Chapter Text
“Didn’t think it’d be this soon before I saw you two morons in the same room again.”
Their heads shot to your direction, a smile blossoming on Sam’s face while Bucky looked conflicted.
“Oh, so that’s how it is? Starting our reunion off with an insult?” Sam held his arm out to you and you reached around him in a side hug once you came to a stop.
You pulled out of his grasp, “I mean, I had to since the first thing I hear you two bickering about is whether or not wizards are real. They’re not, by the way. Sorcerers and wizards are completely different.” Before Sam could argue with you, you turned to Bucky, “It’s good to see you, Buck.”
He nodded, giving you a tight-lipped smile. You hadn’t seen him in months, deciding it was best for him to have some space while he went through his court mandated therapy and integration back into society. It wasn’t your idea at first, but once he was pardoned and everything he had to do began to pile up, you’d mutually decided that it was best for him to not have you there to distract him.
Sam stepped forward, gently nudging Bucky’s arm, “Wait, why are you two being all weird? What do you mean “good to see you?” Aren’t you guys married or somethin' lame like that?” You knew he was teasing, but when he took in the look on both of your faces his smile fell, “You gonna tell me what happened or am I just gonna stand here and let this awkwardness wash all over me?”
You ignored his question, instead turning to punch him in the arm, “What the hell is wrong with you? Why would you give up the shield? And to the,” you looked around and lowered your voice, “fucking government of all people?”
“First of all, ow. Second, I don’t have time to stand here and answer either of your questions. As I was telling this guy, we’ve got bigger problems. The Flag Smashers are out there in Munich, and that’s where I’m going, to take a look into those who are just like him; The incredibly annoying guy with the staring problem.”
Sam picked up his bag and turned to walk away from you both. You and Bucky shared a look before Bucky started walking after Sam, “I’m coming with you!”
You started jogging after them, “Me too!”
“No you’re not,” Sam called over his shoulder.
When you got to the plane, there was a younger soldier standing at the top of the ramp, reaching to take the bag from Sam’s hands. Sam handed it over and muttered, “Do not let them on this plane” before making his way inside the jet.
You raced past Bucky and flew up the ramp, your hand extended, taking the soldier’s free hand, “Hey! I’m Y/N, Sam’s best friend and former coworker.” You pointed over your shoulder, “And this is Bucky, I’m sure you’ve heard of us. But if you haven’t that’s cool too, either way, nice to meet you!”
You heard Bucky sigh behind you, his eye roll clear in the sound. His heavy boots echoed up the ramp, and your grip on the soldier’s hand tightened as you looked behind you to address Bucky, “Look, just because you’re antisocial, doesn’t mean I have to be. If we’re going to be spending a few hours in this tin can with this guy, I want to make a good first impression.”
You felt a tug at your hand and looked down, then up when a throat cleared, “Of course I’ve heard of you. My name is First Lieutenant Joaquin Torres ma’am, it’s an honor to meet you.”
You watched as he pulled his hand free from yours and saluted you, causing you to chuckle, “You don’t need to do that, and Y/N is fine. Calling me “ma’am” is making me feel old and that’s not something I want, cool?”
He nodded and you patted his shoulder before making your way into the plane and taking a seat across from Sam, who was strapping himself in.
When he looked up at you, he sighed, “Oh come on, man! I told you not to let her in!” Sam sighed even louder once he saw Bucky make his way in as well, “Him too? Come on, Torres! What am I payin’ you for if you can’t even follow a simple order?”
Torres pulled a few levers and stepped back as the ramp pulled from the ground then rose to close the back of the plane, “Sorry Sam, but I don’t work for you, I work with you, and after what I’ve seen those guys do, I think we’re gonna need all the help we can get.”
You motioned for Bucky to sit beside you, and he agreed without a word, “You hear that Sam? At least somebody wants us.”
He rolled his eyes and swatted at Torres as he walked by, “Yeah, whatever. So are you gonna tell me what happened between you two or am I gonna have to start guessing?”
“Nothing happened.”
“Lemme guess, you realized you were banging a hundred year old man and it grossed you out.”
“Sam…” your voice was quiet, almost pleading as your voice trailed off.
“Oh no, it was the staring thing, wasn’t it? I wouldn’t be able to handle that either, I mean, for real. Look! He’s doin’ it right now!”
You looked at Bucky who was shooting daggers directly at Sam, his arms folded over his chest.
