“Good morning, Sergeant Barnes.”
Bucky opened his eyes blearily, staring through freezing cold, clouded glass at the smiling face of a young girl. He had no recollection of how he ended up there, or who she was. His mind was blank.
“Don’t worry about feeling confused, that’s perfectly normal. Just get your bearings for a moment.”
Her voice was very slightly muffled by the glass but still bright and clear. She disappeared from view, out of his peripheral. He tried to move his arms, then realised that he wasn’t wearing his prosthetic. A memory came back to him; removing it and placing it in a moulded box, slipping a sleeve over the stump. The rest flooded back all at once.
The civil war between the Avengers. Zemo taking advantage of his Hydra brainwashing and triggering his Winter Soldier programming. Being blamed for Stark’s parents’ death. Steve standing by him the whole time. Now he remembered everything.
The Black Panther, or King T’Challa of Wakanda, had suggest putting him into Cryofreeze until his countries’ advanced science and technology facilities had figured out a way to get rid of his lingering connection to Hydra. Wipe his mind clean so there was no possibility of him being taken advantage of again. They must have been successful. He wondered how long it had been. Weeks? Months? Years, even?
The curved glass lid of the chamber lifted slowly, before claustrophobia had chance to set in. Bucky let out a breath of relief even so. The girl reappeared, holding out a hand to help him out. He looked at her sceptically.
“I don’t want to sound rude, but… I’m quite a lot bigger than you, ma’am, and I feel a little unsteady.” She just waved his concern away, grinning.
“Do not underestimate my skills, Mr Barnes. After all, I’m the one who fixed you.” Bucky couldn’t help a look of surprise- mixed with gratitude- crossing his face.
“Really? Well, thank you, miss...?”
“My name is Shuri, I am the sister of King T’Challa.”
“Your Highness.”
Bucky tried to bow his head in respect, still tilted away from her on the padded back of the cryofreeze chamber, but the movement caused a wave of dizziness to come over him. His stomach heaved with nausea.
“Here.” Shuri thrust a bucket into his arms and pushed a hand on his shoulder. “Sit down, Mr Barnes. This is to be expected.”
Bucky did as he was told, shakily stepping out of the chamber and sitting on the cool, marbled floor. Shuri sat down next to him, crossing her legs and watching him with light amusement. He took the opportunity to distract him from his nausea and look around for a few seconds. He was in the same room as when he first entered the cryofreeze chamber. It was a sleek, modern lab, several work stations dotted around the room, where he now saw, a few other people were working, but giving Shuri and himself some space. They were probably there as backup, just in case.
“So,” he asked, “how long was I asleep?”
“One year, ten months aaand…,” she thought for a moment, “sixteen days.” He nodded slowly. It was quite a long time, but not so long that the world would have changed drastically. Hopefully. It was his friends that he was more worried about.
“Have you heard anything from the Avengers?” Bucky asked. “Has anything happened since I was put to sleep?”
Shuri shook her head. “Not that I know of. I think they have all gone their separate ways... Although Mr Rogers has kept in touch, of course. I believe that he is well and was happy to know that you would soon rejoin us.” She smiled. Bucky immediately felt comforted by the contact Steve had kept with T’Challa, looking out for him. It made this whole experience slightly less overwhelming.
“Thank you.” They sat in an easy silence for a few moments.
“How are you feeling now, Mr Barnes?”
“Better.” His nausea had subsided, and his head felt clearer. Surprisingly, he wasn’t really hungry; he imagined he would have felt ravenous after nothing solid to eat for a long period of time, though he was looking forward to his next meal.
Shuri seemed to read his mind.
“Here.” She clambered to her feet and half-skipped to a nearby table, grabbing a platter of various breads and meats, and an ornately carved cup of liquid. “Enjoy.”
He took it gratefully, eating the food in small bites with his fingers.
“I want to thank you again, for figuring out a way to undo my triggers, I’m eternally grateful. I feel I can begin to join the world again, without fear of harming others.”
“It was my pleasure, Mr Barnes, I love what I do, and I’d never turn down a challenge.”
She let him finish his meal without further questions, although there was still much for him to catch up on. After his plate was clear, she began speaking again.
“Your medical results look good,” she peered at a screen to her left, “we have of course been making sure that you receive the correct requirements, so that it is not such a huge adjustment when you wake up.”
Only then did Bucky become aware of the tabs on the back of his neck and chest, presumably taking tests to check his health.
“You can remove them now, if you wish.” Shuri said, nodding at them. He carefully peeled them off his skin, placing them on the floor by his side.
“Thanks.”
“Wakanda is totally unique on this planet, it will be unlike any place you have ever seen before.” Bucky heard the pride in her voice. “It will take some getting used to, but we will show you around. You will be quite the celebrity here, barely any of our people have seen a white boy before.”
