WWWHHAATTT? A mid week update?

Dedicating this mid week update to hubby, who is coming home from his bush trip today and needed something to read on the bus. I pumped out the editing on this chapter to try and beat him to it. He's currently on chapter 20 so I got to hurry.

Thanks to everyone who has followed and reviewed, I would usually put in extended thank yous etc but I've got to beat him!

AAAHHHH!

Enjoy

xo

Chapter 21

Awakening

The darkness gradually began to lift from the dreamless sleep. Feeling slowly began to return to his extremities and he felt warmth seeping into his body. As his body regained its warmth, memories began to cycle through his mind.

Saying goodbye to Steve at the Stark expo before shipping out to Europe.

Tortured and experimented on after being captured by HYDRA in Germany.

Rescued by Captain America, who turned out to be his best friend Steve Rogers, after undergoing an enhancement, and his first thought being that he seemed taller.

Falling from the train in the Austrian Alps, seeing his best friend's distraught face and outstretched hand, but being unable to reach it.

Waking up as he was dragged through the snow by soviet soldiers, his blood tainting the bright white snow, with a red trail.

Regaining consciousness on an operating table, several doctors looking over him and finding an unfamiliar metal prosthetic attached to his shoulder, before trying to fight his way free from the doctor's cold grasps, before being knocked out again.

Performing mission after mission in aid of HYDRA, every target, every face.

Killing Howard Stark and his wife, hearing the ragged breathing of fear and sickening crack of bone breaking.

His last mission for HYDRA, trying to kill Steve.

Steve looking up at him, telling him he would be with him 'til the end of the line' as the Helicarrier they were on was crashing down around them.

Pulling Steve from the lake.

Dark brown eyes, a warm smile and long blonde hair surrounding exotic features. The sound of a contagious laugh ringing through the air, as a sunset basked them in orange light.

The feel of strong, yet feminine, arms wrapping around his waist and the sweet smell of fresh flowers mixed with vanilla.

He opened his eyes slowly, giving them a moment to adjust to his dimly lit surrounds. He took a deep breath, considering the onslaught of memories that had seemed to rush through his mind.

Taking a moment to calm his anxiety which was starting to peak, he began to try and decipher his thoughts. He didn't know how long it had been since he went under, but he sure hoped the Wakandan teen he had met before going under had figured out a way to fix him.

He began to try and move his hands and feet, feeling them brush against the linen on the bed he was on. There was the sound of movement to his left, and he was immediately on edge.

"Steve..." came a familiar, soft and feminine voice, which strangely, calmed him straight away. He turned to try and see the face of the owner, but the light from outside the window she was seated before, cast shadows across her face.

To his right there was the sound of someone standing and moving towards him. "Bucky?"

It felt like an eternity since he'd heard that name. He turned to see his friend looking down on him, a worried expression on his face. "Steve?" His friend no longer gave the impression of the clean cut soldier he knew. He seemed to have aged, a beard covering most of his face and his hair looked shaggier than he remembered.

"Welcome back, Buck." Steve smiled, placing a hand on Bucky's shoulder. Bucky looked around quickly, he was obviously in a hospital room, from his vague memories, in the hospital wing of the Wakandan laboratory. He tried to recall why he remembered that detail, but it was fuzzy at best.

Steve glanced across the room and smiled at the other visitor. Bucky followed his gaze to the person sitting in front of the window, furrowing his brow as he tried to make out their face from the shadows.

They stood up and stepped towards the bed, dark brown eyes gazing down at his and a warm smile crossing her exotic features as she appeared from the shadows. "Bout time, Bucky," she teased.

He took in her face for a moment, letting his eyes adjust before smiling back at her. "Sorry, took a bit to thaw out, I guess." She shook her head slightly as she rolled her eyes, still maintaining a crooked smile, before quickly turning to leave the room.

He watched her leave before looking questioningly at Steve. "She was told to let Shuri know as soon as you regained consciousness," he explained, before helping Bucky to sit up. Sure enough, within moments of leaving, she returned, with Shuri in tow.