As the plane started, you turned in your seat and grabbed Bucky’s arm, “Hey, calm down a bit. There’s nothing to get worked up about, just relax,” you soothed.
Bucky pried his eyes off of Sam and relaxed into your touch, allowing you to unfold his arms. He let out a deep breath and nodded, “Yeah, you’re right.”
You gave Bucky’s arm a squeeze then turned your attention back to Sam, “I left a while to take care of some things and Bucky stayed behind. It was what seemed best at the time, for both of us, and while this isn’t how I planned our reunion, I guess it has to do.”
Sam looked sorry for you, but he didn’t say anything. Part of you was grateful because you didn’t feel it was your place to explain the reasons you and Bucky parted ways all those months ago… and you didn’t want to make Bucky question whether it was all worth it, at least not yet.
You sat back in your seat and looked around a bit, “So, we’ve got a few hours until we get to Munich. Tell us everything you know about these “Flag Smashers.”"
~~
Torres came into the back where the three of you sat, "One minute to drop off, Sam.”
Sam and Bucky were in the middle of what felt like their hundredth staring contest, and the testosterone in the air was palpable.
“Oh for fucks sake, get a room you two!” You undid your seatbelt and made your way over to the table that had comms and other equipment on it.
You heard Sam do the same, “You sure you’d be cool with that? I don’t wanna step on any toes. I mean, you two are still a thing, right?”
You glared at him as you put your comm into your ear and grabbed a gun and holster off the table. Bucky grabbed your shoulders and spun you out of the way, making to grab his own comm, “So what’s the plan?”
Slipping on the holster and checking to see the gun was secure, you saw Sam blatantly ignore Bucky’s question.
“Great, so no plan!” Bucky sat back down in a huff.
“Thirty seconds!” Torres yelled from the open door.
Sam secured Redwing to his pack, “Enjoy your ride, Buck.”
“No, you can’t call me that.”
“Why not? Y/N calls you that, and that’s what Steve called you.”
Bucky looked away, “Steve knew me longer, and Steve had a plan.”
“Fifteen seconds to drop!” Torres called again.
Sam turned to walk away, leaving you and Bucky to watch.
“I have a plan.”
Bucky shot up out of his seat and you stepped to the side, “Really? What is it?”
You watched as Sam fitted his goggles over his eyes and dropped out the door.
“Of course! He’s got wings, so he can just jump and leave us,” you mumbled.
Bucky nodded, “Great.” He turned to Torres, “Where are the chutes?”
Torres stumbled over his words, “We’re at two hundred feet. It’s too low for a chute.”
Bucky grabbed onto your arm and pulled you along towards the open door, “I don’t need it anyway.”
“Wait, what are we doing?” You tried, but you were ignored. Bucky turned you so you were facing him, your back to the open air.
“You sure about that?” Torres chimed in from beside you. You turned to look at him then back to Bucky, who was begging you to trust him with just his eyes.
You nodded and Bucky answered for you both, “Yeah.”
He ripped the sleeve from over his vibranium arm then pulled you flush against him, his left arm in a vice grip around your waist. You held onto him as you both side stepped to the door, before holding your breath as Bucky jumped with you in his arms.
His scream reverberated through you, and as the wind rushed over your skin you began to wonder if it was you who was screaming.
You felt a tingle over your whole body then branches were hitting your back and whipping you on either side. Within seconds you were on the ground, laying on top of Bucky.
You coughed a bit and struggled to stand up as Bucky’s left arm released you and fell to his side. Looking him over, you were realizing what happened. Before you could apologize though, Sam’s voice came over the comms, “I have all of that on camera. You know that, right? ”
The familiar chirp of Redwing came from beside you and you swatted it away, “Sam, delete that now or I’ll fry your bird.” Electricity started to spark at your fingers to make your point.
“Oh come on, you can’t tell me that wasn’t funny. You basically electrocuted him, and now look at him!”
You looked down at Bucky who sighed, pain clear on his face, “Get out of my face, Sam, or I’ll break it.”
Redwing moved back about twenty feet or so and you squatted down to help Bucky up, “I’m really sorry, Buck. I didn’t mean to do that, and honestly I don’t know why it happened. I am guessing that the change in pressure plus my body just feeling like I was in danger triggered it.”
Bucky pushed off the ground and sat up, rubbing his hands against his legs, “It’s okay, I’ve had worse.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t make it any better.”
“Okay, head North. Come on,” Sam said rather impatiently.
