I don't own anything except any original character and/or any original plot

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Chapter Twenty-Three: Month One

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Wakanda's metallic city, a wide expanse of vibranium buildings surrounded by outlying rural villages. The country was larger than what we saw, but even that small glimpse took our breath away. And to think that everything had been developed by T'Challa's sister who was our age. I faintly remember back to when May was yelling at us for being heroes. She said Peter couldn't do his own laundry and Princess Shuri designed a city.

"I've seen pictures but this is... wow!"

"It's like tradition and innovation had a kid," Peter marveled breathily.

"Today you will settle in. Okoye will show you around the palace. Tomorrow you'll be shown the labs, after that your learning begins."

A girl around Peter's and my age met us outside the quinjet, "Brother you brought outsiders. Do I have to fix the white boy like I did the other two?"

"No, Shuri. This is your new assistant and her friend. They'll be staying here for the summer to learn about Wakanda."

"T'Challa," an older woman stepped forward, face strict, "I know you opened our doors to the world, but they're children."

"They're heroes Umama. Spider-Man and Riptide from New York."

"Oh brother, you brought me heroes with powers? So many lab possibilities!"

I grabbed Peter's hand and shrunk back at the comment. Experiments? Like so many did with mutants to see what made them tick? No thank you. T'Challa noticed my hesitation.

"They are not here as experiments. (Y/n) is here because her mutation may prove useful while you're studying."

"Yes, of course," Shuri nodded, though her eyes were still sparkling with excitement at the idea of working with super-powered beings.

"Okoye, you may begin the tour. We will bring your bags to your room for you."

"As you wish, my king."

Okoye stepped forward, motioning for Peter and me to follow her. She led me into the palace. She showed us the throne room, dining hall, different hallways with bedrooms, and the gardens. Each one holding original architecture and new technology that Peter seemed to be itching to touch.

"This is the ballroom, more commonly used for large meetings and tribal holidays. Now, to dinner, and then bed. You must get rest before you begin your work tomorrow."

One Week Later- June 17

"Why aren't we doing a normal lesson today?" I questioned as Shuri led us to a large field outside of city limits, "I was just getting the hang of common phrases. I know how to say my favorite color!"

"Because my brother learned that powers aren't everything when he was overthrown he wants you to learn as well," Shuri slapped bracelets onto me and Peter, "I will shock you every time you use your powers, so don't. Peter, you go first."

The Dora Milaje marched onto the field in official formation. A warrior that I knew as Azari stepped forward to face Peter, fear pointed directly at his face.

"I can't fight a girl, it's disrespectful!"

"You fought me at the airport!" I yelled back with a smirk.

After a few minutes and a lot of wincing from Shuri and me at the one-sided fight, Peter finally stayed on the ground. They declared the match as a win for Azari and Peter stumbled back over to us, collapsing as soon as he was safe.

"You just got your ass handed to you," I gasped out, tears forming in my eyes because of how hard I was laughing, "Oh that was the best thing I've ever seen."

Peter grumbled under his breath, not bothering to lift his head. I knelt down beside him and kissed his cheek, giggling when they flushed, the pink contrasting the yellow grass beneath us.

"Nice try. It's my turn then? Hope I do better." I walked down to the field where another warrior- M'Koni- stepped forward to fight me.

"Hamba lula," Okoye ordered.

I could translate that phrase. 'Go easy'. I felt better knowing Okoye wasn't ordering M'Koni to do her worst. I wasn't offended either. Having seen the Dora Milaje at work, I was scared to go head to head with one.

"Umnqweno omhle," I smiled nervously.

M'Koni nodded, much more confident than I was, "Umnqweno omhle"

"Qala!"

Neither of us moved. One of the first rules in a fight was to watch your opponent, making the first move would easily break that rule, losing you the advantage.

I breathed in deeply through my nose. Little did anyone know that the X-Men had to know how to fight without our mutations, given that there were mutants out there that could pause our powers. That didn't mean I was good at hand-to-hand combat, however.

M'Koni charged, willing to give up the advantage seeing as how she already held the upper-hand. M'Koni was quick and sent an uppercut my way that could have easily knocked me to the ground. I sidestepped just enough and M'Koni's fist passed a hair's breadth from my face.

Before M'Koni could continue her attack, I kicked her side and sent her to the ground. Though stunned, she didn't give me a chance to recover from her previous attempt.

M'Koni slammed her foot into my stomach. I doubled over, forcing down my breakfast. It was a direct force to the gut, making me nauseous. M'Koni followed up with an uppercut that straightened me out to my full height. That would leave a bruise by the morning.

"Ouch," I heard Peter and Shuri wince.

