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[endsinafight]

Sweat drips down the back of his neck as he makes his way out of his hut and into the heat of the Wakandan sun. It's later than he usually gets started on things these days, but today he just hadn't had the energy to make himself get out of bed early. He's still tired, even if he shouldn't be. His body doesn't require the kind of sleep that normal humans need, but the last couple of weeks...well. Since he'd woken up from cryofreeze, sleep's been practically non-existent. Between flat out insomnia and nightmares, he doesn't rest much.

But this isn't even that. He knows how he feels after a restless night, and this isn't it. No, his lack of desire to get out of bed or leave his hut or do anything these days has a lot more to do with a six foot blond who's been back in Wakanda since a few days after he'd woken up. He knows Steve's there, because he's picked up the language easily -- which apparently still a thing he can do thanks to HYDRA -- and he hears whispers about "The Nomad" almost every day. He knows exactly who they mean.

He just rarely sees Steve himself. It's not like he's come around. He's not staying with Bucky. He's either in a hotel or at the palace, and that's fine. Really. He gets it. He doesn't blame Steve.

Bucky's still trying to get used to functioning with one arm. Balance has been surprisingly difficult. He's fallen more than once, used to having to lean to the right to balance the excess weight of the arm that had been strapped to him for the last seventy some years. Shuri's offered to make him a new one and he's turned her down. He doesn't need it. Doesn't want it. He's done fighting, thank you very much.

He doesn't bother with shoes as he pads out into the grassy area near the goats, who are definitely acting a lot more jumpy these days. He'd assume it was him, but his presence actually seems to relax them, so he thinks maybe there's a predator on the prowl at night freaking them out. He walks to pick up his garden hoe, because that's another thing that he's doing -- likes it. Finds it soothing. Growing something and helping it thrive instead of ruining it like he has everything else for the majority of his life.

When he rounds the house, he jumps, startled at Steve's sudden appearance. "Jesus Christ,," he mutters, heart pounding hard.

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[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

Steve snarled at Bucky, anxious and angry at someone new being around, but unwilling to hurt him to get to the intruder.

Okoye was unreasonably calm in the circumstances.

“Sergeant Barnes,” she said. “New pet?”

She straightened and looked at them, subtly shifting her weight in case she had to defend herself.

[endsinafight]

He didn't think he'd ever seen Okoye rattled before, so he wasn't surprised by her calmness. If anything, he appreciated it. He glanced at her over his shoulder. "Old one," he grumbled, though he wasn't upset with her, obviously.

He turned back to Steve. "Come on. Let's go back inside. They're here to help." He reached toward him, keeping his eyes locked on Steve's.

[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

Steve showed his teeth, deeply unhappy about this. He didn’t want to go inside. He planted his feet.

He wanted to look behind Bucky, keep an eye on the new person—his nose had told him that maybe she wasn’t a stranger. He recognized her scent. But she wasn’t Bucky, and Bucky was the only human he was willing to see.

He wouldn’t break eye contact, though. In fact, his snarl increased a little at Bucky’s attempt at dominance.

[endsinafight]

Annoyed, Bucky was tempted to bare his own teeth in response, but he refrained. He reminded himself that Steve was trying to protect him even if right now he didn't need protecting. Not from Okoye or the others.

"I need to dig this bullet out of my leg," he reminded him. "I can't do that out here."

He wasn't afraid despite the increased snarling. Steve wouldn't hurt him.

[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

The reminder that Bucky was injured, was putting him self at risk even with a bullet in his thigh absolutely enraged Steve. He snarled, fierce and furious, and moved toward Bucky. He was as quick as a snake, and he pushed a Bucky to the ground, jumping up with his full weight. He stood on top of him with his front feet, keeping him down, and then set to growling at Okoye, telling her to back the fuck off.

“We could get you real medical attention if you’re injured,” she said, her voice notably tense.

[endsinafight]

Bucky sighed as that idea backfired spectacularly, reaching up to wrap his arm around Steve. "It's okay. Done it a hundred times. Practically a doctor at this point," he joked, even if he was sort of serious.

[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

Steve didn’t budge at the arm around him, though part of him relaxed a little when Bucky was no longer trying to stare him down and now that he was safely in the dirt. He knew enough to to know what medical attention was. If that woman was offering it.

He huffed out a little bark to Okoye. She could help, if Steve watched her very closely.

He tensed up again when there was the sound of another intruder. A much younger woman.

[endsinafight]

"Easy, Pal. That one's like my little sister," he muttered, only loud enough that Steve could hear him. He kept his arm around him, not really trying to restrain, just holding on in an attempt to keep him calm. "Shuri, remember? Saved my ass?"

[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

The woman was more of a girl, really. Shuri. She smelled young and the way Bucky talked about her was enough to make Steve relax, just a little.

“Sergeant Barnes!” Shuri said, cheerful. “Don’t you think you’re taking white wolf a bit too literally?”

[endsinafight]

"It's Bucky," he reminded her, rubbing his hand over Steve's fur. "Can you let me up, please?" He did his best to keep his voice as non-threatening as possible. "She's here to help me. Brought me a new arm and everything."

[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

“Can the wolf understand you?” she said, curiously. She took a couple steps closer, not afraid. Okoye visibly stopped herself from grabbing her.

Steve tensed and then relaxed, whining a little uncertainly. Bucky’s hands in his fur made him feel safer, more secure. He slowly eased his weight off, letting Bucky up, but he pressed himself firmly against his side.

