The White Wolf

XXX

"I thought we agreed it was a good idea."

Ava scrunched her nose, crossing her arms across her chest. "I'm pretty sure you were the only one to say that it was a good idea."

Shuri shook her head, lifting one hand with her index, middle, and ring finger were up."Read between the lines," She said, frowning at her. "I thought you were my ride or die."

"Your what?" Bucky snorted from behind Ava. 

Shuri looked past Ava to look at Bucky, grinning mischeviously. "Sorry old man, you wouldn't understand modern slang."

Ava rolled her eyes and watched as Shuri shuffled her way out of the mannequins. Compared to Bucky, Ava was young, but she was too old for teenage vocabulary. "I barely understand modern slang." She said, shaking her head at Shuri.

"You get a pass because you barely even understand how to use most of this lab equipment. You're outdated." Shuri grinned, motioning to the room full of machines and devices and vibranium.

Ava scoffed, uncrossing her arms to place her hands on her hips. "I'm not outdated."

"You know, when I was your age, we didn't even have cell phones," Bucky said, shrugging at Ava. "I wouldn't say you're outdated." He sent her a wink.

She shrugged a little, looking at Bucky before she smiled. "You had things we don't have, though-"

"Yeah, like dinosaurs and Moses." Shuri interrupted, which earned her a snort out of Ava and a playful glare out of Bucky, both of which made her chuckle at her own joke. "Anyway," She said, her smile not fading as she remembered why she asked them to come and walked over to her sand table, motioning for them to follow, which they did. "I have news."

Ava and Bucky came to stand beside the sand table, looking at the princess in wait. "What is it?" The blonde asked. Shuri hummed in response, tapping the edge of her sand table. A holographic control screen appeared in lightening blue, and Shuri tapped at a few of the buttons.

The charcoal color sand on the sand table shifted, spreading out from the center as a gleaming, black, shining metal arm was lifted to the surface, gold-colored inlays between each vibranium panel. The white lights of the room glanced off of the smooth surface, highlighting the curved shape of what would be muscle, and adding a sharper look to the edges of each joint piece. "Made to secure itself to the shoulder piece I put in for you while you were on ice," Shuri said, looking at Bucky. "It has pressure sensors, so you'll be able to determine grip strength. It's pure vibranium, so it is durable and lightweight, unlike the arm before. It has a full range of motion and quick response to neuron signals, like a real arm would."

Bucky fell silent as he stared down at the hunk of metal in the black sand, his lips parted as he tried to process everything Shuri had said. Ava looked at him seeing the cogs behind his eyes spin and turn. He had previously mentioned not wanting the arm back, but she also knew sometimes when it came to day-to-day things he wished he'd had two hands to make life easier.

"Sometimes... Sometimes it feels like it's still there. Ava will rub my shoulder around the metal that attaches into my shoulder to make the phantom pains go away," He said, looking up at Shuri for a beat before looking at the arm again. "This would help... and it- it's amazing work. I just- can't. I can't put it on yet. A metal arm... The key weapon on the Winter Soldier... it symbolizes a fight, and I- I am tired of fighting. Of war. Here, it's... calm. So, until there's a fight I have no choice but to be in, I can't accept it." He shook his head a little- only enough to make that strand of hair wobble and brush against his cheek, tickling the skin. He brought his hand up, tucking it back into place again.