CHAPTER 32,
A SPEECH THAT NEEDS TO BE HEARD
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KEELA AND SHARON had taken the longer route out of the building to avoid the gazes of other people, not wanting to be questioned about everything that's happened on national television. They appear out the back of the building where Keela allows the blonde woman to rest nearby, specifically stating that she should receive medical attention. A grip is then felt on her arm where the brunette spins around to find Bucky standing there. She instantly engulfs him in a warm hug as their arms wrap tightly around one another.
"You're okay." Bucky breathes out, relieved. "I thought maybe something happened."
"I'm here, I'm okay." Keela assures.
The two then pull apart slightly but remain side by side, Bucky arms snaked around Keela's waist to keep her close. They notice everyone else's attention is turned towards the night skies so they both follow the gazes. There, Sam can be seen flying through the air with Karli's body still held in his grip — almost appearing as an angel coming down from above.
He lands safely down onto the ground and places Karli down onto one of the medical stretchers. The paramedics wheel her away towards the ambulance in order to tend to her as fast as possible. News reporters waste zero time in pushing themselves forwards through and shoving their equipment into Sam's face, bombarding him with many questions that they want answering.
"Sam, thank you so much. From all of us." Ayla (a woman he saved moments before) tells him.
"Sincerely." Senator adds with an agreeing nod. "You did your part in dealing with those terrorists, now we'll do ours."
"Are you still going forward with resetting the borders?" Sam asks.
"Our peacekeeping troops will begin relocating people soon. The terrorists only set us back a bit."Lacont informs.
"You need to stop calling them terrorists." Sam states in disapproval.
Senator frowns. "What else would we call them?"
"Your peacekeeping troops carrying weapons are forcing millions of people in settlements around the world, right?" Sam questions, receiving a nod in response. "What do you think those people are going to 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 you think it is fair for governments to have to support them?" Lacont asks.
Sam nods. "Yes."
"And the people who reappeared, only to find someone else living in their family home, they just end up homeless?" Senator pushes. "I get it. You have no idea how complicated this situation is."
"You're right." Sam agrees. "But that's a good thing. We finally have a common struggle now. For once, all those people that been begging for you to feel how hard any given day is... Now, you know."
Silence.
"How did it feel to be helpless?" Sam continues. "If you could remember what it was like to feel that way and face a force so powerful that it could erase half of the planet, you would know that you're about to have the exact same impact. This isn't about easy decisions."
"You just don't understand." Senator fires back, not giving a valid reason for his argument.
"I'm a black man carrying the stars and stripes. What don't I understand? Every time I pick this shield up, I know there are millions of people who are going to hate me for it." Sam informs.
John Walker drops his head down slightly as his recalls multiple memories of his greed of keeping the shield to himself getting the best of him. He's made multiple mistakes, ones that have costed the life of his best friend and the removal of his position in the government. But everyone knows Steve Rogers handed Sam the title of Captain America to continue the legacy and save civilians.
"I can even feel the stares and judgements just by standing here. And there is nothing I can do to change anything about that." Sam continues. "Yet, I'm still here. No super serum, no blond hair or blue eyes. The only power I have is that I believe we can do better. We can't demand that people are going to step up if we don't meet them halfway."
Silence.
"You could feed a million people with a simple phone call if you tried." Sam tells them. "But the question is, who's in the room when you're making those decisions? Is it the people you're going to impact? Or is it just more people like you?"
A smile of pride spreads across Keela's face as she listens to Sam give out his speech and feed the government the information that they really need to hear. They've all been so blinded by the power they hold that they haven't been looking into other peoples perspective.
"This girl died trying to stop you, and no one has stopped for a single second to ask why." Sam states. "You've got to do better, Senator. You've got to step. Because if you don't then the next Karli Morgenthau will. And you don't want to see 2.0. People believe in her cause so much that they helped her defy the strongest governments in the world. Why do you think that is?"
Silence once again.
"You people have just as much power as an insane god or a misguided teenager!" Sam exclaims. "The question you have to ask yourself is, how are you going to use it?'"
With that, Sam turns and walks away from the conversation where his eyes drift over to the three adults standing beside one of the ambulances nearby. He gives John Walker a gentle nod, receiving one in return. The blond man then wanders off and allows them all to privately talk to one another.
"Sorry. I was, uh, texting and so all I heard was 'a black guy in stars and stripes'." Bucky says with sarcasm laced in his voice.
"You sure you weren't just making out with Keela in the back of this van?" Sam questions with a laugh, deciding to fire back his own comment.
"Hey, you shut the hell up before I kick your ass right here." Keela jokingly threatens.
The sound of laughter fills the air as the three friends continue walking forwards. Smiles have split across their faces as they glance at each other.
"Nice job, Cap." Bucky congratulates.
"Thank you." Sam replies.
"I'm proud of you." Keela tells him. "From some guy that led a support group Steve found while out running, to you here now as Captain America while giving therapy to your favourite Winter Soldiers."
Sam laughs. "Thank you, Keela."
Up ahead, Sharon can be seen resting her body against a car with some bloodied cloths gripped at hand. She's trying to clean out her bullet wound to prevent an infection from flaring up, small hisses of pain leaving her mouth at her own actions. Keela just huffs in frustration as she comes to a realisation that Sharon did not listen to her in the slightest.
"I thought I told you to get help." Keela states.
"I am." Sharon replies, motioning down to herself in defence. "I'm helping myself. Anyway, it's not the worst thing that's happened to me all week."
"You dumbass." Keela mumbles.
"I'm sorry for how things ended down there." Sharon apologises, ignoring the brunette. "For what it's worth, the suit looks good on you."
"Thanks." Sam replies.