[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.

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[nerves_of_ice]

At the sound of her voice he goes from dozing to awake in a single heartbeat.

"Yeah, I know, baby," he murmurs, laughter in his tone as he reaches to take her hand. "It takes some getting used to. Give yourself a second, okay?"

[from_the_outside]

Curiouser and curiouser. She rolls her head on the flat surface and looks over as a warm hand reaches for hers, and notes as she does so that there's no pain at all in her back.

So probably she is dead? Because she thinks otherwise she'd be feeling pretty terrible right now.

Another clue that none of this is real: Bucky's sitting there next to her, looking a little drawn and worried even as his eyes watch her, warm and bright. "Hi," she murmurs, pleased.

If this is some weird hallucination her brain is giving her before it checks out for good, she'll take it. "Fancy seeing you here."

[nerves_of_ice]

She's clearly not all the way awake yet. His smile softens, becoming even more fond as he lifts her hand to kiss her fingers, then covers their joined hands with his other one as well.

"You're going to have questions. I'll answer them when you're ready," he promises. "But first - everyone's okay. Nakia wasn't hurt. Ross is safe. And you're going to be fine."

[from_the_outside]

She frowns, slightly. "Fine?"

That can't be possible, can it? In fact, none of this should be possible. She shifts again, her frown deepening as she tries to feel anything left from the bullet that had hit her. "I got shot," she says, like she's trying to make it real, prove it to herself.

She definitely did – she remembers because she was there and also because you don't forget getting shot – but there doesn't seem to be any sign of it now.

Sharon sits up, swinging her legs over the edge of the table, and lifts her free hand to feel down between her shoulderblades.

Nothing. "Didn't I?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"You did," he says, softly. "You put yourself between Nakia and the bullet, they said."

He squeezes her hand, very gently. "T'Challa stabilized you, and brought you home. Here. To Wakanda. And Shuri healed you."

[from_the_outside]

She looks at him, bewildered. "How long ago?" she asks.

Her legs still feel strong; she doesn't feel as though she's lost the muscle she must have after convalescing long enough for there to not even be a scar on her back. "How long have I been out?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"Less than a day," he says, just as softly as before.

"I know it sounds impossible. But it's true."

[from_the_outside]

"You're right," she says, after staring at him for a second. "That's impossible."

Her fingers tighten on his, but it's less from affection and more the desperate clinging of someone trying to keep from dropping off the side of a building. "All of this is impossible. Wakanda? Ross? You? I don't – "

She looks around and feels like her mind is shattering. The space she's in is some sort of... she can't even parse it. It doesn't look like any hospital she's ever been to. There's the faint beat of music coming from nearby. "What the hell?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"I know," Bucky murmurs. "Believe me, I know. It's the secret that's the real reason why Wakanda keeps its borders closed. I'll tell you everything. I can tell you everything, now. But first--"

He stands, moving carefully so as not to disturb her, and gets as close to the table as he can.

"Come here, baby," he asks. "Please?"

[from_the_outside]

She shifts towards him as if in a dream, setting her bare feet onto the cold floor and shivering.

It's the cold that snaps her out of it. Can you feel cold in a dream? "This is real?" she asks, her eyes on his face. She's too confused and desperate to hide anything she's feeling; it all floods across her face without filter.

"It's not just my neurons firing off a last hurrah?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"It's real," he promises. The confusion in her eyes cracks his heart, and he can't hold back any longer. As she shivers, he scoops her up into his arms, cradling her to him, careful to keep his arm low enough on her back to not put any pressure on the site of her previous wound.

"It's real. You're here. You're safe. I've got you."

[from_the_outside]

She's suddenly weightless, enveloped in warmth, tucked against him, and it's beginning to filter through that this might actually be real. And if it is...

"Oh my god," she says, lightly hysterical, and reaches her arms around him. "Baby."

[nerves_of_ice]

He holds her a little more tightly, unable to help himself.

"Sharon," he murmurs, searching her face. "Hi, baby."

[from_the_outside]

"Hi."

She's not sure if she's about to laugh or cry or some mix of both as she lets go, freeing her hands to cradle his face like she's been longing to do for so long. "Hi."

[nerves_of_ice]

He leans in to kiss her, gentle and sweet, then tips his head to rest his forehead against hers.

[from_the_outside]

She closes her eyes, then instantly opens them again to be able to see him.

"Everyone's okay?" she reiterates. "Nakia's okay?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"Everyone's okay," he promises. "Nakia included. You saved her life, baby."

He hugs her a little tighter, then gently lowers her back to sit on the table.

"Let me get you a pair of slippers, then we'll go find Shuri."

[from_the_outside]

"Good," she says, heartfelt. Hopefully she'll be able to see Nakia soon, prove to herself that her friend is all right.

She hates that he puts her down, but sits obediently... aside from how she keeps reaching to rub her fingers over the spot where she'd felt the bullet hit.

To distract herself as he goes searching, she looks around. "This place is wild," she muses. "Is it a hospital?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"It's a lab," he says, as he straightens up from the bottom shelf of the cabinet with a pair of soft black slipper-socks in hand. Bucky brings them over and goes down on one knee to start fitting them to her feet, then glances up at her.

"Shuri's lab. Welcome to the headquarters of the Wakanda Design Group."

[from_the_outside]

"You know, I could have sworn Wakanda wasn't the kind of place to have a design group," she says, but it seems fair academic.

She looks away from the impossible room for a moment to watch him, smiling. "Prince Charming," she murmurs. "I'm not much of a Cinderella at the moment."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Hey, I'm not the royalty around here," he teases back, then stands and holds out his hand to her.

"And that's the thing. Turns out what everyone thought they knew about Wakanda was wrong. Come on. I'll show you."

[from_the_outside]

She takes his hand and slides off the table, then laces her fingers with his and takes a breath.

"Okay, Barnes," she says. "Lead the way."

[nerves_of_ice]

He squeezes her hand, reassuring, and leads her through the arched opening and out into the main lab, where displays of inventions and experiments in various stages are arranged in illuminated glass cases.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling glass windows that show the heart of Mount Bashenga, a mag-lev train races by in elegant silence on its stabilized track.

"Princess," Bucky calls, and at her worktable near the window, Shuri turns around with a bright smile. "Is she-- she is!" She hops to her feet and crosses the room to join them. "Agent Carter. It is very nice to meet you."

"Sharon, this is the Princess Shuri," he murmurs. "King T'Challa's younger sister, the head of this lab, and my savior as well as yours."

[from_the_outside]

The view through the plate-glass windows would be dizzying even if she hadn't just woken up from impossible surgery. Sharon keeps one hand firmly in Bucky's and reaches out the other to shake, more by reflex than by choice.

"I'm still pretty sure this is a dream," she says, "but it's nice to meet you regardless. And on the off chance maybe-dream-Bucky is right and it's real, then I guess I've got you to thank for saving my life. So thank you, Princess."

[nerves_of_ice]

"This is no dream," Shuri tells her, taking Sharon's hand in a firm grip for a moment before letting go again. Her grin is even brighter now, and satisfied. "This is Wakanda."

Very dryly, Bucky says, "They have a lot of fun with watching how people react to the discovery."

"Hey!" Shuri protests. "You would too, if you were me."