Wakanda

Spring 2016

Nadine inhaled deeply, surprisingly at ease despite the tension that had overtaken the Wakandan Princess' lab after Shuri had turned her attention to Nadine. That Shuri so easily uncovered what Nadine had been through without Nadine saying so much as a word had left the blonde assassin feeling unsettled. She wasn't used to her past being laid bare to people who didn't know her. Or deciphered so easily.

It left her feeling uncomfortably...vulnerable.

Yet despite that, almost as soon as they'd been led to their current quarters, her body had begun relaxing almost of its own accord, the tension that had stiffened her frame bleeding away with each breath, her muscles loosening as she surveyed the room they currently occupied and the activities of her Teammates—her family—within it.

And the knots of tension in her gut eased further as she realized that was the reason why.

She was with her family. There was a certain security in that that she was still getting used to.

More than that, her family was safe and had been set on the road to recovery.

Thanks, in no small degree, to T'Challa, Shuri and the Wakandan doctor that had seen to the Twins.

Still left visibly subdued and upset after what she'd uncovered about Nadine's past, Shuri had almost fiercely returned her attentions to Barnes, herding him out of the hollow to make quick work of tidying what little of his metal arm Nina and Nadine hadn't been able to clean up, even going so far as to drag Nina over partway through the process, apparently impressed by the work she'd done on the Quinjet.

Then, once Shuri had been satisfied and after a short consultation among the three Wakandans, Nadine, Nina, Steve and Barnes had been led away from the cavernous lab and a few levels up to what Nadine now understood to be one of several sets of quarters the research facility boasted to board its permanent and visiting scientists.

It was a pleasant and rather homey space, if she was being honest, yet still more than spacious to hold the entirety of their Team—sans Sam, who still hadn't returned from his errand—without feeling crowded. The large, vaguely circular common area was lit with the same bright, cheering light as the rest of the facility, emitting gently from foot-wide panels that ran at eye-level around the entirety of the room, broken only by the egresses leading to the four private rooms the space boasted and the small vestibule that separated the common area from the corridor outside. A modest kitchen area finished off the space that was clearly intended to serve as a place of respite and leisure, with comfortable seating and complementary furniture in the bold aesthetic Nadine was beginning to recognize as uniquely Wakandan that matched the vibrantly coloured yet still somehow soothing decorative panels that interspersed the warm, rich taupe of the walls as a whole.

It was a restful sort of room. Which was, admittedly, probably the point.

And it was certainly being used to advantage. Natasha and Wanda had both retreated to the small kitchen area, perusing the stocked fridge and cupboards as they debated lightly over what might be good to eat, while Nina and Pietro had claimed the settee nearest to the two of them, watching with amusement and piping up with the odd impish comment, in Pietro's case.

Upon being reunited with the Twins and Natasha in their temporary quarters and once they'd been left to settle in by the pair of silver-adorned Dora Milaje that had led the way, the redhead had efficiently broken down what the Wakandan doctor they'd been sent to had determined. It was much as Nadine had suspected, to be honest.

While Wanda was recovering well, simply needing to recharge, as it were, and to keep the use of her powers to a minimum in the interim, Pietro's Enhancement—or his temperament, Wanda had added dryly—hadn't reacted well to the suppression collars that had been used on them. They had severely taxed his system to the point where it had bordered on doing permanent damage, the doctor, Ebere, had relayed gravely upon finishing her assessment. Ebere had concluded that she believed he would make a full recovery in time, but she would prefer to keep him close for the time being, supplementing his natural healing process with treatments of her own division.

"You know, you're allowed to relax now," Steve piped up from his seat on the couch she was standing beside, interrupting her thoughts. She turned from her supervision of her sister to see him looking up to her with a fondly challenging look, his lips quirking into a crooked grin.

Nadine nearly huffed as his hand closed on hers, unable to entirely withhold her exasperated grin as he tugged her down to sit next to him.

"With those four over there conspiring?" she quipped dryly back with a jerk of her chin over toward Natasha, Nina and the Twins—Nina had jumped up to circle the counter and sidle up to her Aunt, their red and blonde heads together over something in a frosted white container, smiling and giggling as they debated one thing or another. Wanda, on the other hand, had retreated to her brother's side once more, a bag of chips Nadine didn't recognize—likely a brand and flavour unique to Wakanda, she imagined—between them while Pietro eyed them suspiciously. Steve chuckled.

