Bucky's POV:
Well, that didn't take long. No longer than we had touched down in New York we needed to go back to work. While waiting on Sam to get here Charlie and I took Maggie to Pepper. She said her goodbyes to the little girl and said that she would be back soon. Karli has plans to hold the GRC hostage, to stop the vote to reinstate borders. Charlie effortlessly drives us to the city. I look over at her weaving through traffic, dressed in her inky black Nighthawk suit. "You look good, doll."
"Time and place, Bucky. Time and place. When this is over, I need to see you naked." She tells me sliding her car into a parking spot.
"After a date." I smirk over to her.
"Then you better take me out." She goes ahead and taps on her glasses and pops her neck.
"In time." I tell her. She scoffs, but she has no idea I'm just as ready for this as she is. It's hard being the gentleman, and frustrating.
"I'm almost there." Sam calls to us through coms as Charlie and I try to quickly make our way through the crowd. I keep a solid hand on her lower back. I know she doesn't need me to, but I still feel the need to constantly protect her.
"What's the plan?" I ask, looking back behind us, just checking out our area. Charlie's eyes constantly scan in front of us.
"Karli's gotta be close. Charlie, you want to try scanning for her?"
"Bucky, keep me walking straight and not hitting anyone. She's a hard one to read." I more forcefully use my hand to guide her walking.
"Keep your eyes open."
"Well, it could be anybody." I whisper to him.
Before I can enter the building, I see policeman. They nod their heads at us, "Sergeant Barnes. Agent Ro... Allen." God, that's annoying. I need to change her last name so people would quit referring to her as Rogers. They allow us to pass through. Charlie is still focused on scanning the area.
"And by the way, I called in some backup."
"Excuse me, sir, ma'am. Are you supposed to be here?" A man taps on Charlie's shoulder who barely pays attention, but I turn to look at him. He taps on something and the hologram of his face comes undone. Sharon. When Charlie isn't scanning for Karli, she's going to love this.
"It's me." Sharon answers, looking at Charlie in an odd way. She does look strange, not focused on anything in front of her and her brows scrunched up.
"Sharon, what the hell are you doing here?" I ask, concerned she's in the States.
"Relax. No one's looking for me here. What's wrong with her?"
"Uh...she's scanning the area, looking for Karli. Not only is Karli hard to read, but there's a lot of people." I tell her, continuing to walk forward, away from the crowd.
"Do I hear Sharon?" Sam asks, even though he knows.
"Unfortunately." I tell him. Charlie is going to kill him.
"Hey, Sam. I thought I'd get the band back together." Sharon tells him, while I look around and back down to Charlie.
"Thank you. You're risking a lot coming here."
"I hear pardons aren't all they're cracked up to be anyway." She looks over at me.
"Depends on the therapist."
"They'll move on the building soon. Be ready."
I stare back down at Charlie. Her face looks pained, more so than when she was scanning for Walker, there's just too many people here. I almost want to pull her out of this trance, but I need to trust her. If she felt it was too much, she would stop.
"Guys what's going on, on your end?" Sam asks. He's made it in the building.
"Nothing. All quiet."
"Charlie?"
"She's still scanning." She's focused so much she doesn't even hear what we're saying.
"No one's moving toward the building." Sharon observes.
"Karli's not coming in. She's trying to force everybody out."
Her eyes come back into focus and she grabs a hold of my arm, "Shit. Come on." She pulls at my arm.
"You want to explain what's going on, doll?" I follow along.
"Not anything that's going on, but we got a problem. Batroc is here, he wants Sam dead."
"Charlie, I'm fine." I hear Sam growl in frustration. "You guys are gonna have to do something, because I found Batroc." Charlie grunts, but agrees that we have a mission we need to stick with. "Don't let 'em out of the building."
We walk through a metal detector, not surprisingly Sharon is the only one to set it off. "Oops." She mockingly says. Charlie and I both roll our eyes.
I look over and see one, "There's one of them." I point to a member of the Flag Smashers. "We'll get the evac." I pull Charlie along with me, separating us from Sharon. "Something is off with her."
"You don't say. I've never trusted the woman." Charlie has personal reasons not to trust Sharon, but I wonder if she could stealthily read her.
We march through the building and a woman approaches us. "Mr. Barnes, it's Karli." She hands me a phone.
