It was early in the afternoon when Mary received a message on her beads from Shuri saying she wanted help with Bucky's progression. It had only been a month or so since he went under and the princess and Evelyn had already made great strides in his mind. It gave the wife hope that her husband would be free from the torment of the trigger words in his mind. She also had hope that he wouldn't miss any pregnancy milestones if he were to wake up soon.

"You said he could wake up soon?" Mary asks Shuri as she tinkers with her own weapons she was making for herself, panther gauntlets. The two were quietly talking about different things after they had finished up in Bucky's room.

Shuri nodded, "I believe so. I can't give an exact date, you know that." The princess says with a small smile seeing the hopeful look on Mary's face, "But I'm hoping before you enter the third trimester of your pregnancy."

Mary grins at her friend, "I'm still in the first trimester, but if he could be here for the birth.." she trails off with a wistful look on her face as she hovers her hands over her stomach.

"I will do all that i can. Evelyn has been a big help." Shuri says with a smile as she continues to tinker with the wires of one of her gauntlets.

"Alright, where am I?" A familiar voice causes both women to jump.

The two turn around to see Ross standing adjacent to where he was lying before. Mary's eyes widen in shock as a wide smile appears on her face. "Don't scare me like that, colonizer!" Shuri states before Mary can say anything, causing the doctor to laugh under her breath

Mary can see the confusion on his face as he looks at Mary longer than she anticipated, then his eyes move over to Shuri, "Colo- what? My name is Everett." He introduces himself to Shuri.

"Yes, I know. Everett Ross, former Air Force pilot and now CIA." Shuri states, "Mary told me other things that make me not like you so much." She adds with a shrug.

Mary chuckles, "But he saved mine and my baby's life." She reminds Shuri who nods.

"So we are putting what you did in Germany behind us." The princess comments.

Ross hesitates, nodding, "Right.." He mumbles. Mary watches the agent look around the lab in awe then looks back at the two women, "Okay, is this Wakanda?"

"No, it's Kansas." Shuri quips.

Ross looks at Mary and she nods, confirming his suspicions about where he was. "How long ago was Korea?" He asks both of them.

"Yesterday." Mary answers. "You're healing nicely."

"I don't think so.. Bullet wounds don't just magically heal overnight." Ross states in disbelief, he knew Mary was skilled but not even she could accomplish complete and total recovery over the course of one night.

Shuri chuckles as she looks at Mary, "They do here. Especially with Doctor Barnes taking command. And it's not by magic, by technology."

Mary shrugs, smiling softly, "I wasn't going to let you die, Everett. You might have caused rifts in my family during Germany but i think you've made up for some of it by taking that bullet for me."

Ross smiles softly at the doctor in front of him. He tried thinking of ways to tell Mary he was only doing his job, that he wouldn't let an innocent child die. But to her family, he had imprisoned an innocent child before, Becca Barnes, and he wasn't sure if mentioning anything that could possibly be related to it would end well.

He walks slowly around the area Mary and Shuri are at, taking in everything he sees bit by bit, "Don't touch anything. My brother will return soon." Shuri tells Ross quickly. He stares at Shuri briefly before his eyes land on the mine and trains outside the lab. The clear walls showing the inside of the mountain. Mary was still in awe of it when she would see it. The trains moving faster than a bullet train around the inside of the mountain.

"These train things.. that's magnetic levitation, right?" Ross asks Shuri.

"Obviously." She replies with a nod.

"Obviously.. I've never seen it this efficient." He murmurs in shock as he still takes in everything around him. He was still having a hard time believing what he was seeing. "The light panels, what are they?" He asks.

"Sonic stabilizers." Shuri answers.

"Sonic what?"

Shuri smiles softly as she walks up beside Ross and Mary, "In its raw form, vibranium is too dangerous to be transported at that seed so I developed a way to temporarily deactivate it." She explains, and Mary smiles softly. She knew of a certain teenager in Queens who would love all of this.

"There's vibranium on those trains?" Ross asks.

"There's vibranium all around us." Shuri responds.

"That's how I healed you so quickly." Mary adds with a small smile.

Shuri moves around the agent and expectant mother to the other side of her work table as her beads ring. Okoye's holographic form appears in her palm as she holds up her finger to Ross, telling him silently to be quiet.

"Where is T'Challa? His Kimoyo Beads have been switched off."

