Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of these characters. All characters etc. are the property of Disney and Marvel.
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Wakanda, Mount Bashenga
Shuri's watch beeped, indicating a new email received. She glanced quickly, seeing a new message from Tony Stark with some new biometric data. But Stark was always sending her random data from his numerous projects since they started sharing research, so she ignored it and focused on taking the blood sample.
Bucky Barnes didn't even flinch as the needle entered his arm, the syringe slowly filling with his blood. When he'd first arrived in Wakanda, Shuri and the others had been intimidated by his crazed look and menacing appearance, and the rumors of all the atrocities committed by the Winter Soldier didn't help.
However, she had quickly realized that Bucky was in fact quite friendly after stripping away the layers of his HYDRA brainwashing. Shuri much preferred Bucky's new moniker in Wakanda, the White Wolf, as the children in the village where he resided liked to call him. He seemed to have taken to the simple life in the outer regions, choosing to live in a grass hut with simple means. It wasn't often that he traveled to the city or Shuri's lab; Bucky was only in her lab today to undergo his monthly battery of tests.
"There," Shuri said as she inserted the vial of Bucky's blood into her centrifuge to run her tests. "We're pretty much done for today. And your headaches and nightmares, they are no longer plaguing you, yes?"
Bucky nodded. "They pop up here and there, but not as much as before."
"Good. And have you gotten used to your new arm yet?"
He flexed the fingers on his upgraded cybernetic arm, composed mostly of vibranium alloy and custom-designed for him by Shuri. Picking up a pen from her lab table, he twirled it around his fingers.
"It still feels a little weird, but yeah it's good."
"Good. It will take an hour or so for the lab results. You can wait in the lounge as usual."
"Thanks," Bucky smiled. He still didn't smile often, but it was becoming more natural for him. He walked out of her lab and went down the hall. Finding his favorite couch, Bucky laid down, closing his eyes for a short nap.
Shuri went through her logs of data as the computer processed Bucky's blood. She got lost in her work, as she usually did, when her lab door opened. Silent footsteps approached from behind, and Shuri jumped as she felt a soft kiss on the back of her neck. She spun around on her stool and came face to face with Nakia.
"What are you doing here?" Shuri exclaimed, giving Nakia a quick peck on the lips.
"I wanted to come see you."
"Oh, so now you have time for me?" Shuri teased.
"You know the new job your brother gave me keeps me very busy. I slipped away just now when I could to come see you."
T'Challa and Nakia had dated, then broken up, and now Shuri wasn't sure what Nakia and her brother were. One thing had remained constant, though, during each phase of their relationship. Nakia had introduced Shuri to the pleasures of sex with another woman, and even though both preferred men, the two enjoyed each other's company enough to continue their occasional trysts.
Nakia had wanted to tell T'Challa, but Shuri had been sure her brother wouldn't approve of their involvement and told her not to. After all, if T'Challa didn't even like it when Shuri dated men, then there was a very small chance that he would appreciate being told that she and Nakia were occasional lovers. He simply didn't understand that Shuri was a scientist, which meant experimenting. This was just another experiment...for research purposes.
"Come, I don't have long."
