The Ambassador's Daughter

Chapter 6

Knowing it was foolish to go to the palace too often, Louise stayed away for a few days. She'd given Steve her phone number after the meeting where they'd discussed waking Bucky, and she'd hardly had a day's peace since. She could tell Steve was trying not to pester her. His calls and rare texts mostly seemed to focus on getting to know her better. But she knew he was asking her to come back to the palace as soon as possible.

Today, she picked up her phone and sent Steve a text. I'm coming over today. Remain calm. The text she got back was pretty well undecipherable. With a smile, Louise pulled on her dress coat and left her room. The dress coat was mostly just for appearances. It was usually too warm for a jacket, but Louise was feeling guilty for her act of rebellion earlier that week and had been dressing every bit the ambassador's daughter.

Gordon gave her a ride to the palace again. When they had arrived in Wakanda, T'Challa had given them the information of a chauffeur agency, Ambassador Brandt had then chosen two Wakandan chauffeurs, even though the Brandt's had brought their chauffeur from America. Louise felt more comfortable with Gordon. He'd been working for her family for her whole life, so when she was doing things she thought her father would disapprove of, she got Gordon to drive her there. He made her feel safe and comfortable.

Steve met her on the palace steps. "I got your text," was his greeting. Louise laughed and offered him her arm. Steve took her arm and threaded it through his so he could escort her through the palace properly. In his excitement, he seemed to forget that he was almost a head taller than she was, and his legs were significantly longer than hers. He was practically dragging her along behind him.

"Steve! Slow down!" Louise begged, "Bucky has been in cryo for ages. He's not going anywhere, I promise. I think we can walk a bit?" Steve smiled sheepishly and slowed down.

"I'm just so excited." He said, opening the door to Bucky's room. A comfortable looking chair had joined the cryo chamber, as well as a small end table. Louise could only assume Steve wanted her to have a convenient place to put her food or drinks while she was entertaining Bucky's brain.

She sank into the chair and sighed. "I hope this works. Can I try this alone, Steve?" When Steve left, Louise pulled her knees up to her chest in a very unladylike position. She rested her chin on her knees staring at the chamber. "He's got good intentions. He really does, Bucky. But you know that old saying: The pathway to hell is paved by good intentions. And he's got me talking to a...a...well, what do you call yourself?" Louise sighed and stood up and let Steve back into the room.

A few days later, Louise was back in Bucky's room. She had moved the table to be in front of her. On the table she had set up a game of solitaire. "Well, this is going well." She muttered staring at the lay out. Three of the seven piles had kings, two had tens and the last had a two. She had gone through the whole draw pile and there were no aces. "What do you think, Bucky? You know, my mom taught me to play solitaire. I think she did it so I would have something to talk about with my dad. His two favourite games are chess and solitaire." Louise began to clean up her unwinnable game. "But I'm hopeless at chess and you can't get closer to someone playing a game designed for one."

As she began shuffling the deck again, there was a knock on the door. She turned as Steve and T'Challa entered followed by a doctor. "Miss Louise, this shouldn't take long. Doctor Mang'Tan is here to check Mr. Barnes's equipment."

"What is he checking?" Louise asked, moving out from behind her little table.

"Well, Bucky's been under for a while." Steve replied, folding his arms across his chest and staring at his friend. "We need to check his vitals to see how he'll respond to being brought out."

Louise nodded, shuffling the cards as she watched Doctor Mang'Tan check the various monitors. T'Challa glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and raised an eye brow, but remained silent. Steve reached over and gently took one of her hands. "He'll be fine, Louise. He's strong." Louise got the feeling he was saying that more to reassure himself more than her. She smiled and pocketed the deck. She squeezed Steve's hand and turned back to the doctor.

After several more minutes he turned and announced, "The patient is stable, I see no reason to worry about bringing him out of stasis." That brought smiles from everyone. Louise pulled out the deck of cards and held them towards Steve.

"Who wants to play Go Fish?" She asked. Steve and T'Challa both gave her a strange look. She laughed and moved over to her chair. She dealt out the cards, "C'mon, boys, it's an easy game." Louise explained the rules quickly and picked up her cards. Steve and T'Challa took up their cards too. The three of them played Go Fish talking with each other and occasionally throwing out a comment in Bucky's direction until well past Louise's curfew. Her father would be livid, but she didn't care. At twenty-one, she felt she was well past the age where a curfew was needed.