Legacy ~ p. maximoff

A sharp, mechanical whirr sliced through the hum of the lab, drawing both mine and Shuri's attention to the med-bay monitors. The diagnostic interface pulsed red for a second before shifting to a steady green—Ross was waking up. Shuri straightened from the console, her hands still coated in the faint shimmer of vibranium dust, while I turn to the recovery bed, heart already bracing for the questions that were to come.

I see Ross emerge as Shuri still works, his gaze turning to us.

"All right, where am I?" His voice was sharp, demanding.

"Don't scare me like that, colonizer!" Shuri snapped without missing a beat, shooting him a playful but exasperated glare.

I crossed my arms, smirking.

"What?" Ross blinked, clearly confused. "My name is Everett."

"We know exactly who you are," I said, voice calm and controlled. His eyes darted to me, assessing.

"Everett Ross," Shuri continued. "Former air force pilot and now CIA."

"Right," He blinked at that, then looked around the lab, clearly struggling to keep up. "Okay, is this Wakanda?"

"No, it's Kansas," Shuri said dryly.

I snorted and quickly covered my mouth. Ross shot me a glare.

"How long ago was Korea?" he asked, rubbing the side of his neck.

"Yesterday," I answered simply.

"I don't think so," he frowned. "Bullet wounds don't just magically heal overnight."

"They do here," Shuri said, turning back to her equipment. "But not by magic, by technology."

"Don't touch anything," I tell him. "T'challa will be here soon."

Ross slowly walked over toward the nearest window overlooking the transit dock. He stared at the transport trains gliding along the magnetic tracks.

"These train things... that's magnetic levitation right?" he asked, gone laced with disbelief.

"Obviously," Shuri replied, barely glancing at him.

"Obviously," Ross echoed, then added, "but I've never seen it this efficient. The light panels, what are they?"

"Sonic stabilizers," Shuri answered with a slight grin, enjoying his bewilderment.

"Sonic what?" Ross echoed.

"They neutralize vibranium during transit," I explained, stepping forward. "It's unstable in its raw form.

"Vibranium is too dangerous to be transported at that speed," Shuri confirmed, "so I developed a way to temporarily deactivate it."

"There's vibranium on these trains?" Ross asked slowly, eyes wide.

"Take a good look around, Ross," I said, gesturing toward the lab.

"There's vibranium all around us," Shuri added. "That's how we healed you. Well that and her powers."

Ross stared at us, clearly recalculating everything he thought he knew.

"A thank you would be nice," I said with a raised brow.

He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Shuri and I exchanged a chuckle.

Before the conversation could go any further, Shuri's kimoyo beads vibrated. She lifted her wrist and a holographic display of Okoye's face appeared midair.

"Where is T'challa?" Okoye asked, her tone clipped. "His kimoyo beads have been switched off."

"Well, we are not attached at the hip, Okoye," Shuri replied coolly.

"A man showed up at the border who claims to have killed Klaue," Okoye said. My posture stiffened immediately, heart lurching.

"What?" I stepped into the frame of the projection, voice sharp.

"W'Kabi is transporting him as we speak, to the palace," she continued. "We need to find him!"

Shuri's expression darkened as she pulled up a digital scan of the newcomer. The model rendered in seconds—a tall, muscular man, marked by deliberate scarring.

"An outsider?" Shuri asked.

"No, a Wakandan," Okoye corrected slowly.

"He's not a Wakandan," Ross interjected, stepping forward. "He's one of ours."

Shuri wastes no time in calling T'challa to get him to the palace. Pietro zipped in a second later. wind still stirring his silver hair. He halted beside me, nodding toward Ross. "You're awake."

Ross gave a wary nod in return before Pietro turned his sharp blue gaze toward me.

"There's trouble," he said simply.

"I know," I replied. And for once, the teasing tone was gone.

It's not long before T'challa and Nakia enter the lab.

"Erik Stevens," Ross explained, now more serious. "Graduated Annapolis age 19... MIT for grad school. Joined the SEALs and went straight to Afghanistan where he wrapped up confirmed kills, like it was a video game. Started calling him Killmonger. He joined a JSOC ghost unit. Now these guys are serious. They will drop off the grid so they can commit assassinations and take down governments."

"Did he reveal anything about his identity?" T'challa asked.

"He has a war dog tattoo..." Shuri added, still studying the projection, "but we have no record of him. No family. No tribal lineage."

"He shouldn't exist," I said quietly.

Shuri's finger moved rapidly over the interface, overlaying military records, Wakandan files, and CIA dossiers—trying to piece together who Erik Steven's really was.

And for the first time since Korea, the lab felt cold.

.