6808/We need to talk about Shuri.

We need to talk about Shuri.
Date of Scene:	05 July 2021
Location:	Spring 2020: Wakandan Embassy
Synopsis:	Spring of 2020: Bucky delivers some news to T'Challa and Bucky manages to walk out without being murdered by the Dora Milaje - considering it's Bucky, that's a win.
Cast of Characters:	James Barnes, T'Challa

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James Barnes has posed:
    Over the past few months, Bucky's been to the Embassy a handful of times to meet up with Shuri for lunch, just to chat, maybe even for a little help with this or that. It's become pretty well known that if he shows up here? Well, he's here to see her.

    So, it might have surprised people when he showed up today and asked to speak with T'Challa instead? Not that he's never spoken with the King, they've met, in passing or during some sort of 'save the world' thing or another. Buck's not officially an Avenger, but that doesn't mean he hasn't been out there kicking ass and taking names with Steve when necessary.

    After the initial moment of 'what's this all about' surprise, Bucky was shown to an appropriate place to wait to see the King. He's currently looking over something hanging on the wall and wondering to himself it it's actually artwork or if it'll blow up if he touches it.

T'Challa has posed:
A pair of Dora Milaje keep a close eye on the man, one standing to either side of the double doors that lead into the main office of the embassy where T'Challa currently sits, poring over paperwork and a couple datapads along with a holo-display he cycles through with the flick of a couple fingers.

Once he has completed what he was working on, he motions toward the two guardswomen in matching positions on his side of the door, speaking, "Send the man in, please." Both of the guards take the handle of their respective doors and swing them open in unison, the one recognized as Okoye directing her stern gaze toward Bucky. "The King will see you now."

T'Challa rises from behind his desk, dressed in black with silver tribal designs down the front, back, an along the arms near the wrists. As expected, it is tailored for him and him alone.

James Barnes has posed:
    Personally, while Bucky is all sorts of respectful to titles, he's always found the pomp and circumstance of the Embassy a little off-putting. It's pretty easy to read in his expression, in the way his brow furrows before one eyebrow shoots up independently of the other when he's 'stern gazed' at and show in. At least he didn't BuckyStare(tm) it into a contest with the woman?

    "King T'Challa," he greets... respectfully, see - respectful. He's never one for small talk, not anymore, 'social butterfly Bucky Barnes' vanished seventy years ago. So, "Look, I feel like I need to tell you something, but I also know that if I do, I'm breaking the trust of someone we both care about."

    He pauses only long enough to let that settle before he just pushes onward. "... so, if I'm gonna tell you this thing that you should probably know, you gotta promise me, on Wakanda or whatever else you swear an oath on, that nothing I say leaves this room... ever."

T'Challa has posed:
It's a royalty thing. For public appearances, people expect and want to see the fancy traditions. Some live vicariously through imagining themselves in the same positions, of power, wealth, luxury, but they often forget about the responsibility part of it. King T'Challa's responsibilities to Wakanda and its people are everything, even beyond the aid he has given to other people, other nations.

This might not be the day to worry over those kinds of things further. He has already spent a usual portion of it dealing with the minutiae, things he is not simply content to pass along to subordinates. It remains that he keeps his hands clasped in back of him while greetings are made, offering the faintest dip of the chin while somehow managing not to look haughty about it.

"Welcome, Mr. Barnes. Would you have a seat so we can discuss the reasons behind your visit?" He remains behind the desk until Bucky begins to explain, a brow shifting upward before he raises a hand to cut him off.

The King says, "This, I can see is important to you. I trust the Dora Milaje completely, but for this.." He looks past them, to Okoye and her partner, and she gives T'Challa another one of those stern looks before she says, "Understood, my King. We will be on the other side, waiting." For the conversation to finish. For trouble. It is not explained which, but she likely means both. The doors shut, leaving the two men behind, and T'Challa's expression bids Bucky to continue. "If I give someone my word, I will not break it. I believe you know me well enough to understand that. Please, continue. Is this a matter of danger?"

James Barnes has posed:
    "It's just James... but if you insist on Barnes, it's just Barnes or Sergeant Barnes," Bucky points out, spells out in plain English because... it matters to him. He's not Mister Barnes.

    He waits until the room is clear before he takes a seat. "You need to let me finish, with all of it, okay? Then ask questions if you have them." He leans forward in his chair, elbows on his knees, but his gaze is up, on T'Challa rather than down like he's prone these days, so that hair of his can hide his face.

T'Challa has posed:
T'Challa makes his way around the desk to stop behind the chair's twin, set up at an angle to the desk that mirrors the one Barnes is in. Even in this way, he moves rather like the panther he takes the name of when in costume.

"Sergeant Barnes for now, then. I am familiar enough with your exploits, though I understand you have had complications to deal with," he remarks, gaze sliding toward the arm before returning to the face, studying his expression and body language, a hand now coming to rest against the chair back.

After the request is made of him that he wait to hear the whole thing out, he takes a few seconds to consider it before adding, "As you ask."

