CHAPTER 8,
A VISIT TO ISAIAH
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THE THREE, after walking away from John Walker and the attempt to get them on his side, can be found sitting back inside the aircraft as Torres applies his pilot skills to fly them out of Munich and back home. Sam is laying on the seats with his head resting on the duffel bag he brought along, Keela on the seats opposite him where she too is laying down, and then Bucky is seated up on the large crate in the middle of the room.
"Let's take the shield and do this ourselves." Bucky tells them both, being deadly serious.
"We can't just run up on the man, beat him up, and take it." Sam states.
"Technically, we can." Keela argues.
"Do you remember what happened the last time we stole it?" Sam asks, glancing between them both as he sits up. "I'll help you in case you forgot. Sharon was branded enemy of the state, and Steve and I were on the run for two years. I don't know about either of you, but I don't want to live the rest of my life like that. We just got our ass handed to us by super-soldiers, and we got nothing."
"Not entirely true." Bucky says.
As he says this, he hops down from the crate and slowly walks over to where Keela still remains laying down on the seats. He didn't even realise who he was walking over to, almost like his brain had sent signals to control his actions so that he'll be next to her — kind of automatic since he never left her side back when they were dating. But still, Bucky takes a seat down beside where her head lays and looks over at Sam to continue talking.
"There is someone that you should meet." Bucky informs.
"Both of us, or just Sam?" Keela questions.
"I think you might've met him already, but I'm not sure." Bucky replies as he looks down at her, instantly meeting her eyes.
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Keela follows Bucky up along the narrow paths as she walks directly beside him, making their way up to one of the many houses located in the neighbourhood. Sam is with them too but got held up for a moment or so because a young boy recognised him as 'Black Falcon'. But he doesn't fall too behind, catching up with them quite quickly.
Bucky raises his fist and bangs at the door quite harshly, wanting to make sure that it's heard they're here. It's takes less than a minute for the first door to be swung open where it's revealed that a teenage boy, possibly even a young adult, is standing there with confusion crossed over his face as he glances between the three — he's not confused about who they are because he knows that information, but rather on why they are here at their house.
"We're here to see Isaiah." Bucky announces.
Keela's heart drops. Neither her or Sam were told who exactly they would be visiting today, it being kept a secret just in case they aren't able to talk to him. She's never met the man but she's heard stories about him, just like she's heard about the other super-soldiers that were created decades ago with HYDRA.
"Nobody named Isaiah lives here." The boy informs.
"We just want to talk to him." Bucky pushes.
"You must not have heard what I just said." The boy fires back. "None of you are getting in this house, so you can leave now."
"Tell him the guy from the bar in Goyang is here. He'll know what that means." Bucky continues.
The boy disappears for a minute or two in order to go talk to Isaiah and inform him about the people outside on their doorstep. This leaves the three awkwardly standing there as they wait for any type of message to be relayed back to them, whether it's telling them to turn around and leave or inviting them in to talk.
"Nice kid." Sam comments. "How do you know this guy?"
"I used to." Bucky corrects. "We had a skirmish during the Korean War."
Both of the doors suddenly swing as the boy is found standing there once again. He gestures them to step inside of the house and talk to Isaiah like they had planned to, closing the door behind them. Keela looks up ahead of them as she walks behind the males, eyes resting on Isaiah as he stands there tall with a stern look crossed over his face.
"Isaiah." Bucky greets, nodding his head. "This is, uh, Keela and Sam. Guys, this is Isaiah."
"I know of Keela." Isaiah informs.
"You do?" Keela questions.
"You were one of the most powerful Winter Soldier's besides him, of course I have. I heard all about the killings you did and how you worked for HYDRA." Isaiah tells him. "Do you know of me?"
Keela nods. "Yeah, I do. You're a hero. One of the ones that HYDRA feared the most, like Steve."
"Have you met before?" Bucky asks.
"No. I never got fortunate enough to whup both of your asses, so you got a pretty good beating from me." Isaiah comments.
"You fought?" Keela questions, glancing over at Bucky as he just purses his lips.
"Oh, yeah." Isaiah replies, nodding. "There were always whispers that he was on the peninsula, but everyone they sent after him never came back. So the military dropped me behind the line to go deal with him. I took half that metal arm in that fight in Goyang, but I see he's managed to grow it back. She was hidden far somewhere else, no one knows where. I just wanted to see if he got the arm back, or if both of them had come to kill me."
"We're not killers anymore." Bucky states.
Isaiah scoffs. "You think you can wake up one decide who you wanna be? No, it doesn't work like that. Well, maybe it does for folks like you."
"Isaiah, the reason we're here is because there's more of you, me, and Keela out there." Bucky informs.
