Reviews

Shorttrooper: That's okay! I'm glad you're enjoying, sorry I couldn't give you more time in Westview, it's quite a contained story so is difficult to spend a lot of time in that space. But I wanted Maggie to get a chance to say goodbye to Vision, even if she only had a few moments. TFATWS is a weird show but there's some fun moments in there I want to explore. It's a lot about what power means, and how people use their power, and I think there's a lot I can dig into there. Thank you for reviewing!


April 19th, 2024
Delacroix, Louisiana

Sam winced in sympathy at his phone screen as Joaquin Torres, who'd taken himself to Switzerland, showed him the butterfly bandages keeping his eyebrow together. It had been a frustrating day, at the bank, and now apparently his first lieutenant was going on missions where Sam had told him just to keep an eye on the Flag Smashers.

"You're lucky that's all you got." He turned his gaze away from his phone to his computer, and eyed the footage Torres had captured of the man in the mask absolutely hurling a police officer through the air. "He's strong."

"He was. I mean, bro, they went dark as soon as it was all over. But that's their M.O., we gotta keep our eyes and ears to the ground until they pop up again."

Moments later, Sarah burst into the living room he was working out of. "Oh my god, Sam, you better look at this." She snatched up the TV remote.


Upstate New York

"Get off," Maggie laughed as she nudged away Artemis with her foot; the three-legged dog was winding her way between Maggie's legs as she tried to assemble Pepper and Morgan's new shelf in their living room. Artemis whined in protest and flopped down on top of the pile of wooden planks. "Helpful," Maggie mumbled through the screws clamped between her lips. "Thanks very much."

Artemis cocked her head and one ear flipped inside out.

Maggie turned back to where she was assembling the sides of the shelf, and as she positioned the screws her eyes drifted to the TV, which was playing the WHiH channel. BREAKING NEWS, read a banner along the bottom, and above that a man with a US flag pin on his suit lapel was speaking. Maggie vaguely recognized him; she thought he might be one of the government officials she'd had to interact with during her trial, maybe.

Maggie flicked a hand, and the volume on the TV went up.

"... unrest, in the wake of recent events, has left us vulnerable. Every day Americans feel it." Maggie reached for a screwdriver. "While we love heroes who put their lives on the line to defend Earth, we also need a hero to defend this country. We need a real person who embodies America's greatest values." The man leaned forward. "We need someone to inspire us again, someone who can be a symbol for all of us."

Maggie paused in tightening the screws in the shelf, frowning at the TV.

"So, on behalf of the Department of Defense and our Commander-in-Chief, it is with great honor that we announce here today that the United States of America has a new hero. Join me in welcoming your new Captain America!"

The man stepped aside as the doors behind him opened to reveal-

Maggie dropped the shelf. It came apart on the wooden floor with a crash, setting Artemis barking, and Pepper rushed in from her home office, eyes wide. Morgan was at school, so she'd been working.

"Maggie? What's-" she followed Maggie's eyes to the TV. A man in a dark blue and red uniform waved to a cheering crowd, holding up a familiar shining shield with a star in the center. "What's going on? Who is that?"

Maggie couldn't even speak, too busy staring at the smiling man on the screen as Artemis pawed at her feet.

"My name is Captain John Walker," the man called over the cheers of the crowd, "and it is my great honour to take up this mantle. I'll be training hard to serve this nation, to face new and greater threats."

He kept on talking, but the ringing in Maggie's ears drowned it out.

"Maggie." Pepper touched her arm gently. "You didn't know, did you?"

"No," Maggie bit out.


Text from: MAGGIE to: SAM.

This isn't right.


Text from: MEG to: BUCKY

MEG: You saw?

BUCKY: I saw. I'm not ready to talk about it.


A week passed. Maggie spent the week furiously building and cleaning in Pepper's house, while making calls to the US Government and anyone else she could think of, demanding the shield's return. She didn't know where it belonged, she just knew she was angry, so she would use Stark Industries' proprietary rights and Avengers privilege and whatever else might work. The government either ignored her or outright refused.

We thank you for your service, said most of the messages, but the decision has already been made.

The media couldn't get enough of their new Captain America, and the Walker guy spent his time touring the states, training and meeting with senators.

Bucky came home a few days after the announcement. He was withdrawn and quiet; he witnessed a few of her furious calls and emails to various officials, and said nothing.

"I don't want to think about it," was all he said.

So they tried to live as normally as possible; they walked the dog, visited Pepper and Morgan, went swimming in the lake.

They had nightmares.


May 1, 2024
Custer's Grove High School, Georgia

In his old high school locker room, John Walker looked up at his wife. "Everybody in the world expects me to be something. And I don't want to fail them."


May 2, 2024
Upstate New York

Bucky and Maggie tuned into the Good Morning America interview as soon as it aired the morning after it had been filmed. Pepper had invited them to watch it at her house, but Bucky had wanted the privacy. They sat side by side on their couch, morning sunlight streaming through the windows facing the lake, Bucky leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and his face grave. Artemis was curled around his leg, her head on his foot.

"We interviewed the new Captain America last night at his alma mater, Custer's Grover High School," said the bright-eyed blonde news anchor from the studio, her voice playing over a recorded marching band performance on a floodlit football pitch. "Where in his high school days John Walker was known for his football prowess. Nobody could have guessed that he'd one day return as the nation's hero."

