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“Hermione, what the hell am I looking at right now?” T’Challa asked, shaking his head in disbelief. “I… I have no words.”
“Okay, I know it looks rough,” Hermione said, grimacing. Truthfully, the Flying Ford Angelia had certainly seen better days. Even after Arthur tried fixing it up, it still was a piece of work.
“Hermione?” T’Challa pressed.
“She cleared her throat. “This is the Flying Ford Angelia,” she announced, waving her hands as if she were revealing a magic trick.
T’Challa looked at her. He shook his head. “That’s it, you’ve lost it.”
She huffed. “Listen, I know it doesn’t look much, but I’ve made some tweaks and adjustments with Shuri’s help, and it should work now.”
“Work for what?”
“Time travel,” she answered matter-of-factly. She sighed. “T’Challa, we have to go back. If we can grab the stones before Thanos starts to collect them, we have a chance of this stopping before…” She shook her head, her eyes full of fear. Thanos was close to getting all the stones. She knew that hiding in Wakanda wasn’t the answer.
“You want me to go back in time with you?”
She nodded. “There’s no one else I’d rather do it with.”
T’Challa laughed, his throaty chuckle sending a caress down her spine. “Hermione, no one else would even consider it.”
Hermione frowned at his words. “Listen, between my magic and Shuri’s technology, it’s perfectly safe. I’ve tested it across small distances, and I’ve-”
“You’ve what?” he snapped angrily, his gaze roaming hers. “Hermione, how could you do something so reckless?”
“Why do you care?” She snapped back at him, feeling frustrated. “We have to stop Thanos.”
“How does that make it okay?” He shook his head angrily. “You could have died,” he countered, moving closer to her. He reached out to her, but he dropped his hand.
Hermione swallowed the lump in her throat. “Any of us can die at any minute… That’s why we have to do this.” She peered up at T’Challa, wondering if this was going to be the moment he admitted his feelings to her. Would he finally share that he felt more than friendship towards her? The two of them had been dancing around each other for months, always bantering back and forth, but it never went further.
T’Challa took a deep breath. “I worry for you,” he said softly, shaking his head. “But if the Brightest Witch of Her Age and the Genius Princess of Wakanda are confident in this… car contraption, then we’ll do it.”
She tried to hide her disappointment at his words. It looked like he was going to hide behind his words today. “Okay,” she said after a moment.
“I can be packed and ready to go in an hour,” T’Challa said. “Does that work, Hermione?”
She nodded. “I’m ready when you are, T’Challa.” Looking at the car, she knew that it would safely carry them back in time.
“Then let’s save the world.” He gave her should a light squeeze before he walked away.
She hated that it always felt like he took a piece of her heart with him when he did so.