"Fair point," he admitted, shooting a wary look of his own over to the two that didn't managed to dim his grin. "Those two especially are a rather dangerous combination." Laughing softly, Nadine relaxed against him, threading her arm through his to lace their fingers together as she curled her legs up beside her.

"What's a dangerous combination?" They looked up as Nina circled around the couch to settle next to Barnes, though she was careful to leave space between them, Nadine noted, taking in the trace of trepidation written on her daughter's open features as she spared a fleeting look to her father.

"You and your aunt," Nadine said dryly, though her grin as Nina looked to her was openly affectionate. Nina rolled her eyes, relaxing back against the couch. Nadine stifled a chuckle, but not before Nina noticed and threw a cushion half-heartedly at her mother in affected petulance. Nadine caught it easily, tucking it under her arm as Steve extracted his hand from hers to tuck her closer against his side instead, his arm curling around her waist.

"We're not that bad," Nina muttered, though the effect was hampered by her wide grin as she watched the affectionate gesture and the unconscious way Nadine had shifted to make herself more comfortable against Steve.

"No, we're not," Natasha broke in with a sly grin, brushing a hand against Nina's shoulder as she took a sip of the tea she'd prepared. "They just think we are because we were right."

"Right?" Nadine questioned dryly. "Really, lisichka?" Natasha smirked, taking another sip.

"Mm-hmm. And you know it," the redhead said flippantly, a wicked gleam in her eye as she glanced pointedly between Steve and Nadine. "Now," she continued, cutting Nadine off before she could argue, "I'm sure you're all looking for a little bonding time, and once I'm finished my tea, I'm planning on taking a nap." And with a gentler, knowing smile between Nadine, Nina and Barnes, she gestured the Twins up and off into their own room, silencing Pietro's indignant objections with a stern reminder of Ebere's orders for both of them to get some rest once they got to their accommodations before disappearing into the room she'd said she and Nina had claimed to share.

Leaving the four of them alone once more.

Indulging in her own brief moment of theatrics, Nadine rolled her eyes at her sister's antics. Next to Barnes, Nina fought to hide her giggles behind her hand, earning an indulgent smile from Barnes and Steve both. Feeling his eyes on her, Nadine looked up to see Steve watching her curiously.

"You're feeling better?" Steve asked, though it came across as more a statement than a question. Letting out a slow, relaxed breath, Nadine leaned into his touch as he subtly hugged her closer, his hand over the spot that had betrayed her formerly healing ribs. His implied meaning was clear. She nodded.

"Shuri did a good job," Nadine conceded, still quite impressed at the effectiveness of the Princess' technology; she didn't feel any lingering effects from either her injured ribs or her concussion. Steve sobered, then.

"You should've said something," Steve said softly, adjusting his hold to absently rub his hand comfortingly up her arm. She relaxed further into the contact with a contented hum before she could stop herself. Sighing, she gave him a fondly exasperated look.

"I'm fine," she reassured him, gesturing absently out beyond the rooms they'd been given and back out toward the lab where they'd left Shuri, "you heard her. It was all mostly healed, anyway. Taking the Raft just exacerbated the aches that were left." He didn't look totally convinced.

"And when we—" he hesitated, a trace of colour coming to his cheeks. She bit back an amused smile.

"You didn't hurt me," she said firmly, guessing easily enough where his mind had turned. She laid her hand against his torso, smoothing it across the soft cotton and the firm abs hidden beneath. "Besides, you can't have been in much better shape and you managed all right," she said with trace of a wicked smirk. He flushed.

Actually flushed.

"Thanks, Mom. I really needed to know what you and Steve got up to," Nina muttered then, her petulant tone and the way she slumped in her seat belying the pleased and even triumphant glint in her eyes.

"Hazard of eavesdropping, solnyshko," Nadine quipped back dryly. Nina just stuck out her tongue at her mother in response. "And weren't you advocating for us to have a relationship?" Nadine added with a sly grin. Nina's nose wrinkled.

"Doesn't mean I want to think about that," she muttered.

