Oh Hi!
Long time no see. So, I took a massive break as I was waiting for Black Panther to come out, but then I realised I had made a minor mistake in the time line -_-
So here is the finish to this story, the story continues in Forgotten.
Forgotten will be updated within the next month too.
Chapter 7
Vielka was taking some getting used to having so many people living within The Facility, she spent whatever free time she had training in the gym, trying to avoid conversing with them as much as possible.
It wasn't that she disliked them, but she couldn't relate to these people. These people had lived normal lives, amongst normal people, at some point in the last few years. She had not.
She'd rather spend her time with Nakia, at least there would be no awkward conversation, just glaring.
She especially avoided Natasha and Steve, both seemed to want to talk to her, always being way too nice for her liking. Steve especially, seemed to really try and be chummy with her in that ridiculous, nice, all American guy way you used to see on the tv.
Natasha just seemed snoopy and suspicious of her, not yet trusting her. It was no skin off her nose, T'Challa trusted her, that's all that mattered.
Vielka picked up the snatch bar and began her third set of deadlifts. She had her ear phones in her ears, listening to upbeat music to keep herself at a steady rhythm. She was so focused she didn't notice someone else had entered the gym.
As she placed the snatch bar back down on the floor, standing up straight and stretching out her back, she was startled by movement to her right. She jumped sideways, on guard immediately, with her hands up ready to defend herself.
Rogers held his hands up innocently, as she reefed her ear phones from her ears. "Jesus Christ, Rogers, are you trying to get yourself killed?"
"Sorry, I didn't realise," he motioned to her ear phones apologetically. "I'm still trying to get used to some of this stuff."
She looked him over once, pursing her lips together, before rolling her eyes and sitting back down on the weight bench behind her training area. She knew what he meant, he was still getting used to the new technology of the 21st century. That had to be hard on him, going from an era when the biggest technological and scientific achievement was him.
Rogers leaned against a machine, his arms folded across his chest as he looked at her.
She sighed, looking back up at him from her spot on the weight bench. He was wearing a training shirt that seemed to be straining to keep his bulging muscles contained, and loose fitting track pants, so he obviously had an intention to train, yet he stood there looking at her.
"Is there something I can help you with, Captain?" she demanded.
"I'm trying to figure you out," he replied simply, looking at her curiously. "You're Australian, you've got all the skills that scream black ops military, but you're here, working for T'Challa. Add to that, you're clearly enhanced, maybe not quite to the same extreme as some, but enhanced all the same. And you agreed to rescuing a team that fought against you, no less, and even bringing back someone who was sent to stop you."
She clenched her jaw, looking away from him as she bent down to pick up a water bottle by her feet. She didn't answer him straight away, simply lifting the bottle to her mouth and sipping from the bottle, her eyes looking straight at him. "Yeah, and?"
"Why?"
She cocked her head slightly, taking in the Super Soldier, contemplating how best to answer him. She wondered herself, why she still did what she was doing. "Tell me, Captain, why do you continue to help civilisation, when for a time, they forgot about you?"
oOOo
His eyes went wide as he stared at her in surprise at her question, before furrowing his brow. "Because it's the right thing to do."
She stood up, picking up her towel as she did so and flinging it over her shoulder, before putting her bottle back to her lips. Steve stared at her for a moment as she didn't answer his question.
"You've answered your own question, Captain," she replied, flicking her hair over shoulder nonchalantly.
"But why?"
She wore a high necked active wear jacket, which he thought was peculiar considering she was working out. He could see from the colour of her cheeks that she had been sweating, although the gym was air conditioned.
She was not a short woman, but still stood shorter than he, but even he was well aware of how intimidating her presence was. It was her eyes, they were a mesmerising golden-brown colour that seemed to glow when the light hit them just right, but if she narrowed them, well, it was like being caught in the glare of a wild animal that considered you a meal.
She turned as if to walk away, but stopped midway, meeting Steve's gaze. "Everything happens for a reason, Captain."
She strode away, her black pony tail swinging from side to side as she walked away.
oOOo
T'Challa saw Vielka leave the gym, stopping at the door to peer inside. He had heard her conversing with someone, curious as to who she had finally spoken to of his new guests. He had noticed her avoiding everyone.
It was concerning, but he also understood that speaking to people was uncomfortable for her. She had spent a long time alone, living a rough life, not to mention she probably did not want to divulge much information about herself.
Inside the gym, he found Steve, who was standing looking rather confused for a moment, he looked up and spotted T'Challa, moving to speak to him.
"Captain, is everything alright?" He asked, although he knew that look well.
"It's about Banzai."
