"Buck!"
"Oh, God, is he ok?"
"Bucky, can you hear us?"
"Stop shouting at him!"
"I'm trying to figure out if he's alive!"
"He's obviously breathing."
"Oh."
"He weighs a ton. How were you carrying him?"
"Move. I got him."
"No way!"
"Your wings are broken, his shoulder's hurt and Wanda's helping out with Sharon. My suit can still handle it."
"Don't drop him!"
"No shit,"
"Bucky, stay with us," this voice was gentler. Bucky managed to open his eyes a crack. He found himself to be upside down and rising through the air. Tony Stark's scarlet feet were shooting off sparks underneath him as they propelled the both of them forward. Steve was running after them, holding his bleeding arm. Sam was helping him along, despite nursing an injury of his own. Scott was assisting Natasha, who was pale but alert. Shuri was the only one easily keeping pace. She had lifted her mask off and the rain water was running down her face and dripping out of her braided hair.
"I'm right behind you," she assured him as he lost consciousness again.
The rhythmic beeping of medical machines pulled him out of his fog. He was clean and tucked safely in bed. Outside of the sterile white room he was confined to, rain dripped steadily down. The blinds on his window were open, allowing a view of the waterfall in the distance. He was glad he couldn't see any of the damaged grounds from here.
"Did you get him?" Steve's voice was just outside of his room, muffled by the door.
"Klaue is in custody," T'Challa's warm baritone was soothing. "How is your team, Captain?"
"A little roughed up. Vibranium hits hard."
"I assume you knew that. After all, your shield is made of it."
"Yes, but I've never hit myself before." Steve and T'Challa chuckled a bit.
"It is fortunate that Mr. Stark's suit was not totally damaged. Without him, opening that shed would have been impossible."
"Tony thinks ahead. We thought Klaue had you until Shuri came running in. Where were you?" Steve asked.
"Shuri and I had a plan to cut up the back. We had to assure the safety of our people. Sharon assisted us. An armed militia was heading for the heart of the city as he kept you occupied up here."
"Are the civilians ok?" Steve's voice was rife with concern.
"We managed to head off the assault. Only when our people were safe did we turn back. We were nearly too late."
"They tortured him," Steve sighed.
"Yes. He resisted marvelously." T'Challa did not hide the admiration in his tone.
"He's going to be ok?"
"I think your friend has taken much worse in the course of his very long life. Perhaps though, this will be the last time."
Bucky sincerely hoped so. His body was absent of any marks or wounds, but he felt tired to his core. He could sleep for days.
"I'll stay with him until he wakes up," Steve sounded like he was moving towards Bucky's room. Bucky contemplated faking sleep. He wanted to see Steve, but he wanted to rest first. He couldn't quite face his best friend so soon after leaving him bleeding in the dirt.
"You need to rest Captain. I've arranged for you and Mr. Wilson to stay in the adjoining rooms. The doctors want to monitor the team overnight. Besides, I believe Miss Carter requires your attention."
"But Buck—" it was the argument that Bucky had expected from Steve. He was relieved when T'Challa cut him off.
"-Will be well cared for. Do not forget to take care of yourself, Captain."
"What are you going to do?"
"Rebuild. I have a war criminal to deal with and a palace to rebuild. First though, I think I would very much like a shower." There was something in the king's tone that suggested that he wasn't quite ready to rest.
Bucky heard his best friend laugh. "I won't keep you." Bucky sighed in relief. Steve needed rest as badly as he did.
Footsteps headed off. Bucky heard the door to his room open.
"Mr. Barnes," the king greeted. "I am glad to see you are awake." He did not seem at all surprised. Bucky guessed the conversation outside of the door was as much for him as it was for Steve.
"Where's Shuri?" Bucky was surprised to find it did not hurt to sit up.
"Our doctors are excellent," T'Challa noticed. The king walked to his bed and took a seat near him. "My sister is in good health. She is actually who I have come to discuss," T'Challa fixed him with an intense stare. "You two are fond of one another."
"You could say that," Bucky held the king's gaze. He had been nervous about this. Meeting the family had never been his favorite part of dating. He had never dated a friend's sister before. He suspected T'Challa would not be overly thrilled.
"My sister is a very practical woman," the king began. "She puts her duty to this country before her own happiness. It is a trait that runs in our family," T'Challa sighed and set the mask he was holding down on the floor. His vibranium cat suit was covered in filth and his face was streaked.
"Shuri struggled today," T'Challa said at last. "Her fighting was as exemplary as always, but I believe her mind was with you."
"She wasn't the only one worried," Bucky said. Distractions were a liability in the field, but Bucky had no regrets. Those same distractions were his strength in the face of adversity.
