The Scarlett Soldier

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It's been three weeks since my dad, Bucky Barnes, went back under cryo and I'm sixteen now. I've been living in Wakanda in a small apartment about a mile from T'Challa's palace. T'Challa offered to let me stay in the palace after his coronation but I didn't feel comfortable living in the same place as my dad's frozen body, you know? It just didn't feel right.

I go over there for training on Mondays and Wednesdays, and occasionally brunch with T'Challa, Shuri and their mom, Ramonda. She's really nice and always dresses in really fancy clothing with a big crown, covering her braided hair.

Steve and Natasha broke Sam, Clint, Wanda, and Scott out of the Raft Prison. Steve, Nat, and Sam are in Syria now, fighting terrorists who are still using the Chitauri technology that wasn't collected after the New York battle in 2012. Wanda is somewhere in Europe. I think she's in Scotland. And Scott and Clint are under house arrest. I assume the rest of the avengers are back at the Avengers compound, but I'm not completely sure. I hope Will is there too. I imagine he left though, and ran back to HYDRA. I try not to think too hard about it because I'd most likely never escape my thoughts.

So yeah, being a fugitive on the run from Senator Thaddeus Ross, 'so fun'. It's not so bad though. I'm settled in my little apartment by myself. I learned how to bake and I'm pretty good at it because now I work at a Wakandian bakery with two other girls and one boy, Kaula, Isoke, and Adrian. We all get along great and live in the same apartment building except for Isoke, who lives with her mom and two other siblings a couple blocks away.

Kaula is eighteen with beautiful dark brown skin, hazel eyes, and long hair in multiple, little braids. She's tall and has a tattoo of a panther on her right shoulder. Kaula enjoys board games and painting. She's the kind of girl who wants and will settle down in a small town with a new dog after she graduates from college to start a business selling her artworks. The simple life, you know? Sounds nice.

Isoke is sixteen, has a golden almond colored skin tone and no hair. She shaved it all off to look like the Dora Milaje. She dreams of becoming one of the noble women who fight for this country because her aunt currently serves as one of them. I teach her a couple fighting methods sometimes on our lunch breaks or after work, she's a good fighter, just needs a little practice.

Adrian, the only guy who works at the bakery, turns seventeen next month. His skin is the color of dark chocolate with black hair and deep brown eyes. He is a little taller than me and has a big nose that looked like a ball had been kicked into his face and squashed it down flat, but it looked cool and suited his style. He is very athletic and enjoys playing soccer (called football here) with some of the other guys in our neighborhood. He's never beat me at the game though.

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"Ten minutes till closing." I mumble to myself as a couple more customers walk in the bakery. "What can I get you?" I ask two girls that look about my age walk up to the counter.

"Umm, is Adrian here?" One girl asks as the other starts giggling.

"One sec." I say, flashing them a fake smile. I turn to face the door to the backroom and my flashy smile fades into a tired and annoyed frown. I open the door, peaking my head through to see Kaula, Isoke, and Adrian competing against each other at a very intense game of UNO, the game played when no one wants to close up the store for the night so who ever loses is stuck with that job.

"Adrian." I call to him, turning his concentrated scowl into an annoyed stare, "There are someone here for you."

"What, who?"

"Just come on." I say tiredly, waiting for something interesting to happen. I walk over to him, grabbing his arm and pulling him to the front counter. The two girls were still there, whispering and giggling.