SHIFTER ─ marvel

XXXIV. Finally At Peace

I can see her press her lips tightly together, see her hands fist up and her body tense up, all of this in an attempt to stop the tears from falling from her eyes. It's to no avail. I can see her tears silently spill down the side of her face, see the relief and overwhelming happiness fill her eyes. It's like a weight has been lifted off of her. Like a bird who had been caged was finally set free.

I glance over at Alex, and with one long stare between us, I know that the same thoughts and feelings are going through our minds. We both know what a burden our powers used to be, the toll that it took on our body and minds. We were able to escape our cages, but she never could. I find myself feeling happy for her, for her to find the peace she had been deprived of unjustly for so long. I can see Alex feels the same way. But I can also see the guilt he feels for feeling even the slightest bit of happiness or pity for the woman who tortured and held his sister captive.

Shuri approaches us, leaving Bruce to hook Analiese to an IV, as well as bring up her vital readings and blood pressure onto a screen. Shuri looks aggravated for having Analiese in her lab, but she doesn't make a comment about it. She lets out a small sigh, keeping her expression as indifferent as possible. "She'll be under radiation therapy for maybe three days. Bruce and I will give her the serum doses regularly as well as the altered chemo. I'm optimistic, I think it will work. It worked on your blood samples."

I reach forward and grip Shuri's hand tightly, giving her a grateful smile. "Thank you for this. Now, we need to come up with a schedule for guard duty. She can't be left alone."

Shuri scoffs. "I'd like to see her try to escape this lab."

Alex looks over towards Analiese, shaking his head. "She won't try. We've given her exactly what she wants. But I agree, I don't want her to get any funny ideas. Khari and I can take the first watch."

"You sure?" I ask.

He nods, a smile spreading over his face as he looks to his fiancé. "We could work out some wedding details. I'll need Shuri's help anyways and this is where she'll be the next few hours."

An instant rush of happiness fills Shuri's expression, and her voice comes out as a high pitched squeal as she asks; "You want my help to plan your wedding?"

Alex nods. "Of course. Now that we have Analiese, I want to get married as soon as she's picked up by Everett. Especially since most of the guests were inviting are already here."

Scott's raises his hand slightly, an awkward smile spreading over his face. "Am I included in this guest list or...?"

Khari smiles while Alex gives him an obvious look. "We'll featuring i'd be dead without you, yes you're invited."

"We would both love it if you and Bruce could stay for the wedding as well." Khari says, looking from Rhodey to Bruce.

Rhodey smiles widely. "Of course! I'd be honored to come."

Bruce nods our way, tapping on some board in front of him. "I'll be there." He says without looking at us.

Shuri seems so enraptured by her newly appointed wedding planner position, she has completely forgotten about Analiese. She's muttering to herself about flowers and cake flavors.

Bucky turns the conversation back to the topic at hand. "You two can watch her until dinner, then I'll take over for part of the night. Maybe till three?"

"I'll watch her from three till eight or nine, then Scott and Rhodey will take the next shift?"

They both nod, with Scott saying; "Should we be worried that being exposed to that level of radiation will give her some unwanted affects? I'm no scientist but even I know being exposed to radiation full on isn't a good thing."

Shuri nods. "We altered it so it isn't like regular radiation. And even with the chemo she won't lose her hair or anything. She might feel a little hot from the radiation, but the fact that's the only discomfort she'll feel makes me mad. I wish the machine would cook her like she's in a Dutch oven."

Most of the others probably have more gruesome ideas in mind, but they don't voice them.

"I want to stay here until she gets the actual serum, then you two can take over." I say say to Khari and Alex, looking over to Analiese and slowly approaching the table.

Analiese's eyes follow me as I get closer, her relief fading and being replaced with anger and disgust. Her mouth is still pressed in a tight line, but it loosens ever so slightly as two very unexpected words slip out.

"Thank you." She tells me curtly, clearly hating herself for saying that to me.

I smile down at her, nodding my head once. "Shuri is optimistic this will work. As am I. Hopefully in a few days you'll have what you've always wanted."

Confusion fills her eyes, but instead of saying anything further to me, she moves her gaze from me and up at the screen above her, making her brown eyes begin to glow blue.

I don't move my eyes from her however, because seeing this level of vulnerability in her right now, seeing the genuine happiness in her eyes, all I can see is Julian. She's his twin, so of course she looks like him, but it's here that the resemblance truly shines.

I still don't know if the conversation I had with Julian was a drug induced dream or real. But whether it was or it wasn't, I feel like Julian is finally at peace. I feel like he can rest now knowing his sister is being cured. It feels like now he didn't die in vain. That makes all the pain I've endured worth it. For him.