Her foot tapped as she tried to get comfortable on the hard bench she was sitting on. Her elbows dug into her thighs, then her palms pressed into the seat on either side of her, her legs crossed at the ankles beneath the bench, then stretched out in front of her…

Steve smiled as he turned away from the cockpit "It'll be fine," he promised her as he made his way over and sat opposite.

"We're breaking people out of prison," Harper answered with a shake of her head "Excuse me for being a little nervous."

"I've seen you fight, I'm sure you can hold your own," a voice, one belonging to Natasha Romanoff, yelled from the pilot's seat. Her head peered around the large seat she was in, a smile on her face "We need all the help we can get."

"That doesn't help but thank you!" Harper called back, hint of sarcasm in her tone as she pushed her fingers through her hair.

Natasha had showed up just before Steve and Harper were about to leave. She emerged from where she had been hiding with her signature red hair gone, cut into a severe blonde bob which framed her beautiful face perfectly, and tight lips when asked where she had been.

Harper had breathed a sigh of relief as soon as she had stepped off the jet she'd arrived in, if Steve had Natasha he didn't need her - the team was complete and she'd just be an extra. In the way even.

But that hadn't happened. She still had to squeeze into the suit Steve had given her at the airport, uncomfortable from being made specifically for another body, and board the jet. She had to sit on the uncomfortable bench and watch as the safety of Wakanda disappeared into the distance.

"Coming in to land!" Natasha called from up front and Steve looked up once more, casting a smile over to where Harper was wringing her hands together.

Her stomach twisted before she straightened up, stretching her neck from side to side before she pushed herself up onto her feet. Her eyebrows raised as she shared a glance with Steve, the two of them standing at the doorway of the jet as Nat came in to land. Despite her nerves she couldn't stop the adrenaline from coursing through her veins, a spark of excitement joining it.

"Okay Harper," Steve said, trying to reassure her as much as possible "Just like we practised."

"Are you daydreaming again?"

She jumped, raising her chin from where she'd been resting it in the palm of her hand. Plastering a smile onto her face she spun the chair she was sitting in so she was facing where Shuri was standing "No."

"You know, you're supposed to be here to learn," Shuri said, folding her arms over her chest "And to keep me entertained, it's very boring in the lab when I'm alone."

"Sorry, sorry," Harper said, straightening up in her chair "I'm just a little distracted. You did put my…" she paused, her eyebrows twitching into a frown before she continued "Bucky in the fridge and I haven't been able to see him since."

Shuri rolled her eyes "It was only like last week," she waved off "And you're forgetting I also lost my father. Dead. Not coming back."

"Yeah, well it's not a competition," Harper huffed, catching Shuri's eye and sending her a smile. Pushing herself up onto her feet she crossed the shiny floor of the younger girl's lab, leaning over to see what she was working on "Is this my suit?"

"Maybe," Shuri answered, the smile of an inventor at work coming to her lips "But it is still a work in progress," she continued, guiding Harper away from her desk "So maybe you should just sit and daydream about the day you almost became an avenger."

"Yeah when I chose to come back and stay here with you. You're welcome."

Shuri placed her hand on her heart "I'm touched. Now please turn back to the iPhone I gave you. You need to be more up to date with technology. You hadn't updated yours for three years," she said with a disappointed shake of her head.

Though Harper rolled her eyes she allowed a smile to come to her face as she plucked the phone up from where she'd left it. Tucking one of her legs beneath the other she typed in the passcode Shuri had set up for her and watched as the apps appeared on the screen.

As she flicked between all of the different social medias Shuri had insisted she check out she allowed her mind to wander.

Steve had decided to stay on in Wakanda for a while following Bucky going back into cryogenic sleep. At first she had taken his hanging around as fussing, making sure she was okay and she wasn't about to get overwhelmed with the memories seeping back into her brain.

Then came the assumption of distrust which, when all she'd wanted to do was hide herself away, had only irritated her.

T'Challa, as one of his first decisions as the soon to be crowned new king of Wakanda, had gifted her an apartment to stay in while Bucky was being treated and she took whatever opportunity she could to lock herself away there as she sorted through what she had been given. She wanted to close the door behind her and spend her days curled up beneath her quilt but with Steve hanging around it became obvious that was never going to happen.

It was toward the end of the second day, as she was sitting on the living room floor feeling slightly lost, when he'd knocked on her door.

"Hey," she'd greeted, raising her hand half heartedly as his head appeared "You don't need to keep checking up on me. I'm fine."

Steve's eyebrows had arched as he'd entered the room, closing the door behind him and pushing his hands into the pockets of his jacket "And I believe you," he said, glancing around the apartment. None of the boxes with supplies Shuri had made sure she was given had been opened "Anyway. That isn't what I'm here for."

"It's not?" Harper had asked, narrowing her eyes "If Shuri sent you please tell her I am happy with how things are going," she'd said with a sigh as she pushed herself up onto her feet, brushing her hands down her jeans "I think she's taken me on as her own personal project."

