The cool sea air hit Y/n when she swung open the car door. She stepped out onto the harbor at Louisiana and sighed in relief. She and Bucky had been doing a lot of traveling recently and she would really appreciate a moment to sit down and be stationary.
After they had been to Sokovia and arrested Zemo, Bucky asked the Wakandans if they would make a new suit for Sam considering Walker had practically destroyed his. Bucky had specifically asked them for a Captain America/Falcon suit. It has the look of Steve's, but Sam's wings and a new redwing.
Y/n had laughed when Bucky reluctantly asked them to make him a new one considering how much he hated the flying droid.
They had flown back from Sokovia and are now visiting Sam so they can give him his new suit.
Bucky stepped out of the rental car and opened up the back seat. He pulled out a sleek, silver case from the back and closed the door behind him.
The two of them then began to walk along the dock towards the large boat that was surrounded by people.
Y/n spotted Sam standing in front of a truck with two older gentlemen. It seems as if Sam's entire neighborhood is out on the dock helping out with Sam's boat.
She and Bucky walked closer to Sam and the two men, she caught on to their conversation as they got closer. She didn't want to use her powers to intrude on them, but the closer she got, the harder it was to tune out.
"Tommy, Carlos, man, this is amazing. Thanks so much, man." Sam said to the two men.
"Look..." one of the men began to say
"Thank y'all." Sam said
"Hey, look, word gets out the Wilson family needs help?" One of the older men said
"Yes, sir." Someone added
"We still got a bit of usefulness in us." The older man said
"How do we get it off the truck?" Sam asked
Bucky handed Y/n the case with Sam's suit and he walked up to the truck. Y/n smiled as Bucky grabbed the crate with both hands and lifted it up and over his head. He grunted and dropped it down onto the side of the dock, Y/n couldn't help but marvel at how strong he was.
"Oh!" One of the men gasped
"You're welcome." Bucky said to them, he then took the case out of Y/n's hands and placed it on the bed of the truck where the crate once was.
"Just dropping this off. You can sign for it and we'll go." Bucky said to him. Y/n frowned over at him for a moment before she shot Sam an apologetic smile. Bucky had still been on edge around him since they fought Walker.
Sam returned her smile before he walked up to the case and examined it.
"I called in a favor from the Wakandans." Bucky said to him.
Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by a hissing sound. Y/n flinched slightly at the unexpected sound and turned around, the noise was coming from a pipe on the boat. Steam was billowing out of it as it hissed.
"Sam!" A woman shouted, who Y/n recognised to be Sam's sister, Sarah.
Sam quickly walked over to the boat and picked up a spanner. He held the spanner up to the broken pipe and attempted to twist it and stop the hissing.
Bucky decided to go to Sam's aid, he left Y/n's side and greeted Sarah as he passed her. "Hi."
"Hi." She greeted him in return
With a smile.
Bucky stepped into the boat as Sam grunted, he was pulling the spanner as hard as he could.
"Hold on, Hold on. You gotta go up." Bucky said to Sam as he moved him out the way and took the spanner from him.
Y/n walked forwards and stood next to Sarah as they watched them try to fix it. Bucky easily twisted the spanner and managed to get the pipe to turn off and stop hissing air.
"Why didn't you use the metal arm?" Sam asked him after a moment of silence
"Well...I don't always think of it immediately. I'm right handed." Bucky admitted
"So this is the boat, huh?" Bucky asked as he looked around the boat.
"This is it." Sam replied
"It's nice." Bucky nodded. He awkwardly put his hands in his pockets and looked at Sam. "You want any help?"
"Yeah." Sam nodded
Y/n turned her head to Sarah and offered her a smile. "I'm Y/n. That's Bucky."
"I'm Sarah, Sam's told me all about you." Sarah said with a smile
"Really? Good things, I hope." Y/n joked
"Yeah." Sarah laughed
"Hey, Doll, I'm gonna need you down here." Bucky called up to her as he and Sam walked along the boat.
"Coming!" She called out to Bucky before she turned to Sarah and gave her a kind smile. "Duty calls."
Sarah nodded to her and Y/n walked towards the boat and hopped over the gap between the boat and the dock. She had never fixed a boat before, but she didn't want to stand around and not do anything.
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Y/n exhaled heavily as she wiped the sweat from her brow. The three of them had been working on repairing the boat all day, she had sanded wood, fixed machinery and pulled off rotting wood and metal from the boat with her powers. She had mostly stayed by Bucky's side, doing whatever he said, because he had a lot more experience with stuff like this.
The sun had begun to set on the horizon, leaving the sky to be painted a beautiful light orange. Y/n was sitting on the boat with a drink in her hand, Sam was sitting across from her and Bucky was sitting beside her.
They sat in a peaceful silence, the only noise was the soft sound of the waves around them. Y/n was grateful for the moment of peace and normality amongst them.
"Well..." Bucky suddenly said as he stood up and sighed. "We Gotta catch our flight tomorrow. Get a hotel room for the night. Crash, you know?"
Bucky picked up his coat and placed his hand on Y/n's shoulder, silently telling her it was time to go. Y/n smiled slightly at his dramatic tone and stood up. He was definitely trying to guilt trip Sam.
"You're just gonna set me up like that, huh?" Sam said
"I don't wanna make it weird for your family." Bucky said
"Just stay here." Sam said with a small smile. "The people in this town are the most welcoming people in the world. They don't care if you wear small T-shirts or if you can move things with your mind or if you have six toes or if your moms your aunt." Sam trailed off. Bucky and Y/n laughed at his comment.
