The Engineer (Bucky Barnes x OC)

Chapter 24- So this is what being shipped feels like

The next day

"Hey, Nico, good news!"

Shuri practically burst into my lab, evidently with good news.

"Yes?"

"I HAVE A SOLUTION!!"

I jumped out of my seat. "YES!"

We both had a bit of a moment of awkward silence.

"So... uh..." I cleared my throat. "What's the solution?"

"I'm going to do some serious surgery," she explained. "So essentially, my main goal will be to make it so that instead of making him get triggered, the words don't stand out to his brain and will wash over him like any other words would. This will require a bit of memory destruction,"

"Sounds fun," I said, half-sarcastically. "Isn't that what we've been planning on doing this whole time?"

"I, not we, Nico," Shuri teased. "I've been doing the research, you've been doing the building. How does Bucky like the new arm?"

"He- he said he did, and he's grateful for it."

"Oh, good," Shuri approached my metal sleeve, the project I was working on in the moment.

"Don't touch that," I ordered.

"You thought I was going to?" she asked incredulously.

"Evidently," I grumbled.

Shuri laughed.

"So... are you two happy together?"

My limbs turned to lead, and my throat dried up as though it had been taken by a sudden drought. My whole body fell immobile.

"Er... what?" I asked quietly, trying to stay calm.

"You and Bucky. Are you happy together?" Shuri repeated.

I studied her voice. She didn't sound too angry. Still, I decided to play it safe, my stomach churning and my head nauseous.

"Uh, yeah, we've been getting along alright, I've been trying to help him with his nightmares to the best of my ability-"

Shuri snickered. "You don't have to pretend to be clueless, I know you two like each other,"

Oxygen drained from my lungs. It was as though Bucky was choking me again, but this time also shoving his arm down my throat.

"...mmm... really?" I managed weakly, feeling a thick liquid trail down my hairline.

"Yeah... he uh... he told me," Shuri said, seeming oblivious to my obvious anxiety and panic. My stomach was hollowed out. I'd just landed that job, and I hadn't even been working for that long-

"Look, I'm sorry, I didn't think that it would end up like that-" I began to frantically apologize, but Shuri gave me a look that made me stop.

"Don't apologize, I get it," she said dismissively, examining my computer screen. "I definitely ship it, though."

"Er- what?"

I wasn't sure I'd heard her correctly, and, for a panicky moment, thought she was literally planning on shipping me out of Wakanda.

Wow, Nico, you idiot.

"So do you only like boys, or do you like girls, too?" Shuri asked casually. "I, personally, like both. Both is good."

She snickered at her own meme, but stopped when I didn't.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I- does that me- you know I'm... well... did he tell you I'm... you know..." I lowered my voice, ashamed, "...gay?"

"Um... well, he didn't tell me, but now I do." she said. "Why? And why do you say that like it's a bad thing?"

This threw me completely off-guard.

"...I-"

"You know being gay is natural, right?" Shuri said, looking me in the eyes. "It's as natural as being straight. You don't have to say it like it's a swear word or something."

I stared at her, completely confused.

"So- so you're all good with that, here in Wakanda?" I asked nervously. "You don't think I'm some sort of monster?"

"No! Why would we do that?! We are literally full of the smartest people in the world, and you're looking at the smartest of all of them. Any genius knows that things like orientation aren't things you can control, and they're created when you're born, along with race, gender, traits, etc, etc! What kind of scientists would we be if we didn't know that?!"

I continued to gawk at her.

"So it's okay for me to be with Bucky, here?" I asked slowly.

"That's what I've been trying to say for the past five minutes, Nico." She gave me a pointed look and a smirk. "And, as I said, I ship it."

Relief washed over me like a wave of cool water. My stomach untightened, and suddenly, air was filling my lungs.

"Besides, if it wasn't okay to like the same gender, I'd have been fired long ago. As I said, both is good."

This time, I laughed weakly at her joke.

Oh, it was good to laugh after my stomach had been so tight.

"Thank you, Shuri." I said after our laughter had died down.

"It isn't a problem. I sent you an important video about the procedure, and you need to watch it before tomorrow. Alright?" she replied.

"Alright."

When she exited the room, I scanned my files for the video. Once I found it ("Random procedures for people who won't even be in the operating room"), I clicked on it and turned up the volume on my computer.

I instantly regretted it.

The first thing I saw was Rick Astley dancing in his music video "Never Gonna Give You Up".

Did the smartest person in the world just Rick Roll me?!

"SHURI!" I shouted, sprinting out of the room to find her.