Letting go of any fighting 'honor' I may have had, I leaped like a lion and tackled M'Koni to the ground. I wrapped my legs around her neck, tightening my grip as the warriors attempted to shake me off. Thank you, Black Widow news reports. When I was younger, I studied her fighting style and mimicked it on mannequins in the training room. I definitely wasn't Red Room worthy, but it sufficed on missions.

M'Koni flipped backward, throwing me to the ground. The air knocked out of my lungs; I coughed dryly. I was regretting not taking the Oscorp internship. Lying there, catching my breath, M'Koni gently placed her foot on my chest, I was grateful for that. She was letting catch my breath.

"Do you yield?" Okoye knelt down next to me.

"Yield," I groaned. Everything hurt. The same way it did after fighting the Vulture, just more of a throb than a stab.

M'Koni nodded and stood, holding out her hand. I gladly took it, wiping the sweat from my brow with the other. A short fight and I had sweat through my clothes. Wakanda was hot.

"Better than I thought," Okoye nodded in approval, "We continue tomorrow. You will start learning."

"Again?" I whispered, wheezing. Okoye shot me a look that stopped my complaining. Walking back to Peter and Shuri, the earlier had recovered from his fight. I stopped in front of Peter, resting my head on his shoulder. "Why are they so good?"

"Because they've trained their entire lives under the Dora Milaje before them," Shuri pointed out the obvious answer, "You trained under inexperienced teachers with a mutation helping you out for two years."

"Sixteen if we count learning to use my mutation," I defended weakly. I had nothing better. The most experienced person I trained under was Logan, and he specializes in boxing.

We took a cruiser back to the palace and sat down for dinner. Wakandan delicacies that were much better than half of the street food in New York. There, I had a hard time keeping my eyes open to stay in-tune with the conversation. Eventually, I gave up, resting my head on Peter's shoulder to doze off.

"(Y/n), Peter!"

Peter and I shot up. We had fallen asleep on each other. The royal family was laughing at us.

"I see you trained today," Romanda smiled, understanding our fatigue, "The Dora Milaje will tire you until your bodies are used to the training."

"Yes, you will train with the once a week until the end of summer," T'Challa explained, "I want you two to not only know our culture but how to protect yourselves as well. But, you are dismissed if you wish to sleep."

Leaning on each other for support, Peter and I gladly left the dining room in favor of our rooms. My body screamed at me louder with every step I took. I hated imagining what it would feel like tomorrow, much less how we would train in that state.

Two Weeks Later- July 3

"Good. You have a chance of surviving on your own."

"Oh yay," I cheered sarcastically. Peter and I had been training with the Dora Milaje for around two weeks. My body wasn't as sore after anymore, but that didn't stop the tiredness after.

"(Y/n)," Shuri called from the sidelines, "Can you come with me?"

"Will you be fine on your own?" I asked Peter with a teasing smile.

"If I die, don't be surprised."

Chuckling, I ran up the hill to meet with Shuri. She motioned for me to follow, leading me down a path to a rural area outside of the city.

"Is there a reason Peter isn't coming with us?"

"He fought for Stark. And while he may be a good person, I don't trust him to keep this secret," Shuri stopped at a hut, "Bucky?"

"Oh my God," I gasped as Bucky moved aside the cloth door.

"I have been helping him recover but there are fragments of his mind technology can't seem to heal..."

"Oh. Oh!" I realized what Shuri was trying to ask me, "Yeah I can heal his mind."

"Bucky, would that be alright with you?"

"You're that kid from the airport, aren't you?"

"That's me."

"Yeah, I trust her. If it gets Hydra out of my head for good, then I'm fine with it."

Shuri pointed out the water supply, sitting Bucky down and assuring him this would heal him completely.

"It'll feel weird at first, like an intense tingling, but it'll pass with time."

I waved my hands over Bucky's head. Water matted his hair to his scalp, but he didn't seem to mind. Slow and precise with my movements, I was careful not to frighten him. I sensed different parts of his mind coming back together, healing. When the water paused, I dropped my hands. My headache, pulsing on either side of my temple. Luckily, I didn't gain his Winter Soldier mentality.

"Do you feel up to testing the healing?" Shuri asked cautiously. Everyone tensed. We knew what she meant by testing, "(Y/n) would you be ready if it didn't work?"

"I'll be ready."

Shuri pulled up a doc on her table, "Longing, rusted, seventeen, daybreak, furnace, nine, benign, homecoming, one, freight car."

Flicking my wrist I gathered water from the air, but Bucky had no reaction to the deadly words. He wasn't reverting to his former villain self.

"Thank God, I wasn't ready," I admitted with an embarrassed chuckle.

"You do understand that if you tell Tony Stark or anyone who may harm him we'll be inclined to kill you?" Shuri questioned seriously. I sweat dropped. Nice friendship there.

"Oh yeah, don't worry. I like my life right now so I'd rather not die."