Her White Wolf

Chapter Fourteen

Shuri was nearly buzzing with excitement. This arm was leaps beyond the one that Hydra had forced onto James in the 1940's. It was light, stealthy, nimble, and most of all it was made of the strongest metal on earth. The technology she had fused into his shoulder would make it feel as close to a natural arm as possible. Also, it looked awesome. The Princess busied herself around the lab until she heard footsteps and turned to offer a bright smile to James and Cleo. She wouldn't expect Cleo to be anywhere else.

"Are you ready? How are you feeling?" she asked James excitedly, though she tried to suppress some of it so as to not make him feel like he needed to put on a show.

"Good," James smiled easily. "Fully healed, by the doc's words," he added, glancing over at Cleo only to see her roll her eyes at him. "She took the stitches out a couple days ago."

"He wanted me to take them out the day of. He was kind of a baby about it," Cleo added, shaking her head.

Shuri waited for James to walk up to her before she looked at the shoulder joint. "It looks good. Now, I have something to show you," she said, gesturing for them to follow her. On the table was a black case and as she stepped up to it, she used her fingerprints to unlock it. She lifted the lid and stepped back, eyes turning up to James's face. "This belongs to you."

Cleo's breath halted in her chest, but she didn't realize it. She was so focused on James's reaction that she didn't even really get a look at the arm yet.

James' eyes widened. The gray, black, and gold arm was... beautiful. "Holy shit," he breathed. "This is actually happening."

Shuri's face lit up and she nodded. "It's happening," she affirmed. "Come closer," she urged.

Cleo's heart pulsed hard with emotion as she watched James. "Go on, baby. Go get your arm."

He let out a long breath as he walked up to the case and ran his hand along the bicep of the arm. "It's so smooth... have you tested it?"

Shuri nodded, eyes moving between the arm and James. "I tested it with the shoulder joint before your surgery. All that's left is for you to put it on and get a feel for it."

"Okay," he nodded, looking over at his longtime friend. "I'm ready."

Shuri's smile glowed as he agreed, and she stepped up to the case and picked the arm up by the forearm and bicep. As she approached him, her eyes admired the handiwork of the joint. "Arm connecting in one, two..." she said, turning her eyes up to James to give him a sure nod.

The shoulder sprung to life in a fluid motion to catch onto the hardware on the arm and with a few twists and turns, the arm was securely attached.

Cleo watched in awe, hand resting on her chest as she felt her heart swelling. This was his moment, his and Shuri's. They deserved it.

"Try it..." Shuri asked, stepping back to give James more space.

James looked down at his metal hand and opened and closed it a few times, testing how it felt. Then he stretched over his head with his other arm as if he were stretching before putting out in front of him. He let out a long breath before he looked over at Shuri with tears in his eyes. Without a word he stepped forward and wrapped her in a hug, able to feel the young woman's body heat in the metal arm, which only made him smile. "Thank you."

There was a beautiful tension in the room around them as Shuri watched James use the arm she'd created for him, she nearly jumped up and down but as James embraced her, she let out a soft, watery laugh. She returned the hug, in awe of all of the transformation that this soldier had gone through. "You're welcome," she replied.