A/N: This is a sequel to my story Finding the Soldier, so please read that first if you haven't already.
After having a great reaction to my original story, I decided I wasn't done with these characters. This story is placed between Civil War and Infinity War, and explains what I think happened while Bucky was in Wakanda healing. Of course Danielle will be involved and other characters from the MCU will show up as well. I hope you all will enjoy!
Chapter 1
"Where is she?! Where is she?!"
"Is he still repeating himself?"
"Yes," the other person watching the man on the bed replied. "Though I do not know who he is talking about."
"Where is she!" He growled, shooting up in the bed.
"Engage the restraints and sedate him for now. We will work on him again tomorrow."
The restraints deployed from the edge of the bed, encircling his torso and legs and securing him in place. A glass dome enclosed the bed in an airtight lock before a mist filled the space. He pulled against the restraints, fighting their hold and the effect the mist was taking on his body. A primal scream erupted from his throat and the veins in his forehead protruded from his skin. The mist infiltrated his system and his muscles relaxed. He slumped back against the bed, his eyes closed slowly, and he faded into unconsciousness.
The humming woke James from his deep sleep. It moved around him, forcing his ears to track the sound like his training had taught him so long ago. He cracked an eye open to check his surroundings. He could see a young African woman looking at a tablet.
"Good morning, Sergeant Barnes."
He opened his eyes fully. "Good morning, Shuri."
"For being a former spy, you are not very good at faking being asleep." She grinned.
James brought himself to a sitting position. "I can't help that someone disturbed my sleep with their humming."
"I think we can both agree you have slept long enough." Shuri continued tapping on her tablet, doing nothing to hide her smug grin.
James tried to remember what had happened the night before. It was a guessing game he had grown tired of long ago, yet it was the only thing he knew how to do after so many years of lost days and lost nights. He knew Shuri had been testing his trigger words-like they had done for weeks now-but after three words in his memory went blank. The soreness in his chest and legs told him he had been restrained, but it didn't tell him what had led to that.
"Shuri," he waited until she looked at him to continue, "did I hurt anyone?"
Shuri furrowed her brows. "Do you doubt the integrity of my technology?"
"Shuri," he said sternly.
She grew solemn. "When you came to us, I promised I wouldn't let you hurt anyone. And I have kept my promise. You just worry about how you feel, and I will worry about your brain."
He sighed. "Thank you."
Shuri nodded and went back to looking at her tablet, then just as quickly she looked back at him, demonstrating the short attention span James had learned to expect from her.
"I do have a question about last night."
James rotated his body until his legs hung off the side of the bed and he looked at her.
"You kept saying 'Where is she?' last night. My question is who is she?" She gave him a suggestive look like only a teenager could give.
He averted his eyes to the floor as he thought of what to say. "Someone from my past. Someone who deserved better."
Shuri's grin flattened into a frown. "You're no longer that person, Sergeant Barnes."
James nodded, though he wasn't sure he believed her.
A notification popped up on Shuri's tablet and she scanned it quickly.
"My brother needs me, as usual." Shuri rolled her eyes. "Ayo will meet you in the meditation room."
She darted off in search of her brother before James could reply.
James pushed the button to close his door automatically, then went to the bathroom for a shower. Though he couldn't remember much of the night before, he imagined the water washing away the remnants of the soldier. He hoped he could return to being just James for the remainder of the day.
He stepped out of the shower and dried off the best he could with only one arm to work the towel. He dressed in black sweatpants and a hoodie-Shuri had told him she could arrange for him to have clothes in other colors, but he honestly liked the color black. Sweeping back his wet hair, James slipped on the sandals Shuri had provided for him; he hated having his feet exposed, but he found it easier to slip those on, than fight with shoelaces.
The meditation room was just down the hall from his room, and across from the lab where Shuri tried her experiments on him. They had limited him to a specific area, and as much as he hated being confined, he completely agreed with what they were doing. If he had been the one to allow a mentally unstable former assassin into his home, he likely would have done the same thing.
The door opened automatically once James reached it. Ayo sat near the middle of the all white room with her legs criss crossed, her hands balanced on her knees, and her eyes closed. James knew the routine and took up his place across from her, mimicking her position. James closed his eyes and breathed deeply, listening to the silence surrounding them. Ayo rarely acknowledged his presence, claiming that was the point of the meditation-to forget the world around you. However, this time, she spoke.
"What is your center, Sergeant Barnes?"
James kept his eyes closed, but raised his eyebrow. "You mean my core?"
"No. Deeper than your core. What calms you?"
James thought for a moment. "I don't know."
Ayo took a deep breath and exhaled, cuing James to do the same.
"You must find your center. That thing that calms you when you are threatened by the idea of becoming the soldier."
James opened his eyes. "What's your center?"
As if Ayo knew he was looking at her, she opened her eyes to meet his."My center is Wakanda. It gives me everything I need, and I will give everything I have to protect it."
"And what if I don't have a center?"
"Everyone has a center," said Ayo. "Some take longer to find it, but it is always there." Ayo closed her eyes, hinting at the end of their conversation and their return to meditation.
James closed his eyes and tried to empty his mind as Ayo had taught him to do. His subconscious became a blank space as he tried to let his center appear to him. Nothing happened for a long time. He focused on breathing deeply and controlling his breaths as he waited for something to pop into his head. He had lost count of how long he had been brainstorming, when an image began to take shape.
At first, it was a blob. It could have been anything. But, with each breath, the image became clearer. He could tell it was a person. He could see the outline of a head and shoulders. His first thought of who it could be was Steve, but the shoulders were too small. He focused harder on the image and it began to fade. Whoever he thought he was channeling, disappeared from his mind, and James was left without a center.