"Corporal Patterson?" He feigned ignorance.
"Yes, who is she?" he demanded. "What is she?"
T'Challa narrowed his eyes at Steve's second question. "She is Vielka, chosen guard to the Black Panther and my confidant."
"Can she be trusted though? How was she enhanced and who by?"
T'Challa stared at the Super Soldier intently. He was aware of some of her history, he had done some further research after their return to Wakanda, but he kept the information to himself. He had not even discussed the information with Vielka. "This is not a conversation I am comfortable discussing without Corporal Patterson's permission. All you need to know is that I trust her with my life."
Steve furrowed his brow, seemingly dissatisfied with the answer, but did not press the matter, instead turning and walking towards the gym equipment.
oOOo
Vielka kept to herself, rarely conversing with the new guests to Wakanda. T'Challa had her looking into different aspects of Scott and Clint's life, trying to find information or make discreet contact with his family, but she didn't have much luck. Apart from training or doing menial tasks for T'Challa, Vielka rarely left her room in an effort to avoid the others.
One evening, there was a light tapping at her door. She opened it cautiously, finding Wanda standing there with a bowl of pungent, red, thick soup looking food.
"I thought I would bring you some dinner, because I never see you eat," Wanda said hurriedly, as Vielka looked suspiciously at her. Vielka pressed her lips into a thin line, opening the door wider, allowing Wanda access. The young Sokovian walked in, carefully placing the bowl on Vielka's desk. She looked around the room quickly, while Vielka stood waiting for her to leave at the door, but Wanda looked at her nervously, before speaking again. "I wanted to let you know, I'm sorry for what happened in The Raft," she said softly, looking slightly uncomfortable as she apologised.
Vielka cocked her head to one side thoughtfully, debating whether to continue the conversation or not. "How much did you see?" she asked curiously. It had only been the briefest of contacts, but Vielka knew it wouldn't take much for her to get information from her mind.
Wanda looked nervous for a moment before she spoke again. "I'm sorry that happened to you." Vielka bit her lip, narrowing her eyes at the Sokovian. So she had seen it all. "Don't worry, I won't say anything to anyone else."
Vielka released a sigh, nodding to Wanda before moving towards the desk to look at the dish Wanda had made. "Thanks." She picked up the spoon and began moving the red liquid about the bowl curiously. She could make out a little meat and herbs, steam rising from the bowl, the smell was quite herby, it did actually make her mouth water slightly.
"I am curious, though," Wanda spoke up again. Vielka glanced at her, still stooped over the bowl. "Why would you fight for Tony if you, yourself, know what it was like for Bucky?"
Vielka was taken aback by the straight forward question. She stood up straight to look at Wanda, thoughtful for a moment, before she answered. "I didn't know if it was true, not until he and I fought at Leipzig. It occurred to me when he told me he didn't want to hurt me that something wasn't right, but at the same time, I was also under orders to detain him."
Wanda furrowed her brow, before a warm smile spread across her face. "Steve told us what you did for Bucky in the end, that you put your own life on the line to save him."
Vielka pressed her lips into a thin line, feeling her cheeks heat a bit at the look of awe from Wanda, and was quick to look away. "Yeah, well, it was the right thing to do." She stooped low again, blowing steam from the spoonful of red goo, before carefully touching it to her lips. She licked her lips and raised her eyebrows. "This is pretty good."
"At least you like it," Wanda said, with a slight indignant tone.
"Why? Who doesn't like it?" she asked in surprise, sitting at the desk.
"Sam and Clint," Wanda answered with a perturbed look on her face. Vielka raised her eyebrows as she continued to eat.
"They're American males, Wanda, if it doesn't come between two buns, they don't actually classify it as food," Vielka replied sardonically, taking another mouthful.
Wanda laughed as she walked towards the door. "Well, next time I'll make sure I put some bread with it."
"And deep fry it, then they might actually recognise it as food."
They both laughed heartily.
oOOo
T'Challa looked to where Vielka sat talking to Wanda, he was pleased to see she was finally starting to socialise with some of their guests. At this stage, it would seem they would be staying together awhile. It had already been a month, Scott and Clint had both been relocated to be closer to their families.
He had a task for Vielka today, Steve had been asking for assistance to track down Sergeant Barnes again, and to bring him back to the safety of Wakanda. They had been in discussions about how best to seek him out and it was decided that the two women were best for the task which would require some undercover work as well as tracking, but it would come down to Vielka.
T'Challa moved to stand in front of Vielka, who looked up expectantly, placing her coffee mug down. "Good morning."
"Good morning, Corporal, I have a task for you," he said, before looking to Wanda. "If I may borrow her for a while."
