nerves_of_ice | [Virginia AU] we rose up from the falling waters

Nakia yelps as the man lands on the trunk of their car, and Okoye twists in her seat to glare at him. "Andimazi ukuba ungubani, kodwa kungcono angangeni endleleni," she informs her king, coldly, as Nakia steps on the gas and accelerates down the narrow street.

Ahead of them, the three SUVs left begin splitting off from the main road, and Okoye curses beneath her breath. "They're trying to lose us," she tells her king, and Nakia spins the wheel to the right, sending them slewing after the middle vehicle.

Edited 2022-08-12 13:16 (UTC)

"Get rid of him if you have to," T'Challa orders, as the remote car accelerates, giving chase. "Don't let him get in the way."

He hears Okoye's acknowledgment, but his attention is caught by the intersection the car barrels towards, and by Shuri's voice in his ear telling him they won't make it. "Keep going!" he orders, and leaps to the side of the car to lean towards the street, tilting the whole thing up onto its two side wheels as his claws dig into the pavement. They arrow through the intersection, and Shuri whoops in his ear as he sets the car aright once more, his gaze locked on the SUVs ahead.

At least they're not screaming. He'd explain, but he doesn't have time, as he sees one of Klaue's men lean out the window with gun in hand. Bucky pushes himself from the trunk into a controlled slide over the roof of the car to the hood, left hand out to try to prevent any bullets from crashing through the windshield to hurt the women behind them.

"What the hell?" he mutters, as those he doesn't deflect just hit the hood and ping away without even leaving so much as a dent.

"Guns," Okoye mutters, as bullets reflect from the vibranium car like raindrops. "So primitive."

Nakia leans forward to rap on the windshield, trying to get the attention of the man on the hood. "Hey!" she calls. "Get out of the way, I can't see."

Okoye shakes her head – this is no time for talking. She rolls the passenger side window down and starts pulling herself through, as Nakia gives her a surprised glance. The gown she's wearing billows in the wind as she stabs her shortened spear into the roof and pulls herself up to stand on the sedan, shifting easily with the motion of the car. "What are you doing?" Nakia calls from below, but Nakia ignores both her and the man on the hood.

"Just drive," she orders, then gives the man a flat glance as she extends her spear to its full length. "And you, duck."

That's the only warning she gives before she lets fly with the spear, sending it piercing through the back window and windshield of one of the SUVs like a javelin.

The car slams to an instant stop, crumpling around the weapon as though it'd just crashed into a telephone pole. Bucky reassesses the two women in an instant. There's no way in hell any normal spear could do that, but there's time enough later to figure that out.

"Impressive," Bucky calls. Timing it carefully, he leaps into the air, landing on the roof beside the spear-wielding woman and clearing the driver's field of vision as they race after the remaining car.

"Klaue's in that one. I have a tracker on it," he tells her. "Get me close enough and I can take it apart like a can opener, if you don't want to smash it like the other."

Okoye ignores him for the second it takes for her to lean to the side and collect her spear as Nakia drives by the crumpled mass of the SUV, then turns a cool, assessing gaze on him. "We do not require your assistance," she says, and bites the head of her spear through the roof of the car, dropping to hang onto it as Nakia sends the sedan leaping over the top of a hill and onto a long downward slope.

He drops into a crouch, bracing his left hand against the car's roof to keep from skidding off - and noticing in the process that he can't dent it with his fingers.

"Ever hear of teamwork?" he demands, exasperated. "Look, neither of us wants this мудак to get away--"

Okoye does not deign to reply to this – she has a team, and it certainly does not require the addition of this annoyed white man with a metal arm. Some sort of steel alloy, she thinks, and sniffs, derisively.

Unfortunately, that's when Nakia leaps the car over another rise and the whole thing simply disintegrates beneath her booted feet. The car peels open like a pomegranate, sheets of vibranium scattering, the whole thing deconstructing down to the bolts.

He catches a glimpse of what looks kind of like a blast from one of Iron Man's disruptors as the car clears a rise and responds automatically, pushing off against the roof in a leap forward. The momentum as the car's hit by whatever-the-fuck weapon Klaue's using flings him into a long falling arc. Bucky hits rolling, shoves his left hand against the asphalt to come up on his feet running.

A glance over his shoulder's enough to see that the two women are okay - that's one hell of a car - and he accelerates to his full speed in pursuit, looking for another vehicle he can commandeer as he runs.

She wastes no time, only leaps at the last second, gracefully describing an arc through the air until she lands on what was once a car door and bears down on it, skidding to a halt.

