Chapter Thirty-Four
Soroya
The flight back to Wakanda was tense. Khari flew the ship while the rest of us sat silently in the back. Bucky had his metal hand around Analiese's arm the entire time, with Alex on the other side of her. Rhodey had his gun out the entire time, waiting for her to make a move. Nakia and Scott sat next to me across from them, their eyes both glued to Analiese.
Alex looked very conflicted the entire time, fighting between pity and anger in regard to Analiese. The rest of our party didn't have the same conflict, and looked at Analiese like they wanted to see her head explode. Even Scott. It's the most serious I've ever seen him.
When we got to Wakanda, I saw amazement go through Analiese's expression as she took in the beauty and advancements of the secret country. As a scientist I'm sure it peaks her interest; seeing the technological levels Wakanda operates at.
This amazement continues when we reach the lab. Bucky leads her off of the ship, his grip tightening as they walk down the stairs. I follow after them, finding Shuri waiting outside for us. She has the same look of hostility in her eyes as the others do, and she silently nods towards her lab. Bucky nods back, pushing Analiese forward. Her annoyance is clear, but it's being buried under the glazed look of astonishment in her eyes.
"You could loosen your grip," She says through clenched teeth. "It's not like I could go anywhere."
Bucky's anger grows at the sound of her voice. "I'm not taking any chances with you."
"Bucky, let her go. It's okay." I urge him, seeing a look of confusion come over Analiese's face at my intervention.
I see him clench his jaw, staring at me for a moment. He nods curtly and lets go of her arm, gesturing for her to follow Shuri. He walks very closely to her though, barely keeping more than a few inches between them.
I turn back towards the others, particularly Scott, Rhodey, and Nakia. Nakia squeezes my hand tightly, saying; "I'll go alert T'Challa and Okoye we're back. They'll want to be here to see Remington."
I nod to her, watching as she makes her way back towards the ship. Alex and Khari both make their way into the lab after Bucky and Analiese, and as Scott and Rhodey start to follow, I stop them.
"You two don't have to stay here if you don't want to. This process will take a few days and I don't want to keep you both from your lives or family."
Scott rolls his eyes. "Don't be stupid. Of course I'm staying here."
Rhodey nods too. "I'm not leaving until Remington is behind bars. We're with you till the end."
I smile at them, feeling lucky to have such loyal friends in my life. I nod towards the lab. "Lets go see the others then."
The air is tense the moment we reach the others, perhaps even more so than the flight here. Analiese is laying down on a metal table in the middle of the lab; her hands and ankles cuffed along with her chest and legs, just like she had me strapped down when she held me captive. Attached to the table is a long metal arm, with a table length clear piece of machinery attached to it. It's suspended over Analiese, far enough above her to allow Shuri to walk up to her, injecting her in the arm with a needle.
"This is altered chemotherapy," Shuri tells her, a monotone pitch to her voice. "I'll then turn the machine on, which will radiate all of your cells and begin to shrink them. In about an hour I'll put the serum in."
Analiese nods slowly, a bit of fear in her eyes as Shuri begins to turn the machine on. She probably still thinks this is some painful torture we've concocted for her. But as the machine begins to hum, a blue like glow suspends down. This glow makes Analiese's skin and clothes have a blue hue, like she was put under a black light. Her expression softens as the machine begins to work, and a new revelation comes over her. I can see it plain on her face. She realizes she's actually going to be cured. She's realizing this isn't a punishment, a torture, or a painful death sentence.
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.