Shuri smirks, "Well we are not joined at the hip, Okoye."

"A man showed up at the border who claims to have killed Klaue." Okoye explains urgently.

Mary's eyes widen as she steps beside Shuri, "What?" She questions in shock.

Okoye nods her head in greeting to the advisor as she continues, "W'Kabi is transporting him, as we speak, to the palace. We need to find your brother!"

Shuri waves her hand and a hologram of a man appears, the two women look it over intently, "An outsider?" Shuri asks.

"No, a Wakandan." Okoye says and it only confuses Mary more.

Ross steps beside Mary and Shuri, leaning towards the princess, "He's not a Wakandan. He's one of ours." He states and the three of them look at the stats of the man in front of them.

"Shuri can you hack his beads?" Mary asks as her mind goes into overdrive, the princess nods and begins to use the advisor's beads to contact the king. When she sees T'Challa's form in her palm she knows she's reached him, "T'Challa, you need to get her now!" She states urgently, "You need to see this."

T'Challa arrives with Nakia by his side in less than ten minutes to Shuri's lab as Everett begins to inform them of who the man that killed Klaue truly is.

"Erik Stevens. Graduated Annapolis age nineteen, MIT for grad school." Ross debriefs them and Mary's eyes go wide.

"Tony's school." She mutters in shock.

Everett nods in confirmation to the godmother then continues, "Joined the SEALs and went straight to Afghanistan where he wrapped up confirmed kills, like it was a video game. Started calling him Killmonger. He joined a JSOC ghost unit." Mary gasps, heads turn to look at her briefly. She knew quite a bit of military intel due to her affiliation with Shield even after she took on the alias of Elizabeth Bryne. "Now these guys are serious. They will drop off the grid so they can commit assassinations and take down governments."

Mary stares at the image hovering of Killmonger, he reminded her too much of Hydra in certain aspects. Taking down governments and assassinating people was their calling card.

She watches as T'Challa steps up to the image of Killmonger slowly, "Did he reveal anything about his identity?"

"He has a War Dog tattoo but we have no record of him." Shuri answers her brother.

T'Challa looks over at his advisor, "You will be with us in the council meeting." He states, "I need my advisor." He says quietly and Mary nods.

"Whatever you need." Mary assures him.

"Is this man a Wakandan or not?" One of the tribal elders questions as Shuri and Mary stand on either side of T'Challa who sits on his throne.

"Sixelele ukuba kuqhubeka ntoni." Tell us what's going on. Another tribe elder questions. They only know the bare minimum of what the issue is concerning Killmonger.

Shuri places her hand on her brother's arm as the double doors open. Killmonger steps into the room flanked by W'Kabi and two Dora Milaje. "Thetha." Speak. One of the elders states to Erik.

"Speak." Mary translates. She was nervous as to what was going to come of this meeting with Killmonger. She still felt unwelcome by most of the elders, but she had the royal family beside her, backing her, so she felt more at ease in the throne room.

"I'm standing in your house serving justice to a man who stole your vibranium and murdered your people. Justice your king couldn't deliver." Erik states, already making his presence known and his intentions. He eyes Mary dangerously, she knew in his eyes that she didn't belong there and Ayo steps forward slightly, Mary stepping behind the Dora's second in command.

T'Challa stands up from his throne, Okoye flanking him as he walks to Erik. The other Dora walk around to meet together on the other side of Killmonger. Mary hesitates when T'Challa gets close to Erik, "I don't care that you brought Klaue. Only reason I don't kill you where you stand is because I know who you are." He whispers to Erik. Mary didn't know how she heard him, he was speaking too quietly for anyone to hear, but she did. "Now, what do you want?"

Erik smirks, his eyes landing on the throne, "I want the throne." He states.

One of the elder women laughs, "Kulunga kwam." My goodness. The other elders laugh in amusement.

Erik only shakes his head as he looks at T'Challa, "Y'all sitting up here comfortable. Must feel good." He states, then his eyes narrow as he stares at Mary, "There's about two billion all over the world that looks like us. But their lives are a lot harder because of people who look like her." He snaps, snapping his head over to where Mary stands. "Wakanda has the tools to liberate them all."

"And what tools are those?" T'Challa asks.

"Vibranium. Your weapons." Erik snaps.

"Our weapons will not be used to wage war on the world." T'Challa snaps back, "It is not our way to be judge, jury and executioner for people who are not our own."

