After that speech at UN in Vienna, T'Challa was quite busy, both convincing his own people that this was the right thing to do, and the outsiders that Wakanda only wanted peace and their technology was no threat to the world. Shuri didn't understand how some people could be so stupid. If Wakanda had ever wanted to take over the world, they would have done it centuries ago.

Shuri was busy as well. With the Design Group, she had finally made great progress on the Mind Stone element. The nucleus was ready. In the meantime, so many scientists from all around the world had applied to work at the Outreach Center in Oakland, and Shuri had received a lot of impressive resumes.

The first actual refugee that had been admitted into Wakanda was, surprisingly, Sergeant James Barnes. What was even more surprising was that it was Sigyn who had brought him. T'Challa had given her a heads-up, but when the Asgardian entered her lab, the sight of her made Shuri's blood boil with anger.

"You," she hissed. "How dare you come here, after turning your back on us in Norway?"

"Calm down, sister," T'Challa said, and put a hand on her shoulder. "I was the one who said she would always be welcome in Wakanda."

"I'm truly sorry about that," Sigyn said, with a solemnity that infuriated Shuri even more. Still, curiosity prevailed over her anger.

"Really? You threatened to kill us, for Bast's sake!"

"I know. It was just an idle threat to scare you away."

"What changed your mind now?"

"Many things. I want you to know that I'm ready to do my part now."

"Sorry, honey, but we don't need your help anymore. We figured out how to stop Thanos."

"So I've been told. I'll try to give you as much time as I can, by keeping the Allfather alive while you invent the Nexus."

"Allfather? Odin, you mean?"

"Yes. He is one of the most powerful beings in the universe. I don't think Thanos will make his move while Odin still lives, no matter how weakened he might be."

"If he is so powerful, why is he weakened?"

"He is old. He should have gone into Odinsleep years ago. But neither of his sons were ready to take the throne. So, he was forced to remain awake. He lost his queen to the Dark Elves. He lost his son. At least, he thought he did. Twice."

"I believe that's on your husband."

She flashed her an apologetic smile. "True. But he is the reason you were able to figure out what the Nexus was."

"Is he really on our side now?" Shuri asked skeptically.

"He is. You have my word."

They paused when Okoye approached T'Challa hastily and whispered something in his ear.

"I must go now," he said, but he didn't seem worried, so Shuri concluded that there was nothing to fear. "Shuri, I trust you will be nice to our guests?"

"Of course," she said with the most innocent smile she could muster.

After he left, she realized she still hadn't introduced herself to Sergeant Barnes, who was standing awkwardly beside Sigyn. She had also realized that his metal arm was missing. "Hi, I'm Shuri."

"Bucky." He shook her hand.

"Sorry. I'm not sure if you know what that was about, but…"

"Steve said something about the end of the world. And a genocidal alien."

"Well, you're not wrong." She turned to Sigyn again, crossed her arms and leaned against the desk. "You know, I still don't know how you're involved in this. For some reason, Loki thought you could help us, and you obviously knew about Thanos before the Battle of New York."

Sigyn thought for a moment. "I suppose you're not going to trust me unless I give you a satisfying answer…"

Shuri nodded.

"I received a vision, too. I saw Thanos forcing me to kill my husband. For decades, I lived in fear because of that vision. I would love to tell you the rest, and soon, I will, but I cannot do it without permission from the Sorcerer Supreme."

"Sorcerer Supreme?"

"There is magic in your world, Princess. That's all I can say for now. But I'll talk to her as soon as I can."

"Well, we already lost too much time because of you. Try to hurry up."

"Believe me, I've been quite busy lately. And last week, I lost a friend."

Shuri gave her a questioning look.

"Peggy Carter."

"Oh. The other founder of SHIELD…"

"Yes."

Perhaps for the first time, Shuri felt sorry for her. T'Challa had once said she seemed lost. Now Shuri understood why.

"Try not to judge me too harshly, Princess. You, of all mortals, should understand my reservations. Howard and Maria were my friends. When Heimdall warned me about HYDRA, I made a choice to tell Howard the truth. And they died because of something I knew. You live in the most technologically advanced nation in Midgard. What would you do, if your friends died because of something you knew?"

