By the time everything had settled down, morning had come. Klaue was taken to the CIA black site to be interrogated by Ross about the vibranium and what had happened at the casino. The Wakandans tagged along with them; both involved with what happened and still wanting Klaue for themselves. Q was still pretty certain neither Ross or the Wakandans were going to end up with Klaue.
The base itself was nothing like the giant CIA building in Berlin, nor anything like the Triskelion. It was a simple, nondescript building on one of the few main streets of the city. But not too busy of a street. There was no reason for the extra eyes. The cover was a tourism office. There were postcards and maps hung up all along the main area with people there set to help tourists if need be. Though in the back was where the CIA operated out of with a holding cell, a few desks and their necessary technology.
Stepping up to the store window that looked out to the quiet city street the building sat along, she handed the coffee cup over to the woman who had been in the green dress at the casino - though that wasn't the case any more considering both of them had changed since. The other woman had accompanied T'Challa into the CIA offices, confirming Q's theory that one was much more of a soldier than a spy. Like the woman she was standing next to.
"Thank you." the woman gave Q a grateful smile before taking a sip of the coffee. She gave the woman a smile, sliding her hands into the back pocket of her jeans,
"You know, if you really wanted to thank me, you could tell me your name." she raised her eyebrows a bit, keeping her tone light to make it known that it wasn't that serious. The woman gave her a light laugh,
"I never did, did I?" she squinted a bit at Q, turning her head just slightly so they were making eye contact. She rocked back on her heels, waiting for the woman's answer, who gave it a beat later, "Nakia." she introduced herself, even sticking her hand out for Q to shake.
"Nice to meet you, Nakia." she responded with a small smile before she turned to face the window, watching as a white van drove by advertising a painting service with a stork as its logo.
"You should know Klaue is going to tell Ross all about Wakanda." she casually pointed out after a brief pause. Nakia's eyes landed on her once again, this time fixing her with a more serious gaze.
"And what do you know about Wakanda?" she asked defensively. Q glanced over her shoulder before looking back at her.
"I know it's not just a third world country that's known for its textiles." she raised her chin up slightly, "And so does Klaue." she tilted her head in the direction of the interrogation room. She let Nakia connect the dots on her own. How if Ross were to find out - and believe Klaue, the truth about Wakanda and its resources, it could mean Wakanda would be forced to open its borders and share the wealth of its country with the world. Nakia kept eye contact with her for a moment before looking back out the window,
"You know, I have been here before." she stated the obvious, "On a mission of sorts that got me involved with some nasty ivory traders." she kept her arms crossed over her chest as she thought back to her previous missions - indirectly confirming that Q was right and she was a Wakandan spy of sorts, "I did a lot of missions like that; helping those in need who were outside my country." she paused for a moment to look over at Q, "T'Challa is the one who is afraid of lending Wakanda's resources to the rest of the world world, but I have seen too much pain and suffering to be able to turn a blind eye anymore. Wakanda should do more towards people in need instead of hiding and keeping it to ourselves." she made her case rather firmly. Q let a little smile come across her features; Nakia and Steve would get along well.
"Sounds like we're on the same page then." she agreed with a small nod of her head. The two women shared a brief smile before looking out of the window, "But, for the record," she added, wanting to make it clear what was going to happen, "There are things Ross isn't going to be able to let slide." she glanced out of the corner of her eye. She had figured Klaue had wanted to be taken in after a fight against the Wakandans so that he could use it as a point to sway Ross' opinion of them. Use what happened in the casino and on the docks to prove that they were dangerous, even if they weren't, "Knowing that T'Challa's suit is made out of vibranium for instance or whatever else you guys use the vibranium for. The world thinks Klaue stole all of it. When Ross finds out he didn't and learns what you've been using it for…" she trailed off, looking back out the window. The same white van with the stork on it drove past them again, causing Q's eyebrows to furrow. "Something's not right." her brain switched gears almost immediately. Moving from warning Nakia of what was to come to trying to figure out how to prevent whatever was coming. Nakia watched the van disappear around a corner.
