A Heart Break In Time

The Future Hasn't Been Kind To You, Has It?

I turned on the TV and curled up with a bowl of cereal, it turned right on to the news. I was going to change it, until I heard the reporter speaking.

"We have breaking news. There's a complete lockdown at the GRC meeting in Lower Manhattan where authorities are saying they're tracking multiple threats from groups seeking to stop the GRC's vote on global resettlement. There is a no-fly zone in effect..." Sirens wailed and the reporter paused. "And the NYPD has the area secured for the moment. Everyone is urged to stay clear." But in the background, I swear I saw Sam.

"FRIDAY! Can you tell everyone to meet me in the living room?"

"Certainly, Miss Aimilios."

Rhodey was the first one to walk in. "Kid, what's going on?"

Before I could explain, Steve and Peggy came in, followed by Bruce. They looked at me confused and I just pointed at the TV. We watched as there were explosions and reporters fumbled over what happened. "It looks like... There's a new Captain America!" The fight continued as the camera zoomed into the sky where you could see a red, white, and blue blur flying.

"That's our Sam!" I yelled, looking around at everyone's elated and surprised faced. A warm feeling of pride took over and all I could think about was how badly I wanted to hug Sam.

Flashback

I stood on the field, fighting every one of the Chitauri I saw. I had run out of bullets, my knives were all thrown. I was left with only the arm repulsor that T'Challa gave me, similar to Shuri's. I could see Thanos remove Steve's helmet, I struggled to get closer to him but I was surrounded. I saw Thanos stab Steve in his leg while know king Mjolnir out of his hand as my enemies got closer to me. I lost sight of Steve and yelled for him. "Steve! Get. Up!"

I saw him from further away, Thanos must have thrown him. I ducked down to surprise the aliens and blasted their feet, hoping to make my way back to Steve. He stood up, and tightened the shield around his arm. He looked at me and nodded. I nodded back, with a full understanding. We were not going to win. This would be it. My heart ached with the knowledge. Not only would this be it for us, Natasha's death was in vain. We weren't going to get anyone back.

Just then, there was static on our coms. They had cut off a while back, so I knew this connection was magical. "Hey, Cap, you read me?" Sam. "Cap, it's Sam. Can you hear me?" I saw a yellow portal appear beside steve. "On your left."

As three figures stepped through, and one flew through the air, I saw dozens more portals open. I looked around in awe and pure bliss of the site around me. We did it.

I heard Doctor Strange speak next. "Is that everyone?"

A flustered Wong responded. "What, you wanted more?"

I laughed at the thought, seeing the various amount of fighters we now had. I turned to my right and saw a man, his arm reflecting in the light. Bucky. I ran to him. "Buck! Bucky!" He saw me and a smile spread across his face. I wrapped my arms around him and spoke into the com. "Steve, Steve. I got Bucky."

A small chuckle came from Bucky as Steve responded. "Keep an eye on him, would you? He keeps disappearing on me."

"Sorry, punk." Buck replied, squeezing me one last time before releasing. We stood side by side as Steve spoke again.

"AVENGERS!" He raised his arm and Mjolnir flies into it. "Assemble!" The field erupted in various yells as we charged the aliens, finally having the numbers to maybe win this thing.

Bucky stayed next to me. "Since when can he do that?" He asked as he swung his gun around, shooting as he talked. I went and shot at the aliens he missed as I shrugged. "Doll," he groaned as he ducked to avoid something being thrown at us. "I really could use a nap."

*

Sam landed on the ground and reporters ambushed him. "What happened to the Flag Smashers?"

"When did the government make you Captain America?"

"Is it still Falcon?"

"Or is it Captain Falcon?"

Sam wasn't answering, then the senator spoke. "Sam, thank you so much, from all of us. 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 asked firmly.

"Our peacekeeping troops will begin relocating people soon. The terrorists only set us back a bit."

"Stop calling them terrorists."

The senator looked at the camera nervously. "What else would we call them?"

"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?" Sam pointed. "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?"

"Yes."

The senator scoffed at Sam. "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."

"You know what? You're right." Sam agreed. "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?" He stood directly in front of the senator. "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 don't understand."

Sam loudly scoffed and took a few steps back, holding his arms out. "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 judgment. And there's nothin' I can do to change it. Yet, I'm still here. No super serum, no blond hair, or blue eyes." He looked to the camera and I wondered if he saw my ambush. "The only power I have is that I believe we can do better. 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?" Sam paused. "Is it the people you're gonna impact? Or is it just more people like you? 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?'"

No one answered and Sam walked away, the camera followed as you saw people cheering for him and Bucky wrapped his arm around him in the distance. My entire face smiling with all the love and pride I felt at this moment. I turned to Steve. "Is this what you wanted?"

Steve shook his head, a smile covering his face too. "No. This is much better."

The reporters had taken back over, going over the story from Steve stepping down to Sam stepping up and I sent Sam a text.

Told you you'd look good in that uniform.

A few minutes later he responded.

Wait 'til you see it in person.

I smiled at the idea of him and Bucky coming home.

When?

Soon.