Rundown (Spiderman x Reader) (II)

59. Living in Sin

Is it you and me or
Just this world we live in

I've lived through a couple of once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, mostly due to saying yes to a trip to New York. All that struggle guided me to the person who I am now.

Domino effects are messy. They are the fuel to the circle of life. One bad result pushes a worse result in action. So when I say leaving the shield to a museum pushed Captain America to murder in cold blood in public, I think the little girl who once visited New York would be traumatized.

20 year old me, however, was in charge of justice, putting him in jail for his mistakes. Let's just say things didn't end wonderfully; Sam's wings were torn, Walker's arm and back were broken.... at the end of the day, the shield was still bloody. Like I said, domino effects are messy.

Karli was nowhere to be found, though some of her followers were arrested. Although I was free of leaving, I wanted to continue the search after a well deserved cooldown. Shit was personal now.

I accompanied the Falcon to Baltimore, where I heard the horrible story of Isaiah Bradley. "They will never let a black man be Captain America. And even if they did, no self-respecting black man would ever wanna be," was the phrase that I dreamed about that night. My stomach churned in disgust.

And thank god that Sam was willing to let me stay in his home because I don't think they would've let me stay dripping wet on a hotel. I got the chance of meeting his and his nephews, who taught me how to reknot the fishing nets.

The kids asked me cool stories about the other Avengers. The only happy one came to mind was the fight with Vulture and Spiderman. I avoided mentioning the kiss though.

Sam was persistent on fixing the boat their parents owned. He spent all evening making calls, banking on all the favors his family had. Soon enough, everybody around the block came to help.

"How do we get it off the truck?" Suddenly, the boxes moved, revealing Bucky carrying them with his metal arm.

"Hey, I was gonna do that!" Right, I forgot to mention: my powers resurfaced! It's probably fair to consider them lightswitches; they keep moving on and off. I'm only able to create light daggers and moves small objects, but it's a huge start.

Bucky got off the truck with a mysterious suitcase. "Just dropping this off. You can sign for it and I'll go. I called in a favor from the Wakandans." He stayed to help with the boat. Nonetheless, I think he's more focused on Sarah. And Sarah was more focused on him.

"If you ignore the seventy-ish age gap between them, they're kinda cute," I whispered to Sam. He glared at me in the worst possible way. I nervously laughed. "I was messing with you! Sorry I touched a nerve..."

»»————-　🐝　————-««

"This is so cool. Thanks, Sam!" I threw the shield to a protected tree, bouncing off back into my arm. "Let me try something before I give it back." I took a mental picture of the size and weight of the object, then breathed in. Using my energy powers, I replicated the shield like it was made of light instead of vibranium. It disappeared once it hit the tree.

"Cool trick." I gave it back to him so he'd do the same movement. "Feels weird... picking it up again. The legacy of that shield is... complicated to say the least."

Bucky received it from the bounce. "When Steve told me what he was planning, I don't think we understood what it felt like for a black man to be handled the shield. How could we? I owe you an apology. I'm sorry."

"Thank you," Sam smiled.

He clenched his jaw. "Whatever happened with Walker, it wasn't you 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 got nothing left. Made me question everything. You, Steve, me."