Watching the cheerleaders and marching band dancing as fireworks exploded overhead, playing a brassy version of Star Spangled Man with a Plan, Maggie leaned into Bucky's side. "It's kind of catchy," she murmured, in an attempt to lighten the mood. It didn't work.

There'd been clips of Walker with the crowd, signing autographs on the CAP IS BACK posters and taking selfies, but finally he jogged toward the podium in the middle of the pitch and settled down for his interview, beaming and waving to the crowd. The shield gleamed on his left arm. The crowd were absolutely wild for him, screaming and waving flags.

Bucky and Maggie watched in a strange held-breath kind of silence as he and the interviewer exchanged smiles, and she made a quip about eagles flying over his head wherever he went. He was charming and self-deprecating, his hair a little tussled from where he'd taken off his cowl. Artemis looked up at the change in the sound, her intelligent eyes fixing on the screen. Maggie wondered what she made of it all.

After the interviewer had reeled off his accomplishments, Walker cut in.

"Look, here's the thing, uh, I'm not Tony Stark-" Maggie stiffened, and Bucky took her hand without looking away from the screen - "I'm not Doctor Banner, okay, I don't have the flashiest gadgets, I don't have super strength." The interviewer nodded, rapt. "But what I do have… is guts. Something Captain America always had, always needs to have, and I'm going to need every ounce of it. Because I got big shoes to fill."

"Did you know Steve Rogers?" Asked the interviewer.

"Well, 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."

Maggie stole a glance at Bucky. His gaze was fixed on the screen, his brow furrowed and his mouth slightly open, utterly still.

"So you 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."

Bucky's head tilted and his jaw flexed. Maggie tightened her hand on his.

The interview went on, but Maggie could tell that Bucky barely heard anything else. When the interview finally ended and the Good Morning America show went on to a story about school supplies, Maggie and Bucky sat silently hand in hand for a long moment.

"I gotta go," Bucky finally said, rising to his feet. Artemis huffed at losing her headrest and looked up at him.

"What? Where?"

"I…" he shook his head as he began to pace. "Talk to Sam."

Maggie sighed. Sam hadn't responded to any of her messages or calls. "He can't fix it now-"

"I gotta know why he did it, Meg. And I can't…" his jaw flexed again. He was worked up, fidgeting. "I don't know how to make this right."

Maggie eyed him for a moment, frowning, until she got to her feet and touched Bucky's face, stopping him in his tracks. "Okay."

His brow scrunched. "I'll be back soon." Artemis circled them, nudging their knees with her wet nose.

"Okay. I'm…" as she searched for the words, his gaze settled on her face. "I'm sorry, Bucky."

He looked almost despairing. "Why are you sorry?"

"I should… everyone came back, and I've been… I just shut down and closed the door on the world," she murmured. "I haven't been keeping track of what's going on out there. With the shield, with putting the world back together, with any of it."

Some of the tension left his frame and he looped his arms around her, pulling her tight and kissing the side of her head. Maggie closed her eyes at the feeling of him taking her weight. "That's not your job, doll. Not anymore. Don't apologize for it, you needed to rest." He pulled back. "I'll handle this."

"Okay," she breathed.

Bucky kissed her, then crouched down to ruffle Artemis's ears and say goodbye. And then he was gone.


U.S. Airforce Hangar, Washington D.C.

"You shouldn't have given up the shield!"

Sam cast his eyes heavenward as he descended the stairs toward his aircraft transport for his mission. He hadn't seen Bucky in months, and now here he was, accosting him at his work, all dark leather and scowling face.

"It's good to see you too, Buck," he replied wryly.

Bucky fell into step beside him when he tried to walk past. "This is wrong," he urged.

"Hey, hey, look, I'm working, alright?" Sam snapped back. "And I've had enough off of your girlfriend already, I get it. So all this outrage is gonna have to wait."

Bucky threw an accusing finger at one of the enormous CAP IS BACK posters on the hangar wall. "You didn't know that this was gonna happen?"

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

"This isn't want Steve wanted," Bucky continued, a deep frown on his brow.

"Oh my god, so what do you want me to do? Call America and tell 'em I changed my mind?"

They argued back and forth as Sam pushed toward the transport, and somehow Sam ended up telling him about the Flag Smashers, and how Redwing had traced them to Munich. That led them to Sam's Big Three theory, until-

"So who're you fighting now, Gandalf?" Bucky replied, with a sense of humour Sam didn't know he was capable of.

Sam paused. "How do you know about Gandalf?"

"I read the Hobbit. In 1937, when it first came out. And Meg bought me the sequel series ages ago."

Sam really didn't know how they'd got to this point of arguing about this, and what constituted a wizard or not. He waved a hand. "But look, that's not the point, these guys aren't magical. Alright? They use brute force, just like you, the incredibly annoying guy in front of me with the staring problem." He turned and walked away.

"I'm coming with you!" Barnes announced.

"No you're not!"


"Hey, doll," Bucky said, standing on the loading ramp of the plane with his phone to his ear, while Sam glared at him from inside. "Uh, small update. I'm headed to Munich."

"Right. Fancied some sauerkraut, did you?"

"Ha. Sam's tracking a lead, I'm going with him."

"On the shield?"

"No, something else. He says he didn't know about the shield." On the plane, Sam's eyes narrowed.

"Well that's… something. Text me when you can, okay? Be safe."

"Will do. Love you."

