Talia Scott was a superb racing driver, so why did she end up driving Tony Stark around? And how does she become an Avenger?
Well it's a quite a story, trust me.
Read on and discover the sarcastic delights of the Avengers favourite bodyguard and ch...
Talia hated to admit it, but Okoye was a very good teacher, she pushed her to her limits, every goddamn day. After a few months, she had lean muscle where she didn't think muscle existed, and she was quick. Not as quick as her teacher, but pretty quick.
Combining her old soldier, survivalist fighting style with the nimble moves of the Dora Milaje was one thing, but learning to actually control her power was another.
Endless hours of straining, resulted either in half the training rooms being scorched, or absolutely nothing at all, and it was starting to take its toll. But she was still surprised that one morning, in the early hours of the rising sun, Okoye took her not to train, but to sit, in the grass, in a field.
With a massive rhinoceros staring at them like it wanted to trample them at any moment, right at the other end of the grassy pen.
"Is this supposed to be relaxing?" She asked incredulously, staring at Okoye, who was sat before her, legs crossed and eyes closed in a serene expression.
She didn't reply.
"Is that thing going to come over here becau-" "Hush." The woman snapped, "Vala amehlo akho" Close your eyes.
Another delight of their training, she'd now refused to speak any English, so as to teach Talia better, which while she hated, and refused to admit, was actually working. So they just sat there, as the sun emerged from beneath the distant golden grasses, climbing slowly higher through the pink and purple sky.
Occasionally, they would practice in the soothing tones of the language, comforting clicks rising up into the open air, amongst the sounds of nature awakening all around them, the insects buzzing around them and exotic birds flying in flocks overhead. It was beautiful.
At some point, she's didn't know when, they'd both opened their eyes, and were simply watching the world going by. "Enkosi." She whispered softly. Thank you.
"Wamkelekile." You're welcome.
Silent moments passed, before Okoye spoke again, "When I fight, ...I am not angry, I am not emotional, I must be calm, I must be at peace. This place, is where my mind goes whenever I need control. Perhaps, to control your power, you must find a place, a state of being, of control."
Talia was about to reply, when she felt strange vibrations shuddering through the earth, thundering in fact, and she looked up to see the rhinoceros charging for her a full speed. So, naturally without thinking, she hauled herself off the ground, hurtling away through the grass, screaming internally, with an expression of pure fear plastered on her face, faint cries of laughter echoing behind her as Okoye just sat still where she was, enjoying the show.
She had never run so fast in her life, sprinting through the long grasses, warm huffs of breath getting dangerously too close to her, she hurtled frantically over a low wooden fence, edging the field. Slamming slap-bang into someone, so hard they both tumbled to the soft floor with a deceptively cushioned thud.
"What the hell?" A male voice rasped out, if slightly muffled by her body literally being on top of him, she quickly sprang up, "Oh my god! I'm so sorry, the rhino was chasing me and-" She stepped back, stopping mid sentence, and took in the familiar man before her.
"Talia?"
His blue eyes widened in shock, as he shook back his long dark brown hair from his face, sitting up slowly.
"Hi Bucky." She grinned sheepishly, before doing a double take, "Whoa, ...what happened to you Stumpy?" She sniggered gesturing to where his metal arm once was.
He just rolled his eyes, frowning, "Stark."
"Oh." She grimaced, not knowing what to say on the sore topic, the very reason she hadn't visited him once all this time.
"Why are you here?"
"Why are you?"
"...It's better for everybody."
Well shit. "I needed a place."
He nodded, understanding, eyes piercing her soul, before looking away suddenly, before turning back, "Can you help me out here?" He held up his right hand to her.
"Sure, I can give you a hand." She grinned wickedly, "Just don't steal it though, it's new"
He snorted, a mixture of irritation and amusement flashing across his face as she hoisted him up off the grass, and he patted dirt off of his, ..robes. She decided against saying anything, turning at the audible approaching footsteps of Okoye.
"You shouldn't have run." She smirked. "What was I supposed to do- get squashed like a grape?!"
"He would not have 'squashed' you," she rolled her eyes, whistling softly, causing the nearby rhino to come swiftly trotting back over, stopping just short of where Okoye held out her hand in command.
Subconsciously, Talia still took a step backward, in line with Bucky, "Why the hell didn't you say anything then?!"
"It was fun to watch you squeal." The woman smiled properly now for the first time, and Talia found herself quite frightened, Bucky just chuckled lowly.
"I see you've finally reunited then." She gestured to the two, causing his face to drop,
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Finally..., how long have you been here?"
She winced, cursing the woman inwardly, "Since, ... before you, defrosted. I just didn't.." Know how to say, Hey I know I cracked some jokes and helped you out once, but I can't really talk to you at the moment because you killed my best friends parents, so I've ignored you for months.
Is what she wanted to say. But it didn't exactly roll off the tongue, and so all that came out were a few mumbles, trailing off awkwardly into silence.
He shifted uncomfortably on his feet, looking around awkwardly "I've got to go and meet Ayo." And with that he just walked away, towards what looked like a small camp, where a few children were playing around, and a sparkling lake sprawled nearby.
"Well that's not exactly how I wanted that to go."
Okoye had the decency to look slightly apologetic.
