nerves_of_ice | [Virginia AU] we rose up from the falling waters

"I know you are. And I hope you're right." Barely a whisper. He coughs, making his voice clearer.

"I think - don't tell Peggy yet? I should - there'll be more news, soon. She can't ... Sharon can't talk to her right now, anyway."

"I won't," Steve promises, though it makes his heart hurt. "Not until there's... not until we know."

He doesn't say one way or another. It wouldn't help, and his role right now is to help however he can. "Buck... is there anything else I can do? Anything you need?"

"I need Klaue and his associates to not get away with this." He breathes deeply for a second or two. "I failed you, Cap. I'm sorry."

"You didn't," Steve says, absolute. "It's not the first time he's slipped through our fingers, Buck. And there was no reason to think he was working with someone else, we've never seen him do that before."

He puts all his faith and determination into his voice, tries to feed it through the line to Bucky, who badly needs it. "He's not going to get away. We'll close in on him. I'll let you know the second we have anything, or Tony will. Okay?"

"Okay." His tone firms. "Whatever it takes."

He glances over at Sharon again, and is still watching her when he says, "I should get back."

"Whatever it takes," Steve agrees. He closes his eyes, wishing himself by Bucky's side, then opens them, clear and steady and focused on the task ahead. "Okay, Buck. Let her know we're pulling for her. And take care of yourself, too."

"I'll tell her," he promises. He will, whether or not she can hear him. He says nothing about himself. "Talk soon, okay?"

"You got it," Steve tells him, and doesn't hang up until Bucky does. In the next second, he's out the door of his apartment and heading for Nat's, his phone ringing in his ear as he places a call to Agent Nilsson.

They need all hands on deck for this.

He shoves his phone back in a pocket and goes to rejoin Ross and Nakia at Sharon's side.

"How is she?" He can't help himself; he reaches for her hand.

Nakia watches as he takes her friend's cool, limp hand, the gesture almost reflexive. "The same," she murmurs, and gets up to smooth some of Sharon's fine golden hair off of her shoulder.

No better; but no worse. She gives Bucky a warm smile, doing her best to hide the ache in her own heart. It's been so long since they saw each other. "Even at these speeds, this is a long flight," she murmurs, glancing from him to Ross. T'Challa is with Okoye, but she notices him looking back over his shoulder at her. "There is much to tell you, but it does not need to be now. If you need food, or water, or rest, we can provide any or all."

"I'm fine," he says, immediately, automatically. Bucky looks at Ross. "I'll keep watch if you need to take a break."

"I don't need a break," Ross says, grimly. "I need to know what the hell is going on."

Nakia turns her glance to T'Challa, silent. He meets it, then nods, and she turns back to Ross and Bucky. "T'Challa will tell you what you wish to know," she murmurs. "I will stay with Sharon while you speak with him."

Reluctantly, he lets her hand slip from his, setting it gently back on the surface of the table as he looks at Nakia.

"If anything changes--"

"I will call you," she assures him, as T'Challa moves towards them. "Immediately. You have my word, Sergeant Barnes."

"Thank you." He allows himself another look at Sharon, then goes to stand with Ross in the middle of the aircraft, waiting for T'Challa.

He exchanges another glance with Nakia – he must speak to her later, comfort her, but she is familiar with the priorities of duty – and gestures for the men to join him on the other side of the flyer, where there are some comfortable seats.

"Please," he says, politely. "There is much to discuss."

He and Ross follow Wakanda's king across the aircraft to the indicated seats. Before Bucky can say anything, Ross starts, "So when I asked how much more you were hiding-- what the hell, your Highness?"

Bucky manages to keep his wince from being visible, but can't keep from slanting a disbelieving look at the Deputy Commander.

At the helm, Okoye growls.

T'Challa ignores her for the moment and lifts his wrist, the Kimoyo beads there lying dormant. "More than you could ever have guessed," he says, solemn. He pins them both with a serious glance. "And it must remain hidden."