[endsinafight]

"Thank you," he murmured, leaning into him once he got up, because he had a feeling that made Steve feel better, too.

He glanced at Shuri and gave her a boyish grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. "He's very smart. Just extremely protective." He rested his hand atop Steve's head, gently stroking behind his ears. He looked from the wolf to the body of the man with the throat torn out. "Thanks for coming." He pressed his lips together.

[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

“Where did he come from?” she asked. She slowly eased closer to Bucky. Steve watched her closely, almost trembling with nerves, but he didn’t move as she approached. She had a case in her hand.

“This shouldn’t take long,” she said. “Plug and play.”

Behind her, Okaye and her people carefully retrieved the body and the motorbike, looking for any bit of information they could find.

[endsinafight]

Well, he didn't really know how to answer that without giving it all away, but under the circumstances -- it might be for the best, ultimately. Still. He was protective in his own way. "Found him in an alley one day, decided to keep him." His lips twitched a little as he glanced down at Steve.

"That easy, huh?" His other arm had been a hell of a lot more complicated. He eyed the case momentarily, then took a small step back, toward the hut. He hoped that plugging the arm it didn't hurt, but if it did, it did. "Come in." He patted Steve's head gently, trying to signal to him to come inside with him.

[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

“When we did repairs on your socket, I made sure to give you an upgrade on that front. It’ll hurt, but it shouldn’t be too bad. It’s just the nerve link coming online.”

She followed him inside, looking down at Steve curiously. “You found him in Wakanda? This isn’t adding up, Bucky.”

Steve is so close to Bucky as he walks that it’s likely a struggle not to trip over him. But he’s tense and unhappy with more people being around.

[endsinafight]

Bucky sighed softly, barely managing not to trip over Steve -- probably only because he does have super-reflexes and balance. He closed the door behind them, gently stroking behind Steve's ears in an attempt to soothe him.

"Yeah, so...what do you know about werewolves?" He glanced at Shuri, raising his eyebrows.

[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

Steve growled, in a vague and uncertain warning. He didn’t like anything about this and he could tell Bucky was about to tell Shuri who he was.

Shuri stopped dead for a moment, nearly tripping over her own feet. “No. That’s Captain Rogers?”

[endsinafight]

Bucky knelt down beside him, wrapping his arm around Steve's neck and pressing his mouth close to his ear. "It's okay, Stevie. I promise. She's just as trustworthy as T'Challa." He glanced up at Shuri, pressing his lips together and arching his eyebrows, knowing she'd know just by looking at him.

[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

Steve turned his head toward Bucky’s and whined softly, licking the side of his mouth. He was confused. All of this was so confusing. He didn’t like that Bucky was doing things he didn’t entirely understand as a wolf, bringing in people he couldn’t control or kill. And now one of them knew he was a werewolf—which he didn’t fully understand why it was that was bad, but he knew it was a big secret. It was hard to deal with human things, when his brain was so profoundly inhuman.

Shuri, on the other hand, was studying the wolf. "Fascinating," she said. "Do you think we could get him to the lab to take a look at?"

Steve’s whine increased.

[endsinafight]

Bucky pressed a kiss to the top of his wolfie head, almost absently, then glanced at Shuri, giving a quick shake of his head. "Not a chance, Princess," he told her, kindly, softening the denial with a small smile. He brushed his fingers through Steve's fur affectionately. "Maybe in a couple days when he's back to himself. It can be his call then." But right now, Bucky had appointed himself as Power of Attorney for Wolf Steve and it was a no go on his watch.

[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

She let it go with a smile, sharp eyes catching the wolf’s uncertainty.

Steve leaned into Bucky. He all but climbed into his lap, when Bucky maneuvered around to get into a position where Shuri could get to his arm. Steve panted a little, with uncertainty, but when Shuri casually got too close he growled.

"Steve," she said. "Relax. Don’t be so dramatic."

[endsinafight]

"Maybe we should wait until he's back to himself," Bucky said with a worried look. He'd never forgive himself if Shuri got hurt because of him, and he knew Steve would never forgive himself if he was the one who did the hurting.

"Pretty sure I'm about as safe as a person could be right now anyway. Got my very own wolf bodyguard and everything."

[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

She paused and looked them over—Bucky’s obvious concern, the self-evident nerves in Steve’s posture, the curl of his lip over his teeth as he looked at her with unhappy aggression.

"He really isn’t all himself right now, is he?" she said. "You think of werewolves as just slobbering monsters, and he’s not that either. He’s… more or less a wolf, in intelligence?"

[endsinafight]

"He's really not. But...it was a rough night." Bucky pressed his lips together, tightening his arm around Steve's torso instinctively, not because he was afraid Steve was about to attack, but because the closeness helped his own nerves.

"I'm pretty sure he understands everything we're saying, but some things his instincts still override," he told her. "Right now that's protecting me from anyone else who gets too close. He'll feel bad later." There was little doubt in his mind about that.

[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

"Well," she said, straightening up. She left the container of Bucky’s new arm on a little table. "You can probably even try it yourself, if you need it. It’ll hurt—probably more than it would without. But you could likely do it and I’d walk you through it."

She grinned at Steve. "I’m going to wait to try until I won’t lose a hand myself," she said. "Even though I’ve now designed the best possible prosthetic, we will leave the testing of it to your Sergeant Barnes."

Steve growled at the eye-contact.