[oom] the wilderness gave it to me and the wilderness will not let it go

[nerves_of_ice]

He chooses both the day and the time with care, drifting up by the practice yards of the Dora to speak first with Ayo and then with Okoye in the same morning. In the afternoon he visits Shuri at the lab, later than usual, and delays after fitting and testing the latest prototype to discuss the upcoming surgery. It's no hardship to consider - compared to everything that's come before, it's nothing. Bucky's pretty sure that Shuri knows he feels that way, but it doesn't stop her from wanting to be sure in her planning and his preparations, and he's unwilling to protest the care that she wants to take.

The carefully calculated timing means that he's just finishing up when T'Challa arrives. The other man looks exhausted around the eyes, he notices. Bucky dips his head in a respectful nod and starts to withdraw, only for T'Challa to wave him to a standstill as he asks Shuri about upgraded surveillance devices for the borderlands. He'd expected him to do exactly that, but it's good to have been right, and being able to listen to their conversation gives him the opening he needs. Shuri goes down the hall to fetch something, leaving the two of them alone together, and Bucky meets the other man's eyes.

"Things aren't getting any better, are they." It's not a question. Not really. T'Challa shakes his head. "No. They are not," he agrees. "And there are not enough of us to guard all approaches. I am hoping these--" He goes to Shuri's workbench and stares down at the range of equipment there. "--will make the difference. Or at least buy time."

Bucky nods. "You told me before that you wouldn't ask for my aid unless Wakanda or the world was in dire danger," he reminds him. "That doesn't mean I can't offer."

T'Challa goes very, very still before turning to look at him. "White Wolf."

"This isn't like before," he says, quietly. He has to convince him. He has to. "It's not the same. This is about protection. Send me. Let me help."

He holds himself steady while T'Challa searches his face, and sees in the other man's eyes the moment when Wakanda's king makes his decision.

* * * * * * *

Half an hour later, Bucky leaves the train and heads into the Citadel instead of back to the hut by the lake.

Comments

[from_the_outside]

She's grateful now for all the time she's spent running around with the kids and training in Shuri's lab, because she's as fit as she's ever been and she can cover the distance at a run, Zara fleet beside her.

It's still not fast enough. She can't run like Bucky can, like T'Challa can, and she hears the unmistakable sounds of combat well before she and Zara are in anything like range.

We're coming, she thinks, her breath straining in her chest. We're coming.

[nerves_of_ice]

Shouts go up from the distant pod, tangled in the net. Three of those in the middle escaped its grasp, and while one tries to untangle his companions the other two go running to help the far group.

Bucky's too busy with the first five to do anything about it. It's harder when you're trying not to kill your opponents. He takes a hard blow to the gut that knocks him back to the ground, then rolls to his feet and whirls around in a spinning kick that sends two of them sprawling, and strikes with his left hand at a third.

[from_the_outside]

"Zara – " Sharon snaps, and the Dora breaks off to deal with the poacher trying to free his compatriots while Sharon reaches for a small baton strapped to her thigh. A snap and the baton expands into a blunted version of the javelins she'd used in the Jabari lands; she takes a hop-skip and flings it at one of the running figures, hitting him square in the back and sending him toppling to the ground.

She sees a chaotic cluster nearby that's Bucky taking on a group of the poachers, but she can't stop to help, needs to take care of the last runner before he gets to the other group.

The problem with it is that she's at range and lacks her best ranged weapons, but the poacher has no such compunctions. She throws herself into a flat roll as he tries to line up a shot, then flings a small vibranium ball his way and shuts her eyes as it explodes in a shower of blinding, glittering light. At the man's agonized yells, she digs in and runs for him as he tries to blink his eyes clear, pushing off at the last second to land her foot directly into his gut and knock him to the ground.

[nerves_of_ice]

Myela comes in at the run and uses her spear to whirl the net tighter around the furthest pod, then slams the blade of her spear with the net into the ground and activates the built-in spikes. As the net seals itself to the earth, poachers inside, she reclaims her spear and goes through the process of disarming them as Cedi races in to join Zara.

Two of the five Bucky's fighting are down, now, and a third leaps onto his back, trying to choke him out from behind. It's a very poor move on his part, as Bucky rips the man free and flings him forward over his shoulder into the remaining two.

[from_the_outside]

Sharon doesn't kill her momentum; she lets it carry her past the downed man to the other, now struggling to get up after the hit he'd taken from her javelin. She grabs the short staff from the ground and thwacks him in the jaw with it before he can gain his feet, then throws herself at the other man with a flurry of strikes.

The nets are secured; she glances at the Dora and then takes off for Bucky and the three he's engaged with at a run, her muscles screaming and breath ragged in her chest.

[nerves_of_ice]

He sees a blur of motion at the edge of his vision and moves with alacrity. One of the remaining poachers screams in agony as Bucky breaks his arm before he can get a shot off, then slams him to the ground and stalks forward to the remaining two.

[from_the_outside]

She's not quicker than he is and never will be, but even pushed to the edge she can still move fast.

And her javelin can move faster. She pauses long enough to fling it at one of the two poachers Bucky's headed towards and follows at a headlong run to finish the job – unless Bucky gets there first.

[nerves_of_ice]

The javelin spears the poacher through the shoulder as Zara and Cedi finish with the second group. Bucky focuses on the other, bringing him down with a series of well-placed blows.

