Chapter Text
"We need your help, Attuma."
The general of Talakon looked away from his maid, who was preparing to unwrap his bandage, to the Wakandan warrior sitting before him. Okoye was wearing bloodied armor, which was so crusted on that even the seas couldn't wash it away. Her Angel suit underneath was what helped her submerge into the depths of his kingdom.
She couldn't have been more beautiful.
Okoye had never been to Talokan before. She would have loved to have taken in the beautiful architecture and sights before her now at any other time. Unfortunately, the world raged on the surface against Wakanda.
The Avengers, whom her people fought besides against Thanos, stayed out of the fray of either side. But it was a small mercy either way because then they would have to explain about their new allies.
Wakanda took minimal damage, as Namor had pledged over 200,000 of his soldiers to the fight, but they needed more.
She didn't know what deal he and Shuri struck up, but every time a foreign ship popped up in their waters, it disappeared just as quickly.
The Americans and the French also tried to gather allies and attack weak spots like waterways.
However, they met bloody, gruesome deaths instead.
Other countries were waiting, hoping to jump in at the last minute to strip her home bare.
Attuma had been fighting with them, for which she gave him credit. He had been recuperating from a midnight sneak attack from some American mercenaries. Namor had ordered his general home and to only return when he was fully healed.
It wasn't as glorious as the fight against the Wakandans, but he enjoyed battle nonetheless.
Now, he was sitting before her in his home, flexing his arm where he was wounded as she pleaded her case.
Okoye knew that Attuma's own tribe had another reserve of over 100,000 more soldiers, all eager to fight.
Everyone wanted this war to end, but the colonizers were salivating at the thought of a mountain of Vibranium. And now, here she was before him, hoping he bore no ill will from their first encounter.
Attuma had been listening as they sat in the cavern across from each other, his rebreather on the table before him in front of her.
The handmaiden was discarding the bandages.
"Your people have as much to lose as we do." she finished.
Those black, piercing eyes scraped over her at that last sentence.
"Is that a threat against keeping our secret?" he asked. He squeezed his hand into a fist to test for pain.
Despite the cavern being cool, she was burning up in her deep-sea Angel suit.
"I'm asking as an ally. How long do you think your secret will be safe if we fall? Our enemies are already wondering why their ships and submarines aren't lasting more than a week in our waters."
He waved away the handmaid without taking his eyes off Okoye and leaned back into his chair to deeply observe her.
She could only imagine how she looked before him, desperate and dirty.
If Okoye was honest, this trek to Attuma's home was her first real break in months.
But she knew the real reason he was drawing this out.
"Why should I send more men to fight? "he asked."Your people are winning with few casualties. My king is side by side with your princess. "
This was true, but they needed absolute victory to guarantee that the colonizers wouldn't try to invade again or persuade any of the Avengers to join them. There were too many surprise attacks, primarily from the sea. Thank Bast for the Talokonil.
”And you," Attuma leaned forward on the table abruptly to cup the back of her hand firmly so she couldn't pull away.
," refused my courtship ,twice."
Okoye couldn't look away from him. She remembered Attuma inquiring about her availability to Shuri and then to M, Baku.
She had taken both instances in stride, an afterthought.
"I have been married before. It ended unpleasantly."
"I am not him. All I have ever asked for was a bit of your attention and affection. You could have commanded my armies at your whim if you were my wife."
Okoye could feel his thumb softly caressing the back of her hand.
This was what it was going to boil down to.
Attuma turned her hand palm side up, kissing it, and nuzzled his face against it. When he closed his eyes, it was as if he was losing himself in what could have been. What could still be.
"Unless my king orders me not to, I can have our reserves ready by morning. What will you offer in return?"
The soft, gentle bites on her fingertips stirred something deep within her. There had been nothing but blood and ash and pain over the last few months. As grimy as she felt, he couldn't possibly want her now.
"I-I have nothing much to give you but myself."
