Sam Wilson
2023
So, this was it. No more Captain America. No more on your left. No more saving the day just in the nick of time with the man out of time. Sam supposed that was why Steve left. He had been the man out of time, and he found a way to not be.
That didn’t mean he still wasn’t sad about it. Still, it was the right thing he had done.
Bucky tapped Sam on the shoulder. Sam slowly turned his head. Beside them Hulk was still trying to get Steve back before he sighed and said something about the signal being gone.
“Wait, guys, I got another signal!” Hulk ushered them over and pressed a button on the display
Anticlimactically, nothing happened. Goddamn it. The small landing pad remained stubbornly empty.
“That’s odd” Hulk noticed and tried again with no positive (or negative) results
Bucky nudged Sam again. This time he looked over. The brown-haired man nodded over to a bench on their left. An old man was sitting the other way. No one could’ve gotten here unless... was it, Steve? Sam walked over to see it was an old man who looked like... yup, it was Steve.
“On your left” Sam said as he sat down beside his role model
Bucky stood barely within hearing range, giving the illusion of privacy. Of course, the man deserved to be within hearing range given both his connection with Steve and his contributions to the Avengers and all.
Steve smiled and started to talk.
Sam walked away from the situation with a shield, a very large amount of pressure, and a lot of confusion. Near the end of the conversation Steve had lowered his voice and told Sam that a kid was coming, and Bucky would need help with her.
None of it made the slightest sense. A kid? Who? Why? From when? Was that the connection Hulk had found after the connection stopped? What was going on? Why didn’t Steve give them any warning? How was Sam supposed to be the next Captain America?