Forgot to mention this last chapter, but Bucky has his Falcon and the Winter Soldier look.
In a bit of sad news, James Michael Tyler, who played Guther on Friends, has gone on to join the other legends in the sky after a three year battle with prostate cancer. RIP.
Kevin Aguirre: 1, you're still changing something that is tied into the very fabric of the universe. For example, you wouldn't make lasagna with lettuce instead of pasta, would you? Thanos was messing with forces beyond his comprehension and the lack of fallout from this is unbelievable. 2, that is why so many of us have an issue with what happened to the stones. 3, no, I really don't.
Ellie Bishop: They're trying but really, how do you move on from something like this? Something happened yes but Wanda actually went down a very different path than Clint. No kidding. Yep LOL! No kidding.
Avengers Compound
Early morning
In his room, Bucky laid on the floor, blankets wrapped around him. He tossed and turned in his sleep, his mind tormented by things long past.
Iran, 2009
The Winter Solider was perched at his vantage point, aiming an assault rifle as he waited for his target. Suddenly, he saw it: a jeep heading towards the check point. The Soldier waited until they were at the cliff before firing.
His aim struck true, the bullet taking out the driver. The vehicle swerved before going over the cliff. A weaker or more arrogant assassin would assume the job was done. But The Soldier was no ordinary assassin. So he waited.
Within five minutes, his target resurfaced, led back over the cliff by his protector. She was good, The Soldier noted impressed. But he was better.
He pulled the trigger, getting the protector in the waist. She gasped in pain as his bullet then flew out of her cleanly, striking the target in the chest. As the target went down, The Soldier holstered his rifle and turned away, making his way towards his vehicle without paying the red headed SHIELD agent another thought.
Bucky gasped as he woke up, breathing heavily. Sitting up, Bucky ran a hand through his hair before looking over at his digital clock. It was just passed six. Well, he wouldn't be getting anymore sleep today, Bucky mused before throwing the blankets off.
After getting dressed, Bucky walked out of his room and started making his way towards the kitchen. As he did, he passed Sam's office. He paused as he heard Sam talking to someone.
"Okay…okay…yeah, we'll be there," Sam was saying.
The next second was followed by Sam sighing before he made his way over to the door. He opened it and Bucky didn't even intend to hide that he had been eavesdropping.
"How much of that did you hear?" Sam asked not even surprised.
"Not much. What's going on?" Bucky inquired.
"Say hello to Maynard Tiboldt," Sam said as he brought up a holographic image of a man in his late forties.
"I remember him. Wasn't he one of the main supporters of The Accords?" Bucky asked.
"Not just that, he's the Austrian representative in the UN. He had a major hand in drafting the Accords, which makes sense as Austria was one of the first countries to sign," Sam said.
"Okay. And why do we care?" Bucky asked not sure why this had Sam's interest.
"Because last night, someone killed his son and daughter," Sam said bluntly.
"What do we know?" Bucky asked after a moment.
"The son was hit first, bullet lodged in his throat. He choked on his blood and died within minutes, before medics could arrive. The daughter was a bit more humane, bullet to the head, she died almost instantly. It was a sniper, one who knew exactly when the three of them would be sitting down to dinner that night," Sam explained.
Bucky was silent, clenching his flesh hand into a fist. No one deserved to die like that. Especially not kids. Bucky took a moment to compose himself before putting his mind back to the task at hand.
"Might be an inside job," Bucky noted.
"That's what I was thinking," Sam agreed.
"Do the authorities have any leads?" Bucky inquired.
"Nothing concrete. But an old contact reached out, thought we might be able to lend our expertise. Feel up to a trip to Austria?" Sam asked.
Jet
Later in the morning
As the plane took off, its passengers were mostly silent. Spike was silently drinking some of the small bottles of liquor provided for him as, next to him, Dawn was staring out the window, deep in thought. On the other side of the plane, Willow was reading a book as Faith was looking over her shoulder in annoyance.
"Okay, I get why the rest of us are going, but why the Hell did you invite him?" Faith asked with a scowl.
With a sigh, Willow followed Faith's gaze, seeing Andrew in the back of the plane, drinking the bottles of liquor with much more enthusiasm than Spike.
"The last time he had unrestricted access to the Slayers; he tried to pick a fight with Angel and told Angel that we didn't trust him anymore. At least with us, he can't do any more damage," Willow said tiredly.
"Still don't understand why you keep him around," Faith grumbled.
"Because I know what he's capable of when left to his own devices," Willow said darkly. "As long as we keep an eye on him, we can control the damage he does."
Los Angelus
Same time
"Lilah gave you a lead?" Fred asked incredulously as Angel filled her and Lorne in on last night's events.
