I had the incredible pleasure of working with Eriot (Eriotdraws on Twitter ) on an illustration she created to go along with this chapter. Please check out this chapter on Archive of Our Own to see the art and link to her social media pages see more of her incredible art!
Once again: *huge* thanks to her for bringing this particular story moment to life!
Simply search for: "KLeCrone Ao3 Winter of the White Wolf"
Winter of the White Wolf
Chapter 51 - Water Memory
Sam's eyes were still closed when the tempo of a familiar melody slipped over him, surrounding him like one of Meemaw Wilson's warm knitted blankets. Skilled fingertips told stories across a sea of ivory keys, accompanied by the steady thrum of a bassist's blues and the sweet percussive rhythm of aching drums. Measure by sublime measure, the gentle interplay of instruments coaxed him to become increasingly aware of himself and then his body. As the cry of a lone trumpet found its voice, Sam bid himself back towards the realm of conscious thought.
He found it more than a little difficult to place where he was at first, or why his eyelids felt so damn heavy and resilient to his repeated requests to offer up a bit of clarity on his present situation. He was laying on his back, but his mind was fogged enough that some part of him debated if he should be at least a little bit alarmed that he was having to fight tooth and nail to wake up. Yet the soothing, unhurried intermingling of the instrumental ensemble to "Trouble Man" had a way of reassuring him without words that he was safe and didn't need to be in any altogether rush. That whatever was jingling at the edge of his periphery would still be there when he came to.
Initially, the ambiance led him to try and trace-back to the last thing he remembered. As he did, he swore he could pick out a subtle shift in harmonics around him, followed by a woman's voice from somewhere across the room, "You needn't crowd him. He should wake soon."
It took Sam longer than he'd have liked to place the voice as belonging to Shuri.
That's right, he'd been injured. By Bucky of all people. Well, not precisely Bucky, but Barnes. The same Barnes who'd then turned around and surrendered himself to the Wakandans so Sam could get some much-needed medical treatment. T'Challa and Okoye had transported him to the Design Center so Shuri could help get him fixed-up and hopefully save his hands and face. His mind was finding that the exact details on what work she'd done were still more than a little nebulous, but he was pretty sure he could feel his fingers and toes. On account of how valiantly he was having to fight his eyelids, Sam assumed she must've given him something to put him deep under for surgery or something like it.
Anesthesia. That was the word for it.
...But wait... who was she talking to?
Sam flinched and did his best to force his eyes open and push himself up onto his elbows. When he objectively failed to do that, he focused on the eye closest to Shuri and negotiated with it until it cracked open and he was greeted with a hazy, blurred wave of muted greys accented by pops of bright colors that roamed across his vision. The cool white light shining down from above felt artificially bright, and he squinted as he struggled to pull his vision back into focus so he could make sense of the pockets of vibrant colors surrounding him.
The nearest of which was moving.
His foggy mind wasn't able to place what was happening in the time it took for the red, and blue blur to chime two progressively higher notes and move closer to his face. Whatever it was took up an altogether uncomfortable amount of his vision, so he did the logical thing: He raised his hands to protect his face and leveraged his nearest hand to take a defensive swipe at it.
His hands didn't make contact with anything, but the blur smoothly barrel-rolled out of the way as Sam's instincts were snapped online with a quick jolt of adrenaline and shot of pain that ran straight up his offending arm and deep into the primal part of his brain that he'd spent years wiring for "fight or flight." His hand screamed at him that it was supposed to be resting, not avenging, but in the split-seconds thereafter, Sam felt panic build in his chest, like a spiral of vertigo upending him. He remembered the feel of that vibranium arm around his neck and chest, and the crushing pressure that cracked his hands like they'd been made of nothing more than glass and PlayDoh. Without any conscious thought, he rapidly fluttered his other hand to his chest, his face, searching out familiarity. Something to ground him. He wasn't being crushed, but his hands didn't feel right. It was as if they were tight. Compressed. He tried to bid his eyes to focus on them, but they were so blinding white he couldn't make them out.
The world around him was still blurred and fuzzy around the edges as he heard something clatter a short distance to his left followed by a rush of footsteps as an orange-clad blur rapidly approached from across the room, "Sam! It's alright, it's just JB."
Sam heard her words, but his drug-addled and remarkably groggy mind was having a time negotiating with the surge of adrenaline pulsing through him, "...JB?"
There was another chime from just beyond his left, and his eyes began to piece together just what he was seeing around him as worked to separate the splashes of bright accent colors from the familiar monotone tribal motifs of Shuri's lab.
While the furthest walls were lined with blue display screens backed by massive, wall-sized murals, Shuri herself was no longer clad in the black, purple, and gold panther-esque suit he'd last seen her in. Instead, she had on a bright orange and black two-piece ensemble that would have looked remarkably out-of-place in any lab outside of the one he presently found himself in.
Sam unsuccessfully tried to work his thumb to rub the sleep from the corners of his eyes before he turned his attention back to the lab. As far as he could make out, there was no one else in sight beyond two red, silver, and brown blurs he pegged as Dora Milaje he could just barely distinguish down the far end of the hallway. Off to his right, a warm cascade of sunlight poured in from the wall of towering windows lining the central shaft of the complex.
Hadn't it been dark before?
...Exactly how long had he been out?
Without any notice, a multipronged black ship darted through the tunnel from top to bottom, and Sam felt his stomach lurch at the memory of free-falling through that same hole in the ground. The thought had a way of whipping him back to the present all at once.
Shuri stood just to his left with a doctor's patient smile on her face. She looked surprisingly alert from when he'd last seen her, but perhaps that was just another round of flavored espresso talking. Hovering on either side of her were none-other than the third iteration of "Redwing" drones she'd built to accompany his Wakandan-made vibranium suit. Shuri gestured to the drone nearest her left hand, "Yes. Ayo instructed Nailah to deliver some of your personal belongings here last night, these two among them." She paused a moment before adding, "Nailah tended to the flowers of remembrance she saw within your suite as well."
Redwing leaned left and then right, as if searching for a proper angle to view him, and as he did, JB hovered a touch closer.
Sam frowned, wishing the residual grogginess would do him a service and part faster, because he was having trouble placing out the order of events in a sensible way. He had any number of profoundly important questions that needed asked, but instead he found himself starting with, "...Wait. How'd you know his name?"
Shuri shrugged as a very particular smile earned its way across her face and the drone Sam recognized as JB tilted left a little, "He told me, of course."
"...Told… you?"
Now, he might have been seeing things. He probably was. But at the mention, Sam could swear he saw JB reposition himself and waggle one of his side rudders at him.
...Was… was he waving?
Was his drone honest-to-god waving at him?
