[Leipzig AU] good for trouble

[from_the_outside]

Busan glitters like a disco ball in the night, and no one gives them a second glance as they stroll through the fish market, Sharon in her white dress on Ross's arm, the rest of the team behind them. "Sophia," she says, warmly, and exchanges air kisses with the woman, her pink visor and plastic apron both bright. She knows to expect them, and after she pats Sharon fondly on the cheek, she nods them through.

They spread out through the casino, the team's voices low in her ear. She stays by Ross, playing the part of arm candy, applauding when he wins and consoling him when he loses.

There's no sign of Klaue yet, and the metal briefcase full of diamonds stays locked to the wrist of one of the other agents. "I'm going to get a drink," Sharon murmurs to Ross, and makes her way through the crowd to the bar. 

The martinis here are fine, but not as good as Nat's.

Comments

[marvel_npc]

"I appreciate that," T'Challa says, gravely. Nakia studies him for signs of strain, and finds more than she would like.

Something has been troubling him since they returned from Busan. Certainly there is a great deal that could be troublesome, as she had just been telling Sharon, but she thinks that there is something more. Still, if he is not willing to talk about it yet, there is very little she can do to draw it from him save to wait, watch, and be ready to listen.

[from_the_outside]

Tomorrow morning. For all she wants to make sure she knows what's happening, she's just as happy for it to actually happen after she's had a little time to adjust.

Apparently Shuri is thinking along the same lines. "Do not strain my patient!" she says, whacking at her brother, who is far enough away that Shuri's fingertips barely brush his arm. "She still needs rest."

"I thought you said you fixed her?" T'Challa says, a glint of mischief in his eyes, and Shuri tsks at him.

"I did," she says, with perfect certainty. "But that does not mean I want her running around after criminals just yet."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Hear that?" Bucky drawls. "Don't get shot again. It'll upset the princess."

Ross snorts.

[from_the_outside]

"Well, there goes my big plan to get shot again," Sharon says, dry, and makes a face at him.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Good," Bucky says, and this time Nakia laughs.

"I don't think anyone is in danger of being shot today," she observes. "But as Shuri says, you still need rest. Should we all return to the Citadel? You have not even seen anything of Wakanda yet except the lab."

[from_the_outside]

The Citadel. Sounds fancy. "Yeah," Sharon says. "Okay, that sounds good. I should probably find my, um, clothes at some point, too."

Not that this robe isn't comfortable, but she's not sure she wants to be walking around in it for too long, especially if there's the possibility of meeting other people.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Not those clothes." Bucky fails to offer any other explanation than that, and Shuri rolls her eyes at him.

"What the sergeant meant to say is that your old clothes were ruined," she explains. "I have things you can wear from here."

"And I have already arranged replacements for you in your rooms," Nakia finishes.

[from_the_outside]

"Oh," Sharon says. "'Kay."

Ruined. She grimaces slightly, but what's she going to do about it? "Those sound great. Both."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Come with me," Nakia says, standing. "I will show you where to change."

"Here," Bucky says, before Sharon can follow her. He pulls Sharon's phone from his pocket and hands it over. "You'll want this."

[from_the_outside]

She takes her phone from him with a small smile. "Thanks," she murmurs, and follows Nakia back out of the lounge area

[nerves_of_ice]

"If you are all heading back, then I will leave you to it," Shuri says. "I have work to do on my new gauntlet design."

She dashes a mischievous look at Bucky. "Perhaps I will incorporate parts of it into your new arm, when you are ready."

Ross makes a small choking sound. "She's making you a vibranium arm?"

Bucky opens his mouth to answer, but Shuri beats him to it with a loud sniff. "Of course I am! What else should I make it from?"

[from_the_outside]

Her shirt definitely is ruined, but she pulls out her jeans and ankle boots and gives Nakia a sad look until her friend laughs. "I will have them washed and returned to you," she promises, and offers Sharon a light sleeveless jumpsuit in a geometric pattern and a pair of sandals, both of which Sharon takes gratefully.

A few minutes later, they return to the group, chatting lightly about the places in the city where Nakia likes to shop when she's home. Sharon slips her hands into the pockets of the airy jumpsuit and smiles at them all. "Ready?"

[nerves_of_ice]

The three men stand as they return to the room, and Shuri laughs and hops to her feet as well. “So polite,” she teases. T’Challa sighs. “Shuri.”

She wrinkles her nose at him and puts a gentle hand on Bucky’s arm. “Come back soon. I will have things for you to test,” she promises.

He nods and she bounces off to Nakia and Sharon. Ross moves closer to Bucky and asks under his breath, “Things to test?”