"Love you."

He hung up, pocketed his phone and strode up the loading ramp onto the plane. Sam was still glaring, but he said:

"How's Maggie?"

"Mind your own business," Bucky said as he took a seat on the opposite side of the plane.

"Fine," Sam finished stowing his rucksack. "She, at least, knows how to answer the phone."

Bucky closed his eyes. This is going to be a long flight.


May 3, 2024
Upstate New York

As dawn broke, Maggie watched Artemis amble through the underbrush of the forest around the lake, sniffing at moss and mushrooms and looking back every few seconds to make sure Maggie was still following. Maggie followed much slower, at ease on her prosthetic leg by now but still taking her time. She'd woken up to a nightmare, of smiling wide and bright in a black-and-white world, Wanda's voice in her head. She could still feel the staticky edges of horror, uneasy in her chest. The fresh air was helping, though.

She had her whole day planned; drive Morgan to school, work on fixing up the stairs leading down from her house to the lake, and then dinner with Pepper and Morgan. Maybe throw in a few hours of studying in the meantime, as she'd taken up various online courses on elements of engineering and astrophysics she didn't know as much about.

See if you can't pack some extra knowledge in the corners of that brain, Maggot.

Maggie rubbed her arm, ducked her head and smiled. "Still with me, huh?"

Artemis glanced back curiously, dark head cocked, until she turned and bounded off again. It wasn't the first time Maggie had talked out loud to herself as they walked; it had become a familiar routine, talking to the Tony-voice that had stuck with her all these months. She knew Tony wasn't really there. But it was nice to talk.

"You'd be so proud of her," Maggie murmured to the air, thinking of her bright-eyed niece. "Not just because she's another tiny genius like we were, but because she's learning to be kind, and she's funny."

And how about you huh, Magnolia? Are you really kicking back here while your fella's off fighting bad guys?

Maggie frowned. "You always did know how to piss me off." She ducked under a tree branch. "I told you, I'm staying."

In all senses of the word, seems like.

Maggie flapped a hand, as if batting away a fly, and forged on into the forest.


Outskirts of Munich, Germany

The mission was a disaster. They'd infiltrated the Flag Smasher's trucks successfully (if you didn't count Bucky jumping out of the plane and crash-landing into the forest), but everything fell to shit when the young woman with the curly red hair turned out not to be a hostage but a Flag Smasher, and a super-soldier at that. The arrival of John Walker and his fellow soldier didn't help anything; the super-soldiers kicked their asses, broke Redwing, and sent Bucky and Sam tumbling off into a field on the side of the road.

"Could've used that shield," Bucky hissed, his face inches from Sam's where'd they'd ended up tangled together in the grass. His cheek throbbed where the red-headed one had hit him; he could already feel it turning angry and red. The hit had rung his bell like nothing else had since… well, since the last time Bucky had gone toe to toe with a super-soldier.

"Get off of me," Sam wheezed.

Bucky rolled to the side, the grass cold and damp against the back of his neck, and the cloudy sky above him unfocused. "Those were all super-soldiers, Sam."

"I know," Sam panted. He lifted his head. "You're welcome, by the way."


Walker intercepted them on the long walk back to the airfield. Bucky had been perfectly happy to walk down the road in frustrated silence, farms passing to either side, until Sam started being annoying. What's going on in that big cyborg brain of yours?

It was the sort of thing Maggie might say, and Bucky didn't want to hear it from Sam, who had given up the shield and acted like it didn't mean anything.

Walker showing up on an open-top truck was worse. Bucky and Sam eventually humored him by climbing onto the back of the truck. They threw around a few ideas about the Flag Smashers, and then Walker's friend said they'd tracked Sam through Redwing.

An awkward pause fell as the sun sank lower in the sky, turning the wheat fields gold. Bucky wasn't admiring the scenery, though. His eyes were on the man who held Steve's shield propped against his knees.

Walker looked from Bucky to Sam. "Does he always just stare like that?"

"You get used to it," Sam said.

Bucky didn't break his gaze.

He could see why they'd picked Walker - he was charming, in his way, and bold, earnest, strong, with the audacity to back it all up.

But that's just it, Bucky thought. Steve had never been picked. He'd spent a lifetime not being picked, until the unlikeliest of sources had seen something new in him. Walker had never had to grow up hungry, or weak. Even as Bucky stared at him he was going on about security, and protecting resources, and violent revolutionaries.

Walker did what he was told.

His friend, Lemar Hoskins, calling himself Battlestar was Bucky's last straw. He shouted for the car to stop, and climbed out the back.

"Look, I get it, okay!" Walker called after him. "I get the attitude, I do. You didn't think that the shield was gonna end up here, I get it, Bucky."

Bucky grit his teeth and did not look back. He didn't like the way Walker said his name. Like he was a comic book character.

It only took another minute for Sam to fall into step beside him again.

"Had your fill?" Bucky asked, still looking ahead.

"I sure did."


1337 Connect Internet Cafe, Munich

Karli Morgenthau stared down at the two new messages on her phone, from a blocked number:

You took what was mine.

I'm going to find you and kill you.

Karli turned off her phone, gritting her teeth.


Text from BUCKY to: MEG

Safe. Lots to talk about, I'll call you soon.