[from_the_outside]

Sharon's right behind her thrown weapon; she grabs the javelin and deals a blow to the nerve that runs along the man's jaw, knocking him cold – and maybe knocking a few teeth loose, too.

Once she's sure he's out and that Bucky has more than held his own, she kneels to bind him as the Dora do the same with the other groaning, miserable poachers.

Her breathless smile is a quick flash of white teeth. "Hope you don't mind us crashing your party," she says, and swallows hard against the coppery feel of exertion in her chest.

[nerves_of_ice]

He spits at her, but it falls short. Bucky yanks the last poacher up and straps the bonds around his wrists, behind his back, then dumps him in the dirt and goes to secure the others. All secure, he sends, with the tap code.

Ayo's voice comes through transmission in response clear as a bell. "Here as well. We have many fools to bring before the king's justice today."

[from_the_outside]

Sharon rises, tapping at her Kimoyo beads before Toro's voice comes through. "We are secure," she assures Sharon, who smiles; the Dora sounds just a little disappointed.

"If they try this shit again I'm recommending you both for the front team," she says. "Good job. Thanks for holding the last territory."

Once they've made plans to rendezvous, Sharon collapses her javelin and stores it against the thigh of her white suit, then gives the bound poacher a nudge with her toe in the kidney for good measure. He groans and she smiles, sugar over steel, before heading to join the others.

[nerves_of_ice]

Myela laughs. “Oh, I like you,” she calls, as Sharon rejoins them.

“Good work,” Bucky tells them all, and quiet pride is clear. “Let’s get them back. We’ll leave a tech monitor with alternating teams of two along the border in case there’s another band waiting nearby, but I think we’ve gotten at least a good start on it.”

His stare for the poachers is level and flat and promises nothing good. “What they have to tell us will help us decide what happens next.

[from_the_outside]

"The rest of our team is on their way with the flyer," Sharon says, as Zara joins them. "Are they ready to load up?"

Zara's smile is all sharp satisfaction. "They are," she reports. "And should they decide to push their luck, they just may learn what a bad idea that would be."

Sharon's mouth twitches and she turns to shade her eyes and watch as the flyer comes in, landing nearby. "Alley-oop," she says, hauling one of the poachers off the ground. Zara takes his other side and together they begin walking him toward the flyer and the two Dora waiting there.

[nerves_of_ice]

Myela and Cedi take the next poacher while Bucky stands guard over the others. It takes several trips, and more than one flyer, but eventually they’re all loaded and Bucky contacts Okoye.

“En route with twenty-one prisoners,” he reports, and the bitten-off curse the general lets out is somehow deeply satisfying.

[from_the_outside]

"And it's not even Christmas," Sharon says, and barely refrains from winking at Bucky. "See you back at the Citadel."

She nods to the others and enters the flyer she'd come in with the rest of her team and the poachers they'd stashed into it.

[nerves_of_ice]

He stays behind until the backup teams arrive, reviewing the surveillance placement with them before departing with the final batch of prisoners. Myela flies them back while Bucky and Cedi stand guard.

[from_the_outside]

They don't fly back to the usual Citadel launchpad; instead, Toro takes them around the city and towards the back of the mountain, where a group of people awaits on a more defensible location. The poachers grimace as they see who has come to meet them: King T'Challa, backed by Okoye and Dora Milaje and dressed in the robes of his office, stands tall and calm, eying each poacher as they are brought from the flyers.

He makes no comment at all until the last flyer arrives and Bucky's team deplanes, but his mouth has steadily thinned throughout the parade. He casts an unreadable glance over the final group of poachers and addresses himself to Bucky. "White Wolf," he says. "It seems your mission was a success."

[nerves_of_ice]

“Your highness,” he says, simply. “Thanks to your leadership, Wakanda remains secure.”

[marvel_npc]

He nods and clasps his hands behind his back before strolling over to look one of the poachers in the eye.

"General," he says, mildly, and doesn't blink as the man flinches. "I am turning these men over to you."

"Yes, my king," Okoye says, with grim satisfaction. "They will sing like little birds."

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky catches T’Challa’s eye and indicates one of the men. “Leader,” he says, in Wakandan. “At least one of them. Higher quality gear; others were looking to him for how to react when captured.”

Okoye’s eyes narrow as she turns to stare at the poacher, who starts looking uncomfortable with the attention.

[marvel_npc]

Between the two of them, there's no question who will win this staring contest. Okoye waits until the poacher has dropped his gaze, then slams the butt of her spear down, making him jump as she snaps out an order to the waiting Dora Milajie.

As the remaining prisoners are led away, she turns to T'Challa and crosses her arms over her chest with a bow. "My king," she murmurs, and follows her new charges... though not without first casting a wink to the White Wolf, Ayo, and Sharon Carter.

[nerves_of_ice]

“The border remains under guard until we know if there are more of them,” Bucky murmurs. “We should find out soon.”

He meets T’Challa’s gaze. “Thank you. For your trust.”

[marvel_npc]

"Thank you," T'Challa tells him. "For your help."

[nerves_of_ice]

He beckons Ayo and Sharon to step forward. “I didn’t do it alone.”

[marvel_npc]

T'Challa nods at the two women as they take a step forward; they return his greeting with respectful nods of their own heads. "Very good," he praises.

"All of you. I see I put my faith in the right hands."