SamBucky One-Shots

Episode 5 (Part 6)

They walk up the driveway, and just as Sam is about to walk up to the house, Bucky grabs his hand, leading him out to the backyard. 

"What are you doing?" Sam questions.

Bucky lets go of his hand as Sam looks around at the trees covered by mats, confused.

"Just wait here," Bucky assures as he walks into the house.

A minute goes by when suddenly there is a loud bang and crunch. Sam whips his head towards it, startled to see the shield a mere few feet from him embedded into the tree.

He turns to a smirking Bucky.

"You up for some frisbee?"

Sam rolls his eyes, chuckling as he walks over to the shield yanking it from the tree. They walk further into the back yard finding a good spot to throw the shield.

"Feels weird..." Sam says, looking down at the shield, "picking it up again," he explains, throwing it.

Bucky catches it, looking up at Sam, "the legacy of that shield is..."

"Complicated."

"When Steve told me what he was planning, I don't think we understood what it felt like for a black man to be handed the shield," Bucky states, looking down at it, "How could we?"

"I owe you an apology. I am sorry," he says, handing Sam back the shield looking into Sam's eyes.

Sam taking back the shield putting it back on his arm, "Thank you," he replies.

"Whatever happened with Walker, it wasn't your fault," Bucky consoles Sam glancing up at him.

Bucky licks his lips biting them softly, "It's just..." he sighs, "that shield's the closest thing I've got left to a family, so when you retired it, it made me feel like I had nothing left. Made me question everything," he explains.

"You, Steve, me..." he trails off.

"You know, I've got his book," he says, pulling out the book fumbling with it, "I just figured if it worked for him, then it'd work for me."

Sam sighs, "I understand, man. But Steve is gone," he states, turning his attention to one of the trees, "and this may surprise you, but it doesn't matter what Steve thought," he says, throwing the shield.

He catches it, "you gotta stop looking to other people to tell you who you are," he throws it again.

Sam turns to Bucky; eyes are trained on him, catching the shield without even looking at it.

"Let me ask you. You still having those nightmares?" he asks, already knowing the answer.

Bucky smiles, "All the time," he replies.

"It means I remember. It means a part of me is still there. Which means a part of the Winter Solider's still in me," he says, throwing the shield hard against the tree.

Sam catches it stumbling a bit at the stronger force of the throw, "you up for some tough love?" he asks.

"You want to climb out of that hell you're in, do the work. Do it," he states, a bit of force in his voice.

"I've been making amends," Bucky offers.

Sam chuckles, "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 them," he explains, gesturing towards the book in Bucky's hand.

Bucky flips through it, "probably a dozen," he mutters.

"That's cool," Sam nods, "start with one."

Bucky looks up at him, putting the book away in his back pocket; a small smile on his face, "good talk," he quips.

Sam laughs, shaking his head putting his hand out for a handshake. 

"You know Karli won't quite," Sam states, grabs his hand, interlocking their hands, bringing them together less than a foot away from each other.

"Ah," Bucky scoffs, brushing it off, still holding onto Sam's hand.

Bucky looks into Sam's eyes, "You call me when you have a lead, and I'll be there," he murmurs, their eyes locked onto each other, their hands still intertwined.

They stand there a minute longer, gazing into each other's eyes, shaking their hands between them, neither seemingly wanting to be the first to let go. The warmth radiating between the two in the loving embrace is enough to make both their stomachs ache for something neither has experienced in a very long time.

Bucky is tempted to close the distance right then and there. His eyes flitting to Sam's lips for a second just as Sam steps away, clearing his throat and scratching his neck.

"Not necessarily as a team," Bucky says, bending down to pick up his coat.

Sam stepping backward, glancing behind them at the house, "Nope."

"Cause we aren't that good," Bucky adds, walking towards the back road where he parked his car.

"Definitely not," Sam agrees.

"We're professionals," Bucky states.

"Definitely," Sam replies, nodding his head walking beside him.

Bucky looks up, "And, uh, we're... we're partners," he suggests testing out the word.

"Coworkers," Sam corrects him walking a bit closer to Bucky.

Bucky raises his hand, "But we're also two guys with a mutual friend," he argues.

"Friend is now gone," Sam adds.

"So... we're... a couple of guys?" Bucky states unsurety clear in his voice.

"I can live with that," Sam quickly replies.

"Perfect," Bucky quips a bit of tension behind his voice.

 An impending silence follows, filled with questions lingering above them, just waiting for one of them to crack. The question everyone seemed to be wondering, 'what were they?' still left unanswered.

Sam stops glancing to the side at Bucky, who bumps their shoulders together, playfully meeting his eyes once again.

"Thanks for the help, man," Sam says, turning so they are facing each other, "means a lot."

"No problem," Bucky replies, patting Sam's bicep, his hand lingering a bit longer before walking off down the path.

Just as he is about to walk into the clearing in the trees, he turns around, glancing behind his shoulder at Sam walking away towards the house. He smiles slightly before walking into the woods. 

YAYYYY!!!! I cannot believe I am almost done with the series and that I am writing the first part of the last episode tonight; it is crazy. I hope you guys are excited as I am and enjoyed reading this chapter. If you guys have any suggestions for some one-shots of what you think happens after episode 6, then let me know. I have a few ideas but would love to hear any of you guy's if you have some. - Xoxo