Rise Above

20

Later that day, the three made their way to a field surrounded by trees.

Sam took a deep breath before throwing the shield to one of the trees. It bounced off and returned to him.

"Feels weird... Picking it up again," Sam said as he tossed the shield again. It bounced off a couple trees before Bucky caught it. "The legacy of that shield is complicated, to say the least."

Žofia nodded. "That's understandable."

Bucky let out a sigh. "When Steve told me what he was planning, I don't think either of us understood what it felt like for a black man to be handed the shield. I owe you an apology, Sam. I'm sorry." He handed the shield to Sam.

Sam took the shield and replied, "Thank you."

"Whatever happened with Walker, it wasn't your fault. I get it. It's just that shield is the closest thing I've got to family. So when you retired it, it made me feel like I had nothing left."

Žofia looked between them with a lightly curious expression.

Bucky glanced at Žofia before he continued. "Made me question everything. You, Steve, me. Even Žofia. 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," Sam said. "But Steve is gone." He sighed, as did Bucky. "And this might be a surprise, but it doesn't matter what Steve thought." He threw the shield and caught it when it came back to him. "You gotta stop looking to other people to tell you who you are." He threw the shield again, but when it came back, Bucky caught it. "Let me ask you. You still having nightmares?"

Bucky nodded. "All the time. It means I remember. Which means a part of the Winter Soldier's still in me." He threw the shield and Sam caught it.

"You up for a little tough love?" Bucky nodded. "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."

Bucky nodded. "Good talk." He and Sam did a high-five handshake.

"You two know Karli isn't going to quit, right?" Sam said.

Bucky smacked his lips. "Ah. You call us when you have a lead, and I'll be there. Not necessarily as a team."

"Nope."

"We're not that good."

"Definitely not."

"We're professionals."

"Definitely."

"And, uh, we're partners."

"Co-workers."

Žofia rolled her eyes. "Enough, gentlemen."

"But we're also a couple of guys with a mutual friend," Bucky said.

"Who is gone," Sam added.

"So we're a couple of guys."

"I can live with that."

"Perfect."

"Thanks for the help, guys. Meant a lot."

Žofia nodded. "Of course. I'm always available to serve justice."

"Of course," Bucky replied, clapping Sam on the shoulder before turning to Žofia. "You ready?"

She raised a brow. "You want me coming with you?"

"We haven't strangled each other yet."

"Touché, James."

The two walked away.

---

"There's only one last thing to do," Sam said.

Let's do it," Sarah replied.

---

Sarah walked up to Sam who was at the boat. "Stop. Don't... We can't sell it. I know, I know the speech, it's not smart, but... I just can't."

"Sarah, I'm so happy to hear you say that," Sam said. "We have to preserve this. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that I can't win every fight. And that's cool, I'm okay with that. But this... This is our history. We can't lose this fight. All our struggles as a people, I used to think, "I'mma show them, I'mma go out and change the world." Yeah, silly, I know, but... When I'd look in your eyes, I could tell you were always thinking that I was running away."

"Sam, listen to me. At no point in my life did I ever think you were running away from anything. Not even when I was lighting your ass up at the bank. Who knew you were so sensitive? God, I missed you so much... There's a fight out there and then there's our fight here. And, bro, you have taken them both on. So you really gonna let Isaiah Bradley get in your head? You gonna let him decide what you do next?"

"Isaiah's been to hell and back. If I were in his shoes, I'd probably feel the exact same way. But what would be the point of all the pain and sacrifice if I wasn't willing to stand up and keep fighting?"

The next day, Sam began practicing throwing the shield. He failed to catch the shield a couple times, but picked it up and continued practicing.

"All day, baby!" Sam cried as he jogged.

"Uncle Sam!" AJ and Cass called, running after their uncle.

"Get him, AJ," Cass said.

Sam stood on the dock, holding the shield. He threw it and caught it when it returned to him.

He practiced flips and catching the shield, successfully doing so each time.

Cass fingered the star on the shield and Sam smiled.

That night, Sam was watching the news.

A female news anchor said, "In New York, where the GRC is voting on the controversial Patch Act, which would move upwards of twenty million refugees back home to their countries of origin. It's coming during these difficult times of international politics."

Sam's phone rang and he answered.

Torres, on the other end, said, "Sorry this took so long. Spare you the technical details, but I finally got results for the scans you asked for, and I think we're onto something." Sam looked at a map with various places lit up. "When we look back, all these pings, they're from places just before the Flag Smashers hit, clearly, they're all over Europe. Earlier today, we got one from New York. Now, I can't promise you they're not using a VPN or masking their location, but..."

"Great work, Joaquin," Sam said. "I'll take it from here."

Sam looked at the briefcase Bucky and Žofia had brought and opened it. He swallowed, staring at the contents inside.