Trying Your Luck - Bucky BarnesxOC

Part 57: When the Party's Over

"Bucky said Oeznik did some of this?"

"Yeah," Sam replies. "He dug the slug out of your shoulder. It wasn't in that deep."

"Thank God."

"Bucky stitched you up. He did a hell of a job, too."

She smiles softly. Sam is gentle as he cleans up the wound. He makes sure that she still has mobility, asking her to lift it as high as she can. It hurts, but it's not the worst thing in the world. Sam applies antibiotic ointment to the area in lieu of being able to go to the hospital. He tells her it doesn't look nearly as bad as it feels and this should fight off any kind of infection so long as they keep it clean. The bullet managed to miss bone, which apparently is a good thing. Shannon sips at her whiskey. It's not as painful as she originally anticipated. He rebandages the wound, wrapping it the same way that Oeznik did, with a little bit of extra gauze to avoid irritation.

The front door opens, and Bucky walks through. He smiles at her as Sam eases her back on the couch and goes to sit at the bar.

"Well," he announces as Zemo opens the bathroom door. "The Wakandans are here. They want Zemo. I bought us some more time."

"The Wakandans?" She asks.

"King T'Chaka," Sam reminds her.

"Right. Sorry. Lotta information to process in the past week."

"Were you followed?" Sam asks Bucky.

"No."

"How can you be so sure?" Zemo asks, looking out the window.

Bucky huffs and rolls his eyes.

"Because I know when I'm being followed."

Zemo turns around, his drink clutched nervously in his hands.

"It was sweet of you to defend me, at least."

"Hey. You shut it," Sam spits. "No one's defending you. You killed Nagel."

"Do we really have to litigate what may or may not have happened?"

"There's nothing to litigate!" Sam exclaims. "You straight shot the man!"

Zemo glances down at Shannon and she puts her hands in the air as she pulls out her phone to scroll through Instagram.

"I'm not getting involved in this. I already got shot."

Her friends are all doing normal things. Drinks on patios, wine dinners. Her inbox is full of messages of people checking in on her. The last photo she posted was one of her and Bucky in Kansas, lounging in her parents' backyard. Their heads are pressed together and Sam is in the background giving Bucky the finger. It's probably her most-liked photo. It makes her laugh every single time she sees it. She misses them like this. Happy, at ease, and carefree – or, as carefree as you can get.

"Sam," Bucky says softly, glancing down at his Tinder phone, which has quickly become his main source of communication. He still has his flip phone. Nobody would be able to pry that away from him without getting their arm broken. "Karli bombed a GRC supply depot."

Sam's body goes rigid.

"What? What's the damage?"

"Eleven injured, three dead. They have a list of demands and are promising more attacks if those demands aren't met in full."

Shannon's phone rings and she grimaces, excusing herself and walking into the bathroom.

"Hello?"

"Shan?" Janice asks. Her voice is tense, worried. Shannon's heart begins to race. She can hear Sam, Bucky, and Zemo arguing in the other room, but their voices are quickly drowned out by her own tension.