[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]

"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?"

[from_the_outside]

"Mmm."

She pauses, the backpack still closed between her hands, and looks thoughtfully at the sky. "Boots," she lists, "jacket, pants...I had to have some way to be able to get this stuff back to you, didn't I?"

She does not look ashamed of herself at all.

[nerves_of_ice]

His mouth drops open slightly as he stares at her, but no words come out. After a moment, he shakes his head, huffing out a soft breath, and looks down at the grass.

"You could have mailed it," he observes.

[from_the_outside]

"I could have."

She rests her hands on top of the backpack and tips her head to look at him. "But then I wouldn't have gotten to see you."

He's not looking at her; she takes advantage of that fact and allows herself to study his face, the expression on her own something sore and happy and complicated all at the same time.

She hasn't been this close to him since that night on the rooftop.

(She doesn't count...the cafeteria.)

"You look good," she says, softly. "How do you feel?"

[nerves_of_ice]

To see him?

He doesn't ask. He's not sure he dares.

"Better," he admits, with a quick sideways glance in her direction. "Still getting used to things, though."

[from_the_outside]

Her smile quirks, and she nods. "Well," she says, and exaggerates looking around at the lake, the fields, the cottages, the calm openness of it all. "Seems like you have plenty of time to work on that."

She looks back at him, smile flashing wider. "Okay, let's see what we've got here."

Opening the backpack up, she starts taking items out, laying them on the grass so he can take a look as she does. "Some clothes...and a baseball cap..."

Neatly folded; she sets them down and pulls out a number of journals, many with marked pages. "I didn't read them," she promises as she hands them over.

There's more in the pack, but she for the moment she pauses to watch his reaction.

[nerves_of_ice]

Slowly, he reaches out his hand and rests it on the stack of journals. His thumb drifts back and forth over the cover, lightly, taking in the texture.

"I thought these were in the hands of some analyst."

[from_the_outside]

She sucks at her teeth and raises her eyebrows, shaking her head like she just can't explain it, what a mystery, and watches his thumb move back and forth.

Airily: "Well, they were...liberated."

Who knows how? The world is full of unexplained phenomena.

[nerves_of_ice]

"So I see."

He looks up at her, and doesn't look away.

"Thank you."