Hey guys,

So turns out, I did actually have enough written for another chapter before I needed to bring in the Black Panther storyline.

Apologies -_-

Enjoy

Chapter 14

T'Challa checked her vitals quickly while Bucky held her in his arms. "She's alright, whatever just happened must have sapped her of her energy."

He nodded towards the bed, before looking back out the door to where the doctors and nurses were peering in anxiously. He nodded and they quickly hurried in, while Steve helped Bucky lay Vielka back onto the bed carefully.

He pushed her hair from her face, before stepping back to let the doctors work again, not that there was much left for them to do. Vielka had done all their work for them, although they would still need to figure out what was happening to her.

They filed out of her room, to meet with the rest of the team who looked to the three of them expectantly.

"It would seem that Vielka's body is undertaking its transformation," T'Challa began, appearing thoughtful for a moment. "I imagine this is a side effect of being exposed directly to the power source as it exploded."

"I think it best if someone stays close by her in case that happens again," Steve said, making reference to the violent outburst.

"I don't think it could be just anyone either," Natasha commented pointedly.

"No, there's only three people, maybe four, who would be able to stop her in her place," Steve agreed.

"Then perhaps the rest of us should find out what was in that power source, we might be able to get some answers?" Sam suggested, looking thoughtful.

"Alright, this is how we will do it. Myself, Bucky and T'Challa will take turns to watch over Vielka, with Wanda on call in case we need to mentally subdue her. The rest of you, research, find out whatever you can about the power source, the chemicals used on Vielka back in Afghanistan and get the information to the doctors here. If that means questioning Crossbones or the viscount then do it."

Everyone nodded in understanding, beginning to move off.

Bucky turned to Steve, but he motioned for him to stop with a hand. "I know, you'll take first watch."

Bucky gave a small, grateful smile, before walking back into Vielka's room.

Vielka lay still on the bed, her eyes closed as the doctors and nurses set back to work on her now that Bucky was there to keep watch.

Bucky could see they were anxious being near her again, and he could understand that, although it pained him. He knew that they would probably do their best not to let it show when she woke again, but she would be able to tell.

He watched as the doctors tried to prick her skin with a needle, but it would just glance off or break.

They murmured to each other, before a doctor grabbed a scalpel. He glanced at Bucky, looking for his approval it seemed.

Bucky was also curious and nodded once, moving to stand beside Vielka in case she woke.

The doctor dragged the tiny, sharp blade across the skin on Vielka's upper arm, careful to avoid any vital veins and arteries.

He needn't have bothered, the blade made no cut on her skin, no blood was drawn and she slept on. Bucky released a breath he didn't realise he had been holding while the doctors sighed and shook their heads.

"Is there anything about the incident that you can tell me that struck you as odd, apart from the power source? Like even the littlest thing?" the doctor asked looking to Bucky.

Bucky thought for a moment, staring down at Vielka's still body. The scene before him when he found her after the explosion was etched into his memory, one of the few things that he could remember perfectly.

He recalled her burnt skin, her torn, armoured body suit, the blood that seeped from her wounds and mouth. Even the charred smell of their surroundings.

Then there was the sword handle in her hand, the Vibranium blade missing from the weapon.

"Wait, her sword..." Bucky said, looking at the doctor as he continued to think about what he had seen.

"What about it?" T'Challa asked as he entered the room, Bucky turning to look at him.

"The blade to her sword was missing, but the handle was still in her hand," Bucky explained, but furrowed his brow in confusion, a familiar memory trying to work its way to the forefront, Howard Stark's voice resonating in his head. "I thought Vibranium was virtually indestructible?"

"It is indeed," T'Challa replied thoughtfully. He looked to a small basket set to the side of the room, pulling the remaining sword from the armour and walking over to Vielka. He placed her hand around the handle until a soft beep could be heard and pulled the sword from the sheath. It's blade was still intact. "Interesting."

