Faultless {Short Stories}

Home

~Minor spoilers for the future books~

Wakanda
2023

Mary sat on the porch of her home. Not The Tower, not DC, and not Brooklyn. But her new home, the one she and Bucky had made together, where their neighbors were goats and panther gods looked after them. Their home of Wakanda. The sun was rising across the lake from where she sat, rocking her son in her arms as he had woken up from a nightmare few hours before. Bucky was out on a mission with Sam and Becca so it was just Mary and Jamie alone in the house.

A small yawn brings Mary back to reality, her smile warm as the sun hits her face when she looks down at her son, her James Buchanan Barnes Jr, her Jamie. "Morning sleepy head." She whispers, lifting his head slightly in her arms to kiss his forehead, "No more monsters?" She asks.

Another yawn comes from the five year old as he shakes his no, "No, Bast was keeping me safe." He mumbles, "Cause he gave me you, Ma."

Mary's heart swells as her son speaks, "Pa and Sissy should be home today, should we get the house ready for them and Uncle Sam?" She asks, the child nods, though still sleepy from just having woken up, "We should see if i'm needed at the palace first, hm?"

"Mhmm." Jamie mumbles as he snuggles deeper into his mother's arms, the very same arms that had protected him since he was born. Mary kept him safe from all harm. From all threats. And filled his heart with love for his Ma, "I wanna see Umalume T'Challa and U-anti Shuri!" (Uncle and Aunt) Jamie says, he was raised with the cultures around him meshing into one so he had grown up hearing Xhosa from the Wakandans, Russian from his Pa and Sissy, and English from his Ma and remaining family. Little Jamie Barnes was a melting pot of different cultures and he thrived in it.

"Then we'll go see them. Make sure you show U-anti Okoye your knife that Pa brought you back from his last mission in Tokyo." She says, smiling as her son nods excitedly, jumping down from her lap and racing into the home that Bucky and Mary had put so much love into.

T'Challa had offered multiple times to house the Wolves of Wakanda in his palace, or in the city. But Bucky and Mary wanted their own land to call their own. The husband had taken up farming and caring for some goats that came into his possession via Shuri. Mary had a small hut not to far from the home that she called her Medical Home. Shuri had offered her own lab for Mary to use, and the mother does use the labs when she needs too, but she likes having her own space to work on her patients.

Wolves of Wakanda were what the natives had started calling the Barnes family, Wakanda's secondary line of defense. Bucky being their White Wolf, the Alpha, the protector. Mary was their Gray Wolf, the Luna, the healer. Becca was their Red Wolf, the spitfire and princess. Jamie was their Golden Wolf, joyful and the heir to the White Wolf legacy.

Mary hoped that Bucky and her would add to their family, they had talked about it before. She wanted to start trying for their fourth child. Winnie being their second and Jamie their third. Both parties felt that Jamie was old enough that they could start trying for another child. Everything was seemingly falling into place after decades of challenges befalling them. With Thanos gone, the looming threat was less. Bucky and Sam had taken Becca under their guidance like Steve wanted them too. She was gifted with her Uncle's shield even before she trained with it. Bucky and Sam both knew that one day, Becca Barnes would be the one to pick up the mantel when they couldn't any longer.