It didn't take very long for T'Challa to track down Tony. With the Dora Milaje keeping an eye out for him, he knew it would only be a matter of time.

After about an hour, he got a message that Tony was on the upper floors with Bucky. Apparently, they were just sitting with each other and talking. Why am I not surprised? The king idly thought, and then followed the given directions.

He found himself upstairs near the laboratory, in one of the empty rooms that the place had. Of course, they were empty on purpose. Shuri's experiments often went through many… Enthusiastic tests before they were completed. Everyone learned early on to keep their valuables in a safe place.

The king found the room easily, or was the one being guarded twice as much. Once again, he wasn't surprised. The Dora Milaje had grown quite attached to Tony while he was in the form of a panther, and it seemed his transformation hadn't changed that.

When they saw him, they all nodded and moved out of the way. He was about to enter when he heard the sound of calm chatter. A little curious, T'Challa leaned against the wall and listened.

"...And then everything blew up, right? I was sent flying and I crash landed in the desert," The king heard Tony say,"And then I pulled myself out of the Mark I and wandered around the desert for like two days before I was found."

He heard the sound of Bucky giving a surprised noise. "Damn," The super soldier replied aloud.

"So, yeah, that's how Iron Man started and how I got the arc reactor," Tony finished, sending them into silence for a few minutes before declared,"Your turn. How did you become the winter soldier? Spangles never told me."

T'Challa cringed, nearly leaping into the room. What if that set Bucky off? Why was Tony so quick to ask about that time? Didn't he know how fragile-

"Well, it's not as crazy as your story but basically I fell out of a moving train, lost an arm, and instead of first responders, I got Hydra," The super soldier explained, catching T'Challa completely off guard.

Bucky was okay with talking about it… He didn't even hesitate. In fact, he sounds a lot happier than normal. He realized, guilt bubbling up in his chest. Perhaps… Have we been treating him too delicately?

At this point, his curiosity was too overwhelming. T'Challa pushed himself off the wall and knocked on the side of the doorway. The chatting instantly stopped, making him feel a little guilty as he entered the room.

He found himself staring at quite a sight. Bucky was sitting back in the corner of the empty room, while Tony leaned against the wall next to him, his legs draped over Bucky's own. They looked quite comfortable.

But now that T'Challa was in the room, that changed. Tony's whole body had tensed up, watching the king for any sign of a threat while all the relaxation faded from Bucky's face. He looked much more depressed.

They had been so happy just a few seconds ago, the black panther knew he couldn't let that happiness be ripped away. He put a small smile on his face and walked further into the room. "So this is where you went, Tony," He casually began.

"Yep," Tony replied quickly, crossing his arms. "Are you going to tell the Avengers?"

T'Challa looked towards the door, and then back at the two men. He then lowered himself down to the ground, sitting cross legged in front of them. "No, I don't think so," He replied,"They can sit around and think about what they did."

Bucky and Tony exchanged a glance and then nodded, letting themselves relax a little bit again. T'Challa watched the strange exchange curiously, wondering just how close the two had managed to become after such little time.

That didn't matter the most, though, T'Challa had more important things to get through. Looking at Tony, he gently said,"I… I want to apologize for what happened earlier today. I shouldn't have pushed you to answer such a question. Especially when you just changed back."

Tony looked at him with wide brown eyes, seemingly very surprised at even being apologized to. He tilted his head curiously as he quietly responded,"I… Accept your apology. Even though you weren't really the one that set me off."

"Still, I am the one that attempted to start the conversation. I should have known you weren't ready yet and that the others wouldn't notice that as easily. For that, I apologize," T'Challa persisted.

The genius seemed even more surprised that T'Challa didn't take the chance to escape blame. He lowered his head and gave a quick nod, but didn't speak about T'Challa's words past that.

Bucky looked towards the king and then back at Tony as he shrugged and said,"I suppose this is a good time to say I was looking for you to thank you, Anthony."

"Thank me?" Tony repeated incredulously. "For what?"

"Uh… For saving my life?" Bucky easily responded, as if it was obvious. "If you hadn't showed up and attacked that asshole, the trigger words would have worked on me. And I know you know from experience what happens."