Attuma raised an eyebrow.
Okoye had thought about this after some inner struggles. Gold was useless to him. So was vibranium. She needed something that would appeal to only him.
" An arraignment." She continued.
Now, this piqued his interest that his grip loosened on her, and she stood up to gather her thoughts.
Wakanda would never sanction a deal like this, ever. Nor would she, and it wasn't made any easier with the talokonil general sitting there bare-chested, deep breaths dripping with both desire and curiosity at what she said.
Okoye raised her head.
"You could have me for one week.No questions asked. "
She could see his thoughts glazing over the things he could do to her in that time.
"You would rather be my whore than my wife?" He laughed bitterly but did not move away."Surely, you could be both."
Okoye looked away, vision turning red.
"I would rather no one else dies. I would rather all of this madness ends."
She couldn't help her anger. New attacks were coming in daily, and here she was, auctioning herself off.
Attuma was amused at her break in character.
" My people are risking their lives, too. One month is what I will accept."
Okoye thought about it carefully as he watched her and nodded slowly—one month in his bed. She could do that.
"You do understand that as a royal concubine, you may need to be available to others such as my King or Namora..."
Okoye's eyes widened. She had hoped to keep this secret, not to be pimped out.
"Absolutely not!"
Attuma tilted his head like a curious wolf.
"You would have to be available to serve those on my station, which coincidentally are just the two of them. I would never allow anyone below myself to touch you. "
He looked disgusted at the thought of his underling taking their turn with her.
This was a mistake. A stupid, stupid mistake on her part. Okoye wasn't going to whore herself out to all of Talokan. Fuck this, she'd have to figure something else out. She turned to leave.
"Come here!"
Okoye jumped. She should have known not to dangle such a prospect in front of someone who didn't like games.
She wasn't sure if he was serious, ordering her to him like she was already his, but she obeyed tentatively, her legs moving as if on their own and stopping just before his chair.
"On your knees," he said calmly, pointing to a spot by his feet.
She refused to move at first, as she could leave still as an ally but with her honor intact. But Attuma had made no secret that he lusted after the dark beauty and was not giving up this opportunity to have her warm his bed, no matter how unusual the circumstances were.
Was this what he wanted, her humiliation for turning down his courtship? Those dark eyes picked away every piece of her defense, reminding Okoye he, not her, held power here.
But then she thought about the war ending in days, the invaders finally leaving them alone to live their lives. Her humiliation was a small price to pay.
Slowly, she sank to the floor, bracing herself on his knee. Something dark came over his face at the contact, something that made her feel real fear.
The back of his knuckles brushed her face to tilt up her chin, contradicting that warning in her gut.
"Good girl ."
Okoye rolled her eyes. Attuma was really enjoying this.
"At least you can take orders. Can you listen? "
She let him continue.
"Aj Ku'kul'kan is after your princess. And Namora is Namora.You should worry more about whether or not I may wear you out, my beautiful pearl."
A large thumb dipped slowly in and out of her mouth. She bit down slightly, dragging a small shameless moan from him.
Okoye could play these games, too, if need be.
He could see through her scheming and her need to give her all to protect her people, but it didn't matter. She will hold up her end.
Attuma liked her like this: on her knees before him, wide-eyed and vulnerable. If he had the talents of art like his king, he would have painted it on his walls.
"Please," she interrupted his thoughts, shifting uncomfortably on the stone floor while trying to get him to understand her urgency.
"We need every soldier, and I am begging. "
"You will be." he whispered, enjoying caressing the softness of her skin before using his thumb to trace her lips. Okoye looked up at him, trembling at what he meant by that.
Attuma stood and helped the Midnight Angel to her feet, leading her back to his home's entrance pool.
"Do not expect gentleness,"
He said, pulling her close before she swam back topside. A kiss was threatened, but there would be time for that later. And many, many other things. Okoye could feel him hot against her thigh and how large he was. He was going to split her in half.