I look at the phone, seeing the app that they've been using to contact all their followers, "If you're up for it, scan for her again. I'll have her talking." Charlie nods her head and focuses.
"Karli."
"Aren't you tired of fighting for the wrong side, Mr. Barnes?"
"I've don't this before, kid." Got to keep her talking. "I know how it ends."
"It doesn't matter if I don't survive this. I'm fighting for something bigger than myself. And with all the bodies you've collected, have you been able to say the same?"
"You don't think I ever fought for something bigger than myself? That's all I ever tried to do. And failed twice." Charlie begins to nearly lead the way. Her body almost pulls to whatever she's reading. "You think your cause justifies all this death, but in the end the nightmares won't go away. You're gonna remember all the ones you killed. Trust me. Don't do this. Don't go down this path."
"If that's how you feel, you should sit this one out."
"Well, you know I ain't gonna do that."
"Well, thank you. I'm glad you took my call. You've been a big help. Oh, we've also been leading your girlfriend on a wild goose chase. She's going to have to be better than that to scan for us."
The phone call ends, and Charlie's eyes search mine. "Dammit." We both say, running in the opposite way that Karli was leading her.
"How is she manipulating me so easily?" She asks, pissed off at herself, we were to be distracted. We run down to a parking deck and there it is. "Don't tell me we're getting on that."
"Come on, don't act like you didn't enjoy the last ride. You liked having your arms around me." I wink.
"Let's not wreck this time." I shrug my shoulders.
"Seriously, you two had one job. And now you just want to flirt the whole mission." Sharon reprimands us from the shadows.
"Yeah, well, you worry about your guy." I get the bike to start, "Ready, doll?" I give Charlie my hand and she plants herself behind me. Wrapping her arms around me, in another time, I want to take her riding where we're not on a mission.
We make it out of the parking deck on our way to find where the Flag Smashers are taking the GRC members. "You better speed things up, Sam. The chopper's about to take off." Charlie and I both look up and see a helicopter readying to take off. Shit.
"Bucky! Charlie!" Sam huffs out, apparently still fighting with Batroc.
"I don't fly, man. That's your thing." I stop the bike; contemplating which way we need to go. Where would Karli take the hostages.
"And my flight isn't that high. I don't have wings, nor do I have an iron suit with major thrusters." I slap at her thigh, reassuring her she doesn't have to make an excuse. I don't want her up there anyways. Now she's got more ideas for Peter to update her suit.
We leave, still looking for the other group of hostages, and then I spot them. "Ready?" I ask. I see her nod and take her arms from around me. I speed up to the barricade and I feel Charlie's legs jump up to where she's balanced on the back of the bike, "Good girl." I call to her; I hear her let out an annoyed giggle. We both put our weight to the front of the bike, and it skids before I go shoulder first into one of the Flag Smashers and she flies into the other. We roll on the ground, and quickly all four of us right ourselves up and begin fighting.
Oddly Charlie hasn't released her gauntlets or lightning yet. I pick up her body and she begins kicking at one of the members before I swing her to the next, she's able to take him down and then the fire. Angry and wide eyed we both look at the truck full of hostages and on fire. Charlie growls and pulls electricity from a light pole and slings lightning at a nearby member. The other that she had knocked down is able to get me on the ground, and I kick him back off. Karli looks at us in fear and anger, dangerous combination.
I march over to the truck, trying with everything in me to pry open the doors. Whatever is keeping this shut is powerful. "Light it up, honey." I call over to Charlie, she pulls a current down and hits the lock and it only crackles a bit, but doesn't accomplish anything. And then, "Morgenthau!"
"You have got to be kidding me." Charlie turns and sees Walker. "Bucky, you take care of this."
"Oh no, don't engage with him. His beef is with Karli, let her handle him." I continue to pull at this lock.
"Let's finish this." He screams over to Karli.
"I didn't mean to kill your friend. I don't want to hurt people that don't matter." I watch Charlie shudder at Karli's words. She liked Hoskins, and that statement runs through her veins. I catch the sparks at her fingers.
"You don't think Lemar's life mattered?" Walker asks, pain leaking out of his voice.
"Not to my fight. I just want the people on that truck." He screams and launches a shield towards her. She kicks it and it falls on the ground, not coming back to Walker the way the real one would. Karli runs towards Walker and the other members run towards him and fight. Charlie grunts and fights alongside him.