"Of that I am sure," T'Challa gave Bucky a long hard look. "In the months after our father's death, my little sister began to change. Her once jovial demeanor gave way to something harder, something stronger. She grew into a marvelous leader, but I must admit, I missed her smile." T'Challa had always been vague in discussing his relationship with Shuri. Bucky knew that they were as close as two siblings could be, but they were also not the type to express their feelings openly. As royalty, emotion could leave you vulnerable.
T'Challa fixed Bucky with an odd little smile. "Shuri has begun smiling again. For that, I thank you. The two of you have my blessing."
Bucky let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. His fears were not completely assuaged. "If we're seen together out in public—"
"Yes, she mentioned you had reservations about that," T'Challa waved a hand. "From the moment we accepted you here a year ago, you became one of us. That will not change."
Bucky felt his affection for the king swell. He didn't know what he had done in life to earn so many strangers who treated him like family. Between Steve, Sam and T'Challa, he felt very lucky indeed.
"The world will see you as you really are. You must be patient." The king continued.
"Where's Klaue?" Bucky was eager to rush the conversation on. He was feeling emotional.
"Rotting away in a jail cell," T'Challa too seemed eager to move on. "The United Nations has many offenses to level at him. I have no doubt he will answer for them all. But first, he will answer to me. When he regains consciousness, I will see to it." Bucky almost felt a pang of pity for Klaue. T'Challa was a formidable foe.
"Does the world know what happened?" Bucky asked. It seemed like nothing was a secret in this day and age.
"Naturally, yes. There will be a press conference tomorrow morning." T'Challa sounded as if the very thought of it exhausted him.
"Can I be there?" Bucky asked.
"If you feel up to it, yes," T'Challa looked pleased. "For now, I will not deprive my sister any longer of an opportunity to fuss over you," the king smiled and stood up. "Rest well, my friend."
"Thank you," Bucky reached out to shake T'Challa's hand.
"It is my pleasure," T'Challa assured him. He walked towards the door just as Shuri burst in. "He's all yours, sister," T'Challa kissed her on the top of her head as he left.
"How are you?" Shuri asked immediately. She was out of her Black Panther suit and wrapped up in a silk robe. The doctors must have already seen her.
"I've been worse," it was no lie. He sat up. "You saved me."
"Mr. Stark was a great asset," she admitted, her eyes on her own hands. "My claws could only do so much damage to that cursed shed. He split it in two with some sort of laser."
"Maybe he likes me now," Bucky toyed with the idea, trying to keep the conversation light. He didn't want to talk about what happened; he just wanted to get past it.
"I would say he is warming to the possibility," Shuri said, sitting on the corner of his bed.
"He's ok?" it felt cruel to not ask.
"Like the rest of the team, he is recovering. Everyone was fortunate to not sustain any lasting damage." The positivity of her statement did not quite reach her tone.
"And you?" he asked her, reaching for her hand.
"I am relieved that it is over. Klaue will answer for his crimes." She laced her fingers in with his.
A silence spread between them, heavy with words going unsaid.
"I should not have left you alone," Shuri began.
"I'm a big boy. I did ok." He smiled at her. Her face seemed to fall.
"He tortured you," her voice broke. Bucky gave a start as he realized that she was beginning to cry. The tears began all at once, fat drops that rolled down her bronze cheeks.
"I'm ok," he threw the covers back at once, seizing her around the waist to pull her to him.
"If I had not left—"
"He would have shot at you too. Maybe worse. He could have taken Wakanda. Your duty was to them." He talked firmly, pulling her into his shoulder. She curled into his lap like a child. Bucky wasn't used to seeing Shuri so vulnerable. The role reversal was startling.
"I did not go with T'Challa and my father when he died," she said so quietly that he nearly didn't hear her.
"That wasn't your fault," he told her. "You still saved me," he whispered directly into her ear. "Just the thought of you…of all the good things since we've met…" he trailed off again. Words had never been his forte. "Don't feel bad. You've been saving me for months. Now I know I can save myself, even when you're not there."
Her sobbing quieted, but tears still wet his white t-shirt. He held her in silence, his forehead pressed against hers.
"I'm ok," he repeated. "I'm ok." For once, he really felt it.
She wiped her tears, nodding. "I should let you rest," she told him.
"Rest with me," he told her, pulling her with him as he lay down.
"If that is what you want," her normal regal tone was beginning to return. She stretched out over him, assuming the position they had both grown used to in the last week. He adjusted his arm around her.
They lay quietly together, listening to the rain pouring down outside the window. Shuri gradually relaxed, her muscles softening as she curled into him. He rubbed circles into the skin of her legs absentmindedly, as she traced the curve of the fingernails on his right hand.
Tomorrow, they would have to reconvene with the team, plan the next course of action. They would have to face the world, rebuild the palace, begin the negotiations again for reinstating the Avengers. Tomorrow, work began again.
But that was tomorrow. Tonight, Bucky contented himself with the simple pleasure of kissing the woman in his arms and listening to the weather outside.
Tomorrow could wait.