The second day Dr. Ross was there, Candace slipped away to talk with T'Challa about her starting a school for the children at the hospital. She had decided she wanted to stay inside the hospital if she could. And there didn't seem to be much done for the children in the hospital missing school due to their illnesses. She explained all this and the king of Wakanda seemed truly touched by her thoughtful concern for the children of his country.
"What salary would you like Miss Ross?" he asked.
"This is strictly voluntary" she explained "I mean other than I get to keep staying here and eating the food. Room and board is all I ask" she said smiling.
"You are too generous, at least allow me to give you some sort of salary, for expenses outside of food and housing" he said firmly.
"As you wish your highness, though just being here and finding something useful to do is more than enough. At last I've found something of meaning to do with my life, you've no idea how fulfilling that is to a spoiled child like me" she said.
"I believe you have already been of impact, even just here in Wakanda" he said meaningfully.
She nodded with a smile, looking out towards the gardens, knowing that was where her father and Bucky were.
"You want to be near him don't you?" the king asked.
"Yes" she said "I've grown attached to his company, and I think he needs, or at least appreciates, mine" she replied modestly.
T'Challa simply smiled and nodded at her. "Will you need any supplies, just speak to my secretary, she can order whatever you might require to start teaching here" he explained "and I shall send for an interpreter for the children who don't know English. Though many of them do. Our schools try to teach them the language of the West so they can succeed in the areas that English will aid them. Which is most to be honest" he said with a small smile "I did not think a language could dominate the planet so, until I traveled abroad and found most countries knew your language."
"And it's a very weird language to be the one that dominates the planet" she admitted.
"It is, many of your words sound or are spelled the same but have very different meanings" he confessed. "I used to be so upset with my father for forcing me to learn it. I now understand it's value" he said.
When she returned to the others Bucky was sitting in the living room with a plain brown leatherbound journal on his knees. He quickly shut it when Candace walked up.
"What's that?" she asked sitting beside him.
"Nothing" he said a little guiltily.
"Come on Buck" she protested.
He was silent, she reached for the book but he promptly sat on it. She frowned with the biggest pouty lip she could push out.
"Fine" he relented "it's a journal. Your dad thought it might be a good way for me to process my memories."
She smiled "I'm glad, I hope it helps" she said and then leaned over, putting her head on his shoulder as she settled in and watched the movie that was playing on mute on the tv on the opposite wall. He leaned up and grabbed the remote, watching Casablanca with her, just being a pal under his arm. Though every time he actually looked at her he knew that wasn't true, she meant way more to him than just a pal. Still, she felt nice to put his arm on and he wasn't about to ask for anything more than just a friend.
The next week she began teaching. Steve, seeing his friend was in capable hands with the Ross' and T'Challa decided to go see how the other wanted team members were doing. Visiting Wanda, who was very fragile after losing her brother and then having to turn against Vision when they had had the showdown with Tony. She went to teach the children around nine or ten, five mornings out of the week. She began to foster a mentor position with the children she taught, especially the older ones who were thinking about what to pursue in their adult lives and some of them trying to figure out how they were to navigate their adult lives with their life alterring disabilities. She listened, advised, and occasionaly comforted the children she was getting to know there. But every night she still found time to sit down with Bucky and play Monopoly. And Sundays her and her father went to the church that her friend in Bucharest's mission funds had planted in Wakanda. She thought it was funny how things worked out like that. Bucky always wished he could go with them, or even trust himself to leave the hospital premises.
He felt a little abandoned, Steve was gone, and while Candy's father was around him for about four hours everyday it didn't make up for her not being there. His dreams started to come back, the unpleasant Winter Soldier ones. He wanted to see more of Candace, and he wanted to do something nice for her. Despite the things the loneliness caused, he was feeling a little more confident. He still feared what would happen if someone got to him the way Zemo had but here in Wakanda he felt pretty safe.
Saturday morning came and Candy crawled out of bed around eleven, having had an intense match of Monopoly that had lasted til four the night before.
"Hey sleepyhead" he said putting down a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon in front of her on the table. There was buttered toast to go with the bacon and eggs.
"I'm impressed" she said smiling at him.
"I was kind of hoping for that" he confessed. "I was also hoping maybe you could get free from planning studies for a few hours today" he said almost shyly.
"Why?" she asked, stifling a yawn.
"Nothing" he said with a guilty crimson in his cheeks.