Not knowing what else to say, she said, "I'm sorry for what happened. I hope killing Vasily Karpov helped you feel better."

"It did. But I'm going to feel a lot better once the Winter Soldier is destroyed. And the only way to destroy the Winter Soldier is to bring Sergeant Barnes back. Fully."

"What exactly happened to him?"

"This book will tell you everything you need to know." Sigyn handed her a red book with a single star on the front cover. "When we first met, he didn't remember who he was. I helped him get his memories back, but there was only so much I could do without a Soul Forge."

Shuri sighed. Asgardians… She told Griot to create a digital copy of the book, and translate it into English. The texts were written in Russian. She didn't speak Russian.

When Griot translated the book, Shuri realized it was actually a manual on how to use the Winter Soldier. Gods, this was one of the most inhumane things she had ever seen…

"Alright, I don't know what a Soul Forge is, but it seems like Sergeant Barnes' brainwashing includes a verbal trigger sequence to activate the Winter Soldier programming."

Barnes nodded. "Every time they got me out of my cryo cell, they spoke the same words… And I couldn't fight back."

"No one could," Shuri said, hoping it would make the poor man feel a bit better. "This is pretty advanced neuroscience, at least for its time."

"It was Arnim Zola," Barnes said.

"Zola? The man who wrote the algorithm for Project Insight?"

He nodded.

"What a waste of genius… The guy was able to upload his consciousness into cyberspace, long before the invention of flash drives, yet he chose to work for a Nazi death cult."

Well, not that there was anything as primitive as flash drives in Wakanda's history, but Shuri liked reading about how science and technology had evolved in the rest of the world, mostly for laughs. Floppy disks were her personal favorite, for example. Maybe I will open a museum in Wakanda, she thought. It was a good idea. It could help Wakandans understand the outside world better.

"Can you heal him?" Sigyn asked, snapping her out of these thoughts.

"I think I can, yes. If I develop an algorithm to flush the influence of the trigger words out while retaining the core context, and the content of the original memories…"

"Good. Then I can go back to Tonsberg. I left the Allfather in my sister's care, but she is a warrior, not a healer."

"And what are you, exactly?"

"I am both, Shuri. Just like you," she said, looking around her lab, then turned around and left.

"Soul Forge," Shuri muttered angrily, shaking her head, once Sigyn was gone.

Barnes chuckled. "Sigyn respects you. A lot. Why are you so angry with her?"

"Because we lost too much time because of her. We went to her for help, you know. After the Battle of New York. If she had told us what the Infinity Stones were, we could have figured out how to build the Nexus a long time ago. Do you have any idea how long it takes to discover a new element? And we have to discover not one, but five!"

"Look, I'm grateful your brother offered me sanctuary here, but the treatment can wait. You seem quite busy."

"Don't worry about that, I like multi-tasking."

"What exactly are you going to do to me?"

"Basically, I'm going to reboot you," she said, and started preparing the scanner.

"How long will it take?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I can't trust my own mind. If it's going to take a while, maybe I should be put back under."

She rolled her eyes. "You underestimate my genius. Lie on this table. I am going to take a look at your brain."

He obeyed. When Shuri saw his brain scan, she gasped in shock. "So many dead gray cells…" It was a miracle he was alive, to be honest.

"They would wipe my memories after every mission," he stated in a matter-of-factly tone.

"But I was right," she said quickly to cheer him up. "I can run an algorithm to undo your programming. You will still be you, don't worry. The Winter Soldier will be completely destroyed, like Sigyn said. But what is more exciting is that this algorithm will bring us closer to actual Artificial Intelligence."

Programs like Griot or JARVIS were cool, but a true AI, one that could take initiative, with its own opinions, feelings and predictions… That was what Shuri was really after. And now, thanks to Sergeant Barnes, it was no longer just a fantasy.

"I don't even know how that's possible, but I'm glad something good will come out of it, at least."

"Alright, you can get up."

