The Will Of The Free
A/N: Welcome back! Hope you enjoy this chapter, please leave a review at the end!
"We'll use the quinjet we took to get here. If we fly fast enough we can get to Vienna in under an hour." Steve told her, all three of them now walking through the streets of London at a fast pace. They arrived at the hotel they had put the quinjet on the roof of.
It was an expensive looking place, some of those that attended Peggy's funeral were there seeking shelter from the rain. A receptionist attempted to get their attention by waving to them, "You can't use the higher floors if you haven't signed in!" She yelled desperately.
"We don't have time to sign in!" Sam called back to her, jogging quickly up the stairs.
Steve overtook Sam quickly, while Kagome stayed further behind, being careful not to trip in the small black heels she had chosen to wear. Eventually they arrived on the roof, Kagome trailing behind as she stepped slowly towards the sleek black jet waiting atop the building for them.
Steve pulled the door open with a mechanical clang, allowing Kagome and Sam to step in before him. The inside of the quinjet was much like the outside, dark and sleek. The plane had several seats in the back of it, all made out of a comfortable leather. Inside the jet it was fairly cool, the weather in London wasn't something Kagome would call 'warm.' The door closed with another slam, and Steve walked over to the front of the jet.
His knowledge on modern technology was limited. Though he had tried to catch up, seventy years of progress was a lot to process. He stared in mild confusion at the dashboard on the jet. Bright orange, blue and red flashing lights stared back at him, he hadn't the slightest clue what any of them did.
Sam sighed, watching Steve narrow his eyes at the dashboard. He strolled over to the front of the jet, standing beside Steve. "You fossil," Sam chuckled and Steve smiled in return. He pressed a button and typed the coordinates of the United Nations centre in Vienna into the system. He set the switch to autopilot, Sam knew that none of them were particularly skilled with a plane, 'Steve crashed into the ocean and didn't come out for seventy years, like hell I'm gonna let him fly,' he thought. He clicked another switch, setting the plane to maximum speed.
The two of them walked back into the main body of the jet, both taking a seat on the leather chairs as the jet started to take off for Vienna.
"We should land in forty-five minutes," Sam predicted, "We should check if Nat's alright, I don't agree with her on the accords but I don't want her hurt."
Kagome nodded, "Has Wanda signed?"
Steve shook his head, "No, only Tony, Natasha, Vision and James have." He glanced up at the ceiling of the jet, "I don't think she will. I don't think the rest of us will while we have a choice."
She understood, freedom was a huge part of the American culture, or was before Steve had come out of the ice. 'It must be difficult to adjust, the country he fought so hard to protect is now forcing him to do something he thinks is wrong.' She thought. Kagome took in a deep breath, "The accords are using fear to take away our freedom. I've just gotten mine back, I don't want the government to decide what I do ever again. Being under somebody's control, being somebody's puppet, is horrible."
Steve agreed, "We should have the freedom to go where the people need us, not where the government want us."
Sam leaned his head against the cold wall of the jet, "I'm gonna try to sleep."
Kagome laughed, "We're on the jet for forty-five minutes, Sam."
He smiled back, "I gotta get my beauty sleep." Within minutes of him saying that, his eyelids had dropped closed and his breathing had evened out.
"Does he always do this on flights?" She asked with an amused look.
"Pretty much," Steve sighed, "Are you feeling better after what happened in Lagos?"
"I can't even feel the pain anymore, I'm fine." She too leant her head back against the wall.
"You know, you scared me," He confessed with a small smile, "When Wanda said you went to the building that collapsed I panicked. I saw the building go up in flames, and when this man yelled out that he had found somebody under the wreckage, I was so glad to see that you were still alive. I pulled the concrete off you and you just grabbed me and whispered my name. I was just so, so glad to see that you were alive."
Kagome just smiled in response, a light blush covering her cheeks.
X
Natasha had quickly made her way out of the building, her eyes wide with shock as she saw bodies around her, including that of the wakandan king. The site had only truly started swarming with officers about half an hour afterwards. Before they had arrived she had gotten as many people as possible out of the building, and was left to her own devices once the CIA had arrived.
Sharon Carter, the girl from Peggy's funeral, had landed in Vienna. She was working with the CIA in a joint terrorism task force and had been assigned as a leading officer on scene. She had quickly changed out of her funeral attire, and though it hurt her to have so little time to mourn, she pushed on with her job anyway. Natasha could hear her shouting orders at fellow agents, "Call MI6, I want micro-forensics as soon as possible. We need the whole team here in two hours or it's not worth it."
Sharon and her agents had passed T'Challa, who was sitting despairingly on a bench. Natasha spotted him, and quickly dusted the debris from her blazer as she made her way towards him. He had a shallow cut on his temple, the blood from which had caked the collar of his shirt. He breathed in deeply. When she left the building, when members of the terrorism task force came into remove the bodies, the young prince had to be removed from his father's body.
She sat down on a nearby bench and looked at him apologetically, "I'm very sorry."
T'Challa stared ahead of him, a small ornate silver band clutched tightly in his hands, "In my culture, death is not the end. It's more of a stepping-off point, you reach out with both hands and you are lead into the green veldt, where you run free forever."
Natasha nodded, using one hand to wipe some of the black dust off her face, "It sounds very peaceful."
T'Challa cast his eyes downwards to the ring, "My father thought so." He slipped the ring onto his finger, "I am not my father."
Natasha could instinctively sense his growing need for revenge, "T'Challa, the task force will decide who brings in Barnes."
He clenched his fist tightly, "They need not bother. I have decided. I will kill him." T'Challa told her, looking he in the eye for the first time since the explosion. He stood up, giving her a small nod, and walked away.
