[1] 𝘿𝙀𝙑𝙄𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 | 𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙨

❅ 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘺-𝘵𝘸𝘰: 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦

➸ 2016
📍WAKANDA
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THE CITY was burning.

Creatures flew through the air as people riding among them slain the lower clan with spears and magical arrows.

Galina rolled backwards from her knocked down position, staring down the woman in front of her from where they stand at the infinitely rising platform.

"I can't let you win this."

The woman chuckled, wiping off a spout of blood that trickled from the corner of her mouth. "Funny, I was gonna say the same about yo—"

Galina jolted awake at the odd dream, eyes widened.

She rubbed at her throbbing temples as she rolled over onto her back, breathing out a deep breath—

The door slams open followed by that familiar cheery voice.

"Lina, Lina!" Shuri called out, clapping her hands together to emphasize.

Galina immediately groaned, collapsing onto her back as she pulled the covers over her head. "Go away, Shuri."

"You had another nightmare, didn't you?" she rhetorically questioned as she makes way to open the blinds in dramatics. "I know you diiidddd, which is why you're coming to the lab with me."

She cursed out an expletive as Shuri grabbed at the sheets and tossed them off from her, grasping her arms tightly and pulling her up.

"Sweet Jesus, why are you so freaking strong." she muttered — annoyed, underneath her breath as Shuri continued to push her along. "I'm not even dressed! My breath smells."

"No worries, Sergeant Barnes isn't gonna be there so they'll be nobody to impress."

Galina's cheeks turned into a beet red, causing for her to stop in her tracks. "Why would it matter if Bucky is there? Why would he care?" her eyes grew wide. "Is he gonna be there?"

Shuri burst out into a fit of giggles and tapped on her shoulders comfortingly, pushing her along once more. "No, silly — even if he was, i'm sure he'd want your hot breath all up on him."

"Shuri"

...

"What the fuck did you just connect me to, Shuri?"

Galina, clad in her baggy pajama pants and oversized t-shirt was strapped inside of a whirring contraption — arms and legs stretched out like a starfish.

"It's to measure all of your power or perhaps magic in your body." she explained cheekily. "I needed to have you fresh out of sleep in order to see what I want to see..." she trailed off as her eyes lit up in wonder at the holographic image in front of her.

In a bonded display was Galina's DNA, that was swirling around with golden energy.

"This is..." Shuri began, astonished. "Your abilities have a mind of its own."

"We knew that already — can I go?" she boredly asked.

"It's like an extension of you..." she continued, shaking her head in wonder. "It's...like...growing...like a fire — it's reacting to something."

"I had a weird dream, that's what it's reacting to." she tiredly said before ripping off the pads against her arms and unraveling herself.

Shuri practically shrieked, rushing over to the girl with her arms outstretched as the hologram dissipated. "Goddammit, lightskin! Let me finish!"

"I'm finished." she retorted as she quickly jogged away from the eccentric girl whom was trying to chase after her. 

—

Galina ended up not even venturing back into the house, choosing to sit outside on the porch for the next couple of hours in the warm sun.

Although it's been a week of staying in Wakanda and Shuri was gonna eventually run some tests on her especially before starting up her physical therapy, it still kinda sucked.

She knows that the girl means well but it felt like the only interesting thing about her was her abilities — like it's always been.

I mean, HYDRA wanted her for her abilities while she was in the womb — the Avengers and SHIELD are practically feared due to them having her on their side.

Why can't she just be?

"You've been distant this entire morning." the Captain observed, lightly nudging her with his arm. "What's going on?"

Galina watched as Steve sat down beside her out of the corner of her eye — she remained staring out into the beautiful fields.

"Just wanted space."

"Mm." he softly hummed, exhaling through his nostrils. "Well, I just wanted to tell you that i'm meeting up with Nat and your sister later toni—"

Her head snapped over to glance at him in surprise. "What?"

Steve's face broke out into an amused grin, nodding. "Yeah, Nat just called me an hour ago while you were out."

"Where the hell have they been? I've been waiting for them to contact me for days."

"I think that's something she should explain..." he trailed off. "Now, I would ask if you wanted to come—"

"Of course I do—"

"—but Shuri isn't gonna let you, and quite frankly you shouldn't come. You're recovering."

Her head tilted to the side playfully with a grin. "But...?"

"...but, as your Captain—"

"—You're not my Captain—"

"—i'll make an exception."

Galina's smile widened causing for her dimples to deepen on the sides of her cheeks. "Thank you, Steve."

"Of course." he then patted her shoulder before rising to his feet, marching back to the door. "Come and get some pancakes before they get cold."