"as you may very well hate me afterward," he emphasized, grinding into her hip.
He then separated from her reluctantly, returning to his war-like facade.
" Give me one day, and do not die before I receive my payment."
She turned to see him already disappearing back to his alcove, rotating his once-wounded arm.
She left shaken and barely missed colliding with some deep-sea wildlife.
Her heart should have lept at the thought of the war ending sooner than she thought as she swam past the deep sea city. She had never been a spy like Nakia, nor had she ever had to play seductress. His rough fingertips still tingled on her skin.
What had she gotten herself into?
It was a beautiful trap. The colonizers thought that they had finally persevered, breaching the border with their primitive weapons with the last and final battle taking place on her home soil. And then, once the Wakandans were sure that every invader had made it through, the force shield snapped closed behind them.
As promised, Attuma had emerged from the sea the following day with the reserves. It was a quick bloodbath. Submarines ripped open, men screaming, and soldiers pulled out into the waters. The shock of the strange blue warriors on their enemy's faces as they realized they had made a grave error.
When the dust cleared , the colonizers had lost. France was underwater, and America found itself half submerged and shunned by the rest of the world lest they face the same wrath from the small African nation. So meekly, with their tails between their legs, the Americans asked for any survivors and bodies of the dead. The talokonil couldn't risk any witnesses; that was the one thing Wakanda had to promise if they wanted their help. The living and the deceased had been vaporized in case they carried any genetic material from Talakon. They all disappeared. Of course, there was anger and empty threats, but most importantly, there was fear. Fear of Wakanda, fear of the unknown weapons that they possessed.
It was a simple message to get across.
Leave us alone.
Namor and his people slowly return to the sea, with Attuma casting Okoye a look to remind her that he will return for what was his soon. She swallowed hard at that promise.
After a quick rebuild, the whole country was whole again. The colonizers had to pay substantial fines and repairs for Wakanda and make a worldwide apology. How embarrassing for them.
Life seemed to go on, and after a while, she forgot about the bloodshed, then eventually, the promise.
Until after about a month , Attuma sent word that he was coming for her early one morning. A simple parchment telling her not to pack anything as all would be provided.
No one asked questions, thank Bast, because it wasn't odd to see Talokonil walking near the river or trading in the markets, and he didn't specify when. This was a new, safe place for them, especially since Wakanda had reclosed its borders.
Okoye looked around her room nervously. It was the anticipation of not knowing what to expect. Surely, he wouldn't chain her to a bed or anything like that. She sighed. It may be his version of foreplay.
'Should she bring condoms? Lube? Was he even going to fit?’why hadn’t she thought about any of these things?
Attuma didn't strike her as the type to have the patience to put one on. Or even fit one.
She wasn't worried about STDs because their blood work had been impeccable. And she herself was clean.
And then came the thought of pregnancy. She had a contraceptive implant put in a year ago.
It all felt so impersonal, and Okoye wondered if she should be worried about how business-like she was at what she was about to do.
Perhaps because of everything that had happened, she wasn't coping well, making bad decisions.
The sun was beginning to set; maybe it would be another day-
A loud knock brought her out of her thoughts.
It rattled throughout the house, the force of it shaking her windows.
She wasn't going to pretend not to know who it was.
Okoye opened her door, a month of anticipation leading up to Attuma having to duck down while entering her home. She knew it was coming, but it didn't quell her nerves as he stood hovering and taking a look around her home before settling his eyes on her.
She felt so small looking up at him, knowing and not knowing that as soon as she made it to his home, she would only exist to please him.
" Are you ready?"
He asked, licking his lips beneath his rebreather and stepping into her space.
Attuma held out his hand, solid and threatening digits that looked so harmless and seductive, but Okoye knew better.
Slipping her hand into his, she sat aside her fears and met him halfway by stepping closer to him.
She wasn't afraid, but she should be.
"Yes."