"You told me. You didn't want me to go in. Why didn't I listen?" Captain America said softly. "You all right, man?"
"This suit, it comes with expectations, brother." Lemar said.
"Why?"
"Look, John, I know you want this. I get it. You consistently make the right decisions in the heat of battle."
"Time to go to work." Captain America said and grunted. "Time to go to work."
"Walker..." Falcon said.
"You guys should see a medic, you don't look so good."
"Stop, Walker."
"What? You saw what happened. You know what I had to do. I killed him because I had to! He killed Lemar!"
"He didn't kill Lemar, John." Winter Soldier said and sighed. "Don't go down that road. Believe me, it doesn't end well."
"I'm not like you or the kid."
Winter Spider had to fight the want to punch him while his right hand twitched.
Winter Soldier put a hand on his shoulder getting him to calm down a little and looked at him a little worried.
He knew he was a great hero and Brooklyn has been safe thanks to him and was proud of him but knew he still had a little trouble controlling his anger.
"Listen, it was the heat of the battle. Okay? If you explain what happened, they may consider your record. We don't want anyone else to get hurt." Falcon said. "John... You gotta give me the shield, man."
"Oh, so that's what this is. You almost got me."
"You made a mistake." Winter Spider said.
"You don't wanna do this."
"Yeah, we do." Winter Soldier said.
They grunted and yelled while they fought.
Peter lost control of his strength and got Captain America harder than ever.
Winter Soldier and Falcon looked at each other a little worried about him.
"Why are you making me do this?" Captain America asked. "Why are you making me do this?" he yelled and they continued to fight.
"This isn't you, John." Falcon said panting.
Then Winter Soldier collapsed unconscious after being electrocuted.
"Dad!" Winter Soldier yelled.
Then he growled growled and fought harder.
Falcon watched for a minute and was a little worried.
'Note to self, have him come to a meeting next time and talk to him later.' he thought.
"We could've been a team." Captain America said and fought. "I am Captain America!" he yelled and they continued. "No!" he yelled. "It's mine."
"It's over, John." Falcon said.
Then Winter Soldier woke up and watched then looked at Winter Spider and saw he let out full power and was worried.
'We need to find a way to get him to calm down.' he thought and knew what he had to do after this.
He felt his throat gulp and fought tears but calmed down and joined the fight.
"It's mine." Captain America yelled and panted.
"The GRC is conducting raids to try and find Karli, but so far they've only found her followers. They've searched this camp, and just like the last camp, nothing. She's gone. We'll never find her."
"Hey, you got your sleeve back." Torres said.
"Are you off to take care of Zemo?" Sam asked but Bucky and Peter didn't say anything.
"All right, good to know you survived." Torres said and they both sighed.
"What's our next steps, Torres?"
"Captain America killing a foreign national in public, it's kinda like a big deal. Like international incident big. Folks, uh, higher up on the payroll are all over it now. So, unfortunately..."
"They're taking jurisdiction."
"Yeah. What happened to these?"
"So is there anything we can do?"
"Not really. As you can see, they've cordoned off the whole camp, and Karli's a ghost. After what went down, she is laying extra low. Like, under-underground. And that's why it makes sense for us to get involved. The longer we let her regroup, the harder it's gonna be to find her. She's got people helping her from all over the world, on all platforms. She's really, really good at this thing." Sam said.
"Yeah."
"How'd these break?" Torres asked and Sam sighed.
"Anyway, all we can do now is sit tight and just chill. Sometimes, there's nothing to do until there's something to do."
"That's bizarrely wise." Sam said and chuckled.
"Well, I'm a bizarrely wise man, Sam."
"Yeah, all right." Sam said and chuckled again. "Thanks, Torres."
"For sure. Wait, yo, you forgot the wings."
"Keep 'em."
Peter was wondering if Sam meant Torres was going to be the next Falcon.
Shutter was clicking and people were clamoring.
"John F. Walker, it is the order of this council that you are no longer to act in any capacity as a representative of the United States government or its military. You are hereby stripped of your title and authority as Captain America, effective immediately." a man said.
"Senator, uh, permission to present to the council testimony as to the circumstances of the incident." Walker said. "Circumstances of the incident have been considered. It's only because of your previous exemplary service to this country that I'm recommending against a court-martial." Walker said and Senator cleared his throat.
"With all due respect, I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation fully, thereby, have misunderstood the circumstances..."
"This is not a negotiation."
"I understand that."
"This is a mandate."
"I'm just asking to be heard."
"It is a mandate."
"I understand that! I understand that! I lived my life by your mandates! I dedicated my life to your mandates! I only ever did what you asked of me, what you told me to be and trained me to do, and I did it. And I did it well."
