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–

  “This is nice,” He ented after a while as he basked in the panionable silence, watg some team py with a ball on a green court. Okay, he khat they were pying rugby but he had no idea who was doing what, or if they were winning or not.

  He was mostly lost in his thoughts as he thought about the current situation and how to best resolve it. Bucky’s issues are in a realm of their own. Acc to the st report he had gotten from the handler assigo both of them, Bucky’s brain had shut off the part of memories where he knew what he had done.

  They were still devising a strategy on how to break the o him but for the time being, they were tent oing him be amnesiad stay out into the open, as was his choice. They were giveion to reside in any of the areas in and around the Capital City but Bucky wanted somethie, and so did Bruce so they gave them this mountain.

  It wasn’t really tall or anything, and at the base itself, a small ptoon of armed soldiers, armed with advanced Vibranium ons along with a small localised forcefield projector that could isote the mountain in an instant, was also installed.

  That was only in case of emergencies and both Bucky and Bruce were made aware of everything beforehand.

  “It would be nicer if the guy below could join us,” Bucky ented as his hand once agaiached itself from his body, dumped the y beer bottle into the recyg bin, and then brought another cold oraight to him.

  Not gonna lie, it was a rick. How did that feature even e to be anyway? He was tempted to ask but he didn’t know if it ropriate or not.

  Plus, he had a hunch that it robably due to some sort of pseudo-Ai that was built into the arm to help monitor and/or protect Bucky. Sihey were upfront with both of them about everything, he saw no reason to doubt about them knowing about this as well.

  About Bruce, “Yeah, I too think the same but holy, the man is–”

  “pletely depressed?” Bucky said in an apathetie.

  “Yeah, I’ve met the guy a few times whenever he es up to get some fresh air. Always goes bato his hole whenever I’ve tried to make versation beyond the casual though,” Bucky shrugged as he chugged on his beer like it was just water. With his super soldier physique, it might as well be water for him.

  “..Yeah, the things that have been doo him, for no fault of his own. You might not know but something happened–”

  “Yeah, in Johannesburg. Yeah, I read the reports. What? They get me things to read if I ask nicely,” Bucky expined as he levelled a questioning look at the man since he could spot no modern equipment in the and Bruce was not really in a talking mood with him.

  “Look–” He looked to the side as Bucky set down his beer and seemed to e to a decision of some sort.

  Resolutely looking into his eyes, “--I know that things have been missing from my head. Plus, all of this doesn’t make any sort of seleast from where I came from,” He raised his very advanced left arm and waved at him with it.

  “Also, things are very different from where I came from. Sure, things were turning around but I have never seen so many…coloured people in positions of authority. Are we in Africa or something? How much time have I missed? And why am I still so young if I have missed so many years? What happeo my body? I have sparred with the guys from the base of the mountain a couple of times and I have thrown them around with ease. I have some fshes of memories but I ever seem to pin them down. What time is it? Why—”

  Bucky abruptly stopped before taking a deep breath in as his arm began fshing red. He did the same for three more times before he opened his eyes, returning back to the calm if a bit apathetic self.

  “...Look, I am just saying. I know I am not ready to know but I have a feeling that something bad will happen if I try to probe deeper but my gut feeling tells me that I should, deserve to know more. Whenever I ask the guys dowhey tell me that you are the one who make it happen,” Bucky said in a pleading tone.

  His hatred for HYDRA reached new heights as he took in the poor, broken down man in front of him. No, he had to do something but he knew as well as ahat f Bucky to remember all his memories would do nothing but make him pletely suicidal.

  No, they needed another approad he would have to discuss with Wakanda’s mental health professionals for further recovery.

  “Look, I’ll get the ball rolling. I have to warn you, it will be a long and painful journey—”

  “I am okay with that.”

  “...Okay. We will talk soon. Now, I have to che on Bruce because it truly has been a long—”

  “..Um, Hi.” He turned around, still in his chair as Bruce stood behind them, the letter from Betty clutched in his hand.

  “I–I just came here. D-did I disturb something?” Bruce asked him as he must have felt the solemn atmosphere in the .

  “No. Nah, we were all done. All yours, doc,” Bucky said as he left the room, the beer bottle still in his hand. Beer bottle i hand, and an axe in the right, the mahe .