James Barnes has posed:
    Complications. Bucky can't help but to let out a little snort at that word, half amused. "Yeah..." He takes a deep breath before he begins. It's not even that he's nervous really, but sometimes it just takes him a minute to pull up memories still, even recent ones. Sometimes they get jumbled together with the nightmares and the little day flashes that leave him reeling.

    But finally, "It was March fifth. I was picking up some supplies." Art supplies, but there's no need to divulge that little personal detail. "I was just there, you know, right place right time I guess. Shuri was attacked, attempted snag and grab. I didn't even know her then. Now she was, for the most part, handling her own business. But she's just a little girl and they were..." Too much for a little girl, even one with Shuri's moxie.

    He doesn't pause, not one second and if T'Challa tries to talk over him at that reveal, Bucky will hold up a 'I'm not done yet' hand. "Anyway, I got her out there and brought her safe back here." He leans back so he can get his hand down into the front pocket of his pants to dig out a little white, silk bag. He offers the bag to the King.

    "I figured out who was behind it, small HYDRA cell operating Up State. I took care of it, to the man. There were twenty-one of them present that night."

    The date, the location, the number of men involved. It all tracks to a single event that T'Challa might remember. In the main stream news, it was nothing but an freak explosion at an old saw mill. To the FBI, it was a small terrorist cell, but the SHIELD and the Avengers it was HYDRA, although none of their records have any mention of *who* was responsible. In fact, none of them know.

    "I sent a message, they won't come for her again soon. They know, if they do, the boogeyman they created will come for them."

    In that little bag? Twenty-one eye teeth. No burn marks. He killed them all and THEN blew the place to bits.

T'Challa has posed:
To his credit, T'Challa does not interrupt. In fact, he barely even moves except for a slight tightening of his expression, his eyes boring more closely into Bucky's. That may be more unsettling than him attempting to cut the man off with an emotional tirade. The grip at the chair back might just tighten.

Once he does speak, he explains, "This is why I had instructed her to remain home instead of coming to America, but she does not listen. I might be better off telling her to do what I do not want her to do, simply because she will just disobey me in the end all the same." Reverse psychology. It would be amusing if the circumstances were different, and he shakes his head. "I am not fooling myself. She would have seen it as a blessing to do something she wanted to."

Clearing his throat, he turns the entirety of his focus back on the man. "She is very well-trained, but she is not as good as she thinks she is. Not yet. If you ensured her safety, then you are to be thanked for it and it seems I owe you a debt of gratitude, Sergeant Barnes."

Here is where he opens the bag after his hand closes around it, getting a sense of what might be within by the time he tells the King, by the time he sees for himself. He keeps his tone calm, neutral, under control, his emotions managed. "I did not ask you to kill anyone, and I did not ask for proof of it. Had you come to me with this news, had she come to me with it, I would have dealt with the problem personally." The way he says it suggests he might not have killed them himself. Or would he have?

The bag is closed back up and returned. "I do not require these. They are yours to keep if you wish. But next time, this is not something that should be kept from me. Shuri and I are family, and I will be included when it comes to protecting her." Regardless of their mothers being different. "It appears the two of you are on friendlier terms than I thought."

James Barnes has posed:
    "I didn't say you did ask," Bucky replies, not so much anger in his tone, but it's a little hard. "But you don't *get* a wait and see, a 'we'll deal with it tomorrow' with fucking," yes he swore in front of the King, he sure did... "...HYDRA, T'Challa. The message needed to be swift, retaliation complete and without question. I didn't even kill half of them. They killed *themselves* when they knew I had them. They're fanatics and they are evil of the worst order. I know this, because they I was *theirs* for seventy years." The man is passionate about this subject, obviously!

    To the bag, he waves it off. "Pitch'm, force of habit, I was always made to bring back proof on solo missions. It was usually the head if I could manage it."

    On no, he's not messed up AT ALL, just the dude you want hanging with your little sis, right?

    "You can never, never tell her I told you. It wasn't my idea to keep this from you, it was hers. ...and I love that kid, it was hard for me to come here, to betray her. If she finds out? She'll never speak to me again and... if she finds herself in trouble again, she might hesitate to call you just that second too long. She'd call me immediately." OUCH, that might sting, but it's really just the nature of family, especially brothers and sisters.

T'Challa has posed:
T'Challa wears an impassive mask while Bucky tells him of HYDRA and the urgency of the matter. It takes a fair amount of control not to let the man, experienced as he is, see that this gets under his skin in any way. And it does. Quite a bit, in fact. The thought of his sister needing the help of someone else, not even a Wakandan...but Bucky was the one who was there. He was the one who saw it, who did something about it, who did not send word to T'Challa whether he had the time to or not.

That is the part that stings on some level, as the King's protective nature is shown to him to have a crack in the armor.

"Whatever the details, they are dealt with and Shuri is safe." He gives the bag of teeth a look of distaste, as if they offend him, and they are taken over to a bin to be dropped into. He will not give Bucky the sight of seeing him throw them with any force. Not even that.

Where an edge creeps into his tone, it comes with him back by the desk after what he says toward the end. "If she needed help, she would call for me. She knows I would drop all else and be there for her." That is what he believes. That may not be what Shuri believes, however. Then he goes back to one other part.

