The White Wolf

XXXI

It had been two weeks since Bucky was granted citizenship, and life was going back to normal. The heat of the day beat down on Ava's back as she worked in the garden, plucking weeds from the dirt and trimming dead leaves and stems off of her growing vegetable plants. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she worked, her blonde hair pulled up into a frizzy, sweat-dampened bun on top of her head. Bucky was somewhere behind her, tossing hay out for the goats and cleaning up their water bins. Ava sat back on her heels, wiping her brow with the back of her wrist since her hands were covered in dirt, some of it caked under her nails. "You know, I think we should get chickens." She said, looking down at the piled, dead vegetation beside her. They could eat all this so I don't have to compost it. Composting is a lot of work."

"We could do that." Bucky said, smiling over at her. Ava glanced back at him as he tossed the last bail of hay into the yard for the goats to nibble at. Ava hummed, looking back to her work. She dug her fingers into the dirt, pulling up another weed from the garden. "Hey, Ava?"

She turned around again to look at Bucky, frowning when she saw his expression. He was looking up the grassy hill, squinting against the sun. His weight was placed over one foot and his lips were turned down into a frown. Ava's eyes followed the direction of his gaze up and hill and she, too, frowned. T'Challa was approaching with Okoye beside him, and two royal guardsman followed behind with a long, metal trunk carried between them. She pushed herself up to her feet and brushed her hands on her pants, frowning as they approached.

Ava quickly walked over to Bucky, exchanging a quick glance with him before watching the two guards place the trunk on a bail of hay and unlock it, opening the lid. Bucky reached behind him, grabbing hold of Ava's hand before he got any closer to see what they had brought. Inside of the trunk lay the arm Shuri made for Bucky, and a sense of dread washed over them both. Ava remembered what Bucky had said. That arm represented the need to fight. He viewed it as a weapon. And now here it was being presented to them. T'Challa and Okoye stood on the other side of it, studying the two of them analyzing what this meant. Bucky felt like his chest was caving in as he stared down at the arm, all of the air leaving his lungs as he pressed his lips together tight.

"Where's the fight?" Bucky asked, his voice rumbling up from a place of reluctant loyalty.

T'Challa took a breath before answering. "On its way."

Ava lifted her eyes to Bucky, her brows stitching together as her stomach churned and heart raced. A fight was coming, and it was coming out of nowhere. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she shifted her sight to T'Challa and Okoye. "What are we expecting?"

The King turned his head toward her. "Captain Rogers has contacted us."

"Steve?" Bucky looked up at him.

T'Challa nodded a little. "He is on his way with some of the other Avengers. Come with us and we will explain on the way." She nodded her head and squeezed Bucky's hand in hers as T'Challa motioned to the arm in front of them. "You may want to put this on."

Bucky kept his eyes on the shining, black metal, his jaw flexing as he clenched and unclenched his teeth. He was loyal to Wakanda now. He had agreed to come to aid when they called upon him. "Okay." He mumbled, turning his head to Ava. She sucked back on her tongue and drew her lower lip in between her teeth, hesitating before she got to work. Bucky wore a shall draped over his left shoulder to cover the attachment site on his shoulder because the tan shirt he wore had no sleeves. She moved the shall, revealing the black metal beneath where the round attachment site was at the center. If he was sure about it, so was she. She lifted the lightweight arm from the trunk, the metal locked in place so it didn't bend or flop. Inhale, exhale. She aligned the attaching pieces together and the vibranium technology whirred to life. All she had to do was push them together, and the technology secured the arm to Bucky permanently.