You turned to look at Redwing, “Can you give us a minute?”
Bucky grunted, “I’m fine, Y/N, I promise.”
“I’ll lead you guys to where I am, keep up.”
There was a whistling sound and Redwing took off through the trees. You turned to Bucky then you both started running after it.
“You know, we just fell out of a plane, you could cut us some slack you asshole!” you called into the comms.
“You invited yourselves on this mission."
“Yeah, but look at the disadvantage I’m in. You made me shock Bucky, now he’s gonna use his super speed to leave me to die in these woods.” While playfully teasing, you were aware that Bucky was pulling ahead of you and Sam steered Redwing faster the closer Bucky got.
Bucky let out a dry laugh from in front of you, “I’d never leave you behind, Sam on the other hand…”
“I could just leave both your asses behind,” Sam threatened, but continued before either of you could respond, “You’re coming up at the edge of the woods. You’ll see a massive abandoned building ahead of you, I’m inside."
Redwing disappeared from view as you and Bucky made your way onto flat ground. You looked up at the massive building in front of you and paused to catch your breath, "Where the hell are we?”
Bucky reached for you but you waived him away, “I’m good, keep going.”
He nodded and walked slowly into the structure through a broken out doorway. Taking a deep breath, you followed suit. Once inside you first noticed the smell of mold and how the inside was completely stripped bare.
The two of you continued further into the building, and Redwing came from around the corner to circle around Bucky’s head. Of course, he swatted in warning and Sam’s laugh played in your ear, “Woah, don’t hurt him.”
Sam was standing at the opposite end of the airplane hanger that you’d stumbled into, and you continued to look around as you made your way over to him.
As you came to a stop, Bucky looked on. You watched as Sam tinkered with the controls on his arm, “You’re doing the staring thing again,” he muttered without looking up.
He was right, Bucky was staring ahead, his jaw locked tight. You wanted to reach for him, but something was holding you back.
You sighed, “Sam, anything?”
“They’re in there,” he pushed another button on his arm and Redwing’s camera came on display. Sam lifted his goggles so he wouldn’t have two of the same images, and watched with you as people started to appear on the screen.
“Where’s the guy?” Bucky whispered.
“I don’t know, but I think they’re smuggling weapons, though.”
“Well, I think you could be right," Bucky’s voice was gruff and it seemed like he was trying to match Sam's tone, “But there’s only one way to find out. I see a clear path, I say we take it.”
Sam put his hand to Bucky’s chest to keep him from moving, “We’re not assassins.”
“I’ll see you inside, or not.” Bucky looked at you on the last word before turning to leave the two of you.
“Hey, come on, man. I’m just messing with you. Come back!” Sam whispered after him. When Bucky was out of earshot, Sam turned back to you, “Seriously, I need you to tell me what happened between the two of you. Don’t get me wrong, you can do so much better than that dude, but this is just plain weird.”
“It’s… complicated,” you sighed.
“Well, the sexual tension is starting to fog my clear decision making abilities, so I need you to figure this shit out ASAP.”
You rolled your eyes, “Did you just say, “ASAP” like, “a sap?””
He looked down at you, alarmed, “Yeah, what’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing, grandpa, let’s go,” you chuckled, making your way down the hall to follow Bucky.
“Y/N, wait!” Sam whisper yelled after you.
You spun around, your hands in your jacket pockets, “Ugh, what!”
Sam pointed to his arm and showed the view that Redwing currently had. He made his way over to you, “Thank you for stopping. Anyway. While your boyfriend is brooding, let’s go this way.” There was a long corridor that led along the back of some of the larger open spaces.
“Is this going to get us to where those assholes are?”
He nodded, “Yeah, and it looks like it will lead to right where Bucky is too.”
Sam turned his comm back on and teased Bucky some while you spun back on your heels and followed the path Redwing had just laid out. There were puddles all over and the musky smell was beginning to make you nauseous, but you didn’t want to focus on that. Really, you wanted to get out of there as fast as you could, preferably without any real altercations.
You barely heard Sam following behind you, only really hearing him when he whispered your name.
Looking back at him, he pointed over your shoulder to Bucky, who was crouching behind an industrial shelving unit.
"Alright, I’m inside. Therefore, way ahead of you. It’s not great, but very doable.”
You and Sam crept over to Bucky’s crouching figure, and he startled at your presence, which Sam played off, “Huh?”