Erik reels his head back slightly, "Not your own? But didn't life start right here on this continent? So ain't all people your people?" He asks in disgust.

"I am not king of all people. I am king of Wakanda. And it is my responsibility to make sure our people are safe and that vibranium does not fall into the hands of a person like you." T'Challa replies swiftly.

"Son. We have entertained this charlton for too long. Reject his request." Ramonda says. Mary looks over at Shuri who only can give her a nod in encouragement.

"Oh, I ain't requesting nothing. Ask who I am." Erik quips with a smirk.

"You're Erik Stevens." Shuri states from behind her mother as she steps forward slightly, Mary moves from behind Ayo to stand next to Shuri behind Romonda.

"An American black operative. A mercenary nicknamed Killmonger." Mary interjects.

"That's who you are." Shuri finishes, her hand holding onto Mary's tightly.

"That's not my name, Princess." Erik quips to Shuri, completely ignoring Mary. "Ask the king."

"No." T'Challa states swiftly.

"Ask me." Killmonger instigates T'Challa more. Mary could see T'Challa taking the bait Killmonger was giving him, her friend was struggling with something big that he hadn't been able to tell her about just yet.

T'Challa turns around from facing Erik, he moves to walk away, raising his hand briefly, "Take him away." He tells the guards.

"Ungubani?" Who are you? The river tribe elder asks loudly, and Mary literally sees all hell break loose.

"Ndingu N'Jadaka unyana wePrince N'Jobu!" I am N'Jadaka, son of Prince N'Jobu. Erik shouts as he resists the guards holding him.

Everyone is on their feet now in shock, "Unyana ka-N'Jobu?" Son of N'Jobu? One of the elder women asks in disbelief.

"I found my daddy with panther claws in his chest!" Erik, or rather N'Jadaka, shouts loudly at T'Challa, "You ain't the son of aking. You a son of a murderer." He snaps loudly.

Romonda steps in front of Shuri and Mary quickly, protecting them from the danger she felt was going to ensue. "Uyaxoka!" You're lying! The Queen Mother shouts. "Lies!"

W'Kabi steps forward slightly, "I'm afraid not, Queen Mother." He states, then holding up a gold chain with a ring in the middle. Gasps are heard throughout the throne room and Mary remembers where the ring looks so familiar. It's the same ring as the one T'Challa has, the one he put on his finger right after the bombing of the UN in Vienna happened. The day he lost his father.

Romonda holds out her hand for W'Kabi as one of the tribal elders speaks, "Inzala ka-N'Jobu." The descendent of N'Jobu. The elder woman says.

N'Jadaka smirks, "Hey, Auntie." He quips as W'Kabi places the necklace and ring into her hand. "I'm exercising my blood right, the challenge for the mantles of king and Black Panther." He snaps.

Mary's eyes are wide in shock and fear. She could feel her hands begin to shake, Wakanda was supposed to be her safe haven, where her husband could heal and she could be free from needing to be on the run like her brother and friends were. If N'Jadaka succeeded in taking the throne from T'Challa, then she would very likely be killed. Her and her unborn baby were in danger.

"Do not do this, T'Challa." Ramonda states to her son, she was pleading with him now

"As the son of Prince N'Jobu, he is within his right." The border tribe elder speaks up.

"He has no rights here!" Ramonda shouts furiously. Shuri holds onto Mary as T'Challa sits down in his throne without saying a word. Mary knew what he was thinking about to some degree, he was contemplating what to do. This was normally when she would help him, advise him. But she couldn't, not this time.

"The challenge will take weeks to prepare." The river tribe elder states.

"Weeks? I don't need weeks. The whole country don't gotta be there. I just need him. And somebody to get me out of these chains." N'Jadaka snaps in reply.

Mary looks down at T'Challa as he looks over the ring he was given by Ramonda. "T'Challa." She whispers to her friend and king, tears forming in her eyes at the thought of not being safe in the one place he promised her would be safe for her and her family. "Please." She begs.

Ramonda watches Mary then looks at her son, "T'Challa, what do you know of this?" She asks.

T'Challa looks up at Mary, his eyes apologizing for the trouble he has caused her. The stress he put on her and her child. Mary knew he couldn't back out of this fight and her heart was breaking once again just as it was still mending. "I accept your challenge." He states, looking at N'Jadaka.