Leave your stepping stones behind, something calls for you
Forget the dead you've left, they will not follow you
The vagabond who's rapping at your door
Is standing in the clothes that you once wore
Strike another match, go start anew
And it's all over now, baby blue
-Bob Dylan, It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
"Good morning Sergeant Barnes."
"Bucky."
"How do you feel?"
"Good. Thank you."
"Come, much for you to learn."
Bucky Barnes could see shapes and heard voices, memories that Hydra once erased were slowly coming back.
It took only a month for Shuri to fix his mind, purging whatever Hydra did to him. Bucky would never forget that Shuri helped him.
He learned a lot during his stay in Wakanda. Picking up on the language, mostly the curse words that Shuri would spew when she worked on the prototype of his arm or any new gadget she was tinkering.
Bucky enjoyed spending some time where the river children dwelled, Shuri tagging along as his translator when the children dragged him off to a place. It amused Shuri seeing the children's curiosity towards Bucky.
"What do they keep calling me?" He asked as the sun was setting over the water. "White Wolf." Shuri grinned at the nickname the children put on the man when he first woke up. Bucky himself, had to grin at the nickname. He liked it, suited him better than the Winter Soldier.
Anything was better than the Winter Soldier.
"Try not to break this prototype of your arm this time Bucky."
"I'll try your highness."
"It's Shuri, White Wolf." the scientist teased.
"I'll try… Shuri."
He had a scheduel in Wakanda, a routine ever since he woke up.
Wake up, dress, eat with the royal family, spar with either the Ayo, the youngest of the Dora Milaje or T'Challa who was always up for a mock fight with Bucky.
Other times, he went to the lab with Shuri where she showed him the new stuff for his arm and shooting jokes at one another. She taught him some of the Xhosa words or telling him the history of Wakanda, eager to learn more about her country. Sometimes he just liked to read, finding books that Shuri thought he'd like and they'd talk about the stories when he finished whenever she was giving him an exam.
Bucky loved hearing Shuri's voice, the way it lit up whenever there was a new experiment she was working on and how it could be improved more. Bucky would never get tired of hearing her talk.
Bucky kept tabs on the Avengers which wasn't that hard since they were the most well known heroes on earth. In his room, he watched newsreels of the Avengers fighting bad guys left and right with Captain America in the center to lead the charge.
What Bucky didn't know was the cracks falling out of place between the earth's mightiest heroes.
But what he saw was destruction in Sokovia and an army of metal robots unleashing death.
"James Barnes, do you know why you are here today?"
It was those words that kept echoing into his head as he waited his faith by the United States. Tony, Sharon and Peggy were also there, nervous but trying to show a brave face for the man. Tony managed to keep the trial hush hush with the help Peggy Carter.
Because who in their right mind could disagree with Tony Stark and Peggy Carter?
The man everybody called Iron Man became is full on legal defense for proving his innocence mounting evidence after evidence of Hydras tortue on him since day one.
It took an hour but he was free. Bucky was free in the eyes of the public.
But he was still a kept secret from the world and from Steve Rogers.
Tony made sure that this wasn't to be said to the public until the restoration of SHIELD. Tony, Sharon and other surviving agents have been spearheading the way for a new SHIELD. But until then, Tony twisted their arms and kept their mouth shuts.
"People always want me as their poster boy for things. It'll be worth it for you Buck-eye!"
When he returned Shuri greeted him with a hug. Embracing her, it felt like home. He was finally home.
She's gone-Peggy… She's gone. Margaret 'Peggy' Carter was gone and all Bucky could think of was... Why?
When Hope wrote in a letter those words, all Bucky could hear was white noise.
Because Peggy Carter could not-should not be dead .
But she was.
He remembered Peggy Carter. Her voice yelling at him to stop defending her, that she could defend herself if she wanted to and she did. But that didn't stop Bucky from punching a cadet who badmouthed her for being 'snob Brit'.
Peggy was fuming that day until she heard what caused James to lash out. When he went to go check on the training with Phillips, he found the same cadet on the ground holding his balls in pain and a stoic Carter looking at the rest of their troops.
"Next time, James let me scare them."
"Of course Agent."
They walked along the riverbank. Shuri never liked seeing Bucky like this, not after she saw him being at peace here.
They walked until Bucky paused hearing the rustle of the wind on the grass and the river going louder. He mourned. He mourned a friend, a comrade.
"Maybe she's at peace." His voice was hoarse from crying. All Shuri did was nod, squeezing his hand with support, Bucky squeezed back while giving the princess a teary smile.
"She is at peace Bucky. She is."
"The king is dead ."
Bucky felt sick and grief swirl inside him. He owed the king his life for saving his and here he was plastered all over the news that he-the Winter Soldier set the bomb off in Vienna. The people of Wakanda, the royal family knew he was innocent but the killer was still out there.
Bucky didn't know how but he somehow made it into Shuri's lab.
There he found no music blasting or machines alive, humming with energy for the next invention the princess had in mind.
Instead Bucky found Shuri curled up into a tight ball, hugging her knees sobbing quietly. Sitting himself down on the cold floors next to her, he gently wrapped his metal arm around her shoulders. Shuri relaxed and the next thing Bucky knew he had the princess weeping into his chest. So Bucky hugged her. Because he knew how it felt to lose someone so dear to him.
So he hugged her.
Civil War.
That's what the world called the fallout between Team Iron Man and Team Captain America. It made Bucky sick, hearing what Steve did. He had no right. This wasn't 1942's Germany, this was something that made Steve Rogers an outlaw.
He read the Sokovia Accords. Shuri and him poured over the documents, curious as to what set Team Captain America off to become wanted criminals.
117 countries who did not want what happened in DC or Sokovia or Lagos happen in their countries and Steve just shut them out, ignoring them .
T'Challa pulled him aside after dinner.
Bucky was more so distracted, the Civil War, Steve's confession of Hydra along with Bucky being the reason his parents and Sharon's parents were dead. Sharon's letter was basically Tony's explanation of what went down between him and Steve in Siberia. Because of the manhunt for Bucky himself, Tony decided it was time for the truth to come out. Sharon and Hope worked to untwist the arms of the senators deploying the papers that stated in black and white ink that Bucky Barnes was innocent, he was proven innocent. This was the catalyst to Tony confronting Steve and having everything spiral out of control. He wrote back stating that he did not blame Tony noting that he was justifiably upset at the loss of his parents and that Steve kept it from him.
How could he blame the man, he didn't. Bucky Barnes never blamed Tony Stark.
He remembered when he told T'Challa, Shuri, Nakia and Okoye about this revelation. They, in someway understood the damages secrets have costed them. Killmonger still freshly lingered in their minds.
The king of Wakanda told him that he would be giving immunity to the ex-Avengers. Bucky cocked his head, curiosity filled him.
"Tony Stark politely asked me to give them refugee in my country and I agreed." T'Challa explained. Bucky couldn't argue with him and he knew that Wakanda would be the last country the world would think the Avengers would be in.
So Bucky nodded and awaited the bomb that would go off once Steve Rogers stepped foot on Wakanda soil.
That man, the one Steve called 'Bucky' wasn't there, it was a ghost or long lost twin that will never appear.
He barely remembered who he was and what he was before the metal arm appeared.
What he did understand was, that Bucky Barnes was long gone just like Peggy Carter.
The beautiful age of the 40's that Steve Rogers wanted to hold on was long gone.
NOTE: I don't own the MCU or Bob Dylan's It's All Over Now, Baby Blue. Here it is! I know its a bit short than the first one. The second part of the Don't Trust a Stark Series! Happy reading folks, remember leave a comment and I'll be more than happy to reply guys!
