An: This is the last chapter. It begins from Steve's point of view
I'm sorry.
Hope you guys liked this story.
Steve and Bucky broke down the main door of Kuttler's base. "So this guy's Lissie's dad?" Bucky grunted, heaving up his gun and shooting an incoming Ultron robot. Steve nodded.
"Okay, Quake we're in."
"Roger, Cap." Daisy replied. "Just got word from May; she's coming and she's bringing Widow and Hulk."
Steve turned a corner only to come face to face with the White Canary. Sara was standing with Gear behind her. "We'll need the back up." He lowered his shield. "Sara, Richie. It's over. Coulson's got the building surrounded and we're in talks with the Senate right now. They're pulling support for the Ultron program and most are turning against the act."
Sara's eyes were blank, as were Gear's. They didn't seem to hear him, but instead moved forward.
"They look like they want a fight, Steve." Bucy growled.
"They're our friends." Steve said. 'Something's wrong." He knew them, having fought and trained with them. Their movements were jerky, robotic. There was a metallic clang behind him and War Machine landed.
"Sergeant Rhodes." Steve said.
"Cap." Daisy radioed in. "I'm getting a strange reading from the base." There was a loud blast and the wall next to him crumbled, admitting her and Lincoln. Sara opened her mouth and let out a loud sonic noise. Daisy held up her arm and shot a blast of vibrations. The two forces collided in the air between them, shoving both women back. Gear attacked Bucky, who effortlessly threw the younger hero to the ground, but the super genius' backpack robot was more of a challenge. It let out a cable and before Bucky could blink, it had injected itself into Bucky's metal arm.
Steve raised his shield and brought in down on the cable, severing it. "Bucky, you okay?" he asked, blocking a blast from War Machine. Bucky had fallen to his knees and was pressing his fists against his thighs in an effort to get under control.
"They're being controlled." He ground out.
"No shit." Lincoln grumbled as he dodged a blast from War Machine.
"They tried to reawaken my hydra programming." Bucky shook himself. His eyes were burning with anger. Sara, Rhodey, and Gear froze…then turned and ran further into the base. Bucky took a few frustrating breaths before turning to Daisy, Lincoln and Steve.
"What's the reading?" He asked Daisy.
"It might explain the pod people." Daisy muttered. "I…OW." She swatted her neck and looked at her hand. "Bees?"
The bee in her hand was twitching its legs. Steve bent over. It was strangely metallic and as they watched sparked and began smoking.
"A robot."
"Nanobot." Daisy corrected. "I mean you're not techinically wrong." She added nervously when he raised an eyebrow. "I'm just being more specific."
Steve looked closer. "The stinger's still in."
"Do you think…" Bucky asked.
Daisy nodded. "If it had stung me I would have ended up like them." She shuddered. "Gross." She scanned it. "It has some type of neuro toxin in it. It allows the person to be controlled remotely." She looked up at the others. "We need to take out the command center, then we can get the others back."
"But why bees?" Lincoln asked.
"Because of Brie Larvan." Steve said. "She was a bee enthusiast hacker. Felicity took her down."
"It's a brilliant design." Daisy said. The others all shot her a look. "Evil…" She said. "but still brilliant."
"Alright." Steve said. "I'm guessing now they know we're here. Get Felicity on the line and call in Static. Lincoln, you're in charge of blasting every bee that comes near us."
"Never thought I'd get to be Captain America's personal bug zapper." Lincoln muttered.
Running through the halls and rooms, they finally came to large metal double doors. "Do all the bad guys have the same architect because this just screams evil command center." Daisy said, pointing at the doors.
"I got a bad feeling." Bucky said. "We should have met more resistance."
"They probably consolidated all their resources behind these doors." Steve said.
"If they haven't escaped." Daisy muttered.
"If they escape, they lose any control they might have…this is their last stand." Steve sighed.
"I've got Felicity." Daisy said.
"Do NOT let the bees sting you." Felicity said. "I'll hack them from here and turn them against Queen Bee-yotch."
"We need to tell Widow to hold back Hulk." Steve said. "The last thing we need-"
A loud crash and roar drowned out his words. "STUPID BEES."
Steve broke down the doors. They entered the main lab. Kuttler was crouched in his computer chair while a blonde woman in glasses with a honeycomb style outfit had her arms raised and appeared to be controlling a large swarm of mechanical bees. Sara, Rhodey, and Gear were standing in a line in front of them while Ultron bots attacked Hulk. There was a large hole in the ceiling. Hulk had angry red dots littering his skin as he smacked the air around him trying to get rid of the bees. Steve realized, with relief, that the gamma radiation in his system was enough to keep the bees from controlling him…for now.
Bobbi, May, and Natasha came in from the ceiling.
"Focus all your efforts on her." Steve ordered. "Take out the queen and the hive is powerless."
The second Daisy and Lincoln entered the room all the Ultron bots turned to face them. "Inhuman detected. Eliminate."
"Shit." Daisy said.
Chaos reigned. Steve dimly registered that Coulson had brought more renforcements when Virgil and Sam flew overhead. He caught flashes of the others as they fought. Even with the combined efforts of Lincoln and Static, the bees still managed to turn Bobbi and May. They both attacked Natasha and Daisy who had to work together to try to hold them off. Hulk was a loose cannon unpredictable as he tried to find off the bees, uncaring whether it was an Ultron or a team member he crushed underfoot.
