Work Text:
the hum of the old neon sign was the only thing that greeted riri when she shouldered open the warped metal door. she kicked it shut behind her, every muscle screaming, every inch of her suit that remained was dented or scorched, weighing down on her limbs and trapping them uncomfortably.
riri didn’t bother with the lights. it may have been a while, but she knew this place by memory: the cracked cement floor, the racks of tools her stepdad used to keep haphazardly organized, the way the smell of motor oil always clung to the air like a ghost that wouldn’t let go.
she pressed her back to the cold, cinderblock wall and slid down until she was sitting, knees to her chest. the sound of her suit against the wall grated her ears, but riri managed to ignore it.
god, she thought. i can’t do this anymore.
natalie had called her paranoid, but riri had been right. the hood did want her dead; he’d just sent his crew to do the job for him. then he’d sent joe - zeke - and riri had almost died. fuck.
her chest felt too tight. she tugged at the chestpiece of her suit, fingers trembling, trying to breathe past the rising panic. she managed to tear away several of the chest plates, ripping of what remained of her iron suit’s shoulders and arms, freeing her fingers and chest until she could bury her face in her hands - her real, human hands - despite how beaten and bloody they were.
riri didn’t hear the quiet footstep until it was too late.
“riri?”
her head snapped up, eyes wide.
shuri was standing near the toolbench, silhouetted by a slant of moonlight through the dusty windows. she was out of her wakandan formal attire, instead wearing a soft hoodie and jeans, but somehow she still looked like she’d walked off a throne.
riri sucked in a shaky breath and scrubbed at her cheeks. she probably had. “what - what are you doing here?”
shuri didn’t answer right away. her gaze swept over the bruises on Riri’s jaw, the blood crusted at her temple, the way her hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
“your vitals have been worrisome the past few days. i came to check on you.” the princess replied easily, words soft but not quiet.
“i’m fine,” she croaked. riri pushed herself upright, but her knees nearly buckled. “i’m - it’s nothing. just a little - i’m handing it,”
her words tripped over themselves. the panic was back, hot and bright in her throat.
shuri moved closer, not touching, just near enough that riri could feel her presence like a steadying weight.
“you don’t have to pretend with me,” shuri murmured. riri squeezed her eyes shut.
“i’m not -”
“you are.”
“i don’t want you to see me like this.” she finally managed to hiss, forcing herself to stand even if the legs of her iron suit wanted to anchor her to the floor.
shuri’s expression softened, and she finally stepped forward, closing the last bit of distance. carefully, she cupped riri’s cheek in her hand, thumb brushing away a tear she hadn’t realized had fallen.
“you think i haven’t been here?” shuri whispered. “after everything that happened with my brother, with namor -“ riri forgot how to breathe again at the mention of his name. it had been so long since she’d allowed herself to think about him, about the attack, about the queen -
riri blinked away those thoughts.
“you think i don’t know what it’s like to break?”
riri managed a shuddering breath. “of - of course not,” she whispered, pulling back, away from the princess’s hands, from her kindness. the kindness she didn’t deserve.
there was quiet between them for a few moments.
“you survived.” the princess said simply, reading a part of her mind riri had almost lost access to.
for a second, neither of them moved. riri’s chest still heaved with uneven gasps, but shuri’s presence was steady, anchoring in a way riri didn’t expect, hadn’t anticipated. she’d thought about when she’d see the woman again, what it would be like, and never had it been like this.
when the sob finally tore free of her chest, it was ragged and aching, but shuri didn’t flinch. instead, she stepped closer to her, wrapping her arms around her and holding her close, as if she’d known all along that this was what she needed most.
“it’s okay,” shuri murmured into her hair. “let it out. i’ve got you.”
riri didn’t even realize her legs had given out until she was on the floor again, knees hitting the cold concrete with a metallic thud. shuri followed her down without hesitation, arms still locked tight around her.
the first few sobs were bad, but the next were worse - guttural, desperate sounds that tore their way up from somewhere she didn’t want to look. her hands scrambled for something to hold onto, and shuri guided the trembling appendages to her shoulders.
