Ellie Bishop: Yeah, I agree, FATWS really failed to delve into how Bucky was dealing with the absence of Steve. I know it's been six months but come on. I disagree, I think Bucky and Sam are friends but not close friends after three months living and working together. Wanda still cares very much about her friends, yes.

Russia

Night

"It's good to see you Sam," Wanda said as they stared at each other in the alley.

"What are you doing here Wanda?" Sam asked. "You know Russia doesn't take kindly to enhanced."

"Which makes it the perfect place to hide, no one would think to look for an Avenger here," Wanda pointed out.

"Guess so," Sam noted before pausing. "It is good to see you though."

"It's good to see you to," Wanda said softly before her face hardened. "Now I have to go."

"Like Hell you are," Sam snapped, surprising Wanda as he approached her. "We've been looking for you for three months. We're not letting you run away again."

"Well maybe you should," Wanda snapped. "Or have you forgotten the last time you tried to help me?"

"No, I haven't," Sam said heavily, the memory still clear in his mind.

Avengers Compound, three months earlier

Night

It was just after they had returned from New Titan. Everyone was sitting around the living area, still kind of numb. Except for Hope, who had taken off to the med-bay once they returned, sitting by Scott's side as she waited for him to wake up. The rest of them had gone to the sitting room, trying to process their emotions at their own pace.

Hearing someone get up, Sam looked up, seeing Wanda had gotten to her feet. Recognizing the look in her eyes, Sam's blood chilled. As Wanda walked out of the room, Sam got to his feet and followed after her.

"Wanda," he called out as he followed her out into the hall.

"What do you want Sam?" Wanda asked lifelessly without turning around.

"I just wanna talk," Sam said as he walked up behind her.

"You wanna talk? Okay, let's talk," Wanda snapped as she turned around. "Let's talk about the fact the man I love is dead. Or how about the fact that most of our friends were wiped out by a psychopath? We failed Sam. So I'm gonna go off alone."

"Wanda, I don't think any of us should be alone right now. In times like these, you need your friends more than ever," Sam said gently.

"Just shut up!" Wanda suddenly wailed.

Her powers seemed to respond to her out of control emotion. A red mist erupted from Wanda's body, throwing Sam back. He landed on his side, crying out in pain as he felt like his head was being assaulted.

In the living area, Bucky, Bruce, Fury, Carol, Groot, Nebula, Laura and the kids all cried out in agony as they too felt the pain of Wanda's burst of power.

In the Med-Bay, Hope collapsed to her knees, holding her head in pain as Scott twitched in his sleep, feeling the effects but unable to wake.

But almost as soon as it happened, it all stopped. Sam, breathing heavily, looked up to see Wanda looking at him in horror at what she'd just done. Then, Wanda turned to the wall and unleashed a stream of red energy, which tore a hall in the wall, revealing the outside. Wanda then used her powers to levitate herself, jumping through the hole.

Sam jumped to his feet, rushing over to the hole. Looking up at the sky, he saw Wanda appear as a spec of red energy before it was too far away for him to see.

"I remember clear as day. But I also know you didn't mean to do it to us," Sam said as he took a few steps closer to Wanda. "And so does everyone else. No one blames you Wanda."

"Well maybe you should," Wanda said bitterly. "I am beyond saving. Clint, Steve, Vis, they all tried to help me and couldn't. What makes you think you can?"

"Because I don't give up on my friends, even when they do," Sam said pointedly. "I'm your friend Wanda, I'm here for you whether you like it or not. That's what friends do."

"Sam…" Wanda trailed off, a lump in her thought.

Before the conversation could continue, the back door opened. Sam looked over his shoulder to see Bucky walk out.

"Sam, we gotta move," Bucky said before he spotted Wanda. "Wanda."

"Hey Bucky," Wanda said and Sam was disappointed to her eyes harden. "I guess you should be going."

"Wanda…please, we need your help," Sam pleaded.

"What would you need my help with?" Wanda scoffed.

"Well, for starters, you could help us figure out what this guy knows," Fury said as he and Sharon walked out, holding a restrained Flag Smasher.