Before Sam could process the possibility of that as compared to further head injuries manifesting, no less if he should wave back, Shuri continued, "He also informed me that you completed less than a third of the tutorials I supplied."
Sam's mind was struggling to play catch up as the pair of drones hovered a few inches closer, though mindfully out of swatting range of his hands. He felt like his tired head was probably just reading too much into their behavior, but the two of them seemed almost… curious? He didn't get the impression Shuri was remoted into them and he certainly wasn't, so…
Shuri chuffed lightly, "You did not think I simply cloned Stark's tech wholesale, did you?"
"I…" he began. If he were being honest, he hadn't actually given much thought about the particulars. It wasn't as if he was going to complain or critique a solemn drop of the technical ingenuity the Wakandans had thought to gift him with, especially after that mess with Zemo.
Frankly? Shuri could've painted the whole thing neon orange from top to bottom like that get-up she was presently wearing and he wouldn't have uttered a damn word of complaint. Not then. Not ever.
She had a way of making it clear that there were no strings attached to the incredible gift she and the Wakandans had given him to help keep him safe and grant him his wings back. But that being as it was, her present expression conveyed more than a little of that very particular brand of sibling panache Sarah was so good at. The one that told him without words that he'd missed a step in their unsung accord, and ought not willfully neglect another flavor of those genius gifts she'd thought to offer him.
It was just that… he'd been so eager to test out the new wings that he'd put the tutorials aside for another day, and then he got busy and...
As if sensing his inner commentary, Shuri playfully rolled her eyes, "You may have been raised on different continents, but you share much in common with my brother, who also finds himself remarkably inconvenienced to read my careful and well thought-out instructions." She waved a hand dismissively in Sam's direction, "But we will discuss the manner of this particular oversight later. How are you feeling?"
Sam heaved in a deep breath and slowly let it out, focusing on the dog tags he could feel shimmying against chest as he tried to sort himself out and play catch-up on taking inventory of the current state of the plethora of injuries he'd sustained. The mere fact his head and entire body were no longer screaming expletives at him told him he was still enjoying some exceptional painkillers, but he was relieved that he could feel his extremities. A soft cloud grey blanket with orange stitching rested snuggly over legs and torso, and his brain helpfully identified it as similar to, if not the same blanket Ayo and Yama had wrapped Bucky in when he'd recovered from partial cryo. Sam did his best not to dwell on the memory for longer than he needed to, reminding himself that his friend, or someone close to it, was off somewhere getting treatment too. That he wasn't well, but he also wasn't dead. So his mind didn't need to see fit to imagine the blanket as a relic from a bygone era, belonging to someone he wouldn't see again.
But his mind did anyway, because sometimes they were just sentimental assholes like that.
Logically, the blanket shouldn't have meant anything. But in that moment, it held all the private gravitas as the first time he'd run his hands along the rough pulled wool of Meemaw's colorful crocheted heirloom blankets in the hours after her funeral.
Sam fought to swallow those complicated feelings down as he offered up something he hoped approximated a truth, "Been better, but hangin' in there." He kept his eyes safely on his hands as he slowly bid his shuddering elbows to bend so he could lift his hands and examine them more closely.
His hands were wrapped in crisp white bandages that extended up his forearms and under an embroidered smokey-blue and black smock he didn't recall having on the last time he was conscious. Each finger and thumb were the proper length and facing the right direction, and when Shuri didn't see fit to caution him otherwise, he saw fit to waggle his digits experimentally, curious if there was anything function to speak of just yet, or if they were only ornamental. They trembled a little, but they did move, and the fact they sought to respond at all was more than a little confusing given the circumstances. Shouldn't they have been in a cast or at least splints?
Sam's brow furrowed, "They look remarkably more hand-shaped than I had any reason to expect," he admitted before raising his head to regard her, "exactly how long was I under?"
The resident genius tilted her head slightly, as if checking the time, "A little over twenty hours since we last spoke, when you agreed to the sedative so we could ensure optimal nerve and tendon reconstruction."
He frowned, confused, "Wait, twenty hours? It's only the next day? How did-?"
Shuri's grin widened as she feigned hurt, "Was it my skill you doubted, or our technology?"
"-I," he wasn't sure exactly how to respond to that, but he could sense the pride ringing in her voice.
"You are not fully healed yet, of course, but I wanted to check on your pain levels and thought you might appreciate being conscious for the unveiling of the work done on your hands."
As Shuri pressed a series of console commands to bid his headrest into a sitting position, the drone Sam recognized as Redwing hovered over his left shoulder while JB slipped over his body to keep watch from his right side. A part of him tried to sort out exactly what they were up to, but Shuri must've caught the question in his expression, "You'll find them more useful to you if you view them as eager to learn, you know. Their programming contains information on many topics, physical injuries among them, but seeing such things firsthand is valuable, particularly when a fair portion of their core A.I. is meant to perform autonomously."
Sam glanced from the drones back to where Shuri was carefully inspecting the outstretched fingers visible above his carefully wrapped left hand. He wasn't sure exactly what he was dreading to see under the bandages, but he was already bracing himself for incision marks, bruising, and a load of stitches when it came time for Doctor Shuri to unveil them.
He decided the best way to keep his mind away from whatever worst-case scenarios were lurking underneath those bandages was to keep flapping his lips about about the drones, "They're 'eager to learn?'"
Shuri stopped what she was doing for a moment and rolled her eyes, "If you'd watched the videos I packaged with them, you would know they run on my own proprietary programming, which was developed in part from lessons learned from my work with James. The "memories" contained within your prior Redwing, the one the late Stark constructed for you, were uploaded into his cloud network. At my request, Colonel Rhodes was able to procure the necessary data files for me so that I could merge that historical information into the drones I sought to develop specifically for you. With all respect to the dead, I did not wish the possibility of another Ultron on our hands, so I chose to not utilize any of Stark's underlying Artificial Intelligence code, but I thought it beneficial that your new allies were not completely fresh to the fight, as it were."
She plucked a Kimoyo Bead off the strand surrounding her left wrist and rolled her right hand open, placing the bead in the crux of her palm. A data-driven holographic display lit up above fingers, accented by the unmistakable outline of one of his signature, Wakanda-supplied drones, "While visually, they may appear indistinguishable and run on the same core A.I. code, they are not truly clones of one another. The one you call Redwing," unprompted, the drone in question legitimately seemed to perk and then chose to hover close by Shuri's outstretched hand. It saw fit to rotate in place, smoothly matching the spinning diagram of the drone on Shuri's holographic display, "he has deeper 'memories' than those of JB. They span back through the first and second iterations of the original Redwing drones, and include all captured recordings and pertinent mission information. This allows him to better be able to understand and anticipate your actions both in and out of combat, though you still maintain ultimate control, of course."