T'Challa was surprised again when Tony didn't cringe at the memory and instead chuckled. "Yeah… That wouldn't have been good," The genius causally agreed.

Bucky let out a small laugh in return, and then leaned back against the wall again. Meanwhile, Tony looked at both of them and asked,"So are we all done with thank yous and apologies? I can only handle so much appreciation in one day."

"Yes, I think we're done for now," T'Challa said, rolling his eyes in amusement at the sight of Tony's snarky attitude finally peeking through.

The genius grinned in response and then leaned back against the wall too, closing his eyes for a mere minute before he lurched back up. "Hey!" He exclaimed,"Why don't I help you with that even more, James?"

Bucky opened his eyes, staring at the man curiously. "Help me with what exactly?" He asked,"I'm not following you right now."

"I mean with the trigger words!" Tony elaborated,"With me and Shuri working together, I bet we could come up with something!"

The king and Bucky listened to his suggestion, and then the king found himself smiling. "I think that's a great idea," He replied,"I know that Shuri has been very excited to have a chance to brainstorm with you ever since you changed back."

Bucky was also grinning, but it slowly morphed into more of a smirk. "That would wipe the smile off their faces next time they try to use the trigger words and they can't," He thought aloud,"Ooh! Maybe I could even pretend like it worked and then swing around and sock them in their sorry fucking faces."

Both T'Challa and Tony laughed at the thought, already imagining the beautiful sight in their minds.

"I'd pay a lot of money to see that," T'Challa declared,"In fact, I think that would be one of the most amazing things I could ever see."

"If we're lucky, maybe Ross will get cocky enough and I'll get to watch him get a nice, pretty broken nose!" Tony said,"Oh, how I wish I could see that."

Bucky snorted. "You and most of the human population wish they could see that, Anthony," He pointed out.

Tony spread his hands out, waving his fingers. "Yes they do, and with science I can make that a reality!" He proudly exclaimed, leaning forward and grinning at the super soldier. "So, what do you say? Want to trust me and Shuri with this?"

"I ain't got nothing to lose," Bucky replied,"Besides, If this works, the payoff will be worth any hassle."

Tony seemed to practically vibrate with excitement now, looking over at T'Challa with eager eyes. The king smiled and got to his feet, motioning for him to follow.

It only took the trio a few minutes to get to the front of the lab. The second the lab slid open, Shuri was already in the doorway.

At the sight of Tony, she threw hands up and victoriously yelled,"YES!" She grabbed his hand, dragging him in before Tony could even get a word in. "What took you so long?! I already have like fifty seven different ideas for us, we have to start right away!"

"And I got a couple for you," Tony managed to respond,"So let's get this science party started!"

T'Challa and Bucky sat nearby, watching as Tony and Shuri babbled about different science terms and experiments they didn't understand. Still, it was nice to watch, it was nice to see Tony genuinely happy. The king hoped it would last for a long while.

But deep down inside his mind, he knew that sooner or later the topic of Tony's captivity would have to be brought up again…

"No! No you can't just do that!"

"Yes I can, especially since this deal obviously isn't working!"

Ross glared at the HYDRA man on the other side of the video call, slamming his hand down on the conference table. "You can't end the deal just because you stupidly underestimated Stark!" He snapped,"That's your fault, not mine!"

"Stark isn't the main reason and you know it," The Hydra man easily replied,"It's what he took away from us. That part of the deal is what I'm talking about. We don't have it, and it's what we wanted for the whole deal to work."

The man sneered at the figure on the screen, wishing he had the power to send his men after him. "And what do you want me to do about it? Stark and Barnes are both tucked away in Wakanda, there's no way to get them out," He pointed out.

The hydra soldier gave him an annoyed glare, as if to say 'I already know that, you idiot'. He looked down, and Ross panicked in fear that the deal was going to be stopped.

"B-But If we find a way to lure them out, that may not be a problem!" He suggested,"Stark and Barnes both have weak spots. If we get together and exploit them, we maybe be able to lure them all out."

He leaned forward, a smile on his face. "And then, you get what you want and I get what I want," He explained,"All we'll have to do is work together for a little while. It'll be just like when we got rid of Stark the first time."

The soldier looked past the camera, most likely at his superiors, and then nodded. "Fine, we'll work together again," He conceded,"But just until we have Stark back, and then we go back to not associating. How does that sound?"