"You will be given an other than honorable discharge retroactive to the beginning of the month. You will hold no rank in retirement and receive no benefits."
"You built me." Walker said and Senator sighed. "Senator, I am Captain America."
"Not anymore. And if you continue to demean and denigrate the priorities and dignity of this council, you will spend the rest of your life in the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks. Consider yourself extremely fortunate, Mr. Walker, and return the shield to us with expedience." Senator said. "They just do not know what it takes to be Captain America, they just don't. It's not like I'm just gonna disappear."
"Okay, focus. Take things one step at a time. You start by visiting Lemar's parents. They need to see you. And then, we can build..." Olivia said as footsteps starting approaching.
"Well, these boots are not made for walkin'. Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Actually, it's Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. I know it's hard, but I don't like to repeat myself, so you can just call me Val. But don't call me Val, just keep it in your head. I'm gonna... Look..." a woman said and cleared her throat. "I would have killed the bastard too. Nobody in there is mad at you about that. I mean, you would've been doin' 'em a favor if you'd taken out the whole lot. But these guys in ties, you know, they got a whole thing to protect.
"Excuse me. Who are you?" Olivia asked.
"Anyway, you did the right thing taking the serum. Yeah, of course I know about that. And I'll tell you something. It has made you very, very valuable to certain people. I actually think it was the second best choice you've ever made in your life. Oh, you wanna know what the first best choice was? Oh... Tied with marrying this fabulous firecracker sitting right next to me. How's it going? Picking up the phone when I call you. Oh, by the way, don't worry about the shield. I know you don't have it." Valentina said. "Here's a little, dirty state secret. It doesn't really belong to the government. It's kind of a legal gray area. I'll be in touch." she whispered.
"There's... There's nothing on it." Captain America said.
"It says here the GRC accused them of harboring and abetting international fugitives, so they raided the place and shut it down. Mathias. Mama Donya. Nico. I've lost count of how many others. How many times do we have to pay with our lives just to be citizens of this goddamn planet! The movement is ready. They're not going to stop. Not unless we make them. It's time." Dovich said and paper started crunching.
At Sokovia.
"I thought you'd be here sooner. Don't worry. I've decided I'm not going to kill you." Zemo said. "Imagine my relief." he said and Bucky's gun clicked. "The girl has been radicalized beyond salvation. I warned Sam, but he didn't listen to me. He's as stubborn as Steve Rogers before him. But you... They literally programmed you to kill. James, do what needs to be done. Karli has people everywhere, and there's only one way to make sure she cannot continue her mission. I appreciate the advice. But we're gonna do it our own way." he said and chuckled. "Yeah. I was afraid you would say that." he said and the gun clicked then clanking. "Ladies... I took the liberty of crossing off my name in your book. I hold no grudges for what you thought you had to do. Goodbye, James, Peter.
"We will take him to the Raft... Where he will live out his days. It would be prudent to make yourself scarce in Wakanda for the time being, White Wolf, White Cub." Ayo said.
"Fair enough." Peter said.
"Hey! We may have another favor to ask of you." Bucky said and got a little closer to her. "Actually two." he whispered looking at Peter.
At Baltimore Maryland.
"Come on." a boy said.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What you doing, man? Where you goin'?" Eli asked.
"I'm goin' to see your grandfather." Sam said.
"All right, he in the back."
"Thanks."
"I'll be back there."
"Yeah."
"Check up, man."
"Oh!"
Sam sighed.
"That what I think it is? Mmm-mmm. Leave it covered. Them stars and stripes don't mean nothin' good to me." Isaiah said.
"I need to understand." Sam said.
"You understand. Every Black man does. Whether you wanna deny it or not..."
"Don't do that bitter, old man thing with me."
"If you ain't bitter, you're blind."
"I don't get it, okay? What went wrong?"
"I used to be like you, until I opened my eyes, until I saw men in the Red Tails, the famous 332 fight for this country, only to come home to find crosses burned on their lawn."
"I'm from the south. I get that. But you were a Super Soldier like Steve. You could've been the next..."
"The next? What? Huh? Blonde hair, blue eyes, stars and stripes? The entire world's been chasing that great white hope since he first got dosed with that serum."
"Steve did not put you in jail."