"Not just you, sunshine," Barnes quipped, sharing a commiserating glance with the teen that was equally hampered by the mischievous look in his blue-grey eyes.

Nadine was nearly tempted to roll her eyes once more at her daughter's poorly stifled snigger just as she was nearly tempted to tease right back with a comment about how she hadn't particularly wanted to know about the sorts of things Nina and Pietro had gotten up to...

But looking to Barnes chuckling along with Nina, she decided against it, smirking inwardly at the private concession that that would probably be a little more information than he was prepared to handle just yet given that he was still getting used to the idea of having a daughter in the first place.

Really, for all intents and purposes, he was still a new father.

And to a teenaged daughter, on top of that.

Heck, Barnes had been unsettled and uncomfortable enough to learn Nina was in a relationship at all, Nadine recalled with amusement. No sense in alarming the man any more than they already had, she decided with an internal chuckle of her own.

So instead of teasing her daughter right back as she was tempted to, she kept her mouth shut, settling for giving her head a fondly exasperated shake, grinning at the long-suffering groan Steve was trying to suppress with little success.

On the couch across from theirs, Barnes grinned at the two of them, looking between Nadine and Steve with a decidedly satisfied look. But Nadine nearly frowned as she glimpsed a reserved shadow behind his almost cheeky expression, tilting her head in consideration as he turned his attention back to watching Nina, his eyes growing veiled and almost...distant.

Something was troubling him, she realized abruptly.

Only for her frown to manifest as she belatedly took note of the partially healed injuries that still lingered on his features and the ginger way he still held himself even relaxed into the cushions as he was. How had she missed that?

She spared a glance to Steve as his fingers squeezed gently on hers in silent question. Immediately before being herded out of Shuri's Lab, Nadine distinctly remembered the Wakandan Princess asking Steve if he wanted her to heal his injuries 'in a flash.' Smiling appreciatively, Steve had nevertheless demurred, pointing out that not only were his injuries superficial, they were also, at most, a day from being fully healed on their own. But she didn't remember Barnes getting asked the same question.

"Did Shuri do anything further to treat you?" she asked abruptly, interrupting the light-hearted moment. Barnes started minutely, his frame tensing for a split-second. And for that split-second, Nadine regretted asking, but the feeling faded quickly. There was something going on with Barnes and she couldn't fight the gut-instinct that it was something they needed to know. He looked over with a faintly perplexed frown, not realizing at first that she was actually talking to him. But after a moment he relaxed, smiling sedately.

"Beyond finishing up with my arm? Not yet," he answered, sparing Nina a small reassuring grin when he noticed the way her own cheerful expression had faded to one of concern that matched Nadine's. "She said there was still some preparatory work to be done before she could really do much." Nadine's lip lifted in a half-hearted smile back, but it didn't entirely erase her frown. While it was reassuring to see that he seemed to be cautiously optimistic if what she was reading in his voice and body language was accurate, that wasn't exactly what she meant.

"But what of your physical injuries?" she prompted further. Barnes' frown deepened, not following what she was getting at. "Shuri didn't heal them, did she?" At once his expression cleared, only for his brow to furrow in a different sort of frown, one that was almost...uneasy. But then it was gone, and his lip was tugging in the ghost of a wry grin.

"I'm fine. Like she said, most of it's healed already. She said she'd take care of what's left when I go down in a bit for the rest of the scans she wants," he explained. Nadine nodded absently, not recalling them discussing that only to consider a moment later that Shuri had probably spoken to him about it while working on the remnants of his arm, before she'd called Nina over. Her eyes flicked to the remnants of the gleaming limb, the shoulder covered by a black sleeve-like cap.

But he misinterpreted the way her forehead creased. "Really. I'm fine," he assured her, his wry grin growing more pronounced as he noticed Steve's similarly questioning expression. "I feel fine. It's only a few aches. She'll set me right just as easily as she did you, Nadya." Nadine couldn't help but huff at the reminder, sinking back into the couch and Steve's side in a rare outward display of annoyance. Beside her, Steve chuckled.

But Nadine still wasn't satisfied. There was something more. She could feel it, like an itch in the back of her mind, even if she couldn't quite put her finger on what precisely it was about his behaviour that was tipping her off.

