Water Or Wine

Chapter 2

I throw a book at him and it hits him in the head. Druig winces "ouch?" He says picking it up off the floor and opening it. He turns page after page of my doodling "you did this?" He asks the same time I throw my chair at him "hey! Watch it!" I ground my teeth and stalk towards him.

In my anger I push him, he stumbles back a few paces "no word!" I say "for weeks! You can't do that Druig, you want lock me out like that." He grabs my wrists and holds on tight, stopping me from hitting him anymore. Tears gather in my eyes "I'm sorry." He says after a moment of just staring at each other. I take a deep breath and step back, letting my hands drop from his grip "why are you here?" I ask coldly, turning away from him.

He comes over and I feel our hands gently graze each other. I pull away. "I could hear your thoughts from all the way in Brazil." He says after a moment "even with my walls up I could here you." I run a hand through my hair letting a few strands fall. Druig turns me around and places his hands on both my arms "Phastos wrote to me." He explains when I don't say anything "he was worried when you left, he thinks are you are going to anger Arishem." I snort and shake off his grip.

"I have been pulled into Arishem's presence twice." I tell him "he doesn't seem that bothered." Druig's eyes go gold. I frown and slam my walls down "do you think I would lie to you?" I ask softly and he steps closer. His eyes darken to a brown colour again and he takes ahold of my hand "I don't know what these humans could have done to you." The way he says it sounds calm but I know he holds a certain disgust for them and their violence.

I squeeze his hand "humans are not as bad as you say. They have a lot more to them then violence now." He sighs and lets our hands drop, I miss the heat of him instantly "if you would just meet one of them, you'll see they aren't the same as those from the early years." Druig folds his arms behind his back confidently "I only came to check on you, I am leaving now."

I shake my head "you just got here." I say quietly, he sighs and looks around at the lab "you always held such a love for these humans Noelle, I wish I had that same passion." Workout thinking I crush him into a hug. I inhale and close my eyes, he smells like pine and fresh orange. "It was good to see you Hades." I say calling him by his nickname. I feel him chuckle and put his arms around me "as I you, Persephone."

He leaves as quickly as he came and soon I'm alone again.

After the ceremony and other things are done Okoye comes and finds me "do you want to train or not?" She asks impatiently, I smile and stand up "you know patients is a virtue Okoye. Being the general of the king's army you should know that." She huffs and mutters something under her breath. I follow her to the training rooms where women, from the Dora Milaje, are practicing their skills.

I shake off my shoes leaving me barefoot "I trained with the first of the Dora Milaje." I warn her and she shrugs, placing her spear on the ground "I am not afraid." She throws the first punch and I grab her wrist pulling her round and flipping her over my back.

She grits her teeth and pushes her legs into my stomach and I stumble back, winded slightly. Okoye gets up and I throw a punch to her left which she dodges, without giving her time to think I throw my leg out and kick her in the ribs. She sucks in a breath and we carry on like this for a while throwing punch after punch.

Until T'Challa appears and we stop "my king." We both acknowledge and he shakes away the formalities "I need your help." He tells me as I stand up, straightening my hair that's up in a ponytail. He holds an arm out "if you would follow me." And I do without question., T'Challa walks in front of me quickly.

We move from hall to hall never stopping for any reason. Until we reach the lab, he clutches the handle "we want to wake him up." He says "we believe we may have a way to help him." My chest tightens and I follow him into the room "are you sure?"

T'Challa nods "I am positive this is the best time to do it." I scratch my arm nervously as we stand to the side of the scientists as they bustle around "this has all happened so fast, shouldn't we wait?" T'Challa steps closer to me and dips his head and lowering his voice so only I can hear "to be honest with you." He says "I thought they would get it quicker." I smile and a woman announces it's time.

They start to unthaw Bucky and my heart picks up "if he becomes violent we will need your help to calm him." King T'Challa says and I nod flexing my fingers "of course, I figured that's why you bought me here." His eyes start to flutter and his chest rises and falls.

Then his eyes open and he starts to panic. He moves to attack some of the staff but I move quickly grabbing his arm and pulling him away "Bucky, listen to me." I say, he tries to throw a punch at me but I stop it pushing him away "I know your scared but stop. Look around you. You are safe. This is not Hydra." This doesn't seem to have any effect.

Bucky catches me off guard and manages to wrap his hand around my throat. He pushes me against the wall, his fist getting tighter and my breathing becoming restricted "Bucky." I wheeze. I spot T'Challa moving to help me but I shake my head, telling him not to. He obeys. Bucky's eyes get clearer and he steps away. I start coughing and I clutch my throat, bending over.

"Oh my god! Noelle! I am so sorry." He says stepping further away. I shake my head, coughing a little bit more "it's fine, it's not like you can kill me that easily anyway." I make light of it but No seems to be impressed. I click my neck and stand up straight as T'Challa says "Sargent Barnes." He addresses him by his original tightly "we have found a way to help you."