Royalty AU

"(Y/N)! (Y/N) where the hell are you?"

The sound of that voice echoing through the main hall of your home sent an unpleasant chill down your spine, and a wave of nausea churning in your gut. Looking around frantically, spinning around like a puppy chasing its tail, you desperately needed somewhere to run. You couldn't be seen with Bucky; he had been banished from the palace grounds months ago after your affair had come to an explosive end, and his knighthood had been stripped away by your livid father. Beyond the anger and pain that his voice was causing for you now, it was matched by the confusion felt at how he had made it this far into the building without being caught.

"(Y/N)! Stop, please! I need your help!"

"Oh, lord," you groaned to yourself, halting for him, "this is gonna be good." His bounding steps came to a stop right behind you, but before he could get his hand out to grab your arm, you turned to face him and took a long step back. "Woah, hands to yourself, Barnes. You're not even supposed to be in the building, much less within arm's reach of me."

"I know, and I wouldn't risk it if it wasn't worth it, believe me," he agreed. "It's not exactly like I want to be in here either, and I definitely don't want to see you."

"That's a great way to start begging for help. You're really selling it."

"Listen, I don't have time for this,' he panted, "I need to know if you've still got the hots for King T'Challa."

"I don't think that's any of your business even if I did," you scoffed, taking another step back, "and I think it's time for you to go before I have you dragged out of here." As if on cue, the voices of your compliment of palace guards began to echo towards you both, and Bucky's own voice became much more urgent.

"(Y/N), I'm not messing with you, okay? He needs your help. You're the only one who can do this."

"You still haven't told me what this is."

He's over there!