A grinding sound of metal on blacktop announces Nakia's arrival next to her: the War Dog looks lightly shell-shocked as they both gaze at the SUV driving away and the man hanging out the door, grinning at them. The man who had joined them for a short while is in pursuit, and Okoye's glance narrows as she watches him: he moves nearly with the speed of the Black Panther.

In the next second, her vision is blocked as another SUV screeches to a halt in front of them and Everett Ross leans out the window. Okoye can see the blonde woman in white who had been speaking with Nakia next to him. "Hop in," he invites, and glances at Okoye's spear. "Put that spear in the trunk."

She exchanges a glance with Nakia, and they both move to do as Ross says. What other choice do they have?

The SUV skids into the entryway of the bridge ahead and Bucky curses - it's too straight a line, too little traffic, no buildings he can use to grab an angle and come in from another side. The second it gets a clear spot, Klaue will pull away, and--

He spots the motorcycle almost at the same moment and swerves, using the lane divider to launch himself at the rider. He sends the helmeted figure rolling over the pavement as he flings himself onto the bike and hits the gas, weaving his way between oncoming traffic as he parallels Klaue's flight.

Nakia and Okoye are out of the pursuit, but Okoye is reporting in his ear, telling him of the strange man who had joined them for a short while; the other hunter. T'Challa digs his claws into the roof of the remote-controlled car and hangs on as Shuri barrels down an ally, emerging on the bumper of the SUV that holds Klaue.

He sees a motorcycle keeping pace nearby, the rider a shaggy-haired man with a silvery metal arm, but there's no time to observe. Shuri accelerates, sending the car skidding after Klaue as T'Challa's pulse rachets up.

He's so close. The evil man ahead is almost in reach. Indeed, Klaue leans out the door, stretching out his arm toward the car, and if T'Challa were to pounce, he might manage to make it to him.

He flicks glances across the barrier as he can, trying to avoid losing his target, and watches in amazement as another car speeds into the pursuit, with a black-clad figure gripping its roof. As they reach the end of the bridge, Klaue's driver turns into another street and the car follows. Bucky sends the bike into a sharp, sliding turn using his hand to stabilize against the pavement, and speeds back up again as soon as he's vertical once more, weaving through traffic after them.

He catches a flicker of light from Klaue's arm as the man leans out and points at the car ahead, and realizes what's about to happen. "Look OUT!"

"No no no no no – " Shuri is saying, but Klaue fires and the car dissolves beneath him. The resulting explosion sends him ricocheting off towards a building, and he sprints along the wall to gain some control over his momentum before leaping for Klaue's SUV. Leery of the weapon Klaue wields, he chooses to attack the near front tire instead, ripping the whole wheel off and sending the SUV into a flip as its nose catches the pavement, skidding to a halt in a shower of sparks.

"Klaue!" he shouts, as he stalks forward, as the man rolls out of the SUV and staggers to his feet, clutching the precious vibranium. Around them, people gather in a curious semi-circle. T'Challa releases his claws with a metallic sound. They glitter in the lights of the city. "Did you think we would forget?" he demands.

He dumps the bike on its side and waves the growing crowd to stand back as he circles the two of them to come up from Klaue's side - and then hastily abandons that plan as Klaue laughs in the other man's face. "You savages didn't deserve it," Bucky catches, as he gets closer.

The masked, catlike figure grabs Klaue by the throat and slams him into the side of the SUV, and as claws glint Bucky moves in fast, trying to catch his attention as he positions himself to strike if needed. He's pretty sure he could take him down quick, but if he he attacks him, Klaue might die in the fight.

"Don't do it," he warns. "He's trying to screw with you. He's not getting away. Stand down."

Beneath his hand, Klaue's throat expands as the man gurgles a chuckle. "Listen to him," he says, his voice choked and gasping, but his eyes bright and amused. "Mercy! Oh, king, mercy!"

"Every breath you take is mercy from me," T'Challa snarls at him. Klaue struggles against his grip but can't break away; T'Challa allows himself to turn his head and glance at the man nearby. He holds himself like a fighter, but that arm of his isn't vibranium, and the adrenaline thrumming through T'Challa's veins goes to his head like pure oxygen. "This is not your concern," he bites out. "You've been warned. Do not interfere."

"Actually it is," Bucky tells him, thinking fast. King, Klaue had called, loud enough for anyone to hear. He wishes Steve were here; Steve would know what to say, where Bucky's better at shooting things these days than anything else, which won't help now. He turns both hands palm up at his sides, trying to de-escalate. If it all goes wrong he should be able to move fast enough anyway.

