hand before grabbing a small piece of metal nearby.

“Really sorry about this.” She touched the metal briefly to each wound, wincing internally when Peter yelped, but it was done.

She pulled him to his feet, successfully this time. The ceiling creaked dangerously above them.

Shuri cursed when she recognized there wasn’t a safe way to go. Gulping, she pulled up a scan of the building’s structure she’d taken on her way in. She wasn’t going to die in there and neither was Peter. Not if she had anything to say about it.

She pulled him towards the set of walls closest to the outside.

A rock thrown strategically moments before they got there allowed her to plow through unharmed as the wall fell, Peter just barely managing to stay with her.

The hallway they were in had a door out, but it was blocked by debris.

Her deep breath to ready herself proved counterproductive as a coughing fit nearly caused her to lose her grip on Peter.

More of the structure collapsed behind them. If they stayed any longer, they’d be crushed.

She scanned the debris blocking the doorway. A small patch of burning wall just above where the door had been might just be weak enough to push through if she used enough force.

She clutched Peter around the chest, dragging him as she climbed quickly, silently thanking the spider that had changed his bone structure to be lighter.

She tested the patch of wall. The area above would give way the moment she pushed, but there wasn’t time to find another way.

She couldn’t even hear Peter wheezing anymore, and she was getting lightheaded herself.

Rearing back and tightening her grip on Peter, she counted down from three and then lunged, throwing herself and Peter through the wall.

They hit the street hard, and she blacked out as what was left of the hideout crumbled down behind them.

She came to moments later to the sound of orders being barked in Swahili.

Her eyelids fluttered as she was lifted onto a gurney, oxygen mask pressed to her face, but she couldn’t get them open.

“Peter…” She whimpered.

“Easy, princess. The doctors have him. Your brother ensured only doctors he truly trusted came. Your friend’s in good hands.”

“The… the others…”

“A little banged up, but more worried than injured. The Avengers are personally ensuring their safety. K’Ella and his crew were caught shortly after setting off the explosions. They’re in custody.”

Shuri tried to place the voice. Not a doctor. A male. Not her brother or Tony Stark…

Her head hurt. Did it really matter who was speaking so long as she could tell they were clearly an ally?

“Safe to sleep?” She mumbled, because she should be worried about that, right?

Another voice, this one clearly identifiable as a doctor, said, “Go ahead. You’re stable.”

Shuri slipped into oblivion.

Chapter Text

“A bystander took the following recording at the time of discovery. Captions have been added to translate the Swahili lines. We warn those faint of heart to look away.” 

T’Challa swallowed. A bystander had decided to take a video starting just after the bomb exploded. It was the only recording of the events as they’d happened rather than after. With his efforts concentrated on getting Peter and Shuri the medical help they needed, ensuring the survivors (because there were actual survivors!) were transported safely to the Avengers compound, and keeping Tony and Pepper Stark sane, he hadn’t had the chance to view the footage yet.

Peter was still in bad condition, including a medically induced coma, but the doctors predicted he’d make it, and his parents were finally by his side. With the confirmation of the survivors’ safe arrival in America, he’d gone to check on Shuri, who had asked to see the news about what had happened.

A male teen started speaking in Swahili. “ So listen up everyone! There was this huge explosion next door a minute or two after these really sketchy looking dudes exited. Stuff like this doesn’t really happen around here, so we’re going to see if anything else happens as a res-...”

 The next bit was in English. “Shuri, no! Don’t go in there!”

The video swiveled to catch Shuri entering the building.

Five other kids appeared shortly after. One girl grabbed the arm of another, younger girl.

“ Don’t you dare, Lilac!”

“But she…”

“I know, but we can’t risk getting trapped in there too. Shuri’s smart. She’ll make it out. Peter too.”

“And if they don’t?” A young boy sobbed.

“Then Cole will be in charge.”

“Kyle!”

“I mean. Don’t worry, Stevie. They’ll be fine. ”

Stevie glared at him, clearly knowing Kyle didn’t actually believe his own words.

“ What the hell? ” The videographer’s friend whispered in Swahili.

The camera wavered at the sound of a collapse. The five kids flinched, the younger sobbing into the arms of the older.

A group ran over, joining the five.

“ Holy shit. How many are there? ” The videographic whispered.

T’Challa counted 16 new arrivals. All of the survivors except Peter and Shuri.

