"Reliving the glory days?" Olivia said and they chuckled. "I remember sneaking into this locker room before each game to see you."

"It's probably why we always won." Walker said.

"You nervous?"

"Who, me?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"Never." he said and chuckled softly. "I've been a captain before, obviously, but this is different. This is... Everybody in the world expects me to be something. And I don't wanna fail them."

"I know."

"Yeah."

"Be yourself."

"Yeah."

"They're gonna love you." she said and chuckled. "Good luck."

"Love you."

"Love you."

Later there was a muffled crowd cheering.

"Did he puke yet?"

"Not yet. You're up."

"Copy that."

"Good morning. Good morning, America. Good morning." Walker said. "No, you're Captain America, you're not..." he said softly. "Good morning. John, Captain, uh... Captain America." he said in a normal voice.

"And that's why you failed drama class." she said and laughed. "Can you believe this?" she asked and he chuckled.

"I know, right?" he said and she chuckled.

"Yeah."

"Two weeks ago we're prepping the team for a special ops mission in Chile, now this. Don't get me wrong, this has been great, it's been great, but it's been a lot of handshakes, a lot of suits, a lot of speeches, and senator meetings, and I just wanna do the job."

"This is the job, John."

"Yeah."

"All of it is. Star-spangled man with a plan and all that. It's always been in the job description. Listen, this suit, it comes with expectations, brother."

"Mmm-hmm."

"You can't just punch your way out of problems anymore, you know?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"Time to go to work."

"Time to go to work."

A marching band was playing upbeat music and kept playing upbeat music as the crowd started cheering.

"Thank you." the announcer said and the crowd kept cheering. "Ladies and gentlemen... Your new Captain America!" he said over the mic and the crowd kept cheering and fireworks started Bursting.

"Good morning, America." Captain America said and the crowd kept cheering.

"Yeah!" they said and he chuckled.

"Thank you so much for coming. This has gotta be fun, though, coming back to your high school after so much has changed?"

"John Walker!" a fan said.

Captain America chuckled.

"Oh, it's great. We're..." he said and the crowd started cheering. "Oh!" he said. "Yeah."

"John, I think the first thing everyone wants to know is what is it like being Captain America? Do eagles fly overhead wherever you go?" the announcer asked and Captain America laughed.

"Uh, yes." he said and chuckled. "Yeah, that and flags tend to start majestically waving in the wind."

"And how's the tour been? I know they did a big rollout for you, right?"

"It's the greatest honor of my life. Um, but I'm just a little shocked, I think. How did a guy like me end up here?" Captain America asked and chuckled.

"Oh, wait, wait, wait. "A guy like me"? Somebody's being a bit too humble. For those of you who aren't familiar with his résumé, "John Walker, first person in American history to receive three Medals of Honor, ran RS-One missions in counterterrorism and hostage rescue." The government did a study of your body at MIT, and you tested off the charts in every measurable category. Speed, endurance, intelligence..."

"Look, here's the thing, uh, I'm not Tony Stark, I'm not Dr. Banner, okay? I don't have the flashiest gadgets, I don't have super strength. But what I do have is guts. Something Captain America always had, always needs to have, and I'm gonna need every ounce of it. Because I got big shoes to fill."

"Did you know Steve Rogers?"

"I was two years out of West Point when Steve came back on the scene. I followed his career very closely as an Avenger. I like to think that I modeled my work after his."

"You've always wanted to be a hero?"

"I liked that what I was doing would make people feel safe. Steve Rogers was the kind of guy who could do that, he gave me hope. Even though I never met him, he feels like a brother."

"Wow."

"Seems like a good guy." Torres said.

"You met him?" Sam said.

"No."

"Thanks for doing this on such short notice."

"Yeah. No sweat. I'm just finishing up the checklist. You'll be all good to go once you land in Munich."

"Shouldn't have given up the shield." Bucky said.

"Good to see you too, Buck." Sam said.

"This is wrong."

"Hey, hey, look, I'm working, all right? So all this outrage is gonna have to wait."

"You didn't know that was gonna happen?"

"No, of course I didn't know that was gonna happen. You think it didn't break my heart to see them march him out there and call him the new Captain America?"

"Steve didn't want this."