"Ah, Sergeant Barnes, it is good to see you awake," the Wakandan teen greeted with a smile. Lex moved to stand to one side again, as Shuri set to work, taking his observations.

He looked to Lex again, who was watching Shuri work with a calm expression. She didn't seem different, apart from her hair. Her long blonde hair was gone, replaced with short black hair, which accentuated her exotic features, giving her high cheek bones more of a sharpness to them, and her lips appeared fuller.

Bucky looked between Steve, Lex and Shuri, noting that they all seemed somewhat different. Shuri seemed even more mature than he remembered, she wasn't full of constant chatter when she worked like he had encountered before being cryogenically frozen. As for Lex, she seemed to have picked up an extra scar or two on her face as well as her changed hair style, and Steve definitely seemed weary and aged.

"How long have I been under?" he asked warily, looking around the room at them all.

Lex raised an eyebrow. "Only a couple of months," Lex replied in a nonchalant manner, before grinning slyly. "What, you want to know if we're getting around in hovering cars and skateboards as a normal occurrence or something?"

Bucky furrowed his brow in confusion. If it had only been months since he had gone under, what on earth had happened in that time?

"Oh, but we already did that before he went under..." Shuri said, looking at Lex pointedly.

Lex blinked at Shuri, before looking at her in disbelief. "And no one told me this because?"

"You never asked," was Shuri's wry reply.

Lex rolled her eyes and Bucky couldn't help but chuckle, it was good to see although her appearance had changed, she was still the same Lex. He glanced at Steve, who seemed somewhat annoyed at Lex's nonchalant behaviour. He folded his arms across his chest before speaking. "How is he, Shuri?"

"Hmm? Oh, he's fine, as I expected. It will probably take him a couple of hours to be up to moving much though, well, if Lex's recovery times are any indication, because that's what I'm working off of right now."

Steve seemed satisfied with the answer and looked at Bucky with a smile. "Glad to have you back, pal."

Bucky smiled warmly back at his friend before looking to Shuri. "So you figured out how to fix me?"

Shuri smiled at Bucky. "Yes, Lex has been doing some... umm..." her smile faltered and she trailed off, looking hesitantly at Lex.

"I went and did some digging," Lex answered easily, looking completely unaffected in comparison to Shuri. Bucky could have sworn that, although Lex seemed completely relaxed with telling him, the mood in the room seemed to tense. He glanced at Steve and couldn't help but notice he seemed to glare furtively at Lex when he thought Bucky wasn't looking. What had Lex done?

"You don't need to worry about that, Shuri's going to sort you out," Steve said quietly, focusing his attention back on Bucky.

"Yes, leave it to me, we should probably let you rest a little though, I'll come and speak to you again soon," Shuri looked pointedly at the two other super soldiers. "Come on, you two."

Lex seemed to scowl at Steve slightly, but followed him and Shuri out of the room, closing the door behind her, leaving him to ponder what was going on between his two friends.

Once they were out of the medical wing of the lab, Steve turned to look at Lex. "I'm not sure it's the best idea to be telling him how you came across that information, Lex."

It had been bothering him since he had found out what she had done. Sure, the results had been great, but Steve was certain that Bucky wouldn't be happy that Lex had put herself in danger by first leaving the safety of Wakanda, then by sneaking into the SHIELD building.

Heck, it didn't sit well with him that Lex had put herself at danger of being caught by either the UN Security Council or worse, HYDRA, to get that information.

Lex narrowed her eyes at him, giving him a deathly glare. "Now, listen here, Steve. I realise you've got some ridiculously strong urge to protect everyone, but it's seriously misplaced with me." She took a few short steps towards him until she was barely a few inches from his face; her eyes staring coldly back into his. "I'm one of the most dangerous people getting around in the world, right now. You'd do well to remember that."

Steve didn't back down from the angry woman, instead, looking her straight back with his own steely gaze. "And you'd do well to remember that there are other people in the world that worry about you. Not just me."

He noted the deathly glare she held him with faltered slightly, and she seemed surprised. He did his best not to grin. It wasn't often you could make Lex hesitate or falter, so to achieve that was certainly a sight to see.

