Chapter Text
“It’s starting!”
“Okay, okay I’m coming,” Harper called through to the living room, grabbing the bag of popcorn out of the microwave and depositing it into a large bowl. Throwing a piece into her mouth she hurried through and made her way over to the, already pretty full, couch “Come on, move up,” she said, nudging Shuri’s knee with hers.
“Why am I the one who has to move up?”
“Because there is no other space on this side,” M’Baku grumbled, glaring as Harper dropped herself down in between him and the princess “I don’t even know why I’m here.”
“You’re enjoying being here and you know it,” Harper said with a smile, leaning her shoulder against his and offering him the bowl of popcorn.
“Come on M’Baku,” Ramonda chuckled from the seat she was sitting on across the room “Just admit you’re having fun.”
He didn’t admit it but he did reach over to grab a handful of popcorn.
“Ssh! Ssh! They’re coming on!” Shuri exclaimed, pointing toward the television. It was showing the interior of the United Nations Assembly Building where a few of the assembly members were preparing for a meeting.
“ How did you get a livestream of this by the way?” Harper asked, glancing at Shuri out of the corner of her eye.
“Ask no questions and I’ll tell you no lies,” Shuri answered, waving her off before shuffling to the edge of the sofa and leaning with her elbows on her thighs, resting her chin in the palms of her hands “Hey! There they are!”
Harper glanced up to the television just in time to see T’Challa walk into the room, flanked by Nakia, Okoye and Ayo “Nakia looks amazing in that colour,” she said, throwing another piece of popcorn into her mouth.
“And Okoye and Ayo in all black,” Shuri continued, raising her fingers to her lips in a chef's kiss motion.
“And my son,” Ramonda said, the smile of a proud mother on her lips “Such a handsome king.”
Beside Harper M’Baku groaned, reaching up and pinching the bridge of his nose.
“My name is King T’Challa, son of King T’Chaka,” T’Challa began and Shuri shushed them once more, reaching back to grab another handful of the popcorn “I am the sovereign ruler of the Nation of Wakanda and for the first time in our history we will be sharing our knowledge and resources with the outside world. Wakanda will no longer watch from the shadows . We cannot, we must not,” Harper dug her elbow into M’Baku’s side as he dramatically rolled his eyes “We will work to be an example of how we as brothers and sisters on this Earth should treat each other. Now more than ever, illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. In times of crisis, the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe.”
“Yes!” Shuri exclaimed as she, Ramonda and Harper clapped their hands together.
“Come on M’Baku, you can’t be grumpy about everything ,” Harper teased, nudging him in the side once more. He wasn’t happy about the outreach program and made it known with the furrowed brow and scowled expression he answered her with.
On the television the other world leaders in the audience were sharing bemused looks. The French ambassador took the plunge and leaning into the microphone.
“With all due respect, King T’Challa, what can a nation of farmers offer to the rest of the world?”
M’Baku gripped onto the arm of the sofa as Shuri let out a loud ‘ HA ’ of a laugh before speaking “They don’t even know what’s about to happen for them,” she said with a shake of her head.
Up on the screen T’Challa simply smiled.
*
Leaning back in her chair Harper stretched her arms up above her head before pushing her glasses up and rubbing at her eyes. A yawn opened up her mouth as she pushed away from her desk and closed her laptop.
“I’ll speak to you later?” she said toward the phone sitting on the desk beside her mouse.
Steve Rogers’ voice echoed back to her “Yeah, okay,” he said, sounding exhausted “Thanks again H, for all your help.”
“No problem,” she answered, smiling as she reached down and clicked the call off. Padding into the kitchen she flicked the kettle on, leaning against the opposite kitchen cabinets she rubbed her hands down her face and yawned once more.
She had spent most of the night, stretching into the morning, helping Steve, Sam and Nat out in their quest to hide from the government. Being himself Steve had decided they’d make something out of their journey, heading out to help any one in need.