Shuri brought up her left hand and JB hurried to occupy the space above her nimble fingers, "You might imagine JB as more of a fresh recruit. He's reviewed many of your exploits, but as a compatriot and 'new' set of eyes. It does not make him any more or less valuable than Redwing, but simply different. A compliment, you see. I thought it an optimal solution to ensure that you could benefit from both perspectives, especially after White Wolf mentioned how fond you were of Redwing."
Sam didn't miss the way Shuri's face fell a little at that, at what he could only assume was a memory of when Buck'd reached out to her on his behalf, clutching whatever slivers of goodwill he had remaining with the Wakandans after that mess with Zemo. Sam couldn't recall if he'd ever heard Shuri refer to him by that Wakandan title of his, and he was betting just now that it'd been a slip. A slip back to simpler times between the two of them. Between all of them.
It didn't seem right to say anything, to call attention to it, and by proxy: all the guilt she was undoubtedly bottling up inside. But it also didn't feel right to stay silent, either.
But that didn't help him sort out just what to say.
Even though Shuri was easily a dozen years younger than he was, it was easy to be caught up in her poise and brilliant mannerisms and assume she had all the answers, and what ones she didn't? She'd have those sorted out soon enough. She was good at keeping a very particular part of herself guarded. Not like Ayo, but like someone who was used to being looked to for the final say on any number of pressing topics.
But that didn't mean she wasn't human too.
The truth of it was: Buck'd shown no love at all for the original Redwing, and the fact he'd specifically thought to include him in his request to Shuri and the Wakandan Design Group, to involve Rhodey in getting some of all-this together… well, it struck Sam in a very particular way, especially considering everything going on.
He swore JB was looking to him for a reaction or something like it when Sam thought to keep his voice low and remark, "You two definitely went all-out with the bells and whistles. What's the line? 'Spared no expense?'"
He did his best to project another round of 'Thank you, again' with his eyes, coupled with 'I'm feelin' what you're feeling in droves,' but he didn't think he was capable of saying much else at the moment, because his throat was seeing fit to get more than a little choked-up.
Shuri nodded and took a quick breath before she found her voice again, "That being as it is, you would do well to give them both suitable time outside of the case so that they can better understand you and the world around them through firsthand experience rather than simply memory files."
Sam did his best to roll that information around the swells still churning inside his head as he regarded first JB and then Redwing with altogether more consideration than he was historically inclined to. It wasn't as if he wasn't appreciative that the upgrades Stark and eventually Shuri had developed were more responsive and autonomous, with added features that were a boon to the increasingly high demands he put them through. It was just… he hadn't really stopped to consider what upgrades they'd gotten under the hood, or the possibility that there was more going on inside those streamlined hulls than he gave them credit for.
But now Shuri was saying Redwing remembered the missions they'd gone on together?
What else did he remember, and to what extent?
Was the data he had access to just rote blocks of information to him, or was his ability to process it a step further on the path to what some might consider self-awareness?
Redwing leaned right and tucked his wings in slightly as Sam regarded him, and Sam couldn't shake the strange feeling that the drone was looking at him. Like really looking at him. It wasn't strictly unsettling, but it was a bit like being told your smart toaster might remember the time you yelled about burning your toast. Or that it might, might have something akin to feelings. Sam wasn't sure what to think of that, especially when some buried part of him was set wondering what the drones thought about Bucky…
...and if Redwing recalled people like Tony, Steve, and Nat…
JB drew closer to Sam's right hand, inspecting it before emitting a series of two progressively higher electronic beeps. Was it a question?
In response, Shuri closed down the holographic drone display over her palm and turned her attention to Sam, "Would you like to see them?" her voice pulled him away from wherever his thoughts had begun to spiral to.
"Them?"
She gestured to the bandages around his wrists, "Your hands. You thought I was teasing you?"
"No I… I didn't realize you meant now."
She flexed an outstretched finger in his direction and he obediently offered her his left hand, watching as she carefully started to unwrap the bandages starting from the base of his fingers, "How is the pain now?"
"Mostly tender, I'd say. Maybe a two or three on a scale from one to ten," he watched her work, listening as the lab's music selection shifted to a fast-paced track with snappy percussive rhythms that interrelated with a chorus of mixed vocals and a subtle electronic sway. Sam quickly pegged it as belonging to Shuri's resident playlist, "I can feel my hands, so I'm assuming the nerve blocker you gave me yesterday has faded, but how strong are the painkillers you have me on now? Relatively speaking, I mean?"
Shuri had one of those very particular smiles light up her face, "You're not presently on any painkillers."
Sam was sure he scrunched up his face in disbelief at that claim. "Wait what? No painkillers. At all?" He was certain he must have misheard, but he remained silent as the two drones floated around him, watching curiously as Shuri worked the bandages free. As the white wrapping fell away, it revealed pristine skin that… didn't show even a drop of bruising or discoloration. He might have been holding his breath as he focused on hand, watching as the resident genius skillfully used her nimble fingers to run circles around his wrist and forearm, slowly revealing fresh and remarkably unmarred skin.
His skin.
"Correct. While you were coming out of anesthesia, I provided a mild muscle relaxant which has been shown to be beneficial to the recovery process on similar injuries, but beyond that and the saline, what you feel is your true level of current discomfort. I am glad to hear it is within expected parameters for this phase of your recovery." She regarded her handiwork critically, "We are not yet at the stage where the follicle stimulator has seen use yet, but once it has, the resulting skin should be indistinguishable from your own."
Sam wanted to think he was following along, but truth to be told: He was having more than a little trouble wrapping his head around how his hands had gone from the misshapen, dark mittens he had the night before, to the altogether pristine and remarkably functional, hand-shaped appendages he had now. One that didn't have so much as a blemish or scratch on it. He rolled his hand over palm-up and flexed his fingers testingly. Part of him didn't want to believe it could be possible, and certainly not in so little time...
As if Shuri was reading his thoughts, her voice grew softer and more understanding, "There is still work yet to be done, but you should be in good form within another couple days. I would recommend you avoid over-exerting yourself in the meantime. The bones, muscles, tendons, nerves, and capillaries should all be highly functional, but it would be good to imagine they may need a little time to stretch and break in-properly, like a new pair of shoes."
"Wait they… they're going to be okay?" Sam struggled to keep the emotion from pouring into his voice just then. All the fear and worries he'd been holding off letting himself process about the future, about what it would mean if he wasn't able to use his hands well-enough again.
About if he'd taken up the mantle of Captain America, only to have to put it aside once more because of some cruel joke the universe thought to play on him.
"They should mend just fine," Shuri reassured him in a tone that held only reassurance and not a drop of teasing. She squeezed his shoulder once before walking behind and around him so she could start to unwrap his right hand, starting with his pinky and ring fingers, which were wrapped together. She did him the courtesy of keeping her eyes on her work so he could swallow-up whatever buried emotions had started to creep to the surface.