“that’s it,” shuri whispered, hand holding her at the nape of her neck. “breathe with me. you’re not alone.”
but riri couldn’t breathe. she’d been holding everything in - every fear, every failure, every second she’d been convinced she was going to die - and it was too much now. it was all too much.
“i c-can’t -“ she choked out. “shuri, i can’t - i can’t do this anymore-”
“yes, you can,” shuri said gently, her own eyes shining as she gathered riri closer. “you already have. look at me.”
riri tried, but her vision blurred with tears, her body shaking so hard her teeth clacked together. “i don’t -i don’t know how to stop-“
“then don’t,” shuri said simply. “don’t stop. let it out.”
so she did.
riri sobbed so hard her ribs hurt, her voice breaking on every exhale. her face pressed into shuri’s shoulder, wetting the fabric with tears she hadn’t let herself shed for weeks. her hands fisted in the soft fabric of shuri’s hoodie, as if it were the only thing tethering her to the world.
and yet, shuri held her - steady and calm in a way that made the rest of the night feel far away.
when the worst of it finally began to ebb, riri could only gasp in little hiccupping breaths, her whole body exhausted from the force of her grief.
and being smacked around like a tennis ball, her mind added very helpfully.
shuri shifted back just enough to cup her cheek again, thumb brushing at the tear tracks.
“hey,” she murmured. “look at me, nkosazana.”
riri’s lashes fluttered. “i’m s-sorry, i- i didn’t-”
“no,” shuri shook her head, her voice firm but so unbearably kind. “you don’t apologize for surviving. you don’t apologize for feeling.”
riri let out a wrecked little laugh, a half-sob. she didn’t know what to say. “i’m such a mess right now.” she settled on, looking from her bloodied clothing to the pants of the iron suit she was still wearing.
“you look like someone who fought to stay alive,” shuri said, before adding, “someone who matters to me.”
the words landed so solidly in riri’s chest that fresh tears welled up again, but she didn’t try to stop them this time. shuri just pulled her in again, pressing a kiss to her temple and holding her close, grounding her with every soft touch.
“i’m going to help you clean up, all right?” shuri said when riri had quieted a little. “then we’ll get you somewhere safe. you don’t have to do anything alone tonight.” the princess’s tone left no room for argument.
riri nodded shakily, not trusting her voice.
carefully, shuri helped her out of the rest of her damaged suit, moving with slow, deliberate gentleness, as if riri were something fragile that might shatter again. once the rest of her suit was off - scattered in pieces all across the floor - she moved on to look at riri’s injuries.
the extra attention to them just reminded riri how much she hurt, from the scrapes on her knuckles to the bruises on her chest, the cuts running all along her spine to the ache in her ribs.
shuri was silent as she worked. she dabbed at the dried blood on Riri’s temple with a clean rag she’d found by the workbench, her fingertips sure and steady.
shuri’s brow furrowed with each cut she cleaned, moving from her temple to her collarbone, then to her arms and wrists, which had been scuffed when she’d scrambled to get her gauntlets off. she carefully wiped at the blood on her knuckles until they stopped bleeding, before wrapping her hands in gauze to cover them.
“put your hands on my shoulders,” she instructed gently, and all riri could muster was a confused look. shuri’s look in return was pointed and knowing. “i’m going to check your ribs, to make sure you haven’t broken any.” she told her.
riri did as she was told, but spoke up nonetheless.
“can’t your kimoyo beads scan for all of this stuff?” she asked, breathing sharply and wincing when shuri pressed firmly against her left side, right over the bruise she knew was there from the blood siblings. and also where the shrapnel from one of clown’s grenades had caught her.
“they will,” shuri replied easily, lifting up her hoodie to look at the damage. riri watched her face scrunch up as she frowned, wiping away the blood with such tenderness and cautiousness it made riri want to scream and cry all over again.
when she was done, she shrugged out of her own hoodie and draped it over riri’s shoulders. it was soft and warm and smelled faintly of some kind of sweet, spiced oil.
riri clutched it to her chest like a lifeline.
“thank you for letting me do that,” shuri said, one hand on her shoulder and the other resting at the crook of her neck.
riri closed her eyes, breathing in the quiet, steady comfort of her.