Slowly, Barnes got on his feet. He still seemed nervous. Even if he was aware of the technological marvels around him, he seemed completely indifferent to them. Shuri always expected outsiders to admire what they had here, but then, she remembered that the scientists this American had met hadn't exactly been kind to him. And surely he hadn't had much fun in the labs he had been to.

"Sergeant Barnes," she said softly. "No one is going to hurt you here. We are not HYDRA."

"I know," he said, almost apologetically.

"Now that I have your brain scan, feel free to take a look around."

"Actually, uhm, is there a way I can call Steve? My phone has no service here."

Of course it didn't. "Here, use mine." She gave him her phone, and busied herself with the new algorithm while Barnes let Captain Rogers know he was doing alright.

"Thank you," he said as he gave the phone back afterward.

"What happened to your arm?"

"An accident," he replied, but Shuri didn't believe him.

"Let me guess, Sigyn ripped it off, didn't she?"

"It was actually his sister."

"You Americans are so weird. Someone rips your metal arm off, and you become friends with them."

He laughed. "They also chased me on rooftops… with swords in their hands."

"I'm surprised they didn't kill you."

"They wanted answers. Like, who gave the order, and what they did with the other doses."

"What doses?"

"You don't know? Howard Stark had produced five more doses of the supersoldier serum after testing the first one on Sigyn. My mission wasn't just to kill him, it was also to steal the serum."

"I knew Sigyn had been given the serum but… What happened to the other doses, indeed?"

"HYDRA created more people like me. Thankfully, they weren't active. They were in cryo cells in a secret bunker in Siberia. Sigyn helped me remember the location. I took them to that bunker and we killed the other Winter Soldiers. Even without the serum, they were too dangerous. It was the safest way."

"Probably," she agreed. "And then what happened?"

"I had my memories back, so I had to see Steve. Sigyn promised that she would find a way. And when Peggy died, we went to London, for the funeral. Peggy's family knew who Sigyn really was, so they made the arrangements. She brought him to me after the funeral. Steve wasn't alone, though. There were others."

"Who?"

"Natasha Romanoff… I almost killed her once, you know. Seeing her again was a bit awkward. But Stark was even worse."

"Wait, Tony Stark?"

"Yeah, with his girlfriend. I think he would've tried to kill me, if he hadn't been too busy asking Sigyn questions about Thanos."

So, Mr. Stark had finally stopped being a hermit. That was progress.

"But I couldn't stay in London either. Peggy's great-niece works for the CIA. She could get into a lot of trouble because of me. So, that's how I ended up here."

"You're Wakanda's first refugee, you know. Come on, there's so much for you to learn."

…

Barnes occasionally had to come to Shuri's lab, but other than that, he chose to live among the Border Tribe. Shuri couldn't say she was surprised. He must have wanted a simple life after everything he had been through. Still, he knew about Thanos, that they were going to need every soldier they could find, so he had promised that he would fight for them when the time came.

As she expected, the algorithm worked. She was so confident about the results that she decided to use the actual trigger sequence on Barnes to prove that it had no influence on him anymore. He was reluctant at first, but his relief was beyond words when he realized his mind was his own again.

As for his missing arm, Shuri had two different options. She could make him a vibranium prosthesis, or use Extremis to help him grow his arm back. However, when she told Ana, she said while she didn't blame Barnes for what he did, the Extremis formula belonged to her dad, and no one should use it without his permission. Shuri knew Mr. Stark would never let his work be used to help Barnes, so she decided to spear herself the headache and didn't even bother. Barnes said he would never forgive himself if Shuri had a quarrel with her best friend because of him, so they decided to go for the first option.

Shuri didn't know why Ana still refused to bring her father into the fold. Mr. Stark had indeed stopped being a hermit, moved into the new Avengers compound, and even done some charity work recently. He and Ana had presented the September Foundation at MIT together. Shuri had watched the whole thing on YouTube. During the presentation, he had called her his "greatest creation," so Shuri didn't think he was still mad at her. Ana had also said Ms. Potts was expecting a baby. Shuri wished Ana would go back to New York. Her father—and the other Avengers—could help her find the remaining Infinity Stones. The Mind Stone element was almost ready, but there were still four more elements to worry about. But Ana was still living in Oakland, and relying on Fury's resources to locate the stones. If only Shuri knew why.

