Thank you to Aragorn II Elessar for his help with this chapter.
Ellie Bishop: Oh yeah, I hated what they did with Sharon in FATWS. From my limited knowledge of Sharon from the comics, which is mostly the two comics you listed among a few others, the MCU writers seem to go out of their way to shit on her. Glad to hear it.
Guest: Glad to hear it.
Los Angelus
Night
In Lindsey's old apartment, Eve was lying in bed before the door suddenly burst open. Eve sat up, startled as Willow and Faith walked through the door, Angel and Spike lingering in the doorway, unable to enter.
"What do you want?" Eve asked terrified.
"Invite us in and find out," Angel said evenly.
"Nice try. I'm not St-"
Eve was cut off when Faith grabbed her by the back of the head and slammed her head sideways into the wall.
"Invite them in or next time, it's my fist in your face," Faith snapped.
"Okay okay, come in!" Eve cried painfully and the two vampires entered the room.
"Nice decorations," Spike noted as he looked at all the writing on the walls. "Angel-"
"It's the same symbols Lindsey used to avoid being seen by the Senior Partners," Angel agreed. "How many sick days do you get Eve before they dock you?"
"What do you want?" Eve asked.
"We have it on good authority the Senior Partners have a way to undo the snap," Angel said and Eve laughed.
"Well whoever told you that was messing with you. Even they don't have that kind of power. And even if they did, I'm done helping you," Eve snapped.
Suddenly, Eve was thrown against the wall by an invisible force. Everyone turned to Willow, whose eyes were glowing pure white.
"Care to reconsider that?" Willow asked, her voice echoing slightly.
Suddenly, the entire room began shaking and everyone began looking around wildly.
"Willow!" Angel snapped as her eyes returned to normal.
"This isn't me," Willow told him as she looked around bewildered.
"Is that supposed to do that?" Faith asked as they saw the symbols on the walls vanishing.
"Oh God, they're coming," Eve moaned as a look of terror crossed her face. "Please don't let them take me! I'll tell you anything you wanna know! Just don't let them take me!"
Moments later, the door burst open. A dark haired, well-dressed man entered the room, finding it empty. Seeing the window open, he realized Eve had escaped.
Austria
Same time
Sharon led Sam and Bucky over to an old phone booth.
"Um, should we really be at on old phone booth?" Bucky asked the obvious.
"Just get in, trust me," Sharon said, opening the door and gesturing inside.
Bucky looked at Sam incredulously and Sam only shrugged before walking inside. With a roll of his eyes, Bucky followed Sam. Sharon closed the door after stepping inside before walking over to the phone.
"Hang on," she told them as she keyed in a combination.
The two men barely had a moment to process this before the phone booth suddenly lurched forward. To Sam and Bucky's shock, the phone booth started to go underground. It wasn't a phone booth, it was an elevator, they realized as it moved several miles per hour. It came to a sudden stop and the doors opened.
"Welcome to STRIKE," Sharon said as she stepped out.
Silently, Sam and Bucky followed her and looked around. It looked a lot like SHIELD; there were several men and women walking around the long hallways and several screens of data along the walls.
"I thought the STRIKE team was Hydra?" Bucky asked in confusion.
"It was. They were taken out during the Uprising. After he went to ground, Fury recreated STRIKE as it was originally intended, a task force that would operate in the shadows," Sharon explained as a curly haired man approached them. "Sam, Barnes, meet Agent Klein."
"I remember you, you were the SHIELD agent who refused to launch the Helicarriers even when Rumlow had a gun at your head," Sam remembered, holding a hand out to Klein. "That took a lot of courage."
"Thank you," Klein said humbly, shaking Sam's hands before eying Bucky wearily. "Mr. Barnes."
"Hey," Bucky said neutrally, understanding Klein's uneasiness.
After all, last time Bucky had encountered SHIELD, he had been working for Hydra.
"Where are we on the Flag Smashers?" Sharon asked as Klein dropped Sam's hand.
"Exactly where we were when you left. We have no idea where they are and over 100 possible targets," Klein explained grimly. "We don't even know what they're after."
"Seems pretty obvious to me," Bucky said and three pairs of eyes turned to him. "Revenge. They want the people who drafted The Accords to feel what they felt when they lost loved ones to Thanos."
"By killing the people they love," Sam realized and Bucky nodded before turning to Sharon.
"Look into anyone in the military who lost a loved one. To make that shot, to know exactly where to shoot, they had to have military training," Bucky told her.
Los Angelus
Later
"Fred!" Angel exclaimed as the elevator door opened and he, Spike, Willow, Faith and Eve walked into the lobby.
"Angel? What happened?" Fred asked as she, Lorne and Dawn met the others halfway to Angel's office.
"Someone's after Eve. Tell security to be on red alert, no one gets in without my clearance. I want a guard at entrance, every stairwell, every elevator. The rest of you, take Eve to my office, I'll be there in a few minutes. Anything gets passed security, kill it," Angel ordered before turning to head down the hall.
"Hey, where are you going?" Faith asked.
"To see my lawyer."
A few minutes later, Angel entered the office of the head of the Legal Department.
"Hodgins," Angel said and Hodgins looked up.
"Yeah boss?"
"I need to protect someone from the Senior Partners. Is there a way I can do that?" Angel asked.
"The Senior Partners? Are you out of your mind?" Hodgins exclaimed terrified.
"Is there a way I can do that?" Angel asked with more force.
"Um, yeah. There's a proviso in your contract. As CEO of a Wolfram and Hart branch, you can invoke a Rapio Salvus order. Basically, you take custody of a wayward employee. It's not usually used for protection, but it should work," Hodgins said and Angel nodded.
"How do I do that?"
"I'll make a call. But after that, I'm done Mr. Angel. This is too much," Hodgins said scared and Angel nodded.
