Discimer - All the owners have their respective rights. I only own the characters that came from my addled brain (don’t worry, I am pletely sober).

  Wakanda [May 2015]

  –Jack Sullivan–

  “Yes, he is in quite a rough patch. I don’t think he will ever think of living in another pce if he tio live in that dungeon of a b he has built for himself there.” He told Betty who was surprisingly anxious about meeting Bruce, even though she was the one who initiated the ehing.

  Betty was very anxious to meet Bruce, and the urgency seemed to increase the more he narrated to her the current state of Bruce, both mental and physical.

  He was sure that there were not even therapists on the p who could even begin to uand the agony that Bruce had to gh while suffog through space. It brought shudders in his body whenever he thought of himself going through something absolutely traumatic like that.

  Since he was so much more powerful than anyone he had ever met, he never really thought of getting that helpless ever in his life. Sure, there were plenty of beings strohan him but he always had some fiden his powers, that he could atleast escape intact but to feel something that horrible?

  He would, for his entire life, feel guilty of doing that to Bruce, ament towards the A One who took more than a week to get him back to Earth.

  Betty took a deep breath as they arrived at the edge of the mountain, the Wakandan squad greeting him, “Okay. So he is up there?”

  “Yes.”

  “Does he know I am ing?”

  “Yes, he has access to all the cameras surrounding the property and T’Chal probably already told him about all the measures they are going to have to take today”

  “Measures?” She leveled a quizzical look at him and he found it hard to reply to that.

  “..Um, well, you see, the King of Wakanda is taking security measures just in case something happens. You ’t fault him f to protect his people.”

  “No, but I fault him f to treat Bruce like he is a time bomb.” Betty somehow gained some sort of inner fire as she almost shouted at him.

  Well, this was nice.

  “Keeping that aside, if there is anything you might need, just press this and I will be there in seds, OK?” He handed her a small button and floated her to the top of the mountain, where Bruce was already waiting with dinner already ready, with Wine and everything.

  Well, atleast Bruce was trying to make it a romantic date.

  “So, the Dungeon guy got a date, huh?” He looked to the side as Bucky, of all people, emerged from the security hut that the Wakandans stationed here used.

  “What are you doing here?” He asked Bucky who stretched and threw a bottle of beer at him.

  “Ah, I was just talking to the guys in there. YOu know, they have the really good stuff or atleast, get me the really good stuff if I ask.” Bucky chugged down his beer, which was better than the previous brew but not something that he would cssify as good.

  Then again, he must not like beer, at all, then.

  “Yeah, she is his ex. I am sure all the information about her is in one of the puters that you no doubt have access to.” He told Bucky as they both sat down on one of his barriers, with Bucky testing it with his trusty Wakanda built hand first.

  “Yeah, I don’t use them much. Actually, I don’t use them at all. I threw them all out soon after I moved in here. For some reason, I really hate the sight of puters. I like books, pin and simple, with no murdere appearing in me.” Bucky expio him and that…actually made a ton of sense.

  Most probably, the majority of the missions that Bucky received, would have involved a puter one way or the other. Now, hating a tool is an illogical thing, he khat, but since Bucky didn’t actually have all of his memories, the sight of the puters must invoke some feelings in him that he didn’t like, and hence, getting rid of all puters then.

  “I see. Are you getting enough books though?”

  “Hmm? Oh yeah, I have a lot to catch up on. I just caught up with the Lord of the Rings. I really liked reading the Hobbit, it felt nostalgie, for some reason.” Bucky grinned as he took another long swig of his beer.

  He smiled as well, his mind going to the memory when in one of the TV shows in the MCU, Bucky mentioned reading the Hobbit, when it came out, in 1937.

  Well, Bucky was a.

  “You know, if the Dungeon Guy and his Lady, do…you know…where do you think I sleep? Because I am not going up there while they do their business, it is not gentlemanly.” Bucky’s words almost made him choke as he ughed at the joke.

  “Don’t worry about that, lenty of pces we house you, Bucky Barnes.” he turned around to see T’Chal walking straight towards them, with his traditional royal garbs which he was made to uahe casual clothes that Royalty wore on an everyday basis.

  “It is o meet you. Mr.Barnes. Mr.Sullivan. I assume that Ms.Ross has made positive tact with Dr.Banner?” T’Chal asked them even as he rolled his eyes as he saw both of the patients’ shrinks walking behind T’Chal.

  “Hello,” Bucky raised his beer bottle iing to his shrink.

  “Now, Mr.Barnes, your doctor has advised me to let you get out of this fort zone so that you make progress in rec your memories. Now, I was assured that you would not be using your powers for evil but I ’t take the risk of you going berserk so fair warning, the arm that we made for you, also incapacitate you. Is that fih you?”

  Bucky raised his arm and shrugged, seemingly fih the information.

  “Hey, I always knew something robably installed in it, I just didn’t know what. Anyway, I’ll see you around?”

  “Yeah,” He waved at Bucky who jumped at the ce of getting out of the mountain zohat had been carved for him. He did get equipment from outside but the ce to roam the city arently very ving for him.

  “What do you think? Will he recover his memories in time?” T’Chal asked him as they watched aire ti follow Bucky as he talked with his shrink about some book that he was currently reading.

  It almost felt like a crime to let him remember his memories. Memoires that would only make him hate himself, depressed, and borderline suicidal.

  Unless….

  “Yup,” He the question, “he will regain his memories but not like this. I suppose it is time that Captain Rogers met his long lost best friend. I just have to get ready to meet some really disappointed blue eyes.”

  T’Chal rolled his eyes at him and walked away.

  “I wish you the best in your endeavour. When will that be? So that I call Shuri and watch the Captain tear you a new one, with pop, caramel, and butter, ofcourse.”