"There's more, isn't there," she finally said, the levity she'd felt a moment before fading. She was...worried about him. About whatever it was he was holding back. Because that was what it had to be. Sure enough, the troubled cast to his expression grew more pronounced. With a sigh, Barnes looked between the three of them, his gaze suddenly weary as he straightened, shifting to lean his elbow on his knee.

"Shuri...Shuri had an idea for a way to make the process of getting rid of my programming easier both for her and for me and...and I think it's a good one," he finally explained sedately, his gaze falling to his hand where it unconsciously flexed before him much as his metal one used to. After a moment he looked up, fixing first Nadine, then Steve then finally Nina with a resolved look. "I want to do it."

"What did she suggest," Steve asked cautiously, like he knew he wasn't going to like the answer yet fully intended to support his friend at the same time. Nadine fought the urge to swallow thickly, a knotting twist of unease in her gut. She didn't like the way Barnes looked to Steve at the question...like he'd resigned himself to...something.

Almost like he'd...like he'd made his peace with whatever decision he'd already made.

"I want them to put me under." Barnes' voice was soft and certain. "I want to go back into cryo." Steve and Nadine both straightened, glancing to each other with apprehension and uncertainty. But it was Nina who spoke first.

"What? No!" she burst out in alarm. The shadow of a sad smile tugged at the corner of Barnes' mouth as he looked to Nina.

"It's the best thing I can do," he said quietly. "Until HYDRA's programming can be taken out of my head? I have to protect the people I care about most." His smile grew warm and distant even as he looked up at his daughter, his hand rising to brush tenderly across her cheek, "you, Steve...Iris."

"Wait, Iris? Who's Iris?" Nina asked with a perplexed frown. Nadine smiled as Barnes' expression turned distinctly sheepish.

"She's the one who gave your father a safe place to stay after everything that happened in Washington DC. And helped him start to rebuild his mind," Nadine explained softly before Barnes managed to find the proper words, nevertheless watching Nina carefully; it was a development she hadn't known about until recently herself, and wasn't certain how her daughter would receive. "And they fell in love in the process, I think," she added with a brief glance to Barnes. Mutely, Barnes nodded, his gaze distant and thoughtful even as a small—and admittedly sweet—wistful smile tugged at his lips. Nina blinked, vaguely stunned.

Only for a tentative smile to dawn.

Even as an equally tentative but still mischievous glint began to wake in her eyes.

"So, I not only get a Steve, but a maybe an Iris, too," Nina asked in a wavering attempt at cheekiness. A small huff escaped Barnes as a fond smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he looked to Nina, reaching up to brush a few wayward strands of her pale hair back from her face.

"I...if she'll still have me? I hope so, sunshine," he murmured sedately. Only for his hopeful expression to dim, his gaze falling to his jacket where it lay on the couch beside him. "...but...I—let's just say I wouldn't blame her if she wanted nothing more to do with me. It's probably better for her..." he trailed off, with a pained grimace, his features tightening morosely. Nadine couldn't help herself.

She scoffed.

As one, Nina's scandalized wide eyes, Steve's curious frown and Barnes' startled gaze all turned to her.

"I don't think you'll have a problem there, Barnes," Nadine countered wryly, lifting a brow at Barnes, as though daring him to disagree—his mouth opened to do so, but Nadine's challenging look silenced him. "The woman chased you to Berlin and stood up to you when you were trapped by your programming. I think it's safe to say she still very much cares about you." Barnes blinked, startled by her clear admonishment, even tempered by the wry humour that had leaked into her tone as it was.

And, despite himself, a glimmer of hope reappeared in Barnes' vibrant eyes.

Nadine relaxed against Steve once more, carefully keeping her pleased smirk hidden away that her words had the desired effect of snapping the former HDYRA assassin from his melancholy. Not that the way the muscles covering Steve's ribs tensed and trembled faintly against her side as he successfully—almost—stifled a chuckle of his own made it easy.