"Of course, I shall talk to you later, Vielka."
Vielka stood, placing her mug into the dishwasher before moving to follow T'Challa, who led her from the living quarters. He looked sideways at her, smiling. "I see you've grown close to Wanda. That is good to see."
"She's lonely, it was the least I could do." The thought of Wanda being lonely with four other people living within the quarters baffled him for a moment, and it must have showed on his face. "She doesn't come from a military background, T'Challa. She's basically a teen here, amongst seasoned fighters."
He understood then, she didn't have the life experience the others had. While the young Sokovian had seen and done things that had her mature quickly, she still lacked the same life experience of the two former soldiers and former SHIELD operative.
Vielka, on the other hand, was able to associate in some small way with the girl, or at least made the effort to.
"Anyway, what's going on?" She asked as he led her towards the mission room. He held open the door and ushered her inside, she quickly entered as directed. He didn't miss her balking at the sight of Natasha, Steve and Sam in the room. "Seriously..."
"Oh, hey, Paddy," Steve greeted, smiling warmly. T'Challa saw Vielka's cheeks go faintly pink and she narrowed her eyes at the Captain. He had seen her react that way to the nick name by the Captain a few times now, he wasn't sure whether it was embarrassment or internal seething, but dared not ask either. "Glad you could join us."
"Exactly what are 'us' doing?" Sam asked with interest.
T'Challa picked up the tablet lying on the main table, swiping across it a few times. He brought up a picture on the screen and noted that Vielka's brow immediately furrowed at the sight.
"Why are we going after Sergeant Barnes?" she demanded.
"We need to bring him in, for his own safety," Steve answered, looking to the screen as T'Challa brought up Intel from different government websites. "There's a lot of people out there that would like to get their hands on him. It's not safe out there for him."
"Yeah, but how do we know what Intel is legit and what's not?" Natasha asked, scanning her eyes across the screen.
"That is where Steve thinks five sets of eyes are better than two," T'Challa replied, activating three more screens around the room. He saw Vielka look from Steve to himself, giving her a slight shake of the head. He knew what she was thinking, it was the same as what he was thinking. Sergeant Barnes doesn't want to be found, so finding him would not be easy.
In saying that, he had found Vielka, who also had not wanted to be found, so he knew they could find Sergeant Barnes eventually, the problem was he had taken three years to find Vielka.
oOOo
Vielka yawned, covering her mouth, before swiping a finger across the screen. Another dead end.
She'd been searching through documents for weeks now. T'Challa's Intel pool was pulling any chatter they could at this point. Homeless, degenerates, suspicious neighbours, anything and everything. She got to wondering if this was how he had found her. She smirked slightly at the thought.
She flicked the current document she was scanning over to the recycling bin of her tablet, allowing the next file to open, expecting to find another dud report.
She scanned the report quickly, finding nothing concrete, only circumstantial information. She wrinkled her nose and stretched, leaning all the way back in her chair. Everyone else had thrown in the towel for the night, she planned to finish off the latest Intel reports and head that way herself.
As she straightened again, moving to stand, she bumped the tablet screen, zooming into a picture of a newspaper article that was attached to another report. The article of interest was only a small one, a story of a child that had been saved in a forest outside Bucharest, telling a tale of a strange man who had found him when he had wandered off. The picture was for a different article altogether, but there, in the zoomed in picture, was Sergeant Barnes, in the background of the picture.
She could recognise those stormy blue eyes anywhere.
She checked the location of the image, it was Bucharest. She furrowed her brow in confusion, the date was recent. Why on earth would he return to where he was first found again after the Vienna bombing?
She picked up the tablet, running through The Facility and to the communications room, dialling in T'Challa's personal number.
She only had to wait a few short moments before T'Challa answered, albeit, sounding sleepy. "Vielka, what is it?" he asked, although the tone of his voice said he was alert.
"I found him."
oOOo
Vielka sat watching as Steve, Sam and Natasha walked into the mission room, her arms folded across her chest as she waited impatiently. T'Challa had told her to brief them, so they were ready for when he arrived to properly plan how they would tackle picking up Sgt Barnes from Bucharest, again.
"What's the news?" Sam asked, smothering a yawn. Steve and Natasha both looked at her expectantly.
Vielka activated the main screen, showing the image on the newspaper. "He went back to familiar ground."
They all stared at the screen with wide eyes as she motioned to the caption under the image.
"Bucharest? Why the hell would he go back there? That's where he was tagged the first time," Sam asked in disbelief.
"When you think about it, it's a smart idea," Natasha replied, looking thoughtful.
