Chapter 10
Not Welcome
Bucky was very confused when he was asked to meet Tony, Bruce and T'Challa the next morning, and he was even more confused when the meeting took place in the palace's war room. Bucky and Steve entered the room, and heard the heavy doors close behind them.
Don't panic. Bucky told himself. Steve was there; it was safe.
They sat at the large table in the middle of the room, where a tray of cakes and a jug of freshly brewed coffee sat. Tony was busy making himself a coffee, muttering to himself about shirts.
"Welcome, friends! Thank you for joining us." T'Challa greeted them warmly, sitting at the table. The room was warm as well, and Bucky was thankful.
"Yes, hello!" Tony said, as if he hadn't been aware they were coming. "Anyway, let's get started. Quick, quick." He said, clapping his hands, and a screen lowered itself from the ceiling at one end of the room. The noise of the screen startled Bucky, but he felt Steve's hand grip his knee, and he settled.
Safe.
"Anyway, we all know I have a lot of stuff. Like, a lot, too much BUT T'Challa also has a lot of stuff, and some of it, I don't have." The screen came to life, and displayed a set of blueprints.
'What…" Steve said, as he took in what was on the screen. It was Bucky's arm but, different; it seemed to have been tweaked, and played with. The blueprints showed multiple angles of the mechanical arm, even some moving diagrams, to show the movement of the appendage.
"Stark, you've already improved it. Leave it." Bucky said, gritting his teeth.
"No! I made it functional, I made it so it didn't try and kill you. This, will be you. This arm, is one hundred percent, designed for you, and only you. It is not something mass made, you will never face, or fight, anyone with this arm; or anything like it." Tony was up now, standing the screen like a kid at show and tell. "I needed something, resources that only Wakanda has but, was I going to ask? Hello no! How about I ask Natasha not to swear at me in Russian while I'm at it? Anyway!" He said, and the screen changed, to another set of sketches, these ones messier, as if scanned off of a napkin. Steve suspected they had been.
"I have offered a number of our resources to Mister Stark, in order for him to create this for you."
"Yes, and you won't tell me why! I hate not knowing, ugh! I suspect I have a weasel in my midst but that's for another day!"
T'Challa smiled at the group and sat up in his seat as Tony and Bruce stared at Bucky.
"What?" Bucky asked.
"We are not at all, making you do this. This is your choice, for us to make it, to test it, to give it to you. The surgery will be performed here, in a much nicer surgery than we could use at home."
Surgery.
Bucky went rigid; and Steve felt it. In the air, on Bucky himself, in the way Bucky held his jaw.
The surgery was a success; the asset is ready.
"So King, do we get to know why?" Tony asked, almost begging to know.
"Hmm, I was not requested to keep it a secret I suppose, so yes, you do." The King smiled, and looked at Bucky, then the others as he spoke. "I met Mister Parker yesterday, in our warrior's garden. I was surprised he did not run, though I suspect he very much wanted to. I asked him, if he would refuse a thank you as Mister Stark would have and he said yes. I told him, he is a hero here, and he could pick something he would like as his thanks; he came to me last night, explaining these blue prints and much to my surprise, requested his thanks be the resources to create this device." He gestured to the screen, and saw the blank looks on everyone's faces.
"He what?" Steve.
"Why me?" Bucky.
"I knew it!" Tony.
"Where is he?" Bruce.
T'Challa smiled at Bruce. "Your friend seems to have set himself the task of getting Okoye's spear. I haven't a single idea why, or what sparked it; but he has been following her from the rooftops since this morning.
"He's gonna get himself stabbed!" Tony shouted, and was not impressed by T'Challa's laugh.
"I have not told Okoye, though I have warned the others. He will not be harmed, if they can catch him. I was not aware how quick spiders are."
"Why me?" Bucky asked again, his voice weak; lost.
"He seemed very excited about the device, I imagine he had some hand in designing it. Something about a temperature sensor?"
Tony coughed, and looked at Bucky. "Er yes. After the medlab fiasco, Peter gave me an idea; it was a very good idea. It's a sensor in the arm, that will alert you to any significant fall in temperature around you. It can be a noise, a sensation in the arm or just an alert to Friday to counteract the change, so you won't get caught in the cold without expecting it." Tony was trying really hard not to bounce where he stood; which was difficult.
