A gunshot.
The gun clatters to the floor and Karli stares at him, pressing a hand to the gunshot wound on her abdomen. She opens her mouth, and Sharon fires twice more. Karli drops, choking on air as her body registers the pain.
Sam surges forward, pulling her up into his arms before he risks a glance at the damage. Three gunshot wounds, clustered close enough together that it’s a deadly injury just from the blood loss. Still, he presses his hand over hers, hoping that just maybe, the serum will keep her alive, like it kept Steve alive for rescue to find him.
He knows it won’t. And so does she.
Karli stares up at him, and she feels too small, tears caught in her eyes and one hand clutching tightly onto her hamsa. It must have fallen out of her shirt while she fought him, or when she fell. “I’m sorry.”
The rocket came from nowhere.
It tore straight through Riley’s right wing, leaving him to plummet down to the ground like a stone, his screams ringing in Sam’s ears long after he landed. He was too far to reach him in time, but he still tried.
Sam hadn’t even closed half the distance when Riley hit the ground. He can still remember screaming for him, needing Riley to know that he was there, that he hadn’t left him.It hadn’t helped, but Sam hoped that it may have brought his wingman some small comfort in his last, terrifying moments.
When Sam told Riley’s family about what happened, he lied. He told them that Riley had died immediately, that he was dead as soon as the rocket hit. In reality, Sam had listened to him scream until the sickening crunch of bones had silenced him.
Riley’s family didn’t need to know that.
Sam forces himself back into the present, heart in his throat as he looks down at the dying kid. He never had the chance to save Riley, but now, here, he has a chance to save Karli. “I’m not mad at you, Karli. Hold on for me, alright? I’m getting us out of here.”
This time, he will be fast enough. He hooks his arm under her knees, braces the other better against her back and he lifts her with the utmost care, but is still unable to keep her from crying out in pain. Pain, pain is good. Pain means you're alive.
“Redwing, find us the quickest way out. And call Shuri, we’ll need her tech for this.” Sam orders, feeling the drone vibrate as an affirmation as he deploys, a small grin finding its way to his lips despite the circumstances. He turns to Sharon, who’s propped herself up against a support beam and is wincing in annoyance, still bleeding but not dying any time soon. “Sharon, I’m sorry. But I need to get her out of here, will you be alright?”
Something he can’t name flickers over Sharon’s face, her gaze dropping down to Karli, but she nods and forces herself up. She picks up the shield and places it onto his back, glancing at the near unconscious teenager. “Sam-”
“I’ll make sure you get that pardon, but I need to go.” Sam interrupts, but still waits for her nod of acceptance before he starts running toward the exit, whispering apologies to Karli with every whimper as her wounds are jostled.
An exit route appears on his HUD, mapped perfectly by Redwing. It’s already giving him an estimation of half an hour for arrival, but he reckons he can shorten that considerably. He unfurls his wings and takes off, knowing that if he can help it at all, Karli won’t be another Riley.
Bucky taps the ‘borrowed’ phone against the palm of his hand, waiting impatiently for Sam to return and hopefully with the kid safely in tow. He’d rather be with him right now, but someone needs to keep watch of Walker to make sure he doesn’t decide to go back to trying to get revenge.
“Hey! It’s Captain America!” A by-stander screams and a gasp goes up through the crowd at the sight of Sam flying through the air.
“Is he carrying someone? What’s going on?” Someone else yells, and shit, they’re right. Bucky can see a body in Sam’s arms now and it isn’t hard to guess who it could be. “Where’s he going?”
Two medics bring forward a gurney, but Sam doesn’t land. Instead he rises higher into the sky, moving faster and faster before Bucky spots the electric blue of his jetpack igniting and the man is gone; streaking away through the night sky with all the speed his Wakandan tech can muster.
Bucky doesn’t hesitate. He disappears into the crowd of civilians before he can be bombarded with questions, weaving through excited by-standers before coming to a stop by an abandoned bike. The keys are still in the ignition. He taps his earpiece once he’s straddling his new bike, listening for the whistling of wind. “Sam, talk to me, what’s happening?”
“It’s Karli. Sharon shot her to save me, but I can’t let her die, Buck. I can’t. I’m getting help.”