He doesn't allow Ross to sputter a reply, only taps his beads and brings a hologram to life. "Let me tell you the story of Wakanda."

This close to the hologram, he's able to get a much better look at it than he was when T'Challa was speaking to Shuri on the other side of the aircraft. Tony would be jealous, he decides, unaware of the flicker of delighted wonder in his eyes as he watches the meteorite land, the mountain rise, the tribes form.

At his side, Ross shifts, but he doesn't interrupt. They both listen in silence until T'Challa finishes telling the history. Bucky opens his mouth to ask a question, but Ross beats him to it. "So - all this," he says, waving his hand at the aircraft around them. "And more. How the-- how have you hidden this all this time?"

"Some of it in plain sight, I'd bet," Bucky murmurs. "Like that car."

T'Challa nods to the Sergeant, unable to stop the smallest of tugs at the corner of his mouth at the look of amazement in the man's eyes. It's a bare spark among the bleakness, but it's something.

"Yes," he says. "And by being very careful with our secrets. And protecting our border. Wakanda is surrounded by a field that produces a realistic illusion. Any outsiders looking at it would see only trees, fields, mountains." He vanishes the hologram with a wave of his hand. "By deploying our War Dogs out into the world to listen for any news of Wakanda or vibranium."

T'Challa nods at Nakia, including her in that group. "By never allowing outsiders into our country," he adds, and looks slightly rueful. "A law which I have now broken, irrevocably."

"Car?" Ross asks him. "What - you mean the car they were driving? That was vibranium?"

Bucky nods. "I figure, yeah. Given how it repelled bullets and that I couldn't make a mark on it with my hand." He shifts his glance back to T'Challa. "You did a hell of a job. Almost no one out there has the slightest idea." He studies the man's expression.

"Breaking this law. Bringing us in. Is that going to be a problem for you?"

If it is, then it's a problem for Sharon, too. He doesn't know what he'll do, but there has to be something.

He will not lie to these men, not anymore, not now that he has bared his country's most carefully-held secrets. I'm sorry, baba.

He meets the Sergeant's serious-eyed gaze. "Yes," he says, simply. "In my first action as king, I have committed what many in Wakanda will call treason."

At the helm, Okoye stiffens, listening. He doesn't raise or lower his voice, only speaks to the men he has decided to help. "What it may lead to, I don't know. But there may be trouble. I am sorry."

"Shit," Ross mutters. Bucky just gives a small nod; he was afraid of that.

"I can't say that I am. Sorry, I mean. Except that I'm sorry I didn't move faster, that I wasn't better - that I didn't stop it, somehow. But that you're bringing us... Sharon would be dead. She could still die, I know, but she'd already be gone if you hadn't done this. So I'm not sorry about that, but if there's anything, anything at all that I can do or give that'll help, you have it. You just have to say the word."

If that's your price, the man had said, white to the lips, I'll pay it.

Ross is thinking furiously; he keeps his gaze on Barnes. "I'm not in the habit of extorting favors from desperate men," T'Challa informs him. "But there is no doubt we are all in this together, now."

He does look at Ross, now. "If we can capture Klaue, that will help. He was our mission. And... it's a matter of great personal importance to me, as well."

"You're not," Bucky assures him. The corner of his mouth quirks in a wry expression. "Believe me when I tell you I know what that's like. It's not this."

He catches the exasperated look Ross gives him, but the deputy commander doesn't argue. Instead, Ross turns back to T'Challa. "We're on it," he promises. "My team's still on the ground there, sweeping the area. We won't give up. And--"

Bucky takes the conversational ball as smoothly as if they'd planned it. "Tony - Iron Man - he's already in Busan," he reports. "Scanning and searching. Natasha Romanoff's working remote surveillance. Cap's overseeing from back in New York, but he can be wherever's needed in a few hours at most. They're - we're coordinating with the Task Force, too. Klaue's not going to get away, your highness. Not this time."

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