“okay,” she whispered back, trying more so to convince herself of the realness of the situation than anything else. “okay.”
shuri didn’t rush her. she helped riri stand when her legs felt like water, one arm strong and steady around her waist.
they left the auto shop in silence. the night air was cool and smelled like summer rain, but it didn’t make riri shiver as much with shuri so close.
half a block away, nestled between two abandoned warehouses, a wakandan jet crouched like a sleek predator, matte black and waiting. its ramp lowered with a muted hiss when shuri approached.
riri blinked at it through swollen eyes, half convinced she was seeing things. “you… you brought that here?”
she gave her a tiny, almost mischievous smile. “would you rather i took an uber? besides, its the only way okoye would let me out of her sight.”
despite everything, riri huffed out a laugh. her voice still came out small and raw. “i guess not.”
“come,” Shuri murmured, her hand brushing the small of riri’s back as she guided her up the ramp. she tried not to flinch as shuri’s fingers ghosted over the mess of pain along her spine, from where the backstrut of her suit had been torn out and grated along her skin as it went.
inside, the craft was hushed and softly lit, all smooth black surfaces and warm gold accents. the walls seemed to hum with quiet energy. riri wobbled a little, but shuri’s hand never left her.
“sit,” she said gently, gesturing to a padded bench near the side. “i will get you some water.”
riri obeyed, too wrung out and exhausted to argue. she watched shuri move - so calm, so certain - and something deep in her chest unknotted another fraction.
shuri returned with a tall glass of water. she knelt in front of riri, tilting it to her lips.
“small sips,” she insisted. “you are dehydrated.”
riri sipped obediently, her hands still trembling. when she was done, shuri set the water aside and moved to gather some of her tech.
riri swallowed, still feeling as though her own emotions were choking her. “i don’t… i don’t know how to thank you for this.”
“you don’t have to,” shuri replied easily. “you are my friend. you matter to me.”
the ship lifted off with the gentlest vibration, gliding up into the night sky. riri looked out the small viewport, watching the lights of chicago shrink beneath them. for the first time in what felt like forever, she didn’t feel like she had to look over her shoulder.
“where… where are we going?” she asked in a hoarse whisper.
“nowhere far,” shuri promised. “just high enough to be safe. you can rest here without worrying about anyone coming for you.”
riri nodded, swallowing past the lump in her throat. how much did shuri know?
“and you?”
shuri’s eyes softened. “i will be right here. i’m not leaving you.”
when the jet leveled out. shuri moved in front of riri again, before presenting her wrist to riri.
“i’m going to scan you with my kimoyo beads, just in case there’s anything i missed.” she informed riri, and she had half a thought to tell shuri about the agonizing pain from her back, but she bit her tongue when shuri didn’t really wait for her to respond, a blue scan flitting across her hunched body from the princess’s wrist.
when it was done, shuri stood up and took a step back, looking over the diagnostics her kimoyo beads gave her.
riri couldn’t read them herself; it was all backwards text to her.
shuri frowned at the results. riri’s heart leapt to her throat.
“shuri, i - i’m fine,” riri tried, aiming for a dismissive shrug that came out weak and uneven. “i’m sure it just looks worse than it is-”
“stop.” shuri raised her wrist and tapped her kimoyo beads. the diagnostics went away and shuri’s gaze fixed on riri’s, unreadable. “let me see.”
riri stayed quiet.
shuri stepped behind her, her tone dropping to something she reserved only for the most delicate work. “riri. take off your hoodie.” she instructed,
riri froze, staring down at her hands. “it - it’s not that bad.” she tried insisting again, hands clutching onto shuri’s hoodie like a lifeline.
“take it off,” shuri repeated, quieter now but no less commanding.
riri held her breath as the removed shuri’s hoodie from her shoulders, letting it fall to the bench beside her. her hands shook as she reached up to tug the fabric over her head. the air felt cold on her sweat-damp skin, stinging as it brushed against the wounds on her back. it was a good thing her hoodie was black, otherwise the blood it had been soaked with would have been a dead giveaway. she heard shuri’s breath catch when she turned around.
