What's up, folks? :-)
Here is Chapter Five! This is one of my favorites, because we finally get a glimpse of Wakanda.
Chapter Five
It took Sharon fifteen minutes to convince Steve – and ten minutes after that to convince Eni - she was feeling well enough to walk around Wakanda. She wasn't, not really, but it was something they both needed. Sharon kept her sweatpants and tee, but put on some shoes on her way out of the medical bay. She shivered just thinking about the animals they'd see out there – not that she had any accurate idea about that. Her knowledge of Wakanda was basically bananas. She knew it was an isolationist nation, and its resource of Vibranium managed to turn the country in a technological paradise, but that was it. Aside from hearing about the king's palace, she'd never actually been in Wakanda.
Which only made Sharon and Steve's tour that much more interesting.
Exiting the medical bay, she noticed there were a lot of people going to and fro the common areas of the floor they were in – probably the thirteenth or fourteenth floor, Sharon noted, from her room's view. Aside from the infirmary, a laboratory was dutifully installed across a fountain that separated the area.
"That's not the only laboratory in this facility, is it?" Sharon asked as they passed by the fountain. There was enough fish in there to feed a small village, and their different colors seemed to mix rapidly as they swam in the small pound.
Steve laughed beside her. "No. That's not even the only infirmary," he replied. "And it's not a facility so much as a palace."
He didn't mention it, but she understood the comparison he'd made. It was more of an Avengers mansion than the Triskelion.
"And the king of this palace?" she continued, not showing the surge of nervousness the thought of talking to T'Challa gave her. She'd heard stories of the Black Panther.
"Running a diplomatic meeting in Cairo, I think. He loves Wakanda but doesn't seem to spend much time here."
"Oh," was her only response.
In the elevator, the only sound was background music. Sharon leaned against the glass, enjoying the respite while she could. She was usually a lot more stubborn and hesitant to show any sign of weakness, but now… well, she was damn tired.
She felt the elevator move, and after going down a few floors, the door opened. A curly-haired woman nodded to Steve, and then to her, before entering the elevator. "Captain," she greeted shortly. Despite her petite frame – her head barely reached Steve's shoulder – Sharon noticed the way her eyes quickly assessed the area in front of her, and the way her muscles briefly tensed. It was a habit of hers as well, that she'd acquired during S.H.I.E.L.D's training, which meant this woman was an agent of some sort.
"Nareema," Steve greeted back before taking a step back to give the newcomer more space. That put him and Sharon side by side, and she took the opportunity to study his features discreetly. There was a bruise on his jaw, and his eyes seemed colder than normal – not battle-cold, but not as warm as when they were back in her room. His blonde hair was a bit longer than usual.
Sharon averted her gaze when Steve leaned a bit in her direction. "Why are you staring at me?" he whispered. She had a moment of panic before seeing his eyes. This time, they seemed to smile.
She leaned in his direction as well. "Couldn't help it," she whispered back.
He smiled for real.
Sharon was surprised to see there weren't many people on the ground floor, differently from the floor they were previously in.
"They are doing some special research near the medical bay. That's why it was so crowded," Steve explained after noticing her puzzled expression. They went through some security detail on the way out, which was expected considering the high-profile look of the Royal Palace of Wakanda. The glass and silver exterior of the building raised a lot of attention, as did the high garden and the surrounding area.
Breathing fresh air for the first time in days, Sharon took a good look around. There was so much green that she couldn't exactly focus on anything for some seconds.
A waterfall so big – actually, not one waterfall, but plenty of them – were majestically located in front of the Palace, so that when she left the building, that's the first thing she saw. Closer to the entrance, there was a royal garden. Sharon wondered why they had such a great garden with all that nature around them. To her far right, she could see a beautiful tropical forest, the trees completely filled with green. The sight was so perfect it left her imagining how a person was able to enter that maze. To her far left, an impressive combination of the previous places: beautiful waterfalls with something that looked like the Amazon rainforest, only much more imposing, and the biggest statue she'd ever seen in her life: A black panther, with its sharp teeth and claws, about to pounce. It was such an exquisite work of art that Sharon felt uncomfortable being directly in front of it. Add the ever-present famous mist of Wakanda, and the beast acquired a much more life-like quality to it.
"Amazing, isn't it?" Steve said, and Sharon could only nod.
"I supposed we're not going outside the Palace grounds," she commented, "though I'd love to go on a hike someday."
Steve slowed his pace to match hers as they made their way to the garden. "Someday," he acquiesced. "When you're not panting after a five-minute walk and your injuries are completely healed. All of them."
To an outsider, Steve's words would look redundant. Sharon understood what he'd said, though.
She lowered her head for a few seconds and allowed her hair to fall over the side of her face. Few people were strolling through the grounds at this time of the day – it was barely midday – so they were practically alone. It gave them much-needed privacy to put their thoughts out in the open.