"You, me, and her." Isaiah repeats, disgust laced in his voice. "I'm not gonna talk about it anymore."
Out of anger, Isaiah lurches forwards and grabs the nearest object he can to unleash his emotions. It ends up being a small metal can that he then proceeds to launch towards the wall, half of it getting embedded into the wooden framing of a nearby door. Sam's eyes widen at the sigh, Keela swallowing a nervous lump in her throat for she does not wish to anger a hero or bring up memories of the past.
"You know what they did to me for being a hero? They put my ass in jail for thirty years!" Isaiah exclaims. "People were running tests on me. They kept coming into my cell and taking my blood. Even your people weren't done with me."
"Isaiah—" Sam begins.
"Get out of my house!" Isaiah snaps.
Bucky immediately turns to leave the house like demanded, Keela following his lead in respect. Sam, however, looks hesitant because he doesn't want to anger the man but there's still so much more he wants to find out. But the boy that first welcomed them into the house steps forwards and begins to escort them out, slamming the door shut behind them as the three enter the streets.
"Sam—" Keela begins, picking up on his body language and how he appears to be angered.
"Why didn't either of you tell me about Isaiah?" Sam angrily asks, interrupting her. "How could nobody bring him up?"
Silence.
"Did Steve know about him?" Sam asks, pushing for answers from both of them.
"No, because I didn't tell him." Bucky replies.
"So you're telling me that there was a black super-soldier decades ago and nobody knew about it?" Sam exclaims.
They stop in the middle of the road, turning to face one another to continue the conversation. However, the sound of sirens and tires moving against concrete is heard, followed by a shout. The three glance over their shoulders to see that a police car had pulled up beside them, officers stepping out of the car and making their way towards them.
"Is there a problem here?" One officer asks.
"No, we're just talking." Sam replies.
"We're fine." Keela assures.
"Can I see your ID?" The second officer asks, directing it towards Sam.
"I don't have ID." Sam informs. "Why?"
"Sir, just calm down." The first offer calmly says.
"I am calm." Sam replies. "What do you want? We're just talking."
"Just give him your ID so we can leave." Bucky tells him.
"I'm not giving him shit!" Sam fires back.
"Hey, hey." An officer says, trying to calm Sam down before turning to the two. "Is this guy bothering you?"
"No, he's not bothering us!" Keela exclaims, frustrated that they aren't listening. "We're friends that are just having a conversation. You can go."
"Do you even know who this is?" Bucky asks the officers, matching her energy of annoyance.
"These guys are the Avengers." The second officer whispers to the first, his face dropping at the information as realisation comes to him.
"Oh, god. I am so sorry, Mr Wilson." The officer apologises, regretting his actions immediately. "I didn't recognise you without the goggles. I am really sorry about this."
"No, but the problem here is that if you didn't know him then you probably would've arrested him. You weren't even listening to us when we said everything was okay." Keela argues. "Avengers or not, this shouldn't be happening over friends having a conversation."
The sound of a pair of sirens is heard as another cop car pulls up beside them. The two police officers they were talking to quickly instructs them to stay where they are, disappearing back to their vehicle to communicate with their coworkers over the radio.
"I didn't tell him because he has already been through enough." Bucky informs. "And I don't think Keela told him because she didn't personally meet Isaiah."
"Mr Barnes." A police officer calls, pulling them away from the conversation. "There's a warrant out for your arrest."
"The president pardoned him for all that." Sam defends.
"Not for that." The officer replies. "You missed your court-mandated therapy. It's like missing a check-in with your PO. I'm sorry, Mr Barnes, but you're under arrest."
"You idiot." Keela comments, muttering it under her breath.
As she says this, her head tilts to look in Bucky's direction to see that he had already heard what was said and is looking down at her. A light laugh leaves his mouth as she merely smiles in response, a fluttery feeling swarming her stomach at the sound she hasn't heard in a long time.
Idiot... One of the silly nicknames they used to call each other on rare occasions, like when he told her not to do anything stupid, and she called him an idiot. She didn't even mean to let the nickname slip out of her mouth like that, not realising until she actually said it.
However, despite the little moment, Bucky turns back towards the police officers and reality settles in that he's being arrested. A small sigh leaves his mouth as he stretches his wrists out in front, allowing them to place handcuffs around him. The man turns and looks at the two one last time before climbing into the car, Keela watching the police cars disappear off into the distance.
Sam reaches out and slings an arm around the brunettes shoulder, pulling her into the side of her body. Nothing needs to be said to know that Keela needs some form of comfort that everything will be okay. The both of them did just see Bucky get arrested and neither of them know what exactly will happen from here on.