  Damn, talk about badass exits.

  “So, ready to talk?” He asked Bruce who fidgeted with the beer bottle that Bucky hao him before leaving the .

  “..Yeah. The letter, did you read it?” Bruce asked him as he set the beer bottle down and sat on a nearby chair.

  “No. Why? What did it say?” HE asked, pretty eager himself to know more because his iion with Betty was limited to her approag him when he was signing for one of the many kids who always approached him throughout the day. She told him that she just he letter delivered to Bruce.

  It also had her address written on the envelope so he assumed that she wanted him to tact her in case something about the letter or Bruce panned out.

  “..*Sigh* She says that she wants to meet. Look, I–it’s hat you did this for me but I don’t think I am ready to go out yet. The world doesn’t need me anymore, they have you. Plus, I don’t think I have still recovered from the….you know,” Bruce said with a haze of sadness lingering around him.

  Yeah, he did know about Bruce’s trauma. Aside from all past trauma, the test in a string of life altering traumas that Bruce experienced was the suffog feeling of being stu space with nothing to hold onto, for leverage, or anything else.

  Sadly, Bruce was in spaore time than he should have been, for some reason. The A One didn’t rescue him immediately and that irked him a bit but what could he say?

  He was the one who punted Bruto space with all his might. They had already had the whole apologising for sending Bruto space versation and Bruce had repeatedly assured him that it was the only option avaible to him at the moment.

  Bruce had gotten access to the energy readings from the fight a’s just say that acc to Bruce himself, if he was allowed to ramp up his energy more and tio fight him on the p, he would have eventually reached critical mass and created an explosion so vast that the entire Australian ti would have ended up feeling the impact, cratering the city and all its neighb areas.

  The guilt of ending even lives in single digits was already eating up Bruce from the inside. He couldn’t even imagine what Bruce would do if he came to know that he was responsible for mass genocide, the destru of aire major city.

  Maybe, Bruce as he k would be gone, his mind fractured under all the stress, with only mindless rage left behind in the form of Hulk, which would have been another disaster in the making.

  “Yes, I totally uand but Bruce, it’s been months since you have been here and every time I talk to T'Chal, they tell me that you have blown off the test meeting with your–”

  “Yes yes, I get it. I o see the shrink about all this stuff but it is not easy, you know. Especially with all the stuff I have pending in the boratory. If only my cells were not that strong, I could have used the solution I developed to pletely suppress my powers,” Bruce muttered to himself, seemingly losing himself as he then began muttering what sounded like gibberish to his ears but was most likely s of gold to audying Gamma Radiation and its effe the human body.

  “Bruce. Bruce!” he had to resort to zapping Bruce with one of his barriers, the feedback of the same still not pleasant, as Bruce’s body seemingly devoured his barrier pletely without any trace, severing his e to it…violently.

  “Look, I know you are hurting, and what if you don’t even have to go anywhere else? I could bring her here. I am sure she will agree plus, you be rest assured that nobody will be able to disturb both of you guys here,” What went unsaid but was more important was the fact that the Hulk would not be able to hurt anyone here. Well, except Betty herself.

  “You will be here as well, right? I don’t think the uy would do anything to her but just in case…”

  “Yes, I will be here. Now, will you please e out with me a some fresh air?” He gestured to the open door, Bucky’s form visible in the distance. He was fooling nobody with that aloof act. With his super soldier senses, he was more than capable of snooping on their versation but he would not fault Bucky f to make sense of the situation of who was, essentially, his roommate.

  A superpowered, Gamma Radiation big head of a roommate but a roommate heless.

  “...Yeah, sure,” Bruce said as they came out of the and took in the beautiful view afforded to them. As far as his visio, he could see greenery before it all abruptly ended in a small shade of blue that flickered occasionally, showing the barrier that surrounded all of Wakanda.

  Apparently, people living below the mountain peaks all saw a tinuation of the greenery but after a certai, the illusion was dropped off for some reason.

  “Hi.” Bucky smiled awkwardly, as if his face wasn’t used to that specific motion, and joihem as they sat on a crudely made wooden bend looked at the view, especially the su behind the Great Mound, the mountain made up of Vibranium.