U.S. Airforce Jet, over the Atlantic

The plane ride back was silent, and dark. Sam was trying to sleep, laid out on the bench on the side of the plane, while Bucky sat on an anchored-down supply crate, his hands clasped and his head bowed. The welt beneath his eye where the redhead had hit him throbbed still; it wasn't going to be quick in healing. Might have broken the cheekbone of someone not like him.

Old memories whispered at the edges of his mind, like wind skating off ice. Newer memories, too; the shield propped against Walker's legs. The mask the redhead had worn, black with a bloody red hand on the side of it.

"You alright?" Sam murmured, looking over his crossed arms.

"Let's just take the shield, Sam," he murmured, his eyes fixed on nothing. "Let's take the shield and do this ourselves."

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

"Maybe," Bucky replied, eyes sliding to Sam.

"I'll help you, in case you forgot. Sharon was branded an 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 want to live the rest of my life livin' la vida loca. You wanna leave Maggie in that situation, picking between you and a stable life?"

Bucky looked down.

"We just got our ass handed to us by super-soldiers, and we got nothing."

Resignation fell over Bucky. "Not entirely true." He pushed off the supply crate, and with a steadying breath came over to sit next to Sam. Sam watched him curiously. It's time. "There is… someone that you should meet."


Upstate New York

Maggie closed down her online course module, and checked her phone again. Still nothing from Bucky, apart from that call you soon message.

Nothing unusual had happened, other than Bucky going with Sam. There was no reason to worry. But Maggie… she frowned. The Wyvern had always had a sense for the winds shifting.

And she couldn't see what it was yet, but there was change in the wind.


Baltimore, Maryland

"I'm not a killer anymore," Bucky whispered.

Isaiah Bradley looked at him with the damning eyes of a man who'd seen war and death and so much worse. He was old now, but not as old as he should look. His hair and beard had gone grey-white, and there were lines on his face. He'd been cleanshaven in the Korean war, of course, and there weren't so many decades in his eyes then. He'd been proud, and hopeful.

Isaiah's slightly trembling mouth curved into a humorless smile. "You think you can wake up one day and decide who you wanna be? It doesn't work like that." His eyes went flat. "Well. Maybe it does for folks like you."

Bucky tried not to flinch. "Isaiah, the reason we're here… is because there's more of you and me out there."

Rage flared in Isaiah's eyes. "You and me."


Upstate New York

"How was school, Morrigan?" Maggie asked, forest flashing by the road on either side of the car as she drove back toward the lake.

In the leather passenger seat, Morgan fidgeted with the straps of her schoolbag as she watched the scenery go past. "It was good."

Maggie glanced at her. "Yeah? What's on your mind?"

Morgan pushed her fringe back. "We learned about the Avengers today."

"Oh." Maggie glanced at her again, frowning, before she had to look back at the road. "That must have been strange, kid. What did you learn about?"

"Um, it was in our art class, we had to do some drawings of heroes. And the teacher talked about lots of different kinds of heroes." Morgan looked at Maggie. "I know they already told my mom they were going to do this, and mom asked me a few days ago, and I said it would be alright."

"And… and you guys were drawing heroes?"

"Superheroes, yeah." Morgan pushed back her fringe again. Maggie reached over to put her hand on Morgans, resting on the center console.

"Who did you draw, Morrigan?" Maggie took a breath and shielded her heart.

"I drew, um, the Hulk."

Maggie couldn't help the laugh that escaped her mouth. She sturdied her grip on the steering wheel, then looked at her niece again. "You drew the Hulk? Not your dad?"

"The Hulk is my favourite," she explained, a smile creeping across her face. She reached into her bag and dug out a piece of paper, revealing a lumpy green depiction of the Hulk, teeth bared.

"As he should be," Maggie smiled. "Let's show that to your mom when we get back, she'll want that on the fridge for sure." She hit the indicator and turned onto the sideroad that led to their houses. "I can send a picture to Bruce, too."

Morgan began to put away the drawing. "Is, um, it true that daddy really saved the world, all those times?"

Maggie's smile faded a little. "Yes, sweetheart." She glanced at her. "I don't know which times your teacher was talking about, but yes, he saved the world a lot. He told you about a few of those times, remember?"

Morgan played with the hem of her shirt. "I remember he told me about the aliens, and how the Hulk jumped up and saved him."

Maggie smiled, recalling seeing that very moment during the Time Heist. "Yeah, exactly. And he saved the world in lots of other ways as well, Morrigan. He made it a better place to live in, without even having to put on a suit of armor."

Morgan looked over at her, dark eyes wide. "You're an Avenger, right?"

"I… yes, I suppose I was," Maggie nodded.

"Did you save the world?"

She kept her gaze fixed forward, on the gravel road winding through the trees. "I think I helped." She forced a smile and looked at the little girl. "But I don't do that any more, don't worry. I promise, I'm staying here with you and your mom, and uncle Bucky."

Morgan's brows drew together. "But who's going to save the world, then?"

"The world is safer now. And there are other, stronger people out there to do the job," Maggie said with a reassuring smile.

But her expression only fell further. "I don't want the world to be in danger because you have to look after me."

"Oh, Morrigan - no." Maggie gently pressed the brakes until the car rolled to a halt halfway up Pepper's driveway, and turned so she could fully face her niece. Morgan was looking down at the schoolbag in her lap, shoulders hunched. Maggie reached over and took the little girl's hands, forcing her to look into her face.