His hands were going to be okay.
Redwing and JB seemed self-aware enough to give the two of them a little room. That, or they didn't want to get in Shuri's way as she worked. Either way, the two drones silently hovered over Sam's legs, watching as Shuri carefully freed his right hand from the bandages, "This hand sustained more damage than the left," Shuri casually observed. "The bones inside have intersections that have been reinforced with inert vibranium. To be clear, that does not make them remarkably stronger than the bones you came to me with, but it ensures that they will not be prone to re-break where they sustained prior damage from this unfortunate injury."
"This is… a lot to process," Sam admitted before eyeing his embroidered blue-grey smock, "You didn't… with the clothes...?" He didn't know if there was a proper way to ask, but his curiosity was getting the best of him on how he remembered going under wearing a set of blue jeans, and woke up wearing, well, this.
Shuri raised an eyebrow, and he could see her typical playfulness return to her expression, "If you're asking if I was responsible for your change of wardrobe, you may be relieved to know that such sensitive matters pertaining to Captain America were tasked to other medical professionals who practice the utmost discretion."
Sam snorted, "Fair. And at least you were able to get a change of clothes too," he observed.
She smiled, "I am relieved to be in something more comfortable. That defensive suit was never meant to be worn for any length of time, and I would not have enjoyed sleeping in it. Speaking of which…"
Shuri stepped out of view for a moment before returning with a familiar band dangling carefully from between her fingers: His watch. "I know it was not a priority given what has happened, but I found repairing it to be a suitable distraction between other tasks." She placed the watch in his nearest palm and added, "As there is work yet to be done, I would suggest not putting it on just yet, but I thought you might like to see my repairs. It is not often I get to work with such treasured time pieces."
Feeling the weight of the family heirloom in his palm had a way of putting a very particular part of Sam's mind at-ease. True to her word: The dome was intact and the second-hand inside made soft ticks as it worked its way around the ivory clock-face. He couldn't even tell it'd been shattered at all. Upon closer inspection, Sam could see scratches that told stories maring the outer body of the watch. For a moment, he thought it might've been a flaw in Shuri's work, until one of his fingers found a familiar groove and he realized she'd sought not to make it fresh and new, but to try to preserve it as best she could.
Part of Sam wanted to know how it was even possible, but he decided that was a question for another time as he mumbled something he hoped sounded enough like, "Thank you," to be discernible.
Shuri simply inclined her head, wordlessly acknowledging the exchange as she continued her work in shared silence.
Sam was appreciative of having a few minutes where he could half-sit, and half-lay and simply listen to the music as Shuri looked him over and took readings and careful notes. Redwing and JB stuck close-by, hovering like curious hens over what the two of them were up to. Did they understand what was goin' on?
As Shuri inspected his face and applied some sort of medical ointment that smelled a lot like a distant cousin of shea butter, Sam thought to inquire, "Now that I'm a bit more with it, what's been going on while I was under?"
"My brother and General Okoye visited earlier this morning, and Teela this afternoon. They wanted to check on the progress of your injuries firsthand, but I suspect my brother also wished to check and see if I'd gotten an agreeable amount of sleep," Shuri admitted.
Sam stayed obediently still as he did his best to summon up some thoughtful sibling compassion to his voice, "And did you?"
"More than the night before," She raised her chin, gesturing to the far side of the room to what must have approximated as a make-shift cot, "I rested for as many hours as I could, but it is difficult when so much has happened and yet more remains at-risk." She sighed, a familiar thread of frustration returning to her voice, "I wish I could tell you that I've unlocked the key to what has happened within our friend's mind, but I still have more questions than answers. Ayo, Yama, and Nomble have done what they can to keep me updated with their observations on Barnes, but even what they have seen does not smoothly correlate to any past experiences. Ayo feels certain he experienced something when he slept overnight, but he shows no interest in discussing the details with her or anyone else."
Shuri stepped back and observed her work on Sam's face as she continued speaking, "The group of them are not strictly at odds, but Ayo believes Barnes's compliance and potential for trust will only stretch so far until he is reassured of your safety." She tilted her head, a soft, compassionate smile falling over her features, "He continues to ask for updates about you, as well as M'yra."
Sam felt his lip twitch at that, "Did they know one another? Bucky and M'yra, I mean."
Shuri shook her head and stepped aside to rummage through a nearby drawer before returning to Sam's side, "Much like he and Teela, they were only casually acquainted, but not close. The fact that Barnes shows concern for her plight and your continued treatment is intriguing, but something I do not have any easy explanations for. Here, put your free hand out, like this." Sam did as he was told and opened his palm so Shuri could place one of her Kimoyo Beads in it. Initially, he didn't understand the motivation behind her actions, but after she ran through a few menus on the hologram hovering over her own hand, he saw the bead in his hand break down and reform above his palm, creating a full-color, vibranium approximation of his own head and neck.
He recognized it immediately, of course, but he wasn't understanding the context of it until he started to open his own mouth, and he saw the vibranium version of him mime the motion in real-time. "It's a mirror," Shuri offered as a simple explanation, "I thought you would like to see the progress we've made."
It took him a second or two to process that, because what he was seeing on the display was a lot more like what his face normally looked like, and it was a damn-far cry from what he'd seen the last time he caught a glimpse of it the day before. After, well…
The shape of everything was as it should be, which was more than a little surprising considering that last he checked, he had a crater where his nose was supposed to be. The orbitals of his eye sockets were fully-formed, as was his nose. A bandage crossed over the bridge of his nose, and another was strapped to his cheek like a bonafide beauty mark. There was some amount of bruising along the side of his face, but remarkably little, all things considered.
Shuri was quick to address it, "I prioritized the machines to focus on your hands, arms, skull, and ribs prior to commencing work on the aesthetic aspects of your face, so it's a bit behind where I'd like it to be, but everything should be caught up with one another in couple more regenerative sessions."
"A couple," Sam saw fit to deadpan, watching as the vibranium figure mirrored his words. "This is… it's something else, Shuri. Holy shit." He parted his lips and found a full set of pearly-whites grinning back at him.
Shuri regarded him with the sort of expression that told him her mind was elsewhere, and that any working theories she had about Barnes were still deep in the process of being sussed out.
Maybe she could use a friendly nudge?
"So…" he began, offering the bead back to her, "let's say that it's unreasonable for you to have any answers based on what little you have to work with. If you don't know why all this happened, do you have any idea what exactly is going on in his head now? I know I was only around him for the better part of an hour, but maybe there's something there that would help? Or something Ayo and the others noticed since then, since it's not like you can-." He paused, catching a subtle change in her posture that was enough to earn JB's full attention, "Wait, what's that look for?"
