Swan Song ✧ STEVE ROGERS [✓]

56 - Mantles Passed

RAEVANNA'S EYES WERE DOWN AS SHE SAT IN AN SUV, HER HANDS IN HER LAP AS SHE SHIFTED UNCOMFORTABLY TO ADJUST FOR HER WINGS. The SUV was part of a police convoy as it drove beside the river Spree, and amidst the convoy was a gray armed truck, which contained a restrained Bucky inside a prison pod. Inside the SUV the man (who Raevanna found was prince T'Challa of Wakanda) sat in front of Steve and Raevanna, who sat in front of Sam and Blake. 

"So, you like cats?" Sam asked the prince after several minutes of tense silence.

"Sam," Steve warned, giving Sam a look. 

"What?" Sam said. "Dude shows up dressed like a cat and you don't wanna know more?"

Steve shook his head slightly before looking at T'Challa. "Your suit... it's Vibranium?"

T'Challa was silent for a moment, his eyes narrowing as he glanced sideways. "The Black Panther has been the protector of Wakanda for generations," he said. "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?"

Steve was silent, his face stony as the convoy headed underground. But then, Blake spoke, her voice calm but venom laced into each of her words.

"If you really think I'll let you lay a hand on him," Blake told him, "you, sir... are sadly mistaken."

Raevanna glanced back at Blake, shaking her head before facing the front. Her friend was really only going to make things worse.

Eventually the convoy entered a light gray-walled bunker. As the cars slowed to a stop, Bucky's pod was carried away by a forklift, and nearby Steve, Raevanna, Blake, and T'Challa got out of the SUV. With their friends and T'Challa, Steve and Raevanna approached Sharon, who was standing with a diminutive, gray-haired man. 

"What's gonna happen to him?" Steve asked.

"Same thing that ought to happen to you," the gray-haired man said. "Psychological evaluation and extradition."

Sharon gestured to the man. "This is Everett Ross, Deputy Task Force Commander."

"What about our lawyer?" Raevanna asked.

Everett laughed at her words. "Lawyer. That's funny." Turning to the guards, he told them, "See their weapons are placed in lockup." Then he looked at the four Avengers. "Oh, we'll write you a receipt."

"I better not look out the window and see anybody flying around in that," Sam said, nodding at his falcon suit as someone carried it away. 

As they left, Steve looked back and caught Bucky's eye. Raevanna saw the exchange, sighing to herself. Did none of her friends have any sense? 

Everett led them through the bunker, heading for wherever they were going to be held. T'Challa followed behind them, not saying a word, so Raevanna fell back to speak to him.

"I come from a people who has never needed a leader," Raevanna said to him as they walked. "Not a king, not a president, not anything. So I may be a bit naive when it comes to how ruling works. But from what I gathered, being a king means that you're supposed to be just and fair - to all people, not just your own. You represent your people, so you're supposed to set an example. And I don't think chasing down a man to kill him in revenge is the example you're supposed to be setting."

"Barnes murdered my father," T'Challa told her.

"Maybe," Raevanna said with a nod. "But murdering Bucky in return won't bring him back. And you and I both know that."