Bucky wasn't sure what was so interesting about the fact her other blade was intact. He watched as T'Challa picked up a handful of bandage swabs from a nearby trolley. He nodded to a doctor to stand close by, while Bucky moved to the other side.

T'Challa glanced up at Bucky, a look of warning on his face. "Prepare yourself."

To Bucky's horror, and before he could even form a protest, T'Challa had swiped the blade of the sword across her upper arm, it bled immediately.

Vielka sat bolt upright immediately, a look of rage on her face. "What the fuck?" She went to grab at the closest person, which happened to be the doctor, but Bucky was quick to wrap his arms around her upper body, effectively pinning her arms to her side.

"Calm down," T'Challa said, holding a hand up to her, pulling the sword away from her. She stopped struggling, looking to Bucky in confusion and then at the other people around the room. "Well, there are some of the answers we seek."

Bucky still held Vielka tightly as she glanced around the room in confusion. Her face was close to his as she turned it to look at his face, so they were now nearly nose to nose. "Bucky?" she asked blinking as she stared at him. He felt her release a breath and relax in his arms, looking away again.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked, still concerned for her health but releasing his hold on her slightly. She gave a small nod before looking down to her arm, where a doctor was now beginning to treat the wound.

"What was all that about?" she asked, looking at T'Challa. He looked to Bucky, giving him a curt nod, signifying that he thought it safe for him to release her. For some reason, Bucky couldn't help but feel slightly reluctant to release her, but did so slowly.

He stood straight back up as a doctor quickly applied a plastic strip to seal her wound.

"If my theory is correct," T'Challa began to explain, sheathing the sword again and looking to Bucky. "The explosion has somehow melded the blade of your sword into your body. It seems to have had an effect on your skin to make you impenetrable to anything but Vibranium based metals."

Bucky looked to her face to see her reaction. Her face was blank, not even an acknowledging look passing over her Asian features.

T'Challa turned to the doctor. "I'll have the engineers create a Vibranium based needle for you for future use," he said, motioning towards her. "We will need to have some further tests done to you, to see what else the infusion has affected."

Bucky couldn't help but notice she appeared disgruntled at that, and he too felt a little disgruntled at the thought of her being treated as a lab rat, but she said nothing so he thought it best not to say anything either.

After a few more moments of prodding and poking her here and there, and taking a skin shaving off of her, courtesy of her sword which she performed for them herself, the doctors and T'Challa left to began planning how best to begin their research, T'Challa giving her a quick embrace before leaving.

Bucky narrowed his eyes at T'Challa's back, before catching himself in the act and setting his face back to appear emotionless for the time. He looked back to Vielka, as she pulled her legs in closer and sighed heavily.

"You doing okay, Vielka?" he asked her, as he carefully sat on the side of her bed, careful not to sit too close to her.

She grimaced slightly, but gave a small nod. "Yeah, I guess. Better than being dead."

Bucky cringed at her blunt words, but could understand the sentiment behind them. She was trying to see the silver lining, anything to stop dwelling on the down side. "I hear the food is better here."

She gave a small laugh and smile, breathing deeply again, before crossing her legs before her, pulling a sheet over her legs. "And, no more scars. My modelling career is back on track."

They both laughed at that, before taking a moment to become subdued again. He looked at her for a moment, taking her in. He was still trying to come to terms with the fact that she was sitting there, looking completely fine, talking and joking with him.

"So you're on guard duty?" she asked, looking at him expectantly. He grimaced slightly, contemplating how best to answer her. He opened his mouth to answer but closed it again, not sure of his response. "Don't worry, I get it. I'm unknown at this time, so I'm dangerous. Should probably apologise to that poor nurse, if he ever comes back."

Bucky gave a nervous laugh, recalling the moment the nurse had been thrown from the room. He wondered if her skin was the only change her body had undertaken, or if perhaps there were new enhancements at play.

