White Panther--Bucky x Y/N

Chapter 37

2023

You sat there for a moment, than picked Karli up, and brought her out from underground.

You walked to where all the agents were.

Everyone stared at you. Bucky, John, and Sam, all standing in a triangle, staring.

You placed her into a ambulance bed, than deactivated your mask.

It revealed your bruised face and bloody nose.

"What happened to the Flag Smashers?" "When did the government make you White Panther?" "Is it still Y/N?" "Or is it Y/N Panther?" Reporters buzzed at you.

You walked calmly through them, all the way to the agents.

"Y/N, thank you so much," Alya said. "From all of us."

"Sincerely," The senator said. "You did your part in dealing with those terrorists, now we'll do ours. Your suit will not be taken away, or tracked."

"You have to stop calling them terrorists," You said.

You saw Bucky, Sam, and John, all walk closer to you.

"What else would we call them?" The senator asked.

"Your peacekeeping troops carrying weapons are forcing millions of people into settlements around the world, right?" You said.

The senator and Alya nodded their heads.

"What do you think those people are gonna call you?" You asked. You saw Bucky, leaning against an ambulance truck, staring at you. You knew you were going to be rewarded. "These labels, 'terrorists', 'refugee', 'thug', they're often used to get around the question, why?"

"Those settlements that happened five years ago," Alya said. "Do you think it is fair for governments to have to support them?"

"Yes," You answered, with no hesitation.

"And the people who reappeared, only to find someone else living in their family home," The senator said. "They just end up homeless?

You stared at him. You were getting mad. Upset. Why couldn't they just understand you?

"Look, I get it," The senator continued. "But you have no idea how complicated this situation is." He started walking away.

You scoffed. "You know what? You're right. And that's a good thing."

He turned back around to look at you.

"We finally have a common struggle now," You said. "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? 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 what you're about to have the exact same impact."

You looked around. All the agents were deep in thought, and you saw Bucky. Bucky was looking at the ground in front of him, deep in thought. You sighed a shaky breath.

"This isn't about easy decisions, Senator," You continued.

"You just don't understand," The senator said.

You scoffed.

"Why? Because I'm a woman who's dealing with all this shit?" You said. Bucky's head snapped up, his face growing angry at the senator. "What don't I understand?"

Bucky's eyes flicked to you, watching over you.

"Everytime I picked up Steve's shield," You said. "I knew there were millions of people who could hate me for it. Even now, here...I feel it."

You held your hands out to Sam, who nodded, and gave you the shield. You held it on your arm, looking down at it.

"I feel the stares, the judgement," You said. "And there's nothing I can do to change it. Yet, I'm still here. I got super serum, but I don't got the Captain America haircut, or his ocean blue eyes. The only power I have is what 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, and you could feed a million people with a phone call. But the question is...who's in the room when you make those decisions? Hmm? Is it the people you're gonna impact? Or is it just more people like you? And no one has stopped for one second to ask why. You've gotta do better, Senator."

You stepped towards him, pointing your finger at him. You were pissed, and your nose bleeding was not helping.

"You've gotta step up," You said. "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, to get to me. They wanted me, Senator. They wanted me, so people would listen to me. But would you? No, I bet you wouldn't. Why? Because I'm a woman, isn't that so, Mr. Senator? 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?'"

You walked away from all of the agents and senator, not even letting them answer.

You nodded at John, who nodded back, and gave the shield back to Sam.

Sam wrapped you into a hug.

"You did great," He whispered. "We need more woman like you, Y/N."

You pulled away, smiling at him.

You locked eyes with Bucky, who had a smile on his face.

You walked up to him.

"Sorry, I was uh, I was texting and so, all I heard was, um, 'you damn people don't listen to woman'," Bucky said, chuckling.

You laughed, and he pulled you into a hug.

"I'm gonna reward you so much tonight," Bucky whispered.

"Bucky!" You snarled. "Not out loud!"

"Nice job, doll," Bucky said, changing the subject and smiling at you.

"Thanks, Sergeant," You said.

You, Bucky, and Sam, were all walking away, until Sam said, "Sharon?"

You all walked up to her. She was holding a cloth at her hip.

"Blocking my light," She said, weakly.

"We gotta get you to a hospital," You said.

"She's not gonna listen," Bucky said.

"It's not the worst thing that's happened to me all week," Sharon said, panting.

"Told you," Bucky said.

"Uh, Y/N?" Someone said. You didn't look in their direction. Sharon looked at you.

"I think he's talking to you," She said.

You nodded your head slowly, still not looking in the direction.

"Look, I'm sorry for how things ended down there," Sharon said. "To all of you. For what it's worth, suit looks good on you." She said that last part to Sam.

"Thanks," Sam said.

"All right look," You said. "Can we get out of here, please?"

"Go talk to that person first," Bucky said.

"Fine," You said. You walked over to the man who called for you. "Yes?"

"So, we got eyes on the last Flag Smasher that fell into the Hudson," the man said. "He's hurt, but not down. Can you help?"

"Always," You said, activating your mask.