Resilience | S. Rogers [3]

05 | DREAD & DISRESPECT

June 2016

Berlin, Germany

The group had been taken to Germany and was currently sitting in an SUV, each one in a different row of seats alone. The only one who wasn't in the same car was Bucky, who was in a separate truck tied down.

No one had said a thing. The silence caused Rose to only be able to focus on her own thoughts, trying to control them so they wouldn't trigger any undesired reaction from her.

She had had a minor panic attack during the flight but now in the car, everything was being kept under control.

At least on the outside.

Steve had been checking on Rose wordlessly on the trip to the country, he still was. Having him made her feel a little better, safer.

But there was also the matter that she didn't feel any sound around her, she knew that if she tried using that power she was going to be shocked, that's what she was feeling anyway. It was a conundrum... she never wanted her powers, but when she didn't have them, she felt powerless in every sense of the word, defenceless. Even though she could fight, she still felt vulnerable.

She didn't like it.

Her powers had grown on her for better and worse.

"So, you like cats?" Sam broke the everlasting silence that had taken place since they were arrested. His voice didn't carry any hint of friendliness.

"Sam," Steve tried stopping him from creating a discussion. He looked sideways at Sam who was sitting in the back of the car.

"What?" the Wilson shot back. "Dude shows up dressed like a cat and you don't wanna know more?"

With less of a jabbing tone, but with a stone-cold face nonetheless, Steve asked, "Your suit, it's Vibranium?"

The man in front of him and on the back of Rose looked at the front. "The Black Panther has been the protector of Wakanda for generations," his Wakandan accent was strong as he spoke slowly. "A mantle passed from warrior to warrior. And now, because your friend murdered my father, I also wear the mantle of king. So, I ask you, as both warrior and king... how long do you think you can keep your friend safe from me?"

Tired of repeating the same thing over and over again, Rose spoke with a strong but stressed tone, her voice raspy from the tightness in her throat due to the emotional pressure she was going through. "He did not kill your father, he didn't bomb the UN, he wasn't even there."

Silence.

Joint Counter Terrorist Center, Berlin

Eagerly, Rose stepped out of the front row as soon as the door of the car opened. She glanced around the wide building seeing Bucky getting transferred out of the vehicle he was being moved in.