He was startled from his own thoughts by Vielka clicking her fingers in front of his eyes. He was quick to grab her hand and hold it away, surprised at the action. "You alright? You were staring at me, it was unnerving."

"Sorry, just thinking about all that's happened to you."

"I know, I'm a magnet for trouble."

She pulled a face and Bucky laughed again, before sighing and shaking his head. "You and me both."

oOOo

Vielka lay quietly as a doctor pierced through her skin with one of the new Vibranium needles that had been developed specially for her. She was now under the watchful eyes of T'Challa as they conducted testing on her. She was also well enough to move about under her own strength, but still she was accompanied by either of the Super Soldiers or the Wakandan King, himself.

He wore one of his finely pressed suits, but she had caught a glimpse of black armour beneath it, clearly he was taking precautions. She didn't blame him. No one knew what she was capable of, her included.

It concerned her that Bucky continued to visit her in normal clothing, not bothering to wear his armoured uniform, but when she had confronted him with her thoughts, he had blatantly refused. His excuse was that he didn't want her to feel any more of a prisoner or lab rat than she already did. Bless the boy. His kind nature was going to get him killed one day. Or beaten the shit out of. One or the other.

The doctor finished taking blood from her, holding a cotton ball to the small hole in her arm, turning away to put down the needle and tubes of blood, before turning back to put a bandaid over the hole.

"Oh..." he murmured, looking closer at her arm.

"Don't worry about it, doc, it's gone."

"I can see that." He seemed a little lost at the sudden intrusion to his routine, frowning slightly.

She glanced at T'Challa who looked mildly interested in the exchange, glancing at her arm as well. Vielka looked back to the doctor, before smirking slightly. "You can still give me the lollipop though."

He narrowed his eyes at her before shaking his head with a smile. "You're good to go."

"What? No candy? That's low, man."

T'Challa smiled warmly at Vielka as he handed her hoodie back to her, which she quickly slipped over her head, comforted by the oversized item of clothing. There wasn't much that comforted her these days, her days were spent either in the hospital enduring dull discussions with any of her three guards, or down here in the labs going through more testing, either blood work, scanning or if she was lucky, some physical testing.

She longed for a day of returning back to what she had considered normality. Training, or scanning the channels with Sam for some sign of trouble. Anything.

T'Challa walked beside her as she returned to the hospital room. "Is everything alright, Vielka?" he asked, his voice sounding mildly concerned, pulling her from her own thoughts.

"Hmm?" she asked, looking back at him for a moment, before shaking her head. "No, not really. Just getting tired of all the testing and being watched like a criminal, i guess."

T'Challa looked apologetic. "Please forgive us, Vielka, we never intended to make you feel like a prisoner, we just want to make sure that you're alright, that there have been no adverse affects from the melding process."

"And that's fair enough," she said with a nod and smile. "I'm just feeling disgruntled, that's all. I'll get over it."

She turned to enter her room, walking over to the bed before climbing in, throwing the sheets and blanket over her and rolling on her side, closing her eyes and willing herself to sleep.

oOOo

Bucky walked down the hallway of the hospital wing towards Vielka's room, to find T'Challa was sitting outside her room, not inside like they usually did. He was immediately on edge, suspecting something had happened.

T'Challa saw him and stood up, greeting him with a finger to his lips, motioning for Bucky to be quiet. "She's asleep," T'Challa said quietly as Bucky reached him.

Bucky immediately felt relieved, glancing through doorway, to see she was lying on her side, her face away from them. He looked back to T'Challa to see him looking at her sadly. "What's wrong?"

T'Challa sighed. "Have you ever been to the zoo, James?" he asked, still looking at Vielka lying in bed.

"Uh, not recently, if I'm honest," Bucky replied slowly, mildly surprised that T'Challa had used his first name. He wasn't one to really converse with the Wakandan King often.

