With Bucky's brain freed of HYDRA's control, Kate and Shuri turn to new projects — and Shuri already knows what she wants to do.
"He needs a new arm," she says excitedly.
Kate agrees. "Okay, where do you want to start?"
"To be honest?" She pulls up pictures of it from his file. "We need a whole new design."
"You're right. I saw some of it, but... I don't know, it's old tech."
"So we can start drawing up models?" Shuri asks. "I have basic ideas, but I would like to talk to Bucky about specifics. Tailor it to him."
"Yeah, I'm sure HYDRA didn't consider his preferences when they built the first one," Kate adds, frowning.
Since being freed from HYDRA's control on his mind scarcely two days ago, Bucky has been in his own room in the citadel and regularly checking in with Kate and Shuri in the lab to make sure the program doesn't inexplicably fail or cause any other changes (though Kate and Shuri are pretty sure it won't).
After Ayo, Kate, and Bucky had returned from the woods, none of them with dry eyes, not even Ayo, they came back into the citadel to tell Shuri the program had worked. They gave Bucky some time by himself and a full meal while Shuri contacted T'Challa, who was off and busy. But he made time in his schedule for dinner with all of them, as a sort of celebration, and it was much more pleasant than the last, tense dinner. Bucky didn't speak much, but no one forced him to, letting him get adjusted to his new reality.
T'Challa went to show him to his room after dinner, but before he left, Bucky thanked Kate and Shuri, quietly, simply, with eyes full of gratitude. Kate smiled at him and said, "I wish we could tell Steve."
He smiled back, a small smile. "Me, too."
Kate and Shuri start on initial ideas and outlines for his new arm, working for some time before Bucky comes in, ready for a regular check in. Shuri glances back at him. "And how are you feeling today, Sergeant Barnes?"
"Great," he says. The change in him is visible; his shoulders are more relaxed, like a weight has been has been lifted from them. He seems to smile more, even in such a short time. It's a smile of sort of disbelief, like he can't believe he's actually free. Every time she sees it, it warms Kate's heart. And she's also filled with disbelief, because she remembers that she had a hand in freeing him. She did something good. A small part of her waits for it to go wrong, but she tries not to think that way. He's so happy, and she doesn't want that to be ruined.
Selfishly, she wants to believe she can do something good.
"What... are you guys doing?" he asks, and Kate sees that he's looking at the pictures of his metal arm.
Kate smiles a bit at him. "Making you a new arm."
"We wanted to ask you some questions about that," Shuri says. "The old one, technically, is garbage. For many reasons. We have already have some ideas on how to improve the general design, but we want your opinions."
"You're the one that's going to use it, you should have input," Kate adds.
He thinks for a moment, shrugs. "Honestly, I don't know. Sometimes I feel ten times better without the thing on. I used to get... phantom pains. Sometimes I still do. Like my real arm is still there and it hurts."
"That happens with a lot of people who lose their limbs," Shuri says. She looks at the arm for a moment. "Based on the technology I'm seeing here, I'm guessing you had no feeling in this arm?"
"None." He glances at Kate. "And that was mostly a good thing."
"For combat situations, yes, but not for everyday use."

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Fire and Ice
FanfictionEver since she was little, Kate Carson's favorite thing to do was learn. And, after losing nearly everything and gaining a power she never wanted, she had to learn to adjust -- and she's still learning. The other Avengers have no scruples against fo...