With a reserved but accepting grin, Barnes similarly relaxed once more. Mostly. After a moment he let out a heavy sigh, his gaze falling once more to his jacket, his gaze distant and lost in a silent debate he was the only one privy to. Nadine frowned once more, curious why it kept drawing his attention. But she kept her curiosity to herself, this time. She'd already pried enough. For the moment, at least. She could see the signs that Barnes' emotional strain was starting to wear on him beginning to manifest, stressing his still unstable mind. He was doing remarkably well, considering, really, but she knew better than to push too far.

After another long moment, he looked up to Nadine and Steve once more. This time, though, his steel-blue eyes were almost pleading in his grave features.

"You'll...will you check in on her?" he asked, his voice faintly hoarse with emotion. "Make sure she's...that she's okay?" Next to her, Steve nodded without hesitation.

"Of course," Nadine echoed. Barnes let out a shaking breath, his eyes sliding shut for a brief moment at the assurance. Swallowing thickly, he looked up once more, indecision pulling at his mouth. But he pressed on, the pleading cast to his features resurfacing alongside a sudden surge of anxiety that had his voice faltering when he finally managed to get the words hovering on the tip of his tongue out.

"And...and you'll tell her about..." he glanced to Nina then, awe and apprehension mingling in his expressive eyes. Suppressing a sad sigh of her own, Nadine fixed him with a significant look as he met her eye.

"You should be the one to tell her, Barnes," she objected firmly while trying to keep what was in effect an admonishment as gentle as she could. "You don't have to go under at once. You can wait..." Barnes sighed heavily, his shoulders sagging as resolve once more rose to mingle with the remorse and distress suddenly painfully visible on his face, causing her to trail off.

"This is the best option. The king's sister can get started when I'm under...so the sooner I go under the sooner I'll be able to...if..." he sucked in a shuddering breath, doubt clouding his eyes as he squeezed them shut once more, his hand tightening into a tense fist between his knees.

But then a pair of slender hands were covering his. And Barnes let out a harsh breath as his eyes opened to see Nina kneeling in front of him.

"Shuri will find a way to undo they did to you, Dad," Nina said confidently, peering intently up into his face. "She has to. And then you'll wake up." And Nadine was suddenly holding back a shuddering breath of her own at just how earnestly her little girl was looking up at her father.

At how Nina's voice nearly broke despite her assurance, her need to believe it shining through. Barnes swallowed thickly, nodding jerkily, the look in his eyes once more tentatively hopeful. Gently, he extracted his hand from his daughter's tight grip to stroke over her pale hair, cupping her head to keep her looking at him when she hesitated, her pale face betraying she feared she'd overstepped. With a slow, bracing inhale, he leaned forward to press his forehead to hers.

"I will, sunshine," he murmured hoarsely.

Nina drew back to look up to Barnes with a watery smile. His own eyes suspiciously bright and his features soft and blatantly adoring as he looked down at his daughter, the former HYDRA operative tenderly cupped her cheek.

Only to turn then, finally reaching for his jacket as he cleared his throat. Pulling it onto his lap, he fiddled with it for a moment before pausing, looking up to Nina. Swallowing thickly, his lips pressing nervously together, he held it out to her.

"Left inner pocket," he murmured. Glancing to him with a perplexed frown, Nina nevertheless took it, the sound of the zipper as she found and opened the pocket in question impossibly loud. "Inside," he prompted, his voice once more rough with emotion when she hesitated, looking up to him again. Her lips pressing together in an expression that mirrored his, Nina slipped her hand inside, withdrawing her closed fist after a brief moment's search. Her frown deepening, her eyes wide as she spared him a questioning look, she looked down, her fingers uncurling to reveal what she'd found.

Gently, Barnes reached forward to pick up the small pile of chain laying in Nina's open palm. Nadine couldn't tear her eyes away from the distinctive ball chain he was carefully untangling as he laid it across his thigh, frowning at the glint of gold among the pile of silver. But the thought faded as Barnes picked the tags attached to the silver chain back up, his gaze veiled as he read the characters imprinted on the steel alloy.

And after a long moment, he gathered the tags and their chain and nudged Nina's hand where it had fallen to rest on his knee as she watched him work, fascinated. Inhaling deeply through his nose, he placed his tags into her open palm.