“Copy that.” Bucky nods to himself and starts the bike, suppressing a flash of anger when he hears the kid biting back a low groan over the comms. He might need to make a quick detour and punch Sharon. “I’ll meet you there then.” It’ll take a few hours to reach Wakanda, less if he liberates a helicopter or if Ayo finds him.
Walker twists around when he hears the screech of tires and watches as Bucky takes off down the street, several of the gathered onlooker’s scrambling to get out of his way. Huh. He should probably remember to grab his shield and take off himself, before the senators remember that he was stripped of his title and really shouldn’t be here.
Bucky arrives in Wakanda a few hours later to find Sam, dressed in civilian clothing, speaking to King T’Challa in low, hushed tones at the entrance to Shuri’s lab. Ayo nods to him before she leaves to report to General Okoye and the two men take notice of his arrival.
“Ah, Sergeant Barnes, it is good to see you again.” T’Challa smiles, and he clasps Sam’s shoulder. “Thank you for telling me this, Captain, I will see what I can do.”
“Thank you, King T’Challa.”
The King takes his own leave then and they watch him leave for a brief moment before Bucky turns back to Sam and looks him over for any injuries. He’s relatively unharmed barr some minor bruises and scrapes but his hands are shaking lightly and there’s blood under his nails.
“You good?” Bucky asks, stepping closer to Sam.
“I was five minutes out, and her heart stopped.” Sam whispers, avoiding meeting his eyes. Bucky doesn’t even think and immediately pulls him into a hug, holding him until the shaking subsides somewhat. “Sharon shot her three times, Buck. Three times.”
“Hey, Sam, look at me. It’s okay, you got her here in time. She’s gonna be okay.” Bucky promises, internally grateful that Ayo had told him already that Karli had been stabilised and was resting. The Princess is a genius after all. “We should go in, see her. Don’t want her waking up alone now do we?”
Sam nods and Bucky smiles, before turning him towards the lab and steering him forwards. “The new suit is awesome, you know. You looked damn good, not as good as me, though, but still good.”
“Bucky, shut the hell up, man.”
Karli is unsurprisingly unconscious when they walk in, but Sam’s shoulders loosen up when he sees the rise and fall of her chest. Someone had swapped her bloodied and torn clothes for fresh ones and had cleaned away some of the blood, while the bruise under her eye has already nearly healed.
“Sergeant Jesus! I was wondering when you would get here.” Shuri has a giant smile on her face as she walks over to Karli quickly, stopping beside the table at the same time the two partners do. “Karli will be fine, I managed to fix the worst of the damage before her healing started to kick in. It was good to bring her here, Sam, the bullets were dipped in some kind of poison. She wouldn’t have survived otherwise. There was another drug present on the bullets, but I am still working on identifying it.”
“Thank you, Shuri. We both owe you one.” Bucky nudges Sam gently, biting back a smile when Sam shrugs him off and gently takes Karli’s hand. “Will she wake up soon?”
“Yes, probably in a few minutes, actually.” Shuri touches one of her Kimoyo beads before she starts to back up, clearly intending on leaving. “I need to speak to my brother, but I will be back later to check her over again. The Dora Milaje will be outside if you need anything.”
“We’re not going to just let them lock her up, are we?” Sam asks, glancing over his shoulder to look back at Bucky. “They’d probably experiment on her, try and replicate the serum again. I can’t let that happen.”
“Hell no.” Bucky steps forward, purposely brushing his shoulder against Sam’s. “Technically speaking, two Avengers would be better at keeping her in check than any prison. She’d be less likely to escape too; guards can always be paid off.”
“Then I take her back to Louisiana with me. You can tag along too if you want.”
“She’s a Super Soldier, I have experience with this stuff, of course I’m coming with you. Steve would kill me if he thought I was going to let you be an idiot on your own.”
“And she’s still a kid, I have experience with kids.”
“So, we’re doing this? Kinda like Stark with that annoying Spider Kid?”
Sam smiles in lieu of a verbal answer, then releases Karli’s hand before stepping away himself. “I’ll call Sarah and let her know then, keep her company for me? I’ll probably need to leave soon, talk to the senators and see what else I can do about those camps.”