"Well, when you go to the zoo, you see the wild animals who are usually the strongest and proudest of the animal kingdom locked behind bars and glass. If you compare them to their free counterparts, you can barely see the difference, except in their eyes." Bucky glanced sideways at T'Challa, unsure of what it was he was getting at. T'Challa looked back at him, frowning slightly. "She is like a caged, wild animal. She has lost the light in her eyes."

Bucky understood what T'Challa meant. Over the course of the last couple of weeks, Vielka had become more and more withdrawn. Even he struggled to get a smile from her these days.

"Well, does she really need to be in here anymore? Surely, she can return to her room, I'm right next door if anything were to happen there, and I thought a majority of the testing was complete?" Bucky reasoned, still watching her sleep through the door.

"Perhaps. I shall go and see what the results are from the last lot of testing and discuss it then," T'Challa replied with a sigh. He nodded to Bucky, before leaving the hospital wing.

Bucky walked quietly into Vielka's room, moving to the side of the bed that she was facing, glancing down at her face. Even in her sleep, she seemed disturbed, a pained expression on her face. He noted on her pillow the slightest appearance of a water stain near her eye. She had been crying.

His heart instantly ached for her. He bit his lip, thoughtful for a moment, before he decided to take some action himself.

oOOo

Vielka was woken with a start by someone touching her shoulder. She opened her eyes slowly, only to be met with familiar, stormy blue eyes. She pushed herself back in surprise at seeing them so close to her face. "Bucky, what are you doing?"

"Come on, we're staging a break out," he replied mischievously, the smile on his face matching the tone in his voice.

She rolled her eyes, rolling over to her other side. "Don't be an idiot."

"Come on, it'll be fun."

"No."

She closed her eyes again, only to hear Bucky's footsteps move to the same side of the bed. "Chicken."

She opened her eyes and glared at him as he leant down to look at her. "What's gotten into you?"

"I'm sick of seeing you mope around, so I'm doing something about it," he answered, smiling slyly, his smile touching his eyes as well. If she wasn't so annoyed, she might have even considered it cute.

"I'm not moping, I'm doing what I'm told."

"Moping."

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, moving to roll back the other way. As she turned to roll, she felt an arm slip under body and lift her up. "Hey!"

"Come on, you miserable sack of excuses." He hoisted her onto his shoulder, before turning and beginning to walk out of the room.

"Bucky!"

"Sgt Buchanan? What are you doing?" one of the nurses in the nurses station asked in confusion, looking at the pair with bewildered look on her face.

"Taking her for a walk outside, she needs some fresh air," Bucky answered honestly, stopping beside the booth.

The nurse furrowed her brow, looking from Bucky to Vielka. "He's kidnapping me, Beth, you'd better call Steve or T'Challa, before I beat the shit out of him and you're forced to take care of him too."

The nurse, Beth, raised her eyebrows slightly before an amused smile spread across her face. She looked back to Bucky. "Just make sure she's back before your watch change with Captain Rogers, ok?"

"Will do, see you later." He began walking down the corridor out of the hospital, much to Vielka's chagrin.

"What the hell, Bucky! Put me down! I'm not playing games, I will beat the shit out of you."

"It's for your own good, Vielka."

She began struggling, but he had grabbed her in such a way that her arms were pinned to her sides, and although she tried to kick out at him she couldn't seem to reach. "I'm going to beat the shit out of you, kill you, bring you back to life and then kill you again, when I get free Bucky!" she growled angrily as she tried to loosen herself from his grip.

"You're already starting to sound better," Bucky said with an amused tone to his voice.

"Put me down! This is embarrassing!"

"Really? That might explain why I'm enjoying it," he replied, not breaking his stride as she tried to knee him, but he managed to block it with his free hand. "Whoa, that was a close one."

"When I get free, I swear to god."

She couldn't see where he was taking her, because he had her slung over his shoulder backwards, but she could tell where he was going by the corridors that he took. At the moment, she figured they were headed to the gym.