"Wrong again," Steve chuckled, following her into the kitchen and leaning against the door frame while watching her switch the - very new looking and hi tech - kettle on "You never got back to me about the whole breaking someone out of prison idea," he'd said, arching his eyebrows "Shuri stole you away before I could go into the plan."

Harper had paused, her eyebrows dipped into a frown of confusion "I thought you were joking."

"Why would I be joking?"

A nervous laugh had left her lips at the serious look on Steve's face "Because you were talking about breaking someone out of prison," she'd said with a shake of her head.

"Sam, Wanda, Clint and Scott are being held in a facility known as the Raft," Steve said and his head had tilted to one side, his eyes growing into a pleading puppy dog gaze as he looked over to her from beneath his eyelashes "It's to hold people with special abilities and it's my fault they're in there. I could really use the help."

"Hey!"

Harper jumped slightly at the shout, dragged from the memories she'd found herself lost in once again she glanced up and across to Shuri.

"Daydreaming again," Shuri tutted as she made her way over, plucking the phone from Harper's grasp. Her thumbs danced across the glass screen for a couple of seconds before she handed it back "Get with the twenty first century," she said with a huff.

"And what am I supposed to do with this huh?" Harper asked, narrowing her eyes down to the newly made Instagram page.

"Take some photos of the sunset, I don't know," Shuri answered with a shrug of her shoulders "We live in a very beautiful place."

"A place hidden from the world and where no one is supposed to know I am," Harper said with a laugh and a shake of her head.

"Details, details," Shuri said with a wave of her hand "Now, give me your arm."

Harper narrowed her eyes "No?"

"Come on!" Shuri whined, holding her hands out and flexing her fingers in a grabbing movement "Just hold it out."

"Why?"

"Because!"

"The last time you said 'because' when I asked why did not end well for me," Harper said with an arch to her eyebrows "In fact, my hip still hurts a little."

"Yes, yes you're old and can't keep up any more," Shuri said in a dismissive tone, letting out a laugh as an offended noise left Harper "Please hold out your arm."

"Ugh, fine," Harper said, shuffling up on the chair she was slouched in. Straightening her shoulders and trying to prepare herself for whatever was about to be thrown her way she extended her arm out toward Shuri.

She was shocked as a bracelet was slid over her hand and the corners of her lips turned down slightly in confusion as she brought her wrist closer to her face "What are these?"

"You've seen the EMP Beads we use right?" Shuri asked, a look of excitement Harper had grown to know stretching across her face. It was one she usually had first thing in the morning when Harper would drag herself out of bed and make her way to the lab.

She'd greet her with that look as soon as she stepped through the door. An idea would have come to her while she had been sleeping and she'd have spent most of the night in the lab putting together what her brain had given her. She'd have Harper be the first to test them, the two of them marvelling over the new technology and chattering excitedly about what this could mean.

"I have," Harper answered, still looking over the beads.

"Okay, so, when they make a noise, turn your hand like this," Shuri said, demonstrating turning her hand over so her palm was facing up toward the ceiling. Letting out an excitable noise Shuri turned on her heel and hurried from the lab.

Harper watched her go with an amused look on her face, slumping back in her chair and continuing to inspect the beads around her wrist.

Shuri, younger sister to the new King of Wakanda T'Challa, had taken her under her wing almost as soon as Harper had arrived. She'd found Harper fascinating, asking her all kinds of questions about where she had been and what she had done.

At first Harper remained suspicious. Not sure why the young princess would want to hang around with her and even more confused by her line of questioning about her life and her past.

Was T'Challa keeping his eye on her? Making sure she wasn't about to go crazy and shoot up his country?

But she'd soon realised, as she spent more and more time in Shuri's company, that wasn't the case at all. Shuri seemed alone in Wakanda, holing herself up in her lab and remaining more interested in developing the technology than having people around her.

She wasn't used to having friends, having people who found what she did as interesting as she did.

Until Harper came into her life and began to ask questions, about her inventions and her country, of her own.

Hearing the beads emit a beeping sound Harper did as she was told, turning her palm up to the ceiling and letting out a laugh of surprise as a hologram of Shuri appeared "Hey!"

"They work!" the mini Shuri exclaimed "I'll be back in a moment!"

Harper let out a laugh at her amazement, turning her hand back over when the hologram had disappeared. She hadn't yet known something Shuri had made to not work in the way she had wanted it to but there was always the tone of surprise and accomplishment when they did.

"What do you think?!" Shuri asked as she appeared back in the lab.

"They're amazing!" Harper exclaimed, getting to her feet as the two of them compared the bracelets sitting around their wrists "What else do they do?"

Shuri smirked, "Oh just you wait."

Harper yawned as she opened up her door and made her way into her apartment, flipping the lightswitch on before kicking the door closed behind her.

"Honey, I'm home," she mumbled to herself as she dumped her bag on the sofa and made her way through to the kitchen. Another yawn crossed her face as she stretched her arms out in front of her before getting a bottle of water from the fridge.

There weren't many times she'd been left alone since arriving in Wakanda and she hated it when she was.