"No one would have thought to look there," Vielka agreed. "As it was, I found that by pure chance, and a little sleepiness."
Steve looked mildly impressed at Vielka before staring back at the image. "So we go to Bucharest?"
"Uh, no. YOU, don't go anywhere," Vielka answered firmly, earning her a look of disapproval from Steve as she deactivated the screen. "You're still a wanted man."
"He will willingly come with me," Steve argued. "He's not going to come willingly with anyone else."
"Who said anything about bringing him back willingly?" Vielka muttered under her breath, looking away in annoyance. Steve moved to take a step towards her, having heard her.
"Cap, Vielka's right," Natasha said, moving to stand in front of him, Sam standing beside her.
"None of us can leave without attracting attention," Sam added.
Steve glared at his two comrades before sighing in resignation. "Well then, who can get him?"
"I was thinking Corporal Patterson would be the best candidate, actually," Natasha said as T'Challa entered the room.
Vielka balked at the mention of her name. "Aye?"
T'Challa looked at her with an amused expression on his face, as Natasha looked at her pointedly. "You said yourself, tracking is one of your specialties. Remember, Aché?"
She cringed, before sighing. "I knew I was going to regret meeting you."
oOOo
And so it was, Vielka found herself in Bucharest once again. She was working under the alias of a travelling documentary director, looking for mysterious stories from across the globe. It annoyed her to no end.
While she was outside Wakanda, she had to be very careful about being caught on any cameras, so she was extra cautious everywhere she went. She kept her face down, sunglasses and a hat on to cover her face. She currently sat in a quiet cafe, waiting patiently for her next meeting.
After days of trying, she had finally made contact with the parents of the boy who had become lost and saved by the mysterious man. She waited patiently, while sipping a local coffee blend and enjoying what little sunlight there was in the Romanian winter.
"Excuse me, are you Michelle?" a woman with a thick European accent asked from behind Vielka, making her jump. She turned around carefully, to see a young woman looking at her curiously with a young boy clinging closely to her leg.
"Da, yes. Are you Mrs Oglatov?" she asked in fluent Romanian.
The woman nodded once, before Vielka motioned to the spare seats at her table. She gave a small smile to the little boy, who just clung closer to his mother.
"Thank you for meeting with me, and to you, Nikolai, how are you?"
"You will have to excuse him, he's become a little withdrawn since the ordeal," his mother said solemnly, sighing deeply and rubbing the boy's shoulders. Vielka raised an eyebrow under her hat, but smiled at the mother.
"Well, shall we begin?" Vielka asked, pulling a small camera out to add to the illusion she was indeed producing a documentary.
She sat with the woman and boy for at least an hour, asking questions about the boy, where he was from, how old he was, what he liked and all the minor details to try and earn his and his mother's trust. The boy eventually warmed up to her, telling her all about his hobbies and love of animals. Then she moved onto the more important questions.
"Nikolai, how did you end up in the forest?"
Nikolai pursed his lips slightly. He glanced at his mother who nodded encouragingly to him. "The big boys at school told me the bears in the forest were friendly and that they could pet them. I wanted to pet one too."
Vielka raised her eyebrows. It was such an innocent answer, if it weren't for her lack of empathy, she might have thought it sweet and quaint. "Oh my."
The mother sighed again and shook her head. "I blame myself, I should have paid more attention to him."
Vielka couldn't help but think the exact same thing, but said nothing and smiled in what she hoped was a sympathetic manner. "So which forest did you go into, and what happened?"
"I went into Hola forest, my grandmother lives near there. I went in the late afternoon, but I got lost and it was getting dark."
"When did the man find you?"
"After dark, I was crying by some rocks and he found me. He gave me some fruit and took me to the edge of the forest and waited with me,and a car came past and saw me. When I turned around to thank him and ask him to come with me to see my mum, he was gone."
Vielka raised an eyebrow. He had risked a lot by letting the boy see him, and by approaching a road with traffic, but clearly the Sergeant's compassion was working again.
"What did the man look like? Do you remember?"
The little boy pursed his lips slightly, looking at his mother, who looked at him pointedly and nudged him. He sighed and began talking again. "I didn't get to see his face much, but he had a kind, deep voice, he had long hair but wore a baseball hat even though the sun was gone. Oh, and it was really weird, but he only wore one glove. But i held his bare hand and it wasn't cold, so I don't know why he needed gloves?"
Vielka smirked slightly, before stopping the camera. "That is very weird. And how are you doing now? Do you still want to pet bears?"
The boy shook his head vigorously.
It is done! Give me a month to figure out the timeline for the next phase of Forgotten! I'll see you over there!
xo
Krayzee Aussie