"Shiiit," Bucky groaned, jumping towards you and finally taking your hand, and the desperation in his grip shook you more than what he was doing as he held it, "please, just come with me and I'll show you, okay? This isn't about you and me, it's about T'Challa, and I'm just really gonna need you to move your ass before they haul mine away."

~~~

Somehow, Bucky had convinced you to run with him, and as you watched him drive what you were sure had to be a stolen car, you began to wonder how he had done it. The two of you had been hopelessly in love for years, keeping your relationship a heavily guarded secret from your father, who would never approve. Bucky was a knight in his court, with strict orders known within the ranks that the only daughter of the king was beyond off-limits; but all that did was to make the relationship that much more exciting, and that much more inevitable. It also made it inevitable that Bucky would be stripped of his title once the secret was broken and brought to your father, who quickly exiled your love from the palace. It was only your begging for forgiveness and asking for mercy that allowed Bucky to remain in the kingdom at all, though he refused to thank you for it out of ridiculous pride; that pride was what destroyed your bond, and left the two of you at odds until this day.

"You're staring."

"I'm thinking," you answered quickly, turning to look away. "I'll endeavor to keep my attentions elsewhere."

"Thinking about me?"

"You wish."

"Actually, Your Highness, I don't," he argued, "believe it or not, the day that I let go of that ridiculous title and said goodbye to that overblown ego stroke of a monstrosity you call home was my best day yet."

"Then I'm glad that I haven't wasted any more of your time than already spent."

He let out a heavy sigh at your words, immediately regretting the tone he had brought out in you when he hadn't meant to. "You've never wasted my time, (Y/N)...I didn't...I didn't mean it to sound as if you had, I'm sorry. I was speaking more to the point of being free of your father's command. That man truly believes that no one will ever be good enough for you, and he expects anyone who tries to be measured by a scale that only he can meet. It's infuriating."

"You're telling me," you scoffed in reply, allowing the smallest laugh to escape your lips. "Try living without an escape. I'm tied to the man by blood."

"You could always disavow your name?"

"Do you really think that Anthony Stark would allow that to happen? He's a control freak if I've ever met one, Bucky. All that would do is to make the noose that much tighter around my throat."

"Hmm, likely true, valid point," he nodded. "Okay, we're here."

You straightened up in your seat, finding that twilight had fallen and your surroundings were unfamiliar as you peered from the window to see where he had taken you. The car continued, though slower, until it reached a small building just past the main palace of King T'Challa. You had never been to his home before, and it sent your nerves on edge to realize that there may have been a reason for that; Bucky was right, you did feel some attraction to the King, and if your father knew, this it could be why you shouldn't be here now. "So now will you tell me what I'm doing?"

Bucky pushed himself up in his seat and turned, reaching his arm into the back seat right behind you. He fumbled around a bit, cursing just slightly under his breath until he brought his hand forward again, this time with a small box dropped carefully into your lap. "Open it."

Your hands shook and pushed the lid of the box away, leaving you to squeal in shock at what you saw inside, catching it quickly when you jolted enough to nearly drop it on the floor. "It's a frog, Buck, what the hell?"

"That's T'Challa."

"Shut up, it is not."

"I will not, and it is."

"Is this some sort of stupid joke that you guys came up with to mess with me?"

"He speaks the truth, (Y/N)," came the deep, but tiny voice from your lap. "I seem to have fallen under a spell of some sort, and we have yet to find a solution to break it."

"Holy shit-"

"Language, my lady," the transformed king interrupted, and even in this form, you felt scolded under his attentions. "Has Bucky told you of our idea?"

"He hasn't told me anything."

"Yeah, well, there's a reason for that," Bucky joined in again, "because we think that a kiss from a true love will break it. You know, like all the fairy tales say it will. We've tried everything else, and this is our last shot."

"And you seem to think that's me?" you asked, your stare unable to move from the box in your lap. "What makes you think that I'm his true love anyway?"

"Bucky has mentioned that you have feelings-"

"Bucky doesn't know anything," you argued, "so you guys are running on assumptions that have never been confirmed. I'm sorry, but I'm not the person you should be seeking for this."

"Can you just try?" T'Challa asked, his tone soft and begging like you had never heard from him before. He was a stoic and proud King, and to hear him so desperate for help was foreign and tore at your heart. "Please, (Y/N)? If it doesn't work, then no harm will be done, correct?"

"Yeah, I guess..." you groaned under your breath. You glanced at Bucky for just a second, seeing him staring back, wide-eyed and eager to see if this would work just as much as T'Challa was. You slid a hand into the box, allowing the altered king to climb into it; you brought him up to your face and he pushed up, gently connecting to your lips just enough for the sensation to register before a brilliant flash filled the car.

"Oh, no," Bucky gasped, "no, no, no, that's not what was supposed to happen!"

You had been mad at Bucky many times over the years; you had fights that challenged those he had led on the battlefield with the anger that you threw at each other. But this was a new level of livid that you had never felt for him before. You looked up at him and knew immediately what had happened before you even had a chance to look down at yourself; before seeing that you had now transformed into what you were trying to fix in the first place. "Barnes. Fix it!"

"That's what I was trying to do!"

"I'm a frog! If you thought that you'd seen my father at his worst, you're in for a huge surprise when he sees this!"

"He's not going to!"

"(Y/N), I'm so very sorry," T'Challa tried to add, only to be shut down with a lift of Bucky's hand.

"Oh, my god, this isn't happening." You felt yourself growing dizzy as your mind swirled around, unable to actually comprehend what was going on. The idea that T'Challa had been transformed hadn't even become real in your mind before you were asked to act, and now here you were in the exact same condition. "We have to go back, Bucky. Maybe Loki can help."

"We're not trusting that guy with this, what if he's the one who started it? He's done tricks like this before."

"Like this?!"

"Okay, maybe not like this, per se..." he reluctantly conceded, "and clearly we have no idea what we're doing and need help, but I'm not bringing you to him."

"You should have thought of that before you brought me into this, don't you think? I swear, Barnes, you never have stopped to think before you act, and I should have known better than to go along with this for even one second. I should have let the guards catch you and take you away, but I'll never learn-"

"Dear lord, just shut up!" Bucky snapped, reaching down to scoop you up into his hands to bring you up to his lips, in a desperate attempt to do the only thing he could think of to maybe both transform you back and to get you to stop berating him. He knew that this meant he would have to admit that he still had feelings for you whether it worked or not; why would he try this if he didn't? He took the chance, and the risk of a lifetime of harassment, closing his eyes and making the connection without another thought. Even through his tightly closed lids, the light around him was blinding.

"-and I keep getting myself into stupid shit like...this..." you continued, until you realized that your human form had returned. He was staring at you expectantly, taking your verbal attack as if you hadn't said a word, and you then realized why; you found that you couldn't bring yourself to meet his terrified gaze any longer. "Oh...okay...so that happened..."

"Yeah," he sighed with a heavy shrug, "I suppose it did. You're welcome, by the way."

"Thank you."

"You okay?"

"Um, yeah, I think so. I'm a little queasy, but I suppose that's to be expected. Though I can't imagine that there's a precedent for this sort of thing."

"I don't suppose there is. We should probably get you home."

"We're not going to talk about this? Why that worked?"

"Nothin' to talk about," he dodged, turning the car back on, "so let's just leave it, okay?"

"Excuse me," T'Challa interrupted, a hand raised to alert you to him, "but if I may, I'm certain that your sudden realization of continued feelings for each other is a terribly jarring and significant development, and I agree with (Y/N) that you need to speak of it further. However, in case your own concerns have rendered you unaware...I'M STILL A FROG."