"Well, it's true that I have limited data from scans taken during and just after the Event we witnessed, but… in the aftermath of his session in partial cryo, James permitted me access to remotely monitor his vitals as a precaution, and I have continued to collect that data." She inclined her head, "It is hardly the robust data sets I would prefer, but even with my... modifications... it is better than nothing. It is all we have beyond pure observation for the time being until we can get him back to my lab for further tests and to see to his injuries. I do not want to see his foot grow septic or his mind worsen."
Sam let out a slow breath of air through the gap that Shuri - true to her word - had reformed in his front teeth, "Getting Barnes back here of his own free will is going to be tall order," Sam commiserated. "That's not to say it's impossible, but did you get the impression from Ayo he's finally convinced we're not all HYDRA in disguise?"
Shuri shook her head, "No. Ayo believes he remains conflicted, but will seek to run given the opportunity."
"...Are you thinking of forcing him? Back here, I mean?"
Shuri frowned, "I have considered many different options, but I remain at a distance, and therefore my view remains obscured. I have told Ayo that if anything takes a turn for the worse, that she should consider bringing him here, regardless of if it is against his will or not. But the fact they remain where they are tells me she does not sense an underlying urgency that makes such an approach desirable under the present circumstances."
While a lot was still up in the air, Sam remained impressed at the respectable hierarchy woven between the Wakandans. There was a profound amount of trust laid out between them. Anywhere else, he was certain there would have been a mandate handed down from mont-high. But here? It was clear these people were genuinely trying to do the right thing, even if the path to exactly what that was remained anything but clear-cut.
"I know that you look to me for hope and answers in what is ailing his mind," Shuri spoke, "but in light of what has happened, I feel that it would be wise to consider new approaches for the situation we find ourselves in."
Sam got the distinct impression something was eating at the genius beside him, and that the altogether proper thing for him to do was to be attentive and listen. Let her take her time as she pieced together exactly what she wanted to say while Redwing and JB silently observed from nearby.
"It is strange," she finally said, "There is much that I've seen and experienced that I've taken for granted as understood fact. And yet, trying to speak it aloud sometimes makes those concepts more difficult to pin-down rather than easier." She sighed, turning her attention away from him to glance out the row of tall windows and the sunlight just outside. Sam got the impression it wasn't as if she was uncomfortable, much as it was her mind was elsewhere, chasing a memory he didn't have. "When he first came here, you see, we had many discussions about consent. About that he owned the decisions made on his mind and body from here on out. These were proper, necessary discussions to have, but at the same time, they did not fully account for the complexities we often found ourselves in."
Sam watched as Shuri shifted and Redwing hovered over her shoulder, "Many are fortunate enough to have a next-of-kin, or someone to help make decisions for them if they find themselves unable to advocate for themselves. This was… a complicated topic for James and many of us as well, in part because he did not desire to involve Steve in decisions made for his health." Shuri frowned, "I think, in part, this was out of a desire for privacy and so Steve would not be worried, so his focus could be maintained elsewhere, but it created… complications… when James's chosen advocates were-" she paused, correcting herself, "-are not only his close allies, but also those responsible for his treatment." Shuri shrugged uncomfortably, "It is not that I wish to shuck away the responsibilities he chose to grant Ayo and I. I do not. Would not. But it is challenging to remain truly impartial." She turned her head over her right shoulder as she met his eyes, "Which is something I wished to discuss with you."
Sam felt something in his stomach shift at her unilateral attention, but he met her gaze, "What's that?"
"Agreements were made with James to be discrete with his scans and data. I have maintained this request without question, but my brother believes this choice may now be to our detriment, as it means I have willfully chosen not to leverage the other sharp minds within the Wakandan Design Group." Shuri frowned, "He wrongfully believes it is pride that makes me inclined to continue my work in private, but it is not that. It is that I do not wish to break a promise I made with the best of intentions if I do not have to."
"Have you spoken with Ayo about it?" Sam inquired.
A small, knowing smile curled the corner of Shuri's lips as she rolled the loose Kimoyo Bead between her fingers absentmindedly, "I did. She is in favor of it, but wished for you to weigh in when you were awake again. She feels you are capable of seeing things we cannot, and believes that whatever we choose, it should be with a united front."
That was… a lot to take in all at once.
This... stuff... fell into a category of things he just hadn't really ever spoken with Bucky about. Not explicitly, at least.
If anything happened to Sam, he had Sarah listed as a next-of-kin on all his paperwork. That's just how it was since their folks passed. The same address he knew by-heart. The same phone number.
But Bucky...
It wasn't as if the thought of Bucky's next-of-kin hadn't occurred to Sam on more than one occasion, especially when one or both of them was nursing injuries from a mission gone-awry. That being as it was, it wasn't exactly Sam's business to ask who Bucky put down on his forms where it listed an emergency contact.
Like so much else, the question lived respectfully among the cracks between the two of them, and by Sam's approximation, assuming they ever got Buck back, it was a topic that clearly warranted broaching. It didn't matter who he'd listed, but he wanted to make sure that selfish idiot hadn't thought to leave the field blank entirely.
And now…?
Yeah.
This was a lot.
"So T'Challa and Ayo are for you cracking things open with Buck's data in the hope more minds working on it might help us come up with an explanation of what happened, as well as a solution." He tilted his head to regard her, "Where do you stand on it?"
"I remain conflicted," Shuri admitted. "I'd like to think myself an expert on such matters, yet I've had relatively little time to work towards understanding what transpired yesterday because there were many more pressing matters that required my full attention. It is not an excuse," she quickly added, "but I would like to think that with more data and more time, I could work towards a viable solution." The features of her face shifted in thought, "But this we see before us is not like the other times. We do not have the convenience of code words, unless we decide to reinstall them, and I do not wish to pursue such a dehumanizing alternative. Yet I also do not know if there is permanent damage being done to his mind the longer he remains in this unexplained state."
Before Sam could say anything more, Shuri rolled the loose Kimoyo Bead into her right palm and made some gestures with the fingers of her left hand as she pulled up a rotating holographic display of what Sam assumed was Bucky's head, "It is not fair for me to ask your opinion without sharing more of what I believe. I will caution you that my theories are not fully formed, but I will do my best to share everything I've discovered so far."
When Sam nodded acknowledgement, she continued, "This is the only proper scan taken in the moments after what I will call yesterday's Event. The problem is that some sections of the data we glimpsed would signify that his neural pathways were in the throws of a Black Hole Event, while other sections do not." Shuri's tone was set with impassioned annoyance at her own inability to make sense of the data before her, "This is not something we have encountered before, which makes it impossible to know how best to proceed. But after you mentioned Yama's comment, and Barnes's inquiry about expressions, it sought me to bring up his charts from when he first arrived in Wakanda. The sensitive ones with the pins and nails you saw yesterday. What findings I noted, I cannot explain."