"She died while I was in jail. They, uh, never let a single one of her letters get to me. They locked 'em in this box. They told her I was dead. Yeah, and after a while, she was gone, and, uh..." Isaiah said and inhaled deeply. "Sorry. You wanted to know what went wrong? A handful of us got shot up with different versions of that serum, but they don't tell us what it is. They tell us it's tetanus. They sent us on missions, even though the others weren't stable. Some of us started dying off. Then a couple of the boys get captured on a mission. I heard the brass talkin' about blowing the POW camp to hell to hide the evidence. But those were my men. My brothers. Not evidence. So I bust out of the facility one night and I brought them boys back. Not that it made a damn bit of difference. It wasn't long before it was only me left. And what did I get for saving their lives? For the next 30 years, they experimented on me, trying to figure out why the serum worked." he said. "There was a nurse. She took pity on me. Wrote up some fake reports, something. She had me declared dead. That's who gave me this. My God!" he said and took a trembling breath. "Sam, I loved her so much.
"Mr. Bradley, um... We gotta do something. We gotta tell somebody." Sam said.
"No. Leave me dead. My name is buried."
"But the world's different now. I know people."
"Man, that's why you're here? You think things are different? You think times are different? You think I wouldn't be dead in a day if you brought me out? You wanna believe jail was my fault because you got that white man's shield. They were worried my story might get out. So, they erased me. My history. But they've been doing that for 500 years. Isaiah said and chuckled. "Pledge allegiance to that, my brother. They will never let a Black man be Captain America. And even if they did, no self-respecting Black man would ever wanna be." he said. "Sarah, I'm comin' home."
"Good job, guys. In about 10 years, we'll have this thing fixed. Would be fun to take the boat out one more time, before we sell it? There's a great spot in Grand Isle, your grandfather used to take me, catch a lot of fish."
"But Mom said we can't sell it." Cass said.
"What?"
"It's too messed up. Mr. Dinh said he wouldn't buy it 'cause it cost more to fix."
"And then he said something else in Vietnamese."
"Yeah." Cass said and chuckled.
"Why didn't you say somethin'?" Sam asked.
"I didn't wanna tell you last night when you were lookin' all sad puppy dog in the rain." Sarah said.
"It was a rough day."
You mean with Isaiah Bradley?"
"And what they did to him."
"You wanna talk about it?"
"No. I'm trying to figure out what it all means."
"Okay, well, I'm here." she said and sighed. "But as far as the boat is concerned, bottom line is, Mr. Dinh backed out. I don't know what to do. Parts alone on that thing are gonna eat up most of what we get back."
"Listen to me. Don't worry. I'm gonna fix the boat." he said and she chuckled.
"Aren't you supposed to be off saving the world? Why are you back here bothering me?"
"'Cause my family's well-being is a part of the world." he said and she smacked his lips,
"So you're waiting for a lead?"
"And the government stepped in and took control and kind of benched us." he said and chuckled.
"Oh! Hey, guys. Please make sure Bennett and Elling each get one. Okay?"
"Okay." Cass said.
"All right. Bye." Cass and AJ said.
"Bye."
"Have a good day at school, guys."
"Okay."
"Bennett and Elling's dad cannot get up before noon. Kids keep showing up hungry, but are too proud to ask for any help."
"And you're like Mom, feeding every kid in the neighborhood." Sam said and chuckled. "How many people still owe Mom and Dad something?"
"All of them. All that's left, for sure."
"Hmm... It might be time to call in a few of those favors. I'm gonna fix this damn boat."
"Hey, it's Sam Wilson." Carlos said.
"Hi, Sam." a woman said.
"Yeah. Paul's youngest boy from up the street." Sam said.
"How's your sister?"
"Hey, Miss Paddy. You remember my mom and dad?"
"Yes, I remember." Paddy said.
"Hey, Mr. Falcon. What's happenin' with you, boy?" a man asked.
"I'm back in town, that's why I'm calling." Sam said.
"What you need?"
"Mr. Thurow."
"Yes." Thurow said.
"Any chance I can ask a favor?"
"Anything for the Wilson family." Woman 2 said.
"Appreciate it."
"We'll be there if you need us."
"I don't know how we're gonna get it out. We need some more guys for this." Carlos said.
"Tommy, Carlos, man, this is amazing." Sam said chuckling.
"Thanks so much, man."
"Look..."
"Thank y'all."
"Hey, look, word goes out the Wilson family needs help?"
"Yes, sir." a man said.
"We still got a bit of usefulness in us."
"How do we get it off the truck?" Carol asked and heard someone grunting.
"Oh!" the man said.
"You're welcome. Just dropping this off. You can sign for it and I'll go. I called in a favor from the Wakandans." Bucky said.
'One for Peter to.' he thought then there was a hissing.
"Sam!" Sarah said.
"Hi."
"Hi." she said and Sam grunted.
"Hold on, hold on. You gotta go up." he said and the hissing stopped.