The two women stepped away from the window; Nakia went over to take a look at the security camera footage, while Q headed for the back room. Opening the door, she immediately flashed her badge at the first CIA agent she saw, calming the surprise in the room. Ross, T'Challa and the woman in red were talking off to the side. Based on their body language alone, she could tell that Klaue had spilled the beans.
"We gotta get Klaue out of there -" Q went to say, talking over Ross, who was asking T'Challa just how much vibranium he had hidden away, "Ross!" she snapped out, knowing she was running out of time. As her boss looked over to her with an exasperated expression, the door flew open again, causing everyone to draw their guns on Nakia.
"Something is happening out back." she warned her friends in Wakandan. But it was a second too late.
An explosion tore through the room, blowing a giant hole in the wall of the interrogation room. The one wall that led to the street. Klaue let out a loud shriek of glee, obviously knowing the culprits. Especially the one who stepped through the hole wearing a tribal mask of some sort, and holding an automatic gun, which he fired as soon as he was inside the building.
"Get down!" she heard Ross' voice before he tackled Nakia to the ground - taking a bullet for her in the process. Before she could see if he was okay, a loud shout from T'Challa got her attention mere moments before he barreled into her. She tried to angle herself so she would land correctly and avoid injury, but the way she had been standing before the push made it impossible. Her head thwacked against the corner of one of the desks - immediately knocking her out.
A thumping bass was what woke Q up. She winced, momentarily thinking that it was Dawson playing the semi-annoying pump-up music he listened to whenever he was working. Though when she opened her eyes, the brightness of wherever she was proved otherwise. She may be underground but this was not the man cave she was used to hearing the type of music she was hearing.
Wherever she was looked more like a state of the art, high tech lab. Clearly, it was meant to be a monochrome design but whoever worked in the lab had decided to put their own spin on it with multi-colored patterns that looked almost like street art. There were blue holograms everywhere; projecting Wakandan symbols that let her connect the dots. She was back in Wakanda.
"Finally!" a young girl's voice called out, startling Q momentarily before she came around the bend. She was a teenager who was probably a little bit older than Molly. Her hair was intricately braided and she was wearing a semi-all white outfit that had splashes of orange across the chest paired with high rise sneakers to give her a bit more height, "You're awake!" Despite her age, she almost sounded like she was chastising Q for being unconscious. It made her blush as she moved off the table, which she realized wasn't really a table but a floating thing that was made of something black and grainy that seemed to form to her body. Like memory foam.
"Sorry," she found herself apologizing even though she knew she had no reason to. Her bare feet touched the smooth, cold floor panels of the lab. At her touch, the panels heated up under the bottoms of her feet so it was comfortable to stand on. It was then that she noticed she was out of her CIA uniform of jeans and a button up and instead in a comfy black sweater and loose sweatpants that were cuffed at the ankle. Just like she had worn during her first visit to the country.
"No matter," the girl waved her off, "it gave me a chance to take a look at that head of yours." she was tapping away at a tablet in her hands, then looked over at her with wonder in her eyes, "Your neurons are amazing." A compliment that Q had never received before, but one that made her laugh a bit.
"Thanks. I think." she furrowed her brows a bit before moving on, "Is King T'Challa around?" she asked, using his respective title as she glanced around where she was standing for any sign of the king. Almost like he was waiting for his cue, T'Challa came into view from the upper level of the laboratory.
"Q," he greeted her with a warm smile. He was out of his Black Panther suit, dressed in what appeared to be a simple set of dark colored robes, "I apologize for my sister's lack of bedside manner." he shot his younger sister a look that she had given Molly plenty of times over the years. Only for his sister to respond with a scoff and an eye roll to match - just as Molly had. He smirked at her, seemingly amused with his sister's antics and looking less like a king and more like an annoying older brother.
"I have to go check on my other patient." she sassed out before dramatically spinning away and bouncing to the other side of the lab. This teenage girl seemed to have the confidence of someone who knew their value and wasn't afraid to show it off. Both T'Challa and Q watched her disappear before their gazes returned to each other.
"Other patient?" Q asked with a raise of her eyebrow. He took in a slight breath as he stepped over to her,
"During...the incident at the black site, Agent Ross took a bullet for Nakia." he reminded her before continuing, "It hit his fifth vertebrae. The only way he would survive was if we brought him here." he was solemn in his explanation, but Q found herself almost proud of T'Challa for bringing Ross to Wakanda instead of leaving him to die. He didn't have to, considering he owed Ross nothing and the same went for Ross. She wondered if it was because of who he saved.