“riri,” she breathed, “what happened?”
riri flinched, reaching her hands up to cover the back of her neck, as if that would somehow protect her from shuri’s smouldering gaze. “it was- i didn’t have time to think…”
across the plane of her back, from right below her neck all the way down to the base of her spine, angry welts and deep gashes stripped her skin where zeke had pulled the suit’s spine out. the edges of the wounds were scorched, pitted with fragments of fused metal that had bitten into her flesh.
“you fought with this?” shuri asked, voice low and incredulous.
riri’s shoulders hunched. “not exactly. i - i didn’t do much fighting after…” she trailed off, pushing away the memories of almost being killed, almost suffocating to death at zeke’s hands. “...he let me go.” she settled on instead, words still uncertain.
shuri’s fingertips hovered just above one of the worse burns. “you could have gone into shock.”
“but i didn’t,” riri whispered, her throat tight. “so… it’s fine.”
“it is not fine,” shuri snapped, her composure cracking for an instant before she closed her eyes and took a breath. when she opened them again, they were full of something fierce and protective. “riri. look at me.”
reluctantly, she twisted to meet her gaze.
“let me take care of you,” she murmured. “let me help you this time.”
it took a few moments for the words to sink in, for her to understand what shuri meant. the recognition hit her like a truck when it came.
jerkily, riri nodded, too wrecked to pretend anymore.
“good,” shuri whispered. she turned to grab a medkit, her hands already moving with practiced precision. “hold still. this will hurt for a moment.”
the medkit clicked open with a soft snap , and shuri’s hands moved deftly over the supplies, selecting a slender vial of antiseptic and a set of precision forceps.
“breathe,” shuri murmured as she eased closer, her knees brushing riri’s where she sat. “just breathe with me.”
riri tried, but every breath felt too big for her chest. her eyes stayed locked on the bulkhead wall, her heart hammering as she braced herself. the memory of being breathless, of being suffocated, was burned into her mind.
“this will sting,” shuri warned, dragging her out of her thoughts.
the first touch of antiseptic was a searing shock that made riri hiss and clamp her eyes shut. a tremor shivered through her shoulders, and before she could stop herself, she let out a choked sound- half gasp, half sob.
“i know,” shuri said softly, her free hand coming up to steady riri’s ribs, grounding her. “i know it hurts.”
“god-” riri’s voice cracked. “i - i’m, i’m sorry -” she gasped as shuri continued to tend to her back, the pain agonizing despite how careful she was being.
“for what?” shuri’s tone was sharp with disbelief. “for getting hurt defending yourself? for surviving?”
riri swallowed hard, her shoulders hunching forward as another wave of pain rippled through her back. “for…for needing help.”
that made shuri pause. the silence stretched until riri finally dared to glance over her shoulder.
shuri was looking at her like she had said the most heartbreaking thing in the world.
“you think you have to earn the right to be cared for?” shuri asked, her voice low and unsteady.
riri couldn’t answer, because if she tried, she’d start crying again.
shuri slowly set the antiseptic aside and reached up, her palm sliding along the side of riri’s neck, warm and sure. “you don’t. you never did.”
riri wanted to argue, to bring up all the times she’d been entitled, the times she’d thought she deserved to be loved for simply being her, and how many of those times ended with death and hurt. all the times people who cared for her ended up dead.
shuri moved to kneel in front of her, hands light on her shins to try and draw her out of her own mind. “look at me.” she instructed, voice still soft.
slowly, riri lifted her head.
“your suit protected you from worse,” shuri said, her voice low, “but the burns on your back are not minor. i need to treat them properly.”
riri swallowed hard. “it’s… gonna be bad, huh?” she tried for a more jovial tone, but it just ended up being flat. riri winced at her own words, tearing her eyes away from shuri as she looked at her with something so calculated, so comprehensive and caring all at once.
“it will hurt,” shuri told her softly. “but after, you will heal.”
riri ignored the double-meaning of the princess’s words. for her own sake. her throat closed up again. she didn’t want to be afraid, but she was terrified. without the adrenaline and the overwhelming panic, she was afraid of the pain, afraid of what it meant that someone was seeing her broken. it had never been much of a secret that she was, but she at least tried to show others that she wasn’t just damaged goods.
shuri must have read all of it on her face, because she shifted closer, her palms sliding up to rest just above her knees. “you are not alone,” she said quietly. “i will be right here.”
riri let out a shuddering breath and nodded.
