Divided |2|

twenty-six

T'Challa heard her and rushed over to her. Seeing she was awake, he smiled. "How are you feeling, Miss Victoria?"

"Like my insides were blown to hell," she let out a breath. "And stop calling me Miss."

"Well, you'll be happy to know that the wound has healed completely. In a short time period too."

"How long was I here for?" She sat up, with the help of T'Challa, and looked around. "Where exactly is here?"

"You are in my home, Wakanda – my sister's lab, to be exact. You were out for three days."

"And how quickly did I heal myself?"

"You weren't healing at all, at first."

Victoria frowned at T'Challa. "What do you mean I wasn't? There is no way I wouldn't have started to heal."

"When we arrived at the lab, you were suffering from extreme exhaustion. Your body was too tired to even heal itself."

"That makes sense. Is Pietro still here?"

"Yes, so is Bucky and Steve. Pietro is asleep, forced asleep by Alexandrya actually."

"Alex—Wait! Bucky's girlfriend is here?"

T'Challa chuckled as he helped her stand. "Yes, she's going to be working with Shuri to get whatever H.Y.D.R.A. did to Bucky, out of his head."

"Take me to her. I want to meet her and your sister."

They walked through multiple tunnels, with T'Challa keeping his arm around her waist to support her. Victoria gaped in awe as she saw all the tech they had developed, and how much Vibranium was around her. T'Challa noticed her staring at a tube of Vibranium and handed it to her.

"This is what was used to help heal you. By using it, it stabilised you and allowed your healing to kick in."

"I'm not going to turn into a robot, like Vision or Ultron, right?"

"No, Victoria," T'Challa laughed, opening a door for them. "I promise you won't turn into a robot."

They entered the room and immediately, Victoria's eyes found Cap and Bucky standing by a pod. Bucky's left arm—where the metal one was—was now covered with material and hadn't been replaced yet. Victoria ran over to them, her arms up as she ignored the pulling she felt in her side.

"Steve! Bucky!" She flung herself into Steve's arms before quickly letting go to hug Bucky. He gave her a soft smile, but grimaced when she hit him in his stomach. "Why didn't you tell me your girlfriend was going to be here?"

"Next time you're unconscious and practically dying—being semi-conscious myself—I'll make sure to find out if my girl is coming to a place I don't even know and let you know."

"Thank you," Victoria glanced around. "So where is she—" She was cut off by a new person entering the lab. She had blonde hair and a very nervous expression on her face. Victoria skipped over to her and grinned brightly. "You must be Alex, I'm Victoria."

"I know," she spoke timidly, in an accent Victoria couldn't identify. "I mean—I know who you are bec—"

"—Don't worry about it." Victoria shrugged, before holding onto her side. "I'm sorry if I come off as some creep."

"Don't worry about it," Alexandrya winked, before walking over to Bucky. "Вам не обязательно это делать, Баки."

"Я не позволю тебе продолжать уничтожать себя ради меня, кукла." Alex nodded, placing her head on his chest. Bucky lifted up her face and held it with his hand. He kissed her gently before Alex pulled away slightly. "Скоро увидимся, я тебя люблю."

Alexandrya nodded, tears visibly welling in her eyes.

Victoria mentally cursed Vision for not being there, but she smiled sadly to Alex when she stood next to her. Alex had tears forming in her eyes when she looked back at Bucky. She sent a small smile to him, and Victoria, before walking out of the room.

Steve moved over to Bucky and spoke, "You sure about this?"

"I can't trust my own mind. So, until they figure out how to get this stuff out of my head I think going back under is the best thing, ...for everybody."

Bucky looked to Victoria. "Don't get yourself killed while I'm gone, Vic."

"No promises."

Bucky relaxed into the pod and the ice covered the glass. Steve walked over to a window and stared out into the forest. Victoria stood beside him and leaned her body against his. "You okay?"

"At least I know where he is now and that he's safe." T'Challa stopped next to Steve and stared into the forest too. "Thank you for this."

"Your friend and my father, they were both victims. If I can help one of them find peace..."

"You know, If they find out he's here," Steve glanced down at Victoria. "They'll come for him."

"Let them try."

Victoria's mind went to her speedster and she turned to T'Challa. "Which room is Pietro in?"