"Why didn't you use the metal arm?"
"Well... I don't always think of it immediately. I'm right-handed along with Peter." Bucky said and Sam chuckled. "So, this is the boat, huh?"
"This is it."
"It's nice. You want any help?" Peter said.
"Yeah."
"I'm Bucky and this is Peter." Bucky said.
"Hi." Peter said.
"Ah. Sarah."
"Sarah..." Bucky said.
A few minutes later the engine started stalling.
"Shit! Thanks." Sam said.
"Think Karli's gonna throw in the towel?" Bucky asked.
"I think she's gonna double down."
"Any idea how to stop her?" Peter asked.
"I got Joaquin working on something." Sam said.
"Well, Zemo says there's only one way." Bucky said.
"Well..." Sam said, grunted and bottles grunted.
"Gotta catch our flight tomorrow. Get a hotel room for the night. Crash, you know?"
"You're just gonna set me up like that, huh?"
"We don't wanna make it weird for your family." Peter said.
"Just stay here. The people in this town are the most welcoming people in the world. They don't care if you wear small T-shirts or if you have six toes or if your mom's your aunt." Sam said and Bucky chuckled.
"Okay, I get it. I mean, you know, the people are nice." he said and Sam laughed.
"But don't flirt with my sister."
"No."
"'Cause if you do, I'll have Carlos cut you up, feed you to fish."
"Okay."
"And then what?
"After I saw what happened to Lemar, I went after him."
"And, um, that guy... He's the one that killed our boy?" Lemar's mother said.
"Yes. I would never let the person who did that get away. And I hope you can find some measure of peace in that." Walker said.
"I took that. When we got back from our first tour. There was nobody like him." she said and sobbed. "Lemar knew the risk. After everything you boys have been through together, I know he's restin' easier knowin' that the man who's responsible got his justice. He was so proud of you when they made you Captain America. And he would tell me every day, what an honor it was to be your partner. It meant the world to him." she said and sniffles. "And for me too. I'm sorry. If you ever need me, I'm always here for you. Okay." she said sniffling.
SHARON: I have a job for you." Sharon said and Batroc spoke in french. "Please. If it weren't for me, you'd be rotting in that Algerian prison." she said in English and he spoke French and she sighed. "Finished?" she asked and he spoke in french. "I can give you double this time. I promise you won't regret saying yes. So what's it gonna be?"
The boys were mimicking, whooshing and grunting.
"Hey!" Bucky said.
"Put it back." Cass said. "Hurry, hurry!"
"Push the stopper." he said grunting. "Oh, in there." Sam said. "Thanks."
"Yep." Bucky said.
"Hey. Start loosening those bolts." Sam said.
"Got it." Peter said.
Bucky smiled seeing Peter was helping as Peter and not Spider-Man.
"Okay, so..."
"Excuse me. No!" Sarah said.
"There should be a three-sixteenths bolt that goes in the big gear."
"Nope."
"Uh-huh. No. No."
"You didn't even look."
"I didn't have to." Peter said.
"Hi, Sarah." Bucky said.
"I told you specifically that the water pump was not the problem, and yet, here you are." Sarah said.
"Yep, Samuel."
"In our defense, we were supposed to be done long before you woke up." Sam said.
"I don't come up to the sky to tell you how to barrel roll, so don't come down here and mess around with things you don't understand." Sarah said.
"Wow. Wow."
"Bye. Off. Thank you, gentlemen. Appreciate you. I love you, bro."
"She's a very mean person."
"It's tough love." Bucky said.
"No. If you did what I told you to do, we would have been done before any of this took place."
"There is no such thing."
"There's a prowess that goes into my madness. Feels weird... Picking it up again. The legacy of that shield is complicated, to say the least.
"When Steve told us what he was planning, I don't think we understood what it felt like for a Black man to be handed the shield. How could we? I owe you an apology. I'm sorry."
"Thank you."
"Whatever happened with Walker, it wasn't your fault. I get it. It's just, that shield's the closest thing I've got left to a family, so when you retired it, it made me feel like I had nothing left. Made me question everything. You, Steve, me. You know, I've got his, uh... I've got his book. And, uh... I just figured if it worked for him, then it'd work for me."
"I understand, man. But Steve is gone." Sam said and sighed. "And this might be a surprise, but it doesn't matter what Steve thought. You gotta stop looking to other people to tell you who you are. Let me ask you. You still having those nightmares?
"All the time. It means I remember. It means a part of me is still there. Which means a part of the Winter Soldier's still in me."
"The Winter Spider is still in me to." Peter said. "Maybe more than Spider-Man." he said and Bucky put a hand on his shoulder.
