Bruce and Tony have spent the last two weeks running every test they can on your brain. CT scans, MRIs, PET, and every other test with letters for its name; they've done them twice. They can't tell how Hydra did it, let alone how to undo it.

You wake up once again after being sedated. Steve and Bucky are taking every precaution to keep you from possibly escaping.

Your eyes open, and you slowly blink your sight into focus. Your mouth is dry once again.
As your vision clears, you can see Bucky sitting in his chair, watching you from the other side of the cell glass. "By the look on your face, the tests didn't give you the results you were hoping for?" You say as you down a bottle of water.

Bucky runs his hands down his face, trying to fight off the exhaustion. "No. I promise Jo, we will find a way to undo what they did."

"I've told you a thousand times that I don't want to be fixed. Why would I want to feel pain again? Why would I want to know fear again? Don't you remember how free you felt when you were wiped? Your mind was not cluttered with all that emotion. No fear, no guilt, just emptiness."
You say with such longing.

"Yes, I do." Bucky says with a sigh.

"Don't you want that freedom again? Just let me go, Bucky. Let me take you home, and we can be free together." You plead with him.

"No, Joey! I can't do that. I'll find a way to make you whole again, " he says, standing up and walking over to the glass.

"Why do you insist on causing me pain? Don't you understand I wanted this? I wanted to stop missing you and crying for you. I wanted to stop the bloody, painful nightmares. I was tired of being afraid to close my eyes at night. Tired of fearing the sound of my door opening and the heavy footsteps coming to my bed." You walk closer to Bucky. "You say you love me, so why do you want to bring all that pain and fear back for me? I feel nothing when I think of those things, and I want to keep them that way. I won't let you take the numb away. I won't let you take the silence away from me." You say blankly to Bucky.

" Don't you want to feel love? To feel joy again?" Bucky questions with a quiver in his voice.

"I can still feel desire, pleasure.....anger, hate. They work just fine for me." You say as you lay back down on the bed. Your arms crossed under your head, your legs crossed at the ankles.

A few days later, a ship lands on the compound grass. Bucky, Steve, Tony, and Bruce are there to greet them. The plane door opens, and a slender, elegant woman steps out of the plane and approaches the men.

All four men bow slightly to the woman. She stops in front of Bucky. She smiles, and they exchange a playful schoolyard handshake.

"Ah, White Wolf, you still have it for an old man." She says with a laugh and a large smile.

Bucky smiles back with a warm smile. " Princess Shuri, this is Tony St.."

"The infamous Tony Stark." She says, cutting off Bucky.

"You know the other two." He says as he gestures to Steve and Bruce.

"Steve, it's so good to see you again. Dr. Banner, it's a pleasure working alongside you again." Shuri looks at Bucky again, her face turning more serious. "Let's save your sister, shall we?"

All five of them head into the compound in hopes of saving you. Four men follow from within the plane, pushing large floating crates. She wastes no time setting up her equipment and preparing to meet you.

You are brought in bound, hands and feet, with vibranium handcuffs. Shuri is a little shocked at the sight.

She turns and looks at Bucky. "White Wolf, are these actually necessary?"

"I wish they weren't but she's fighting us on this. She doesn't want to be cured." Bucky says with sorrow in his eyes that Shuri has never seen.

"Do you realize that will make this that much harder to do, then?" Shuri says as she continues to start her equipment.

You look at Shuri with a low glare. "And who has my dear brother brought in to fix me now? I should at least know the name of the person I'm adding to my kill list."

Shuri steps closer to you and looks you in the eyes. "I am Princess Shuri of Wakanda. I assume you are Josephine Barnes, White Wolf's sister."

You twist your neck, cracking it, as you clench your jaw. "Why does everyone keep calling me that? Jo doesn't live here anymore. I killed her. Call me Alpha!"

Shuri doesn't shrink from your word. Instead, she steps closer and looks you straight in the eyes. "Alright, Jo. Let's get started then."

You give her a low growl. They lay you down on an extremely high-tech exam table. Shuri puts on a glove-like you've never seen before. Tony stands next to Shuri, admiring the tech.

Without looking at Tony, Shuri says. "You wish you had one, don't you?" A sly grin spread across her mouth. "Maybe when you're a big boy, you can have one." She laughs as Bucky nudges her with his elbow.

"Still the same smart mouth I remember." Bucky chuckles.

"'Ah, you know you missed me, Sargent Barnes." She nudges him back.

You shift on the table. "Oh my god. I think I just got diabetes from all this sickening sweet shit!"

Shuri looks at Bucky. " I see the sarcasm runs in the family."