Noah Kuttler got up from his chair and attempted to flee. Steve vaulted over one of the Ultrons to try and cut him off. "Not so fast." He said, landing behind Kuttler and grabbed him "You're going to answer for your crimes."
"Captain….I believe you have other problems." He pointed behind Steve. A shot rang out. Steve dropped Kuttler and turned; a cold feeling spread through his ribs. Phil Coulson was standing there, gun raised and a fresh sting visible on his neck. His eyes were glazed. Steve felt faint. As he fell to his knees, he could hear Bucky shouting and saw him approaching in slow motion. In his com Felicity was celebrating having just successfully deactivating the bees when Bucky's howl of rage registered. Coulson's eyes returned to normal and he dropped the gun in horror as he looked at Steve.
"No." Bucky said. "NO NO NONO." He grabbed Steve and held him. "Stay with me."
"Not his fault." Steve mumbled.
"Punk don't you dare." Bucky growled. "Don't-"
"I'm fine." Steve's eyes fluttered as his vision began sliding in and out of focus. Blackness was closing in around the edges. "End of the line, Buck."
I hate wearing black." Felicity murmured, looking down at the mourning dress she was wearing. The funeral was in an hour. She forgone makeup, knowing that water resistant wouldn't be enough.
"I know the feeling." Clint said coming to stand behind her. They stood, looking at their reflections in silence unable to voice the depths of their pain. Steve had meant so much to so many, but to those who'd been his friends the loss was unimaginable.
"I'm scared." Felicity admitted. "I know we're not traitors anymore but…"
Clint pulled her over to the bed in their hotel room and sat her down. "We know the risks when we signed up for this gig."
"Did we?" Felicity asked. "Earth's Mightiest Heroes…" she said bitterly. "Did it even compute for us? What was at risk, what we could lose? Steve…he always seemed so invincible."
"Cap was the best of us." Clint agreed, sitting next to her.
"You know how we always tell everyone 'it's not your fault'?" Felicity waited until Clint nodded before continuing. "Why is it that I can never convince myself of that?"
"Squeaky." Clint put his arm around her, his hand resting on her abdomen.
"My dad did this, Clint." Felicity said. "I should have tracked him down and locked him up…I should have shut down the bees faster, I…"
"Hey." Clint said. "No, we are not playing the guilt game." He kissed her forehead. "Listen to me. I was there when you were taking down the bees and I saw you giving it 110%. I know you and what you're capable of and believe me when I say that you weren't holding back. Steve…his blood isn't on your hands it's on Kuttler's and Larvan's, but not yours." Felicity nuzzled his neck. "Don't fall down this hole, darlin'. I spent years thinking all of Barney's kills were on me. Believing I could have done something, stopping him. Wallowing in guilt is easier than admitting that my brother was a monster and there was absolutely nothing I could do." He put a hand on Felicity's face and stroked her check. "Being guilty is easier than admitting powerlessness. Because if you're guilty it means that at some point you had control of the situation." There were tears in her eyes. "But you didn't."
The door opened and Miles poked his head in, wiping at his eyes. "Can I come in?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.
Felicity nodded. He shuffled in with lucky following hi and stood awkwardly next to them, shoving his hands into his pockets. Lucky sat in front of Felicity and put his head in her lap. Clint held out an arm. "Come here."
Miles gratefully sat between them, holding them close. "I don't know if I can do this." He said. Steve had trained him personally.
"None of us know." Clint said. "But we have each other. It's going to be a private funeral…Stark…." He gritted his teeth. He hadn't forgiven Tony. It was unlikely any of them would anytime soon, if ever. "Stark managed to get the government vultures away from Steve's body."
Felicity nodded. They didn't have the right to Steve. They didn't have a right to try and claim his legacy; not after they'd worked so hard to destroy it.
"James needs us there." She said. "Our pain is bad, but…he lost-" She looked over at Clint. "If I lost either of you, I couldn't deal with it alone."
They stood. Miles and Clint flanking either side of Felicity. Simmons had recommended she begin bed rest in a week and walking tired her out. The car was waiting outside their hotel preparing to take them to Brooklyn. Steve was being buried in Greenwood cemetery. Clint helped Felicity into the passenger seat while Miles got in the back with Lucky. When they pulled up to the cemetery they saw that the majority of their friends were already there, standing next to the grave. Felicity opened the door and got out before Clint could make it around the car. The sky was gray and over cast, but she saw Ororo look up and clear the clouds. She was standing with T'Challa with Nyota between them. Bucky was standing apart, looking at the coffin, his expression empty.
"Steve" She whispered. Clint looked at her with confusion. "The baby. We haven't thought of a name. I think it should be Steve."
Clint nodded as Miles ducked away to wipe fresh tears letting out a noise of agreement.
Felicity looked back at the mourners in front of them. The group was still divided, but…she saw small glimmers of hope. May and Natasha were flanking Sara as Richie and Virgil stood next to each to each other. Squeezing the arms of both Miles and Clint they walked forwards to join the others. They would take this one day at a time. They'd continue to honor what Steve had stood for by doing what was right and fighting against injustice. But for today all they could do was grieve. Grieve and remember.