"Take care of these for me," he murmured, levelly meeting Nina's eye as a small, content grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. Wide-eyed, Nina was suddenly swallowing back her own swell of emotion, nodding almost frantically before he'd even finished speaking. And then her arms were around his neck, hugging him tightly. For a split-second, Barnes froze, shock and uncertainty and even a thread of fear flashing across his features even as his arm automatically rose to curl around her as Nina clung to him, nestling herself safely in her father's embrace. But then he was drawing in a shaking breath and his hold on her tightened, hugging her as close as he possibly could.

Like he never wanted to let go.

Nadine didn't even realize she was trembling from the surge of emotion the sight sent through her until Steve's arm was tightening around her, the soldier pressing a subtle, steadying kiss to her temple. Briskly, Nadine swiped away the tears that had managed to spill over, covertly clearing the rest of them away with as soft a cough as she could manage, not wanting to break the tender moment.

But it did regardless, and Barnes reluctantly released his hold on Nina.

Only for Nina to let out a dismayed little sound as she inadvertently brushed the delicate chain still resting on Barnes' thigh, knocking it to the floor. Glancing up to him in apology, she bent to retrieve it, a curious frown coming to her face as she picked up the distinctly feminine gold chain.

"What's this?" she asked, looking up to Barnes, holding up what Nadine belatedly realized was another necklace. Barnes' face softened as he reached out, brushing his fingertips over the small pile of chain and its little enamelled pendant that Nadine couldn't quite make out from her place next to Steve. Nadine blinked when she caught Barnes' expression; it was a different sort of adoration and sadness lingering in his distant gaze, now. One that she recognized from one of their earlier conversations, before Siberia and Leipzig. And from a few moments before. A glance to Steve and his own reserved but faintly pleased expression confirmed her suspicion of who the pretty piece of jewellery belonged to.

Barnes' girl from DC.

"It's Iris'," he said softly, almost reverently. Nina's lip tugged in an intrigued little grin, watching the play of emotions across her father's face. After a moment, she looked back to the necklace resting in her palm. And, after a moment's hesitation before slipping Barnes' dog tags over her head and taking hold of the gold chain in both hands, she lifted it as though to put it around his neck only to pause, her brow creasing in a frown.

"The chain is broken," she noted absently, rolling the ends between her fingertips. Barnes tried and failed to suppress a wince, shame and remorse shadowing his features.

"Berlin," he rasped guiltily. Nadine shifted, a sympathetic ache settling in her chest. She'd heard from Sam how his girl had tried to snap him out of his programming and got all but thrown into the same windows Nadine had gone through for her trouble. It stood to reason, then, that he was recalling what all had happened there beyond her necklace getting damaged.

Nina's frown deepened as she examined the chain, sucking thoughtfully on her upper lip as her mind visibly worked behind her eyes, periodically flicking here and there, to Barnes, to Nadine, to the kitchen, the door to the common room, to Natasha's door, the Twins—

And before any of them could object, she was on her feet and slipping into the room the Twins had claimed. Nadine huffed, her objection dying on her lips. She nearly scowled at Steve's amused, questioning glance.

"They're supposed to be resting," she pointed out, "which she is not helping with, going in there like that." She wrinkled her nose in exasperation as he chuckled.

"It'll be fine, Nadine," he soothed, nodding over toward the doorway Nina had disappeared through as he did. Sure enough, Nina had reappeared, a bright, satisfied grin on her face as she dropped back down next to Barnes. Her smile widened at his astonished look as she fastened the repaired necklace around his neck.

"Wanda was able to set it straight with little more than a look," she explained almost smugly at Steve and Barnes' questioning looks. Nadine hummed in disapproval, though it had more to do with the fact that Wanda wasn't supposed to be using her powers until she'd recovered more rather than what she'd used them for; what she'd used them for, Nadine couldn't help but feel a flash of pride over. "Perk of having a friend with telekinetic abilities," Nina teased happily, smoothing the chain so it settled comfortably around his neck.

Barnes looked down to the pendant—a sunflower, Nadine finally saw—where it settled just over his collarbone, his jaw clenching as he brushed his fingers against it like a talisman.

"Thank you," he rasped, looking to Nina.

Nina beamed, tucking herself against his side.

And Barnes automatically curled his arm around her, his cheek pressing against her hair as he held his daughter close.

A/N: Thanks for reading!

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