X
The plane ride came to a halt as they landed on the roof of an abandoned building that was up for renovation.
The windows of the building had gone, leaving only holes in the plain brick walls where they once were. There was a creaky, unstable looking wooden staircase running through the building that lead to the bottom floor. There was no furniture in the building, the entire place just screamed 'desolate.'
Sam awoke with a snort as the plane jolted to a stop, "What the hell?" he murmured softly.
Steve walked to the front of the jet, turning the switches off again, "This is the closest we could land to the UN building." He explained.
Sam was now fully awake, "We're gonna stick out like a sore thumb if we wear all black, there's some clothes in here somewhere-" he said, pulling open a grey bag that had been disregarded in the corner of the jet. Sam handed a leather jacket, deep blue hat and sunglasses to Steve, pulling out another hat and pair of sunglasses for himself and quickly put them on, both himself and Steve taking off the tuxedo jackets they had worn for the funeral.
"Higurashi," Sam called her, "This'll probably fit you, I think it's Nat's." He said, pulling out a pale blue bomber jacket.
Kagome took it from his hands and slipped it on, "Ready to go?"
Steve nodded, "I'll call Nat, you two stay at the small café half a block away from the site, I'll meet you two there." With that, he slid the door open to reveal the dusty rooftop they were on. The three of them eyed the stairs, and walked carefully down them.
Kagome's heels sunk slightly into the rotting wood and she muttered under her breath, "ew."
Sam winced at the sight of the place, "What the hell kind of building did we land on?"
They reached the bottom floor quickly, despite having to go rather slowly on the stairs.
X
Natasha's phone started ringing seconds after T'Challa's departure. She sighed as Steve's phone number lit up the screen.
"Yeah?" She answered, holding the phone between her head and her shoulder as she continued to dust off her blazer, though she doubted the black smoke stains would come out.
"You alright?" Steve asked in a concerned tone. He was standing a while away, and he could roughly see her form on the green bench.
"Ah, yeah, thanks. I got lucky." She paused as she stood up, now holding the phone with one of her hands. "I know what Barnes means to you but please stay out of this, Steve. You'll only make things worse if you don't, please stay home."
Steve sighed, "Are you saying you'll arrest me?"
He could hear the sirens of a fire truck headed to the building to finish off the fire head past on Natasha's end.
"No." She answered finally, "But if you get involved, someone will."
"He's this far gone, Nat. I should be the one to bring him in."
"Why?" She asked, a frown marring her usually blank face.
"Because the rest of you would die trying." He watched her from afar, and pulled the phone away from his ear to disconnect the call.
Natasha cursed under her breath, 'he's going after Barnes.' She thought sourly.
X
Kagome sat in the café with Sam opposite her. He was stirring his coffee quietly, all of his attention focused on the drink on the table in front of him.
Kagome's mind, however, was elsewhere. 'What does not signing the treaty mean for me? If I did, would they try to take away the jewel? Would they try to weaponize me?' she thought, one hand reaching out to fiddle with the jewel strung around her neck. 'One little object has so much power, and I can't let a cursed jewel like the shikon no tama get into the hands of people willing to abuse it.'
The café was fairly busy, some of the survivors of the bombing had taken refuge inside the small shop, various cuts and bruises on their body.
When Steve walked through the door, he was stuffing the phone into a pocket on the inside of his leather jacket. Sam didn't bother to look up from his coffee at him, but Kagome ceased her nervous fiddling of the jewel sitting at the base of her neck to listen to them both.
"She told you to stay out of it, didn't she?" Sam predicted, "You know, she might have a point."
"He'd do it for me." Steve told him.
Sam looked up to glance at Kagome through his shades, "Barnes is his friend from the war. He was brainwashed by HYDRA, a branch of the nazi movement. He's a rogue killing machine." He summarised.
Kagome absorbed the information, "Do you think he can be saved, Steve?" She asked, her mind instantly bringing her back to images of Kohaku, who was controlled by Naraku for two years, she thought next of Kagura, who could use the dead as puppets to trick others. Lastly, she thought of herself being controlled and temporarily paralysed by Akago, the baby that held Naraku's demonic heart. She knew it was a terrible experience to be brainwashed, controlled, manipulated and trapped. She had watched Sango live in fear that her baby brother would be killed, or that she would have to kill him. She had seen what
Steve nodded, "I know he's still my best friend from Brooklyn, I know he can be saved." He looked at Sam, "He'd do it for me."
"In the 1940s maybe! We need to weigh our options, the people who shoot at you usually shoot at me too!" Sam whispered.
A person the trio recognised from Peggy's funeral walked into the café and stood next to their table.
"Sharon?" Steve asked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"I thought I saw you here." She told him, looking at the menu written in white chalk on the wall.
"What are you doing here?" He asked another question, glancing at her quickly.
"Joint CIA terrorism task force. Tips have been pouring in about Barnes' location since the news broadcast. This is the one I think you should look at." She handed him a brown folder, sliding it onto the table.
"Find him." She told him.
"Thank you, Sharon." Steve smiled warmly.
She sighed in response, "Be quick, we have orders to shoot first and ask questions later." She left the café quickly, returning to her CIA taskforce.
Kagome looked up at him, "The girl from the funeral?"
"She's CIA now," Steve told her, "Finish your coffee Sam, we've got a soldier to find."
X
A/N: Two updates in one day! Wow! I may not be able to update tomorrow but I will try, PLEASE REVIEW THEY KEEP ME MOTIVATED TO UPDATE! PLEASE REVIEW!