"I'll think about it." Bucky said, and left the table. He walked, until he was outside, and kept going until he was at the spot he and been sitting with Steve; as they read and drew in the sketchpad. Bucky took deep breaths. He let the air wrap around him; he sucked in the smells of the fields, of the flowers and the waterfalls that must be close by. He tried to relax, but a shout from behind him grabbed his attention. He saw a group of the female warriors, and Okoye, and Peter. Something was wrong, Peter was on his knees. Okoye was staring at the boy, before lunging forward, and stepping between one of the warriors and Peter. Bucky didn't realise he had moved, until he was at the group. He looked at Peter; knees in the grass and dirt, blood spilling from a wound in his lower chest, beneath the ribs on his right side. There was a smell of burnt flesh in the air; electricity. Bucky felt his legs begin to sway, but he didn't allow it to continue, he had to help.
"What happened?" He asked, half shouting at the group as he moved towards Peter; the boy saw Bucky, and good lord, Bucky knew that Peter would have run if he could. Bucky fumbled as he brought his hand to his ear, and pushed on the small communicator that Tony had asked them all to wear during the trip.
"Spiderkid's hurt, chest injury. Bleeding." He said to the device, and let go of the button. His eyes moved from Peter to the spear that the woman facing against Okoye held, the end of it hummed with electricity, or something very similar to it.
"He is no warrior." The woman said, spitting at the feet of Okoye, who didn't move. She held no spear, and Bucky saw one on the ground nearby. He took a deep breath, swallowed the anxious saliva that had built inside his mouth, and walked over to it with tentative steps. Eyeing the end that hummed, he grabbed the shaft of the weapon and lifted it. He knew he was shaking, but he took careful, purposeful steps back to Okoye and held the weapon out to her. She turned her head, to see the man with her weapon and gave a nod as she accepted it.
"Thank you, friend of T'Challa." She said, before turning her gaze back to the still angered woman. The other warriors had stepped back, forming a semicircle around the woman, spears straight, as they awaited orders.
"The boy has no respect; he walks in the warrior's garden! He is no warrior to the people of wakanda!
"We've got your location. On our way." Came a voice in Bucky's ear; it was fuzzy, and he couldn't place it.
"Bucky!" he heard behind him, as the woman moved. Bucky moved without thinking, as Okoye moved with well thought out manoeuvres. She slipped the dull end of her spear between the woman's legs and yanked forward, sending the woman falling to the ground as Bucky stepped in behind her and yanked the spear from her hands. Without thinking, and going purely by habit, he cracked the spear's shaft over his knee; it did not break in half, it splintered, close to breaking point, and crackled gently with dying electricity.
"Oh, shit." He said under his breath, as Bruce and Clint reached them.
"The boy is no child, he is not a warrior; he was named a hero to the people of Wakanda, and to it's royalty, by our royalty! He walked the grounds of the warrior's garden with our King!" Okoye shouted, as two other warriors stepped forward, and grabbed the arms of the woman who had attacked Peter. Peter. Bucky turned to see as Bruce reached Peter, and touched the boy; Peter screamed. It was primal sound; a mixture of pain, and fear. Bucky heard the anger, the anger at being injured, at not wanting to die. He knew it well, he had made it countless times himself with HYDRA, and during his first stay at Wakanda, during his deprogramming. To hear coming from a teenager, who still felt very much like a child to them, was something he would not be able to erase. He decided, he would not want to; he would remember this. Remember what Peter did for them.
Peter had fallen into a ball, curled round himself in the dirt and they could see the tiny arcs of electricity that danced along the boy's skin. It was a stupid thing to do, and Bucky would need Steve afterwards, but he leant down and lifted the boy, much like Steve had done after the crane.
"Bucky-" Clint tried, but stopped, it didn't seem worth it. Okoye lifted the broken spear, still humming, and held it out to Bruce.
"He was harmed using one of our spears, this one. Its internals are exposed; it shall be useful for you to study. Take it." She said, almost ordered; Bruce listened, and took the spear by an unbroken portion of the shaft, and nodded. "I shall return to you and your friends shortly, after we have dealt with the situation at hand." The men turned, and headed toward the palace. Bucky kept his eyes ahead, not daring to look at Peter; he could feel the boy's body tensing in his arms, as the electricity danced over his skin.
The boy suffers; kill him.
Bucky refused to listen to the voice. There were days he wondered if his metal arm truly had its own voice, today he was convinced of it. It nagged and hissed at him, wanting him to harm Peter, saying it would help; Bucky knew it wouldn't. He knew that the arm lied. It had taken a lot of work for him to know it, and understand it.
Help him as no one helped you before; end the suffering. He would thank you. You know what he is feeling, you begged for it to end. He would too.
Bucky ignored the voice, focusing on Peter's screams. They earthed him; they made him focus on why he was carrying the boy towards the palace. Finally, they made it through the medbay doors, where and found Tony and T'Challa, standing at a screen. Tony turned as they came in, his face full of joy.