Bucky looked annoyed, “Hello. How are you?”
You shrugged and nodded as if to say ‘can’t complain,’ while Sam spoke, “Good. What did we miss? Nothing.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
You grabbed Bucky’s arm to stop him from moving, “Just wait a second, Buck. There’s too many of them.”
He pulled out of your grasp, “I got a vibranium arm. I can take them.”
“And I can control electricity-”
“And I can fly. Who gives a shit? Wait.” Sam’s voice was commanding, “I want to see where they’re going.”
“There’s two people,” Bucky argued.
“I feel way more than that though,” you pressed, hoping he’d listen.
“You hear that? She feels more, but we should follow you because you only see two?”
Bucky sighed, “That’s what I saw.”
Sam pulled up the cam from Redwing again and showed the two of you that there were at least five of them. This didn’t phase Bucky though, and he once again tried to confront them.
This time, Sam was the one to grab onto Bucky, “No, no, wait-” something fell off the shelf in front of you and clattered to the ground. The three of you held your breath as those loading the trucks turned to see where the noise had come from.
You gave Bucky a look and he rolled his eyes before relaxing when a girl told them to move out.
“I think they have a hostage,” Sam whispered and you let out an exasperated sigh.
“Fuck. Okay, fine. Guess we’re doing this Bucky’s way.” You started running, your hands tingling as you channeled the static in the air to your palms. Once you were through the hangar, you pushed off the ground and flew to the back of the second truck.
You hung on there, careful to stay out of view from either driver. Sam flew off to monitor the scene from above the treeline, while Bucky ran around to the first truck where the hostage was being kept inside.
“They’re stealing medicines, vaccines.” There was a pause before you heard Bucky again, “Hi.”
“What’s going on?” you called, impatiently watching the road move below you.
“Found the hostage. You okay? ”
There was crash at the front of the truck you were holding onto and you climbed up the back so you were standing at the top. Two people in masks grabbed Bucky and pulled him to the top as well, while a smaller girl jumped to the front.
“This is why we should have waited,” you complained, forming a ball of energy around your right fist.
The girl punched Bucky before turning to you and swinging. You dodged her, taking your own swing and landing a charged blow to her stomach. She stumbled backwards, her shirt smoking, but she looked unphased. Redwing came beside you and began shooting at your opponent, but within seconds she grabbed it from the air and smashed it over her knee.
“I always wanted to do that,” Bucky remarked from in front of you.
The larger man holding Bucky punched him in the face, and you shot a charge at the girl to get her far enough away from you that you could run to Bucky without being grabbed and pulled back into another fight. As you got to him, Sam flew in and drop kicked the smaller girl.
After landing a solid punch to the one who hit Bucky, you were thrown onto the top of the other truck, two more bodies holding you down. You looked over and saw Sam was now on his back too, while Bucky was still restrained. Focusing your attention on the larger of the two in front of you, your entire body started to glow as electricity coursed over your skin. “You have about eight seconds to let me go before you’re seriously fucked,” you spat.
A boot stomped onto your cheek, snapping your head to the side. Your vision went black momentarily and you could taste metal as your mouth filled with blood, “Fine.”
A surge of power shot from your body and the two men beside you flew back in opposite directions. Jumping into a standing position, you focused the energy to your hands and prepared to fight.
The sound of a helicopter pulled you from focus, just as Steve’s shield hit one of the men in front of Sam. For a moment, your heart leapt at the sight, only to sink again when your brain caught up to the truth of who had actually thrown it.
“Who invited this asshole?” you called loud enough for everyone to hear you.
While Walker continued to throw the shield at your attackers, you jumped back over to the other truck where Bucky was and quickly shot those holding him back with a surge of electricity. They both stumbled, allowing Bucky to free himself and join the fighting.
Another man dropped from the helicopter and dropped one of the men who was moving in on you. He moved to stand beside Walker, who then introduced himself to you all, “John Walker, Captain America. Looks like you guys could use some help.”
You took to flying once again and tried to fight as many as possible, but they were too strong. When Sam tried to take off, he was grabbed and swung into Bucky, causing them to both fly onto the other truck. You watched as Bucky slid down the side and Sam flew back.
When you tried to use your comm, static crackled in your ear. Right, of course it wouldn’t work. You’re pulling the electricity from around you and the comms weren’t designed with your powers in mind. You swiped the fried tech from your ear and tossed it at the ground, screaming.