With ideas already swirling inside the secretary's brain, he simply let out an evil chuckle. "That sounds perfect."

Soon, they would both have what they wanted back. And this time, there wouldn't be any escaping.

Tony couldn't believe just how long it had been since he had been in a lab like this one. Being able to babble about science with someone who understood it, mess with tools, and just work on any idea that popped into his head. God, he had missed it so much.

And Shuri, she was amazing. Though the genius usually worked alone, he had to admit she was an absolute joy to work with.

In a way, she reminded him of Peter. They were both so young and yet had such an amazing grasp on science and engineering.

The thought of the kid sent a spike of sadness through him. He hadn't seen Peter in so long, how was he doing? Was Happy still keeping an eye on him? What if-

"Hey…" He heard someone say, a hand resting on his shoulder and making him flinch in surprise. He looked up, seeing Shuri staring at him with concern in her soft eyes.

"You okay?" She asked,"You just stopped talking all of a sudden."

Tony frowned, shaking his head a bit. "Sorry…" He muttered,"I just… I was thinking about people. I've been gone so long, I just hope that everyone is doing okay. Especially with Ross creeping around."

His only solace when it came to Peter was that the teen's identity was a secret… But Happy and Pepper were vunerable. He hoped they were okay."

"I don't think you have to worry too much," Shuri tried to comfort,"You escaped, right? That might make Ross think twice before trying anything. You have a lot of dirt against him."

Tony instantly cringed. "Dirt is too clean for him," He said,"With all the stuff he has done, I prefer to refer to the 'dirt' as raw sewage."

Shuri giggled in response to that, handing him back the screwdriver he had been using. They fell back into silence for a while, simply working on some random project of Shuri's for a few more minutes Then, a thought occurred to him…

"Hey!" He said, turning to Shuri. "What if we use that dirt now?"

This not only got Shuri's attention, but also Bucky and T'Challa's. The two men quickly got up from their seat, coming closer to hear more.

"Think about it!" Tony continued,"Ross has a lot of power, and he'll keep abusing that power to try to get to us. If we let the world see who he really is, we might be able to take away some of that."

The young woman suddenly grew very excited, a grin exploding on her face. "And with both of us working together, we can make it so he can't get rid of his problems easily!" She said happily.

"Yes, exactly!" Tony agreed, looking at the two men again. "What do you guys think?"

Bucky was already nodding along, eager for any idea they had that could get rid of their problem. Even if it wouldn't completely rid them of Ross, it was a start.

T'Challa looked a little more hesitant. "It is a good idea," He began,"But where have you put this information? We can do anything until we have it."

"Friday has it," Tony said,"She hid it in a folder that is buried deep in my private server. Only I know the password, and it isn't written down anywhere except in here." He tapped his head with a grin.

Bucky gave him a smirk, obviously happy with how prepared Tony was. "It sounds like you've been gathering this information for quite a while," He analyzed aloud.

Tony instantly seemed to grow angry. "Yeah I have…" He muttered,"I don't think you ever met him, James, but do you remember Steve ever telling you about Bruce Banner?"

"The name sounds familiar," The super soldier said,"He's the one that turns into the Hulk, right? Steve said that he's been missing since you guys defeated Ultron."

The genius nodded sadly. "Yeah…" He whispered, before shaking it off and continuing,"Ross has been trying to kill him ever since he first started Hulking out. The only reason he stopped was because he had heart problems."

T'Challa continued, noticing how frustrated the genius was getting even speaking about the subject. "And that is why Doctor Banner was always hopping from country to country, correct?" He asked.

"Yeah…" Tony quietly answered, lowering his eyes down. He often wondered what happened to his friend. Perhaps he was still traveling around? Maybe he'd eventually come back? He couldn't only hope.

The genius turned his attention back to the more important things. "All I need to do is get Friday here and then I can get the information I have," He explained.

"What will you need for that?" T'Challa asked,"I can provide just about anything, especially for a project such as this."

Tony held out his hand, counting things on his fingertips. "All I'm going to need is a secure computer, a USB drive, and a little bit of time," He explained.