"And you're so interested in these guys who just attacked you why?" Wanda asked curiously with a raised eyebrow.

"He's a member of the Flag Smashers, a group of terrorists who blame the Accords and us for Thanos. They're targeting the loved ones of people behind the Accords," Sam explained.

"Their leader, John Walker, he's dressed like Steve, even uses a shield," Bucky added and Wanda was visibly affected by this.

"…I know a place. Bring him," Wanda said after a moment, gesturing forward as she walked towards the edge of the alley.

"Thank you Wanda," Sam said gratefully.

"I'm not doing this to join up with you again. But Steve was the one person who never gave up on me, who gave me a second chance. I don't want to see his legacy torn to pieces any more than the rest of you," Wanda said before straightening. "Let's go."

Wolfram and Hart

Same time

In her office, Willow was going over some of the Intel the Mystics had on the Infinity Stones when the door to her office opened. Willow looked up to see Faith walk in.

"I think the pressure's getting to Angel," she said bluntly and Willow raised an eyebrow.

"What makes you say that?"

"That meeting I had? A couple whose son survived a hit and run. And Angel just sent them away," Faith ranted and Willow frowned.

"That's…okay, I admit that's weird. But I think we owe Angel the benefit of the doubt, he's earned that much. And he's under a lot of stress, we all are," Willow pointed out.

"Okay, I guess you have a point. I just…I wish I understood what he's thinking," Faith said in frustration.

In Angel's office, he was pacing back and forth before the door to his office opened up.

"What the Hell is going on?!" Angel exploded as Hamilton walked in.

"Angel. I'm at your disposal," Hamilton said, sounding confused.

"My son walks through my door!" Angel snarled.

"And you make him walk right out. I find that very interesting," Hamilton noted.

"I want him as far away from here as possible!" Angel snapped.

"Yes. It might have been smart to get some information out of him first. Might help us understand what's happening," Hamilton noted as Angel stormed up to him.

"I'll tell you what, why don't you just tell me," Angel snapped as he walked up to Hamilton.

"Let's be clear about something: things run differently now," Hamilton said, his eyes darkening as his face hardened. "I'm not a little girl; you and I will not be making love on this couch anytime soon. But with that in mind, how can I help you?"

Angel glared at Hamilton as he walked over to the couch before Angel stormed over to the door. He slammed it shut, trying to rein in his emotions before turning back to face Hamilton.

"The Senior Partners and I had a deal."

"Yes, you did. They took your son – your raging, psychopathic son - and gave him a new family. Changed his memories, changed everyone's memories actually, in order to give him a new life. A normal life," Hamilton recapped.

"And I came to work here," Angel snapped.

"And we couldn't be happier. The Senior Partners honor their deals, and believe me, they have no desire to upset such a…profitable partnership," Hamilton said and Angel let out a humorless laugh.

"So this is all some unfortunate coincidence?" Angel asked darkly.

"Oh I didn't say that," Hamilton said and Angel looked at him sharply. "I said the Senior Partners weren't behind it. But this was no accident. Someone's trying to send you a message. And they're using your son to do it."

Russia

Not long after

"Nice place," Bucky quipped.

Wanda ignored him as she led them inside. It was a nice place, by Russian standards. It was a loft like apartment, the living room easily the size of Sam's apartment in DC. There were two couches in the living room, a table nearby, and they could see two hallways leading out of the room.

"It's Natasha's," Wanda said and they all looked at her sharply. "It's one of her old safe houses, from back in her time in the KGB. She told me about it once while we were on the run."

"And you've been here the whole time?" Bucky asked.

"No," Wanda said simply but didn't elaborate.

The room was silent as Wanda pulled a chair from a nearby table and Fury and Sharon forced the unconscious Flag Smasher into it, Fury tying his hands together with some rope he had on him.

"Hey. Hey, wake up," Sharon called out, slapping the Flag Smasher to wake him up.

"Ow! What?" the Flag Smasher asked before coming to and seeing the five of them assembled before him.

"Let me explain the situation. You, Flag Smasher. We, the four people you just tried to kill, along with an Avenger," Sharon broke it down for him. "You have two choices. You tell us what Walker is planning willingly. Or, we can make you tell us. And let me just say, you really don't want us to make you. Your choice."

