Sam was flying over the woods, searching for any motion trying to find Bucky. He wasn't too high above the trees, but high enough that he could easily scan the ground if he saw movement. After a little over half an hour of flying over the woods, he decided maybe Bucky headed home, so he thought maybe he would find him there.
The beautiful architecture of Wakanda came into view as Sam flew into the barrier. Sam and Bucky had been staying with T'Challa and Shuri in the palace since the Avengers Compound was in the middle of reconstruction after the battle with Thanos. He landed in the courtyard before the palace doors as Shuri came out to meet him.
"Your majesty," Sam grinned at her.
"Back so soon?" Shuri asked curiously, eyeing his metal wings. She was always fond of the engineering behind Sam's pack, and one day Sam even let her try it out for research purposes so maybe she could replicate it or make more advanced technology-based off of it.
Sam nodded, letting his wings fold back up into his pack. "We finished up pretty quickly," Sam smirked, "Those agents didn't stand much of a chance anyway."
Shuri gave a chuckle and smiled.
"Is your brother here?" Sam asked the girl. Shuri shook her head. "No, he's out at some boring business meeting or something with my Mother. He'll be back sometime tomorrow evening."
Sam nodded then Shuri gave him a questioning look. "Where is the White Wolf?" She cocked her head to the side, waiting for an answer.
"Barnes? I thought he came back here," Sam frowned and quickly glanced up at the palace that was towering majestically behind Shuri. Shuri shook her head.
"He has not returned yet," Shuri had a concerned look on her face. "Did something happen?"
Sam shook his head and shifted his gaze to the ground. I thought for sure he'd be here, where did he go?
"We were fighting off the last of the agents when one of them was getting away, so I left Bucky and went after him," Sam started to explain. "I also circled the area a bit but didn't see Bucky again, so I was hoping he came back here."
"Maybe he took a wrong turn or something, I'm sure he'll be back shortly," Shuri said with a grin, trying to reassure him. Sam nodded in reply, then Shuri turned on her heel and entered the palace with Sam trailing behind.
Yeah, he'll be here soon, I'll just wait a little bit.
~¥~
Bucky felt like he'd be walking for hours. His legs were sore, but he wouldn't stop.
He couldn't.
Even if he wanted to, the Winter Soldier still had complete control over his body.
No matter how hard Bucky tried, it seemed he couldn't break through even a little bit. He'd be trying that for hours too, and it mentally drained and exhausted him to the point where many times, he thought about just giving up and letting the Winter Soldier take him over completely again.
But that's exactly what Hydra wants, and I can't hurt anyone else. I have to keep trying.
Bucky knew it wouldn't be much longer that he would have this much of his mental corner left. He could already feel it decaying; his corner getting smaller, his grip on reality slipping. It wouldn't be long until the Winter Soldier completely took over his mind too.
Bucky decided to focus on his surroundings for a bit to try and figure where they are and where they were going. The Winter Soldier seemed to be going somewhere . . . familiar.
Bucky knew he knew these woods pretty well, but since his mind was on the fritz, he couldn't quite place it at the moment. After a few more minutes of the Winter Soldier walking and Bucky observing, the realization hit him like a truck, and his heart sank.
They were headed right toward Wakanda.
Right to Sam.
~¥~
Sam and Shuri were hanging out in the lab awaiting any sign of Bucky's return. They had been waiting for what felt like forever (but had only actually been a little over twenty-four hours) and Sam was starting to get worried. Deep down, Sam and Bucky both cared for each other though they don't show it very openly. They weren't the best of friends but they did get along sometimes and had quite a bond, deep and unbreakable.
"He should've been back hours ago." Sam started to pace the floor. He felt restless. He knew Bucky knew the way back to Wakanda, but that didn't stop his growing concern. Sam also knew that Bucky could handle himself in just about any situation and could easily take care of any problems he could run into. But the fact that Bucky should've met Sam back here hours ago was giving him a bad feeling.
Sam's thoughts quickly went back to the hydra agent back in the woods, trying to figure out any clue he could use. Had he been there before he left Bucky? Did he have something to do with Bucky's disappearance? Why did he want to kill Sam?
"Hm, yes it has been quite awhile." Shuri's voice pulled Sam out of his thoughts. Shuri glanced up at the clock on the wall in front of the desk she was working at. She was surrounded by various tools and knick-knacks working on another project.
It seemed as if she was always working on something.
Sam picked up his metal pack from where he laid it on one of the tables in the lab. He slipped it on his back and started walking toward the door. Shuri spun around on her chair to face him. "Where are you going?" she asked.
Sam looked at her. "I'm gonna go check around the area, see if anything catches my eye, maybe he's close by and just not in yet. Maybe your security systems haven't picked him up," Sam replied with a shrug. Shuri looked slightly offended.
"Of course my systems would pick him up, do you know how advanced it is? No one can- hey wait!" Shuri jumped up from her chair as Sam turned on his heel and out the door.
"At least take this with you, it's a communication earpiece device. You can tell me if you find anything." She slid a small black earpiece into his hand, then slid a similar one into her own ear. Sam took his earpiece and did the same with a nod.
"Thanks," and with that, Sam turned and left the palace.
A few minutes later, Sam was once again flying over the astonishing city of Wakanda as the sun was starting to set. He started by searching around the marketplace that was closer to the palace and worked his way outward toward the borders. When he finally got to the edge of the city, he landed near where the woods started. He walked for a while around the border, keeping his ears and eyes open.
All the while he was searching, Sam had a sinking feeling in his stomach. There was a thought in the back of his mind that was taunting him but he refused to believe it.
Maybe Bucky became the Winter Soldier again.
But that's just not possible.
Sam didn't want to believe it, but the thought was still there in the back of his mind, taunting him. No no, he's just lost. He took a wrong turn, went a scenic route, that's all.
After a few more minutes of walking around, he thought he should go back to Shuri and they could reevaluate and make a new plan.
"Hey Shuri? Can you hear me?" he asked through the earpiece Shuri gave him.
"Yes, I'm here," Shuri's voice crackled in his ear. Sam sighed.
"I haven't found anything yet." Sam glanced around his surroundings, lost in thought. "I'm debating on coming back and we can make a new plan. Maybe we can track him down or something with all your fancy technology and whatnot." Even though Sam couldn't see her, Sam imagined Shuri was nodding along.
"Okay yeah, we cou-"
"Shhh!" Sam whirled around and activated his wings, but still stayed on the ground. He had heard leaves crunching. Or he thought he did anyway. It was a quiet and light crunching sound.
Like someone was sneaking around.
"What? What was it? What happened?" Shuri's voice crackled in his ear again with questions.
"I . . I don't know, I thought I heard some leaves crunching. It sounds like someone is here," He whispered back to Shuri. He started to slowly walk in the direction he thought he heard the sound from. After he took a couple of steps, he heard something behind him and whirled around.
Oh.
No . . .
A couple of feet away from him, in the middle of the woods stood a figure dressed completely in black. As he pointed a gun at Sam, his metal arm glistened in the sunlight, and his eyes looked blank and empty.