The Falcon, the Winter Soldier, and Lady America

Chapter 56: Sam's Speech

Sam then carried Karli's body as he flew to the ambulance. He put her on a stretcher before walking past some reporters asking a lot of questions as he went to some Senators. Y/N was with Sharon, Bucky leaned against the ambulance, and Walker stood not too far from it.

"Sam, thank you so much, from all of us," Ayla thanked.

"Sincerely. You did your part in dealing with those terrorists, now we'll do ours," one Senator said.

"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," a Senator answered.

"Stop calling them terrorists," Sam told them.

"What else would we call them?" another Senator asked.

"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 pointed out.

"Those settlements that happened five years ago, do you think it is fair for governments to have to support them?" Lacont asked.

"Yes," Sam answered.

"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," the Senator replied before almost walking away.

Then Sam spoke up again, getting his attention.

"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 said.

"You don't understand," the Senator said.

Sam scoffed and explained, "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 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 when you make 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?'"

Then he walked away, making them think on what he said.

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A/N I need to listen to Sam's speech more often because I feel like I'm trying to make everyone around me happy when I need to do that for me. Anxiety gets in my way sometimes. Anyway, back to it.