"Your highness, the Avengers appreciate your cooperation in bringing this man to justice." He stares him in the face, willing him to take the hint.

"Tell me," T'Challa says, hard. "How much of Wakanda's stolen vibranium do the Avengers hold?"

Klaue chokes a laugh, and T'Challa turns back to him, infuriated, lifting his hand to strike as another car skids to a stop nearby.

"Hai, Ukumkani!" He hears Okoye's shout; she and Nakia race around the hood of Deputy Commander Ross's car, Nakia's eyes desperate as she holds out a hand.

"Ihlabathi libukele," she warns, desperate, and for the first time, T'Challa realizes the people circled around, the phones and cameras they have pointed at him.

After a long second, his claws retract.

He can't help the exasperated look that he feels try to form, but manages to shift it to something absolutely neutral just in time, hiding his emotions with the skill of years.

Maybe it's a good thing Steve isn't here after all.

"Come on, guys. Let's go, huh?" Ross calls, from the driver's seat of the Task Force vehicle.

Bucky holds his gaze on T'Challa and waits.

Sirens wail and lights flash as Agent Ross gets out of the car, followed shortly by a blonde woman in a long white dress, who trains a sidearm on Klaue.

There's little choice left to him; T'Challa releases his grip on Klaue's throat and allows the man to crumple. Klaue gasps for breath but chuckles as Task Force personnel swarm the area to apprehend him, and despite the habit's mask, locks his gaze for a moment on T'Challa's.

"C'est la vie," Klaue says, shrugging, and giggles as he's lead to the Task Force vehicle.

He doesn't sigh in relief. Barely. Bucky flicks a glance at the rest of the Task Force team and the two must-be-Wakandan women and takes a step closer to Wakanda's king, lowering his voice so that he won't be overheard by the avidly-watching audience they've gathered.

"Thank you." He keeps his tone as calm as he can and hopes inwardly he's doing the right thing when he adds, "And as for the rest - I can tell you that there's no way Cap would have stood for using stolen anything when that shield was made. I know, because I was there. But we can talk about that, if you've got information we don't."

He doesn't mention Vision, not now. That's a simpler and worlds-more-difficult matter at the same time.

The black mask of the Panther habit stares back at the man impassively; behind it, T'Challa takes in the scene unfolding around them. Nakia is with the woman in white, helping to calm the crowd as the blonde woman orders Task Force agents among them. He wonders, idly, if they'll be confiscating the phones and cameras of the onlookers.

Turning his attention back to the mysterious man, T'Challa studies him, his temper simmering. "I have no idea who you are," he says, each word crisp and precise. "Why would I take your word on anything at all? I have never met Captain Rogers, and Wakanda has no dealings with the Avengers. If we did, rest assured we would have collected our property long ago."

He glances at the man's metal arm, then back at his face. "I can only assume you were here to collect more of our vibranium from this criminal for the Avengers you represent. Perhaps as some sort of arrangement with the Task Force?"

He doesn't wait for an answer. "Believe me when I say, these actions do not endear either group to us."

He reminds himself of the news coverage, that this man's just lost his father, and that a king's probably got to be at least as arrogant as Thaddeus Ross just to get by in the world.

It doesn't help much. With an effort, Bucky keeps his tone mild. "I'm not here for vibranium," he says. "The Avengers don't want it. I'm here as a liaison from them to assist the Task Force in apprehending Ulysses Klaue, because the illegal weapons trade thing's a problem and he doesn't get to do that any more. Especially not with vibranium."

He makes himself meet the other man's contemptuous stare with an even one of his own. "My name's Bucky. Bucky Barnes. I served with Cap during the last world war. You don't have to take my word for it. God knows there's enough news coverage and museum exhibits to prove it."

"Then you may take this message back to the Avengers, and to the Task Force, too, Bucky Barnes," T'Challa tells him, anger still steaming through his system. "Ulysses Klaue is coming to Wakanda to face justice for his crimes. What happens to him now is of no concern to any of you."

"Actually, I think that's not quite right." Everett Ross has appeared at his shoulder, and his eyes are hard. "Yeah, I know who you are under that costume, your highness. And I think, right now, you had better come with us. Let's not have this conversation in public."

Getting out of the public eye's maybe the best idea he's heard all day. Hopefully the fact that T'Challa evidently knows Ross from elsewhere, given what they'd all heard on the comms, will be helpful here.

But if not--

He doesn't let himself move, but holds himself ready to act in case anyone does anything stupid.

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