[oom] see right through my walls

[nerves_of_ice]

As T'Challa stares at the hologram in the palm of his hand, he can already feel the headache forming. "She what? No. Never mind. Bring her to me in the throne room, when she arrives. I will deal with her myself."

He clears the image, then taps the Kimoyo Bead again. "Nakia. I need you."

* * * * * * * * *

"You cannot be serious."

"I don't see why this is a problem. You brought Everett Ross here--"

"Ross was dying! And he was never allowed to know that the man he was seeking was here! Nakia, I have made a promise to protect him."

"She is not a threat. Not to him."

"I will be the judge of that."

Nakia throws up her hands. "Fine. You will see. I hope it does not bother you that I stay and watch?"

T'Challa smiles. "Of course not."

Comments

[nerves_of_ice]

"Oh, very clever," Shuri laughs. "We got rid of those old clothes, but did not take the boots."

Two of the Dora fall in behind them at a distance; evidently no one's ready to fully trust the visitor with the Princess of Wakanda. Shuri doesn't seem to even notice.

"Did he know? He must not have."

She says it with confidence, as if there's no way Bucky would have hidden such a thing from her.

[from_the_outside]

"I don't think so."

She clocks the two Dora, but doesn't let it affect either her step or her voice. Now the laugh is perfectly audible in her tone. "I thought he might find one, but probably not all of them."

Were there only three? Sharon's not telling. "Besides, if he'd found them, he would have already found a way to yell at me about it."

She says that fondly, and she takes a second to recognize that fond is probably the wrong tone to take with this subject, but doesn't care enough to hide it.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Yell? No." Shuri sounds disbelieving. "Surely not."

She leads the way out over green grass and open fields, headed towards a distant lake backed by a stand of trees. As they draw closer, a few small cottages fade into view.

"Does he yell? Normally, I mean."

[from_the_outside]

There's a light flicker of a frown between Sharon's brows, but she passes it off as being sensitive to the sudden sunlight.

(It's not...what she'd expected. Not that she'd known what to expect.)

Bust she keeps any observations to herself and laughs at Shuri's question. "Only in the sense that he gets very quiet and intensely disappointed in you and all your life decisions up to the current point, and probably some after," she says, amused.

Or maybe that's just with her?

"So maybe less yelling and more getting annoyed because he thinks he's the only one who can make accurate risk assessments."

The air is so fresh and clear; she takes a deep breath, looking around. "It's so beautiful here. I had no idea. Nakia always said it was, but..."

She shrugs. "You know. Nobody outside Wakanda has any real idea what it's like."

[nerves_of_ice]

"That is going to change," Shuri tells her, openly amused. "The world will soon learn just how wrong they have been about Wakanda all along. Although visitors may still be rare. We have no need of colonizers here."

As they draw closer, the sounds of children laughing and yelling can be heard, carrying easily on the clear air. There are three or four of them, small figures that appear to be playing tag with several goats, jumping back and forth around a much taller figure who is standing like a tree perfectly still in the middle of the chaos.

Shuri puts a hand on Sharon's arm and draws her to a stop. "Remember," she warns. "As I said. He is still healing."

[from_the_outside]

"Honestly, that's more than fair."

That amused shadow plays around her mouth again, and her eyes are bright as she watches, thinking of an evening over two months ago now, and Gene Kelly tap-dancing in the rain.

Good. He deserves as much joy in his life as the world can offer.

She comes to a halt at Shuri's touch and meets her gaze openly, listening before she nods. "I know," she says, soft. "I'm just glad he's finally getting a chance to start healing at all. I'll be careful, Princess, I promise."

She reaches for Shuri's hand and gives it a quick, reassuring squeeze. "Thank you for helping him. Now..."

Letting go, she tips her head in the direction of all this happy chaos with a flashing smile of her own. "What's with the goats?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"I will hold you to that," Shuri tells her. "I am fond of this broken white boy."

She looks at the tiny herd, the laughing children, and smiles.

"He needs to re-learn that he can bring life instead of death," she says. "Goats need care. He can give it."

[from_the_outside]

Sharon smiles over at the little group, too, eyes warm. "So am I."

There had been a few times over the last six weeks when she'd debated doing this, when she'd crafted argument after argument for why he should see her if this turned out to be a bad surprise instead of a pleasant one, but...

She's not worried about it anymore.

"He can," she confirms. "I've seen it." She gives Shuri a crooked half-grin.

"Shall we?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"Have you." Shuri's answering grin is delighted. "Well then. Come on."

She walks toward them, and as they get close enough, calls out,

"You children! Have I not told you not to bother this man?" From the way the children laugh and scatter in response to her mock scolding, they've heard it more than once and aren't repentant at all.

Bucky's protesting, mildly, as he turns to Shuri. "They're not bothering me--"

His words cut off as he sees that Shuri's not alone, and he freezes into absolute immobility, staring at Sharon.

