Eyes of Fire | Bucky Barnes

66

Uxolo waited for them to round the corner farthest from her house before she pushed her front door shut and collapsed against it. She waited for them to leave before she finally broke down.

War.

She had seen; had read and heard; what war did to a nation. To a soldier. To a sergeant. She was not ready to see it's effects renewed in the man she loved most. She had seen what it had done to him before, had seen the shell he'd become and the layers of dirt he'd buried himself beneath.

She did not know if she could handle digging him up, not when everything she knew and everyone she loved would be in danger in the next few days— hours.

But she'd do it even if she didn't think she could.

****

"There is a man."

"An alien." Shuri corrected almost immediately. She peeked her head over to smiled softly at Bucky, "He is from space."

Even from where she typed away at her computer — could they really even call it a computer? it was really a transparent digital screen raised as if attached to an invisible wall — she overlooked all that occurred in her technical office. Where Bucky sat across from T'Challa, several technicians roamed to and from as they tried to get his measurements.

"A creature." T'Challa acquiesced. "He is on a quest to obtain small gems called Infinity Stones. He has been waging war and decimating whole worlds and galaxies under the pretense of universal balance."

Bucky had learned long ago to not question the nature of some of the things he was exposed to as a soldier, much less so the paranormal-ness of his new life as an avenger.

Bucky didn't even really consider himself an avenger, didn't believe he matched up at all with the brave, selfless, and intelligent individuals who made up the world's primary superhero force. He was nothing compared to them, to some of the people who willingly devoted themselves to this life, to those who turned their trauma into something good.

But still, he was here. And he was going to do everything he could.

Even if only to fight beside the man who had never stopped believing in him, the group who sacrificed their lives and comfort for him, the country who welcomed him into their small bubble, and defend the woman who meant more to him than anything.

T'Challa continued, unaware of the instability currently wrecking havoc on Bucky's mind. "With all 6, he has the power to do so in a single snap."

Bucky raised an eyebrow, "And he's on his way here."

"Not him." The King clarified. "He has armies, generals. They have been sent to obtain the final one in his stead."

"The stones here? Where?"

Shuri took almost a psychotic joy in answering this question. "In the head of an avenger."

Bucky considered it for a moment. Where had he seen a stone, a gem, lodged into the head of an avenger? "Vision."

T'Challa hummed an affirmation. "According to Dr. Banner, the creature overpowered him and Thor during their travel from Asgard. He obtained one from them."

"And Banner's okay?"

"Doc's alright." Shuri confirmed. She approached him now with a measurement tool of her own, though this one much more electrical than the tape measures the technicians had been wrapping around him prior. She raised it as if taking a picture of him, and watched carefully as it rendered a 3D image of him back at her tech station. "He was sent back via the Bifrost Bridge to warn of the creatures' coming,"

"And what's our plan?" Bucky pushed. He was getting anxious — more than usual, if that was even possible. Did he truly need to spend so much time here, waiting? Being outfitted in some type of protective gear? "To kill them all?"

"If need be, yes." T'Challa was no stranger to the rather blunt way Bucky referred to bringing death to a creature, having adjusted to it with his time with the Americans. "Banner has an idea to remove the stone and then destroy it. He believes our resources are capable of achieving this."

"Are they?" Bucky asked immediately. He flicked his chin towards Shuri. "Are you?"

Bucky tried not to wonder too long about Shuri, how she was here helping her country plan for war and planning to remove a gem from the head of a synthezoid, instead of living the life anyone else her age was currently living. He also tried not to wonder about how, given what he knew about Shuri, she wouldn't be anywhere else but here if she had the choice.

She looked back at him with a ghost of a smile. "I hope so."

That was the best any of them could hope for, all things considered.

Eventually, Shuri approached him with actual cloth to offer, lifting a dark blue, padded vest to his chest. She held up the black shoulder pads to his shoulders, mentally marking where the sleeve would need to begin before rushing back to her station. She repeated the process a few more times before offering him the final product, watching as he shouldered the tough fabric on and adjusted the single sleeve on his forearm.

Bucky struggled to calm the limbs of his, the rattling of his knee against the station he was sat on. He wasn't sure if he should be grateful for these feelings, these markers of worry and anxiety that made him human, or if he should be striving for the calm that used to take over him whenever he was sent on a mission.

If Uxolo were here, she'd tell him the former. She'd tell him that as efficient as a cold, brainwashed killer could be in battle, the world needed Bucky Barnes ten times more — she needed Bucky Barnes ten times more. As broken and as tattered as he was.

He steeled himself at the thought of her.

"When should they be here?" He mumbled through clenched teeth.

"Steve will call us when they're close. We'll need you to be ready when they get here." T'Challa answered honestly. "You'll do well to prepare yourself in the meantime."

"We will be in touch."