A Little Butterfly- The Other Soldier (Bucky Barnes x reader) (they/them reader)

The Meeting With Karli

Tw: mentions of abuse, mentions of weapons, bad language, a bad explanation of who the Flag Smashers are

We agreed to meet with Karli here at 2 p.m. It's 1:40 when a girl, a few years older than me, comes over to us.

"Hi. I'm Karli." Next to her is a guy dressed in black with shades on. He has his hand tucked in his shirt as a way to warn us that he has a gun. Of course if he tries to shoot at us, we'll be fine. Sam has the shield and James and I are wearing bulletproof vests.

"Hi. I'm Sam and this is Bucky." Sam says introducing himself and James. I'm standing a little ways behind them, because James doesn't want me to get too involved in this mission. I can be here but I'm not allowed to do anything.

Karli looks over at me and points. "And who's that?"

James clears his throat. "It doesn't matter who they are."

Karli takes a step between James and Sam, coming closer to me. "I've seen you somewhere." She says, this time talking directly to me. "Who are you?"

"Hey! Don't talk to them!" James says stepping between me and Karli. I walk over closer to them.

"Hi. I'm y/n." I say and James immediately motions for me to go away from here. "I saw you around Hydra a few years ago."

Karli smiles. "That's right. You're Zemo's little toy aren't you?"

"She's not a toy." James says sternly. I have a feeling that Karli and James are not going to get along very well.

"Right. What was it Zemo called you though? A bug?" I look down at the ground.

"A butterfly." I'm quiet when I talk. Karli laughs.

"So Butterfly. Do I have to talk to these annoying men or can I talk to you instead?" Karli asks, but once again James moves where he's standing so that he's right between me and Karli.

"You can talk to me." It comes out as a whisper. I know that James is going to be pissed that I agreed to talk to Karli, but I'm hoping she'll be more willing to give me information since she seems to be more interested in talking to me than either James or Sam.

"No you can't." James says to Karli, but he's really talking to me.

Karli again steps around James to be closer to me. "Do you know who the Flag Smashers are?" I shake my head. "We're a group of people just trying to exist without borders. We're just trying to make people feel more at home in this world we're living in."

Exist without borders? "So you want peace? Then why are you blowing up buildings?"

"We have to make a point somehow. Plus who said anything about peace? The government is pushing us out of our homes. Why should we just have a peaceful little protest when they're going to such extreme measures?" They have to make a point somehow and so they're using violence. I mean I guess that makes sense.

"So you're blowing stuff up to grab attention? Get more supporters for your cause?" Karli smiles.

"That's exactly what we're doing y/n." I mean it makes sense. They're losing everything and nobody is helping them. They need to get help somehow.

"You can't just go around blowing shit up." James says, causing Karli to turn around.

"Then, Bucky, how do you suppose we draw attention to our cause?" The way she says Bucky is like she's mocking him.

"There are plenty of nonviolent ways to protest a change." Karli looks James dead in the eye.

"Do you not think we tried to be nonviolent about this?" She asks. "Come on Nico. Let's go."

Karli walks away, the other guy that came with her following close behind.

"Are we just going to let them leave like that?" James turns to Sam and asks.

"They're fighting for a cause they believe in James. Who are we to stop them?" James turns around and looks at me. I can tell by the look on his face that he's confused.

"Y/n we spent our whole lives fighting for a cause, doesn't mean anything we did was right." I roll my eyes at him, taking a step closer.

"James, we knew that what we were fighting for was wrong. We didn't believe in our cause. We were forced to fight for the wrong thing. These people are fighting for something they believe in. And quite frankly they're right. They're being kicked out onto the streets and then they're just forgotten. Nobody is helping them." How does he not get it? They're fighting for the right thing here.

"You agree with them?" James looks away and then turns back around and points his finger in my face. "After everything we've been through you're okay with this?"

"Yeah James. I am okay with this, because I've never been allowed to fight for what I believe in. Now I am." I look over to where Karli was. I see her about to round a corner. "Sorry James. Hey Karli! Wait up!" I call before running over.

"Y/n! Get back over here! Where are you going?! You can't do this y/n!" I don't stop running towards Karli until I finally catch up.

"What do you need Butterfly?" Karli asks, annoyance dripping from her voice.

"One - Don't call me Butterfly. My name is y/n y/l/n. Two - I just ran away from the closest thing I have to family because I want to help you. I think you're on the right side of this. I've never been allowed to fight for something just because I believe in it. Now's my chance." Karli smiles before motioning over at James and Sam.

"So you're just going to leave them behind?" I nod.

"Yeah. I am." I smile at Karli before looking over at James and Sam. They're talking and watching us, probably trying to decide if I'm serious. "See you later James!" I call out as I walk away.