"Welcome back team! Wondering where you ran off to. We were just looking at plans for Buck-"Bucky saw the joy fall from the man's face. "What the hell is this? What happened?! Oh my god, she actually stabbed him?!" Tony threw down the pen and pad of paper he had been holding, and ran over as Bucky practically threw Peter onto the medical bench. Okoye and two of her warriors entered the room, locking the door as they did. There were four other warriors, standing guarding outside the glass door.
"Okoye, explain yourself!" T'Challa shouted to the female general.
"He was attacked, in the fiel-"
"Attacked?! By who, what enemy of ours could get through the barrier?!"
"My King – it was one of our own." Okoye's words crashed over T'Challa and Tony; Tony was leaning over Peter, who was shaking as he held his hands firmly against the stab wound. Tony touched the boy's arms, wanting to move the hands, and Peter began to scream as he had outside. Tony fell back in shock, and Bruce quickly move into his place to check over Peter. He saw the spear on the bench nearby, where Bruce had thrown it. Tony walked over and looked over the weapon, which still hummed softly.
"They stabbed him so hard it broke?!" He shouted, turning to face Okoye.
"No sir, it was not from the attack."
"Okoye, what broke the weapon? The boy surely would not have een able to." T'Challa asked, stepping between Okoye and Tony.
"Your friend did, the metal armed one. He stepped in to assist in disarming the one who attacked the boy. He was the one to carry the boy from the field, while I dealt with matters."
"So why didn't you stop her from stabbing him?!" Tony shouted, stepping forward.
"The attack was not expected, and I held no weapon. The boy was successful in his…game." She said, her features softening at the mention of Peter's silly plan. Tony blinked, and looked at Peter.
"He… he actually got it?"
"Yes, on his first attempt. I was made aware of the game by my warriors, and saw no harm in the boy trying – we did not expect such immediate success."
"Okoye, call for my Mother, have her prepare a tea for the boy." T'Challa ordered, and Okoye nodded, before leaving the room.
"Tea?! He doesn't need tea, he need-" Tony was cut off by T'Challa.
"Pain relief. We do not have anything properly formulated for his system, now that we know he is like your other friends. We have a flower which when brewed into a tea, is a powerful pain reliever. It shall provide some relief for the boy while you work." T'Challa explained and gently ushered Tony to a seat, and helped the man to sit down.
"Sit my friend, collect your thoughts. You can not help him until the pain subsides." Tony nodded numbly; he knew the King was right, and he hated it. He heard the doors open, as T'Challa left and someone else entered, then they closed again. Tony noticed the two new figures through his blurry eyes; why were they so blurry? Why did his cheeks feel damp? Tony took in a shaking breath, and looked at the two newcomers; Steve and Bucky. Tony hadn't even realised Bucky had left the room. He saw that Steve was holding a small cup made of wood, which he handed to Bruce. Tony watched as Steve moved to Peter's head, while Bucky stood beside the boy. Steve wrapped an arm under each of Peter's armpits and pulled the boy upwards, so he was sitting upright. Peter's screamed became angrier, a more frightened, and so Bucky stepped in. He held fast to each of Peter's wrists, keeping them against the bench.
"No…" Tony heard himself whisper. "You'll hurt him."
Bruce stepped forward and pushed the cup against Peter's mouth, using his spare hand to hold the boy's chin still so that some of the liquid would flow into his mouth. The screams became garbled, as liquid filled Peter's mouth; he swallowed some during the struggle.
"This better work or we're just making things worse!" Steve said, his voice one Tony hadn't heard in some time; Steve was their leader. "Tony!"
Tony was snapped back into reality, into what was unfolding, by Steve's voice. He found his friend's eyes. "Worry later. Work now." Steve said, and let go of Peter. Bucky waited a few more moments before releasing Peter's wrists; the boy had stopped screaming, and had seemed to be dozing. Tony rushed to the bed, shoving Bucky aside without meaning to, and got to work. He fell into rhythm alongside Bruce, and the two busied themselves with checking the wound, before running a quick scan, and beginning treatment. Steve and Bucky moved out of the way but stayed in the room; they had no idea how long he pain relief would work.
As it turned out; it was awhile. Peter was still out of it when they finished treatment, and was moved to a hospital bed. The team took turns, sitting in a chair in the room, keeping an eye on Peter. Steve had argued with Tony, that Tony had to sleep. It was midnight, and he doing surgery tomorrow. Tony lost the argument, and stalked off to bed; he fell asleep within seconds on laying down. Steve settled into the chair with his sketchpad and pencils, and began his shift.
That night, at one o'clock in the morning; Peter had his first pain induced nightmare.