Along with assisting them in finding somewhere to stay it was Harper’s job to erase any evidence of them being there. Blurry pictures caught of them, tweets about spotting glimpses of them and news articles of conspiracy theories as to where they were and what they were doing.
It would have been much easier for her if they’d just stayed in the shadows but none of them would listen when she would plead with them.
The sound of her front door opening and slamming shut caught her attention and she crossed the kitchen once more to grab another mug “Tea or hot chocolate?” she called to Shuri.
“No time Ingwe ,” Shuri answered with a wave of her hand and she stormed into the kitchen.
Harper rolled her eyes as she leaned back against the counter, arching her eyebrows for her to continue.
She’d managed to get into the whole Ingwe thing with Shuri and now couldn’t stop herself from smiling whenever one of them called her it. She was the Wakandan leopard, the spirit animal assigned to her because of its reputation for appearing after suffering as a counsellor or healer, there to help someone learn how to take back their power.
“ You have spots and you dwell on them sometimes,” Shuri had said with a shrug of her shoulders “ But you shouldn’t. You should wear them with pride.”
She was brought back to the present by Shuri herself, snapping her fingers to get her attention “Hey, are you listening?” she asked with a huff “I said go and get changed! He’s ready for a visit.”
Harper’s heart jumped slightly in her chest as she stared over to Shuri “What?” she asked, her brows furrowing.
“Just go,” Shuri said, pushing her toward her bedroom “I’ll explain more on the way!”
Her stomach was twisting and turning as she frantically searched through the small amount of clothes hanging up in her wardrobe. She rolled her eyes at herself as she took a step back, placing her hand on her forehead and sighing loudly “What am I doing,” she said, reaching for one of her t-shirts and her ripped pair of skinny jeans.
Bucky had seen her wear the same outfit over and over while they were on the run, he’d seen her without makeup and with her hair piled up on the top of her head in a messy bun. They’d woken one another up in the middle of the night with their nightmares and they’d danced together in the rain.
But, for some reason, this felt different.
“How do I look?” Harper asked as she made her way back into the living room, her hair pulled down from her ponytail to frame her face and her feet shoved into her nearest pair of boots.
“No time,” Shuri answered, grabbing her hand and tugging her out of the door. She barely even gave her time to make sure the front door had closed properly behind them as she pulled her down the corridor.
One of the hover carriers was waiting for them just outside of her building “This the wakandan version of an uber?” Harper said, one of her eyebrows arching as Shuri opened up the door for her.
“Shut up,” Shuri said with a roll of her eyes as she climbed in beside her “My brother doesn’t know we’re borrowing this and he’ll never find out right? Right ?” she asked as she alternated her gaze between Harper and the tribesman driving.
“Right,” he said from up front, nodding his head before zooming away.
Harper settled back into her chair, her hands wringing together as she stared out across the Wakandan countryside. Her eyes closed as she allowed the warm breeze to wash over her skin, taking in a deep breath in an attempt to calm her swirling stomach.
“You have been moping around, waiting for him to be awake and now what? You don’t wanna go?”
Harper rolled her eyes as she opened them and turned to Shuri “I didn’t say I don’t want to go.”
“So tell your face!” Shuri exclaimed “You look like I’m dragging you to war not to see your...Bucky.”
“I’m just nervous,” Harper answered with a shrug of her shoulders “How do I even know that he remembers me?”
“He remembers you,” Shuri said with a smile “I didn’t want to tell you just in case but he’s been awake a while, we’ve been working with him to make sure the words are out of his brain. He’s been under the care of the Shamans I’ve been trying to make you come and see.”
Harper’s eyes narrowed “So you’re telling me I’ve been sitting by that door, talking to Bucky, for no reason whatsoever? He wasn’t even there?”
“It helped you,” Shuri shrugged. “He wasn’t ready for visitors and you would have only gotten in your own head about it if I would have told you.”
