Variation - W.M.

Chapter 71 - January 18, 2017

I was never one for confrontation, so when Wanda began to grow suspicious of my scrambled thoughts I did what I seemed to do best in this timeline; I ran.

Not in the super speed way but in the way that had me back in Wakanda, standing next to Steve as he hugged Bucky.

"Hey Bucket, how's your un-brainwashing going?" I asked when it was my turn, genuinely happy to see the man despite my own mental state. The one-armed man rolled his eyes but accepted a hug from me, smiling a little.

"Good" the one-armed man said simply and I chuckled at his lack of words.

"You never do say much, do you? It's refreshing."

Steve laughed, clapping Bucky on the back as he looked to me. "Alright, do you want to meet back here or are you finding your own way back?"

I hummed, shrugging my shoulders. "If I'm not here in four hours then just head out and I can figure it out."

"Why'd you come?" Bucky questioned, eyes locked on me.

I bit my lip, searching my brain for a feasible answer that I could tell the two super soldiers, although the only thing my mind could come up with was a lame excuse.

"Just wanted to explore some more, I guess."

I suppose it was clear that I had no desire to talk about it because while each of them shared a look they simply nodded and started away, off to do their own thing with Steve talking animatedly to the brunette. I laughed, shaking my head as I watched them go before looking around where I stood.

It took me a couple minutes of aimless wandering before I finally got pointed in the direction of Shuri's lab.

"Uh, hello?" I called out lowly as I crept into the lab, although I quickly got distracted by the mural that was in front of me as I walked in. It seemed to be painted around a pillar in the middle of the open space, a small circular room in the middle of it. I surveyed it with a slightly open mouth as I ambled down the ramp that wrapped around the pillar.

"Pretty cool, right?"

I yelped, jumping as a voice sounded right next to me once my feet left the slanted walkway. I breathed deeply upon seeing Shuri, pressing my hand to my chest as if I could force my heartbeat to slow. "Jesus you scared me."

Shuri simply laughed, "Well you did sneak into my lab."

"There was no sneaking! I asked for directions and walked in openly! And then called out!"

The princess shrugged, taking a step back to look me over. "I know you; you're the one from another world. You came with the broken white boys."

I coughed, covering the laugh that threatened to escape before clearing my throat and nodding. "That was me. That's kind of what I'm here about actually."

"The broken white boys?" She asked, raising a brow and this time I did laugh, unable to stop it.

"No, no. The whole time travel, other world thing. I was wondering if you could help me?"

"Help you?"

I hummed, sliding my backpack off and zipping it open before pulling out the TemPad. "This is what got me here. Stark managed to get it working but didn't figure out how to get it working to get me home."

Shuri took it from me, her head cocking to the side ever so slightly. "You want to go home?"

"I do. I have my reasons but the bottom line is that if I stay here I'm scared I'll forget who I am." I sighed, shaking away the bubbling fear I felt over the idea and leaning over, clicking the program that got a lot of use recently. "This is Miss Minutes, she can probably help you."

"What the fuck!" Shuri shouted, dropping the Tempad once the familiar orange clock popped up in front of her. I lunged, grabbing it before it hit the ground and sighing.

"She helps out at the TVA, she can explain it to you" I mumbled, handing the Tempad back. "Do you think you can do it?"

"Jeez, give me a minute" Shuri scoffed, moving away from me and toward a table covered in tools. I nodded, shooting her a lopsided smile that I'm sure looked far less confident than I wanted. I decided to distract myself with the mural on the wall, taking my time to inspect each shape and the contrast between the color and monochrome aspects. It being pretty cool was a gross understatement; the mural was one of the most amazing things I had seen.

It took a few hours for Shuri to approach me once more and I had long since finished scoping out the area, opting to lay spread out on the floor and play with illusions to waste time.

"What is that?" Shuri's voice questioned and I flinched in surprise, the illusion faltering.

"It's my family's crest. My parents used to have it in this big picture frame by the door and they used to monogram it on everything. Like our own personal logo" I explained when my heart had stopped racing. Of all the things I couldn't remember that was one of the things that remained ingrained in my memory, a lifetime of exposure almost impossible to get rid of. I was almost certain that my DNA was twisted to make the shape. I blinked, bringing myself back to the subject and propping myself up with my elbows. "Any luck?"

"Sorry, none" Shuri said apologetically and I sighed, deflating a bit. The answer she gave was one I had expected, or at least I told myself it was what I expected, but there's was the small part of me that had looked over my shoulder to where Shuri was working every few minutes, hoping that she would shout out and have figured it all out.

"Thank you for trying" I said softly, pushing myself to my feet and taking the Tempad before tucking it back into my backpack and hoisting it on my back. "Thank you for helping Bucky too. And Banner."

"It's more Ayo and Okoye than me, but you're welcome" Shuri smiled and I began to leave only for her to stop me, holding something out. "Here, in case you ever want to come back here."

I grasped the small object, letting out the first genuine smile all day. "Thank you. I'll be sure that next time will be a social call instead of a work call."

The girl waved me off, shaking her head. "It was fun playing with it. I think Captain America is still here if you hurry."

I nodded, shooting her one last thank you and one last smile before speeding to Steve, only get lost a couple times. He jumped a little when I appeared in front of him before smiling widely at me. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

I smiled sadly, shrugging a little as I slipped past him and towards the jet. "More like what I expected."