"Okay, I get it. I mean, you know, the people are nice." Bucky said. Y/n nodded with a smile
On her face.
"And hey, no funny business, okay?" Sam said with a raised eyebrow as he glanced between the two of them.
"No." Bucky said as he shook his head. Y/n laughed at his comment. She looked between Sam and Bucky who were both smiling and she felt a spark of joy in her chest. She had missed enjoying time with the people she loves.
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The afternoon sun shone down through the thick trees that surrounded the Wilson residence. Y/n lent up against the thick trunk of a tree as she watched Sam and Bucky through the shield back and forth to each other. They ricocheted the shield off of a tree and back into their hands again.
Y/n had woken up before Bucky this morning, which was a first, usually he didn't sleep well at all. She was happy that he had finally managed to get a full night's sleep for once. The two of them had shared the couch in Sarah's living room which hadn't given them that much space, but Y/n wasn't complaining.
They had gotten more work on the boat in the morning and they were now taking a much needed break.
Y/n's eyes followed the vibranium shield as it spun through the air and hit against a tree trunk that had been wrapped in padding. It bounced back and landed in Sam's grasp.
"Feels weird...Picking it up." Sam admitted
He then threw the shield again, it bounced between two trees before Bucky caught it. He slipped the strap over his vibranium arm with ease.
"The legacy of that shield is complicated, to say the least." Sam said
"When Steve told me what he was planning, I don't think either of us understood what it felt like for a black man to be handed the shield. How could we? I owe you an apology." Bucky said, he held out the Shield to Sam so he could take it from him.
"I'm sorry." Bucky said
Sam took the shield from Bucky's arm. "Thank you."
"Whatever happened with Walker wasn't your fault. I get it. It's just, that shields one of the closest things I've got left to a family, so when you retired it, it made me feel like I had nothing left." Bucky admitted. Y/n frowned at his admission. Even though she already knew that was how he felt, it still made her feel awful for him. Sometimes she considered going back in time just to drag Steve back and hit him, even though she loved him.
"Made me question everything. You, Steve, me. You know, I've got his, uh...I've got his book." Bucky said as he pulled the small notebook out his pocket.
"And, uh...I just figured if it worked for him, then it'd work for me." Bucky said. He took in a sharp breath and looked away from Sam. Y/n pushed herself off of the tree and went to stand next to him, she gently placed her hand on his back for comfort.
"I understand, man. But Steve is gone. And this might be a surprise, but it doesn't matter what Steve thought." Sam said to him as he threw the shield against a tree and caught it again.
"You gotta stop looking to other people to tell you who you are." Sam said as he threw the shield again, it ricocheted off of the trees and landed in Bucky's grasp again.
"Let me ask you. you still have those nightmares?" Sam asked Bucky
"All the time. It means I remember. It means a part of me is still there. Which means a part of the winter soldier's still in me." Bucky replied honestly. He threw the shield again and it landed in Sam's grasp.
"Well if he is, he's doing a good job at hiding, I can't feel any part of the winter soldier anymore." Y/n said lightly to him. Bucky nodded his head, but she could see in his eyes that he still didn't believe her.
"You up for a little tough love?" Sam asked him. Sam didn't wait for him to answer. "You want to climb out of the hell you're in, do the work. Do it."
"I've been making amends." Bucky said as he looked anywhere but at Sam.
"Nah you weren't amending, you were avenging. You were stopping all the wrongdoers you enabled as the winter soldier, because you thought it would bring you closure. You go to these people and say sorry, because you think it'll make you feel better, right? But you gotta make them feel better. You gotta go to them and be of service. I'm sure there's at least one person in that book who needs closure about something, and you're the only one who can give it to 'em."
"Probably a dozen." Bucky said
"That's cool. Start with one." Sam said
Bucky looked over and smiled at him. "Good talk."
Sam laughed in response and the two of them stepped up to each other and firmly shook hands. Y/n smiled as she watched the two of them begin a new form of friendship. It took them long enough to finally start getting along.
"You know Karli won't quit." Sam said
"Ah. You call us when you have a lead, and we'll be there." Bucky said, referring to Y/n and himself. Somehow, along the line, they had become a package deal.
"Not necessarily as a team." Bucky said as he lent down to pick up his bag and his coat.
"Nope." Sam said
"We're definitely not that good." Bucky said
"Definitely not." Sam said
Y/n grabbed her bag and began to walk alongside them. "Hey, speak for yourselves." She joked, causing the two men to laugh.
"We're professionals" Bucky added
"Definitely." Sam said
"And, uh, we're partners." Bucky added
"Co-workers." Sam corrected
"But we're also a couple of guys with a mutual friend." Bucky said, gesturing between himself and Sam and then to Y/n. She also knew he had been referring to Steve, but she pushed it to the back of her mind.
"Most of our friends are now gone." Sam said
"So we're a couple of guys." Bucky said
"I can live with that." Sam said
"Perfect." Bucky added
Y/n let out a laugh. "You guys are so weird."
The two guys laughed and stopped at the end of Sam's path. Y/n stood next to Bucky and faced Sam.
"Thanks for the help, guys. Meant a lot." Sam said to them with a smile
"Of course." Bucky patted Sam on the shoulder.
"It's not a problem." Y/n smiled as she stepped up to Sam and brought him in for a hug. She gave him a small squeeze before she let go and turned to walk away with Bucky.
Buck linked their fingers together as they walked away and Y/n smiled to herself. She found herself wishing that Steve was here to see this, to see Bucky and Sam getting along so well, but he had made his choice. He was gone. But they weren't, she had Bucky, and that was always going to be enough.