One of the brutes tried to grab you but he shot back from the shock the coursed through him at the touch. Spinning around, you kicked him square in the stomach and watched him soar back into another who caught him.
From your peripheral, you saw Sam disappear beside the truck to your left and then he and Bucky barrelling out and down the hill to your right.
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” you mumbled before jumping off the side and gliding over to where they had just come to a stop.
Sam pushed Bucky off of him and you dropped onto your butt at their heads, letting out a pained groan.
“Those were all Super Soldiers,” Bucky managed.
“I know. You’re welcome by the way,” Sam responded.
You touched your swollen cheek and winced, “I vote we never listen to Bucky ever again.”
“Agreed.”
Bucky rolled his head to the side and looked up at you, jolting at the sight of your injury. He was seated and at your side within seconds, gently pulling your hand away so he could examine the tender skin.
“Shit, how’d that happen?”
You glared at him, “How do you think? One of those super freaks back there stomped on me!” You sighed, “But I’m fine, it’ll be completely healed by tomorrow. It just hurts like a bitch right now.”
“You’re a bitch,” Sam chided from your left.
“Oh, good one. That’s rich coming from the one of us who’s still knocked on their ass right now.” He looked up at you the same way Bucky had moments ago and quirked his eyebrow. “Shut up, you know what I meant. You’re still laying there, while we’re sitting.”
“Uhhuh, whatever.”
You let Bucky pull you to your feet and you nudged Sam with the tip of your boot, “Come on, let’s get the hell out of here. We’ve got a long walk ahead of us.”
As the three of you made your way back to the road, you fiddled with your phone. There was no service out in the middle of wherever you were, so you really would just have to walk until either you made it back, or you got some bars.
“What’s going on in that big cyborg brain of yours?” Sam teased Bucky.
Their lighthearted banter made you smile. The last few months had been hard on you, and despite getting your asses handed to you, this was nice.
A horn blared beside you and a military issued Jeep came to a stop about ten feet ahead of you.
You rolled your eyes when you saw Walker and Lemar were staring back at you.
The three of you continued to walk, attempting to ignore them. Honestly, you wondered how they kept finding you and why they were so keen on making their presence known.
"So that didn't go as planned, huh?" Walker called to you while opening the back of the Jeep. When none of you looked at him, he shut the door and the Jeep inched further before coming to a stop, “Look, at least we know what we’re up against now, huh? And we’re pretty sure it’s one of the big three.”
“Aliens, androids, or wizards?” Sam entertained.
“Pretty sure.”
Bucky sighed, “There’s no such thing as wizards.”
“Then it’s aliens, or androids…"
You scoffed, “Yeah, or Super Soldiers.”
“Shit, Super Soldiers, for real?” Walker’s sidekick chimed in.
“I wasn’t tal-” you started before Sam cut you off, “Yeah.”
Walker pointed at you, “Wow, you’re feisty, but it’s fine because we gotta work together.”
Bucky grabbed your hand and laced his fingers with yours, “That’s not happening.”
“I think we stand a much better chance if we all-”
“Just ‘cause you carry that shield, it doesn’t mean you’re Captain America.”
You squeezed Bucky’s hand and studied his face as he took in Walker’s words. Of course he thinks he’s done enough to justify picking up the mantle. But, nothing that he’s done compares in the slightest to the sacrifices Steve made. And none of this would have been what Steve wanted. A complete stranger in his uniform? With his shield? Unacceptable.
You were snapped back to reality when you were being pulled towards the Jeep, Bucky ushering you to climb in after Sam.
You looked behind you in question, but he just shrugged and motioned for you to climb in. You rolled your eyes and jumped up, sliding into place beside Sam and across from Walker.
He shot you a smile that gave you the creeps and you huffed while crossing your hands over your chest. Once Bucky was inside, the door was closed and Walker signalled for his driver, Gary, to start going again.
You’d all sat in silence a while, the tension becoming unbearable as they stared at you.
Uncrossing your arms, you leaned forward accusingly, “How the fuck did you guys find us? We’re in the middle of nowhere, and there’s absolutely no reason for you to have left the comfort of your American tour just for a couple of nobodies that we were tracking.”
“She’s good, huh?” Walker tapped the man to his left on the shoulder.
“Yeah. We tracked you through, uh, Redwing.”
Sam sounded disgusted, “You hacked my tech?”
Walker laughed, “Sorry, it’s not exactly hacking. It’s government property… kind of the government.”
