Till the End of the Line Vol. 5

Chapter 23 - It's Over

Sometime later, Sofia and Loki approach the construction site looking for Bucky, Becca, and Sam in the very back of the crowd. Loki points forward as he sees Becca, Walker, and Bucky emerging from across the street. Loki and Sofia are relieved. Sofia turns to Loki and hugs him as she is happy that they are alive. Becca nudges Bucky and hints to him to look forward. He looks up, points forward and sees Sofia standing next to Loki. He smiles at her. Loki runs up to Becca as Bucky is walking towards Sofia. Loki kisses Becca with tears in his eyes. He places one hand on her arm and her baby bump and asks, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, we're both okay," Becca replied. Loki and Becca lean in and kiss each other again.

Bucky embraces Sofia and passionately kisses her. Sofia looks into his eyes and sees the tears in his eyes. They then place their heads together and take a deep exhale. At that moment, they all look up as they hear and see Sam coming down with Karli's dead body. Bucky looks at her; Sofia then looks at him and nods for him to go to Sam. As Bucky leaves, Loki and Becca stand next to Sofia in comfort.

One reporter asks, "What happened to the Flag Smashers?"

"When did the government make you Captain America?" asks another reporter.

"Is it still Falcon?"

"Or is it Captain Falcon?"

Sam approaches the delegates. "Sam, thank you so much, from all of us," says Ayla.

The Senator agrees and says, "Sincerely. You did your part in dealing with those terrorists, now we'll do ours."

"Are you still going forward with resetting the borders?" asks Sam.

"Our peacekeeping troops will begin relocating people soon," Lacont. "The terrorists only set us back a bit."

"You have to stop calling them terrorists."

"What else would we call them?" asks the Senator.

"Your peacekeeping troops carrying weapons are forcing millions of people into settlements around the world, right?" The Senator shrugs. "What do you think those people are gonna call you? These labels, "terrorists", "refugee", "thug", they're often used to get around the question, "why?"

"Those settlements that happened five years ago, do you think it is fair for governments to have to support them?" Lacont asks him.

"Yes," Sam replied.

"And the people who reappeared only to find someone else living in their family home, they just end up homeless?" asks the Senator. "Look, I get it. But you have no idea how complicated this situation is."

Sam exhales his anger, "You know what? You're right." The Senator and Delegates turn to him. News reporters turn to Sam and cover him on the news. "And that's a good thing. We finally have a common struggle now. 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 that you're about to have the exact same impact. This isn't about easy decisions, Senator."

"You just don't understand."

Sam scoffs. "I'm a Black man carrying the stars and stripes. What don't I understand? Every time I pick this thing up, I know there are millions of people out there who are gonna hate me for it. Even now."

At the same time, in Steve's apartment, Natasha, Yelena, Steve, and Sarah are watching Tv. Steve's happy to Sam standing up to the delegates of the GRC. "...here... I feel it," Sam continues. "The stares, the judgment. And there's nothin' I can do to change it. Yet, I'm still here. No super serum, no blond hair, or blue eyes."