Frozen Over: An MCU Story

Chapter 35 - By the Dock

2024, Maryland

It had only been a couple days since the fall of the Flag Smashers when Sam paid yet another visit to Isaiah Bradley. He knocked at the door, where his grandson, Eli, opened the door, leaving the metal screen separating the two.

"What you want, Black Falcon?" He questioned.

"Hey, you need to learn some manners." Sam told him.

Eli rolled his eyes at that statement.

"He ain't a Falcon anymore." Isaiah spoke up from the driveway behind Sam. "But he's still black."

Sam looked over at Eli once more, then walked away from the door as he saw the teen shut the door. He and Isaiah went into the backyard, where Isaiah had been putting plants in his garden.

"I saw what you did out there. And it seems so did everyone else.." The old man stated. "I heard the GRC was standing down on those plans of theirs so you must've done somethin' right."

Sam said nothing, though he merely smiled.

"I ain't gonna lie. You're special." Isaiah added.

"Thank you." Sam muttered.

"I mean, you ain't no Malcom, Martin, Mandela, but..."

"No argument there." Sam chuckled. "But I know what I've gotta do."

"So, a black Captain America, huh?"

"Damn right. With a non-binary sidekick to boot."

Isaiah nodded in what appeared to be approval and went back to tending to his plants.

"The fight you taking on ain't gonna be easy, Sam." He stated.

"Yeah, I might fail. Shit, I might die. But..." Sam muttered. "We built this country. Bled for it. I'm not gonna let anybody tell me I can't fight for it. Not after what everybody before me went through. Including you."

"Shit. I almost bought that." Isaiah said.

Sam chuckled.

"Man, do you ever lighten up?" He asked.

"Nope." The old man said.

Again, a chuckle escaped Sam's mouth as he shook his head.

"Hey, why don't you clean up? There's, um... Somethin' I wanna show you." He told Isaiah.

Isaiah sighed and went inside, while Eli stood on the porch.

"So uh, where we going?" He asked.

A few hours after that, Sam brought Isaiah and Eli to the Smithsonian, where everything about Captain America had been left. Except for the shield, of course. Sam led the two men down the museum, and Isaiah appeared to be in a state of shock upon seeing what they had put in the museum.

It was a gold statue of Isaiah, with his story on a pillar beside it.

After looking at everything about the exhibit, Isaiah began approaching Sam, who smiled at the old man.

"Now they'll never forget what you did for this country." Sam reassured him. "Never."

Isaiah grabbed Sam's hand and shook it, before embracing the man. He looked like he was going to cry out of joy, seeing that he now indeed was not going to be forgotten. And he had Sam to thank for that, but also Clover, who helped convince the government to put that exhibit up.

A few weeks later, down in Louisiana, there was a party being held, seemingly to celebrate Sam becoming the new Captain America. The whole neighbourhood had gathered at the dock, and Clover had brought their brothers and aunt along, as it was time the siblings got their aunt out of that small apartment and out of the busy city of New York. Much to the excitement of AJ and Cass, Bucky had also come along with what appeared to be a cake, and after play fighting a bit with the young boys, he set the cake down on a table, as Maria approached from close behind him.

Sam was happy to see Bucky and gave him a quick welcome hug, as he did with Maria shortly after. Things were still a bit awkward between Clover and Maria after she had confessed to killing their parents and sister, but things between them were getting better slowly but surely.

Overall, the party was pretty good. Many people from the community had come over to take pictures with the new Captain America, there were kids dangling from Bucky's metal arm, and Clover entertained people by using their powers to make itty bitty little snowmen. And boy, not only were people entertained, but they were intrigued by the young adult. Though Clover didn't mind. They weren't afraid of HYDRA, or anyone hunting them down for that matter, and they had come to embrace their powers, learning new ways to use them every day, just as they had embraced who they truly were. They were not gonna let anyone tell them who they were.

Isaac and Oliver Pine even took a picture with Sam, talking about getting to brag to their friends that they got to meet Captain America in person. Was it dumb? Eh, kinda, but it made the boys happy, which in turn put a smile on both Sam, and Olivia's faces. Olivia made sure to keep an eye on her nephews, especially considering Maria was in the same presence as them. Because while Clover seemed to trust Maria, unfortunately, the rest of the Pine family didn't...

As things seemed to calm down a bit, Sam found himself by the edge of the dock staring out into the water. He had been a bit lost in thought up until Clover showed up, standing next to him.

"So. That was quite the rough few months, wasn't it?" The young adult questioned. "Nice job, Birdbrain."

As Clover lightly punched their friend in the arm, Sam shrugged and nodded, smiling as he looked down at Clover, then patted them on the back as he then turned back to the calm waters. Bucky and Maria then also stood at the edge, next to Sam. The quartet stared out into the water and enjoyed their little happy ending. Things had been so crazy in the last several months, but together, they had pulled through. It didn't take long for the four of them to return to the party, which, as said before, was a total blast.

A/N: Been a while, I know. But in my defence, English class sucks because we've been doing nothing but writing essays all month.

A/N: There's gonna be one more chapter and then that should be the end of Frozen Over. So stay tuned for that.