“alright.” shuri rose and moved back to the medkit, retrieving a vial of salve and a small porcelain dish. she came back and set them within reach before gently coaxing riri to turn.
she did so with a shuddering breath, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them close, the stretch of her back already stinging with pain as her skin pulled taught.
riri felt the cold pressure of the forceps against her back, a somewhat relief from the burning pain, but then they moved to grasp at something on her back and it was agony. the thin, scorched remnants of the undershirt she’d worn beneath her hoodie peeled away with an awful, sticky sound. riri hissed, her eyes squeezing shut. shuri deposited the fabric piece in the porcelain dish, and riri kept her eyes shut as to not look at the grotesque thing.
“easy,” shuri soothed after a few minutes of silence, the air only filled with riri’s small noises of pain. “almost done.”
once the last scrap was free, cool air washed over the burns, making her shiver. she pressed her forehead into her knees, breathing raggedly.
shuri worked in silence, applying the salve in careful, methodical strokes. it burned at first, amplifying the raw pain down her back, but then came a slow, tingling numbness.
“you should have called me,” shuri said quietly. not accusing… just - aching.
riri squeezed her eyes tighter, trying to bury her face further in her own body, away from the truth. “didn’t want to need you.” she breathed, the confession leaving the air in a stilted silence.
shuri didn’t respond for a little while, and riri worried for a moment that she’d ruined this - whatever this was. but after an uncomfortable silence, shuri continued to work, using the forceps to remove the metal shrapnel that gotten stuck in her flesh. riri could hear the plink, plink, plink of the metal shards as shuri deposited them in the dish and feel the welts of blood dribble their way down her back.
she couldn’t really feel the pain anymore. her numbing salve had worked like magic.
magic.
“almost done,” shuri whispered after a few minutes of working, occasionally taking a sterile cloth to wipe away the blood. riri could smell it, the iron tang thick and heavy in the air.
a few minutes after that, riri heard shuri put the forceps down and pick up the porcelain dish, moving it somewhere else - out of sight, probably - before grabbing a not insignificant amount of gauze from somewhere and placing it down next to her.
she lowered her knees when asked, and riri stayed as still as she possibly could as shuri helped bandage the wounds - putting gauze patches over the worst of the burns and cuts and wrapping the rest of them. by the time she was done, her back was wound securely with bandages, fastened tightly but not too tightly to her body and encompassing most of her torso and chest.
riri was shaking. her hands had never stopped trembling, but now it was a full-body thing. not just from pain but from the ache in her chest - an ache she hadn’t dared look at until now.
“you can rest now,” the princess told her softly, tone soothing and calm and kind and everything riri was not.
“i don’t know how,” she admitted, voice almost silent as she confessed.
“you will,” shuri promised, words simple and easy, her voice fierce and gentle all at once. “i’ll teach you.” shuri set the tools aside and crouched in front of her again, taking both of riri’s hands in her own.
riri turned her head, refusing to meet her eyes. all she could compel herself to feel asides from the pain and the fear and the exhaustion was shame.
“riri,” she said softly, “look at me.”
riri lifted her head, muscles tensing despite how exhausted she was as she blinked tears from her lashes.
“you are allowed to need someone,” shuri whispered, though the words were a quiet kind of strong.
after a breath, the princess added: “you are allowed to need me .”
riri found it in herself to look shuri in the eyes, allowed herself to really see the concern in her eyes and the care she’d been treating her with. riri took in a sharp breath when the only thing she could describe the other woman as was genuine.
riri’s head hurt from all the beating and the emotions and the thinking, so it was more so instinct that made her lurch forward and throw her arms around shuri’s waist, holding her tightly in a hug, afraid that if she let go the princess would leave.
shuri didn’t pull back. she didn’t hesitate as riri threw herself into her hold, she just wrapped her arms around riri’s shaking shoulders, holding her there as long as she needed.
in everything that had happened to her since she first met the princess, from being chased by the CIA to being kidnapped by merpeople to being in the wakandan throneroom to working alongside the princess and with her technology, all the way through her MIT struggles and conflicts with the hood, riri had never felt that she had been in her rightful place. somewhere she deserved to be and was needed.
not until now.
when shuri pulled back, it was only enough to look her over again, calculating gaze scanning over her myriad of injuries.