Shuri raised her fingers, pulling up two more charts while Sam and the drones watched. The first was the horrific one with the nails, and the other was one without. She moved them in three-dimensional space so they were on either side of the scan taken at the precipice of the Event from the day before.
"This scan here without nails is not a recent scan. It was taken months after the nails were removed and the caverns left behind had begun to fill in. What we see is that while the nails were in place, the signals in James's mind had to work around many of the nails, but there were others where the signals were not blocked entirely. Whether it was by design or the adaptation of the brain itself to the trauma of the nails, in some cases, the electrical pulses jumped across the metal itself, forming bridges where none should have been possible."
Shuri stopped speaking for a moment as she drew her fingers apart to enlarge a portion of the brain scan with the nails. As Sam watched, he could see how in some cases, pulses of current appeared to run through the brain only to be stopped by the nails, while in other cases, the current continued across, though not always in a straight line. Sometimes it traveled up or down the nails a short distance before resuming its path.
"Once the nails were removed, we could not simply sit back and hope that the white and grey matter would magically know how to weave themselves to fill the voids agreeably, rather: I had to coax it deliberately so that the network that existed prior to HYDRA's meddling could be re-established. Or as close as I could approximate without having scan data from when he was first captured. What we found, however, was that even after this work was done and that his brain matter was reformed, it took time to retrain his mind to choose to use the new connections, because they had spent so many years adapting to the ever-evolving, and cruel surgeries he was unnecessarily subjected to."
She gestured back to the brain scan positioned between the other two, "But what I see in the brief scan we captured from yesterday is that many of the signals are now interrupted. Not all, but some. Select ones behaved as if the nails were still functionally in place. And even the highly active portions of his brain are much closer to when he initially arrived in Wakanda compared to the scans taken while in partial cryo the day before. I cannot yet provide a reason to explain the cause of the sudden change, but I believe what we see here likely accounts for at least a portion of the shift in behavior we've seen."
Shuri made a face, and it was clear she was grasping a hell of a lot more from those scans than he could ever hope to. She continued, "But even then, there are portions of the scans that correlate more closely to the scans taken while he was recently in partial cryo. Look, here." She pulled up a fourth scan and pulled it close to the one taken during the prior day's Event. She pointed to areas that pulsed with bright blue light, "See the activity in these functional areas of the cerebral cortex? They are nearly identical. The Auditory Area, Motor Function Areas, and even Wernicke's Area, the one that is responsible for written and spoken language comprehension all appear to operate as a healthy, unhindered brain should. Yet other areas do not."
Her fingers moved the scans in three dimensional space and she made a gesture with her finders to fade the areas of bright blue light, seemingly to draw attention to pulses of bright orange light tucked away in specific portions of the brain, "See here? These are areas that are most strongly impacted by what has happened: The Association Area, which controls short-term memory, equilibrium, and emotion. The Visual Area, which is responsible for sight, image recognition, and image perception. The Emotional Area, which keys into pain, hunger, and the 'fight or flight' response. The Somatosensory Association Area is impacted as well, and with it, the ability to evaluate weight, texture, temperature, and so on in order to provide object recognition. Even the area of the cerebral cortex that is responsible for Higher Mental Functions, and with it, concentration, planning, judgement, emotional expression, creativity, inhibition, the list goes on and on. I can't explain why, but it appears as if his mind has chosen to reroute itself through and around the phantoms of many of the nails HYDRA used upon him."
"But more curious yet: the portions of his brain that relate to explicit memory, implicit memory, and working memory all show they have been impacted in unexplained ways, particularly the Hippocampus, Neocortex, and Amygdala."
Sam was getting the feeling Shuri was struggling to keep her genius-speak on a level he could continue to follow-along with, but she was doing her best to remain aware of her audience. He thought it prudent to help her along, "So if I told you I recognize those terms, but that it's been a few years since I took any science classes where I was quizzed about the details…"
"Right right," Shuri considered the charts again, regarding them intently while she anxiously fidgeted her slender fingers together, "In brief, those three areas in particular are involved in explicit memory, which is the ability to consciously recall memories. The amygdala attaches emotional significance to memories. It's critically important because strong emotional memories, such as those heightened with joy, shame, love, grief, and so on become core memories that are not only formative, but difficult to forget. The permanence of these memories suggests that interactions between the amygdala, hippocampus and neocortex are crucial in determining the 'stability' of a memory – that is, how effectively it is retained over time. In James's case, the serum given to him enhanced his memory, granting him something similar to an eidetic memory, or photographic memory." Shuri waved her fingers dismissively in a way that reminded Sam an awful lot of some of his high school science teachers, "They are not the same thing, of course, but for the idea of being able to memorize and seamlessly catalogue all manner of details, no matter how fleeting. The difference here is that HYDRA sought to maintain fine control over what his mind could and could not access and when. Through immeasurably cruel methods, they intentionally disrupted areas and natural behaviors of his brain with physical objects, electrical stimulation, patterns, and code words in order to suit their purposes and obscure their trail. This damaged James's ability to access certain memories at-will in far more complex ways than I was initially made to believe."
Shuri met Sam's eyes as she attempted to translate what she saw, "What I see here, at least in this glimpse we have of Barnes's mind after the latest Event, is that certain areas of his brain appear remarkably inactive, while others are hyperactive. It would be nearly impossible for me to remark upon which specific memories are impacted, but it appears as though he may have lost access to some he had prior to the Event, yet, more surprising yet, he also gained access to others. Because the amygdala has been impacted, it's also likely that he may lack awareness of the emotional significance of what memories he now has."
"So he might remember certain events, but not why they're important, or what he was feeling at the time?" Sam inquired.
"It's possible," Shuri admitted, sighing, "And we would have no easy way of knowing what memories might have been gained, or if there is significance to them."
"Like why he asked about Symkaria," Sam supplied.
"It could be an echo, or that he simply latched onto something in your conversation with Colonel Rhodes. Without further tests, I would caution reading too much into it, but the truth is: I do not know. What I do know is that memories help form and inform personality, and if Barnes is operating with only select, incomplete pockets of memory, it may be a viable explanation to explain his actions, even if we do not yet understand the underlying cause or potential resolution."
Sam watched the scans of his friend's brain continue to rotate with various lights and patterns shining alongside scrolling notations. Shuri'd swapped the language to English, but he'd be damned if he understood the nuance of what he was seeing. This was well outside of his realm of expertise by more than a few unsung degrees and buckets of life experience. Yet he knew that in order to find a way forward, it was incredibly important for them to understand what had happened, else who was to say it wouldn't happen again? That even if they got Bucky back, that one day they could just be sitting around eating or sleeping, and something inside him would twist and shift with potentially deadly consequences?