In the handful of weeks she had been there they'd made sure to keep her busy. She'd gone and helped Steve and Natasha break the others out of the facility, she'd spent time in the lab with Shuri who would then follow her home so they could watch movies and fall asleep on the sofa…

Slowly sitting down beside her bag, her water bottle balancing on the arm of the sofa, she stared aimlessly at the blank television on the wall opposite. It was when she slowed down that she really allowed herself to think.

She wasn't there as Shuri's surrogate sister, to have fun and marvel over all of her inventions, she was there because Bucky was gone and she was hiding from the government.

Letting out a sigh she leaned her head back against the cushion behind her. After all of the time in Romania, complaining about how uncomfortable the couch they had in their tiny apartment was, she found she wasn't used to the idea of comfort. She felt like she was floating, unable to get settled.

"You should sleep," Bucky said, getting to his feet and taking their glasses over to the kitchen as yet another yawn passed over Harper's lips.

"Only if you take the mattress tonight."

He looked over to her with a stubborn expression on his face and shook his head "I'm fine on the couch."

"It's too short for you."

"It's comfortable."

"You're lying."

They stared at one another for a couple of seconds before he spoke again "Are you saying you want to sleep on the couch?" he asked, remembering the complaints he constantly heard from her after the first, misleading, time she had sat down on the 'two seater monstrosity' as she had called it since the pretence of comfort had soon worn off.

"No," she answered with a snort of laughter "But this is like a king size mattress I'm sure we can both fit."

Screwing her eyes closed she dug the heels of her palms into them. This was why she kept busy, why she didn't stop to think too much about what was happening.

With Bucky gone she felt like a part of her was missing.

Steve's face popped into her mind as she searched for a distraction. There had been a smile on his lips as he dropped her back off outside of her door, once the mission was completed and The Raft had been infiltrated.

"Y'know, we could use someone like you," he'd said, pushing his hands into the pockets of his jeans as he leaned his shoulder against the door frame.

"Believe it or not, I've been told that before," Harper had answered with a smile of her own.

"So you'll come?" Steve asked, his eyebrows arched and his eyes big and hopeful "Sam, Nat and me...we're going off the grid, it'll be tough but we could definitely use your help."

She'd been tempted. Beyond tempted to pack a bag and disappear with Steve Rogers…

But instead she'd smiled and shaken her head "I think I need to be here for a little bit," she said "Learn how to be who I am...y'know as the memories come back."

"Of course," Steve had answered "But I can call you if we need any help?"

"Oh you'd better."

Harper glanced down to the new phone Shuri had given her a couple of days previous. It had fallen from her bag, the screen remaining blank.

Reaching over she plucked it up into her hands, swiping up and typing in her passcode. She clicked on her messages and her calls, discovering nothing new since the last time she had looked. Steve, Nat and Sam hadn't told her where they were going, just that they'd let her know when they needed her.

And apparently they hadn't needed her yet.

"I miss you," she said out loud. Glancing around the empty room she wondered what she thought over how they'd be spending the evening back when they were together.

With a television in the room they'd most definitely be catching up on movies. They'd be sitting together, Bucky's arm hooked around her shoulders as he asked question after question about what was happening on the screen.

Two years. She had spent nearly all of her time with him for two whole years and now he was gone.

She jumped at the sound of her phone beeping, leaning over she picked it up from where she'd dropped it back on the couch. A smile came to her face as a text from Shuri, who had downgraded her own tech to a simple cellphone to help bring Harper up to speed, lit up the screen.

You best not be moping. We have work to do tomorrow!

Harper glanced down to the Kimoyo Beads still laying on her wrist, shaking her hand to make them gently clash together and watching as the vibranium lit up slightly.

She groaned, her eyes stinging with exhaustion, as she pushed herself up onto her feet. She typed out a quick reply - lying about the movie she wasn't watching - before she stretched her arms over her head.

The floorboards creaked slightly beneath her feet as she turned and made her way into the bedroom. Changing into her pyjamas quickly she turned the light off and crawled beneath the duvet.

Sliding her hand beneath her pillow she tugged the piece of red cloth she kept under there. It still smelled of him, the last t-shirt he wore before he went back under, as she held it close to her.

Reaching into her vest top she tugged on the pieces of metal sticking into her skin. Settling back against her pillow, with his t-shirt still clutched in her hand, she ran her eyes over the dog tags sitting in the palm of her hand.

James B Barnes

32557038 T42 -43 B

Mr G M Barnes

160 State St

New York NY P

She could have recited them from memory but she still read over them a couple more times, her thumb gently rubbing along the grooves.

Shuri had given her Bucky's personal effects not long after she'd whisked her away from her conversation with Steve. He hadn't had much on him, especially after his bag had been taken by the government, but what was there was enough for her. His t-shirt kept her company when she was lonely before sleep and his dog tags lay around her neck so he was there, with her, wherever she went.

With her eyes stinging and another yawn stretching across her lips she rolled over onto her side once more, keeping her grip on Bucky's t-shirt.

"Goodnight," she said out loud to nobody.

Thank you for reading! Sorry it took me longer than I promised but I ended up editing it quite a lot and then my lovely beta reader was struck down with illness.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the first part of Harper's next step in her journey!

Tumblr: sgtbuckyybarnes