“you need to lie down.” she decided gently, never fully letting go of her.
riri hesitated, glancing at the singular cot built into the back of the jet. she bit the inside of her lip, almost hard enough to cause it to bleed. she stopped herself before it did.
“i can just sit. it’s fine.”
“no,” Shuri said simply, her tone brooking no argument. “you will lie down.”
riri almost smiled: it was a tired, watery thing. “you’re bossy.”
shuri’s mouth curved, ever so slightly. “someone has to be.” she replied in the same soft way.
carefully, shuri slipped an arm around her waist, mindful of the mess of burns and cuts on her back. riri winced but didn’t pull away as she was guided to the cot. she perched on, hesitant as shuri walked away, but when she came back with her own hoodie in hand, riri felt some of that hesitation ebb away. she helped riri put the hoodie on, her own one doubtlessly soaked and crusted in blood, and riri was immediately grateful for the comfort and heat it provided her.
the mattress beneath her was firm and cool, and the moment she lowered herself onto it (at shuri’s insistence), her body felt suddenly too heavy to move again.
shuri tucked a thin blanket around her, her hands gentle, efficient. when she straightened, riri reached out before she could think better of it, her fingers curling around shuri’s wrist.
“stay?” she rasped, unable to keep the pleading out of her voice.
shuri’s expression softened completely, and she brought riri’s hand to her lips, pressing a kiss to her bandaged knuckles.
“i’m not going anywhere,” she promised.
riri let her eyes drift closed. she felt shuri sit down beside her on the cot, one hand resting lightly against her arm, grounding her even in the darkness behind her lids.
“sleep,” Shuri murmured, her thumb tracing slow circles over riri’s ribs where the suit had dug bruises into her skin; where the blood sibs had tried to beat her to death. “i will watch over you.”
riri was exhausted, she had been for days - she can’t remember the last time she actually.. well.. slept.
as sleep finally dragged her under, shuri pressed a feather-light kiss to her temple and whispered, “you are safe. i have you.”
riri believed her.
… … … … … …
at first, sleep came easily. she was so wrung out she could barely keep her eyes open, cocooned in shuri’s quiet, steady presence.
but the dreams were waiting.
it started out normal enough - well, as normal as a dream should be. she was at her mother’s side, talking to zelma and mrs stanton about nothing in particular. then she was reaching into her pocket, fishing out the glass jar with the piece of the hood’s cloak, and the world around them was shifting.
she was back in zelma’s workroom… parallel dimension… thing. and she was alone. it was just her, her jar or mystery and whatever magical bullshit zelma was keeping in whatever this place was.
riri looked at the piece of cursed fabric, watching as it turned invisible in the jar before reappearing.
riri sighed. why’d things have to get so complicated? she -
“i don’t lose, riri.” she spun around, panic immediately flooding through her as parker appeared behind her. shit, shit, shit, how did he get here? what is he doing here? why-?
“hey, ri, i got those books you wanted - oh. whose this?” zelma suddenly appeared behind her, carrying a stack of - of tomes, and riri almost had a heart attack at her sudden appearance.
when riri turned to look at zelma, her brow was furrowed, until her eyes widened as she seemed to recognise the cloak parker was wearing. “wait, is that-” she began, but a gunshot made riri jump out of her skin, and by the time she opened her eyes from the impulsive flinch she’d made the space around her was void - dark, black, empty.
the only thing she could see was a bloodstain on the floor beneath her, the red seeping across the glossy ground. zelma’s body had crumpled, face-up and terrified as blood oozed from her mouth, eyes wide and sightless as her body stared right at her.
riri’s blood ran cold.