"Oh, my God. What do you want me to do? Call America and tell 'em I changed my mind? Huh?" Sam said and chuckled. "Yeah, right. It's a great reunion, buddy, be well."

"You had no right to give up the shield, Sam."

"Hey. This is what you're not gonna do. You're not gonna come here in your overextended life and tell me about my rights. It's over, Bucky. Besides, I have bigger things to deal with now."

"What could be bigger than this?"

"This guy. His connections with rebel organizations all over Eastern and Central Europe, and he's strong. Too strong."

"And?"

"Well, he's been connected to this online group called the Flag Smashers. Now, Redwing traced them to a building somewhere outside of Munich. So that's where I'm going.

"Well, I don't trust Redwing."

"Hold on a minute. You don't have to trust Redwing, but I'mma go see if he's right. 'Cause I have a feeling they might be a part of the Big Three."

"What "Big Three"?"

"The Big Three."

"What Big Three?"

"Androids, aliens, and wizards."

"That's not a thing."

"That's definitely a thing."

"No, it's not."

"Every time we fight, it's one of the three."

"Who are you fighting now, Gandalf?"

"How do you know about Gandalf?"

"I read The Hobbit in 1937 when it first came out."

"So you see my point?"

"No, I don't. There are no wizards."

"Doctor Strange."

"Is a sorcerer."

"Aah!" Sam said and chuckled. "A sorcerer is a wizard without a hat. Think about it. Right? I'm right. I just came up with that. It's crazy. But that's not the point. These guys aren't magical. "They use brute force like you, the incredibly annoying guy in front of me with the staring problem."

"I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not."

Then an alarm blared.

"One minute to drop off, Sam." Torres said.

"So what's our plan? Great. So no plan." Winter Soldier said.

"Thirty seconds!"

"Enjoy your ride, Buck." Falcon said.

"No, you can't call me that." Winter Soldier said.

"Why not? That's what Steve called you."

"Steve knew me longer, and Steve had a plan."

"Fifteen seconds to drop."

"I have a plan." Falcon said.

"Really? What is it? Great. Where's the chute?" Winter Soldier asked.

"We're at 200 feet. It's too low for a chute."

"I don't need it anyway."

"You sure about that?"

"Yeah." Winter Soldier said, jumped and yelled.

He started grunting and groaning on his way down.

He groaned when he got on the ground.

"I have all of that on camera. You know that, right?" Falcon said.

"Get out of my face, Sam, or I'll break it. Okay, head north. Come on." Winter Soldier said.

"Oh-ho-ho. Don't hurt him. You're doing the staring thing again. They're in there."

"Where's the guy?"

"I don't know. I think they're smuggling weapons, though."

"Well, I think you could be right."

"Hmm."

"But there's only one way to find out. I see a clear path. I say we take it."

"We're not assassins."

"I'll see you inside or not."

"Hey, come on, man. I'm just messing with you. Come back. Look at you. All stealthy." Falcon said and chuckled. "A little time in Wakanda and you come out White Panther."

"It's actually White Wolf and White Cub."

"Huh?"

"All right, I'm inside. Therefore, way ahead of you. It's not great, but very doable. Huh?" Winter Soldier said.

"Hello. How are you? Good. What did I miss? Nothing. All right, let's go." Falcon said.

"No, wait. I got a vibranium arm. I can take them."

"And I can fly. Who gives a shit? Wait. I want to see where they're going."

"There's two people."

"You only see two?"

"That's what I saw."

"Let me see what Redwing sees."

"All right."

"Let's see what Redwing... Oh, look at that. How many people you see now?"

"One, two... Oh, here it comes again." Winter Soldier said and sighed. "Four. Five."

"Yeah, five. Yeah."

"So they're strong. Whatever. All right, let's go."

"No, no, wait." Falcon said clattering. "Shit."

"All right, let's move. Let's move. Yeah." a woman said.

Then an engine started and a key tapped.

"There's an eighth person. I think they have a hostage." Falcon said.

"They're stealing medicine. Vaccines." Winter Soldier said. "Hi."

"Bucky, talk to me. What's goin' on?"

"Found the hostage. You okay?" Winter Soldier said. "Shit." he said and grunted along with the others. "I always wanted to do that." he said and grunted. "Good of you to join the fight, Sam!" he said they all started grunting again.