"That was very kind of you to do." she settled on, gifting him with a small smile, "And me? Why did you decide to bring me here?" she had her theories, but wanted to hear it from him. He let out a slight laugh, hands coming to clasp together in front of him,
"I was the one who knocked you out." he tilted his head forward at her, "Had to make sure you didn't suffer any trauma because of it. Captain Rogers would never forgive me if he found out I hurt you." she tried not to smile at the reasoning behind his decision. T'Challa didn't know about their separation, which worked in her favor.
"You were protecting me," she corrected him, "making sure I didn't get caught in the crossfire." she raised her eyebrows up with a grin. It wasn't something he had to do, though she was grateful that he had. He let out an easy laugh at her reasoning,
"Mission accomplished then." the two of them shared a smile before he turned to start walking, subtly beckoning Q to walk alongside him, "I assume you would like an update on Sergeant Barnes' condition." Even though it was phrased as one, the subject change wasn't a question.
"If you don't mind." Phrasing her response so that she didn't come off as feeling owed anything after what had happened. To be honest, she hadn't thought about Bucky until right then. Still trying to catch up on what had happened at the black site; apparently nothing good and she was pretty certain Klaue had gotten away. Though it seemed like T'Challa figured that was lower on her list than her comatose grand-uncle.
"I don't, no." he assured her but continued with, "Though I have not been very involved either." he admitted with a slightly guilty look. Q didn't hold it against him, hands raising as she responded,
"Hey, I get it. King of a country. More important things to take care of." she gave him an easy smile and he relaxed at her light teasing.
"Still, Shuri can give you more of a detailed report." he gestured to the princess, finally giving her a name. The pieces finally started to come together. T'Challa had mentioned Bucky being taken care of by the "smartest person in Wakanda." Shuri was clearly very smart to begin with and considering she was someone T'Challa trusted too, so it made sense that she would be the one spearheading the recovery process.
A light touch of T'Challa's hand on her arm got her to turn her attention back to the king. He gave her a comforting smile, then tilted his head forward a bit,
"I hope you will forgive me for not being able to stick around though." he excused himself, "There are other things I must take care of." he didn't have to say it; she knew he was referring to the fallout that had obviously come from what happened in South Korea. She nodded once, giving him an understanding smile.
"Thank you for making sure I was okay." she reached to squeeze his hand tightly, "I'll be sure to tell Steve how accommodating you were." she teased lightly, ignoring the pang in her heart at the mention of Steve. He gave her an easy smile before stepping away from her, bowing his head slightly in goodbye, then turning and disappearing up the ramp to the upper level of the lab. Shuri stepped away from a recovering Ross, tapping against a tablet in her hands.
"I have been working on undoing the damage done to Sergeant Barnes' head." she jumped right in and confirmed Q's suspicions that she was the one working with Bucky, "But it is not as simple as erasing a whiteboard. There is no delete button." she said matter of factly and was clearly frustrated by this fact, "A majority of his programming is linked to the trigger words which run deep through all of his memories." Expecting Q to follow her, the two of them began to walk deeper into the lab, away from where she and Ross had been recovering, "The hardest part is rooting out the extent of his memories that have the greatest amount of control over his physical actions. The ones that have been manipulated due to their deep emotional trauma…" she trailed off as they entered what seemed to be a secret room of sorts.
The chamber Bucky had been placed into was against the back wall of the room. To anyone else he looked like he was just sleeping peacefully. Technically he was. Just also frozen. He looked exactly the same as he had the week before, and from the screens on either side of the chamber, his vitals hadn't changed at all.
"...which there have been a lot of." Shuri finished her sentence as projections exploded across one of the walls of the room. Almost like a planetarium. Except instead of stars and planets in the night sky, it was memories of Bucky's life. While she had heard most of the stories associated with the memories, it was strange to see them play out in real time. Pictures could only do so much in capturing Steve pre-serum, or even her grandmother. She caught glimpses of Bucky's life before the war with their family and a very skinny Steve. Knowing how he used to rescue Steve from fights he started, she still couldn't help but smile at the sight of it. Or how the ones of him teasing her grandmother made her realize just how much they looked alike.