…

"Do you know what HYDRA did with the vibranium Ring Blades?" Shuri asked Bucky while he was testing his new vibranium arm. He seemed impressed.

"Ring Blades?" he asked, puzzled.

"Von Strucker bought some vibranium from Klaue, and used it to make a pair of Ring Blades. For whom, we have never been able to find out. I thought you might know."

He thought for a moment, then said, "No idea. Sorry."

Well, it was a long shot, but Shuri had thought maybe it was for one of the other Winter Soldiers. So, she had asked him.

"Princess, there has been an update on SHIELD," Griot said.

With the recent Inhuman Outbreak, SHIELD had resurfaced, with an Inhuman director, though according to the War Dogs' intelligence, he wasn't really an Inhuman.

"Show me," she said. Bucky, too, seemed interested.

It wasn't good. Daisy Johnson—this was Skye's name now, and she was one of the most well-known Inhumans—had shot an American general named Glenn Talbot. It didn't make any sense. Director Mace had presented her as a hero to the public a while ago. But then, the news reporter also said Mace was dead.

"What the hell?" Bucky muttered.

What the hell, indeed. "I'm calling Ana," she decided. "If anyone knows what's going on with SHIELD, it's her."

But Ana didn't answer her phone. Shuri tried calling her office, but no one was there either. Finally, she decided to call Nakia, who was in Oakland right now. Thankfully, at least Nakia answered.

"Nakia, hey! Have you seen the news?"

"SHIELD?"

"Yes. Do you know what that shooting was about?"

"Shuri, I am not a spy anymore, you know."

"I know, but still… Where is Ana?"

"She left the Outreach Center a few minutes ago… In her suit. Why?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to see what she knows of this."

"Alright. Tell your brother I will be home soon."

She grinned. She and T'Challa were in a relationship again. "I will. See you soon."

…

The next day, Ana called her and told her that she was at the compound in New York. Finally. She had also said Daisy Johnson hadn't shot anybody, that it was an LMD built by a rogue android named AIDA. AIDA had caused SHIELD a lot of trouble, and now Coulson's inner circle was missing. But Ana didn't even have the time to worry about them now. Neither did Shuri.

When the Mind Stone element was finally ready to be synthesized, Shuri called Ana to let her know, but it was Ms. Potts who answered. She said Ana and her father had gone to find an Infinity Stone, but they would be back soon. Shuri thanked her, congratulated her on her pregnancy, and hung up, but something didn't feel right. Ms. Potts just seemed… evasive. And anxious. Perhaps she wasn't happy to send her boyfriend and step-daughter on a dangerous mission to retrieve an Infinity Stone, but Shuri had a feeling like there was more.

After a week of radio silence, she received a call from Ana at last. She didn't seem happy, though, so Shuri assumed the mission was a failure. Still, she wanted to know the details.

"Hey, where have you been? Tell me everything."

"I will," she said gravely.

Shuri frowned. "Ana? Are you okay?"

"There are… things, Shuri. Things I should have told you a long time ago."

"Alright, better late than never."

"We weren't on a mission to find an Infinity Stone. I was never looking for the stones."

"What?" She was now praying that this was just a bad joke. How could she not be looking for the stones? Didn't she know what was at stake here? Weren't they in this together?

"There was a book. Years ago, I had an internship at Momentum Labs. That was when I first heard of it. A book that shows you what you want to know the most. It's called the Darkhold."

At that moment, the truth dawned on her. The truth that Ana had been playing with her, like she had been playing with everybody else. Shuri had seen how easily, skillfully Ana did it, yet it had never once occurred to her that she, too, might be being played with. She had been a fool to think she was an exception.

"The Darkhold," she repeated angrily. Her whole body was shaking with rage. "And you never told me…"

"I couldn't. I knew about the book. It was meant to be my problem. Not yours. Infinite knowledge, Shuri… Do you think that power comes without a price? The Darkhold corrupts the mind, drives you mad. I couldn't have asked you to make the sacrifice."

"Because you get to decide what's best for everyone, right?"

"What else was I supposed to do?"

