The Spring Soldier | Bucky Barnes

Chapter 9 - Black Panther

"You sure it's a good idea to take your ex on a mission?" Shuri asks as she and T'Challa walk down the ramp.

"Ex? You and Nakia?" Aleks gasps as she stands from her seat and joins them. "I can totally see it. Cute."

"Yes. We'll be fine." He replies, rolling his eyes at Aleks' observation. "Besides, you'll be on call should we need backup."

"Yes!" She celebrates.

"Aleksandra, will you join us on the mission?" He asks, ignoring his sister.

"I will if you agree to call me Aleks." She replies. He sighs.

"Fine." He agrees.

"Perfect. Permission to kill some bad guys on the mission?" Aleks asks. T'Challa sighs again.

"As long as no innocents are killed." He tells her.

 "I have great things to show you, Brother. Here are your communication devices for Korea. Unlimited range, also equipped with audio surveillance system. Check these out." Shuri says, leading them through her lab. "Remote access Kimoyo Beads. Updated to interface directly with my sand table."

"Ah. And what are these?" He asks, continuing through the lab.

"The real question is what are those?" She shouts, looking at his sandals. T'Challa chuckles as Aleks begins typing on the new phone Shuri had given her, trying to find whatever she's referencing. "Why do you have your toes out in my lab?"

"What, you don't like my royal sandals?" T'Challa asks, propping his foot up on the nearby stool. "I wanted to go old school for my first day."

"I bet the Elders loved that." She replies, making him chuckle. "Try them on." She sets the shoe soles on the floor, and he steps onto them, boots forming around his feet. "Fully automated. Like the old American movie Baba used to watch. And I made them completely sound absorbent." He stomps his foot on the ground, and it makes no noise.

"Interesting." He says.

"Guess what I call them." Shuri tells them. The two look at her. "Sneakers." 

"I love it." Aleks tells her as she laughs.

"I also made a pair for my favorite assassin." She replies, slipping her arm around her friend's waist as they start walking. 

"Yes!" She cheers as they lead the way further through the lab. 

"If you're going to take on Klaue, you'll need the best the design group has to offer." She tells her brother, leading him to the mannequins. "Exhibit A."

"My design." T'Challa says.

"Old tech." She replies.

"Old?" He asks.

"Functional, but old. 'Hey, people are shooting at me. Wait, let me put on my helmet.'" Shuri teases. Aleks chuckles, enjoying their sibling banter, missing her own sisters even though it hadn't been long since she'd seen them.

"Enough." He tells her. She chuckles and points to the two necklaces.

"Now, look at these. Do you like that one?" She asks as he looks at the more elaborate, gold one.

"Tempting. But the idea is to not be noticed." T'Challa replies. Shuri nods and he points to the other one. "This one."

Shuri raises her Kimoyo Beads to his neck, and they chime as they glow along with the mark behind his ear.

"Now tell it to go on." She says. He does and the suit forms over the mannequin.

"Beautiful as always." Aleks praises her friends work.

"The entire suit sits within the teeth of the necklace." She explains. "Strike it."

"Anywhere?" T'Challa asks as Shuri pulls Aleks out of the way. She hums in agreement. He kicks it and the mannequin goes flying. 

"Not that hard, genius!" She scolds, rushing to pick it up.

"You told me to strike it. You didn't say how hard." He defends.

"I invite you to my lab, and you just kick things around?" She scoffs.

"Well, maybe you should make it a little stronger." He replies as she sets it down. "Hey. Wait a minute." He brushes his fingers along the glowing purple from where he kicked it.

"The nanites absorb the kinetic energy and hold it in place for redistribution." Shuri explains.

"Very nice." He compliments.

"Strike it again in the same spot." She tells him, backing up and pulling Aleks with her.

"You're recording?" He asks, spotting the projection from her Kimoyo Beads.

"For research purposes." She tells him. He turns back to the mannequin and kicks it, flying back and knocking over a table. Shuri laughs at him as Aleks moves over to help him.

"Delete that footage." T'Challa demands as Aleks pulls him to his feet, glaring at her as she laughs too.

***

"This way." Nakia says as they exit the car. Aleks grins when she spots Nakia and T'Challa checking each other out, reminding herself to tell Shuri when they get back.

"Bast willing, this will go quickly, and I can get this ridiculous thing off my head." Okoye complains, messing with the wig on her head.

"It looks nice. Just whip it back and forth." She teases.

"What? It's a disgrace." She replies.

"Was that another meme?" Aleks asks, completely butchering the word. "I think you guys forget that I've only been free for a few weeks. I know how to kill people and that's pretty much it. I don't ever get your references." She sighs, knowing that ironically the youngest of them knows the least about the internet and its many jokes.

"I'll show you later." Nakia assures her. 

They reach the place and Nakia speaks with a woman in Korean. The others let her take the lead, and soon they're let inside, passing the metal detector with ease. They step up to the balcony and Aleks fidgets with the new black widow necklace Shuri had gifted her. It works the same as T'Challa's just with a new and improved version of her widow suit.

"Spread out. The buyer is likely already here." T'Challa says.

"Okoye and I will stay up here. You two go downstairs." Aleks suggests, winking at him behind Nakia's back as she nudges them towards the stairs. He rolls his eyes at her but offers Nakia his arm as they head downstairs.

"Playing matchmaker?" Okoye asks, muffling her comms. 

"Of course. They're adorable, pretending they don't still have feelings for each other." She replies, doing the same. They move to opposite sides as T'Challa and Nakia talk.

"Can we please focus?" She asks, watching as Nakia drifts away from T'Challa on the floor below. "Thank you." 

"Eyes up. Americans." Nakia announces after a few minutes. "I count three."

"Five. How could you miss Greased Lightning there behind you?" Okoye says. 

"Eight. There's two up here with us." Aleks adds.

"Nine. Just spotted an old friend who works for the CIA. It just got a little more complicated." T'Challa tells them.