Then tires started skidding, straining and clanged.

They both started grunting.

"Sam. John Walker, Captain America." Captain America said.

"Lemar Hoskins." Lemar said.

"Looks like you guys can use some help."

They all started grunting.

Tires started screeching and Falcon started grunting.

Then a car horned blaring.

"That little girl kicked your ass." Falcon said and yelled then grunted.

"John, where you at, man?" Lemar said grunting then they bother started grunting and Groaned.

"Could have used that shield." Winter Soldier said.

"Get off of me." Falcon said standing and grunted panting.

"Those were all Super Soldiers, Sam."

"I know. You're welcome, by the way."

Captain America was choking and yelped.

"I'm okay. I'm okay." a male soldier said.

"That was a bad idea." Captain America said and they grunted.

Then they heard tires screech and granted.

Then they started groaning and panting.

"Sorry about Redwing." Winter Soldier said.

"No, you're not. What's going on in that big cyborg brain of yours?" Falcon asked.

"It's computing." Winter Soldier said and Falcon chuckled.

"You know what? I can actually see it. I can see the gears turning. Oh, they're malfunctioning, shutting down. Yep, they're on fire."

"We gotta figure out where the serum's coming from."

"Yeah. And how in the hell after 80 years are there eight Super Soldiers runnin' loose?"

Then a horn started honking.

"So that didn't go as planned, huh? Okay." Captain America said, grunted and the door closed.

"Let's keep going." Falcpn said.

"Look, at least we know what we're up against now, huh? And we're pretty sure it's one of the Big Three, so..."

"Aliens, androids, or wizards?"

"Pretty sure."

"There's no such thing as wizards." Winter Soldier said.

"Then it's aliens, or androids..."

"Or Super Soldiers." Falcon said.

"Shit. Super Soldiers, for real?" Lemar said.

"Yeah."

"Wow. All right, well, then we gotta work together."

"That's not happening." Winter Soldier said.

"I think we stand a much better chance if we all just..."

"Just 'cause you carry that shield, it doesn't mean you're Captain America."

"Look, I've done the work, okay?"

"You ever jump on top of a grenade?"

"Yeah. Actually, I have. Four times. It's a thing I do with my helmet. It's a reinforced helmet. It's a long story, but, any... Look, it's 20 miles to the airport. You guys need a ride. Guys. Gary, stop. Get in." Captain America said. "Okay, so we've got eight Super Soldiers on a bulk supply run. Why?"

"They say their mission is to get things back to the way it was during The Blip." Falcon said.

"Maybe they're just trying to help."

"They had a funny way of showing it." Winter Soldier said.

"That serum doesn't exactly have a great track record. No offense."

"We need to figure out where they're going. How'd you track 'em here? The Flag Smashers?" Falcon said.

"Uh, no, we didn't track them, we tracked you, uh, through Redwing." Lemar said.

"You hacked my tech?" Falcon said and Captain America chuckled.

"Sorry. It's not exactly hacking. It's government property. Kind of the government." he said and chuckled. "Does he always just stare like that?"

"You get used to it."

"Okay, look," Captain America said and cleared throat. "you know, things have gotten kind of, uh... Chaotic. Yeah. The GRC, they're doing the best they can to get things up and running smoothly, post Blip."

"Reactivating citizenship, social security, healthcare. Basically just managing resources for the refugees who were displaced by the return." Lemar said.

"The Global Repatriation Council does all that. I get that. So why exactly are you two here?"

"Well, they provide the resources and we keep things stable."

"Yeah, violent revolutionaries aren't usually good for anyone's cause." Captain America said.

"Usually said by the people with the resources." Falcon said.

"We got a lot of resources. If you guys, if you joined up with us, we could..."

"No." Winter Soldier said.

"I got mad respect for both of y'all. But you were getting your asses kicked till we showed up." Lemar said.

"Who are you?"

"Lemar Hoskins."

"Look, I see a guy hanging out of a helicopter in tactical gear, I need a lot more than Lemar Hoskins." Falcon said.

"I'm Battlestar. John's partner."

""Battlestar"? Stop the car!" Winter Soldier said.