Bucky waves him off, and puts his back to Karli, settling against the table as he watches Sam walk out of the lab. He can see two of the Dora Milaje stationed at the doors, which is unsurprising, there are three foreign nationals in their palace. And two of them are Super Soldiers who have killed before.
He looks at the floor for a moment, listens to the faint whirring of his arm, before he twists his neck to peer over his shoulder. The kid looks so damn young, it’s no wonder that Sam was so adamant on talking her down and giving her another chance. “I know you’re awake, kid.”
Karli opens her eyes then, one hand automatically coming up to touch the gunshot wounds- scars now- on her stomach and watches him warily. She pushes herself up when he makes no move and swings her legs off the table, kicking them lightly as she looks around for a moment before settling her gaze back on him.
“You’re coming back to Louisiana with us.” Bucky explains, watching as one of the Dora Milaje shifts slightly, possibly taking note that the leader of a terrorist organization is now awake. They must already have a plan in place to take Karli down, should she decide that Sam and Bucky’s offer isn’t good enough and tries to take off.
“Why?” Karli asks, her gaze flicking away for a brief moment. “I’ve tried to kill both of you, more than once. Even just tonight. If the Pow- if Sharon hadn’t shot me, I would have killed Sam right there.”
Bucky’s eyes narrow at her slight stumble with Sharon’s name, he’ll definitely need to speak to Sam about that. Neither of them truly know what Sharon got up to in Madripoor. But for now, he decides to speak to Karli, honestly. “The first day I met Sam, I tried to shoot him more than once. I, uh, jumped onto his car and ripped the steering wheel right out of his hands.” That gets a slight chuckle from Karli. “The next time; I caught him by one of his wings, ripped it right off and threw him from a Helicarrier. I had no idea he had a parachute, and even then he was barely able to deploy it in time.
Two times, right after we met, I tried to kill him and both times I nearly did. But when Steve said he wanted to find me after it all; Sam didn’t even hesitate to go with him. And when they did find me, sure he was an asshole pretty much the entire time, but he helped me and we both got our asses kicked by Spiderman. Who, it turns out, is a kid.”
“You guys make it a habit to get beaten by kids?”
“Kids with superstrength , I’ll have you know, there’s a difference.” Bucky uncrosses his arms and turns to prop his hip against the table and Karli looks up at him, and Jesus, how can she look so young? Is it the almost dying thing or is he just getting soft because he’s a hundred and six years old? “Okay, I’m going to let you in on a secret here, kid. When you had the gun on him, were-were you aiming for his head?”
She shakes her head and Bucky sighs, grateful that his little gamble paid off. “Yeah, you wouldn’t have killed him then. The suit’s lined with vibranium, Princess Genius made it herself. He would have had a small bruise at worse. Plus, he’s fast with those wings, he could have easily made a shield with them if he had to.”
Karli brightens a bit at that, before her expression falls again. “Sam’s sister lives in Louisiana, right? I doubt she’d want to be anywhere near me, I threatened her, her brother, and her kids .”
“Sarah knows her brother, trust me.” Bucky glances down at his hand before gently placing it on Karli’s shoulder, feeling an unexpected flash of warmth when she leans into the touch slightly. “Before we found out you were in New York, I stayed with them for a day. Sarah pulled me aside before I left, asked me to make sure Sam stayed safe, but to also make sure you made it out alive. She knows full well that her brother is an idiot with a habit of taking in stray Super Soldiers. He did it with Steve, he did it with me, and now he’s done it with you.”
“He’s a good man- Sam, I mean. When we talked, at Mama Donya’s funeral, it did make me think about my actions. I knew he was right but then- then everything just went spectacularly wrong.”
Bucky nods in agreement, he knows full well if he hadn’t let Walker get into his head then Sam would have probably been able to talk her down. Hoskins wouldn’t be dead, Walker would have never gotten the serum, and Karli’s friend wouldn’t have been publicly decapitated.
“Actually, I have to ask. Just one thing about last night.” Bucky’s mouth twists in a smile before he steels himself, but c’mon, he’s been holding this back since the phone call. “When you asked me about fighting for the right things and stuff bigger than us, uh, do you realise I fought Nazis right? I know you called Walker a Nazi. And I fought the guy who wiped out half the world, twice.”
