Traitor ~ Bucky Barnes

Tough Love

"You up for a little tough love?" said Sam.

He and Bucky had been together for the past few days. They were in Sam's hometown. Bucky went to him to drop off a specially made suit. But ended up staying longer. It was good though, Bucky and Sam worked together and talk out a lot of things.

Currently, Sam was talking to Bucky, well, more like lecturing him. He was trying to understand and help Bucky move forward in his life. Something Sam knew he struggled with.

"You want to climb out of the hell you're in, do the work. Do it."

"I've been making amends." said Bucky.

Sam scoffed a little at his words, "Nah. You weren't amending, you were avenging. You were doing all the wrongdoers you enabled as the Winter Soldier, because you thought it would bring you closure."

It was true; Bucky was only avenging. Most of the people he crossed off in his list were people who deserved jail time or revoked from power. That was precisely what he did. He fixed the wrongs that Hydra did, what he did.

When it came to actually amending, he failed. First, with Yori, Bucky still has not been able to tell him how his son died or tell him it was him. Yori has not been given the closure he deserves. Even with Katherine, he had tried to convince her, he loved her and fix their relationship. But, love does not overcome all.

"You got to these people and say "sorry," because you think it'll make you feel better, right? But you gotta make them feel better. You have to go to them and be of service. I'm sure there is someone who needs closure and you're the only one who can give that."

Sam was right about everything. Bucky was going about this all wrong. None of this was about him; it was about the people he hurt.

"Tell me something, man. What is going on with you and Katherine?" asked Sam.

Hearing her name, Bucky shot his head up. Neither of them spoke about her. Especially in the context of him and Katherine. 

"What do you mean?" Bucky asked back. He was not going to just say everything that happened.

"Come on, I know you went after her." After saying this, Bucky put his head down in shame. Sam knew he followed the Dora and was going after Katherine. To the extent, he did not know. Continuing on, he said, "What did you think was going to happen?"

Bucky did not know what he expected. He hoped Katherine would leave with him. But, how could she? Katherine chose her safety over a potential love.

"I don't know..." said Bucky.

"Then, what is it? Why have you tried so hard to keep her with you? To fix things?"

It was simple, Bucky did not want to lose the last person that reminded him of his past. Katherine, despite everything, helped him. Maybe she was there more than Steve ever was.

"Back in Romania, she helped me and I think I didn't want to let go of the one good thing from my past. I even thought maybe she could help me now." said Bucky.

"You gotta stop looking to other people to tell you who you are."

This is what Bucky needed. For someone to tell him what he does not want to hear. Bucky had to do the work. Now maybe he needed to find a new approach to everything.

"I'm going to be honest with you, Buck. If you truly love or care about Katherine, you will let her go. There is nothing more you can do."

That is what he needed to do; he needed to let Katherine go. Plus, after all, she left him; she did not choose him. It was time to move on without her.

Bucky looked back at Sam and said, "I guess I should start there, but thanks man."

Sam smiled; he could truly see Bucky getting ready to own his own life. For the first time, he was confident in Bucky's future. He was not only moving on from the Winter Soldier but moving on from the people that held him back.

Deep down, Sam knew they would see Katherine again. A person of her status would not go down a path of low life. Katherine had to be using her name in some way. Whenever that time came, they would be ready. Maybe then, Bucky would no be so conflicted.

Tough love can do wonders, even for the bionic man that was Bucky.

~

"You're going to be in charge while I'm gone." said Sharon.

She was packing for a bit of trip to visit Sam and Bucky. Karli was on the move, and this was the perfect opportunity to end this. Sharon was either going to get her super-soldiers back or kill their leader.

Katherine sat across from Sharon as she was about to leave. It was weird for Sharon to be so open about Katherine taking over. In her opinion, it seemed too soon, but if Sharon trusted her, that was all that mattered.

"No problem. How long were you planning on staying over there?" asked Katherine.

"Well, if everything goes as plan, I will hopefully get my pardon. So it may be long term."

A long-term stay meant Katherine would run everything in Madripoor as the Power Broker. As Sharon would run status of Power Broker in the states. It was a perfect setup for expansion.

However, Sharon was not the only one planning to visit the states. Katherine was planning her own trip. She knew Karli would never come back to work for the Power Broker. This means there is a pretty good chance Karli was going to die. But, even if she dies, the other super-soldiers would still be able to carry her message.

Katherine was going to ensure that message never leaves. She was going to take care of the remaining soldiers herself. Sure it was something Sharon would disapprove of. But, with a potential pardon, they would not need super-soldiers.

They would have so much more.