  “So, beer?” Bucky asked them as his hand was already in the process of floating bato the .

  Okay, seriously. How was he doing that?

  ____xx____

  “Mr.Sullivan, I have been expeg you,” T’Chal greeted him as he flew into the pace, or rather, flew right outside the window of the office he knew beloo the T’Chal, and then knocked as a courtesy, and once being aowledged, opened a portal and flew out of it, straight into his office.

  “Yes, I just came to che on both of the people whose mental health I entrusted to you,” He said, with a tad bit of accusation leaking into his voice.

  Which was reised by the Prince who put down the paperwork with a sigh and slid it to the side as T’Chal gave him his undivided attention.

  “Mr.Sullivan, the cases are very plex. We have our best people w on it but they simply ’t do anything if the patient himself is not cooperative. Sgt. Barnes has been remarkably cooperative and just st week, I have received reports that they begin trying to unlock specific parts of his memory, painlessly.”

  He had a point but that did not make it any less frustrating. It had been months and aside from Bruce getting the b of his dreams, there was no improvement on that front. In fact, it seemed to have backfired, judging by the Gamma Sharks, talk of suppression serums, and total isotion for weeks at a time.

  “So, Bruot being cooperative was an issue so why was I not informed about it in advance? I could have done something to facilitate that. Also, what is up with Bruce’s b? I am sure that your father would not have approved such a rge-scale use of Vibranium outside of Wakanda’s boratories,” He asked him the question that had been bugging him for a while now.

  While he was aware of the b and the tinkering space that Bruce got as a gift or pity from the Royal Family, it was nowhere his advahe st time he had seen it. It also did not have that much vibranium and space as well.

  So, something had ged for them to allow Bruce this much freedom and he was very curious because he would not let Bruce be used by someone, even if it was someone well meaning like T’Chal or Shuri.

  For all the mental health issues that Bruce faced, he was a veritable genius capable of surpassing most people in their fields with a fraal amount of study.

  “..That, Mr.Sullivan, is something that was facilitated by my sister. She has hired Dr.Banner as a stist for the Royal Wakandan Laboratories.” T’Chal’s face looked as if he had bit on a particurly sour lemon.

  “..Wait a minute, Royal Labs means Vibranium and its onry. I don’t think you guys allow ao ehe bs without them being, essentially, Wakanda born. What? Did you guys give him citizenship or something?”

  “..I am afraid that Shuri was able to vince Baba to give Dr.Banner a Perma Residency. A Visa program that did before, and had to be created just for one individual,”

  “I see. So you guys are using him? And postponing his mental health sessions is a way to do what? Eke out more out of him before he leaves Wakanda?” His already bubbling anger rose to the surface, menag green waves wafting off his form, as green began tinging his vision.

  T’Chal began looking increasingly armed as he spoke, his voice gaining a guttural to the end of his sentence.

  He could hear faint sounds of arms ringing as he stood up, t over T’Chal.

  “...Wait! Wait, you misuand. No, we wouldn’t even dream of doing that to Dr.Banner. He is a hero of Humanity. No, Dr. Banner himself requested for everything, and we just provided everything that he asked for, sidering that he was already hurting. You have to believe us!” T’Chal began shouting, as he backed up to the wall, his hand going to his neckce, just short of activating his nanite armour to don the Bck Panther suit.

  He let out an explosive sigh as his visiouro normal, his barrier returning to its normal subdermal state.

  “Fi this has gone on long enough, T’Chal. The Scarlet Witch is still out there, doing who knows what and we o be prepared for that eventuality. I will not have Bruce’s mind toyed again, after all that he has already been through. I will be back, in a week, with a guest. I suggest you make sure that you have a viable strategy when I e back.” He said and stepped out of the portal that he made in front of T’Chal’s desk.

  He was already in a bad mood and was not willing to stay in Wakanda any longer.

  Sure, that pce was in the process of improving and was their best shot at creating a hidden force with enough firepower to hurt their enemies where it would hurt but damn, that pce was a cesspit of racism, xenophobia, areme superiority and arrogance.

  “Now, where was Tony when you needed him?” He asked himself as he flew towards the Aveower in the distahe portal opening above the sea.

  Word t - 2846

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