In the next few months, Pietro had to go back and forth between Wakanda and working with Steve on other missions. They had to be careful to be relatively inconspicuous so they wouldn't get arrested, but they did their best. I stayed in Wakanda, however, due to having recently come out of cryo and Bucky still being under. I was training with Okoye when Shuri came running in.

"Chris!" she exclaimed. I froze and looked back at her. "He's awake." My eyes widened, and I took off running, picking her up as I passed her. I stopped in the lab, where Bucky was sitting up in the hospital bed and doctors were milling around taking tests.

"Maybe warn me before you do that again, yeah?" Shuri asked. I nodded silently as I locked eyes with Bucky. He smiled, and I ran over, hugging him tightly.

"Thank god," I muttered. He chuckled.

"Don't tell me you missed me," he said. I rolled my eyes and stepped back.

"No, not at all. I've just been the only white person for the last five months." He laughed.

"That sounds absolutely devastating." I snorted, and Shuri laughed.

"You're doing okay," she told Bucky. "You should be able to leave whenever you're ready." With that, she left, and soon the other doctors left as well, which left Bucky and I alone. He looked down at me.

"Do you wanna talk?" he asked quietly. I sighed and nodded, and soon we were sitting in the window seat in my room, facing each other.

"Your mother was...one of the greatest people I've ever known," Bucky said quietly. "Her parents were starving and desperate, so when Hydra offered them a life of peace and comfort, they were willing to do anything." He sighed. "Even if it meant giving up their only daughter. She was raised as a fighter for Hydra, no programming, but she was the kindest person there. We used to train together, and over time, we got closer and closer.

"A few years after I met her, there was a malfunction in the power grid at the facility we were being kept at in Siberia. You remember it." I nodded, my thoughts flashing back to the fight with the doctor and Tony. "Since she didn't have any programming, she saw it as her chance to escape. Only one guard tried to follow her, and I knocked out the door of my cell when he passed me. I don't think it killed him, but...it gave her a head start." He looked down. "I didn't even know she was...I didn't know she had you until we met." He looked back up at me. "You look just like her." I took a deep breath. "When I saw you at the airport in Germany...I thought I had her back again." He smiled sadly. "I see her in you so much. You're so kind and brave and selfless. Just like her." I placed a hand on mine. "She would be proud of you, Chris." I let out a shaky breath before chuckling quietly.

"God, I wish I could cry," I muttered. He laughed, wrapping me in a hug.

"I know. It's okay."