He frowned, pulling the conversation back around, "So what you're struggling with is if he'd be okay with you stepping back on your promise to not share his private data in light of what's happened? The flipside being that if more people were working with the data, the better chance of cracking what happened, as well as what to do next?"
Shuri nodded, "My brother defers the decision to me, but I wish for you, Ayo, and I to proceed with a unified front."
Sam found he could appreciate the sentiment of that, "You have people here that specialize in this sort of thing?" he raised his chin, gesturing towards the nearest scan.
"Not precisely," Shuri admitted, "But we have both neurologists as well as those that work in fields of artificial intelligence and bio mechanical engineering that may be able to offer fresh perspectives, given the opportunity."
Sam watched in considerate silence as JB moved closer to the holographic scans, rotating himself around them as if he was trying to do his part to help as well. The drone beeped twice as Redwing took up position beside him, "Then I'd say that's what Buck would want," Sam concluded. "Look, I obviously don't pretend to know a lot about this stuff. The sky's my thing, not medical-grade brain-stuff, but I'm certain it's gotta be helpful for you to be able to bounce theories and the like off of someone who went to school for all of this and speaks the scientific language. You're not doin' wrong by Buck to admit we could use all of whatever help we can get. He's stubborn, but he's adaptably stubborn. He'd get it."
Shuri regarded him for a moment and then nodded, as if his words solidified her decision - their decision, "Okay. That will be our way forward then."
She opened her mouth to say something else when one of the beads surrounding her wrist lit up, and she glanced down to regard it. With experienced finesse, she flicked her fingers over it and rolled her left hand palm-up, accepting the incoming transmission.
It took Sam a few seconds to process who he was seeing on account of the fashionably new glasses, grey beard, and matching grey suit.
"Everett Ross," Shuri began as a smile slipped over her face and her tone shifted to something that was both pleasant and casual, "It is good to see you. Do you have any news on what we discussed?"
Ross's holographic figure smiled, "Straight to the point as usual. Well, your request was certainly a bit outside my usual purview, but I was able to pull some strings. It seems the bag you're interested in had a way of being moved around more than a few times during The Blip. It was brought in with your guy's personal belongings as well as the items confiscated from Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson, but only some of it's traceable. If I had to guess? I think at some point the Avengers memorabilia probably made its way to private collections or eBay. Barnes's stuff is trickier. I've traced some of it to an evidence locker in Berlin, but I'm guessing more than a few hands have rifled through what's inside over the years, so I wouldn't be able to tell you if everything's intact."
Everett's holographic figure inclined his head, "Wouldn't count on it, honestly. The last time I put hands on any of it was after that breakout we had courtesy of Helmut Zemo in '16. One of our own saw fit to retrieve and apparently hand-off the shield and wings shortly thereafter, but if there were any records of anything else she took or anyone else too, it's been lost to the wind in the years since. She got a pardon recently, though, so she might be inclined to share if she knows more, assuming that's a lead you want chased."
Sharon. Sam found himself thinking.
"Perhaps another time," Shuri reasoned, "Do you need assistance retrieving his other belongings? The ones in the evidence locker you mentioned?"
Ross offered her an appreciative smile, "Since he's gotten himself a pardon, I think I should be able to manage it without any snares, but I wouldn't mind having someone help make sure the retrieval goes smoothly if you have anyone in the area, especially if they could help with travel arrangements for it afterwards," he admitted. "There are a lot of eyes on us at the moment with all that's going on in Europe, and I need to stay close to the action. I'm sure you've caught wind of what's going on in Symkaria. We're currently investigating, but there are concerns it could bleed over across the border."
Shuri nodded, "I'll ask Okoye to have one of our local contacts in Germany to get in touch with you."
He nodded and paused before considerately adding, "For what it's worth, word on the street is that Wilson and Barnes are currently indisposed while they're on a mission over in your neck of the woods." He tilted his head, lowering his voice ever-so slightly, "Not saying I need a confirmation if that's the case, but if you need anything, besides this I mean…" his voice trailed off.
"I appreciate it," Shuri responded diplomatically, and with far more non-committal poise than Sam thought he'd have been able to manage under the circumstances. "Thank you for your help. We will talk again soon, yes?"
The holographic image of Everett Ross shorted lightly and shone that knowing smile of his, as if that was precisely the response he'd anticipated from Shuri, "Of course. Send my regards to T'Challa for me."
Shuri inclined her head and ended the call, casually rolling the bead around in her fingers. Sam had a feeling there was a sizable story here between how the Princess of Wakanda had a CIA agent on speed dial doing errands at her behest, but those were questions for another time.
Well, mostly.
"Hadn't realized the two of you had crossed paths to that degree."
Shuri smirked one of those private smiles of hers, "Before Wakanda was open to the world, he intervened on a bullet meant for Nakia. Against what many considered better judgement, my brother brought him here to save his life. It was not meant as a way to endear ourselves to a member of the American CIA, but the connection has proven useful to us both. It is only a pity we were not made aware of the journals James spoke of in a more timely manner."
"Yeah, well," Sam began, "it seems he kept certain things a lot closer to the chest than either of us realized. Any reason you're looking into them now?"
Shuri snorted lightly, "If you'd believe it, it had nothing to do with this matter with Barnes. When James confided to us about the existence of the journals and backpack the other day, I realized I knew someone who might be able to help, So I reached out to Ross. I thought if he were able to track any of it down, the contents might offer James some amount of closure, since I was unsure what might be contained within them, and if he recollected all their contents. But now..." Shuri's face twisted slightly, "Assuming any of the journals can be retrieved, there is now the possibility that they may offer new insight into Barnes's present plight. Speaking of which..."
She tapped her wrist, bringing up a heads-up holographic display that Sam now recognized as a photography application, "I was thinking we might offer him another photo exchange to hold us over until we can visit later in the day, if you are feeling up to it."
Sam blinked as he felt the pressing need to clarify, "Wait, us go there?"
"If you are feeling up to it," Shuri repeated. "I would think it would be a boon for you to meet with one another under better circumstances, and for him to see you are no longer ailing nor that conscripted damage was done to your mind while under my care." She raised a hand, regarding Redwing as she added, "I have not seen him since he held you hostage and I feared, intended to throw you into the central shaft of our mine. I am hoping that if I see him firsthand, there might be more information I can glean, regardless of whether or not he will allow me to take further readings beyond what I currently have access to from his Kimoyo Bead strand."
"I'm guessing they weren't set up to provide brain scans," Sam said as a joke.