"Look, I... I get it, okay? I get the attitude, I do. You didn't think that the shield was gonna end up here. I get it, Bucky. And I'm... I'm not trying to be Steve. I'm not trying to replace Steve. I'm just trying to be the best Captain America I can be. That's it. It'd be a whole lot easier if I had Cap's wingmen on my side." Captain America said and Falcon scoffed.

"It's always that last line. Let's go." he said.

There was a knocked on the door and whistled.

"You must be famished. Very hungry." a man said.

"Yeah." Soldiers said.

"Yeah, we are hungry." another soldier said.

"Okay. My wife and I cooked. It's an old family recipe made with the finest chicken livers. Please serve yourselves. Anything you want. Anything. You ask me." the man said.

"Um..." Karli said.

"There is some coffee here and some crackers."

"We're okay. Thank you."

"Uh, anything we can do for the cause. Please follow me. You're becoming a bit of a legend. I hear more and more people talk about the freedom fighters who are pushing back. They call you Robin Hood. Every day more people love you. You'll find refuge wherever you go. My wife and I made this just for you. Everything is completely clean."

"Okay."

"She made it nice and cozy." Rudy said.

"Thank you. Yeah!" Soldier 1 said.

"You're welcome." Rudy said then a cell phone dinged.

"Oh, my gosh, beds." Soldier 2 said.

"That's real nice." Lennox said.

"This has your name written all over it, bro."

"Hope you feel comfortable." Rudy said.

"Thank you." a female soldier said in german.

"Thank you." a male solder said and grunted. "Too small."

"Shit. They're already looking for us. I'm wiping our aliases off any public traffic sites now." Nico said.

"Karli. We can't stay here for long." Lennox said.

"Six months ago would you have imagined people supporting the cause like this? We're not playing no more. We can't let these assholes who were put back in power after The Blip win. The GRC care more about the people who came back than the ones who never left. We got a glimpse of how things could be. I need to know that you're all committed, because after tomorrow, there's no going back. Yeah. One world." Karli said.

"One people." Soldiers said.

"One world." Matias said.

"One people."

"One world!"

"One people!"

"You all right?" Sam asked.

"Let's take the shield, Sam. Let's take the shield and do this ourselves." Bucky said.

"We can't just run up on the man, beat him up, and take it. Do you remember what happened the last time we stole it?"

"Maybe."

"I'll help you in case you forgot. Sharon was branded enemy of the state, and Steve and I were on the run for two years. I don't know about you, but I don't wanna live the rest of my life la vida loca. We just got our ass handed to us by Super Soldiers, and we got nothing."

"Not entirely true. There is someone that you should meet."

"Hey, it's Black Falcon. What's up?" a kid said.

"It's just Falcon, kid." Sam said.

"No, no. My daddy told me it's Black Falcon."

"Is it because I'm Black and I'm the Falcon?"

"Well, technically, I mean, yes."

"So are you, like, Black kid?" Sam said and sighed. "I got him, right?" he said and chuckled.

"Whatever, man." Bucky said and Sam chuckled.

"Whatever."

"We're here to see Isaiah." Bucky said.

"Nobody named Isaiah live here." Eli said.

"Look, we just want to talk to him."

"You must not hear what I just said. You ain't getting in this house. Y'all can leave now."

"Tell him the guy from the bar in Goyang is here. He's gonna know what that means."

"All right, wait here."

"Nice kid. How do you know this guy?" Sam asked.

"I used to. We had a skirmish during the Korean War." Bucky said.

"Today's your lucky day. He said he wanna see for himself." Eli said.

"Isaiah?"

"Look at you." Isaiah said.

"This is, uh, Sam. Sam, this is Isaiah. He was a hero. One of the ones that HYDRA feared the most. Like Steve. We met in '51."

"If by met, you mean I whupped your ass, then, yeah. We heard whispers he was on the peninsula, but everyone they sent after him, never came back. So the U.S. military dropped me behind the line to go deal with him. I took half that metal arm in that fight in Goyang, but I see he's managed to grow it back. I just wanted to see if he got the arm back. Or if he'd come to kill me."

"I'm not a killer anymore."

"You think you can wake up one day and decide who you wanna be? It doesn't work like that. Well, maybe it does for folks like you."