"Morgan, I promise, you are not putting the world in danger. I don't want you to ever blame yourself for that." Heaven knew her father worried enough about that while he was alive. Maggie looked into Morgan's eyes. "I'm staying here, and that's my choice." My promise. "The Avengers might not be around anymore, but the world still has heroes. I promise, they'll keep the world safe. Heroes like-" she was about to say Sam, but he'd given up the shield. She searched for an idea. "Like Uncle Rhodey, and Spider-Man, and…" Jeez, they really were thin on the ground these days. "And the Hulk." She smiled.

Morgan looked at her doubtfully. "Are you not a hero anymore?"

Maggie let out a breath, holding her niece's hands. She brought those hands up to her mouth and kissed Morgan's knuckles, one hand then the other. "I'll be your hero, Morrigan." She let her hands go. "Now come on, let's get you home." She took her foot off the brake and they kept rolling down the drive.

"Do you want me to draw you?" Morgan said, after a few moments of silence.

Maggie's lips cracked into a smile again. "Only if you can promise me it'll be as good as that Hulk drawing."


Baltimore, Maryland

Sam had barely said anything in Isaiah's house. But on the street, his anger burst forth.

"Why didn't you tell me about Isaiah?" He demanded. "How could nobody bring him up?"

Bucky followed in his steps, eyes squinted against the sun and his chest a confusing mix of emotions.

"I asked you a question, Bucky," Sam demanded again. He was angrier than Bucky thought he'd ever heard him.

"I know."

"Steve didn't know about him?"

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

That took some of the anger out of Sam's sails, but he was still insistent as he said: "So you're telling me that there was a black super-soldier decades ago, and nobody knew about it?"

They'd stopped pacing away from Isaiah's house now, so Bucky just held Sam's gaze. He didn't know what to say. Maybe coming to Isaiah had been a mistake, but…

The whoop of a police siren made him close his eyes.

The police were over-eager, instantly asking for their ID and asking Bucky Is this guy bothering you? And Sam was, always, but the cops were being dicks.

"Hey," Bucky murmured to Sam, once the cops had realized who they were and returned to their cars to regroup. "I didn't tell anybody because he'd already been through enough."

Sam stared back at him for a long moment. He shook his head.

"Mr Barnes," said the first police officer, returning. It had turned into a scene now, with two police cars and everyone in the neighborhood staring. "There's a warrant out for your arrest."

Sam let out a frustrated sigh. "The president pardoned him for all that." No one had wanted a repeat of the Wyvern Trial.

"Not for that," the cop said apologetically. "You missed your court-mandated therapy. It's like missing a check-in with your P.O."

Shit.

"I'm sorry, Mr Barnes, you're under arrest."

Bucky thought that, for all the times he'd been imprisoned, that might be the first time anyone had said those words to him. Shit and goddamn.

The cop seemed, rightfully, nervous, but Bucky simply bowed his head and strode forward to where his colleague was waiting by the police car. He held out his hands to be cuffed - a little pointless - and then looked up at Sam as he was ushered into the car.

Sam was watching, silent and still angry, but he kept his eyes on Bucky's. Bucky shook his head once in an attempt at an apology, and then ducked down into the car seat, the cop's hand on his head.

The door closed on him and he looked down at his cuffed hands; one metal, one flesh. He closed his eyes. Sam's words from the plane echoed in his mind:

You wanna leave Maggie in that situation, picking between you and a stable life?


Upstate New York

Maggie's computer pinged.

Sitting on the back deck, watching the sunset and thinking about Morgan's drawing of the Hulk, Maggie frowned. She hardly ever used that computer anymore, the one in the study. It was the one she'd set up with a few constantly-running search programs just in case, and left it to its own devices.

She picked up her mug of coffee, scratched Artemis between the ears - the dog didn't rouse from her sun-drenched sleep - and headed back into her office. Maybe Peter had got into something; she'd promised herself she'd keep an eye on him. Tony would want that.

She sat down at her office chair and woke up the monitor. The ping was an alert from one of her baseline programs running constant searches on news media, judicial and legal channels; the ping was alerting her to an arrest record in Baltimore.

James Buchanan Barnes.

Maggie set down her coffee so hard that it sloshed over the side of the mug and onto her desk. She fumbled her phone out of her pocket.

No calls. No texts. Nothing. She hit his number, but it didn't even ring. Phone must be off. She looked back up at the arrest record.

What the fuck.

For a moment, she sat in awe of the lung-crushing, white-flashing panic that crashed over her. But it only held power over her for a moment before she staggered out of her chair, ignoring the coffee dripping onto her floor. She did a circuit of the living room, grabbing things: Artemis's lead, her bag of food, and Maggie's wallet and bag. Then she went back out onto the deck and picked up the dog, who blinked sleepily up at her.

Ten minutes later, she hit Pepper's doorbell with her elbow.

"Hi," she said breathlessly when the door opened, one arm full of dog and the other full of the dog's things.

"You're going somewhere?" Pepper asked, alarmed, her eyes darting over Maggie's flushed face.

"Bucky's been arrested." Maggie kissed the top of Artemis's head, then leaned past Pepper to drop Artemis and her things inside the door. Artemis went off scampering into the house.

"What? What for?" Pepper reached into the back pocket of her white jeans for her phone. "I'll call him a lawyer."

"Thank you, and I don't know the details yet, all I could get at a glance was that it was nonviolent. I'm going down there, though."