“I’m European, why would I know about American veterans?” Karli deadpans, and okay, yeah, she does have a point there. “Plus, it’s not exactly widely known who fought in the battle against grape man. Diego was convinced that a giant turtle turned up to crush half your enemies. And Lennox thought someone shot down the ship with fireworks.”
Bucky nods, figuring that it is fair enough. Anyway, he can hear Sam making no effort to hide his snickers and Shuri’s quiet laughter. “Captain Carol Danvers was the ‘firework’ who took down Thanos’ ship, just so you know. Blasted it right out of the sky after we got pinned.”
Karli nods before glancing to where Sam and Shuri are lingering, laughing their asses off at this point. “Are they going to come out soon or should we pretend we can’t hear them?”
The laughter cuts off abruptly, and Sam and Shuri emerge from their hiding spot, trying and failing to act like they hadn’t been laughing at them for the last few minutes. Shuri walks over to one of her workbenches, tapping away at a tablet while Sam rejoins the two Super Soldiers.
“I talked to Sarah; she’s fine with us staying with her for a while. But, both of you will have to do heavy lifting for her and not complain.” Bucky shares a glance with Karli before they both nod, Sarah has her priorities straight at least. “Now, I need to go talk to the GRC, get them to agree to us taking Karli in and I’m going to do something about the refugees too. Can both of you stay here? So Shuri can make sure that you heal properly?”
“That depends,” Bucky starts and Sam doesn’t resist the urge to roll his eyes whilst Shuri looks over curiously. “Shuri, can I show Karli the goats?”
Sam facepalms.
By the time Sam gets the government to agree to Karli being placed into his custody and the trio arrive in Louisiana, night has long since fallen once again and Sarah is waiting for them out on the porch. Karli had fallen asleep on the drive from the airfield, exhausted by the meds that Shuri had given to her to counter the poison from the bullets and the events of the past few days. Rather than waking her, Bucky had chosen to pick her up and carry her up into Sam’s room, greeting Sarah with a soft smile as he walked past.
“What’s it with you and taking in every sad stray you come across?” Sarah wonders aloud, not expecting an answer, while Sam drags his case and the shield out of the truck. The rest can wait until morning, really, though so could the suit and shield. “I saw your speech too, so did the boys. They can’t wait to see you tomorrow.”
Ah, the speech. That he totally didn’t practice in the mirror before he left that was apparently streamed live to the entire world. Shuri had sent him a video of Karli and Bucky sitting side by side in a field while they watched the speech on a tablet, Sparks the three legged goat taking advantage of this distraction to munch on Bucky’s hair.
It was a damn good speech, but had been immediately followed by Sam talking Diego into a surrender after a several hour long police stand off and personally escorting the other three Flag Smashers to the Raft where they would await a fair trial. That had been fun, but luckily Redwing had detected the explosives planted by Zemo’s old ass butler and now the man was in custody. At this point, Sam just wants to sleep.
“C’mon bro, let’s get you to bed. You’re dead on your feet.” Sarah chuckles and takes Sam by the arm, leading him up the stairs after Bucky and Sam. Karli is already tucked into Sam’s bed, muttering slightly in her sleep every few moments, and Bucky is getting himself ready for bed when the Wilson siblings walk in.
The two men had both decided to stay in the same room as Karli for the night; Sam so he could reassure himself that she is there and actually still breathing and Bucky so he could make sure that both of them actually slept. Sarah, knowing her brother and having predicted this, had made up two beds of blankets on the floor as soon as Sam had gotten off the phone.
Sam nearly instantly falls asleep once he’s changed and under the blankets, but Bucky remains awake, his right hand curled around the dog-tags while he goes over the fight in his mind. His actions had resulted in him being called a hero and he had heard Karli telling her companions to give him someone to rescue as a distraction. Though it must say something that a kid who is considered a terrorist by millions calls him a hero before most of the world.
Really he had only used his full strength to free the hostages, even when he was fighting Dovich and Karli together he had been holding back somewhat. Though his control had slipped somewhat when he had grabbed the chain and used it against Karli, luckily she had only been knocked unconscious for a few minutes and the bruise from the hit had already long since healed. Even then, the kid had jumped right back into the fight after waking up, meeting Walker head on after he took down two of her companions.