"You were supposed to tell me! We were supposed to decide how to proceed together, as a team!"

"There was nothing to decide, Shuri. Collecting the Infinity Stones and studying them? There was no time for an RPG quest like that!"

"See? You're doing it again. How were you even sure that the book was going to work?"

"Because the future me said it would."

"What? I thought you showed me the footage. Was there more?"

"Yes."

"This is your last chance to tell me the truth. The whole truth."

"When I first recalled the rumors about the Darkhold, I went to the Momentum Labs HQ in Pasadena. It had been shut down in 2012. Dr. Lucy Bauer was dead, her husband was in a coma. I wanted to see if it had anything to do with the book. Fury was there, waiting for me."

"So, you met him in Pasadena, not in Malibu…"

"He told me the book was real, and that we had to find it. You see, the time-traveler's plan was perfect. She knew Fury would recover her body, and bring her back to life."

"WHAT?"

"Fury used some alien medicine to bring people back from the dead. He resurrected her, just like he'd later resurrect Coulson. Fury had been following her instructions all along."

"And you didn't tell me this? Bhentse emfene, hambo kunya! Ngqundu wako!" She didn't think Ana would understand Xhosa curses, but there weren't any swear words in English that could express what she felt right now.

"Do you want to hear the rest, or not?" Ana asked calmly.

"Alright. Keep going." She wanted to see how worse this could get.

"The time-traveler didn't tell him where the Darkhold was. Instead, she told him that I had to follow it to Hell."

"Well, I, too, think you belong in hell, but… What is that supposed to mean?"

"At first, it didn't make any sense to us either, but then we realized Hell was another dimension. The Darkhold caused SHIELD a lot of trouble, and there was this guy, Robbie Reyes… He took it to Hell for safekeeping in the end. SHIELD had built an inter-dimensional gateway, so we used it to travel to Hell."

"We?"

"My dad found out what I was up to. It was a part of the plan, though. The time-traveler wanted us to go there together. She said there was a solution in Hell waiting for us."

From now on, no matter what he did, Shuri would never blame the poor Mr. Stark. The gods had already cursed him with such a lying, scheming, back-stabbing, manipulative bitch as his daughter.

"So, who read the book?"

"Look, like I said—"

"Who read the damn book, Ana?"

It was either Ana, or her father. Shuri just couldn't imagine either of them letting the other make the sacrifice, but they must have made a choice in the end.

Ana closed her eyes before answering. "My grandfather."

"Y—your grandfather? Like, Howard Stark?"

"He was the solution, Shuri. He read the book."

"So, is he…"

"Back in town? Yeah. We couldn't leave him in that place. Don't ask me how it can be possible, even he doesn't have all the answers."

"Wait… You didn't know he would be there, did you?"

"No."

Shuri laughed bitterly. "So, the future you asked her father to travel to another dimension, and didn't even tell him what to expect? See, this is exactly who you are, Ana! This is what you do to people you claim to love so much! You use their love and trust to torment them!"

She bowed her head in remorse, but Shuri didn't care. "Is there anything else I need to know?"

"No. That's all."

"I hope so…"

"I'm sorry, Shuri. I really am."

"You think you can do all these because you're so smart, don't you? Well, let me tell you something. It's not because you're smart. It's because you don't hesitate to stab those who trust you in the back. You're incapable of feeling guilt. That's why lies come so easily to you. And I think deep down, you enjoy it."

"Your father lied to you, too. You forgave him."

"Well, you're not my father, are you? I can't believe I once defended you against my own family. I defended you while you were still a spoiled, cruel bitch who enjoyed the fortune your daddy made as a warmonger! You were the first outsider I trusted, and this is what you do to me! How am I ever going to trust anyone now?"

"Look, I only left you out because the time-traveler couldn't predict your involvement in this. You weren't a part of her equation. The plan was solid; I couldn't have risked it."

"So, is that what I am to you? Just another variable in your equations? And you wonder why you don't have any friends…"

"Oh, come now, Shuri. You approached me in the first place because I was a variable in your equation. Not because you cared about me or anything."