Bucky slants a look at him, but recognizes the signs of someone fascinated by the near-impossible tech rather than trying to poke him for intel. The corner of his mouth turns up in a wry smile. “Stuff like you wouldn’t believe. You know she was driving that car in Busan? From here. Holographic remote control.”

Ross stares at him, then breathes out a laugh. “God, what I wouldn’t give to try something like that myself.”

[from_the_outside]

It's nice to see Bucky and Ross chatting a little more easily, though there's clearly still some tension between them. She smiles and comes to join them in time to hear the last part.

"No way," she laughs. "All the way from here? That's insane."

[nerves_of_ice]

“The remote-driven car in Busan,” Bucky explains to Nakia and T’Challa. Nakia laughs. “But it is true,” she promises. “Okoye placed the control disc herself.”

Bucky nods. “I was in the passenger seat. Heck of a ride.”

[from_the_outside]

"Now I really wish I'd caught up with you when you guys split from the casino," Sharon tells Nakia.

[nerves_of_ice]

“Oh, that car was for T’Challa,” Nakia says, flashing a smile at him. She comes to loop her arm through Sharon’s and starts leading her out the door, Shuri having already vanished down the corridor to the main lab.

“He had to catch up. Our car was vibranium.”

Ross makes another strangled sound. “That car? All of that was vibranium, just scattered about?”

“We reclaimed the parts,” T’Challa says, mildly. “We have some experience with this kind of thing, you must understand.”

[from_the_outside]

"I guess you must be."

She still feels pretty overwhelmed, but Nakia's covering for her and she loves her friend a little more for it. It lets her look around with wide eyes as they leave the lab and make their way to the train platform, where a sleek maglev train is swooping in just as they arrive.

"And I thought Europe had a good system," she mutters to Ross.

[nerves_of_ice]

“So did I. Until yesterday. Look,” Ross tells her. He points out the window of the train at the gleaming poles that lean in and out as other trains pass. “They’re transporting raw vibranium on those. And those glowing things are sonic stabilizers.” He glances at her, a little sheepish. “I asked a lot of questions.”

Bucky leans against the wall by T’Challa as the train begins to move. “I hope you’re having fun,” he murmurs, low and wry. “With as much trouble as we’ve brought you.”

“It is not that much trouble,” T’Challa says, firmly. His smile flashes for an instant. “And I must admit, it is a lot of fun to see how you all react.”

[from_the_outside]

Ross points out the various areas of his own interest and Sharon listens as Nakia tells her about the mountain and its history, then blinks and lifts a hand to shade her eyes as the train streaks out of the mountainside and into a brilliant blue-sky day.

"Wow," she breathes, as her eyes adjust and she can see over the sun-soaked grasslands. There's a herd of antelope bounding away into the wide sprawl of Wakanda's lands on one side of the train, and what looks like a city sprung from a science fiction novel on the other. She's never in her life seen anything like it.

[nerves_of_ice]

“Birnin Zana,” T’Challa says. “The Golden City. And there, that is the Citadel, my family’s home for generations.”

“This would be why I never showed you the view from the window,” Bucky says, dryly.

[from_the_outside]

"Yeah, I'm realizing that."

The train curves towards the Citadel, covering ground at an impossibly fast, smooth speed. Nakia points out the details of the city as they come into view, how greenery is everywhere, how the skyscrapers use thatch and other traditional building materials in their designs.

"I will take you into it later," Nakia promises her. "The markets are especially fun to walk around."

[nerves_of_ice]

Ross is listening to Nakia just as intently as Sharon is. Bucky looks at T’Challa, and finds him watching Nakia.

“She has wanted to do this for a long time,” T’Challa murmurs. “She believes we should do more in the outside world.” He glances at Bucky. “Your Captain Rogers said much the same. What do you say?”

Bucky breathes in and out, slow and careful. “That you could do a lot of good, but that there are and have always been good reasons for your secrets, too,” he murmurs. “So if you were going to change any of that, you’d likely want to be careful about how you do it.”

[from_the_outside]

Everywhere she looks, the past and present and plans for the future are evident, from the materials used to the designs to the techniques leveraged to bring them to life.

"It's beautiful," she says, wholehearted and without hesitation when Nakia asks her what she thinks. "It's the most incredible place I've ever seen."

Her friend beams, joy a warm lamp behind her eyes. "Yes," she agrees. "I think so, too."

[nerves_of_ice]

T’Challa gives a thoughtful nod and says nothing more, and Bucky doesn’t push. He straightens from his position against the wall as the train begins its long arc toward the Citadel platform.

“I must meet with Okoye,” T’Challa says. “Nakia?”