“I see, so you think that because you have the name “Captain America,” that you are above the law and can do whatever you want,” you chastised.
“Didn’t Steve?”
“Okay, I’m out. Don’t mind me Gary, I’m just gonna jump off, don’t be alarmed,” you called.
You stood up and wiped your hands down your pants then stepped over everyone’s legs to get to the door of the Jeep. You turned back to Walker and flipped both your middle fingers at him before stepping up over the door and jumped out. While you weren’t expecting Sam and Bucky to follow, you knew you’d make it to the airport about the same time as them without them holding you back.
They only made it about two hundred feet or so before the Jeep came to a stop and Bucky hopped out. You flew over to him and asked him what the jackoff said to piss him off, and he told you jackoff’s friend goes by “Battlestar.” You choked out a laugh and looked back to see Sam climb out and jog over to you.
“Damn, so I guess it’s just us again. And to think we really needed their help,” you teased.
Sam nudged you, “man, shut up. You don’t need to rub everything in and be you all the time.”
You put your hand over your chest and pulled back like he slapped you, “Is that you calling me dramatic? Because I resent that.”
Bucky continued walking while the two of you wasted time, but you caught up to him and laced your fingers with his, “So I’d guess we still have like ten miles to the airport. What are the odds that we can get one of the locals here to take us the rest of the way?”
“Come on, Y/N, we don’t look very inviting.”
“Well, you guys don’t. I’m just a hot chick in need of a favor. Pretty sure I could get some-” you stopped mid sentence then remembered your phone. Pulling it from your pocket, you saw that you finally had service, “Hah! Hot and smart, look!” you showed your phone to them and Bucky rolled his eyes. You quickly dialed the number for one of the largest taxi offices in Munich and gave them the crossroads where you were currently standing.
“Okay, so someone is already en route, you can thank me later!”
Not 24 hours later, you were back in DC waiting for the terms of Bucky’s release after learning about another Super Soldier that Bucky had kept hidden from everyone.
You were grateful to have been able to change your clothes that morning, but you regretted putting boots on after all of the walking. You sat back in the seat beside Sam, your hands in your pockets, “My feet are killing me,” you complained.
“You can fly, it’s your own damn fault.”
“Bite me, dude…. I’m tired.”
Sam turned in his seat, “Is this what you’re gonna do now? Just complain this whole time?”
You rolled your head to look at him, pouting, “I’m hungry.”
He threw his hands up, “Oh my god!”
“Sam? Y/N?” A woman called. You both turned to look at her, “I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m Dr. Raynor. I’m James’s therapist.”
You both shook her hand, “Thank you for getting him out, I really appreciate it.”
She explained it wasn’t her and you cringed when Walker’s voice echoed down the hall and he mosied over to where you were.
You rolled your eyes and turned to see Bucky being escorted to the large desk in the center of the room by some officers and made your way over to him.
“Hey, are you okay?” you stopped in front of him and put your hand on his hip.
He gave you a tight-lipped smile, “I’m fine, babe, thanks.”
“We should have thought about this before going to Munich,” you whispered.
“Yeah, well, this wasn’t a top priority for me. I saw that asshole with Steve’s shield and that took all my focus.”
You sighed, “yeah, I get it. I guess that I should have thought about it too…”
“I’m not your responsibility anymore, Y/N.” He sounded broken and you stepped closer to him, “Well, I care about you. And you know that we only separated because we decided it was best for you at the time to focus on-”
Dr. Raynor interrupted your thought, “James, condition of your release, session now. Both of you, too.”
Your eyes flicked to Sam, “You mean us?”
“I do.”
You looked panicked while Sam looked smug, “That’s okay, I’ll just be out here with Y/N.”
“That wasn’t a request,” she threw over her shoulder and continued down the hall in which Bucky had just come from.
Bucky grabbed your hand and dragged you along with him, “Wait, are we really doing this?” you asked, urging Sam to follow you.
You were led down a long corridor and around a corner to a hall with several interrogation rooms. Dr. Raynor was standing in front of one with her arms folded over her chest. She looked down at Bucky’s hand and clearly made a mental note of the situation; part of you wondered if she knew about you.
Once inside, Bucky and Sam sat side by side at the interrogation table while you stood back and leaned against the wall. Dr. Raynor walked in and noted your stance, “Don’t get comfortable. You’re just as much a part of this.”
You scoffed, “No thanks, doc. I’m here for moral support.”