"She pointed me in the direction of a lead," Angel clarified.
"And why would she do that? Lilah never does anything that doesn't benefit Lilah," Fred pointed out distastefully.
"Isn't it obvious Fredkins?" Lorne asked as she looked over at him. "Wesley."
"Lorne's right, Lilah wants to bring Wesley back, she mentioned him specifically," Angel agreed.
"As much as we'd all like to pretend otherwise, Lilah loved Wesley and he loved her, although he'd probably never say it out loud," Lorne noted.
Fed didn't look particularly pleased by this but sighed, putting it aside. As long as it helped them bring everyone back, she could put aside her personal feelings on Lilah.
"Okay, so what do we do?" Fred asked.
"Right now, we wait for Willow to get here, hope she can find Eve. Then, we do whatever's necessary to make her talk," Angel said darkly.
Quinjet
Afternoon
"So, any particular reason you decided not to bring the shield?" Bucky asked casually as Sam flew the Quinjet towards the checkpoint.
"We're trying not to draw attention to ourselves. A black man carrying Captain America's shield isn't exactly flying under the radar," Sam said pointedly.
"As far as lies go, that was pretty pathetic," Bucky said dryly. "You realize we're famous, or infamous, right? We'd have to have paper bags over our heads for people not to recognize us. If you don't wanna take up the shield, just say it Sam."
"Can we talk about this later? We have a murder to solve," Sam said annoyed.
"Fine. But this conversation isn't over," Bucky said darkly.
"Fine," Sam allowed and it was silent for a few moments.
"So who is this contact of yours?" Bucky asked.
"You'll see in a few minutes. We're here," Sam said as he saw the checkpoint.
Sam landed on a grassy plain before lowering the ramp. Sam and Bucky then walked down the ramp and, moments later, Bucky spotted a figure approaching from the edge of the plain. He was dumbfounded as he recognized them.
"Took you long enough," the figure said.
"We got here as soon as we could," Sam said as he approached, holding out his hand. "It's good to see you Sharon."
"You to Sam," Sharon Carter said, shaking his hand before turning to Bucky, her eyes cooling. "Barnes."
"Agent Carter," Bucky said, recovering before looking over at Sam. "Why didn't you tell me she was your contact?"
"You two know each other?" Sam asked innocently before cracking up at Bucky's glare. "I just wanted to see your face."
"Hilarious," Bucky said sarcastically.
"If you two are done, we have work to do," Sharon said pointedly.
"You lead the way," Sam said, the laughter disappearing from his face.
New York, Queens
Same time
Peter was walking home from school, his backpack on his back. A few months ago, he would have swung home. But that was a different world. One in which he was still Spider-Man.
As he neared an alley, he heard a groan followed by the sound of flesh hitting flesh. Looking up, Peter saw three men ganging up on another, smaller man, beating him. Peter watched the scene for a moment, tempted to help. But he hadn't been able to help his uncle, Tony or even the world. He'd just make things worse, Peter thought glumly before turning his head and walking away, doing his best to ignore the scene.
Austria
Not long after
Sharon led Sam and Bucky inside the crime scene, the trio encountering two police officers. Sharon walked over to them, having a brief conversation in German before the officers nodded and left, sparing Sam and Bucky a backwards glance.
"Okay, we have ten minutes, let's make them count," Sharon told Sam and Bucky.
"So how does a former CIA agent end up here?" Bucky inquired.
"I stole Steve's shield, and Sam's wings, so they could save your ass," Sharon said bluntly. "I didn't have the Avengers to help me, so I had to go on the run. A few weeks later, Fury found me, gave me a job and a purpose. Spent the last few years helping build Fury's spy network."
"I'm sorry that you gave up so much to help me," Bucky said in remorse and she shrugged.
"I made my own choices. Hate to break it to you, but not everything bad that happens is your fault," Sharon said pointedly. "So, can we get back to work?"
Bucky nodded and the three of them walked into the dining room, where the killings had taken place.
"Where were the kids sitting when they got shot?" Bucky inquired.
"The son was sitting there and the daughter was sitting right next to him," Sharon said, gesturing to the spots.
Bucky nodded, walking over to the table. Looking up, Bucky saw the windows, where the glass had been broken by the two bullets. Sitting down at the table, Bucky looked up, seeing a building directly in his line of sight, several miles away.
"I know where the shooter shot from," Bucky announced.
Later, Sharon led Sam and Bucky onto the roof of the building. Bucky walked over to the edge, staring down at Tiboldt's home.
"This wasn't random," Bucky said after a moment.
"What makes you so sure?" Sam inquired.
