Sorry this update has been a long time coming. I'm hoping to take a deeper look into Shuri and Lance's relationship as the pieces of the puzzle start to fall back into place.

"Extract in 20." My voice was low and not much more than a growl. I scanned the compound my team was currently clearing.

"Roger that Cap." Mattie's voice came through the earpiece I was sporting. "Grabbing what we can and torching the rest." I felt a tap to my leg and looked at Lopez, our Doc, who was also my eyes and ears with the drone we had circling the perimeter.

"Vehicle approaching quickly." He pointed at the display and I could hear the engine in the distance. Muttering an expletive, I spoke into the mic.

"Guys you're about to have company. Get it and get out." No sooner had I spoke, the back door of the main building of the compound swung open and Mattie, Ben and Chase rushed out, each with a duffle bag loaded on their backs. It was an intel securing mission and was to be a quick in and out. The crunching of gravel proved that it may not be as simple as we had expected. My guys were nearly to the wood line when the first rounds were fired. My rifle was already at the ready and I dropped two of them quickly and put another round in the engine to stop their movement. "Get back to the truck." I called over my shoulder to my guys.

"Cap…" Mattie's questioning tone caused me to snap my head back to glare at him.

"I've got your back. Get to the truck, I'll catch up." Lopez grabbed his shoulder and hurried him along. From my vantage point there were three more guys to deal with from the SUV that had pulled up. I could hear them shouting and piecing together some kind of plan. Moving closer to the trio, I heard the truck fire up in the distance. That got the three of them moving towards the sound of the truck. Unleashing two quick shots the two I had eyes on dropped. Panning left to right I searched for the remaining guy. "Come on asshole…" I muttered.

"Cap, your window is closing to play catch up." Mattie's voice in my ear didn't help my frustration.

"One more to take care –" A shot rang out and it wasn't from my weapon. "Shit…"

"Lance? You came in broken." Mattie in my ear again. I was following the direction the bullet had come from and caught the movement as he ducked behind a tree. Putting him in my sights, I waited for him to move enough I could get a shot off. "Cap?" The growl grew in my throat as Mattie's voice echoed in my head again. A few steps in the direction of my target and his head stuck out far enough for me to get the shot off.

"All targets eliminated. On my way to exfill." I finally responded to Mattie before letting out a long slow breath. Looking around I felt like I wanted to find another target, like I wasn't done with what I was here for. "Just fucking chill killer…" I muttered to myself as I moved swiftly through the overgrowth. "Mission complete…calm the fuck down." My heart rate was still regulated, but I was itching to pull that trigger again, to do something I was really good at. A few moments later I saw the truck come into view, picking up my pace to a full on jog. As my right foot hit the ground a jolt of pain shot up my leg, almost causing me to fall. "Just keep moving, deal with it later." I said to myself as I reached the running truck and jumped into the truck bed. As I landed, I couldn't help the grunt I let rip as I looked at my right leg. "Fuck…" Keeping my voice low as I took in the bloody mess that was my upper thigh.

"Damn Cap! Thought we were gonna leave you behind." Mattie slapped my back and I looked away from my leg, resting my weapon over the wound.

"Never Mattie, ya'll can't shake me that easily!" I laughed and it felt good, it pushed away the feelings from earlier, the smile remaining on my face.

"Thirty minutes until we land!" Torres's voice jarred me from my sleep. Groaning, I sat up on the bench seat I had fallen asleep on. The dream had been vivid, details that were more precise than anything else I remembered so far. I assumed the guys in the dream were my team during my time in the Army.

"Looked like you were sleeping hard." Dad sat down next to me. We had boarded a flight to Wakanda the morning after Coulson's visit. The thought being that if Coulson was being a friend and helping out that someone not as friendly would probably be the next visit. I had little to no faith in this trip when we loaded up and took off.

"I dreamed…about something…" Blinking the sleep from my eyes, I tried to replay the dream, or flashback, whichever it was. "From before, I guess?" Sighing I reached for the pack I had used for a pillow and pulled out the notebook. I felt Dad staring at me. "You told me to write it down. Anything I remembered."

"Do you want to…" I glanced up and locked him in a glare, stopping him mid-sentence.

"Alright Uncle Sam." There was a calmness to my words, words that I spoke without thinking, as if on autopilot. Dad chuckled before it dawned on him that I had said that. I had made that joke. He patted my back.

"See, it can and will come back Lance."

"Oh my." The Wakandian princess raised a hand to her mouth as we stepped off the plane. I followed Dad and Torres as they approached her. Dad had told me who she was and that Princess Shuri and Lance had a wonderful relationship. Taking in her appearance I wanted to have a reaction, but there was none. There was a stoic looking woman standing beside the princess whose face broke into a smile as her eyes settled on Dad. Glancing at him, he had the beginning of a smile stretching across his face as well.

"Princess," Dad bowed his head as we stopped in front of the pair. She rolled her eyes before wrapping him in a hug where they shared words I couldn't hear.

"My Wolves! Joaquin!" Her smile was radiant but the concern was etched on her face. "My Young Wolf…" Shuri's eyes settled solely on me as she stepped towards me and took my face in her hands. Her closeness caused me to stiffen somewhat, even knowing that we were here for her to help. "What have they done to you…" Her voice was barely above a whisper. "You look tired Baby Wolf…so tired." Her voice was strained as she spoke and I watched as she clenched her jaw as her hands fell from my face.

"Let's get everyone settled." The woman that had made Dad smile spoke.

"She just wants the White Wolf to herself." Shuri smiled at me as if making some kind of joke that I didn't understand. The Princess noticed my lack of a response and her face fell. "They really did take it all…" Her realization hit me differently. The tone of her voice wasn't dripping in sadness, sympathy or pity, more of shock and anger which were both emotions I could fully understand.

"So Dad and her…huh?" I looked over at the pair that were both watching Shuri and I's interaction. "зима said he had a lot that made him happy now." I felt the frown that came with the automatic Russian that was spoken, but didn't have any time to dwell on that as Shuri linked her arm around my metal one.

"How do you feel about leaving the two of them to have some time for themselves?" Giving a questioning glance, I wasn't sure what she was asking. "Young Wolf, are you alright with coming with me without having your father with us?" Studying her face, there was concern etched in every inch of it and a sense of familiarity that I couldn't place a finger on. The Princess asking how I felt caught me totally off guard.

"да." I answered and sighed forcefully at the language my response was in. "Yes, that's fine Princess." The hand that was resting on my forearm rubbed it in a comforting way.

"We will get through this, we will put it all behind us. I will take care of my young wolf. I've said it time and time before, I will always be here for you."