THIEF | BUCKY BARNES

ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTEEN

SPEECH
❝Captain America, man you're looking good.❞

Bucky's arms wrapped around Odessa's shoulders as Sam slowly flew down with Karli in his arms. Odessa tensed up once she realised the girl was dead. Her hands flew up to Bucky's wrists and she tilted her head back to look up at him.

The man placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head, silently telling her that he wasn't going to be going anywhere. That she would always have him.

A gurney and two paramedics rushed up to Sam, so that he could placed Karli's lifeless body down. Everyone stood around and watched, a few even recorded Sam.

"What happened to the flag smashers?" A reporter questioned Sam curiously. "When did the government make you Captain America?"

"Sam, thank you so much, from all of us." Ayla, a member of the GRC spoke.

"Sincerely." The senator nodded in agreement. "You did your part in dealing with those terrorists, now we'll do ours."

"Are you still going forward with resetting the borders?" Sam asked curiously, his eyes flickering over to Odessa and Bucky.

Odessa attempted to offer the man a reassuring smile, but she knew it wasn't enough. Sam needed to be around people who cared about him right now, he needed to be around family. And being surrounded by members of the GRC and news's reporters wasn't going to be good for him.

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

Sam clenched his jaw, shaking his head as he did so before he said, "You have to stop calling
them terrorists."

"What else would we call them?" The senator questioned, almost disgusted at the idea that they were anything other than terrorists.

"Your peacekeeping troops carrying weapons are forcing millions of people into settlements around the world, right?" Sam paused, but he didn't give anyone a chance to answer. "What do you think those people are gonna call you?"

There was a silence that washed over everyone. Bucky pulled his dog tags from around his neck and placed them around Odessa's. He noticed the way she smiled once the metal connected with her skin and made a small clinking sound.

"These labels, 'terrorists', 'refugee', 'thug.' They're often used to get around the question, why?" Sam continued.

"Those settlements that happened five years ago, do you think it is fair for governments to have to support them?" Lacont spoke slowly, almost as if Sam wouldn't understand it otherwise.

"Yes." Sam answered without any hesitation.

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

Odessa looked around at everyone, wondering which of them were apart of the blip. She wondered how different it would have been if she and Bucky were ever blipped.

"You know what? You're right. 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." Sam spoke up.