Her White Wolf

Chapter Two

Patience and perseverance; two words that described Shuri, Princess of Wakanda, perfectly. No challenge had ever proven too great for her. Shuri liked answers. She liked resolutions. Solving problems for the betterment of Wakanda, that was the way the young woman made her mark. Smart and sharp, her dark eyes expertly examined the image that hung in the air in front of her. The brain of Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes. His mind was fascinating, though that wasn't a word she'd use in front of the weary soldier. Some areas were highly active, while others were dark and still. There were cognitive blocks in place intermingled with the physical damage Hydra had inflicted upon him.

The young Princess crossed one arm across her chest as she lightly chewed on her thumb nail absently. Her mind worked fast and every now and then, she reached out to enlarge the focus on specific structures. She heard footsteps approaching from the hall, the gait telling her exactly who it was. "Good afternoon, Sergeant Barnes," she greeted, though she didn't turn his direction. "Captain Rogers reached out to let us know that he would be visiting. He's on his way now." Finally, she turned on her heel and offered the dark haired man a small smile. "Did you sleep at all?"

A bit of happiness reached James' eyes at the news of Steve coming to Wakanda. He walked over to the exam table that Shuri always had him sit at and shrugged. "If I did sleep, I don't remember. I stared at the stars most of the night last night... and the few nights before that." He huffed and looked down at his boots, which were hanging barely above the floor from where he sat. "What are you doing today?"

"You don't say," Shuri replied. Right where Cleo had left him a few evenings ago. Beside the exam table there were wireless electrodes and her deft hands went about picking several up at a time. Shuri stepped in closer to him and her dark eyes darted around his face as she placed them on either side of his temples and a few other strategic spots. "I am hoping to perfect the algorithm that will unlock the association of the trigger words," she explained before she gestured for him to lay down. "I want to leave everything else intact. Your memories, personality..." she mused, though as she turned to face him her expression wasn't entirely relaxed. She moved her hands to her hips and narrowed her eyes on him. "Though some parts of you may benefit from a little adjustment."

James rolled his eyes as he laid back on the table and rested his head back on his arm. "I think the rest of the world would agree with you," he grumbled. The electrodes ticked as Shuri turned everything on, which only made him want to remove them, but he wanted to feel himself again. At least what much of himself that he could remember.

Shuri's own eye roll followed his and as the flashing activity of his brain lit up before her, her eyes fixed on it. Her hands began to work, using her hands to expand one of the structures in his prefrontal cortex. "I know a few would," she assured him. She wanted to scold him. If the body on the table were anyone else, she likely would. James... while it wasn't an excused behavior, it also wasn't something she felt he did on purpose. "You made my best friend cry," she observed aloud.

"What?" James asked. What on earth is she talking about? His eyes moved upward to look at Shuri. "I don't recall making anyone cry," he said honestly. "Not recently anyway... that I know of."

It didn't surprise the young Princess at all that her friend had escaped before the tears came. She hid her feelings away, especially since they'd returned from the snap. Shuri wanted her to come out of her shell, but an interaction with James like the one her friend had described would only push her back in. "You weren't introduced to the veterinarian?" she asked, hands pausing in the air as she turned to look disapprovingly down at him. "I'm a ticking time bomb," she parroted, nose wrinkling with attitude. "I'll be a shell. Seriously? That's how you talk to people you just met?".