HIDDEN ─ marvel

XXVI. White Wolf

I take a deep breath, tucking my hair behind my ears, nodding my head. "Will you tell me once you've finished?"

Shuri grabs my hands and holds them tightly. "He will be perfectly safe and back by your side before you know it. You'll be the first to know when he's in recovery."

I nod, pulling Shuri in for another hug, my eyes falling on Bucky's cryo tank, feeling my fear still there.

-

A few days later...

Okoye hasn't made me work. Part of me wishes that I could be productive and distract myself, but a larger part of me knows I'm already too distracted to work. It's very frustrating.

Alex hasn't been working either, especially since Shuri has been focusing on Bucky and not on the trains. He's been sitting in my room with me, trying his best to make me feel better. Khari has come by to see both of us when he gets lunch breaks, which makes Alex and I happy. I was over the moon they were together now. It made this highly stressful few days a bit more bearable.

It's been three days since his surgery and two days since he started recovery. Just thinking about the fact Bucky was no longer frozen, that he was awake, made me feel like I was bursting from my skin.

Alex and I have been sitting on my bed watching Pretty Woman. We are just at the shopping spree scene when my Kimoyo Beads start to beep. I press on them instantly.

Shuri's face appears and she doesn't waste a second. "He's fine. We moved him from the lab. He's in a small house we arranged for him near the lake. We thought he would like being outside."

He would like that. My worry hasn't completely gone though. I ask with a slight tremor in my voice. "You...you tried the passwords?"

She nods. "The algorithm worked. The passwords didn't affect him at all."

I audibly sigh and let out a slight laugh. "Shuri you're—"

"A genius? I know. He is sleeping right now but you can come down here if you'd like. He should be waking up shortly given the last dosage of meds we gave him."

I nod to her and shut off the beads, feeling a smile grow that makes me feel like my whole face will crack. I turn to Alex, who hugs me tightly before nodding his head towards the door.

Walking out of my bedroom we make our way downstairs, walking quickly through the doors to exit the palace. We both shift into falcons, flying over towards the lake right outside the city. The house Shuri was referring to was obvious because it look quite different from the other Wakandan dwellings. This house looks more like a hut than a house. I see Shuri smile at us as we fly by.

We land behind the house, not wanting to freak out the children we see playing nearby. We reach the ground and shift back into human form, telling our suits to retract back into our necklaces.

I hear children shouting something in Xhosa, and my heartbeat quickens as I hear Shuri vaguely speaking. I think she asks someone how they're feeling. A familiar scent fills my nose and the voice of Bucky fills my ears. I feel like I can't breathe.

"Good...thank you." I hear him say.

I smile lightly to myself, forcing my legs to move faster. I hear Shuri say something else to him, but I can't hear her over the beating of my heart as we make our way around the hut.