She slammed her folder down on the desk and sat down, “So, who would like to start?”
Sam spoke first, “Alright, look, Dr. Raynor? I get it, why you want me to talk to Freaky Magoo over here. But I’m 100% fine. Her on the other hand?” He motioned over his shoulder to you, “You should be focusing on her. These two have some stuff they need to resolve. They were all lovey dovey then something happened and they’re like this.”
“You’re deflecting, and it is my job to make sure that you’re okay. And so, yeah, this may be slightly unprofessional, but it’s the only way that I can see for you to get over whatever is eating at you.”
“This is ridiculous,” Sam sighed.
“Yeah. I agree.”
“See? Making progress already. So, who wants to go first?”
You rolled your eyes, “We’re fine. The only reason we’re here right now is because of one missed session. It’s not like we chose this.”
“That session was court-mandated and since it was missed, you were brought here. From the looks of it, it’s your fault. James hasn’t missed one session in the two months since I’ve been seeing him, but now I’m introduced to you two and it happens to coincide with the missed one.”
“Now wait a damn minute, this wasn’t planned. You’re acting as though Sam and I made the conscious decision to sweep Bucky away to another country and break the system that’s in place to help him get better? You know what? I can guarantee that Sam didn’t even know about any of this. I did, but unfortunately it wasn’t something I thought about because we’ve got bigger problems,” you huffed and kicked the wall.
Dr. Raynor gave you a pointed look, “Are you done?”
“Yeah, I apologize,” you muttered.
“So we know what brought Y/N here, what about you two?” There was a silence and she sighed, “No volunteers? Wow, how surprising. Okay. We’re going to do an exercise. It’s something I use with couples when they are trying to figure out what kind of life they wanna build together. Are you familiar with the miracle question?”
You were.
Sam and Bucky answered in the negative though and were skeptical while they listened to Dr. Raynor explain it.
“In my miracle, he would… he would talk less.”
“Exactly what I was gonna say. Isn’t that ironic?” Sam shot back.
“You guys are leaving me with no choice. It’s time for the soul-gazing exercise.”
You smiled and watched as Bucky and Sam turned in their chairs to face each other.
When Sam grabbed Bucky’s chair and pulled until they were as close as they could physically be, you teased, “Wow, you guys are closer than even I’ve gotten to Bucky recently.”
Bucky looked at you and smiled, then back to Sam and expressed his slight discomfort with having Sam’s knee between his legs.
You watched on in amusement while they immediately switched gears and got into a staring contest.
When Dr. Raynor snapped them out of it, she asked Bucky to honestly answer what about Sam aggravates him.
The tone in the air shifted as Bucky sighed, “Why did you give up that shield?”
Sam rolled his eyes, “Why are you making such a big deal out of something that has nothing to do with you?”
“Steve believed in you. He trusted you. He gave you that shield for a reason. That shield, that is… that is everything he stood for. That is his legacy. He gave you that shield, and you threw it away like it was nothing.”
“Bucky-” you started, aware that he was starting to get worked up.
“Shut up.”
“And if he was wrong about you, then he was wrong about me,” Bucky’s voice cracked and he had tears in his eyes.
Sam sighed, “You finished?”
Bucky looked at you then back to Sam, “Yeah.”
“Alright, good. Maybe this is something you guys or Steve will never understand. But can you accept that I did what I thought was right?”
Bucky looked down and away and you stepped closer, wanting to comfort them. You put your hands on both their shoulders and rubbed soothing circles with your thumbs.
Sam scoffed, “You know what, Doc? I don’t have time for this. We have some real serious shit going on. So how about this? I will squash it right now. We go deal with that, and when we’re done, we both can go on separate long vacations and never see each other again.”
“Great,” Bucky shot back.
“Well, let’s get to work. Thanks, Doc, for making it weird. I feel much better,” Sam pulled out from your touch and slapped Bucky on the shoulder, hard, “See you outside.”
“Sam,” you tried, but he was scooting his chair back and stepping around you to leave the room.
“Thank you, that was really great,” Dr. Raynor said. She looked up at you, “What are your thoughts on all of this?”
You took a moment, and searched Bucky’s face for any indication of what would be best to say. You sighed, “Honestly? I don’t like that. I think that Sam and I are and will be here for Bucky, no matter what. And I sincerely hope that even after we solve this problem, we will still be together and Sam will still be our friend.” You brushed your hand over Bucky’s cheek and gently grabbed the back of his neck, “Steve wasn’t wrong about either of you and I know that he’d be proud.”
