Work Text:
Perhaps his favorite part of the compound (besides the solace of his own room on days he wanted to do nothing more than bask in his own self-sorrow and take a shower for an hour) was what Riri had affectionately named "the lab block".
It was a slim, cream-colored hallway with multiple doors lined up that led to various personal labs that would look more medical than homely if not for what Parker had done as soon as he was introduced to his own lab. He had gone and decorated each door of the labs with brightly colored stickers, paintings, and lights that aligned with the lab owner's personality. At first, it was just the blue and red door of Parker's lab, the green of Banner's, and the purple of Shuri's.
Now, however, both Riri and Harley had red and gold strung along their doors.
The non-clinical feel might be what made Bucky like it so much- or maybe it was who inhabitated said labs, especially the one at the very end on the left.
Shuri had become an anchor for him, through everything. After they came back, she was once again there to comfort him, even if she had just gone through the same thing. She'd done wonders with his arm (she made it removable when Bucky offhandedly mentioned it made him feel weird to have it all the time, and added a heater when he said it got colder quicker and was causing flashbacks to cyro). She listened to everything he said, whether he was detailing a new memory that he had remembered or any of his troubles. She still lived in Wakanda, but she came by the compound often, just as often as Bucky went back to Wakanda.
Shuri, T'Challa, Ramonda..it was like they were his family.
So on nights like these, he recognized the glow of neon purple lights at the end of the hallway of labs, and walked to them like a moth to a flame.
He knocked on the door gently, smiling softly as he heard Shuri hum an old lullaby under her breath- it was the same one she sings as she's doing maintenance on his arm.
Shuri smiled softly when she turned and saw Bucky enter the room, black fleece blanket tucked under his arm.
"Insomnia kick in again, Sergeant?" She asks with a teasing tone.
"You know me so well, Princess." He responded, moving over to the small couch in the corner of the lab that had slowly become his bed on 10% of nights.
"I have a multitude of your brain scans in my files, I would hope I know you." She said snarkily, one hand reaching for the nearest holoscreen as if she was debating pulling the most recent one up.
Bucky gave a quiet laugh and arranged the pillow on the couch, slowly easing his head down as he tucked himself in the blanket.
He was not surprised he fell asleep within minutes.
~~~~~~~~~
He woke up to a sound that he thought was in a nightmare.
One of the those awful nightmares where he starts seeing blood pooling on his hands, before he begins choking on his own blood as it comes up in his throat, exiting into a puddle on the ground.
He still needs to talk to his therapist about that one.
His eyes adjust to the light in the lab as he realizes it's not him making the sound- and he's not in a nightmare.
This is real life, and Shuri is on her knees doubled over on the ground with a pool of puke at her feet.
Shit.
"Shuri!" He calls, throwing the blanket off himself and onto his feet, running across the lab.
She shoves a flat palm in his direction, as if telling him she's fine when she's on the verge of vomiting again.
"None of that." Bucky says quietly, kneeling down next to her, noting that her hair is already in a firm bun so he doesn't have to hold it back, so he instead uses his right arm to rub soothing circles into her back.
After a minute, she loses the battle with keeping her vomit back and adds to the pile on the floor. Bucky keeps comforting, a hand on her back and a soothing voice.
She takes a deep breath when she's finished, and then she starts shaking lightly.
"What's the matter?" He asks softly. "Cold? Scared?"
She shivers.
"Cold." She responds, voice weak and wavering.
Bucky nods, leaving for just a split second to grab the blanket off the floor, wrapping it around her shoulders as carefully as possible. "Are you done…" He looks down at the puddle on the tile floor before quickly turning his gaze.
"Y-yeah." She stammers. "For now."
There's just the tiny bit of teasing in her voice, and that's how Bucky knows she's gonna be okay.
"I'll go get you new clothes. Do you wanna shower?" He asks as he helps her stand up.
She sighs out a yes. "I feel disgusting." She wrinkles her nose a bit.
"Alright. I'll get you some clothes from your room, and clean this up." He says, ushering her out of the lab and down the hallway to where there's a bathroom with a row of showers- they're mostly there in case of a lab mishap where a shower is needed, but this is just as much of a reason to use them.
The showers are extremely nice for being communal- sliding tinted glass doors on three different stalls, fresh soap and shampoo at the ready.
When they enter the bathroom, he loosens his hold on Shuri.
"You okay from here?" He asks, and she nods.
"I'm not too far gone, Sergeant." She comments as Bucky grabs the biggest, fluffiest towel from the cabinet and hands it to her.
"I'll be waiting outside by the time you're done." He promises, and she smiles as she heads into the shower area and shuts the door.
Bucky gets to work on doing everything else he'd told her he'd do.
~~~~~~~~~
Ten minutes later, with fleece pajamas in his hands and the lab smelling like Clorox, he enters the bathroom and places the pajamas on the sink counters, still hearing the spray of the showerhead from inside the showers.
He leans against the outside wall, waiting until Shuri emerges.
It was only five minutes.
"You just had to pick the warmest pajamas in the compound." She criticises sarcastically.
"They were in your pajama drawer." He holds his hands up in mock- surrender.
She looks as if she wants to stick her tongue out, but is fearful she'll puke again if she does.
"You ready to get some rest?" He asks, and Shuri rolls her eyes.
"I'm not that ill." She insists.
Bucky disagrees.
"You need rest." He counters back, and she rolls her eyes.
"I have work to do." Her voice is shaking a bit again, and Bucky is preparing to catch her if she starts to fall.
Bucky narrows his eyes.
"I'll call T'Challa." He threatens.
Shuri's face goes flat.
She looks to go through a million different emotions in two seconds, before sighing again and shaking her head lightly.
"Next time you're being stubborn, I'm threatening you with calling T'Challa." She grumbles.
"Fair." He answers, before wrapping an arm around her shoulder for support as they head back to Shuri's bedroom.
Once she's tucked into bed, eyes slipping closed, with a glass of water on her nightstand and a bucket to her side in case anything else comes up, Bucky finally lets himself take a deep breath, relief flooding his body as he exhales.
She's okay. She's safe. She's tucked into bed and sleeping soundly, and her fever is low-grade.
He sits down on a purple fuzzy beanbag in the corner, lying his head against the wall.
He's gonna stay with her until she's better.
She watched over him during the first test, when he was sleeping in a cot in her Wakanda lab. She watched over him as he adjusted to living freely and without fear, as memories came flooding back in overwhelming amounts. She consoled him when the memories that returned weren't pleasant.
He's gonna watch over her, too.
He's finally returning the favor.