Red, White & Blue | Bucky x Reader

Chapter Fourteen

Back in Washington, we walk along the quiet street, slowly approaching the small, blue house and knocking on the back door.

Sam answers, curiosity in his features as he sees the dust and dirt covering our clothes and faces. "Hey."

"I'm sorry about this," Steve tells him. "We need a place to lay low."

"Everyone we know is trying to kill us," Natasha adds.

Sam looks between us, sensing the gravity of the situation.

"Not everyone," he says, stepping out of the way to let us in before closing the door and pulling the blinds down.

I take a seat at the kitchen table, lost in thought, as Steve and Natasha clean up in the other room.

Sam looks over from the counter, where he's preparing breakfast. "You okay?"

"Yeah..." I reply. "Just a lot going on..."

Sam sets a plate of eggs and toast in front of me before taking a seat. "You wanna talk about it?"

Sam listens intently as I tell him about my past, about how I grew up with Steve and Bucky, and how I followed them into the war. I explain how I was given my powers, and that after my capture, I couldn't continue being a nurse, so I joined the Commandos in their fight against HYDRA.

"And now we've discovered that HYDRA didn't die with the Red Skull," I inform Sam. "They've been secretly growing within SHIELD's own ranks... So, everything that we did to take them down, everything we sacrificed, including the life of the man I loved, was for nothing."

Sam nods in sympathy. "I understand that it might feel like that, but it wasn't for nothing. You helped end a war before it could take more lives. And sure, some remnant of HYDRA went into hiding, but you did stop them once, you can do it again."

"But how many times will it take?" I ask. "How long will I have to keep fighting the same fight?"

"I don't know," Sam shrugs. "But you won't have to do it on your own, you have people to help you."

I slowly nod and softly smile. "Thanks, Sam."

"Anytime," he replies, pushing the plate of food closer to me before getting up from the table. "But you can't fight HYDRA on an empty stomach, so eat up, kid."

I chuckle. "'Kid?' You do realize I'm ninety-three, right?"

"For real?" Sam asks, looking back at me as he walks over to the counter.

I nod as Steve and Natasha walk in.

"What's going on?" Steve asks.

"Oh, nothing," I reply with a smile as I start eating my breakfast. "Just needed a bit of advice."

After breakfast, we gather around Sam's kitchen table.

"So, the question is: who in SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?" Natasha asks.

"Pierce," Steve replies without missing a beat.

"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world," Natasha states.

"But he's not working alone," Steve reasons. "Zola's algorithm was on the 'Lemurian Star'."

"So was Jasper Sitwell," I remind them.

"So, the real question is: how do the three most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?" Steve ponders.

Sam takes a few steps back, returning a moment later with a file and dropping it on the table. "The answer is: you don't."

"What's this?" Steve asks, as Natasha picks up the file.

Sam shrugs. "Call it a resume."

"Is this Bakhmala? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you?" Natasha asks Sam before turning to Steve. "You didn't say he was a pararescue."

"Is this Riley?" Steve asks Sam, looking up from a photo of him and another man dressed in military gear. Sam nods.

"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs," Natasha continues, still browsing through the file. "What did you use? A stealth chute?"

"No. These," Sam replies, handing Steve a second file, labeled as a classified military project called 'Falcon.' Inside the folder are photos and diagrams of a backpack-like suit with thrusters and metal wings like a bird.

A smile grows on Steve's face. "I thought you said you were a pilot?"

Sam smiles back. "I never said pilot."

Steve returns his focus to the file and slowly shakes his head. "I can't ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason."

"Dude, Captain America needs my help," Sam argues. "There's no better reason to get back in."

"He's got a point," I tell Steve, tilting my head and smiling. "Remember what happened the last time you tried to stop someone from coming with you?"

Steve chuckles. "Sam actually has military training. You didn't."

I wrinkle my nose at him. "Technicality. But still, all the more reason to accept his help. You won't need to train him on the job."

Steve looks down once more, considering the offer before finally lifting the file into the air. "Where can we get our hands on one of these things?"

"The last one is at Fort Meade," Sam answers, "behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall."

Steve glances over at Natasha, who shrugs her shoulders like it's no big deal, before turning back to Sam. "Shouldn't be a problem."