According to her calculations, it was currently 5am, so the gym would be empty, but what on earth he would be taking her there for was beyond her comprehension.

"Seriously, Bucky, put me down," she said again, taking a different tact and trying to look at his face. "Your metal shoulder isn't exactly comfy, you know?"

"Will soon."

She clenched her jaw and rolled her eyes, slumping her body slightly, finally giving in to the long haired Super Soldier. He wasn't going to give up on this venture of his anytime soon, no matter how much she threatened to beat him.

Soon, she felt him stop, followed by the sound of a door being opened and a cold blast of air. She tensed as it hit her, her bare feet fully exposed. He continued walking, and she looked around.

They were outside, she could see the stars twinkling in the sky above The Facility when she craned her neck up, as he continued walking, becoming slightly concerned now. What exactly was his plan, here?

He finally stopped again, before she felt his titanium arm unwrap from around her and both his hands wrap around her waist, lifting her down from his shoulder. She felt the cold ground under her feet, wiggling her toes at the feeling, before looking around.

"Seriously, Bucky, what's the big idea?" she demanded, giving him a small shove with her hands.

He gave her a knowing smile, moving towards the edge of the helipad, and sitting down cross legged at the edge. She furrowed her brow, watching him the whole time, before glancing up as the first rays of the sun began to shine over the mountains in the distance.

The horizon was golden as those first rays peeped over, shining onto the deep green of the forest below, causing the shadows to sweep away. She stared, it felt like it had been forever since she had seen daylight, let alone the sunrise.

She sat cross-legged beside him, leaving a small distance between them, as the sun shone further into the valley below, slowly creeping along the ground like a bright blanket, lighting up the leaves of the trees. It didn't take long for the sun to finally reach them on the helipad, Vielka sighing as the sun's rays hit her face, and she closed her eyes and sighed, taking in the warmth the sun radiated.

She heard a quiet sigh from Bucky and opened her eyes, looking to him expectantly. He was staring at her, the slightest of smiles on his face.

oOOo

Bucky watched her as she allowed herself to bask in the first rays of sunshine as it rose higher into the sky, her long black hair that was loose for once, blowing in the slight breeze that came with the rising sun. It was slightly breathtaking, to see the sun embrace the shape of her face, highlighting the alluring shape of her lips and the definition of her high cheek bones.

In the sunlight, he could see how flawless her skin was now, not a scratch or blemish to be seen anywhere.

When she looked at him suddenly, he realised he must have sighed out loud while admiring the pleasure on her face, the gold in her eyes shining brightly as the sun caught the irises of her eyes in its rays. It was mesmerising and he actually felt captured by them for a moment.

When he realised he was staring, he gave a small laugh, feeling bashful and looking back towards the sun. "I thought this might cheer you up," he murmured, looking back to the rainforest below them.

He could practically hear the eye roll from her. "Yeah, yeah, good job. You're just lucky i didn't beat the shit out of you in the process."

"You wouldn't do that," he replied, leaning sideways towards her. She glanced at him expectantly. "You wouldn't have anyone to annoy you."

Yet again, an eye roll at his expense, making him laugh. She gave him a small grin, before looking back towards the sun rise. "You're going to get in trouble one day, Bucky."

"Maybe, it'll be worth it though," he replied also continuing to watch the sun rising.

He saw her turn her head slightly in the corner of his eye and could feel her eyes narrowing in on him. He cringed inwardly, the words had probably come out in such a way he hadn't intended them too, but he said nothing more, ignoring her eyes on him and focusing on the horizon.

I think I can get one more chapter out.

Sadly, I never got to see Black Panther at the cinema, and in Australia, the DVD isn't released until the end of the month.

As that is where this fic is going next, that means that the rest of the story won't be able to continue until then.

I'm also debating whether to do a completely new fic for it, or just keep it all in one place.

Decisions, decisions...

xo

Krayzee