"Isaiah, the reason we're here is because there's more of you and me out there."

"You and me."

"And we need to know how."

"I'm not gonna talk about it anymore." Isaiah said and heard a loud crash. "You know what they did to me for being a hero? They put my ass in jail for 30 years. People running tests, taking my blood, coming into my cell. Even your people weren't done with me."

"Isaiah..."

"Get out of my house!"

"Let's go, man, let's go." Eli said.

"Sam..." Bucky said.

"Why didn't you tell me about Isaiah? How could nobody bring him up? I asked you a question, Bucky." Sam said.

"I know."

"Steve didn't know about him?"

"He didn't. I didn't tell him."

"So you're telling me that there was a black Super Soldier decades ago and nobody knew about it?"

Then a car started approaching and a siren whooped.

"Hey." an officer said.

"What's up, man?"

"Is there a problem here?"

"No, we're just talking."

"We're fine." Bucky said.

"Can I see your ID?" the officer asked.

"I don't have ID. Why?" Sam said.

"Man, seriously?" Bucky said.

"Okay, sir, just calm down." the officer said.

"I am calm. What do you want? We're just talking." Sam said.

"Give him your ID so we can leave." Bucky said.

"No."

"We're just talking."

"Is he bothering you?" the officer asked.

"No, he's not bothering me. Do you know who this is?"

"Hey, these guys are Avengers." Officer 2 whispered.

"Oh, God, I am so sorry, Mr. Wilson." officer 1 said and chuckled nervously. "I didn't recognize you without the goggles. I'm really, really sorry about this. The..." he said and the siren whooped.

"Guys," Sam said and sighed. "just wait here, okay? Just..."

Then there was police radio chatter.

"I didn't... I didn't tell anybody because he had already been through enough." Bucky said.

"Mr. Barnes, there's a warrant out for your arrest." officer 1 said.

"Look, the president pardoned them both for all that." Sam said.

"Not for that. You missed your court-mandated therapy. It's like missing a check-in with your PO. I'm sorry, Mr. Barnes, you're under arrest."

"Sam. I've heard a lot about you. I'm Dr. Raynor. I'm James's therapist. So nice to meet you. Thank you for getting him out." Raynor said.

"That was not me." Sam said.

"Christina. It's great to see you again." Captain America said.

"You gotta be kidding me. You know him?"

"Yeah, we did some field ops back in the day." Raynor said.

"I heard you were working with Bucky, so I thought I'd step in. Bucky's not gonna be following a strict schedule any longer." Captain America said.

"We haven't finished our work. Who authorized this?"

"Um..."

"He's too valuable of an asset to have tied up. Just do whatever you got to do with him, then send him off to me. Got some unfinished business, him and I. You too, Wilson. I'll be outside." Captain America said.

"James, condition of your release, session now. You too, Sam." Raynor said.

"That's okay. I'll be out here with..." Sam said.

"That wasn't a request."

"So... Who would like to start?" Raynor asked.

"All right, look, Dr. Raynor? I get it, why you want me to talk to Freaky Magoo over here. But I'm 100% fine." Sam said.

"It is my job to make sure that you're okay. And so, yeah, this may be slightly unprofessional, but it's the only way that I can see if you're getting over whatever's eating at you."

"This is ridiculous."

"Yeah. I agree." Bucky said.

"See? Making progress already. So, who wants to go first? No volunteers? Wow. How surprising. Okay. We're going to do an exercise. It's something I use with couples when they are trying to figure out what kind of life they wanna build together. Are you familiar with the miracle question?" Raynor said.

"Absolutely not."

"Of course not." Sam said.

"Okay, it goes like this. Suppose that while you're sleeping, a miracle occurs. When you wake up, what is something that you would like to see that would make your life better?" Raynor said.

"In my miracle, he would... he would talk less." Bucky said.

"Exactly what I was gonna say. Isn't that ironic?" Sam said.

"You guys are leaving me with no choice. It's time for the soul-gazing exercise." Raynor said.

"I like this better." Bucky said.

"Oh, God. He's gonna love this." Sam said.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

"This is right up your alley."

"Turn around. Face each other." Raynor said.

"You should really enjoy this."

