Part 1

New 2018

Sam only needed to take one look at Torres's state to know that they had a big problem on their hands.

The poor young man had stitches on the side of his head, mixed with dark bruising. This had been the Flag Smashers' doing.

"Yeah, it was pretty bad, happened so fast. But I was helped out by someone who claims to be a friend of yours-" The video call screen turned and when another person entered the frame, Sam felt his breath catch in his throat.

"Hello Sam." She smiled and waved.

"Alex-" He couldn't believe it. "Is that really you?"

She chuckled at his disbelief. "Yes. Joaquin here was talking about a guy with wings and I wondered how many of those there were out there."

"True. What are you doing in Switzerland?"

"Investigating the Flag Smashers myself. That's how I met Joaquin - though not before he got hurt, I'm afraid."

"Hey, it would've been a lot worse had you not jumped in," Torres assured her.

After that, Sam wasted no time in readying himself for a trip to Germany for his own investigation.

"Now Redwing tracked them to a building somewhere outside of Munich so that's where I'm going."

"Well I don't trust Redwing," said Bucky as he and Carina stopped Sam on the tarmac.

"You don't have to, but I'mma go see if he's right."

"I'm coming with you."

"No you're not."

"Play nice, boys," Carina called after them, and that was that: they were going together, whether they liked it or not.

Or not.

Ahead of Bucky who was still recovering from his jump from the jet, Sam engaged Redwing, sending the drone into a seemingly abandoned building. He watched from the little screen on his wrist as Redwing closed in on a figure inside the otherwise abandoned building - at least this part of it. After all, this was where he had managed to track the Flag Smashers to.

She turned around and smiled into the screen as the drone hovered before her. "Hello, Sam."

Now Sam jogged to catch up with Redwing.

And suddenly, there she was. Not through a screen, but before his eyes in real life. For the first time in seven years.

Of all the times he had imagined being reunited with her over the years, this turned out to be even better than anything he could have imagined. Despite the context of tracking a radical new group, it was perfect.

"Hello, my angel."

It was then that he realized he hadn't said anything yet, shocked into silence by her presence here with him. "Alex," was all he managed to say.

"I missed you - it was a long five years."

"I can imagine. God, I missed you, too. You seem like you're doing well."

"Well, yeah. And yourself?"

"Yeah - resettling back into life hasn't been so smooth. And the family business is struggling."

"I'm sorry, I can't imagine-"

"Ah hem." Their moment - their reunion - was broken suddenly. They turned to see they were not alone. Bucky had caught up to them.

"Took you long enough," remarked Sam.

"Well I didn't expect to find you embracing a woman who looks suspiciously like my wife."

"You must be Bucky," Alex said. "Karen told me all about you. Nice to finally meet you. Though I will admit I was a little startled to see you just now - I've heard all about the Winter Soldier. I'm Alex." Then she turned back to Sam. "I didn't know the two of you were working together."

"Neither did we. Trust me, this isn't planned."

"Well you've come to the right place. They're here - looks like they're packing up something," she informed.

Now three, they snuck deeper into the building. Sam looped Alex into the communication link.

Redwing surveyed the scene while they hung back, assessing.

"It looks like they might have a hostage."

Bucky took off after the trucks as they drove away, sprinting down the highway and jumping into one of the trucks.

"It looks like they're stealing vaccines." He must have encountered some activity, for the next thing they knew, he was shouting, "SHIT!"

Sam swooped in, along with Redwing. A red haired girl leapt up and grabbed the drone right out of the air, smashing it to bits.

'Smashers' indeed.

They were outnumbered, with at least eight Smashers coming at them. Looking around, Sam spotted Alex up ahead - she had planted herself in the middle of the road, the trucks heading right for her at full speed.

"Alex-"

"Don't worry, I have a plan-" Next thing he knew, she was charging towards the oncoming truck before springing up off the pavement, taking a leap and jumping all the way up onto the hood of the truck, trapping a Flag Smasher from behind.

They continued to fight, but everyone was a bit distracted by the entrance of the two men decked out in red white and blue.

"Who is that?" she cried.

"Captain America," Sam answered.

"I thought here wasn't a Captain America at the moment."

"Now there is."

The three tried to mind their own business and continue with what they had been doing, but that was difficult with the new guys' sudden arrival. They did have the element of surprise, though.

Alex was so distracted by the newcomers that she didn't act quickly enough before one of the Flag Smashers attacked. She was kicked from behind, sending her plunging down from the truck. She was caught mid-fall, however.

"I got you!" Sam set her on the grass away from the road, away from the fight. Bucky was still hanging off the base of the truck from where he had been thrown off. "Be right back-" Sam swooped back beneath the truck and grabbed Bucky - only the two didn't have such a gentle landing.

They hit the ground, skidding through the grass, rolling, Bucky landing on top of Sam.

"Could've used that shield."

"Get off of me." Sam shoved Bucky away.

"Those were all super soldiers, Sam."

"I know - you're welcome by the way."

"Are we just going to let them get away?" Alex cried, rushing to their sides.

"This is bigger than we thought."

"Super soldier big."

"We'll let the 'Star Spangled Man' deal with them," grumbled Bucky.

"That was the leader, Karli Morgenthau," she explained. "The red haired girl."

"The girl who kicked his ass?" Sam pointed to Bucky.

"Yes. She wants to return things to the way they were during the Blip. No borders, united communities across various countries. Which doesn't sound all that bad, just the way she and her followers are going about it."

"Agreed," said Sam. "We need to find out what their next move is - and where they're taking those vaccines."

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :) I'm really excited about this story!