She was quick to cover her surprise with a scowl, stepping away from him and moving to sit beside a work bench, throwing him a final glare before picking up some papers and beginning to read.

Steve smirked to himself, before looking to see Shuri glancing between the two of them, a curious look on her face. Steve gave her a small smile before moving to look out the windows of the lab. "So this is where your vibranium comes from?"

"Yes, this is known as The Great Mound," Shuri explained, walking to stand beside him. "All of our vibranium comes from here, and we use it in nearly everything we produce."

Steve nodded, watching as a train sped by down below. It looked all very high tech, nothing like what he was used to. He became nostalgic, remembering the shield that had been given to him especially by Howard Stark, and then taken from him by Tony Stark.

Steve sighed, putting his hands in his pockets and turning to look back in the lab. He found that it was only him and Lex left, and she was looking straight at him. "What?"

"That's what I should be asking you," she replied wryly, tilting her head to one side and pinning him with an expectant look on her face. "You're not yourself, Steve."

He frowned, looking at her sceptically. "You barely even know me, I'm not sure you're the one to judge if I'm myself or not."

She raised both eyebrows and a small smirk played on her lips. "I rest my case. I take it being turned on by your country is taking its toll?"

Steve stared at her for a moment, trying to get his head around her words for a moment. They had a strange affect on him, like being cut straight into his heart, a dull pain resonating through his chest. "What?"

She smiled sympathetically. "On the money, it seems." She leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms across her chest. "You know, out of all of us, Bucky is the lucky one. He doesn't have the memories of being turned against like we do."

He raised his eyebrows and scoffed. "I don't see how you figure that."

"Oh, I know, he's got some nightmarish memories. I heard him screaming in his apartment some nights," she said in an offhand manner with a wave of her hand. Steve felt a pang of sadness wash over him, hearing that his friend battled his demons in his sleep. "But YOU were Captain America, and now America is after you. For what?"

Steve pressed his lips together. She was saying exactly what he had been thinking for weeks now. He had done everything that had been asked of him, he had fought for his country, had crashed the Valkyrie into the ocean to save the world, not just the US. He had been frozen for seventy years as a result, but now, for many, he was considered a fugitive.

He couldn't consider himself Captain America anymore.

She offered an apologetic smile. "Ah, what am I saying. Once a soldier, always a soldier. Right? Always fighting for the righteousness and all that." She pulled a face as she spoke her last words.

He narrowed his eyes at her as she sighed and looked back to the papers before her. "And what about you?"

She gave him a sidelong glance, raising an eyebrow, but not turning away from her work. "What about me?"

"Who turned against you?" While she could irritate him to no end with her nonchalant attitude and malevolent tendencies, he was curious who she felt slighted by.

She pursed her lips and tilted her head to one side, before smiling lightly. "They say blood is thicker than water... but I'm inclined to disagree." She turned her attention back to the paperwork she had been reading, not elaborating further than that, and he wondered what she meant.

He decided to try a different tact. "T'challa told me you came back to Wakanda to fight for him, even after Shuri told you not to," he said, smirking. He saw her balk and scowl. He was not ashamed to admit that getting one over the sometimes malevolent female super soldier left him with a sense of satisfaction. "Seems like that tough loner act is slowly giving way to your sense of humanity."

"Hmph," was her curt reply. She continued flicking through the paperwork, although Steve could see she wasn't really focused on what she was reading. He began to grin, going to walk past her as he moved to leave the lab and check on Bucky. "Don't get too excited, I owed him one."

Steve continued walking, stopping beside her and leaning towards her ear. "Sure, but I'm pretty certain you stopped owing him one when you pulled him out of the river, Lex." He continued walking; pretty certain he could hear her eye roll as he left.

Bucky was finally allowed to leave his room and walk around the lab, after twenty four hours of observations. There was a lot he wanted to ask Shuri about how she planned to help him, whether or not he could understand her was another story though. Most importantly, he wanted to speak to Lex, to find out how she had found out the information necessary to help Shuri, and whether or not that information had revealed what had happened to her.

He sensed that it had to have something to do with her changed appearance, but he knew he had to find out from her directly. Steve had tried to cut her off repeatedly whenever any discussion had looked to cover her activities while he was out of action. The thought of why Steve might want to hide that information made him slightly anxious.