There were a few she could figure were from during the war based on Steve's uniform. Though she tried not to look too long at the ones from his time in the Hydra base; there were some too to linger on. Like what he saw as he fell from the train or what he went through after the morning on the bridge.
And some of the memories she couldn't pair with a story; the missions he was sent on as the Winter Soldier, sparring against a blonde in a cage while men in lab coats looked on, standing up for a young girl against a group of rather large teenagers, or him at one of the local pubs in Bucharest playing darts with a dark haired woman.
"The words have been ingrained in his mind for over seventy years." Shuri brought her back to the present, minimizing the playback of his memories and instead pulling up something sciencey, "I have started to create an algorithm that will flush out the influence of the words while retaining the core context and content of all of those memories." Even if Q didn't understand how the technology behind it worked, she could at least tell that it was a good thing.
"So why aren't you implementing it?" she asked which made Shuri give her a look similar to the one Dawson gave her whenever he felt she should've known something he never told her, "Because you don't know if it will work." she concluded herself. The younger girl shot her another look and let out a huff,
"No. I know it will work." she sounded confident in herself, but then doubled back, "I just want to be sure." her voice dropped a bit into a mumble. She was confident in her solution to the problem, yet knew how big of undertaking this was and how important it was. By the way she eyed Q carefully it was like she wanted to ask her something, but was unsure if she should. Taking in a breath, Q let the girl off the hook,
"You said you were able to take a good look at my head while I was unconscious, right?" she prompted her, which got a nod from Shuri, "So you know what's happening up there." she twirled a finger around her temple.
"How long were you experimented on by Hydra?" Shuri indicated that she knew based on the brain scans she had apparently done that both Q and Bucky had been experimented on in similar ways. Q gave her a tight smile along with her answer,
"Twelve days." she could feel the lump in her throat starting to form as memories started to surface. Pushing it down with a deep breath, she remembered the tactics she and Bucky had worked on in dealing with their shared PTSD.
"What was it like?" Shuri asked curiously, voice softer than it had been earlier. Q noticed the features on her face had softened a bit too. The question was posed as research driven, but she could tell that Shuri felt a little sorry for her.
"Terrible." she managed out thickly with a glance to Bucky. As much as she wanted to help both Shuri and Bucky, there was no part of her that really wanted to get into the details of her stay at the Hydra Hotel, "Though I didn't suffer as much as Bucky did." she knew that to be true. As horrible as her experience had been, it had only lasted a week and a half. Not over seventy years. She let a moment pass before returning her gaze to the girl, "You want me to be your test subject." she clarified.
"Yes," Shuri agreed with a nod and looking quite sure of herself, "Your brain scans produced similar enough results to show that Hydra did some of the same things to both of you. Though the trigger phrases and words aren't as ingrained in your memories as they are for Sergeant Barnes." Deep down, Q had figured Hydra had put some sort of triggers in her head - based solely on how her body reacted when she had heard Zemo say one of the words when he was activating the Winter Soldier.
"So you think it will be easier to flush them out." she summarized, getting another semi-annoyed glare from the girl. God, she was so much like Molly, it made her heart ache a little.
"I know it will be easier." Shuri said matter-of-factly, "It will be just like a...practice test." she found the English phrase she was looking for. Q tried not to groan at the thought of once again becoming a lab rat. Because this time it wasn't under the hands of some evil Nazi organization, but for Shuri. Who was trying to help fix Bucky. This was good.
"Okay." she agreed with a sigh, seeing no other real option for the outcome Shuri was trying to achieve. If she had said no, it would've taken Shuri a bit longer to figure out the kinks, and while that wasn't necessarily an issue, she could tell that Shuri was one who prided herself in being both quick and successful - especially on the first try.
"Great!" At her reluctant agreement, Shuri relaxed and gave her a bright smile. Tapping away at her tablet with one hand, the younger girl beckoned for her to follow her with the other.
