"Y/n?" A small voice calls out.
"Grace!" You shout as she peaks out from behind a curtain. A gunshot rings out as you crash to the ground. Sam and Bucky's heads whip up as they run to where the sound came from. You groan in pain as Grace screamed in fear. "Grace, listen to me, stay back" you hold up a hand to keep her away. Sam rushes into the area to join the fight.
"Sam, stay back." Karli warns, gun still trained on you. Your hands make their way to the bullet wound in your abdomen, putting pressure on it.
"So, what's next, huh? You kill ten this time, then, what, a hundred? Where does it end? Please, let me help you" Sam tries to talk her down.
"Don't try and manipulate me." The red head sneers, turning her gun on Grace who now stood out in the open, an easy target for the flag smasher.
"Karli, don't!" You plead. Sam flys forward and knocks her back. She fights him as he tricks her into moving away from you and Grace.
"Y/n!" Bucky called, rushing to your side immediately.
"No! Go get Grace!" You point towards her, keeping pressure on your bullet wound. He nods running over to the girl.
"Hey Grace, your gonna come with me okay?" He kneels down to her level like you always did.
"Is she gonna die?" The girls blue eyes were trained on your pained figure, bleeding out on the concrete.
"No, no she's tough, she's gonna be fine" Bucky looks back before brushing hair out of the girls face and picking her up in his arms, trying to reassure himself as well.
"Can I go see her?"
"Yeah I think she'd like that" he smiled to the little girl as he stood up and walked over to you. "Be careful" he warned sternly but gently as he set her down beside you.
"Aw, hi Grace" you looked at her as Bucky helped you move to a sitting position.
"Careful" he scolded you, metal arm moving to put pressure on your wound as you groaned in pain again.
"Bucky can you promise me something?" You look into his intense ice blue eyes.
"Yes of course, anything"
"I need you to promise me that if I don't make it you will take care of Grace"
"No, don't say that you are going to make it, you have to make it." He argues right away.
"I don't know if I can" you groan in pain once more, shifting slightly.
"Listen to me, you are going to make it because you need to save this princess right here" he pointed to Grace. "And you need to stay with me" he started to cry as your blood seeped onto his metal hand. You reached up with both hands and pulled him down to meet your lips in a kiss.
"Okay, I'll hold on" you nodded in pain as you pulled away. He moved his human hand to wipe the dirt and blood from your cheek while making a comment.
"Now I see what your mother meant when she spent so much time wiping dirt off your face and looking for her hanker chief" Bucky laughed to mask his fear, but you could tell he was terrified to lose you.
"And I know what it means when you have your own adventurous little girl" you bring a hand up to graces face as you wipe the dirt from her cheek, just like your mother would to you.
"Let's get you out of here" he scooped you up bridal style as he carried you out, with Grace following right beside you.
~~~
"Can you hold my hand?" You reached out for Bucky.
"Of course" he holds your hand in his human one as Grace sits next to him in the ambulance. The EMT stitched up your wound as you winced in pain and squeezed Bucky's hand tightly in yours. As the stitches were finished up Grace moved to the edge of the ambulance to look outside, red and blue lights flashing around.
"Woah, mommy look at that!" Grace pointed as you and Bucky turned to see the little girl who had found her way into your heart, pointing excitedly towards the sight before you.
"Yeah, that's our new captain America" you looked out at Sam as he flew in, holding Karli's limp body in his arms. "What?" You looked up to see Bucky staring down at you with a large smile growing on his face.
"She just called you mommy" he pointed out. You gasped at the realization and smiled brightly at your two favourite people sitting with you.
"Your all good to go ma'am" the EMT told you as he put the supplies away. You sat up with a groan as Bucky's human arm found its way to your back, helping you up.
"Grace, be careful" you warned as she jumped out of the back and waited for you and Bucky to climb out.
"But Bucky said you should be careful" she pointed out.
"Oh I see" you turned your head to face him. "You're already being a bad influence on my little girl" you joking scolded the brunette.
"Well, you gotta admit that it was expected" you shrugs. You laugh and lightly punch him in the arm before he snakes his arm around your waist and Grace stands in front of you both.
"What happened to the Flag Smashers? When did the government make you Captain America?" A reporter calls out.
"Is it still Falcon? Or is it Captain Falcon?"
"Sam, thank you so much, from all of us." A senator thanks him as he passes the reporters to join the group waiting for him.
"Sincerely, you did your part in dealing with those terrorists, now we'll do ours." Another senator speaks up.
"Are you still going forward with resetting the borders?" Sam asked.
"Our peacekeeping troops will begin relocating people soon. The terrorists only set us back a bit."
"You have to stop calling them terrorists."
"What else would we call them?"
"Your peacekeeping troops carrying weapons are forcing millions of people into settlements around the world, right? What do you think those people are gonna call you? These labels, 'terrorists', 'refugee', 'thug', they're often used to get around the question, why?" Sam snaps back at the senators as you, Bucky and Grace watch from the sidelines.
"Those settlements that happened five years ago, do you think it is fair for governments to have to support them?"
"Yes."
"And the people who reappeared only to find someone else living in their family home, they just end up homeless? Look, I get it. But you have no idea how complicated this situation is." A senator tells him.
"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. How did it feel to be helpless? Now if you could remember what it was like to be helpless and face a force so powerful it could erase half the planet, you would know that you're about to have the exact same impact. This isn't about easy decisions, Senator." Sam starts his speech.
"You just don't understand." The senator snaps causing Sam to scoff at his words.
"I'm a Black man carrying the stars and stripes. What don't I understand? Every time I pick this thing up, I know there are millions of people out there who are gonna hate me for it. Even now, here, I feel it. The stares, the judgment. And there's nothin' I can do to change it. 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 step up if we don't meet them halfway. Look, you control the banks. shit, you can move borders! You can knock down a forest with an email, you can feed a million people with a phone call. But the question is, who's in the room with you when you're making those decisions? Hmm? Is it the people you're gonna impact? Or is it just more people like you? I mean, this girl died trying to stop you, and no one has stopped for one second to ask why. You've gotta do better, Senator. You've gotta step up. Because if you don't, the next Karli will. And you don't wanna see 2.0. People believed in her cause so much that they helped her defy the strongest governments in the world. Why do you think that is? Look, you people have just as much power as an insane god or a misguided teenager. The question you have to ask yourself is, How are you going to use it?" With that Sam marches off towards you and the others.
"Sorry, I was, uh, I was texting and so, all I heard was, um, 'a Black guy in stars and stripes'." Bucky comments as they both laugh.
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Question of the day: what were your reactions to the events in this chapter?
There's only two more chapters left! Thank you all so much for the love you have given this story and I'm looking forward to sharing more story's and ideas with you in the future.