"Of course. Be careful, okay?" Pepper touched Maggie's arm, her brow furrowed.

Maggie nodded. "I will. Sorry about dinner."

"It's fine, go."

Maggie jogged back to her place and slid into the driver's seat of her car. This time, she slid the key into the ignition without hesitation.

It had been two months since she'd last properly left the house. Gravel flew behind her wheels as she sped up the driveway and back into the world.


Baltimore Police Department, Maryland

"Sam, I've heard a lot about you. I'm Dr Raynor, I'm James's therapist."

Sam shook Dr Raynor's hand. She was a tough-looking woman, with a firm handshake and a no-nonsense look to her face. He'd been sat in the precinct waiting room for a few hours now, and his gratitude showed as he replied:

"So nice to meet you. Thank you for getting him out."

"That was not me."

And then Walker showed up again, still in the uniform, attracting a crowd of cops wanting autographs and selfies, and all smarmy as he said Bucky's not gonna be following a strict schedule any longer.

"We haven't finished our work, who authorised this?" Raynor asked, eyebrows high.

He gestured to himself, smiling.

The entrance door to the waiting room burst open.

"Sam, what the fuck?"

Sam flinched and turned around; it was Maggie, in whitewash jeans and an oversized knitted cardigan, her hair frazzled around her face and her eyes alight as she rushed into the precinct waiting room.

"Ah. Maggie, look-"

"Where is he?' she demanded as she hurried over. Her eyes flicked over Raynor, recognizing her, then Walker with a slight furrow between her brows, and then past them, to the precinct desk.

At that moment, the door behind the desk opened, and Bucky appeared. He was escorted out by two officers, one in front and one behind.

"Bucky," Maggie breathed. He instantly looked up, and his eyes widened when he saw her.

"Meg," Sam saw him mouth.

Maggie rushed over, and thankfully did not seem to hear Walker saying to Raynor:

"He's too valuable of an asset to have tied up. Just do whatever you've got to do with him, then send him off to me." Walker turned to Sam. "Got some unfinished business, him and I. You too, Wilson."

Sam resisted the urge to glare. He was better than Bucky.


The police officers moved to stop Maggie as she rushed over to Bucky, but then left her to it when they saw the look in her eye. They'd escorted Bucky to the corner of the desk; she made it there in only a few strides and threw her arms around him, feeling the chill of airconditioning on his leather jacket and on his skin. He hugged her back, lightly, and let her go when she pulled away a moment later.

"What the fuck?" She hissed. "What happened?"

"I missed my therapy session, doll, I'm really sorry." He hung his head.

As the light shifted over his face, Maggie noticed that what she'd thought was a shadow under his left eye was actually a fading bruise. She stilled, then reached up to brush her fingers over the red mark. "Who did this."

At the shift in her voice he met her eyes, and she looked to the police officers, her pulse beginning to thunder.

"No, doll, it's-" he caught her fingers and squeezed - "this is from Munich, it was a super-soldier-"

"A super-soldier?" she said in a whisper, glancing back - they'd had a few witnesses to their reunion, Sam and Walker keeping an eye even as they spoke to Raynor. She looked back to Bucky and leaned in. "Who-"

"It's a long story, I promise I'll tell you," he murmured, his voice low and his eyes tired. He leaned against the precinct desk. "What are you doing here?"

"You got arrested, Bucky, of course I'm going to come see you."

"You got me out?"

"No, I - Pepper said she was still working on it." They both looked back, and saw Walker smiling, hands on his hips as if he owned the place. Sam looked annoyed. "What the hell did you two get into? Why is he here?"

Bucky had his hand on her side so they could talk close and low. "I dunno, he's an asshole-"

"You've met?"

Raynor called over: "James, condition of your release: session now." She strode toward them, glancing back to call: "You too, Sam."

Sam shook his head. "That's okay, I'll be out here with-"

"That wasn't a request!" Raynor called over her shoulder, striding over to them. Bucky still leaned against the desk, now glaring at Sam. "Hello Maggie," Raynor said, touching Maggie's elbow as she walked past. "Lovely to see you in the flesh finally. You can wait out here for these two."

Maggie blinked. "What's going on here, Raynor?"

"Exactly what I intend to find out."

Maggie started forward. "I'll come with, then-"

"Nope," Raynor said when she'd reached the door to get further into the precinct. She turned back and her eyes darted to Bucky. "His issue isn't with you." She pushed through the door and disappeared.

Bucky groaned under his breath and pushed off the desk. "I'll be out as soon as I can," he said, brushing his thumb over Maggie's waist. "I really am sorry."

"Okay," she said, leaning forward so he could give her a quick kiss before he followed Raynor. She watched his back with a frown as he disappeared through the doors.

Sam followed, meeting her eyes briefly. His shoulders were hunched up.

"I'm going to get to the bottom of this," Maggie warned him. "You'd better hope you're not to blame at the end of it."

"Good to see you too, Maggie," he said tiredly, then he too disappeared through the doors.


Sam, Bucky, and Raynor had disappeared into the belly of the precinct, and Maggie was left alone again. She wrapped her arms around herself and tipped her head back. Her skin was suddenly crawling. The airconditioning pressed against her face, and the fluorescent lights made her eyes ache. There were so many people in here. She could sense a few trying to take surreptitious pictures of her. One of the police officers behind the desk smiled, and she knew it to be the smile that preceded a request to take a selfie.