Leaving both the secret room that held Bucky, and the laboratory itself, Q followed Shuri back to the medical wing of the palace where Q had been during her first visit. She noticed it was much more quiet the second time around; only two of the techs who had been there for Bucky's intake were there now. Probably because Q wasn't supposed to be back in Wakanda in the first place.
Instructed to take off her sweater, she was left in nothing but a sports bra and the sweatpants. One of the techs stood in front of her, wrapping a thick black band around her forearm before using one of the beads on his bracelet to do a full body scan to get her vitals. Throughout all the testing, she could finally begin to understand what it was like for Steve to have gone through something similar. She wasn't a big fan of being poked and prodded, even if she was never truly poked. After the testing was over did she notice a similar chamber that Bucky was currently in, resting empty off to the side.
"Princess Shuri…" she trailed off in a warning tone, getting the princess' attention. Shuri was quick to step over to her, taking the place of the tech who had taken her vitals.
"It is just a precaution." she assured her with a raise of her hands, "Helps if you are in a state of rest rather than having to navigate through all those neurons firing. Which in your case, is a lot." This time it didn't feel like a compliment. Her nerves obviously showed on her face, causing Shuri to try again, "You will be safe, Q. I promise." she went on to explain that the cryogenic chamber would slow her heart rate down enough so that she was basically in a medically induced coma. The only reason a traditional medically induced coma wouldn't work was because of the enhanced healing that came as a result of being experimented on by Hydra. She would still be alive, just deeply asleep. Like Sleeping Beauty or Snow White, except true love's kiss wouldn't be what woke her up - a joke Shuri used to try to lighten the mood. Plus, she looked so sure of herself and of what was about to happen that it did help relieve Q's nerves a bit.
"Okay, yeah, okay." she let out a sigh, knowing that there was really no other way to do it. And Q wanted to help, she did, which meant she had to push past the nerves and the terrible outcomes that were flooding her brain, "As long as you're sure this'll work." she brandished a finger at the princess, only half serious. Shuri, to her credit, didn't take it seriously and rolled her eyes in response,
"Yes, Q. It will work." she patted her arm before stepping back.
Once everything was set up, Q carefully climbed into the chamber. If anything, it reminded her of a shower stall that had four glass windows instead of a tub and curtain. The back of the chamber formed to her body, making it so she felt like she was comfortably laying back instead of being semi-upright. The techs secured two straps over her abdomen and legs to keep her from falling forward at any point - but still she had to take a moment to remind herself that they weren't the same as the ones that kept her trapped at the Hydra base.
As the door slid up over the chamber, there was a hiss as it locked from the outside. A scary reminder that she was really trapped in there with no way out from the inside. A wave of panic washed over her for a moment, causing her chest to tighten at the thought of what was going to be done to her while she was unconscious.
"Q," Shuri's voice crackled above her, causing her to look up. Right, she could still move her head and neck, just not her arms or legs. Though she couldn't see where the voice was coming out of, a quick look over to where Shuri stood behind the computers was enough to make it clear that it was actually her, "You are going to be okay." she reminded her, "Just breathe." Something that Bucky had said to her countless times whenever he noticed her beginning to freak out. Once she did, the tightness in her chest began to loosen and she let her head fall back against the back of the chamber, "Think about something nice." Shuri instructed as another hissing sound began to fill her ears.
A coldness shot through her calves, traveling all the way up to her thighs. Then passing through her stomach, it wrapped itself around her chest. For as cold as it was, it didn't burn or numb anything or even make her shiver. It was just there. Taking over her senses, her body and her mind, completely.
Until there was nothing other than darkness.
A/N: Q went under the ice! She's trying to help Bucky! Ah bb is being all selfless and shit...we love to see it. How did you guys like this chapter? Did you think this was going to happen? Let me know your thoughts!
And for those of you who were interested in a Molly Proctor spin-off, you're in luck! The first chapter of her story is being posted as you read this so go check it out if you wanna. TYSM for all the love and support! Let me know what you think will happen next - I love hearing all your thoughts and theories haha.
P.S. I know this is a crazy weird time to be living in - I've been under total isolation for the past three weeks and will continue to be isolating until probably the end of May. I hope you're all staying safe, healthy and sane. Let me know if there's anything I can do. LOVE U ALL