Steve had already left Wakanda, being unable to stay long as he was still on the run with Romanoff and Sam. Bucky felt guilty when Steve had mentioned their efforts to stay one step ahead of the Security Council, but as always, his friend had told him, that for his best friend, it was worth it.

He found Lex standing in a hallway talking to one of the Dora Milaje, the King's personal guard unit. The tall woman didn't quite stand as tall as Lex, but he could see she would still hold quite an intimidating presence as she turned to look at him.

"Bucky, how are you feeling?" Lex asked, noticing him approaching them. She was dressed casually, wearing a pair of black track pants that fitted her well enough to show her curves, a cropped camouflage print hoodie and a white shirt that poked out beneath it. It was quite a contrast beside the Dora who stood beside her, a spear in hand and dressed in her uniform, looking very rigid and tense.

"Pretty good, for someone who just thawed out twenty four hours ago," he replied stopping in front of them. His gaze shifted to the Wakandan woman.

"Oh, this is Okoye, General of the King's Dora Milaje," Lex introduced. Okoye nodded her head once, but didn't say anything to him, turning to look back at Lex.

"I must speak to the King, and let him know. Be sure to see me before you leave."

Okoye bowed her head slightly towards Lex, then himself before leaving them.

Bucky furrowed his brow and looked at Lex, who was gazing at him expectantly. "Leave?"

"Mhmmm, I'll be leaving once the first phase of your rehabilitation is complete. They want me here for the first test," she replied in an offhand manner, beginning to walk down the hall. She motioned for him to follow as she ambled past him.

He felt his chest tighten slightly at her words, an odd sensation for him at simple words. He was so stunned he didn't begin to follow her straight away, until she stopped and looked back at him, furrowing her brow at him. "Why?"

"Uh, because they need someone who can actually beat you, just in case, duh." She rolled her eyes and began walking again as he hurried to walk with her.

"No, I mean, why are you leaving?" he corrected, falling in step beside her easily.

"Oh, that. Yeah, it just feels like it's time," she answered with a shrug. He couldn't help but feel like that wasn't the reason, and she was keeping something from him, especially when she wouldn't look at him, watching the ground as they walked. "Anyway, did you want something? You looked like you were looking for someone?"

"Actually, I wanted to ask you what you found out," he answered, deciding not to press her about why she was leaving. It seemed like something that made her tense, which wasn't something he was used to seeing from her.

She smirked knowingly, and he couldn't help but feel like there was meaning behind it, but she was quick to speak before he could ask. "Ah, well, Shuri and I were looking into my injection, and we found out Steve and I were both injected by formulas created by the same man."

Bucky furrowed his brow. "What?"

"Yeah, Dr Abraham Erskine created the formula that was injected in both Steve and I, but mine wasn't the final product. Oh, and he also didn't approve of my injection either. It was stolen," she explained, leading him outside to a small room that led off from the main lab.

She opened the door and ushered him in, before following and shutting the door behind her. Inside the room, a wall was covered with pictures and files. Lex reached for something on her wrist and a projection appeared on the wall as well, with writing coinciding with the pictures and files.

"You've been very busy," he murmured, moving forward to look at the files.

"You have no idea," she muttered as she leaned against a wall, folding her arms across her chest. He glanced back at her; she seemed very casual about the whole thing.

"So, how come Steve doesn't have the extra component in his blood tests?" Bucky asked, leaning forward to look at the blood tests that were projected in front of him.

"As I said, my injection wasn't the final product. From what I can guess, as there's no real information from Erskine available directly, he realised that something in the original formula made the tests subjects highly...volatile, and aggressive." He looked back at her with concern and she grinned malevolently. "Explains a bit, huh?"

"You're not that bad," he muttered in reply, annoyed that she thought that way about herself.

She rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Anyway, between Steve and I, he came to the US and altered the formula, which is why star spangled pretty boy doesn't have that extra component," she explained. In the way she spoke, Bucky couldn't help but notice a tone of annoyance when she mentioned Steve. Something had obviously happened between them and he was growing more curious by the second.