“i’m gonna miss his loyalty,” parker’s voice echoed around her as she staggered towards zelma’s body, only for it to disappear in a heartbeat and leave only the blood-stained floor.
riri blinked once more and the space around her was grey - like she was trapped inside a cinderblock.
the bloodstain stayed right where it was, shape morphing and changing into something else, a shape so completely random and familiar and fuck.
fuck.
gunfire rang out behind her, and riri was spinning on her heels, feeling so much smaller all of a sudden, and even more powerless. she screamed in panic, a voice so hollow and familiar in her throat as she ducked behind her step-dad’s car, light pouring into the garage from the outside as bullets rained down on them.
she looked back over to the bloodstain, only to bodily flinch away when she saw natalie’s hole-ridden body laying in it, blood soaking into the concrete beneath her.
“the paramedics came a minute too late to save them,” her own words rung out as she tried to shuffle away, only to find herself falling backwards, air rushing by her as the feeling of free-falling pressed against her body.
she was flying away from MIT, evading the CIA, fighting a race of all-powerful merpeople, airborn from the force of an explosive in the wakandan throneroom all at once. her suit enveloped her, protecting her, constricting her. she couldn’t escape it, and no matter how hard she tried, her limbs refused to move. refused to cooperate.
when riri landed, it was with a thump into a cushy diner seat, and she instant;y remembered where she was.
she was in the white castle diner again - shattered glass and the taste of copper already in her mouth. the joint was abandoned, except for zelma sitting across from her.
slumped across from her was more accurate. riri could see blood soaking her clothes from where parker had shot her, eyes still lifeless and staring at her.
riri couldn’t breathe. she couldn’t move.
jeri and roz’s laughter echoed over the roar of her own heartbeat, clown’s maniacal laughter and echoes of her cold words rung out through her ears. then she was on the street again, looking up at joe - at zeke - as he tried to kill her, biotech enhancing his every move and function, making her iron suit all but useless and -
you can’t keep up, little girl.
riri gasped for breath, but the air wouldn’t come. the metal of her suit closing in on her, crushing her, the lights flickering in and out, and she was falling, falling again - she was always falling -
“riri.”
a voice cut through the nightmare, clear and calm.
you’re weak. you’ve always been weak. ever since the day you were born you’ve never been enough. enough for anyone to want to stay, enough to make them.
“riri, wake up.”
hands on her shoulders - warm, real. she flinched, trying to twist away, but the voice followed her down.
“it’s me. open your eyes. you’re safe.”
she jolted awake with a ragged cry, lurching forwards. her vision was swimming, her lungs heaving like she’d run a mile.
“riri—shhh.”
shuri was sat next to her on the cot, legs hanging over the edge, hands cupping her face. her thumbs swept gentle arcs over riri’s cheeks, grounding her.
“look at me,” shuri said softly, her forehead lowering to rest against hers. “breathe. just breathe.”
riri tried, but she was still somewhere halfway between the diner and here - still tasting blood and terror.
“they - they were—” her voice broke. “they were here. ”
“no,” shuri murmured. “they were not. you were dreaming.”
riri’s hands clawed at shuri’s wrists, needing something to hold onto. "i - couldn’t - i couldn’t move - i - i thought-”
“i know,” shuri soothed; her voice was low and sure, a lifeline. “but it is over. you are here, with me. feel this.”
she guided one of riri’s palm to the space over her own heart, pressing it flat. beneath her skin, shuri’s heartbeat thudded slow and steady.
“can you feel that?” she murmured, trying not to talk over the pulse of her own heartbeat.
riri nodded, a strangled sob catching in her throat.
“that is real,” she whispered. “this is real. you are not alone.”
her hand moved to riri’s ribs, fingers splayed, gentle as to not disturb her bruising or her bandages yet firm enough to be real. “in. and out. with me.”
riri’s chest rose in a shuddering inhale. she let it out in a long, broken exhale, her forehead still pressed against shuri’s.
“that’s it,” shuri murmured, brushing her nose gently against riri’s. “again.”
they stayed like that, breathing slowly together, until riri’s breathing eventually calmed. when she finally lifted her head, she had no idea how much time had passed and her face was wet, eyes swollen, but the suffocating panic had loosened its hold on her.