“I hate how right you are,” Harper huffed, folding her arms over her chest. Glancing to Shuri out of the corner of her eye she frowned “There seems to be more to this story, why now?”
Shuri bit down on her bottom lip “Well, as much as I want you to see him - which is a lot - we also want to ease him back in…”
“Am I the guinea pig?” Harper asked “Shuri!”
“It’ll be fine!” Shuri waved off “He’s integrated well with the shamans, I’m pretty sure all the kids do is tease him.”
“Hmmm,” Harper said, narrowing her eyes over to her friend as the hover carrier came to a stop. The butterflies in her stomach took off once again when she realised they had arrived at their destination.
“Come on,” Shuri said as she opened up the door, nodding for Harper to follow her “If you stay in here,” she began, pausing at the nearest hut “I just want to speak to him for a moment before I bring him in.”
Harper nodded her head before she turned to make her way into the hut Shuri had pointed out to her. It was more homely inside than she was expecting, the inside showing off the Wakandan technology a lot more than the outside had. Though there was a comfortable looking sofa across the room from her she didn’t want to sit, tugging her sleeves over her hands as she paced the floor instead.
What would she do if he didn’t recognise her?
Or worse...what would she do if he did and it triggered him?
She jumped slightly at the sound of the curtains covering the doorway rustling open behind her, reaching up she smoothed her hair down with her hands before she turned.
Her breath hitched in her throat slightly as soon as she caught sight of him. He was dressed in Wakandan attire, a long red wrap and a blue sling over his left side. His hair seemed longer and his beard thicker, showing her just how long she had been talking to an empty room.
His gait seemed to stumble as he made his way further into the hut, Shuri’s head peering over his shoulder as she sent Harper a grin and a thumbs up before she disappeared.
His expression softened as their eyes met, his shoulders slumping in a relaxed manner as a smile slowly spread across his face “Harper,” he said quietly, almost as though he was unable to believe she was standing in front of him “Are you okay? All good?”
“All good,” she answered automatically before a sigh of relief left her “You remember me,” she said, more to herself than to him as her hands joined at her chest. She wanted to reach out to him, to grab onto his hands and pull him closer to her but she refrained, taking one step at a time. “God, I’ve missed you so much,” she continued as she took a step forward.
“Uch,” he answered, as they usually would when the other was being too mushy, raising his eyes to the ceiling as a smirk slowly made its way onto his face.
Her face broke into a grin as she took the plunge and crossed the room in a couple of steps, throwing her arms over his shoulders and burying her face into his neck “Shuri told me you were in a room near the lab,” she said, her voice muffled slightly “I’ve been talking to a door and you weren’t even there.”
Bucky let out a laugh, closing his remaining arm around her and breathing her in “Well I’m here now,” he said, squeezing her tightly before letting her go “They’re trying me with my trigger words tomorrow,” he said grasping onto her hand and leading her over to the sofa “Shuri is convinced they’re out of my mind.”
“And you’re not?” Harper asked as they sat down, side by side. She kept her hand gripped onto his, as though she was scared he was going to disappear again.
He shrugged his shoulders “I’m not sure what’ll happen if they’re not.”
“We’ll figure something out,” Harper said, shuffling closer to him so their knees were pressed together “Shuri...she got rid of mine.”
Bucky’s eyebrows furrowed together as he gripped onto her hand even tighter “You…?”
She nodded her head “They weren’t as ingrained as yours,” she said, her eyes lowering slightly “So it didn’t take as long but she did it,” she continued with a nod of her head “She’s amazing with what she can do...just don’t tell her I said that.”
He smiled slightly before letting out a nervous sigh, shaking his head slightly before straightening up “So you’ve been thinking you’re talking to me when I wasn’t there,” he said, arching an eyebrow and letting out a little chuckle at the look on her face “What were you saying?”
Harper pulled a face “It’s dumb.”
“It’s not dumb ,” he tutted, reaching for her hand once more “Tell me now. Tell me what’s been going on.”
The End
Harper Rhodes will return