"Okay, but what was it?" he asked, deciding not to bring up Steve, and trying to find any information on the wall about it, or about her own injection. When she didn't answer straight away, he looked back at her again. He was stunned to find her looking slightly dejected. "Lex?"

"We don't know. Any information on that exact component is no where we can find. It's possible he took that to his grave with him," she explained, before looking grave. "Or, HYDRA has it."

He frowned at the thought, before looking back at the information before him. He noticed a section off to one side, the label above it read 'Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes' he furrowed his brow and began to read, moving closer to the wall, seeing lots of information that seemed to coincide with his time in Germany before Steve rescued him from Arnim Zola and Red Skull.

Lex moved to stand beside him, the pleasant smell of vanilla and fresh flowers wafting across him and having him take a deep breath.. "I found a lot more information on you while I was trying to find out about me," she murmured, touching some medical notes that were tacked to the wall.

Something about the amount of information Lex had gathered on him began to bother him. How did she find this, and where? This was all information from World War Two, from before he became the Winter Soldier, before he had even joined forces with Steve and the other Howling Commandos.

He turned to look at Lex. "How..."

"I took a trip to New York, and then to Europe," she replied in an offhand manner, waving her hand as if it was nothing at all.

Bucky stared at her, clenching his fists as he felt himself getting angry. "You left Wakanda?"

She turned to face him, looking him pointedly in the eye and folding her arms across her chest again. "You mean, thank you. Don't you go getting all stupid on me too." She pinned him with a fierce stare, her black hair falling around her face as she leaned forward slightly; her expression darkening. "I did what I had to do for me, it just so happened I found more information on you."

"You could have been caught!" he retorted in annoyance.

"I wasn't, and even if I was, it wouldn't be the first time I've gotten myself out of a tight situation," she replied rolling her eyes again and unfolding her arms, shoving them in her pockets. She looked away, an annoyed expression spreading across her face.

It just made Bucky angrier. The last thing he wanted was for Lex to get caught after she spent so long on the run. If HYDRA or the Security Council were to find her, he could never forgive himself. He grit his teeth and clenched his fists, looking to the ground. She was here, because of him. Because he got involved with her and now all her hard work to stay under the radar since she escaped the Red Room and HYDRA was unravelling, and now she was risking being captured. For what?

He felt her gaze on him and looked up to meet her dark brown eyes. "Don't do that."

He was caught by surprise by her soft voice, his anger quickly ebbing away as he stared into the depths of her dark brown eyes. He looked at her in confusion. "What?"

"Don't go feeling guilty for me. It's written all over your face. I don't need your guilt, Bucky. Or your pity. You've got enough problems as it is, don't add mine to it," she said sternly, her face appearing emotionless, although he saw sadness in her eyes, even though it was fleeting.

"But..."

"Don't. It's bad enough your best buddy Steve gave me hell for doing what needed to be done. I can take care of myself; I chose to go after this information for me. Finding out some information to help you, was just a lucky coincidence that I was more than happy to take." She sighed, shaking her head and a crooked smile graced her lips, although he noticed it never touched her eyes like it usually would. "You boys, you're all the same, even if they messed with your head, still trying to be the knight in shining armour. I hate to tell you this, but I'm the dragon, not the damsel."

Bucky stared at her in surprise, taken aback by her jab at him. He would never have considered himself a knight in shining armour, but for some reason when she said it, he couldn't help but feel a sense of pride. Perhaps it was because it meant that there was still a part of the old Bucky there, deep down inside him.

She moved to leave the room, but stopped and looked around at the information. "Just so you know, I chose to stop looking for the answers about me, I've decided it's safer for the world if we don't know, please don't even consider digging while I'm gone. Shuri already knows how I feel about this, and trust me; she thinks I'm way scarier than you." She winked before leaving him alone, shutting the door behind her.

I'm a bit proud of this chapter. I'd hit a wall of writer's block, and gone off to smash out some hectic chapters for 'Forgotten' but then I realised I had been neglecting this one and smashed out this in a day.

So, bub, when you read this..you better appreciate it! Ha!

xo

Krayzee