I roll my eyes and continue to try and get this fucking lock of this fucking truck. Walker finally got his wish, Charlie fighting with him. Frustration and desperation hit me like a ton of bricks as I see the flames blanket the truck more, and I pound on the lock with my metal arm. I watch as it slowly breaks apart and I pull open the door. Helping each of the people off the truck. The last man looks at me, "Thank you, for saving us." I've never had someone thank me before. It overwhelms me, and makes me feel a bit more wanted, accepted.
"You're welcome."
I watch as my girl continues to defend Walker. He's lying on the ground, most of the members surround him, she's only able to fight with one. I run over to another and begin my fight with him. I sling him over and he hits a fence and quickly brings himself up. Karli now has her attention on me and she brings a steel beam to try and hit me. I duck out of the way and my hand grabs a hold of a chain. I sling it at her face and the male I had been fighting kicks me back as I tumble off the building. Before I fall off, I see the anger cross her face, and her eyes glow a bright blue white. Seeing me in trouble pisses her off.
"Charlie, don't do anything stupid. I'm okay."
"You better be. We have a date."
I chuckle and look up, seeing the sky light up with her lightning bolts, and a member's falling body with the beam over my head. My left arm catches it. They're seriously about to piss me the fuck off. Lightning hits the member and I watch Charlie float down with her suit. Her eyes are more of a softer glow when she sees I'm okay.
The man picks himself up and begins to fight us with the beam. We stand on either side of him, in tandem we kick, hit, and Charlie throws her sparks at him. I'm able to get the beam from him and I smack him across the face with it, his body flies back and for good measure Charlie throws him with lightning across the ground.
"I'm so over this shit." She says at me. Before I respond we hear clanking and look up to see the other truck, barely hanging on above us. We watch as the weight breaks the not finished structure as it towers above us, "Alright, so what's the plan?"
"Can you fly that high?" I ask.
"Yes, but I don't know if I have the strength to do anything past that. It needs to be pulled back. I could fly you up there."
I start to answer that that's not a bad idea and we watch the truck be pulled back. Charlie's eyes focus to scan who is up there. Seconds later she looks at me, "It's Walker." I watch as his arts and crafts shield falls to the ground beside us. Both our eyes turn back to the truck. "He's doing it." Moments later the remaining members of the Flag Smashers knock Walker off the structure. "Shit." Charlie and I watch in horror as the truck begins to fall.
And then we see him. Captain America. He flies up to the truck, using his natural strength, determination, and the jet pack to push the truck back. Charlie and I look towards Walker. I pull him out of the way of where the truck will land if this isn't successful and the members scatter further away, looking up, hoping he fails. "Help him, throw lightning up there to him."
"I take orders from Cap, not you Walker." Charlie tells him. Not sure her sparks work like that. And Sam succeeds. We hear the cheering and Charlie jumps in my arms giving me a big kiss. She looks over to Walker, "I knew he could do it John." She reaches out a hand to him. He stares at it before taking it in his own hand and giving her a shake.
"Does this mean we're partners?" He smiles.
"No." We both answer him.
Charlie's eyes and admiration glow up at Sam. She's so proud of him. I hear Karli and react, catching a steel pole with my right hand. I glare at her and Sam launches the shield, knocking every standing member down. Karli stands taking off her mask, staring at Sam. "You of all people bought into that bullshit?" She asks him, her voice is angry and cold.
"I'm trying something different. Maybe you should do the same." He answers.
An explosion happens, sending gas and dust all around us. I pull Charlie tight to me and I feel her tap her glasses on, "This way." Sam says. We follow him. I know Charlie's glasses are similar, but she wants him to be the leader. She needs him to come into his own.
We run along through the building; Walker close behind. "Hey, Sharon. We're underground." I tell her through coms. "We entered the tunnel on William. Heading south."
"Looks like they split up. Here." Sam tells us. He looks over at Charlie and nods, knowing that she'll want to stay wherever I go, and I feel the need to follow Walker down the path that Sam sent us.
"I got it." I tell him, we follow down the path, "Doll, I need you to be our eyes."
She runs out in front. Meeting Walker in an open room. "They're everywhere." I watch her eyes flick around the room, trying to find where one may lead to somewhere. Once she lands on an actual trail, she continues to jog off.
Walker wants to stay a bit too close to her. "I don't like how he wants to be right by your side."
She smiles back at me, "I like a possessive James." I grumble at her.
