Project 43: Healing

So, where are we going?

"Where are we going?" Elias asked, walking alongside Steve and Sam. The brothers had just walked up to Sam as he returned from Scotland.

Sam turned to look at Steve who didn't have an idea either. 

"I'm guessing you have more experience on this than I do," Steve said to his brother, who just shrugged.

"I've been wanting to revisit France for a while now," Elias said thinking back to a promise he made over a decade earlier.

Afghanistan was starting to break the new Legion soldiers. Even with the excessive tests and preparations, Emich could see his newfound friends struggling. He had gotten used to war and death but the men around him had only just been thrown into the battle. 

They were all sitting in a circle, their only light source the small flashlight hanging on a rope from the thin tent canvas. In the last few weeks, Elias had started to remember a lot about his life before Hydra, one of those things being Whiskey poker, which the other men had never heard of. So, they huddled together and played, only whispering so as to not wake up anyone else in the huge tent.

"Emich," Hugo whispered, catching the man's attention. Emich turned to look at the blonde and couldn't help but notice the tears threatening to escape his eyes.

"I- I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you," Hugo said as the thought seemingly just hit him. Emich watched, frozen in fear as tears fell from his friend's eyes. He had no idea what to do, or say so he just sat there, staring at his friend.

That day, things had gotten real for the men. Hugo had nearly stepped on a mine. He would have died if Emich hadn't noticed the odd bump in the ground and yelled at the man to stop. A couple hours later someone opened fire on the men, injuring an American soldier from a platoon they were currently stationed with.

Antonio placed his hand on Hugo's shoulder, seeing just how awkward Emich was, and said:

"Hey man, it's ok. As long as we have each other's back we're going to be fine."

Emich looked over to Bilguun, or Attila as the men had started calling him, who seemed just as confused by the situation. The Mongolian was simply staring down at his cards intensely.

"If we don't look out for each other, we're as good as dead," Emich added, but immediately realized it didn't sound as comforting as he had imagined.

"But we look out for each other, right?" Antonio said, before turning to Emich and Attila.

"Yeah," Emich said before he realized what he had just agreed to. Still, he didn't want to take it back, even tho he understood he had just made a promise he may not be able to make.

"Always," Bilguun added with a tight nod.

"Wakanda will take you in if you're in need," King T'Challa called as the men were saying their goodbyes to everyone. 

Elias shook T'Challa's hand with a tight smile as he once more thanked the man for letting them enter his kingdom. Then he turned to Shuri standing next to the king and before he could say anything, the princess had pulled Elias into a hug he quickly accepted. 

As a parting gift, Elias had given Shuri a couple of vials of his blood. It was something the Princess had been begging for for a week straight but each time Elias had refused. As he was leaving, Elias realized that he trusted Shuri enough to let her study whatever it was making him the way he was. After all, it could help him get back to normal. Maybe even grow old. And if the Princess came up with a way to utilize Elias' blood in her inventions, the man still trusted her to make the right choices.