His phone buzzing with a message draws him out of his thoughts and his hand clenches around the tags slightly, but he grabs the phone with his left and brings it up to face, brow furrowing once he unlocks it. A message from Ayo, who does not call or text him.
Ayo: The Princess was able to identify the drug and where it came from. We must speak tomorrow, White Wolf, there is much to discuss. Karli may still be in danger. You know how to find us.
Bucky groans slightly, but texts back an affirmative. He raises his head to check that both Karli and Sam are still asleep, before settling back down again and closing his eyes. If Karli is still in danger from the people hunting her, then Bucky won’t sleep properly for the next few days but he can rest his eyes at the very least.
And if Karli was drugged by Sharon, then they’re going to need to sit down and have a very long discussion about what Sharon has gotten up to in Madripoor and what her connection is to Karli. Bucky had noticed that there were a few times where Sharon had nearly sounded fond while talking about the kid and other times she sounded angry.
He shakes his head, there’s no point thinking about all of this until he hears what Ayo has managed to find out. And until he speaks to Karli too, he fully intends on bringing up Karli’s stumble over Sharon’s name. There’s a lot that neither he nor Sam knows about, though he does fully intend on changing that as soon as possible.
Sarah is utterly unsurprised that Sam had refused to give up on the Morgenthau child, had watched the footage of Sam flying through the air at breakneck speed with the girl cradled in his arms, only minutes after he had disappeared into smoke in chase of her and her companions. Her heart had nearly stopped when she had realised that Karli was bleeding and dying in her brother’s arms and could only hope that Sam would be able to save her, because the death of a child would surely destroy him.
It’s because of this, that when Sarah wakes up the morning after her brother has stumbled home with his Super Soldiers she gets started on making a large breakfast, once she checks that they’re all still asleep. All three of them would probably be hungry after all the fighting and travelling, and well, Bucky and Karli are Super Soldiers. They would have big appetites because of the serum anyway.
Her two boys come stumbling downstairs before long, blessedly quiet despite their obvious excitement to see their uncle. She knows they must have peered into his room and had seen that Sam had not returned alone. They help with setting the table, clambering up onto the counters to reach the plates and whispering excitedly as they grab cutlery.
She knows full well that Sam and Bucky are awake, can hear movement from Sam’s room, but guesses that they are waiting for Karli to wake up, unwilling to leave her to wake up in an unfamiliar environment. Given her past and superstrength, something like that could only end in disaster.
“Mom, do you think Uncle Sam will take me flying if I ask real nice?” Cass asks, tilting his head to pin her with his big puppy dog eyes. “His new wings look so cool.”
“When you’re older, sweetheart.” Sarah answers, even though personally she would prefer if her boys’ feet stayed firmly on the ground. It’s a hard thing to wish for when their uncle is Captain America, but she hopes that just maybe Sam will hold out for once.
“Okay.” He turns to run off with AJ, before stopping and turning his puppy dog eyes back to her. “Oh! Do you think Uncle Bucky would pick me up with his metal arm?! Isn’t he supposed to be super strong?!”
He runs off before she can even to formulate an answer, not a moment too soon as footsteps come from the stairs. Uncle Bucky? When had that started?
Sam and Bucky walk into the kitchen, with Karli trailing after them still half asleep. Judging by the state of Bucky's hair, Sam must have managed to convince him to shower while they were waiting for Karli to wake up.
"Did she say anything else?" Sam asks Bucky quietly, before reaching back to gently steer Karli towards a chair before she falls asleep standing up again. The Wakandan medications are really hitting her hard, but hopefully some food will help her get going again.
"No, but I have a feeling she'll be here soon. Let me know if you see any Kimoyo beads, that's when we'll know." Bucky sits down beside Karli, greeting Sarah with one of his charming smiles. "Hi, Sarah."
“Man, what did I tell you about flirting with my sister?”
Karli looks up at Sam's groan, her expression one of bewilderment."Wait, you two aren't married?"
Bucky chokes. Sam splutters. Sarah smiles, this kid will fit right in.
"They aren't?!" Cass cries, running in again with AJ. "Do we have to stop calling him Uncle Bucky now?"