"Whose girl, are you?"
"You know, I'm only yours James." She says out loud.
"Really? You two are flirting when we're trying to find them?"
Both of us shrug. We continue to jog along. "Wait." I pull at Charlie's arm and both her and Walker stop. "Instead of us chasing them, let's use the app for them to come to us." I pull out my phone and lure the members to us.
We hear them jog towards us, Walker steps out of the shadows, Charlie and I behind him, "Mercy bears richer fruit than strict justice." He's so stupid.
Sirens and lights flicker in the back, ready to take them in, "It's a great app." I hold up my phone, showing them exactly how we accomplished this. "Thank you." Police officers surround them, and with the amount of them that there are, the members know that they've been caught.
We walk away. Charlie stands in between me and Walker and I pull her on the other side. She rolls her eyes and Walker slaps my back, "Lincoln, really?"
"Great man. Great quote." He answers.
"Not when you say it." I don't hate him, but oh does he get on my nerves.
"So, Charlie...?"
"No." She and I both answer.
"I didn't finish." He says shrugging his smug shoulders.
"Just no." I tell him.
"Fine. You forgive me though, right?" He asks only looking at her.
"Yeah, I guess. Just don't piss me off again, John."
"That's fair." He responds, shaking his head. She's too nice.
___________________________________________________________________
Charlie's POV:
Bucky, John, and I get out of the chaos to see Sam lay a dead Karli on a gurney. He never wanted things to end like this. He had hoped that Karli would open her eyes and see that her actions was not the way to end her fight. She reached a point of madness, not caring who died, as long as they won.
Even though Sam is defeated with how things ended, I can't help but to stare at my friend, my brother in awe. He has become Captain America. He embodies all the qualities that Steve knew he could. And he looks damn good in that suit.
Reporters surround Sam, demanding answers on what exactly happened tonight. Asking why he's Captain America, or if he's still Falcon. He walks past them, ignoring all their questions. "Sam, thank you so much, from all of us." Several members of the GRC stand waiting on him. He did good.
The senator who came into my office to introduce John tells him, "Sincerely. You did your part in dealing with those terrorists, now we'll do ours."
"Are you still going forward with resetting the borders?" Sam asks.
"Our peacekeeping troops will begin relocating people soon. The terrorists only set us back a bit." Another woman speaks to Sam.
"You have to stop calling them terrorists." He corrects them.
"What else would we call them?" The senator asks.
"Your peacekeeping troops carrying weapons are forcing millions of people into settlements around the world, right? What do you think those people are gonna call you?" I watch as multiple cameras surround Sam.
I realize that Bucky isn't touching me and I grab his arm and place it around my waist. Who does he think he is? He adjusts his weight and makes himself comfortable again, but doesn't remove his arm. John glances back at us. Sam's speech is making him realize that Sam is the man for the job.
"These labels, 'terrorists,' 'refugee,' 'thug,' they're often used to get around the question, why?"
"Those settlements that happened five years ago, do you think it is fair for governments to have to support them?" A GRC member asks.
"Yes." Sam calmly responds.
"And the people who reappeared only to find someone else living in their family home, they just end up homeless? Look I get it. But you have no idea how complicated this situation is." The senator tries to break Sam. He doesn't.
"You know what? You're right. And that's a good thing. We finally have a common struggle now. Think about that. For once, all the people who've been begging, and I mean, literally begging for you to feel how hard any given day is...now you know. How did it feel to be helpless? Now if you could remember what it was like to be helpless and face a force so powerful it could erase half the planet, you would know that you're about to have the exact same impact. This isn't about easy decisions, Senator."
"You just don't understand." He tells Sam. Man can't come up with a better counter argument than that.
"I'm a black man carrying the stars and stripes. What don't I understand? Every time I pick this thing up, I know there are millions of people who are gonna hate me for it. Even now, here...I feel it. The stares, the judgement. And there's nothin' I can do to change it. Yet, I'm still here. No super serum, no blonde hair, or blue eyes. The only power I have is that I believe we can do better." I look up at Bucky. Sweet baby has tears in his eyes and a slight smile, I pull him closer, "We can't demand that people step up if we don't meet them halfway. Look, you control the banks. Shit, you can move borders! You can knock down a forest with an email, you can feed a million people with a phone call. But the question is, who's in the room when you make those decisions? Hmm? Is it the people you're gonna impact? Or is it just more people like you?"