Steve is standing across from Shuri. "Can we get started, please?" He says rather impatiently.

"Of course." She pushes a pad on her glove, causing a light to project from the palm of the glove. She runs her hands over your body up to your head. A virtual display pops up over you.

"It seems Hydra spared no expense on this tech. I would recognize the work of Dr. Cho and her Regeneration Cradle anywhere. I am surprised that she found the ability to bond it to vibranium. I figured she was several years off from that discovery." Shuri says in admiration of Dr. Cho's work.

"You can thank Ultron for that. I'm sure HYDRA scavenged the information from somewhere," Tony says with a tinge of contempt for the failed experiment.
Bucky is now standing next to Steve on the opposite side of the exam table. "So what now?" He asks, looking at his friend.

She gives him a warm smile to reassure him. "Now, I will scan her brain and see what has been done there."

She presses another button on her gloves and lets her hands flow over your head. She passes them in several different directions as new images appear in the hologram above you.

Steve can see a small but discernible furrow in her brow. "What's wrong?" He says with concern in his voice.

Shuri takes a deep breath not wanting to worry her friends. "It seems that a huge portion of neurons in her Limbic Cortex have been severed."

"Well, that would explain her lack of fear and better judgment. But we couldn't see any of that on our scans." Bruce says rather intrigued.

"My scans run at a much deeper level, giving me a higher-resolution image, " she says with a smile.

"Fascinating." Bruce says as he pushes his glasses up a little on his nose and looks closer at the image.

"But what exactly does that mean for helping her?" Bucky says, frustrated with all the scientific talk.

"It means I have my work cut out for me. Trust that I will do everything possible to help your sister, White Wolf." Shuri says to Bucky with a tender look in her eyes.

"Wow! All of you know I'm still here, right? I can hear you." You say it with an annoyed tone.

Tony steps closer, looking over Shuri's shoulder at the image and then down at you. "So what's your plan then?"

"I won't know the true depth of what they've altered until I start, but I should be able to reconnect and repair the severed neurons."

Bucky and Steve look at you with such hope. "How long will that take?" Steve asks.

"Captain Rogers, would you have asked Michelangelo or Tupac how long it would have taken to create their masterpieces?" Shuri chides back, causing Steve to look down sheepishly. "I'm not sure until I start, but it will more than likely be hours, Captain. This is not something you want done quickly."

Bucky puts his hand on Steve's shoulder. "We'll wait outside so you have your space." Steve reluctantly follows Bucky, and he takes one last look at you before the doors close.

Tony's phone rings, and he looks at it. " I have to take this. Please excuse me."

Bruce looks at Tony with a disappointed expression. "Tony, don't you think this is a little more important?"

"Trust me, this could be our Hail Mary if needed." Tony steps out and continues to talk on the phone.

"You don't mind if I stay, do you? I'm rather fascinated with your process." Bruce asks.

"I would accept nothing less. Shall we get started, Dr. Banner?" Shuri says with a smile.

Five hours have passed, and Shuri has yet to emerge. Steve and Bucky have walked the hallway bare. The lab doors open, and Shuri and Bruce step out. Bucky instantly notices Shuri is lacking her usual confident smile.

"You're not smiling, Shuri. Why aren't you smiling?" Bucky says with hesitation.

"I tried everything I could. I dont know what they did but it wasn't just technology they used."
Shuri says, defeated.

"What do you mean?" Steve asks, confused.

"As quickly as I tried to repair the severed neurons, they would dissolve. I couldn't keep up. Then, there were other neurons that didn't even have another end. It's as if parts of her mind just disappeared like they never existed. I've never seen anything like this, let alone fix it. In Wakanda, we know there are forces beyond science and technology. I honestly believe that some other force was used on your sister. I'm so sorry that I got your hopes up. I will admit that I never anticipated this."Shuri looks down at her feet, feeling guilty for not being able to help Bucky save his sister.

Tony walks up and hears the last of the conversation. "Well, it's good I took that phone call then. We happen to know someone that this is right up her alley."

You can see the realization of who Tony is talking about cross Bruce's face. "Wanda!"

"How soon can she get here?" Bucky asks quickly.

"I'm sending a jet, and she can be here the day after tomorrow." Tony says, pleased with himself.

Steve looks at Shuri. "Is she ok ?"

Bruce speaks up. "She started to struggle the faster Shuri worked. She was experiencing some mild pain, so we sedated her again, but it was more to keep her from struggling."

Bucky lets out a slow sigh, feeling like he's losing the battle for his sister. "Steve, can you help me get her back to her cell?"

"Sure, of course." He says as he puts a reassuring hand on Bucky's shoulder.