Margaret Stark, in the flesh. Well, most of her.

Someone behind her cleared her throat. "Ms Stark?"

She turned. It was John Walker, in a red and blue uniform, with a bright grin on his face and that shield mounted on his back. He had a handsome face, with blonde hair in loose waves and stubble on his chin. He had his friend to his side, Lemar Hoskins, Maggie remembered from reading the press releases. He had a more understated uniform and a friendly smile.

"Wow," Walker smiled, "It is… such an honor." He held out his hand, still beaming. She stared at it - he had fingerless red leather gloves - then slowly looked back up at him. "I've been wanting to introduce myself since I took on the stars and stripes, you know? A Stark and a Captain America, they go hand in hand. My condolences, by the way." He finally seemed to realize she wasn't going to shake his hand, and dropped it. "Wish we could meet under better circumstances, but I just couldn't resist introducing myself."

"Sergeant Major Lemar Hoskins," his friend said, also reaching out a hand to shake. "I'm called Battlestar."

She didn't shake his hand either.

"Huh." Walker smiled, then glanced at Hoskins for a moment. "I guess you do the staring thing too. Look," he leaned in a little, conspiratorially, "I know you're not in the loop about what's going on here, but it's really important that Sam and Bucky" - her brow furrowed a little at the familiarity of using their first names - "ally with us here. There's some real bad guys out there that we're trying to find. We think they can help us. Think you can put in a good word?"

She held his gaze for another few long moments.

"Give me that shield," she said slowly.

He blinked. "Why?"

"My father made it. I want it back."

His confused look cracked into a smile. "I get it. You want a memento of your dad. But this belongs to the US Government, and since I work for them…"

She drew in a breath through her nose. She thought of Steve, her friend at the end of the world, who she'd follow into any fight. She saw not even an echo of him in this man. "Get out of my sight."

Walker blinked, clearly surprised. He opened his mouth, but Lemar put a hand on his arm.

"C'mon. Let's wait outside." Together they turned to leave. When the doors shut behind them, they would have been out of any normal person's hearing radius.

But Maggie heard Hoskins say to Walker: "You gotta go easy, man, she's been through a lot. She's not exactly the Wyvern anymore, you know?"

Maggie sat down in one of the waiting room chairs, shaking.

Not exactly the Wyvern anymore. It made her want to laugh. Maggie Stark had become the Wyvern and the Wyvern had become Maggie Stark years ago. She'd learned to accept and absorb all facets of herself, the kind and the violent, the passionate and the calm. It just so happened that she, Maggie Stark and the Wyvern, was a wildfire that had burned down to ashes a long time ago.


"Why'd you give up that shield?" Bucky asked. He and Sam's knees were pressed together and they couldn't avoid each other's gaze. Raynor watched, her gaze hard and unimpressed.

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

"Steve believed in you," Bucky shot back. "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 could hear his voice rising, but he didn't care. "He gave you that shield, and you threw it away like it was nothing."

"Alright, shut up-"

"So maybe he was wrong about you," Bucky cut him off, almost snarling now as he leaned forward, "and if he was wrong about you, then he was wrong about me."


In the precinct waiting room, Maggie ignored the curious stares of the public as she worked away on her phone. She'd hated the way Walker had said I know you're not in the loop about what's going on here, and she wasn't going to wait for Bucky to have time to tell her. She traced Bucky and Sam's movements over the last few days; easy enough, since Sam was with the Air Force and his mission logs were fairly traceable. She winced in sympathy when she read that Redwing had been destroyed.

She couldn't quite figure out why they'd been in Baltimore of all places, but the Munich trip was easy enough to figure out.

The Flag Smashers. A group that had popped up in the months after the Blip, dedicated to returning the world to a place without borders or nations, where people helped one another. They'd been stealing cash, vaccines, food, medicine, and other supplies, and though the Global Repatriation Council and other authorities hadn't been able to recover any of the goods, it seemed pretty clear they were ending up in Blip refugee camps. A few of the members's identities were posted on Most Wanted lists; chief among them Karli Morgenthau, a young woman who'd grown up an orphan.

She was reading about the latest Flag Smasher sightings in Germany when she heard the entrance further into the precinct open. She glanced over her shoulder to see Sam storming out, his brow heavy.

"Hey, Maggie," he said in a low voice. He looked pissed off. He strode over to the front door to the precinct, but then waited.

Maggie stood, pocketing her phone, and at that moment Bucky came out as well. He smiled at her, but it was a thin one, and it didn't reach his eyes. He came over and wrapped an arm around her, tucking his face into her hair.

"Thank you for coming," he murmured.

"You and I are going to have a talk," she replied, sliding her hand into his back pocket.

He huffed a laugh into her hair. "Oh, I know. Let's get out of here first."

They walked together to the door, where Sam slipped out when they were a few feet away. They all walked out into the thick, warm night air, loud with the squeaks of busses braking and rumbling engines on the main street a few blocks away. The sidewalk was full of cops.

"Well, I feel better," Sam commented sarcastically.

"I feel awful," Bucky mumbled.

There was a high whoop and a flash of a police car light, and they all looked over to see Walker and Hoskins perched on the hood of a cop car, Walker blaring the siren. When he saw he'd got their attention, he waved a hand.

"Gentlemen!"

Maggie scoffed. "I'm going to get the car." She slid apart from Bucky and strode away.


Walker tried to bring them on board again.