Sam pauses and takes a deep breath, "I mean, this girl died trying to stop you, and no one has stopped for one second to ask why. You've gotta do better, Senator. You've gotta step up. Because if you don't, the next Karli will. And you don't wanna see 2.0. People believed in her cause so much that they helped her defy the strongest governments in the world. Why do you think that is? Look, you people have just as much power as an insane god or a misguided teenager. The question you have to ask yourself is, how are you going to use it?"
Sam turns and makes his way over where we are. He nods his head at John. I feel he's on a better path. Still has a lot of work to put in, "I never got a chance to thank you, John, for helping me out with Bucky. I'm sorry for how things went." He turns back to me and nods. We're at an understanding.
Bucky leans up off the ambulance, bringing me with him, "Sorry, I was, uh, I was texting and so, all I heard was, um, 'a black guy in stars and stripes.'" We all chuckle, "Nice job, Cap."
"Thanks. But if you weren't texting Charlie, who were you texting?" I wrap my arms around Sam for a hug.
"Maggie." Bucky responds getting another laugh out of everyone. Bucky removes his arm for a moment and pats the shield on Sam's back.
Sam sees Sharon, she must have gotten shot, "Sharon?" He asks stepping closer.
"You're blocking my light." She answers.
"We gotta get you to a hospital." Sam tells her.
"She's not gonna listen." Bucky's eyes glance around us. Making sure that no one is recognizing Sharon.
"Hey, it's not the worst thing that's happened to me all week." She answers.
"Told you."
"Uh, Cap?" A man asks from a distance, I know my face lights up because Sam smiles over at me before looking towards the man.
"I think he's talking to you." Sharon tells him. "Look, I'm sorry for how things ended down there. For what it's worth, suit looks good on you."
"Damn good." I add.
Sam chuckles, "Thanks."
Bucky is clearly uneasy about Sharon being out in the open, "Alright, look, can we get out of here, please?"
"I mean, he did say please." I wink over at Sharon, still not my favorite person. But I should try to mend it.
"I didn't forget my promise." Sam tells her. "Me neither." I add in.
Once we get Sharon comfortably out of sight and on her way, Bucky turns and looks at me, "So what do you say about a movie?" I shake my head laughing at him, "Yeah, you can't talk right?"
"Are you actually asking me where I want to go on a date?" I smile at him.
"Well, you are hard to please." I smack at his stomach playfully. "Okay, no you're not. Can you give me at least a week, maybe two?"
"That was the original plan, right? We got distracted earlier." He opens up my driver's door, "Can I at least drive you to your apartment?" He smiles but gets in the car.
"I think I should get rid of the apartment. I'm tired of living in the city." Bucky places his left hand on my thigh and rubs his thumb on me, moving just a bit higher. I slap my hand on top, wanting him to stop moving even higher.
"Yeah? And where are you thinking about living?" I ask smiling over at him.
"Well, there's this really nice cottage in upstate. I heard there's even a really comfortable bed, and even the floor isn't bad."
"Hmm...you may need a roommate or two."
"You read my mind." We sit in comfortable silence for a minute. "In all seriousness...are you okay with that?"
"I guess I need to see how this date goes first." I shrug my shoulders at him.
"So that's how it is?" I nod. "Well, if things don't go well, you could always date John."
"You know he's married right?" I look over to him.
"Wait...you think he's not flirting with you?" He smiles and laughs at me.
"No, I don't. He's married."
"That doesn't stop everyone from cheating." We arrive at his apartment complex.
"Just so we're clear James, even without a ring, that stops me." He brings his right hand to my cheek and begins stroking it with his thumb. "And, it better stop you. I have perfect aim, and no how to make your life a living hell."
"I already did that to myself when I left you, doll." He leans forward to kiss me gently. His voice starts in a low whisper and is the tiniest bit deeper, "And I have no intentions of doing that ever again. You're stuck with me."
"Good." I place my lips hard on his. I don't want to leave him, but he'll be back. "You need help packing?" I ask breathily as I pull away.
"No, I don't have much. I love you, Charlie."
"Love you, too James. Hurry up, so I can see you again." He smiles as he gets out of the car, and I stay watching him walk in the building.
Before he opens the door, he turns back to me, "Stop looking at my ass." I laugh and drive off as soon as the door closes behind him.