ᴘᴏᴋᴇʀ ғᴀᴄᴇ || ʙ. ʙᴀʀɴᴇs

𝐗𝐈𝐕

They close the house door, walking into the back yard, Sam stops walking, "She's a very mean person," Bucky smiles, "It's tough love,"

"No. If you did what I told you to do, we would have been done before any of this took place,"

"There is no such thing,"

"There's a prowess that goes into my madness..." Sam sighs looking at the shield leaning against the porch, "Feels weird... Picking it up again,"

"The legacy of that shield is complicated, to say the least. When Steve told me what he was planning, I don't think we understood what it felt like for a Black man to be handed the shield. How could we? I owe you an apology. I'm sorry,"

"Thank you. Whatever happened with Walker, it wasn't your fault,"

"I get it. It's just, that shield's the closest thing I've got left to a family, so when you retired it, it made me feel like I had nothing left. Made me question everything. You, Steve, me," he looks over to Y/n and slightly smiles, "Her," she smiles back, "You know, I've got his, uh... I've got his book. And, uh... I just figured if it worked for him, then it'd work for me,"

"I understand, man. But Steve is gone," Sam sighs, "And this might be a surprise, but it doesn't matter what Steve thought. You gotta stop looking to other people to tell you who you are. Let me ask you. You still having those nightmares?"

"All the time. It means I remember. It means a part of me is still there. Which means a part of the Winter Soldier's still in me," Bucky mumbles the last part guiltily, Y/n reaches out and grabs his hand, he blushes at the contact.

Sam tries to hide his grin, but fails, he looks to their entwined hands and then up to Bucky, looking back and forth, Bucky glares at him and his smile drops. He clears his throat and continues his conversation, "You up for a little tough love? You want to climb out of the hell you're in, do the work. Do it,"

"I've been making amends,"

"Nah. You weren't amending, you were avenging. You were stopping all the wrongdoers you enabled as the Winter Soldier, because you thought it would bring you closure. You go to these people and say "sorry," because you think it'll make you feel better, right? But you gotta make them feel better. You gotta go to them and be of service. I'm sure there's at least one person in that book who needs closure about something, and you're the only one who can give it to 'em,"

"Probably a dozen,"

"That's cool. Start with one," Sam pauses, not knowing what to say next, Y/n mumbles, "Good talk," they all share a laugh, Sam's joyous expression fades into a more serious one, "You know Karli won't quit."

Bucky licks his lips, "Ah. You call me when you have a lead, and we'll be there. Not necessarily as a team."

"Nope. We're not that good," Y/n grins, "Definitely not. We're professionals," Sam nods, "Definitely,"

"And, uh, we're partners," Bucky adds on, "Co-workers," Y/n offers.

"But we're also a couple of guys and gal with a mutual friend," Sam hesitates, "Friend's now gone,"

"So we're a group of people; acquaintances," Bucky concludes, "I can live with that,"

"Perfect," Sam sighs, "Thanks for the help, man. Meant a lot,"

"Of course, anything for a guy with a mutual, dead friend," Bucky jokes, "We better get going, gotta get to the airport," Bucky shakes Sam's hand with his free hand.

He tugs on the hand holding Y/n's, but she doesn't move, "Come on, we gotta get going," Y/n swallowed harshly, looking to Sam then Bucky, Sam backed away, "I'll give you two a minute."