Chapter 1
It had been a few months since Steve dropped off his friend in the Wakandan medical ward. It was a peaceful place, one filled with hope and a fearless existence for all who entered through these doors.
And now it was James “Bucky” Barnes’ turn to experience that. He had gone into cryogenic induced sleep as a result. It had been a long and arduous road for the former assassin and now it was time to live life again.
Cold surrounded the former winter soldier. Trapping him in the confines of the cryogenic tube. His mind had been torn apart and scarred from the horror he inflicted and had inflicted on him as the mindless killing machine.
Warmth now touched his skin as the cold began to fade. It was a long process. One that seemed to take forever to be complete. His eyes slowly began to open as he registered his surroundings.
He was in a lab…okay. He wasn’t strapped down…ok even better. Nothing was attached to him except something that seemed to be taped down to his right hand…Interesting. The list of things he laid eyes on or the sensations he was experiencing seemed to make this return to wakefulness even more pleasant.
Bucky’s breath hitched when he experienced the sensation of a warm blanket draped across his upper body. It seemed like ages where he got to feel something more than pain, confusion and a dead weight that became his identity for so long.
What caught the former assassin’s attention more was that there was a pair of soft brown eyes looking down at him. It took a few seconds before his eyes could focus on a crisp view of those eyes, but when he did, he was speechless. She carried a smile on her face, showing no fear that indicated she was scared of him.
“Hey! Look whose awake!” the woman seemed pleased. Though when he looked at her Bucky quickly realized she wasn’t a doctor, “My name is Evelyn. I case you forgot.”
The woman he now identified as Evelyn seemed familiar but he couldn’t place why. It had been months since his last contact with any sort of life form. And now he had one staring down at him as if she had seen a ghost come back to life.
“Buc…” but Bucky’s efforts to respond in kind were interrupted by a cough..A harsh cough that indicated one’s dry throat after spending many months with very little to no nourishment.
“Whoah! Take it easy! I’ll go get you a glass of water.” And the brown eyed woman left.
This made Bucky’s head spin. What had happened to him? Why was he now being woken up from Cryo sleep? Had they found a way to get those words out of his head? Or had they been successful in pulling the words from his head? He had no clue. Bucky just laid there in the bed and just processed it all.
“Here!” Evelyn returned to his side with an ice cold glass of water with a straw. She first sat the head of the bed up just a bit more so that he could drink it with a bit more ease, “Take it slowly.”
He waited for her to lift the straw to his face and once it met his lips, Bucky tried not to greedily guzzle the water down. Instead, he chose to do what this woman Evelyn had told him to do.
“Thanks,” Bucky responded breathlessly as the last of the water made its way to his stomach.
“You’re welcome!” He saw Evelyn smile and then slowly put the cup down on a nearby table. She then pulled up a chair right next to him and smiled once more, “So how are you feeling Bucky?”
“A…little overwhelmed?” Bucky din’t know what to say to this. His mind, no matter how damaged it was, was still playing catch-up. It would take a second to remember who she was.
“That’s to be expected. A bunch of stuff has changed.” He watched as she looked to his left. He realized that the shoulder joint that had been so messed up was now very neatly trimmed back and fixed to make sure no more damage was caused by his blown to pieces shoulder.
“How did you do that when I was under?” Bucky looked to his shoulder and then to her.
“The chamber you were asleep in has robots inside that assisted with the reconstruction of the remains of your old arm. We were also able to take some measurements and start constructing a new arm for you. Which is almost finished I might add. It’s so awesome! I can’t wait for you to see it!”
It then occurred to him who was standing in front of him. It was Evelyn Roberts. She was the niece of Tony Stark who had become a friend to Steve and then by association became his friend. She could light up the room no matter where she was. She had even told him before he went under that she’d learn to help him.
After all, she had been there from the beginning.
The doctors soon filed in when they noticed he was away and started their daily duties effectively halting the conversation between the two friends for a bit. Bucky tried not to think about his frustrations toward all the hands touching him and the fear each and every finger grazing his skin caused. It was a natural instinct after all. He had been tortured into submission every time they wanted him to do stuff and it was usually by medical experts. He just closed his eyes and listened to his breathing. He even reached out and grabbed Evelyn’s hands and squeezed it out of nervousness.
Soon everyone checking on him left other than the head doctor who stood there waiting for her co-workers to leave before speaking.
“It’s nice to see that you’re awake finally. We didn’t think you would come to so soon. King T’Challa and Princess Shuri will be here soon to see you.” The head doctor, Dr. Pjuka smiled at the two of them, “I’ll also see it that Sergeant Barnes here will be escorted to the cabin first thing in the morning. Might be nice to get away from the city for a bit.”
The Wakandan accent did little to quell the confusion Bucky felt he had, but he just nodded anyway. He knew they had his best interest at heart. Just all the trauma from before didn’t help much.
“I think that’s lovely.” Bucky’s eyes grew wide at the speed in which Evelyn turned to face him, the grin on her face wide as could be, “I’ve been staying there and they’ve got a small lake with forests all around and a bit of clearing behind the house. It’s so pretty out there! I think you’ll like it.”
Bucky just smiled and pretended like he knew what they were talking about. He just nodded his head.
“I hope so. We had it made with you in mind.”
“Dr. Pjuka! Please don’t overwhelm our friend!” It was T’Challa.
Bucky looked over at the king. He took in the black robe etched in white with symbols of Wakanda. It looked rather regal on him and who would have thought black would look good on royals.
“It’s quite alright I’m used to it..” Bucky leaned back up against the bed and ran a hand over his face.
“But you don’t have to push yourself to the limits. You are a human being after all. This is one decision in which can’t be made for you.” Shuri chimed in as she moved to stand at the foot of the bed.
The silence lingered for a few moments. Bucky didn’t believe he could find his voice. These people were so kind. He’d rather not lash out and scare them
“I take it you’ve found a cure for the triggers?”
“Not cure per-se but more of a patch. Or a neural block for lack of better words. We tracked down all the memories during which they programmed the triggers and reverse engineered how they did it and unplugged them from your brain.”
Bucky looked over toward Evelyn who looked just as confused as he was. She turned when she noticed the was staring at her and just shrugged.
“I only had a hand on creating your arm. Everything else was Shuri.”
“Thank you.” Bucky looked down at his hands, “Thank you for finding a solution to this.”
“Don’t thank us yet. The real test comes from when we say the words and try to see if the “cure” worked.” Shuri commented as she turned to look at a screen really quickly.
“We’ll do that when we’re out in the cabin. We wouldn’t want to accidentally cause you to hurt anyone.” T’Challa chimed in.
“Sounds….” Bucky didn’t finish his thoughts when he suddenly felt tired.
For the doctor was over fiddling with the IV.
“I just fed a sedative into the drip line. We need you as well rested after this as possible it that okay?” Dr. Pjuka turned to face Bucky, standing a the end of the bed.
Bucky drowsily nodded his head turning toward Evelyn and gave her hand a small squeeze.
“Rest well Sergeant Barnes.” T’Challa smiled as he left. Shuri stayed behind for a few moments observing the man before leaving herself.
Evelyn just freed up one of her hands before starting to brush her fingers through his hair.
“Sleep well Bucky. You deserve it.”
And soon the darkness engulfed Bucky. But it was peaceful.
And that’s what the former Winter Soldier needed.