SLIGHTLY.
001. | ❛ anna karenina. ❜

ALL THE GIRLS IN THE WORLD WERE DIVIDED INTO TWO CLASSES: ONE CLASS INCLUDED ALL THE GIRLS IN THE WORLD EXCEPT HER, AND THEY HAD ALL THE USUAL HUMAN FEELINGS AND WERE VERY ORDINARY GIRLS; WHILE THE OTHER CLASS— HERSELF ALONE— HAD NO WEAKNESSES AND WAS SUPERIOR TO ALL HUMANITY. That was what circulated through her mind constantly as she trained to be an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. An organization that fought to protect and fight against crime. Her literary degree wouldn't come in handy, as she trained; although her training took time to complete due to her fragile and weak body structure at first. But once her body started to adapt to hits and blows, she strengthened and trained 8 hours a day to achieve her goal. After a grueling year of training, both mentally and physically, Katia was certified as an Agent.

And somewhat strangely, but not really, she was sent on her first mission. Not a lot of information was given in the file, only that the person who specifically asked for her was the new King of Wakanda, T'Challa. On the plane ride, she had much to wonder as to what her mission entailed for. She had met T'Challa once and was smitten by his sense of personality and the way he carried himself. But that well over 5 years ago, and she didn't know how he still remembered her. She was quite a forgettable person to say the least, and they only made one interaction with one another.

Once her plane landed, she was greeted by city officials that ensured her a safe ride to T'Challa.
She chuckled at how the country had changed since she'd last seen it, how so many things had changed in the span of 5 years.

In front of the building she taught at the last time she was here, she was guided to the same room that she used last. Katia let her fingers roam the empty tables and view outside the enormous glass window that could view the entire city.

"It seems like you enjoy the familiarity." A voice disrupted her peace, but she wasn't at all angry at the one that interrupted it. She spun around with a smile at a dark skinned man that made her feel calm at her first seminar.
"King T'Challa. It's so nice to see you again."

She smiled with a handshake ring exchanged, "I can say the same
Ms.—" He stopped himself, holding up his hands in defeat, "Katia."

"You remembered." She chuckled as he lead them through the rest of the building. Though every hallway, she idolized every hallway and took in the grandness and elegance of the place.

"How can I forgot someone who hates the fact being called by her last name?" He smiled at her as she curved her lips into a smile.

"It's not that I don't like my last name. It happens to make me feel old. Trust me, we Americans, don't like to feel old." She assured him.

The two continued to roam around, catching up on small things and the sudden change of appearance of Katia. Her hair wasn't long but instead cut short with additional highlights at the tips. Or even the fact, that she wasn't here as a professor but as an agent. The idea seemed to baffle T'Challa because he had seen her spark in literature and couldn't imagine Katia as anything other than a person who loves books.

"You surprise me, Katia. I surely can't wrap my mind around the sudden change in profession.
Not when I saw you speak so highly of literature, I can't piece together why the drastic change into an agent." He said as they came to a stop in front of another glass window with a small porch to stand outside.

She went forward and placed her hands firmly on the railing, admiring the view and the slight breeze making the ends of her hair flow back and forth. At the beginning, she couldn't even really comprehend why she chose to drop everything and go into defense, and perhaps she never could but she felt that if she had the ability to stop bad things and protect people, why couldn't she?

It seemed like a risky move, but she didn't want to let the adrenaline inside her to burn out.
"I guess I wanted to help. I know that being a teacher is helping and is a good profession. But, there are days were you look at everything in the world and think what you could do. I heard about what happened in Lagos and I'm deeply sorry."

The sadden look that washed over his face hurt Katia, yet T'Challa smiled back at her. "Thank you."

"I saw what happened and thought that I was there less than a year ago, and I couldn't do anything. The Avengers being torn apart, only t be brought together again. Perhaps it wasn't my place or time, but if I could help at least one person or a million from suffering the same fate, why shouldn't I? That's what all great characters are built on, aren't they?" She asked him.

He graciously nodded in return before walking away from the railing, Katia followed after him waiting for a response or an order on her mission here. "I truly admire your courage, Katia.
We shouldn't sugar coat anything about the real reason why you are here."

"Yes, with all due respect. I was certainly surprised that you had specifically asked for me. I'm pretty sure that there are other agents out there that are far better and been in this business longer than I have. Like Natasha or Clint."

T'Challa stopped before a door turning over to the young woman, "That may be true, but you are perfectly suited for what I am about to ask of you."

Katia lifted her eyebrows and held a confused gaze on her face before T'Challa pushed the door open to reveal a library as big as Central Park. She walked around in circles at the thousands, if not, millions of books that lined up the shelves.
From the classics all the way to books written in Greek, she was definitely marveled at the books.

"I'm afraid that I do not understand, am I to be a librarian?" She jokingly asked with T'Challa chuckling slightly.

"Not in the slightest. This mission is fairly easy in a way. Are you aware of James Buchanan Barnes?"

She nodded her head, almost a silly question to her since she had been trained by the Avengers and heard Steve on more than one occasion, tell her stories about him. "Yes, I am aware of him."

"I promised Captain Rogers that I'd keep him safe here in Wakanda. He is in a state of cryogenic sleep at this point, while our team here searches for a cure to his brainwash. One of them informed me of a treatment to keep him still tethered to this world, while he's under. With the Captain's permission, they felt you were the most suited for the task. The task that is to simply read to the soldier."

"You want me to read to him?" Katia asked as if in disbelief, thinking that she must've heard him wrong. That SHIELD wouldn't have sent her to another continent to read to Bucky.

"Reading to patients stimulates their exposes a patient to different types of stimuli that could help tap into those uncommon pathways."

Katia sighed at T'Challa told her the small information. He wanted to leave her alone, knowing that she wanted a change from what she'd been doing most of her life. And that what he was asking of her seemed to let down her hopes in helping the world.

"I would start with The Great Gatsby. It's a book laced in such detail and conflict that you'd transcribe it rather beautifully."