July Catch All

[unclesam]

CHARACTERS: Sam Wilson & You (Open + Closed Starters)
LOCATION: All Aboard the Ximilia
DATE: Post Fox and the Hare
CONTENT: Catch-all prompts for post mission feelings
WARNINGS: Will be added to Top Levels

Closed/Open Prompts in the comments:

✪ [OPEN] Simulation Room
✪ [OPEN] Infirmary
✪ [OPEN] Lab/Tech Storage
✪ [OPEN] Training Room
✪ [CLOSED] Natasha

If you want to wildcard anything or want a closed starter, too, feel free to hit me up via PM, Discord: inkcharm#4573 or Plurk: inkcharm

Comments

[unclesam]

[ It's strange, how that was just not something too hard on Sam's mind. How he'd just... he'd always known his government did fucked up things to his people. But this... he'd just not considered... ]

They experimented on black people. Plenty dead. It took in one guy. So they locked him in a lab and experimented on him for 30 years. Tryna replicate the serum.

[ So they could make a more... palatable super soldier, no doubt. ]

They're never gonna let me keep this. I already know exactly what's waiting for me when I get back. That's why I didn't want it, originally.

[deaddrop]

Maybe. But if we only ever did what people let us do, the world would be a fairly different place.

[Both personally and universally. From some people, that might sound more cheerful; from Natasha the prospect is more exhausting.

Because she knows if she encourages Sam, she's encouraging him to pick up a fight that he won't ever see the end of.]

Why did you decide to take it again? You let go of the shield initially, and you had plenty of good reasons for that, even aside from who the world wants to see as the face of Captain America.

You changed your mind.

[unclesam]

Y'know. When John Walker was handed that shield within a day of me putting it in a museum... I felt like they might as well have spat in my face. It felt like confirmation of all the reasons I didn't want it at first. And he had his press tour all geared up... new uniform, posters, the whole deal.

[ It's so obvious by the timeline alone that the government had been preparing this shit. In the entire six months he'd had to contract with the Air Force and was flying on wings that were no longer even technically his own, they'd clearly been preparing for this exact move. ]

And Bucky sure didn't get it. I think he thought it was just about me not respecting Steve's wish. Maybe he even thought I didn't think I could measure up to Steve. And I wondered that briefly, too. Not gonna lie - I tried to check myself on whether this was just some imposter syndrome at work. But nah. For me it wasn't about whether or not I was good enough for the gig.

[ Sam knows he's got no super soldier serum, no powers. But when has that ever stopped him? From the moment he met super soldiers and super spies and literal gods, Sam has done nothing if not keep pace. There's a reason the Avengers wanted him in their lineup, and it's not just because he's damn handsome. ]

But Walker showed me it ain't just about who's not holding it. It's very much about who carries it. A symbol is given meaning by its bearer. And what's the point of everything I and others like me fight for at home and in the world at large if I let some jacked up dillweed put his boot on the necks of desperate people, and put blood on that shield. What would be the point of all the pain and sacrifice those before me and those beside me have gone through, if I wasn't willing to continue that fight?

[ His people, but not just. He includes Natasha in that sentiment as much as Tony and Steve, as much as Isaiah Bradley, as much as his sister, as much as Karli. ]

At that point... it was my choice. Not Steve's. Not Bucky's. Not Isaiah's or Karli's or my sister's. Just my own choice. I told Bucky to stop looking to other people to tell him who he is, and I guess I took my own advice in the process. Y'know, for once.

[deaddrop]

Then it sounds like anyone who doesn't want to let you keep it can go fuck themselves. Not to put too fine of a point on it.

[The moment probably called for something else. Some tact. But Natasha isn't one for encouraging speeches, and while she is capable of tact being blunt feels better.]

And if anyone tries to come and take it from you, they better really mean it. I know it's not just going to be you they have to go through to get it, it'll be Barnes too.

And I'm willing to bet more than that.