"The inevitable is no less a shock just because it is inevitable."
Jamaica Kincaid
"Why wasn't I told?!" Bucky shouted as he raced down the hallway, T'Challa at his heel waving off all the guards who jerked and raised their spears at this madman running down the halls. He knew where to go, Shuri's lab. He should have known better, the way Ophelia was acting so strange, he should have known that she was up to something that would get herself killed.
He ignored his gut intuition, and now he might not have the chance to see her alive again. Shutting that thought out of his head, he refused to let that be reality. The hallways seemed to wind and twist and go on forever, but he finally made it to the lab, with T'Challa beside him immediately.
"I was just informed, which is why I went straight to you," T'Challa told him, but it was no use, Bucky wasn't listening. He ran down the ramp to where Wanda and Shuri were standing over Ophelia. When he saw her, he slowed down, terrified of getting closer. He'd seen this before, Ophelia with her eyes shut on a hospital bed, and last time...
Last time she didn't wake up.
The image made him stagger, swaying where he stood. If he got close, he feared, she would do what she did last time. Use up the last of her energy to project memories into his mind, the leave him behind. No, he refused to accept that, he refused to allow that to happen again, and so he stood back. She wouldn't leave him without some kind of goodbye, but if he never allowed her to have that goodbye, she couldn't leave him.
Wanda had her hands hovering over Ophelia's temples. She looked exhausted but focused on whatever she was doing. Keeping her alive, most likely. Protecting herself from herself.
"God damn it, O."
Shuri looked up at Bucky, and her face dropped. "I tried to stop her."
"Why didn't you?" Bucky's voice started as a shout, but faded into a dull whisper. He couldn't react in anger, no one did anything wrong. Ophelia would have done this by herself if they turned her down, and things would be worse than they are now.
"Are you okay, Wanda?" Shuri asked, and the woman nodded and said, "I've got her."
Shuri removed her transparent orange cover and hung it up, then stepped around Ophelia's bed to approach Bucky. Reaching him, she placed her hand on his arm. "Sit. We have something to talk about."
"I don't want to hear it," Bucky said. "Not if..."
"Sit."
Bucky obeyed and Shuri sat beside him. "This was inevitable. Whether it was slow burning, or immediate. Now, before you freak out, she is stable."
"She is?"
"Yes," Shuri told him, and it sounded like the truth. "Brain activity it a bit all over the map, but with the technology I've developed and put in her head, and with Wanda micromanaging everything that is currently happening as it happens, Ophelia is alright for now. Now, before you begin to blame her for doing something without telling you, she was dying either way, and saw this as her only opportunity to change her fate."
"What? What is she doing?" Bucky asked, eyes stinging with tears threatening to fall.
"She's taking on the Soul Stone."
Bucky couldn't help but laugh, a wry little chuckle coming from his lips. "Why... Why am I not surprised to hear this?"
"Because you know her better than anyone, and this was bound to happen," Shuri said carefully. She knew that Bucky was teetering dangerously. Balancing between acceptance and denial. Last time he had destroyed half of the hospital equipment when O died, it took another Super Soldier to pin him down. This time -No. Bucky refused to accept that Ophelia was going to die.
"Ophelia has been in increasing pain since she came back," Shuri told Bucky. "The Stone never intended to allow her to stay for long. A few months longer, at best. If Steve had known, things would have been different. But if I have learned anything from the past and these stones, it's that they don't care. They're not good or evil, they just do what they are meant to do."
"So, this is her only chance...?"
Shuri nodded. "Since she came back, Ophelia has been suffering the pain she felt when she died. The head trauma has been there the whole time, she's just very good at hiding it."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Bucky asked, staring at the floor. He didn't dare look at Ophelia.
"It wasn't mine to tell," Shuri said, placing her hand on his arm gently.
"What do we do?" He looked up at her, this teenager who was one of the few people who might be able to keep Ophelia intact for a while longer.
"We hope that she wins this fight, Ophelia has always been a survivor. We wait until she wakes, we can take precautionary measures to protect her although... Wanda is going to need a break soon."
"What if we put her in cryo?" Bucky suggested. "You did that for me until you were able to fix what's inside my head, can't you do that for her?"
Shuri pondered this. "Perhaps, but I don't know if I can fix what's in there, Bucky... These stones are beyond what I -or anyone- is capable of manipulating."
"It would buy us time."
"Let's give her a few hours, and then decide. I believe Ophelia is strong enough, I just hope she could convince the stone..."
"You're right," Bucky said. "She is strong enough. She will get through this. After everything we've been through... She deserves our trust that she made the right choice."
"Bucky," Wanda said, her voice sounding hollow and drained. The red substance emitting from her fingertips swirled around Ophelia's temples. He approached slowly, cautiously, studying the woman he loved. Underneath her lids, her eyes were darting back and forth. He recalled many times how he saw her like that, how panicked she would be in her dreams. How he would have to wake her. Now waking her posed the risk of killing her. Waiting was the hardest thing he had to do.
Again.
"She's coming to," Wanda said. "I don't know how long she will have."
The words were like daggers in his heart, gutting him, leaving him bleeding out.
"I'm going to release my hold on her but keep a barrier around her mind. She might be out of sorts, she might not be coherent, but I won't release my protection on her. I promise, I'll do everything in my power to keep her safe."
"That's all we can ever do," he whispered, watching O and waiting for her big green eyes to open.