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Shuri’s got James hooked up to so many wires and machines that she worries about short-circuiting the poor man. But she needs to gather her data so she can reconfigure and recalibrate the sensors and nerves on James’ new metal arm since the old one was destroyed during the fight he had with Tony Stark.
If circumstances were different; if the Avengers weren’t currently split down the center and at war with each other, Shuri would have loved to meet Tony Stark so she could collaborate with him on a project or two. But that’s no longer possible.
James is sitting, with his arm rested on a flat desk-like platform attached the make-shift hospital bed he’s sitting on in the middle of the lab. She tries to make sure James is as comfortable as possible during their meetings since she knows he’s been subjected to decades of medical torture and she’s not about to add to the trauma by not being considerate of his comfort levels.
Shuri’s got medical staff coming in and out of her lab, helping her with aiding in James’ recovery. Her staff consists of about six other people, all willing to help her help James, but they keep their interactions with James as formal as possible. Shuri, on the other hand, wants James comfortable, so she’s as informal as she can be with the older man.
She can tell by James’ shy smiles and quiet laughter that he appreciates her not treating him like just a patient but as a friend.
Shuri hooks up another wire to the metal arm grafted to James’ body and he flinches and flexes his non-metal arm which causes two Dora, Jahzara and Safiya, to step closer towards them. They’re calm but cautious and Shuri absolutely hates it.
Apparently, both James and T’Challa think she can’t handle herself if she were to accidentally trigger the Winter Soldier, so Shuri’s also got a couple of members from the Dora Milaje looming around her lab, crowding the space around her and James, and watching James harshly, like he’s a rabid dog about to bite Shuri the moment she comes near him.
But Shuri knows James wouldn’t hurt her.
“Stand down,” Shuri tells the Dora. “You’re making my patient uncomfortable.”
Jahzara and Safiya stare at her for a moment but calmly step back, giving Shuri and James their space.
“You know they’re just looking out for you Princess,” James says quietly.
“I know…” Shuri sighs. “But I just want you to feel safe here since I know–”
“I’m still so sorry you had to witness all that…”
“Hey, I volunteered to help you, I knew what I was getting myself into James.” She says with a slight smile.
James smiles back at her and Shuri continues the motion of recalibrating the arm and recording the data so she gets the numbers right the first time since she’s making his arm removable for James’ comfort, she wants to not have to recalibrate it every time he takes it on and off.
Shuri changes the settings again on the arm when a couple of Shuri’s lab assistants come to her with some graphs and charts on how the nerve settings look on the new arm. Shuri approves them, seeing how the higher numbers mean he’ll be able to feel more with this arm than he could the other arm. But at least this time he won’t have to carry any extra weight on his left side, essentially straining his spine in such a way Shuri was sure the man needed a back brace to keep himself upright when they first met.
As a few more lab assistants bring her more numbers to look at James body freezes on the table and the heart monitor he’s hooked up to begins blaring the tell-tale sound of a panic attack.
“I’ll look at those later.” Shuri rushes, pushing her assistants away from her so she can focus on helping James.
But the Dora are immediately at Shuri’s side, talking to her in rapid Wakandan about how they should leave James alone. But that only makes it worse.
The foreign language used in the lab immediately triggers James, reminding him of his time with Russians, and he closes in on himself on the bed, taking all the wires and machines with him. Thankfully nothing falls.
“I’m not leaving him,” Shuri says steadily to her guards. “I want both of you outside the lab right now.” She orders. “Actually, I want everyone outside the lab this instance!”
Jahzara, the older of the two huffs, clearly ready to ignore her orders but Safiya, the younger and clearly more level headed, calmly places a hand on Jahzara’s shoulder. Safiya shares a few words with Jahzara, telling her to trust Shuri’s instincts and of course, Jahzara deflates instantly.
Safiya calmly tells Shuri that they will leave, but will wait outside the lab for her, just in case, and then ushers herself, Jahzara, and the lab assistants outside of the lab.
“And close the door,” Shuri commands.
The door shuts immediately behind them and Shuri turns her attention back to James, his labored breathing scares Shuri, but she knows she can’t be the one panicking right now.
“Hey.” She says softly. “Can you breathe with me, James?”
James gives her a slow nod and sits up. His hands are gripping the edge of the bed and Shuri’s almost certain she can hear the metal cracking against his tight grip.
“Breathe in for four seconds, hold for seven seconds, and breathe out for eight seconds okay?.” Shuri says, inhaling deeply with him. They both hold the breath and then let it out together.
They do this a few more times until the heart monitor begins to slow down back to a normal pace and the noise of the alarm stops.
“You okay?” Shuri asks.
James doesn’t respond, instead, he takes in another shaking breath before letting it out as a quiet sob.
Shuri can’t help herself as she lets a few tears fall too. But she keeps herself composed and offers James a comforting hand. He takes it and pulls her in for a hug, his forehead resting on her stomach while his arms enclose around her waist. Shuri’s fingers begin to gently run through the soft strands of hair on James’ head.
“I’ll reduce the staff if you need me to,” Shuri says quietly.
“No, that’s not it.” James forces himself to say, his voice sounds wet because he’s still crying a little. “I uh–got overwhelmed.” He says pulling himself away from Shuri’s arms, face stained with tears and a little flushed from crying.
“Overwhelmed?” She questions.
“My arm, I think you got the calibrations right…I can feel things again, It’s different from before though, feels normal.”
A warm light begins to form in Shuri’s chest and she carefully extends her hand towards him.
“May I?” She asks. James nods, consenting to her touching him, something he never got to do while imprisoned by Hydra.
Shuri cups James’ metal arm in her hand and using two fingers she gently runs her fingers along the underside of his arm. James’ breath hitches and Shuri’s worried he’s about to have another panic attack, but he relaxes and begins to test out his reflexes by opening and closing his fingers.
Shuri’s two fingers stop at James’ wrist and her presses her fingers against it, smiling as she feels the small electrical pulse running through the wired veins of James’ new arm.
“What’s the prognosis doc?” James asks with a small grin.
“I think this arm is good to go, do you?”
“I might need some time to get used to it.” He tells her.
“Take all the time you need James.” She says.
“You can call me Bucky you know.” He says.
“Alright, Bucky.” Shuri grins and interlaces her fingers with Bucky’s metal ones. He squeezes her hand gently and Shuri squeezes back.
They stare at each other for a moment, hearts full of emotion, before a knock on the door interrupts their moment.