Bucky really did not have patience for Walker anymore. Walker told them what he'd learned about the leader of the Flag Smashers, Karli Morgenthau, then:

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

Bucky let out a sigh. "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 then, huh," Walker said, not even looking at him.

Bucky's patience snapped. "Where is she now, Walker, do you know?"

"No, we don't know, Bucky!" He finally met Bucky's eyes, flashing with anger. He looked… personally offended that Bucky was talking back to him. "But it's only a matter of time before we find out."

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

Sam stepped in, a calming and endlessly patient negotiator, until he finally settled it with:

"It wouldn't make sense for us to work with you."

A car horn beeped behind them. Bucky and the others glanced over to see a nice dark sedan pulled up at the intersection, the driver's window rolled down to reveal Maggie, her elbow resting on the outside of the car. A few nearby police officers gave the car impressed looks.

"A word of advice, then," Walker called. Bucky and Sam glanced back. "Stay the hell out of my way." His eyebrows lifted and he nodded at the waiting car. "Go on. Girlfriend's calling."

Bucky and Sam exchanged a glance, then turned and headed for Maggie's car.


Bratislava, Slovakia

The Flag Smashers' plane raced into the sky. But not all the Flag Smashers were on board; Karli watched her friend Matias go down under the hail of gunfire from the Power Broker's soldiers. Her heart plummeted.

Not the first Flag Smasher to die for the cause. But her first dear friend. And the first super-soldier.


Baltimore, Maryland

The car engine was a soft rumble as Maggie drove Bucky and Sam through the streets of Baltimore, streetlights flashing overhead.

"So," she said, to break the strange silence they'd been in since they got in the car. "The Flag Smashers."

In the back seat, Sam looked at the back of Bucky's head. "You told her? When?"

"I didn't," Bucky replied, raising an eyebrow at Maggie.

"I've got my ways of finding things out, even when people don't tell me," she said significantly, eyebrows raised as she drove. Bucky winced. "So you two have got yourselves mixed up in hunting down a group of anti-nationalist Robin Hood types who steal resources from the Global Repatriation Council to provide to Blip refugees," she summed up. "What I don't get is where super-soldiers come into it, or why the hell you went to Baltimore."

Bucky and Sam shared a look through the rearview mirror. And then, finally, they explained: how Sam had learned about the Flag Smashers from his colleague Joaquin Torres, how the attack in Munich had gone down, the impossible strength of the Flag Smashers, their interactions with Walker and Hoskins, and then their visit to Isaiah Bradley.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Bucky murmured. "About Isaiah, and… then all of this."

"I get it," she sighed. "I'd want to protect a guy like that, too, and I get wanting to be left alone. As for all of this…" she glanced at him. "Are you sure you know what you've gotten into, Bucky?"

"No," he said.

Sam sighed and leaned back in his seat. "So, what're you thinking?"

"Well, I know what we have to do," Bucky said, and Maggie frowned at the resigned tone in his voice. "When Isaiah said my people…"

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

"No, he meant HYDRA." Bucky looked down at his hands. Maggie glanced at him again before making a right turn. "HYDRA used to be my people." He turned to her. "You ever find out anything about HYDRA recreating the serum?"

She frowned. "I mean, all the time. No successes, to my knowledge, apart from with me and the Winter Soldier program."

"Right. So I know what we have to do."

Maggie didn't know if it was the tone of his voice, or the resignation in his face, or just that she knew the patterns of his thoughts so well, but a spike of alarm lanced through her. She stomped on the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road with a screech.

"Are you sure?" she whispered.

In the back seat, Sam caught on with a scoff. "Not a chance."

Bucky looked back. "Walker doesn't have any leads."

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

"He knows all of HYDRA's secrets," Bucky urged, looking at Sam, then Maggie, his eyebrows high as if pleading with her to understand. "Remember Siberia?"

He'd known about December 16, 1991, when it seemed no one else did. She shivered. "Of course I do," she murmured.

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

Bucky and Maggie shared a long glance. His sea-grey eyes were troubled, but resolute.

He hesitated. "Yes."

"Okay then," Sam said, running a hand over his head. "We're gonna go see Zemo."

Even the sound of his name made Maggie's skin prickle.

Bucky looked to her. "Can you take us to the airport?"

She started the car again and pulled back onto the road. Old wounds were aching; her leg stump, her spine, her hands. "I was headed that way anyway," she said. "And I'm coming with you."

"What?" Sam and Bucky exclaimed.

Bucky straightened. "Meg, this ain't your fight, you said you wanted to stay at the house-"

"It became my fight," she pronounced, "the moment the Flag Smashers were formed. Because there are people out there suffering because of a mess we left behind. Not you two, who were blipped, but us. And I wasn't strong enough to help put the world back together again. I thought, great, we've set up a Global Repatriation Council, they'll handle it. But clearly something somewhere has gone very wrong. So I'm stepping in now." She lifted her chin, bolstered by those minutes she'd spent researching on her phone, realizing just how dire the situation was.

She was still only ashes. But she thought she remembered how she used to be. It would have to be enough to pretend. "It became my fight the minute super-soldiers stepped into the ring." She looked to Bucky. "It became my fight the minute they hurt you." His eyes softened.

"Barf," Sam muttered.

"And," she finished, "I'm not letting you face Zemo alone." Her hands tightened on the wheel. "We've got unfinished business."


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