Karli still looks bewildered. Bucky might actually be hacking up a lung. Sam might not be breathing.
"Boys, why don't you sit down? It's time to eat." Sarah side-eyes Bucky, before grabbing herself a slice of toast. "And if Bucky is okay with it, of course you don't have to stop calling him Uncle Bucky." She takes a bite, then drops her voice to a whisper, "Karli, they're too oblivious for that. Give them a few years to realize they're hopelessly in love."
"Uh, Sam?" Bucky chokes, his super hearing catching that quite clearly. Sarah pretends not to smile into her coffee. "Ayo wants to talk to us in a while. She said that Shuri found something."
Karli blinks a few more times, before grabbing a plate of bacon and stealing half of it. "I seriously nearly died thinking they were married." She mutters and helps herself to some eggs and toast. "You guys should really stop bickering like an old married couple then, and refusing to leave each other because it is very misleading."
Cass and AJ start laughing as their uncle stares at Karli in open-mouthed shock, and they can nearly see the steam coming out of his ears as his brain malfunctions.
Bucky, the little shit, decides to add to it. "Sorry about that, Karli. I'm waiting for him to realize just who designed the new suit for him."
Sam’s brain breaks. He’s now seriously regretting giving the two Super Soldiers a place to stay. Putting them up for superhero adoption sounds very promising. Maybe Wakanda needs some spare Super Soldiers? New Asgard? Captain Marvel? Thor and the weird talking raccoon? Clint? Would Clint even have a use for two annoying Super Soldiers? Scott? No, that would be a disaster. Wanda? He’d have to find her first really, and probably drag her to therapy first.
It takes a while before the trio actually leave the house to speak to Ayo. Sam has to first recover from his minor mental breakdown and stop trying to figure out who to dump his two idiots with. Bucky has to finish trying to eat all of the damn food and making Cass shriek with laughter with old stories of Steve being a stubborn idiot. And of course, Sarah has to find actual clothes that fit Karli. Sam suggests asking to borrow some clothes from the Monroe family, as they have a daughter around Karli’s age, until he finds out that while Monroe Jr is two years younger than Karli, she is also over six foot and built like a tank now.
Disaster is averted when Sarah remembers that Monroe Jr has a girlfriend who is much closer to Karli’s height, though still taller. The black sweatpants are a bit too long, not that it matters once Karli puts her boots on, and the light blue long sleeved shirt is hilariously big but Sarah would call it a success, especially considering how comfortable the kid looks despite being dangerously close to swimming in the clothes.
This time there is no Kimoyo beads to follow, they head straight to the docks as Junior had mentioned that she had seen a ‘fucking space ship that looked like a panther’ landing there. They find Ayo and a handful of Dora Milaje waiting patiently by the Wilson family boat, and Princess Shuri waiting too, though decidedly less patiently.
“Sergeant Jesus! Birdman! Finally,” Shuri mutters, pushing herself off the boat and trotting over to the trio. Ayo follows silently, the barest curve to her mouth betraying her amusement with the Princess’ antics. “I was getting so old waiting for you to show up. If you had been any longer than I would have a nickname for Karli, though I am thinking that Captain Anarchy should be considered-”
“Princess Shuri,” Ayo interrupts, sensing that her Princess is about to launch into a tirade. “Shall we tell them what you found, first? It is rather important after all.”
“Oh, right, of course. Thank you, Ayo.” Shuri spins back to the two men, ignoring Karli who is staring at the Dora Milaje in wonderment, eyes lighting up at the sight of their spears glinting in the sunlight. “Do either of you know where Sharon Carter is currently?”
Karli freezes, head snapping back to Shuri as visible fear creeps into her eyes. She doesn’t dare look at either of the two men, already knowing that they had seen her reaction. Pain flares through her abdomen, the three scars sickeningly cold.
“She was hurt, but she probably made her way back to Madripoor. Why?” Sam says, slowly, glancing worriedly to Karli at her reaction. What had Sharon not told them?
Shuri turns slightly to Ayo, her demeanour now serious and Ayo nods, gesturing to two of the Dora Milaje. She turns back to the trio, noting how Karli is subtly edging towards Sam and Bucky, hands clenched tightly at her sides. “I was able to identify the drug I detected on the bullets; I believe you may be familiar with it, Sam. Nick Fury used it to fake his death when Hydra took over Shield.”