Shuri realized what a nasty turn this conversation was about to take, so she decided to end it. "I understand we must work together to stop Thanos, but from now on, if there is anything else Wakanda needs to know, just contact Nakia, or my brother. Don't call me. I don't want to see your face, or even hear your voice ever again. Do you understand?"

"Perfectly."

"Good," she said, and ended the call. Then she collapsed on the floor, and unleashed all the tears she had been trying so hard to keep at bay. She stayed there until her brother came and took her to her room.

Because of what W'Kabi had done to him, Shuri had thought T'Challa would understand her better than anyone else. He did, and he didn't. He agreed that Shuri shouldn't be friends with such a pathological liar. But he didn't hide the fact that he was also glad that Ana had lied to her about the Darkhold.

"If they brought a man back from the dead to read it, nothing good will ever come out of that book," he said. As usual, he was being overprotective, so she didn't bother to explain why the choice should have been hers.

…

The next day, Shuri decided that Bucky needed to hear about the return of Howard Stark from her, and went to the Border Tribe region. She found him feeding his goats, but his face told Shuri that he already knew. Right. Rogers must have told him.

He paused when he saw her, and smiled. "Hey!"

"Good morning, Bucky. How are you feeling today?"

"Not bad, considering the circumstances… You came here to tell me, didn't you?"

She nodded. Without a word, they started to walk away from the farm and toward the lake. She felt awful for him. Being haunted by metaphorical ghosts was one thing, but one of your victims literally coming back from the dead was another.

"Steve called me last night."

"How is he?"

"Still trying to wrap his around the fact that Howard Stark is back… Damn, how is that even possible?"

"I don't know. I can only explain the laws of this world, Bucky. Once other dimensions get involved… things start making less sense. Every dimension has its own different laws."

"So, can people just come back from the dead now?"

"No. Despite the name, I don't think Hell is some kind of afterlife. Howard Stark's case seems like an exception to me."

He nodded thoughtfully.

"You don't have to see him, you know…"

"No? I killed him, Shuri. I punched him to death while his wife was watching. Then I killed her, too."

"It wasn't you. If he is as smart as people say, he should know that. It wasn't your choice."

"No, but I did it."

"You're a semi-stable 100-year-old man. Your own mental health should be your priority."

He chuckled.

"No, I'm serious. The Starks have made their choice when they brought him back. Now they're going to have to live with the consequences. If Howard Stark can't handle the sight of you, it's his problem."

"You have such weird friends… You know that, right?"

He probably had said that to make her laugh, but tears brimmed in Shuri's eyes. Recalling how she had been betrayed by the first outsider she had ever trusted hurt her pride.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

They had reached the lakeside. Shuri sat down on a large rock, and angrily threw a pebble into the water. "I was working my ass off, trying to discover an element, and thinking she was doing the same, looking for the remaining Infinity Stones… But no, she was looking for a magic book instead! And she thought I didn't have to know! What would you do if Rogers told you a lie like that?"

He smiled. "I think I'd be too impressed to be mad if Steve could keep up such a complicated lie for that long."

"You're lucky your best friend is a decent human being, then."

"Captain America isn't as naive as everyone thinks, you know. You'd be surprised if I told you how many times he lied on the enlistment forms."

She shot him a puzzled look.

"Before the serum," he explained. Right, a tale from a different time.

"That's not the same. He didn't lie to you."

"Our lies were simpler, because our lives were simpler. We were just two kids from Brooklyn who wanted to do their part to protect their country. Not heirs to a multi-billion dollar tech empire, or leaders of some future resistance."

"Do you think I don't understand Ana's struggles?"

"No! Look, from what Steve told me, I think that girl has some serious issues, but that's irrelevant. My point is, you, of all people, must understand the struggle better than anyone else. People here talk about you, Shuri. Especially children. You're, like, Wakanda's chosen one."

"I'm not the 'chosen one,' or anything."

"You kind of are. Bast chose you. Am I right?"

"Yes, but… Honestly, I wasn't expecting you to believe that."

"Like you said, I'm a semi-stable 100-year-old man. I try to keep an open mind."

Shuri rose to her feet. "Well, I better get back to my lab. Thanks for listening."

"Anytime."