“sorry,” she rasped, leaning back, pulling away. “i - i didn’t mean to-”
“stop,” shuri said, her thumb stroking riri’s cheekbone. “you do not apologize for your mind trying to protect you.”
riri swallowed hard, her voice raw. she looked away, the thought of confessing her weakness to shuri’s face unbearable. “i was - i was back there, with them again, and i couldn’t fight back, and - and -”
shuri cupped her face in both hands, her expression soft and fierce all at once. “listen to me.” she said firmly, “they cannot reach you here. they will not touch you. not while i am breathing.”
fresh tears welled up, but they were quieter now.
“promise?” she whispered.
shuri’s thumb brushed over her mouth, tracing the trembling curve of it.
“i swear it,” she said. “as long as I live, you will never be alone.”
something in riri cracked open again - though it was less like breaking this time, and more like relief.
shuri drew her in without waiting for permission, wrapping both arms around her. Riri pressed her face into the curve of her neck, breathing in the warm, clean scent of her, and finally, finally, the world felt like it was steadying under her feet.
they stayed like that as the ship drifted silently above the sleeping city, and riri let herself believe - maybe just for tonight - that she was safe.
… … … … … …
riri didn’t know when she drifted off again. it was as if her body simply gave out once it realized it was safe to let go. the last thing she remembered was resting her head in the crook of shuri’s neck, clinging to her safety like it was a lifeline.
when she woke, it was to the hush of the jet still moving steadily through the dark, and the softer hush of shuri’s voice murmuring in wakandan into her kimoyo beads.
riri blinked slowly, disoriented. the pain in her back had dulled to a throbbing ache, but it was nothing compared to the raw relief in her chest when she turned her head and saw shuri sitting there, exactly as she’d promised.
shuri noticed her stirring and set aside her beads. “easy,” she said softly, leaning closer and helping riri sit up. “you’re alright.”
riri swallowed, her throat dry. “how long…?”
“just a couple of hours.” shuri reached out, grasping at something behind her and presenting her with the tall glass of water from earlier. “you needed it.”
riri exhaled shakily, a hand that was finally steady tentatively holding on to the glass. “feels like all i’ve been doing is falling apart in front of you.” she said, taking a sip of the water. small sips, shuri’s instructions echoed in her mind. you are dehydrated.
shuri’s lips curved in the faintest, tenderest smile. “then you are finally doing something right.”
riri huffed out a broken laugh that dissolved almost instantly into a fresh wave of tears. she pressed a hand over her face, ashamed of how easily the sobs came.
shuri didn’t let her hide. she caught riri’s wrist and gently drew it away, her gaze steady and open. “don’t do that,” she whispered. “don’t ever be ashamed of feeling.”
riri’s chest ached so badly it almost didn’t feel real. her voice came out in a raw whisper - “why do you care?”
shuri went still. for a moment, she didn’t answer, her eyes searching riri’s like she was trying to memorize every line of her face.
“because you are brilliant,” she said finally, her voice rough with emotion she wasn’t bothering to hide. “and brave. and infuriating.”
she paused, and when she spoke again, it was almost a confession.
“and because every time i look at you, i feel like…” shuri trailed off, searching for the right words. “like the world could be something better than what it is.” she eventually settled on.
riri’s breath hitched, her heart beating so hard it hurt. “shuri…” she managed, fighting the instinct to pull away, the instinct that told her this was dangerous, that it would only ever end in heartache.
shuri leaned in slowly, her forehead pressing against riri’s again. “you are worth caring about,” she whispered. “you always were.”
slowly, as though moving too quickly would break the moment, riri’s hand came up to touch shuri’s cheek, reciprocating the reverant movements shuri had used with her, hands tentative and trembling.
“i don’t want to lose you,” she breathed, the world feeling ten times more terrifying but also infinitely easier when she confessed the words. “i can’t.”
“you won’t,” shuri assured her, closing her eyes as she rested against her. “i swear it.”
for a long, suspended moment, neither of them moved. there was nothing but the warmth of shuri’s breath against her skin, the gentle pressure of her palm over shuri’s heart.
when riri finally spoke, her voice was steadier than she felt. “stay with me. please. just…stay.”
shuri’s answer was a soft kiss pressed to the corner of her mouth - a promise without needing any more words.