Steve was talking about her mental injuries, the ones she'd undoubtedly acquired after North Carolina. PTSD, which could include extreme fear of water and/or needles, panic attacks and phantom pains where she'd been repeatedly hurt. She curled her hands automatically. If Steve noticed, he didn't say anything. Thing is, Sharon knew some things about PTSD. Regardless of her training at S.H.I.E.L.D, she had worked at a hospital before as a secretary – for two months, which gave her the opportunity to read some articles written by her superiors. Her old job was part of the reason Fury had assigned her the nurse backstory – she had had enough contact with a hospital environment to know how things worked over there.
After her interrogation at C.I.A, she knew this would come. Steve was the kind of guy who worried way too much about others, and despite the idea of PTSD terrifying her, Sharon knew that was a bridge best left uncrossed until it was necessary. She'd freak out otherwise, which justified her physical reaction at his words.
"I'm fine for now," she said. "I don't want to talk about it. I asked to come out here to clear my head." And talk about you, she thought.
He nodded. "I get it. If you need to talk about it, I want you to know you can always come to me. Or Sam," he added in a hurry, and she smiled at herself. "Sam has a lot of experience with PTSD."
Sharon knew about Sam's support group, where he helped veterans overcome their traumas. She guessed it was a good thing he was there in Wakanda. How many people still need his help over in DC, though? she thought, feeling selfish. They clearly were in more need than her.
"How's Sam? And everyone, really. We haven't seen any of them."
Now that she thought about it, it was strange not seeing anyone around from Steve's team. They had a tendency to keep to themselves but who could stay locked up in his room with a place like this? Sharon wondered how much the battle at the airport and its repercussions had messed up with them.
"Scott and Sam are sparring, and Wanda is resting," he answered, noticeably keeping someone out of the list.
"And Bucky?" she probed carefully. This wasn't something she'd let go.
"He was frozen after receiving treatment in the medical bay. The other one," he added, but the joke didn't stick. The gleam in his eyes went out for a while. She stopped walking due to her already heavy breathing, and Steve followed suit. "It's just… he wasn't doing all right. Sure, he might have been up and fighting like the rest of us, but I saw it, and I'm sure everyone else did too, that… he wasn't okay. Hydra's messed him up pretty bad."
"And not being in a war was bringing it all up again," she completed, and he looked at her gratefully. She definitely understood why.
"When we were investigating the Winter Soldiers, he was going along with everything. Almost like the Bucky I knew. When we got here, though… maybe it's this place. Nothing was familiar, and he felt lost again."
Sharon hadn't known Bucky – at least, not as Bucky – and she couldn't exactly pinpoint what his issues were. Hearing them second-handedly from his best friend wasn't enough to be helpful, but it was enough to listen and to be a friend to Steve, which was what he needed.
"If I know anything from listening to you, is that you love him," she said. "And you had a very close relationship in the past. If there's a person in this story that'll make him remember who he is, I think that's you."
Steve didn't look convinced. She started walking again, much to her body's opposite will, hoping the movement would put his mind at ease while she talked.
"I believe that whenever he comes out of the ice – and I hope that's soon - he'll be completely lost for a few days, but it's normal. Hell, I'm completely out of my element, and my brain wasn't altered. Maybe having you casually close, just like in the past, will slowly help him. You know, the feeling of family around you and all that."
Sharon didn't know if her advice would be of any help, but well, it was the best she could do. Steve apparently thought otherwise and seemed to take her words seriously. His expression turned thoughtful, which she took as a good sign. It was better than sad or troubled. They walked for almost thirty minutes, and when the sun was high in the sky, more people went for a stroll in the garden. She guessed the tour wasn't as original as she originally thought.
As the time passed, she felt herself growing slower by the minutes, until they were all but slouching on the garden. Her brow was wet with sweat and her breathing was heavier than she'd like, even if she was enjoying herself quite a bit. When her throat and hands started to hurt – her throat from thirst, and her hands from the heat – she politely excused herself from Steve's presence to return to her room.
Or tried to, anyway.
Always the gentleman, he refused to leave her unaccompanied, especially when she mentioned she was hurting. She wondered if his reaction had been caused by worry over her well-being – which was tremendously nice of him – or by his distrust regarding the people that worked and lived at the Palace. She hoped it was the former, not because it would mean he cared – maybe a little- but because she didn't want to be on alert so soon after waking up.
"I don't want you alone when you're still so weak, so you'll just have to get over it," Steve said as he offered his arm to her. She took it gracefully, keeping her marshmallow fingers out of his sight.
Enough is enough, she thought. There was no need to embarrass herself further than she already had.
Wakanda in my story is a bit of a stretch from the real deal, since I couldn't find detailed information about the Royal Palace. So, this is a mix of both Wakanda from the comics and from the MCU.
What did you think of it? \o/