"I'm going to." Bucky said.

"I know you are."

"Yeah."

"Sam. Face each other." Raynor said.

"Let's do it. Let's stare."

"Get close."

"This is a good exercise. Thanks, Doc."

"All right, good. All right, get close. Come on, a little closer. Which way you want to go? Right or left? Why're your legs open?"

"You know what? Fine. Here. You happy now?"

"All right."

"All right. Good. Fine. We're locked in."

"That's a little close."

"Very. What you wanted, right?"

"Guys. Good. Now look at each other. You need to look at each other in the eyes. There, you see? That wasn't so hard. Wait, what are you doing? Are you having a staring contest? Just blink." she said and snapped her fingers. "Sweet Jesus. All right, James, why does Sam aggravate you? And don't say something childish."

"Why did you give up that shield?"

"Why are you making such a big deal out of something that has nothing to do with you?" Sam asked.

"Steve believed in you. He trusted you. He gave you that shield for a reason. That shield, that is... that is everything he stood for. That is his legacy. He gave you that shield, and you threw it away like it was nothing."

"Shut up."

"So maybe he was wrong about you. And if he was wrong about you, then he was wrong about me."

"You finished?"

"Yeah."

"All right, good. Maybe this is something you or Steve will never understand. But can you accept that I did what I thought was right?" Sam asked and scoffed. "You know what, Doc? I don't have time for this. We have some real serious shit going on. So how about this? I will squash it right now. We go deal with that, and when we're done, we both can go on separate, long vacations and never see each other again."

"I like that."

"Great. Well, let's get to work. Thanks, Doc, for making it weird. I feel much better. I'll see you outside."

"Thank you. That was really great." Raynor said and the door opened and closed. "I know that look. What's wrong?"

"What was rule number two again?"

"Don't hurt anyone."

"Goodbye, Doc."

"Well, I feel better." Sam said.

"I feel awful." Bucky said then heard a siren whooping.

"Gentlemen. Good to see you again. Look, if we divide ourselves, we don't stand a chance, you guys know that." Captain America said.

"So what do you got?" Sam asked.

"Well, the leader's name's Karli Morgenthau. We've been targeting civilians who've been helping Karli move from place to place."

"They geotagged a location, then scrambled the signal. But our satellites have found their symbol popping up in various displaced communities all across Central and Eastern Europe." Lemar said.

"We think she's taking the medicine she just stole to one of these camps."

"Well, there are hundreds of those all over the planet since The Blip. So I guess you'll have to look real hard."

"Good thing I have 20/20 vision, huh?"

"Where is she now, Walker? Do you know?"

"No, we don't know, Bucky. It's only a matter of time before we find out." Captain America said as his voice raised.

"Things are really intense for you, aren't they, Walker?"

"Take it easy. Look, Walker's right. It is imperative that we find them and stop them. But you guys have rules of engagement and all kind of authorizations you have to get. We're free agents. We're more flexible. So it wouldn't make sense for us to work with you." Sam said.

"A word of advice, then. Stay the hell out of my way." Captain America said.

Nico's cell Phone started Vibrating.

"Damn it! We gotta move out now. They found us." Nico said.

"How much time do we have?" Karli asked.

"None. It's The Power Broker's men."

"Everybody, grab what you can. I can give you time. I'll hold them off."

"Thank you."

"One world. One people." Power Brokers said.

"Let's go!"

"All right, stop right there. Freeze! Hit him, open fire." an agent said and there were gun firing and grunts.

Power Broker sighed.

"They got away."

"So what are you thinking?"

"Well, I know what we have to do. When Isaiah said "my people"..."

"Oh, don't take that to heart. That's not what he meant."

"No, he meant HYDRA. HYDRA used to be my people." Bucky said and Sam scoffed.

"Not a chance."

"Walker doesn't have any leads."

"I know where you're going with this, no."

"He knows all of HYDRA's secrets. Don't you remember Siberia?"

"So you're just gonna go sit in a room with this guy?" Sam asked and Bucky hesitated.

"Yes."

"Okay, then. We're gonna go see Zemo."

"We're gonna need one more person." Bucky said, took out his phone and called someone.

"Hello?" someone said.

"Hey, we need your help with something."