"Ooh! And some snacks!" Shuri added in, making her older brother give her an annoyed glance. She frowned, placing her hands on her hips and glaring back. "What? Hacking and causing an international incident will make us hungry. I'm just thinking ahead."

T'Challa rolled his eyes as he turned and walked towards the exit. "I'll see what I can do," He promised, just about to leave the open door when a thought occurred to him.

Turning back around to face Tony, he slowly asked,"Can I… Inform the Avengers about your plan? I know that things are tense between you all right now, but it's probably best that they are kept in the loop."

The genius cringed at the thought, but to T'Challa's surprise (and relief), he also nodded. "You can," He quietly answered,"But unless they have anything useful for this plan, tell them to stay out of our way."

I was going to tell them that anyway. T'Challa thought as he nodded, leaving the room and having Okoye follow him out.

"Do you think this plan will work?" The young woman asked him.

T'Challa gave her a hopeful smile. "With Tony and Shuri working together, I hold no fear that it will," He declared proudly, only for his grin to drop a few seconds later. "Although, I think even Tony recognizes that it won't get rid of our problem completely."

Okoye nodded in agreement. "Ross and Hydra," She spat,"They are way too much like cockroaches for my liking."

"Even a cockroach can be crushed," T'Challa reminded her,"It will just take a little extra work."

The woman looked at him, then looked back down the hallway with a snort that turned into a laugh as she shook her head.

The king looked at her with a tilted head, a frown on his face. "What?" He asked,"What did I miss?"

"You sound like one the quotes on those ridiculous American calendars," She teased him, a mischievous smile on her face.

T'Challa wanted to deny the comparison, but he knew she was right. Instead, he simply let out an annoyed sigh and muttered,"Let's just go. We have important news to deliver."

Okoye gave a noise of agreement and let him take the lead, the mischievous grin on her face the entire time.

There were several different reactions when the king explained the situation to the Avengers. But all in all, it seemed like everyone was on board for the plan.

"Do they need anything from us?" Steve asked eagerly, a little too eagerly in everyone else's opinion.

T'Challa quickly shook his head. "No, they have everything under control. We just have to sit and watch the fallout," He explained,"But I'm sure that afterwards, we will all work on the next phase of this plan together."

Many of the Avengers nodded in agreement, except for Steve and Clint. The super soldier looked down with a sigh, and muttered,"I just wish that he would let us help. I know we can."

"Oh, you can?" Okoye piped up,"So I suppose you know how to get past a firewall, or dig through a mainframe? Or how to get through different private serves?"

Steve frowned even deeper, quickly lowering his head even further as she listed all the things he knew he couldn't do. "S-Sorry," He whispered.

Okoye gave a form nod, letting Steve know she had heard his words. She and T'Challa then turned to leave, they had stuff that needed to be delivered.

Before they could, however, they heard a frantic Scott call for them. "Wait! Wait wait!" He exclaimed, stumbling off the couch,"Can I come with you? I think I can help!"

"Oh?" T'Challa asked, wondering why Scott had waited so long to speak up. "Is this about your engineering capabilities?"

Scott hesitated for a moment, and then shrugged. "Well, yes and no? I mean, I can help with that but I can also help in other ways."

Sam seemed to catch on faster than the king. "Is this about that news reporter woman?" He asked, gaining a nod from the hero.

"Who?" T'Challa questioned.

"Just some news lady, but we have relayed information through her before. You could say she's connected with the Avengers a bit," Sam explained,"But people might be willing to listen to her a lot more than other reporters."

Scott nodded eagerly. "And- And I know lots of people who would be willing to transfer that dirt that Stark has around for very little cost," He added,"You don't go to prison without meeting some interesting characters."

Natasha slowly raised her hand as well. "I know some still active shield agents who would be more than willing to add fuel to the flame as well," She mentioned.

T'Challa exchanged a look with Okoye, who gave him a silent nod. The king looked back over and said,"I think that will be very helpful indeed. Come with me, you three. I'll take you to Tony and Shuri."

T'Challa had been hesitant about the plan at first, he had worried that even with Tony and his sister's skill, that Ross would still find a way to hide the evidence they had against him. Now, with several of the Avengers adding their own help, things were looking a lot brighter.

You messed with the cat, so now you get the claws. The king thought with a smile. Look out Ross.