Author's Note: I might have ended up with even more MCU ships after Civil War, someone help.

(yikes at that ending)

"How long has it been?"

"Five years."

Bucky's first instinct is to stiffen at this revelation, but it's preempted by his already frozen body, so he just stares at the ground as he tries to loosen his joints.

"Does Steve-"

"He is on his way."

Bucky nods, feeling old and rigid as he does so.

"So, he's awake? And he's okay?"

T'Challa sighs because Captain Rogers has asked him this question five times already and the answer is not going to change.

"Sorry, you just told me."

"Multiple times, Captain Rogers."

"Yeah."

Steve goes silent, leaving T'Challa wondering if he has hung up, before he hears a curt goodbye and a click.

"You know, I never have thanked you for helping me out like this."

"Do not bother. It is the right thing to do."

The weather is nice outside, according to T'Challa. Bucky thinks Wakanda is the muggiest goddamn place he's ever been, but he says nothing because T'Challa would likely be highly offended.

(He's a man of his country. Bucky was like that, once.)

"Wakanda is beautiful, isn't she?"

Bucky nods, and he really does agree, in spite of the heat. It's a luscious bit of jungle that looks intimidating and comfortable at the same time.

Much like T'Challa.

Bucky blushes at the thought and excuses himself to go back inside.

Should have stayed frozen. Wasn't as hot there.

Steve shows up a week later and Bucky's never been more relieved. He avoids T'Challa for the whole day and listens to Steve's ramble about Wanda, a gleam of brotherly, Bucky would almost say fatherly, pride in his eye.

When he's done showing Bucky all of the photos he has of Wanda (Wanda with Vision, Wanda in the garden, Wanda in the kitchen, Wanda chasing Vision with a spoon), Steve turns and looks Bucky in the eye, smirking slightly, and Bucky suddenly feels like he'd be much safer lost in the jungle below them.

"So...how's T'Challa been treating you?"

"Fine. He still doesn't know that I'm dying of heatstroke, but he's cool."

"Uh-huh. Anyway, Wanda says she and Vision might have room for a hundred year-old ex-assassin."

"I'm not a hundred." Bucky grumbles, face falling a little at the thought of leaving Wakanda.

"Yeah, you gotta be older than that, right?" Steve jokes and Bucky halfheartedly punches him in the shoulder.

Wanda's house smells like spices and herbs and looks like it's been attacked by a very colorful twister.

Bucky thinks that Vision is a little awkward and somewhat unnatural in his interactions with others, but from what Steve's told him about his origins, Bucky thinks it's to be expected.

Two weeks after his arrival, Pietro (Little Pietro, who can barely reach Bucky's knee and makes Wanda cry every time someone jokes about how fast he is) runs to the door at the sound of a knock and stands on the very tips of his toes to turn the door knob, only to move to the side so Bucky can get it.

Bucky opens the door to a tall, regal-looking individual dressed in all black. The woman carries a large, long box that's slightly curved in the middle.

"Are you Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes," she says in accented English. She's Wakandan, Bucky realizes.

"Yes," he replies, letting his hand slip from the knob and resting it on Pietro's head.

"King T'Challa has sent me to present you with a new prosthetic arm. Might I enter?"

Bucky steps aside, nudging Pietro with his leg, to allow room for the woman to enter.

"How, um, how did you find me?" Bucky asks, ruffling Pietro's hair uneasily.

The woman doesn't answer, setting down the case on the dining table with care. She opens it, revealing a black sleeve within, a shining metal bit peeking out of the top.

Huh. Vibranium.

She removes the arm from the sleeve and it shines even more. Bucky breathes out heavily when he notices the lack of a red star on the shoulder.

"Pretty," Pietro mumbles, glancing up at Bucky with the eyes of a curious child.

Bucky hums in agreement.

(If Vision disapproves of Bucky and Pietro passing out on the couch after five hours of reading about all of the properties of Vibranium, he doesn't say anything.)

Bucky really does think he's over this crush on T'Challa until Steve mentions him the next time they talk.

"Tony told me T'Challa sent him the bill for that new arm of yours."

"Did he?"

"Yeah. Apparently Tony's invited him to Stark Tower to 'talk' things out."

"...When...when's he going? "

"You sound desperate."

"I'm not!"