She grinned, and Bucky laughed, shaking his head.
“I’m used to it; my life hasn’t exactly been normal.” Her smile faded in sympathy, but he wasn’t in the mood to revisit it all. That part of his life was over.
“I will show you to your living space, but first, I have something that I believe you will enjoy.”
Shuri clicked something on her wrist, and a semi-transparent screen, about the size of the average reading book, popped up in front of her. Bucky watched as the face of his best friend appeared before him. His eyes widened in disbelief, and a lump of emotion rose in his throat. Steve.
“Hey, Buck.” His charming face broke into a grin, and he raised a hand in greeting. Bucky was surprised to see the beginnings of a beard growing on his normally perfectly smooth skin. “Glad to hear that you’re awake, and healthy. I hope I can come see you soon, it’s been way too long, and we never really got chance to talk properly.”
Bucky stared at the screen, his eyes misting over. He reached out with his right hand, his fingers lingering over the holographic image. Shuri hid a smile.
“I miss you, man.” He whispered at the video. He wondered when the Wakandans had let him know he was going to be woken up, it couldn’t have been long ago that they filmed this for him.
“I miss you too, Buck.” Steve said softly. Bucky felt his stomach jolt at his words. His head whipped towards Shuri.
“Is this- live?!” He exclaimed. Shuri giggled.
“Yes, Mr Barnes. It is not a recording.” He immediately felt foolish for the way he had reacted but brushed it aside. “I will leave the two of you alone for a little bit.”
Shuri flicked the screen so that it stood up independently, no longer connected to her wrist, then stood up and walked away, leaving Bucky to rake a hand through his hair at his naivety. Steve laughed at him.
“Our souls are too old for this world.”
“Sure are. And now I have another two years of discoveries and technology to catch up on.”
“As well as the movies.” Steve joked. “And music.”
“Can’t be as good as the songs we danced to back in the day.”
“Well that’s certainly true. See, you’re learning already.”
“How is everyone?” Bucky asked. Steve’s face fell for a split second, before immediately covering it up.
“We’ve gone solo, Buck. I’m with Nat and Sam on and off but the civil war took it out of all of us. Still not heard anything from Banner, I think Vision and Wanda are together, and I’ve spoken to some of the others… but, we’re just not a team anymore.” Bucky felt a weight of sadness on his chest.
“So, Stark-?”
“I gave him my number, and no, nothing. I don’t suppose I blame him.” He sighed.
“I’m sorry, man.”
“Yeah, well, just the way it is now.”
“Alright, man. Hopefully soon I can come visit you, or you me. Wakanda is meant to be great… I mean, I haven’t seen an awful lot of it yet, and I suppose you didn’t either when you dropped me off.”
“I guess not.”
Steve suddenly looked distracted, turning his head to look at something Bucky couldn’t see.
“What?” He shouted at the mystery distraction. Bucky heard a shout off-screen in reply.
“Was that-?”
“Nat, yeah. I gotta go, Buck, I’m sorry.”
“Alright, it was great to see you, thanks for keeping an eye on me.”
“You know I’d do it any day.”
“Me too.”
Their smiles turned a little melancholy. Things would never be ‘normal’, and Bucky wished they could spend more time together, like the old days, but this would have to be enough, for now.
“Bye, Steve.”
“Bye, Buck, keep in touch… I’m with you ‘til the end of the line.” They both waved a hand in goodbye, and Steve leaned forwards, disconnecting the footage.
Bucky sat and stared at the blank holograph for a few seconds, Steve’s parting words echoing in his head, until he noticed Shuri hovering by his side.
“Is everything ok, Mr Barnes?”
“Yeah… thanks.”
“Good.” She leaned down and pressed something on her wrist again, so the screen disappeared. He shook his head, amazed. The tech here was incredible.
“Now that you are fed and watered, I suggest a walk to get your muscles moving again. We did what we could, but nothing beats proper exercise.”
“Sounds good.” He said, climbing to his feet. He felt none of his earlier dizziness and was baffled by how healthy he felt.
“After that I believe that you will be very tired, so I will leave you to rest. You can meet with my brother another time, I’m afraid that he is very busy, or else he would have been here now.”
“Thanks, Shuri, you’ve been a huge help already. I don’t know what to say.” He looked into her bright, youthful face, her eyes always warm and smiling, and knew that he’d made a friend here. She shrugged.
“As I said, I enjoy it, and you deserve happiness.” She finished sincerely. “Now come on, I’m going to show you something incredible.”
Her eyes glittered mischievously, and she darted off ahead of him, strings of beautiful, brightly coloured beads swinging around her thin wrists and neck. She beckoned him, and he followed her, suddenly aware of the weight of decades of loneliness and pain lifting off his chest.
This was the chance for a fresh start, and he was not going to waste it.