“ They caught the bad guys! It’s going to be…”

A guy shushed the girl who’d spoken. “ This isn’t everyone. Sammy, where’s Peter? ”

Sammy gulped and pointed, causing the guy to curse. Another collapse prevented him from entering and Sammy’s words from being caught by the camera.

“ How long have they been in there?”

“Him? The whole time. Her…?” Sammy took a shaky breath. “ Five to ten minutes, maybe? ”

Another collapse took down most of the warehouse. T’Challa saw himself and Tony Stark arrive and quickly take control.

Barely a minute later, the camera caught Shuri busting her way out, Peter clutched tightly to her chest, building fully reduced to rubble in her wake.

T’Challa didn’t need to video to remember what happened next. 

Shuri was out cold when she hit the ground, but woke quickly, Peter’s name the first syllables out of her mouth.

Tony had managed to resuscitate his son with CPR by then, but the couple minutes before the medical team arrived still felt too long. Fortunately, T’Challa had called them as soon as he saw the flames, so they were already on their way.

They’d rushed back to Wakanda with the two injured teens, entrusting the remainder of the kids to James Rhodes, Sam Wilson, and Steve Rogers. They’d left a couple doctors to look over the other kids as well, suspecting amateurly treated wounds from the attack on the camp.

“You’re sure the others are okay?” Shuri asked, dragging T’Challa’s mind back to the present moment.

“As I told you when I walked in, I received confirmation the others have safely arrived at the Avengers Compound.”

“But are they okay ?”

Oh. Different connotation there. 

T’Challa thought about it for a minute.

“I’m sure they’re a little traumatized and worried about you two, but they’ll be okay in the long run. Just focus on healing. We can go visit them once you and Peter are cleared.”

Shuri looked at her lap with a grimace. “How’s Peter?”

“His healing abilities are remarkable. The doctors suspect they can ease the sedatives by tomorrow.” T’Challa paused. “One thing isn’t clear to me. How did you know where to find them? You were drugged for your whole captivity.”

“T’Challa, my ‘captivity’ wasn’t as long as you seem to think it was.” Shuri said. “I was taken on the first. Before that… well, we were laying low in Nairobi for a while. I predicted Peter wouldn’t have been able to get everyone out to another city on such short notice.”

T’Challa’s eyes widened. “You… but it can’t be…”

“I’m honestly surprised you haven’t asked how we all got out yet. And it’s not like my scars from the explosions are fully gone.”

Scars. T’Challa hadn’t noticed them when he first got her back, but now he realized there were some older burn marks across Shuri’s skin. “So you really were in the camp when the massacre happened. I thought… when K’Ella said he had you…”

“You thought he’d had me the entire time.” Shuri filled in the blank. “Well, he didn’t. And you don’t have to worry about the tunnel. Cole collapsed it, and there’s no way anyone will be able to excavate that far without being caught.”

A tunnel. They had made and traveled through a tunnel. That was how they’d escaped. But then why…?

“Why didn’t more kids get out?”

A flicker of sadness crossed Shuri’s face. “The entrance caved in quickly from the explosions, and Cole couldn’t reopen it without risking those of us who’d managed to get through the opening in time. I don’t really remember that part. I’d passed out grabbing Amina. We wouldn’t have made it if Peter hadn’t grabbed the both of us.”

A chill ran down T’Challa’s back as he realized what he’d thought to be reality really could have been. One of those bodies could have been Shuri.

He didn’t want to think about it. It looks like he owed Peter big time for saving his sister.

“I want to say I returned the favor saving him from the fire, but…” Shuri trailed off and squeezed her blankets. “I’m the one who gave away our location. The fire wouldn’t have happened if I’d just listened to Peter. We chose him to lead for a reason. And I…” She swallowed hard and a tear leaked down her cheek. “I called him selfish. I accused him of hiding us to make himself feel more important. But none of that was true and… I just hope I’ll get the chance to apologize.”

T’Challa pulled her into his arms, careful of her injuries. “People say things they don’t mean when emotions are running high. I’m sure Peter knows you didn’t mean it. He’s probably already forgiven you.”

Shuri’s lips quirked up into a sad smile. “Yeah. He probably has. But I need to apologize anyway.”

T’Challa tightened his hug briefly. “You’ll get your chance. He’s a fighter.”

“I know.” She looked up at him. “Oh Bast, I know.”