"Go to Hell bitch," the Flag smasher sneered.

"Guess we do this the hard way then," Sharon said with a shrug, pulling out a knife.

Only for Sam to step in front of her, grabbing her wrist.

"Before we go to Hydra's style of things, let's try this another way," Sam said, lowering her hand as she raised an eyebrow. "I'd like a minute alone with him."

"Wilson, you know he's a terrorist, right?" Fury pointed out.

"I know. And I'm still asking," Sam said and waited.

Sharon glanced at Fury and, after a moment, Fury nodded.

"One minute Wilson. Make it count," Fury said before he walked out of the room, followed by Sharon.

"Do you know what you're doing Sam?" Bucky asked.

"I hope so. But I have to try," Sam said and a strange look crossed Bucky's face. "What?"

"Just…sounds like something Steve would say," Bucky said and it was silent for a beat. "Good luck."

Bucky then turned and walked after Fury and Sharon. Wanda lingered, opening her mouth to say something. But she seemed to think better of it at the last second and followed after Bucky. Now alone, Sam took a deep breath before turning around to face the Flag Smasher, who was glaring at him in content.

"I'm not telling you a damn thing," he sneered at Sam.

"I don't wanna talk about Walker, not yet," Sam said, surprising the Flag Smasher. "I want to talk about you for a minute."

"Why?" the Flag Smasher asked wearily.

"Because we have something in common: we both lost people to Thanos," Sam said as he sat down across from the Flag Smasher on the couch closest.

"What makes you think I lost someone?" the Flag Smasher asked, looking away.

"Aside from the fact you won't look at me now? Why else would you be doing this?" Sam asked pointedly. "No matter what you believe, a man doesn't join up with a group as extreme as the Flag Smashers without some kind of personal reason. Who'd you lose?"

"My wife," the Flag Smasher said after a moment. "She was taking a taxi home from work when, suddenly, the taxi didn't have a driver. She didn't even have time to react before it wrapped itself around a tree. She hit her head on the side of the car roof and never woke up. She was four months pregnant."

"I'm sorry," Sam said with compassion. "Your wife, would you tell me about her?"

"We met in college. She was a nurse; she'd always wanted to be a nurse. She loved helping people; it was all she'd ever wanted to do. It's the reason I fell in love with her," the Flag Smasher said, his voice frowning thicker with emotion as he spoke.

"Sounds like I would have liked her," Sam said gently. "Now, I'd like to ask you a question. If your wife was here right now…what would she tell you to?"

For a moment, it was silent. Then, the Flag Smasher lowered his head, tears running down his face.

"Okay…okay, I'll tell you whatever you wanna know," he said emotionally.

"This whole thing has been a diversion," Sam said as he stood in the kitchen with the others. "They killed Tibolot's children to throw us off, so we'd never guess their real target. While we focus on protect Rasputin's niece and nephew, the real target is Rasputin himself."

"Why? What's the point?" Bucky wondered.

"Walker didn't feel like sharing. But either way, our new friend did give me Intel on where Walker might be," Sam said and they all looked at him sharply. "Walker plans on visiting a café before the attack."

"A café. He wants to get a cup of coffee before he commits terrorism?" Sharon asked incredulously.

"I don't know. But this does give us an opportunity," Sam said.

"An opportunity to do what?" Wanda asked curiously.

"To end this without anyone else getting hurt," Sam said simply.

Unspecified location

Same time

Walker was examining his shield, which he'd managed to repair when a Flag Smasher walked up behind him.

"Sir, the group we sent after the Avengers reported back in. They failed, and one of our own was captured," he informed Walker regretfully.

Walker was silent, placed the shield down before walking over to a wall, examining some weapons. The Flag Smasher watched him, bewildered.

"Uh, sir? Did you hear me?"

"I heard you," Walker said as he turned around to face his soldier. "But it doesn't matter. While it would be better to have them dead, there's nothing they can do to stop us. And I'm actually glad they're still alive. So they get to watch as I burn everything they fought for to the ground."

I know not a whole lot happened this chapter, again, but next chapter will make up for that.