Shuri's response was less than committal, "They weren't," she admitted, temporarily closing the photography application so that she could concentrate fully on their conversation, "but I have made some minor modifications that, while far-from-comprehensive, are potentially useful. Such as I know he entered REM sleep only once last night, and not since. In the wake of what he experienced, he wished to be permitted to set alarms to avoid proper rest."
Sam snorted, "Funny how some things don't change." His eyes were drawn back to the brain scans, "You think he was doin' that song and dance since he originally escaped HYDRA? Even while he was here in Wakanda?"
"I do," Shuri admitted, "Which speaks to questions surrounding what Barnes saw."
"So he hasn't told any of them?"
Shuri shook her head, "As I said, he's shared no details, though Ayo put forth that he claimed to have seen things he recalled experiencing as well as others he did not. What exactly that entails? I do not know. So often his dreams faded quickly upon waking. I can only hope that we can build trust with him so that we might find a way forward."
Sam caught Shuri's attention shift for a moment as her smile turned melancholy. It took him a moment to trace the reason for it until he realized the music surrounding them had shifted yet again. It wasn't one of the songs from Sam's playlist nor something he took for Shuri's personal music taste, which meant…
"It was one of his favorites," Shuri stated as an animated dueling piano medley filled the lab with a lively ambiance. The swinging notes rang out clear and crisp, like a pair of pianos were just around the corner, only just out of view. "He used to play, you know. While he was here in Wakanda, and before. I remember him saying how it was something he looked forward to once he'd decided to pursue a permanently mounted prosthetic."
The truth was: Sam'd never seen the Bucky he knew play piano or bring it up. He recalled seeing an upright piano crammed in the corner of Bucky's apartment back in Brooklyn, but he'd taken it for a holdover from the previous tenant. The first time he'd caught wind of a legitimate reference was from one of the recordings that'd been left for Buck during the Decimation, the one from Nomble's late brother, M'Bahi, who'd said their mother missed playing piano with her 'second right-hand.'
...God...
Sam had so many questions for Bucky he hoped he got the opportunity to ask...
Shuri's own smile softened as she reflected, "He used his love of music as justification that he wasn't simply set on his path for further surgeries and discomfort out of obligation to Wakanda, and his insistence to one day join the Hatut Zeraze."
"Hatut Zeraze?" Sam was certain he mangled the pronunciation.
"The War Dogs," Shuri clarified. "The Wakandan secret police, much like your CIA." Something in her expression shifted as she regarded him curiously, "...He... never told you?"
"...No," Sam admitted, letting out a sigh he didn't know was hiding in his chest as he struggled to piece an awful lot together all at once, "That's what Buck meant when he said his training here wasn't complete?"
"It was not a trajectory I sought to encourage," Shuri was quick to clarify, "But one of his own stubborn insistence. Both Ayo and especially Okoye wished him to find only peace after so many years of fighting, but James desired a renewed purpose. He sought to find it in protecting those around him."
Shuri turned her full attention to Sam, and he didn't find judgement in her expression, only a very particular sort of understanding as she brought back up the photography application over her wrist again, "But I see he found that with you. And now," she added thoughtfully, "it seems, regardless of whether it is conscious or not, Barnes appears to share this sentiment as well."
I had the incredible pleasure of working with Eriot (Eriotdraws on Twitter ) on an illustration she created to go along with this chapter. Please check out this chapter on Archive of Our Own to see the art and link to her social media pages see more of her incredible art!
Simply search for: "KLeCrone Ao3 Winter of the White Wolf"
[Sam and Shuri Chapter Art by Eriot]
I had the incredible pleasure of working with Eriot (Eriotdraws on Twitter ) on an illustration she created to go along with this chapter.
I love how much story she infused into this scene, and how much personality she put into these characters. I've been trying to drop hints here and there that it wasn't the last we'd seen or heard of Redwing and JB, and it feels wonderful to finally come back around and have a scene with the two of them as well as Sam and Shuri. :)
Once again: *huge* thanks to her for bringing this particular story moment to life!
[Bucky Art by Kami]
My friend Kami (Mxaether on Twitter) recently surprised me with a piece of amazing art that corresponds with the closing events of Chapter 11: "Nucleus of the Spiral," when Ayo retrieved Bucky's arm. I just… I'm at a loss for *words* at the imagery and emotion they wove into this piece. Especially those hands. They are all so graceful and emotive and just, gaaahh! So beautiful!
It's so absolutely incredible, and I am so thankful to have them surprise me with such a treasure (and much love to Jen, HR, Yuki, CCF, Wutless, Ko, Bleed, Frog, Ixalit, and all my other Discord Nesties for being the best sorts of supporters and enablers, especially during these wild periods of rolling overtime that sometimes left me exhausted or wanting to scream into the void. You, your humor, your support, and the ongoing declarations for self-care are truly the best, and have been a continued source of light and levity in these wild times).
Kami is a creative powerhouse, and you should *absolutely* check out their art as well!
Author's Remarks:
It you're interested in checking out some of my own art and connecting with me on social media, you can find some of my social media links on Ao3.
As a heads-up, I have a short, self-contained, multi-chapter Sam and Bucky-focused story that I will be posting in mid-December (yay!). I look forward to sharing it with you when the time comes. It's meant to be separate from this story and a bit more humor and hijinks-focused all-around, so if you enjoy Sassy Sam(™), Snarky Bucky, and exceptionally curious felines, it might be up your alley of interests, keep an eye out for that! :) (There is due to be art, too!)
That said, "Winter of the White Wolf" certainly isn't going anywhere, so fear-not! I can't wait to share what's ahead (as well as some amazing guest art!) It's wild to me to think that this story just broke 300k+ words! Wow!
- Redwing and JB - Oh, we are just getting rolling with these two. You didn't think I'd give JB a name and just forget about our dear drones, did you? I can't tell you how bizarrely endearing I find the mental image of JB "waving" to Sam.
- Everett Ross - While there are loads of characters in the MCU and there isn't bandwidth to draw upon all of them, this connection to Ross was crisp and clear in my mind, and it made sense that he'd be more than happy to help given the overlap between his experiences on the Joint Counter Terrorism Task Force and in Wakanda.
- Piano - I mentioned it once before, but a while back I noticed that there is an upright piano seen in the background of Bucky's apartment in Brooklyn in TFATWS, and I love the idea he used to play the piano way back before the war.
- Training - More than once during this story Bucky has politely sidestepped clarifying what he meant by the fact he hadn't completed his "training" in Wakanda. Now you know what he intended prior to Thanos and the events of the Decimation!
As always: Thank you so much for sharing all your thoughtful comments, kudos, and kind words of support on this ongoing story. I've had a love of overtime lately, and it's wonderful to have my own little "oasis" in the company of all of you. I hope this update finds you well, and thank you for continuing to join me on this journey. :)