"You up for a little tough love? You want to climb out of the hell you're in, do the work. Do it." Sam said.
"I've been making amends." Bucky said.
"Nah. You weren't amending, you were avenging. You were stopping all the wrongdoers you enabled as the Winter Soldier, because you thought it would bring you closure. You go to these people and say "sorry," because you think it'll make you feel better, right? But you gotta make them feel better. You gotta go to them and be of service. I'm sure there's at least one person in that book who needs closure about something, and you're the only one who can give it to 'em."
"Probably a dozen."
"That's cool. Start with one."
"Good talk." Bucky said and they laughed.
"You know Karli won't quit." Sam said and Bucky smacked his lips.
"Ah. You call me when you have a lead, and I'll be there. Not necessarily as a team."
"Same here. Even if I'm on patrol. Brooklyn can take care of itself for something like this." Peter said.
"Nope." Sam said.
"We're not that good." Bucky said.
"Definitely not."
"We're professionals."
"Definitely."
"And, uh, we're partners."
"Co-workers."
"But we're also a couple of guys with a mutual friend."
"Friend's now gone."
"So we're a couple of guys."
"I can live with that."
"Perfect."
"Thanks for the help, man. Meant a lot."
"Of course." Bucky said and looked at Peter. "Come on squirt, let's get going."
"OK." Peter said smiling.
"There's only one last thing to do." Sam said.
"Stop. Don't. We can't sell it." Sarah said and he chuckled. "I know. I know the speech. It's not smart, but..." she said and he laughed and she sighed. "I just can't."
"Sarah, I'm so happy to hear you say that." he said and chuckled. "We have to preserve this. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that I can't win every fight. That's cool. I'm okay with that. But this... This is our history. We can't lose this fight. All our struggles as a people, I think about it and I used to say, "I'mma show them. I'mma go out and change the world." Yeah, silly, I know, but when I'd look in your eyes, I could tell you were always thinking that I was runnin' away."
"Sam, listen to me. At no point in my life did I ever think you were runnin' away. From anything. Not even when I was lightin' yo ass up at the bank." she said and he chuckled.
"Who knew you were so sensitive." he said and she laughed.
"God, I missed you so much. There's a fight out there, and then, there's our fight here, and, bro, you have taken them both on. So you really gonna let Isaiah Bradley get in your head? You gonna let him decide what you do next?"
"Isaiah has been to hell and back. If I was in his shoes, I'd feel the exact same way. But what would be the point of all the pain and sacrifice if I wasn't willing to stand up and keep fightin'?"
"All day, baby." Sam said.
"Uncle Sam!" Cass and AJ said.
"Get him, AJ!" Cass said panting.
"What are we doin' here?" Dovich asked.
"I got some help to even out the odds. Sam screwed him out of a small fortune not long ago. He's been dying to get payback ever since." Karli said.
"I have what you want." Batroc said in french as siren chirped in the distance.
"Come on. So we're working with criminals now?" Dovich said.
"Haven't you heard? We are criminals. Georges gets his payback and we get a killer. It's a bargain on both sides."
"You invite me here for a picnic or what?"
"A test of sorts. We're everywhere and nowhere. That's why we'll win." Karli said in french and something beeped. "We're gonna make sure the GRC vote never happens."
"Hey." he said. "I'm not here to be part of your movement." he said in french. "I'm only here to kill the Falcon." he said in english.
"You'll get your chance." she said and blew a whistle. "Tonight, we go to battle. All of us."
"In New York, where the GRC is voting on the controversial Patch Act, which would move upwards of twenty million refugees back home to their countries of origin. It's coming during these difficult times of international politics." a news reporter said.
Then Sam's phone rang.
"Sorry this took so long. Spare you the technical details, but I finally got results for the scans you asked for, and I think we're onto something. When we look back, all these pings, they're from places just before the Flag Smashers hit, clearly, they're all over Europe. Earlier today, we got one from New York. Now, I can't promise you they're not using a VPN or masking their location, but..." Torres said.
"Great work, Joaquin. I'll take it from here." Sam said.
At New York City.
"Look, the right people will go along with this, they always do..." Senator said.
"You have to consider the optics." a member said.
"No, the optics are whatever we show them." another member said.
"People have to believe in what we're doing to support us."
"Do we really need to bother with a vote? There are troops in place. I can make a call and have the refugees move now."
"We're not rounding them up like cattle."
"And we still do not have sufficient resources in the resettlement camps."
"What's sufficient? They can't stay where they are forever." Senator said.
"One world. One people." they said together as lights clicking and an alarm was clicking and hammering.