"Fine, I'm game for whatever it is you're up to Bucky" she said looking at him and shaking her head. He could have suggested doing the fire walk while having venomous snakes thrown at her and she would likely have agreed. For one his company meant that much to her, and two, she knew whatever dangers arose Bucky would always protect her. The only thing he couldn't protect her from was himself, and little did she know he seemed incapable of protecting himself from her. Her merest smile or the press of her hand and he was a defenseless mess. How all the people who lived in fear of the Winter Soldier would have laughed to know what a pile of mush the ex-assassin was with just a touch from his best gal pal and the girl who ruled his heart.
While she showered he went and knocked on her dad's door.
"Come in" he said, looking up to see the dark haired man fill his doorway. "What can I do for you Bucky?" he asked, expecting that he had something he needed to discuss.
"Can I ask you a question?" he said looking almost shy.
"Of course" Richard replied genially, leaning forward, giving Bucky his full attention.
"I was going to go for a little adventure, outside the compound" he said.
"You mentioned something about feeling able to manage it a few days ago" he said "glad you're feeling up to challenging yourself. So what was your question?"
Bucky glanced around the room, his brain a frenzy. "Is it alright if I take Candace with me?" he asked.
"Are you asking for my permission?" Richard said standing up.
"I suppose so" he said uncertainly.
"What I mean" he clarified "are you asking me for my permission date my daughter?"
Bucky's face went crimson and he felt like he wished he could shrink to the size of Ant-Man and run away out of the room. "I wasn't asking that, I just wanted to know if you felt it was alright for her to be alone, with someone like me. Do you feel safe with her being with me?" he asked sincerely concerned.
Dr. Ross tried to process everything Bucky had just said, considering as the words had spilt out of the man's mouth like a fast flowing waterfall, which was something he wasn't used to from Bucky. Richard put his hand on his patient's shoulder.
"Bucky" he began "there's no one, other than maybe Cap, that I would feel safer having her around."
He looked at Dr. Ross in utter surprise. "Me?" he asked pointing to himself.
"Yes, I know you would never consciously hurt her, and you'd defend her with your life if a harmful situation arose, because you love her" he stated, Bucky spluttered. "Don't deny it, I've known you had feelings almost since I arrived in Wakanda, the depth of them has just become more obvious the longer I've been here."
Bucky stared straight at the floor, his blush reaching his ears as he focused on a knot in the wood plank his left foot was on.
"Listen" Richard said, demanding his attention. "I know if my daugther makes up her mind to return your ardour, there's little I could do to stop it. She is so stubborn. And I did promise her that I'd trust her judgement, she's pretty cautious about her feelings. But in this case" he said looking at the sad and lonely man standing in front of him "I'd say she could have chosen worse, for sure" he said. It felt weird encouraging a guy's hopes of dating his daughter, but Bucky wasn't just some guy, he was some guy he felt pretty sure his daughter loved too, she was just being a little slow about letting her feelings win against her judgement, or at least of letting htem show.
"I don't see how" Bucky said looking Candy's father in the eye.
Dr. Ross wanted to hit the back of Bucky's head like Gibbs in the tv show NCIS, but he refrained. "If my little girl thinks you're worthy, you damn well better believe you're worthy. I've seen her turn down many a guy, and so consider it an honor that she likes you" he said a little frustrated with how stubbornly melancholic his patient was being.
"She likes me?" he asked, his face lifting with hope.
"I don't know, why don't you ask her yourself?" he suggested with the faintest grin.
"Bucky" came a voice out in the hallway. He moved to leave, throwing a curious glance back over his shoulder at Dr. Ross, who just wore an encouraging and slightly smug smile.
"So where are we going?" she asked when he emerged from her father's room.
Bucky's mouth went a little dry as he saw how nice she looked after freshening up. She had a casual sundress on, suited to the warmth of the day, and a dainty pair of white sandals. He pulled his eyes away from her shapely legs and put them back on that smile that he loved so much. He offered her his arm, like a gentleman, and they sailed out the door.
"So you never answered my question" she said "because it's pretty clear we're going somewhere."
"On an adventure" he said smiling, leading her out of the small maintenance gate at the edge of the gardens. They walked out through the wall into the forest beyond. It was warm and sunny and the day was a little sticky. They walked down a small forest trail. He moved all of the branches out from in front of them, holding them until she had passed so they didn't whip back and hit her. He was surprised how his concern for her overode his concern about keeping himself stable. It was almost like taking care of her made him more stable.