  “Screw you, T’Chal. I am going on some work off p but once I am back, that will be the first thing we will do.”

  Surprisingly, T’Chal didn’t ask him anything about his off-p activities, and simply nodded.

  Maybe he was already full with the ship and the alien city projebsp;

  He kept his observatory barriers on top of the mountain, away enough that he would not be able to read their lips but close enough that he could intervene ihan a sed, just in case the worst case sario happened.

  So, he stood ready, right at the base of the mountain, pying UNO with the people stationed here. Ohing he had learned was that while the average Wakandan was xenophobid racist, they didn’t apply those distins oneone had risen above their level, in their own words.

  Case in point, the Green Guardian and the Hulk, along with Bucky who threw around boulders thrice their body weight without much effort. That was why they were so nid approachable for them.

  That was how he realised that they too pyed UNO in Wakanda and that was how he found himself doing the same to pass the time while Brud Betty talked and talked….and talked.

  Yeah, they just talked. No kiss, nothing.

  Way to go, Bruce Banner.

  A certified Rizzler, he was not. No, sir.

  But still, there rogress as they tio talk while they sat and watched the su long into the evening.

  “Well, this has gone on long enough. I assume the shift will be here soon?” He asked the Wakandans who nodded and began pag their stuff, while he headed to the top where Brud Betty were now sitting on a swing that Bucky had built in his spare time, on the ree to the .

  “...Um, Hey, guys?”

  Both of them turned around but didn't say anything, even though he could feel their annoya being interrupted.

  Wow.

  “Hi, so, I have somewhere to be and I still haven't gotten an answer from Betty if you want to stay here for longer or not because getting out of the try will be much more difficult without me,” he asked them with an awkward smile on his face.

  If possible, he too didn’t want to interrupt some personal time of a couple but he had straints and who knows just what in the hell the Guardians of the Gaxy were up to. He was not going to tempt Murphy again so he was just going to get this done and leave the p.

  Brud Betty both looked at each other for a moment before Betty smiled and turo him, “You leave. I think I want to stay.”

  Bruce’s smile could have lit up eions as he nodded and gave the love birds their privacy.

  He turned around ahrough another portal that opened on top of Kathmandu. Welp, since he did not have his spaceship this time around, he would have to employ differehods to reach Xandar.

  He seemed to recall the A Oioning Kamar Taj maintaining tact with some alien Mystics anisation and he would bet his entire life savings that the A ONe had been to other civilisations before and would have a way to send him as well.

  “Hello, Master Hameed.”

  “Master Wu.”

  “Master Sullivan.”

  “Master Wong.”

  He greeted all the Masters he met on his way to meet the A One who was overlooking a training session, filled with new initiates.

  “Konichiwa,” He greeted her.

  “What I do for you, Master Sullivan?”

  “So, yeah, I need a ride to Xandar and I figured that you must have a way of reag there,”

  “You assumed correctly. A direct portal to Xandar is ill advised because of the way that standard sling rings i with dimensional energies once distances of that magnitude are involved.” She said and then snapped her fingers, and this time, he caught the ace around them ed violently before smoothing out just as quickly, with no sign of tampering evident.

  She really was extremely skilled i of spatial manipution. Perks of being attuned with Dark Energies from Dormammu, allowio manipute dark matter that made most of the empty spa the universe.

  “So, that is how you do it. I wonder how long it would take me to manipute space like that. Nothing short of the space stone will pare to your fihough, so gratutions on that.” He ended up running his mouth as the A One opened up another box and took an unmarked silver ring and put it ohumb.

  “I assure you, Master Sullivan, that had I been given the luxury of choice, I would have given up my powers in a heartbeat if my sce allowed for it.” The A One somberly said and he had to reassess his words as he realised that he eaking to a millenia old entity, if not in body then atleast in the mind.

  She must have seen thousands of years of futures, and most probably lived most of them, as she used the Time Stone in her quest to safeguard Earth from the threats that wao gobble it up.

  She then spun her hands, both the rings on her hand creating a strangely white and e glow before a white outlined portal opened up, before the outline slowly ture as well, revealing a familiar p.

  “Thank you for that.” he saluted her and floated he portal, after making sure that an appropriate amount of air was pressed in the barrier because the jouro the p was not small.

  “Safe Travels, Master Sullivan. May your journey be…electric.”

  With those ominous words, the portal closed shut behind him, exposing him to the harshness of space.

  “Well, time to find Quill, the Spa,” He grinned as he rocketed towards Xandar, his barriers heating up ory. His grin widened even further as he saw the veritable tsunami of star shaped ships of the Nova Force heading straight towards him, with his eyesight spotting multiple rge ons popping out of the ground, aiming straight at him.

  Good. They had upgraded their defences.

  Still, it will be nowhere near enough to match Thanos.

  Time to skedaddle with the Power Stone, out of Xandar.

  But before that, time to have some fun.

  “Woohoo!” He shouted as he did somersaults, evasive manoeuvres whenever possible, and tanked some of the undodgeable bsts as he tio lead the Nova For a fool’s chase.

  As, all good things must e to an end so he stopped the hit and run, and just floated in a single spot before a huge Gundam appeared around him, dwarfing everything around him, casting a huge shadow on their capital.

  “Hi! Remember Me?” The Gundam waved, creating gusts of wind that knocked back the star shaped ship even as he saw the ons recede bato the ground.

  The majority of star shaped ships broke formation and flehile a few began approag him, or rather, the core of the Gundam where he was clearly visible.

  Time to see if Irani Rael is agreeable to handing over one of the six singurities of the universe to a plete unknown who had just proven himself juvenile enough to create a huge security i and lead her elite forces on a wild goose chase.

  Ah, a man could only hope.

  Word t - 2514

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