"From this angle, a sniper could see everything happening in the dining room. Whoever took the shot, he wanted to see Tiboldt's face when he killed his children. This, this was personal," Bucky told Sam.
"And I just figured out why," Sharon said behind them.
Sam and Bucky turned to see her staring at the side of the entrance to the roof. Something had been painted on there. No, they realized. Not painted, branded.
"Is that a star?" Sam asked perplexed.
"No, it's a symbol. Of the Flag Smashers," Sharon said grimly.
"Who the Hell are the Flag Smashers?" Bucky asked.
"A group of anti-government and anti-Accords activists. They've been on chat groups for the past month, ranting about how the government is to blame for The Snap because they broke up the Avengers by trying to make them sign the Accords. They also blame you guys for breaking up instead of staying together," Sharon said with a glance at Sam.
"Well, it looks like they just upgraded from activists to terrorists," Bucky noted.
"They haven't committed any acts of terrorism yet," Sam noted.
"Then what do you call this?" Bucky asked, gesturing towards Tiboldt's home. "They've killed once, that we know of. I know these kinds of groups Sam, I was held captive by one for over seventy years. They're just getting started."
Los Angelus
Late afternoon
Spike led Willow, Faith, Dawn and Andrew into the lobby once the Elevators opened up. The three young women eyed the lobby wearily, as though the employees were going to jump up and start attacking them.
"They're not going to do anything as long as we're Angel's guests," Spike pointed out not sure whether to be amused or annoyed by their reactions.
"It's just a little weird, being in Hell Incorporated," Dawn said unsettled.
"You get used to it," Spike said with a shrug.
"Spike," Fred said as she rounded the corner and saw them.
"Fred. It's good to see you," Spike said with a smile.
"You to," Fred said before turning to the others. "Willow, Faith, nice to see you again. And you must be Dawn. I'm Fred."
"Nice to meet you," Dawn said politely, already liking Fred.
She reminded her a bit of Tara, Dawn thought with a hint of sadness.
"Hi Fred," Andrew said with a wave.
"Andrew," Fred said neutrally.
Whether he noticed her chilly demeanor or not, Andrew didn't seem to let it bother him. Not that Fred particularly cared.
"Where is he?" Spike asked.
"In his office," Fred said, knowing immediately who Spike was talking about.
"It's good to see you all again, although I wish the circumstances were better," Angel said once they were all in his office.
"You said you had a lead," Willow noted and Angel nodded.
"I was told by a source that the Senior Partners might have a way to undo The Snap, bring everyone back," Angel said and he had everyone's attention.
"How?" Faith asked.
"That we don't know," Lorne said to the dismay of the Scoobies.
"Alright, so why did you have us come here?" Spike asked annoyed.
"Because there's only one person who can tell us what it is: Eve," Angel said and Spike raised an eyebrow.
"Lindsey's girl?" Angel nodded in answer.
"She's a child of the Senior Partners; she might know what's happening. The problem is we don't know where she is," Angel said.
"Or if she's still alive," Fred said glumly.
"We'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it," Angel said as he looked towards Willow. "I need your help to find her. Can you help us Willow?"
"Do you have anything that used to belong to Eve?" Willow asked after a moment of thought.
"I do," Fred said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out an earring. "She dropped that once."
"And you kept it?" Dawn asked as most eyed her weirdly.
"In case of emergencies. I figured we might be able to use it for…something," Fred flushed.
"Who knew you had a bad side Fred," Faith said with a teasing smirk.
"That'll do," Willow said, walking over and taking it from Fred.
Everyone watched as Willow clenched a fist around the earring and closed her eyes. For several long moments, they watched her until Willow opened her eyes.
"She's still alive, I can sense it. But something's blocking me from finding her," Willow said in frustration.
"Great, so we're back to square one," Dawn said in frustration.
"Not exactly," Willow said and they looked at her in bewilderment. "There are powerful magicks at work here, but whoever is using them is an amateur. I just need to draw on a bit more power to bypass it. Like the power of two Champions. Angel, Spike?"
"Whatever you need Red."
"Do it," Angel and Spike said almost in sync.
Willow nodded before holding her hands out. Two beams of light shot out from her palms and hit Angel and Spike. The two stiffened, groaning as Willow's eyes glowed pure white. But almost as soon as it happened, the light faded. Angel had to lean on his desk to support himself as Faith and Dawn stopped Spike from falling to his knees.
"I know where she is," Willow declared as the light faded from her eyes.
Bucky's dream is Natasha's encounter with him that she describes in The Winter Solider, in case anyone was wondering.
Sharon is here and before anyone asks, I do not intend on making her a villain, unlike the hacks who currently work for the MCU.
Yes, the Flag Smashers are here, but mine are going to be very different from the ones in FATWS.