Hellfire & Brimstone

Chasing Happy

I made my way to Zürich, slowly. I could have gone straight there and made it in a day, but I needed to make a pitstop to see Shuri and give her something for Bucky. So my first stop was Wakanda.

My feet touched down late in the evening on the landing pad. I was greeted by T'Challa and Oyoke. I nodded to him in respect and we clasped hands, I looked around but saw no sign of Nakia. 

"She's on a mission." T'Challa responded to my seeking eyes.

"Would I find Shuri in her lab?" I asked after nodding in acknowledgement to his reply.

"Yes, she has been hard at work in there." 

"I know she doesn't want me around Bucky right now, can you confirm she is alone?" I asked carefully. 

We began the walk toward her lab as T'Challa sent word ahead that I was coming to see her. She was carrying a plate of food into her lab when we arrived. 

"Jess!" She shifted the plate to her side and embraced me in a hug. 

"Hey," I returned the affection, "I just needed to talk to you for a moment." 

"Ok, come in." The doors to her lab moved open as we got close and the lights kicked on. The room was empty and I was thankful but also sad. 

I pulled my cell from my pocket, "I needed to get you the information on how to reach me." 

Shuri looked at the small device and chuckled, taking it and connected it to her computer, "You know I can upgrade this?"

"Nah, I like simple." I chuckled, as my eyes looked around the lab. I had been gone nearly a week, taking my time to fly back here. 

I could hear her computer whirring alive and the familiar swooshing as she moved information around in front of her. "He's doing well," Shuri had broken the awkward silence.

I smiled, but didn't turn toward her. I nodded my head and allowed my fingers to run along the edge of the bed he and I had both laid on at some point. 

"He understands why you can't be here, although he argued more than you did."

I chuckled and looked toward her. "If I gave you something, could you give it to him?" I asked as I began to play with his dog tags on my neck. 

Shuri paused her work in front of her, closing the session she was on. "Yes, I could make that happen."

I reached into my pocket as I made my way back to her, pulling out a long chain that had dog tags on the end of it. The tags hung in off set, with the first tag on the main chain and the second on a small chain hanging from the main one, just as his hung on me. I reached up and I disconnected the shorter chain from the set I was wearing and put it on the set in my hand, and did the same with the second set. Looking at the set in my hand, the top chain held a dog tag that read Jesse K. Barnes, 08-25-1936 imprinted below that. The lower hanging tag read James B. Barnes,  03-10-1917 was imprinted below his name. I handed the set of tags to Shuri. Who quickly looked them over and smiled. 

"This is perfect!" Her face full of enlightenment. I felt full confusion and my face must have shown it, because she laughed and then continued. "I needed something to help link his past and present. I was having a hard time finding something he would be able to use. This is perfect!" Her eyes were bright and again it caused me to laugh. 

She handed me back my phone and I smiled a thank you. I turned to leave and paused at the door. "Shuri?"

"Hmm?" I heard her weight shift as she turned toward me.