[from_the_outside]

She stands a little ways apart, watching with dancing eyes and an irrepressible smile, right hand tucked into the hollow of her shoulder, holding onto the backpack strap.

"Please," she says, holding up her left hand, unable to quit smiling and feeling no desire whatsoever to try. "Don't let me interrupt."

God, he looks – he looks good. Healthy. Some color in his face. She notices, belatedly, the empty space at his left side, but her eyes don't linger on it. In fact, she's having a hard time looking away from his face long enough to notice anything else at all.

Her smile widens into a grin. "Hi."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Hi," he answers, almost numbly, still staring. "Sharon. What--"

Something seems to strike him, and his glance cuts sharply to Shuri, who's looking very pleased with herself.

"I brought you a present!" she informs him.

[from_the_outside]

Sharon presses her lips together hard, but the laugh is clear in her eyes and her dimpled cheeks.

"Yep," she agrees, and it's there in her voice, too. "That's what this is. A present."

[nerves_of_ice]

She's happy, bright and shining in the sun, and the cold fear that had gripped him begins to dissipate at the sight.

Steve's okay. She's not here to bring him the most unthinkable news that he could imagine. She wouldn't be smiling, if she were.

But then why...?

"I don't understand," he says, slowly.

[from_the_outside]

She shifts the backpack up and off her shoulder to show it to him.

"I brought your things. Sorry it took a while, my resources have been a little limited."

[nerves_of_ice]

He stares at it without seeming to recognize it.

"My...things?"

"Bucky." Shuri's tone has shifted now, into something more gentle. "Bucky."

He looks away from Sharon, to Shuri, and waits for her to continue.

(Ready to comply-- no. No. Not that. Never that. Not ever again.)

"Sharon came to visit you." Still gentle, still kind. "But you do not have to see her, unless you choose. What do you want?"

His glance flicks immediately back to Sharon, and stays. He can't seem to find his voice.

[from_the_outside]

Her smile turns rueful but it doesn't vanish; she only looks steadily back at him, reaching up to tuck back a few loose golden curls when they threaten to blow across her face.

"That was the deal," she agrees. "If you want me to go away, I will."

[nerves_of_ice]

"No." Immediate, without thought or the need for consideration. "Stay."

He looks past Sharon, searching for something, then back at her face.

"Steve isn't--?"

[from_the_outside]

It's her turn to look confused; she glances back over her own shoulder like maybe he was seeing something she'd missed, then turns back to frown at him, bewildered.

"Steve?"

She has no idea where he even is. Doing all right wherever that is, she hopes, but – "I haven't seen Steve since Leipzig."

She's searching his face, a little bemused, a little crestfallen. "Just me today, I'm afraid. Sorry."

[nerves_of_ice]

Absolute confusion blossoms over his features. "You haven't? But--"

He breaks off there and glances to Shuri, who nods in response to the question in his eyes. "We will call him," she says. "At the usual time, so as not to alarm him. Unless...?"

Bucky shakes his head. "No. No, that's okay. Thanks."

He looks immediately back at Sharon, as if afraid she'll disappear if he doesn't. Very, very softly: "Don't apologize."

[from_the_outside]

Her smile flickers back into existence, and she nods when he meets her eyes again. "Okay."

It comes out quieter than she'd meant it to; her throat is thick with all the things she's never had any idea how to say.

She flicks a glance to Shuri, then sets the backpack down and sinks to a knee in the grass to open it, looking back up at him as she does. "Do you want to see what I brought?"

[nerves_of_ice]

He nods, then looks to Shuri, who shakes her head.

"Nakia vouched for you," she says to Sharon, "and since I don't think you are going to do anything stupid, I am going to go back and reassure my brother that there is nothing to worry about, including tracking devices."

For some reason, she looks very smug at that. To Bucky, she adds,

"I will see you later. She can stay as long as you want."

He nods again, and takes a step toward Sharon.

[from_the_outside]

Sharon grins at that, and reaches up to offer a fist bump. "I get the feeling he's not going to be my biggest fan anyway," she says, breezy. "But no more surprises. Cross my heart.

"Thanks, Shuri. Tell Nakia I'll check in with her later, okay?"

[nerves_of_ice]

Shuri returns the gesture and an answering grin. "My brother is an honorable man. He will be fine," she says. "I will tell her. Enjoy your visit!"

She gives them both a cheerful smile and starts back the way they came, the Dora following after her.

Bucky's eyes narrow.

"What happened with T'Challa?"

[from_the_outside]

"He didn't want me to see you. I disagreed."

She won. Eventually. She shifts her weight to the left and sits on her hip, letting her legs curl into the fragrant grass, backpack between her hands, and looks up at him, warm and pleased. "Can't say I've ever argued with a king before, but honestly it was only a matter of time."

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky hesitates only for a moment before coming around to sit on the grass at her right, not too close.

"Why didn't--"

He doesn't need to ask that question, he realizes. He can guess.

"--mmph." He raises his eyebrows as another question occurs. "Tracking devices?"