"What do you mean, you love her?" This is the part where he tells the King of Wakanda that Bucky and Shuri are sleeping together, isn't it?

James Barnes has posed:
    "...and you would treat her like a child, send her home, put her in a corner," Bucky says as he straightens back up in his chair and then stands. "That girl is the *only* person that has *never* looked at me sideways since Steve brought me home. She's never looked at me with fear in her eyes, only compassion. She's never looked at me looked at me like I'm broken or damaged," even though he is... "She never sees anything but strength in me, even when I don't." OH NO, is he sleeping with her? If he is, at least it sounds like he REALLY loves her with the passion in that speech.

    "I don't have any family, not blood... but I have a sister as much as you do in that girl." Whew!

    "But, she's not the reason I came here today. I came here to remind you that *HYDRA* is after your tech. You really need to understand the implications of that." Arms at his sides, the metal fingers of his left hand tap, one at a time, against his thumb. It makes a soft *click* sound with each tap, rhythmic and steady.

    Finally, he gets around to what he knows T'Challa was thinking. "I'm over a hundred years old, T'Challa, she's *eighteen*. That's gross to even think, man."

T'Challa has posed:
"Remember where you are, Sergeant, and remember the private audience I have granted you," T'Challa answers, and there is cold steel in his words. "Few are given the opportunity to speak with me like this, and that is because my Dora Milaje normally refuse to leave me alone. I understand you have experienced hardships few could know, and I am thankful for your assistance, but do not forget who you speak with. Shall I inform them it was a mistake to send them away?"

There are not many cases where T'Challa pulls the 'Do you know who I am?' card, but there is a side of him that has been pushed to it. That side is still feeling a certain way from knowing Shuri needed the help of a foreigner.

He forces himself to be seated once more behind the desk, which is kept decorated with a few items to remind him of home, otherwise uncluttered. By sitting down, he can focus on what matters more. "I will be honest and clear with you, Sergeant. You /are/ damaged, if not broken, and it seems my sister has found in you a..let me think..a project she believes she can nurse back to health." If it is his turn to hold up a hand to continue, he will. "Perhaps it is her seeing you as her savior, leading to a sense of feeling as though she needs to reciprocate, to return the favor." His shoulders shift, a shrug. "Perhaps that is the truth of it, but if I am wrong it will not be the first time with her, and it will likely not be the last. She is as great a mystery to me at times as can be."

His eyes do soften to an extent as Bucky clarifies the relationship being grounded in friendship and nothing further, though he gives the man a grimace of an expression as the age gap is pointed out. "This is the part where I say you look amazing for your age," he says, and it's the closest thing to a joke he's made yet. It doesn't mean Bucky is out of the woods yet. "There is always someone after Wakandan technology. This does not surprise me. I know well the dangers of it falling into the wrong hands. I was not born yesterday. Clearly if they sought to kidnap her, it was also to gain whatever they could from her."

He pauses, and the simmering anger from before is gradually replaced by something else. Regret? Pain? "It would not the first time Hydra has been a part of someone trying to gain access to our resources," he says, reaching toward a photo on his desk of the prior King, the Black Panther before him. T'Chaka. His father. "Do not presume to think I am unaware of the implications."

James Barnes has posed:
    "Nah, no need to call in the guards, I was just leaving anyway. Don't think I don't know I'm damaged, *King* T'Challa. But you underestimate her. I can see it the way she looks at me, she doesn't see people as projects... ever. She's my *friend* and I'm hers."

    Bucky had stopped doing that weird finger tapping thing, but it starts again and when it does, there's a little less mild 'fuck you' in his tone and a whole lot more controlled emotion, "Please don't mess that up."

    He doesn't wait for an answer, or do be dismissed, before he turns and heads for those double doors.

T'Challa has posed:
"Then talk to her, and if you think there is something I can offer or aid you with, come speak to me again," T'Challa answers, but he is staring more intently at the photo than the man on the other side of the desk. Only once he is on his way toward the doors does he look back up. "As I said, I owe you a debt of gratitude, and the offer will remain whether we end up friends or not, as you and Shuri have become. I do not forget those who have helped family, and I will keep the promise I have made to you."

He watches as the man approaches the doors, having given the arm another look, and after pressing a small button beneath the desk the Dora Milaje on the other side respond by swinging the doors back open. Whatever tone there is in Bucky's voice, whatever he thinks of the King, T'Challa adds before he is gone, "Thank you, Sergeant." It may not be loud, but it is loud enough.

James Barnes has posed:
    He stops just outside the doors, head lowered a little bit so that mane of long hair falls over his face, hiding it from the Dora Milaje on the other side of them. "You're welcome."

    Just a beat, a breath of time in which he's undecided to just go on or keep running his mouth. His social graces are sorely lacking, he opts for the latter. "You don't owe me anything, T'Challa, other than the promise you made when I came in." Because that? Is all that matters to him, that T'Challa keeps this between them, that Shuri's heart doesn't get broken over Bucky having come here. Then, well, he's on his way and hoping he doesn't run into the Pushy Little Princess on his way out of the building.