Sam frowns, trying to remember, before he realizes just what Shuri is saying. “Why would Sharon want Karli to look dead? What- what did she want with you, Karli?”
The terror is gone from Karli’s eyes, replaced by dull acceptance. “I should have known, I’m too fucking valuable for her to just kill.” She squeezes her eyes shut, shaking her head slightly. “I’m sorry, Sam.” Her voice cracks and she opens her eyes, looking up to the man. “She’s the Power Broker, and I’m- I was her muscle, her soldier, and now she wants me back.”
Ayo moves forward, bringing up an image on her Kimoyo beads. It shows Sharon, laughing in the middle of her apartment and surrounded by buyers, Karli and Dovich both at her back, donning all black suits and with their hair tied back.
“You won’t be going back to her, Karli.” Bucky says, and hesitantly pulls her into a hug. The kid falls into the embrace immediately and Sam joins them, rubbing a gentle hand over her back as he shares a look with the White Wolf. “We promise, kid, you will never be a weapon again.”
Sam is silently fuming, he had been angry enough at Sharon, thinking that she had shot Karli to protect him. But now? Knowing that she had done it to fulfill her own agenda, to get her muscle back? He’s downright furious. Yes, he understands why Sharon has done what she's done; being abandoned by your government and left to fend for yourself would change anyone, but to use and manipulate a child ? That- that is something he can not forgive.
Bucky glances up at the Wakandans, working his jaw as he thinks of what to say. “Ayo, I know I’ve asked so much of you- too much. But please, help us find Sharon and stop her. Help us keep Karli safe.”
“You are my friend, James. There is no need to ask, the Dora Milaje are already searching for Agent Carter as we speak.” Ayo flicks her eyes to Shuri, who is unable to watch Karli crying into Bucky’s shirt. “The Power Broker will be taken down, before any harm can come to any of you.”
“Thank you, Ayo.” Bucky says, switching to Wakadan to show his gratitude. “Thank you for everything.”
Ayo only smiles. There is no more need for words.
Three Months Later
Sam’s heart is damn near threatening to burst right out of his chest at the site of his family. Bucky, the complete idiot, is perched on a bench, talking to Sarah about how the renovations are going, mindless of Cass and the other kids hanging off his vibranium arm. He’s gesturing animatedly, more relaxed than Sam’s ever seen him. Karli is playing a game of football with some of the older kids, smiling brightly even as AJ gets the ball past her yet again. She’s been smiling a lot since recovering from her injuries, though there are still days where she threatens to unravel like she had in New York. The kids do an excellent job of keeping her distracted, and Monroe Jr tends to find Karli on those bad days and will always give Sam and Bucky a head’s up so they can prepare to sleep in the sitting room for the night, holding Karli between them.
“They are doing well, yes?” A familiar voice comes from his right, and Sam turns to see Ayo watching Bucky, her eyes showing her happiness despite her stoic demeanour. “It is good to see.”
“It really is.” Sam agrees, his grin widening when he spies Shuri sitting with Eliza Mulroe, both of them talking quickly with their heads bent whilst Junior stares at her girlfriend in amazement. They’re probably being nerds, in all honesty.
It really is good; Buck has permanently moved in with Sam and they’re no longer dancing around one another. Karli is relaxing more and more, despite the fact that Sharon is still out there. And Sam has his family with him, all together again.
“Hey, Birdbrain, what are you thinking about?” Bucky asks, the brunet coming up on his left. Ayo has gone, probably making sure her charge doesn’t wander off, not that Sam minds.
He wraps an arm around Bucky’s shoulders, pulling him in close. “Oh you know; the fact that technically you’re a cyborg because of the arm. So you really are one of the big three.”
“Wizards still don’t exist, Samuel.”
“Doctor Strange-”
“Is a sorcerer, dad.” Karli pops up on Sam’s right side, still smiling despite her absolute betrayal.
“Buck, how dare you corrupt our daughter like that!” Sam shakes his head, but still pulls his idiots close.
Wizards do exist and sorcerer’s are just wizards without the pointy hats.