Lacuna [1] {Completed}

Chapter Nine

"Abditory (n.) a place into which you can disappear; a hiding place."

Once Erin left the lab, she realized it was 3 in the morning and everyone would still be asleep. Clint would probably be the first to get up at 5:30. She debated on waking everyone up, but what was the point? Bucky wouldn't want to see them until he was ready.

Erin didn't want to go back to her room. She knew she wouldn't sleep, not with this strange new adrenaline running through her. With nothing else to do she decided to explore the house.

Erin walked through the halls going in and out of different rooms. She found countless bedrooms and recreation areas, getting lost a few times. She started to develop a mental layout of the house, noting all its possible entrances and exits points. She wondered what T'Challa had used this house for before offering it to Team Cap.

She turned down another hallway she hadn't gone through yet. It was lined with more bedrooms. At the end of the hall was a double door. The doors were made of dark wood and had striking silver round nobs with a panther etched into them. Erin turned one nob and opened it.

The first thing she noticed was that the entire back wall was a long glass window. Erin walked in and looked out of it. It had a perfect view of the house grounds. The vast garden lay at her feet and she saw mountains beyond the green forest.

She turned away from the window to look at the contents of the room. It looked appeared to be some kind of music room. Her eyes glided over several interesting looking instruments on the other side of the room in a corner, but her eyes stopped at the piano that sat towards the right side of the room covered by a black piano tarp.

Erin glanced back at the door. She quickly moved to shut it before turning her eyes back to the piano. Slowly, she walked towards it and gingerly removed its cover. Underneath was a shining black grand piano. She let out a small gasp. She had only dreamed of owning an instrument so grand. She new it had to be worth at least as much as the entire house, that's how far Erin had fantasized about owning this kind of piano.

She looked at the piano bench that sat before the keys and dared to sit down. Carefully, she lifted the lid. The beautiful white and black keys looked at her, begging to be played. Gently, she placed her right had on a single key and played a middle C. Even to her unpracticed ear, she could tell it was out of tune, but she wasn't surprised. It appeared no one had been up here in ages to play it. The thought made her sad, such a beautiful thing kept hidden with no one to play and fill the house with its music.

It had been years since she played. She learned from a young age, but when Erin realized the time she had to invest into her future, she had to cut time from the piano to focus on studies. It wasn't until this moment that she realized how much she missed it.

She played a C chord, then a D. She went through the chords A to G and back down. Then she started playing them in combinations doing different exercises she had learned when she was younger. Soon it all came flooding back to her. All the amazing sensations came as she swept her hands over the keys, flawlessly changing from one chord to the next. The sweet satisfactory of playing a minor and major exchange gave her chills as she played on and on. Her hands leapt from one side of the middle C to the other like a route she had forgotten could take her home.

As she played the final chords of the song, she closed her eyes feeling every emotion the piece brought out in her. All her life she had taught herself not to feel. Her time with music was the only exception.

A clap from behind her made her bolt up from the seat, knocking the piano bench over in the process. She stood to find King T'Challa standing in front of the doors. He kept clapping as he walked towards Erin.

"Very impressive," He said to her, placing a hand on the piano, "Much better than I when I was a child."

"Forgive me your majesty, I just..." She trailed off looking hopelessly at the piano.

"It's not a crime to play an instrument that has been long neglected, especially when a pretty face seems to know how to play so well."

Erin felt her cheeks get hot, "You play, sir?"

"No need for formalities, Erin," He said waving her off, "Call me T'Challa."

Erin smiled, "You play, T"Challa?"

He gave her a small side grin. "My mother attempted to teach me when I was younger, but I would not practice. I was too busy fighting a pretend war with enemies of my own creation. It was so much easier then when I knew that I would be able to defeat them in the end." He trailed off as he looked out the window, staring into a past that was too far from his reach.

"May I ask, what are instruments doing in a king's abandoned safe house?" She asked timidly.

He looked back at Erin and gave her a small smile, "This was our summer home when I was a child. Most of my summers were spent playing here among the trees, looking for trouble where there was none to be found. This piano was given to me by my mother, but as I said before, I never practiced." He paused, looking thoughtfully at Erin for a moment, "And now, it is yours."

"No," Erin said instinctively, "No I could never-"

T'Challa held his hand up, "You believe the research you have given my scientists was not helpful? That we will not use it to help others? Your knowledge has proved to be more than valuable, it may very well turn into an asset to my country. Think of it as payment for your help." He smiled kindly at her.

Erin was speechless, "I... I don't know what to say," She beamed, looking at the instrument. Something this grand was hers and she couldn't quite believe it.

"I wasted so many years pretending to be a soldier when I should have been mastering something that would help bring me peace. If this piano can do that for you, all I ask is that you make up those years for me."

"Thank you," She couldn't stop smiling.

T'Challa looked thoughtfully at her, "I regret, I must leave you all to whatever it is Captain Rogers wishes you to accomplish."

"You're leaving?" Erin asked a little bit disappointed, "Steve didn't tell you about our impending doom?" Erin chuckled referring to the "inevitable" war approaching.

"There are other dooms that must be dealt with before I can join you," He smiled at her. "I think... it is time for my country to emerge from the shadows. It is time we reveal who we really are." T'Challa must have read something in Erin's face, "Do not worry, we will meet again. Perhaps next time we will be heading into the same war together." He looked at her and took her face in his hands. Before Erin could form a reaction, T'Challa placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, a new friend saying farewell. All the same, Erin's face felt like it was going to burst into flames. 

"I believe you have a great destiny ahead of you." He said stepping away.

"What makes you say that?" Erin asked her voice shaky.

He only smirked.

"Well goodbye," Erin said.

"In Wakanda we do not say goodbye. We say 'go well'." He chuckled, "Hamba kakuhle, Erin McCall."

"Hamba kakuhle," She said back, "T'Challa."

He smiled at her one last time before turning his back and leaving Erin alone in the room with his gift.

"You're a hurricane of a girl; 

remember to breathe every once in a while, 

do not drown within your own storm."

-Emma Bleker