Bucky’s nose was red and there were unshed tears pooling in his eyes. He turned away from you in an effort to hide that from you, and you smiled, “I’ll be outside. Thank you Doctor and I’m sorry for my outburst earlier.”
She nodded and watched you leave. Sam was standing at the end of the hall, and he waited for you to join him before making his way back through the lobby.
“You know, you didn’t have to say that shit back there.”
Sam scoffed, “You have no idea, Y/N, really. All of this is falling on me but you gotta believe I didn’t know this shit was gonna happen. I did what I thought was best. I can’t be Captain America. You saw what they did to Isaiah just because he was black. You saw not three hours ago those white cops stopped because I was black. This is just how shit is and I can’t change it.”
You pulled Sam down to you and wrapped your arms around his neck, “I know. It’s fucked up and it doesn’t make any sense, but I know. We don’t blame you for giving up the shield, it isn’t your fault. Steve would understand and he would be proud of you no matter what. And I think he would be happy to know that we’re all together again, despite the circumstances that brought us here.”
He leaned into you and gave you a tight squeeze, “Thanks.”
“Let’s go,” Bucky called, causing you two to pull apart.
“Let’s get the train back to DC, we can stay at my place tonight and figure shit out in the morning. Shouldn’t be anymore than a 45 minute ride. We’ll grab some dinner too because as I was telling Sam earlier, I’m starving.”
As you stepped off the sidewalk, a police siren cried to your left. Walker and Hoskins leaned against one of the cars and waived you over.
“Good to see you again! Look, if we divide ourselves, we don’t stand a chance, you guys know that.”
Bucky walked to the back of the car and put his arm on the trunk, while you moved between the cars and leaned against the one opposite, standing directly between Walker and Bucky.
Sam stayed where he was, “So what do you got?”
He explained the little bit of intel he had on the leader of the Flag-Smashers, and you listened impatiently as he led you on.
Sam stepped up, “It is imperative that we find them and stop them, but you guys have rules of engagement and all kinds of authorizations you have to get. We’re free agents. We’re more flexible. So it wouldn’t make sense for us to work with you.”
The three of you turned to leave, but you stopped when Walker called out again, “A Word of advice, then. Stay the hell out of my way.”
A ball of lightning formed in your right fist as they walked away and you turned to follow, “I’m getting that shield back.”
“No, Y/N! You can’t!” Sam and Bucky both wrapped hands around your arms to pull you back and keep you from following Captain Jackoff and Shithead.
“Let me go! They don’t deserve it and I’m taking it back.” Bucky wrapped his vibranium arm around your waist and began walking with you back down the street, “Easy there, Sparky. We’ll get it back, just not right now. Let’s get back to your place and we’ll regroup, get some rest and a plan. I promise you we will get that shield back one way or another.”
You relaxed a little, but Bucky didn’t put you down until you’d rounded the corner.
Once you were on the ground again, you fixed your shirt and looked around, “So wanna start planning then? Because I could be on them quicker than it would take either of you to blink.”
“Yeah, I know what we have to do. When Isaiah said, “my people-””
Sam cut him off, “Oh, don’t take that to heart. That’s not what he meant.”
“No, he meant HYDRA. HYDRA used to be my people.”
“Wait, no,” you said.
“Walker doesn’t have any leads.”
“I know where you’re going with this, no,” Sam agreed with you.
“He knows all of HYDRA’s secrets. Don’t you guys remember Siberia?”
“Bucky, we’re not going to Zemo. Even if that were a good idea, there’s no way we’re ever gonna get through Ross,” you pressed, annoyed at the thought of that headache.
“There are ways around it,” Bucky assured.
“So you’re just gonna go sit in a room with this guy?”
Bucky hesitated and thought of his response to Sam, “Yes.”
He nodded, “Okay, then. We’re gonna go see Zemo.”
You stopped Bucky, “I know that Shuri took all of the Winter Soldier and HYDRA from your mind while in Wakanda, but if we’re doing this, you’re not going in alone.”
“I’ll be fine, and we really don’t have any other choice right now.”
You looked at Sam and he looked as worried as you felt. Bucky though, he looked determined. Finally, you sighed, “I know, but I want to be there too.”
He nodded and wrapped his arm around you, pulling you into his side and started walking again, “Then it’s settled. See, I like it when we have a plan.”