"Leave your resignation on your desk," Angel said before he turned and walk out.
Military base
Not long after
A military truck was being loaded with weapons when the military personal heard gun shots. Whirling around, they saw various men holding weapons and wearing blue masks that had a star on the forehead taking aim at them. Before they could even draw their weapons, the masked men opened fire on them, the bullets killing them almost instantly. As the dead military personal dropped to the ground, the masked men placed their guns in their holsters, one of them searching the bodies before finding the keys to the truck.
"Tell the boss we're on our way," one of them said.
STRIKE base
Not long after
Sam sat at a table, watching as Bucky talked with Klein, attempting to vet the numerous suspects. Sharon suddenly sat down, holding a can of beer in hand.
"You want one? This could take a while," Sharon pointed out.
"I'd prefer to be sober if something comes up," Sam said and she shrugged.
"Suit yourself," Sharon said, taking a drink and it was silent for a moment. "So, why don't you want the shield?"
"Bucky talks too much," Sam said with a sigh.
"He is surprisingly chatty for a former POW, especially one who's been through what he has," Sharon noted. "He doesn't understand why you're dragging your feet with the shield. I admit I'm curious to. Why don't you want the shield?"
"When Bucky first told me about the shield…you know what my first thought was?" Sam asked after a moment.
"'I can't believe he just gave me the shield'," Sharon said dryly and he chuckled.
"Okay, yeah. But my second thought was 'it feels like it belongs to someone else'," Sam said as Sharon listened. "That someone else is Steve. I'm not Steve, I can never be Steve."
"Sam, Barnes isn't asking you to be Steve. No one could be Steve and anyone trying could only fail. Barnes is asking you to carry on after Steve," Sharon told him gently. "The world is in pieces, we're all doing the best we can. We all need something to believe in right now. We all need hope. And there was never a greater symbol of hope than Captain America. Just…think about it, okay?"
Sam frowned, considering her words when Bucky came over.
"Hey, we got something," Bucky said and they looked at him sharply. "A military base on the Austrian border was raided about ten minutes ago; a shipment of assault rifles that was supposed to head to a base near Vienna was high jacked. The only survivor of the attack describes men wearing masks that have a star on the forehead."
"The Flag Smashers," Sharon said as she got to her feet.
"Lucky for us, those weapons have a built in tracer," Bucky said.
"We have a way to track them," Sam realized.
"Then let's go get them," Sharon ordered.
Los Angelus
Same time
"Brilliant, they'll never look for me here," Eve said sarcastically once they all stood in Angel's office.
"Oh pipe down Sneaker. Angel saved your life, how about you be a little more grateful?" Faith said disdainfully.
"I'm gonna die," Eve moaned.
"At this point, not sure that's such a bad thing," Dawn said and Eve glared at her. "Is that we do now? Help people who don't deserve our help?"
"We don't wanna help her Dawn," Angel said as he entered the room. "But we will. You're under my protection."
"Thank the gods," Eve sighed in relief.
"Trust me, no gods have anything to do with this," Willow said darkly.
"She's right, I did. And I can just as easily take it all away," Angel said in a menacing tone. "All it'll take is one phone call. Give me a reason not to Eve."
"How?" Eve asked eagerly.
"We were told the Senior Partners have a way to undo the snap," Lorne piped up. "Is that true?"
"I don't know," Eve said, to their disappointment. "I'm a Liaison, I liais'. I'm a child of the Senior Partners, created to do their bidding."
"You're an immortal," Angel realized and she nodded.
"So then why are you here?" Willow asked.
"To watch, to observe, pass on messages to Angel, if there are any," Eve explained.
"So you're middle management," Spike noted.
"In other words, this was a giant waste of time," Angel sighed.
"Bullocks!" Spike snapped as nearly everyone turned away from Eve.
"You wanna know the funny part Angel?" Eve asked as they all looked over at her. "There was someone who could have answered that very question for you and you let the Senior Partners take him away."
"Lindsey," Angel realized.
"The guy who tried to make me kill you four years ago?" Faith asked in confusion.
"He's dedicated years of his life to the study of the Senior Partners. No one knows more about them than he does. What they've done, what they plan to do," Eve explained.
"I thought he was after me. You mean bringing Spike back, the fail safe, that was all about the Senior Partners?" Angel asked.
"No, that was about you to. He really doesn't like you," Eve said and Angel looked annoyed.
"But he may have the answers we're looking for," Fred said and Eve nodded.
"Exactly. And now, what he's going through…" Eve trailed off, looking pained.
"They didn't kill him?" Angel asked, perking up.
"No, they would want him to suffer horrors. Lindsey is in some hideous, awful, Hell," Eve said darkly.
Hungary
Not long after
"Okay, we're approaching the drop zone," Sharon told Bucky over the Comms.
They were currently in a plane, several miles above ground. Bucky was gearing up as Sharon piloted the plane.
"Sam in position?" Bucky asked.
"Why don't you worry about doing your part and I'll do mine," Sam said as his voice came over the Comms.
"Enough arguing. Barnes, it's now or never," Sharon snapped.
Not needing to be told twice, Bucky jumped out the open door and fell below. Seeing the target, Bucky braced his legs and aimed. Within seconds, he had landed on the roof of the truck. Almost immediately, Bucky had to roll to the side, avoiding some gunshots from the passenger side window. Bucky used his robotic arm to grab onto the truck and avoid being thrown off.
Suddenly, Redwing flew in front of the truck, opening fire on the road as it attempted to shoot out the tires.
Above ground, Sharon stopped as she noticed another plane suddenly in the sky, a few feet from hers. As someone jumped out, her eyes widened in shock.
"Son of a bitch."
On the ground, Redwing was still trying to shoot out the tires when a projectile suddenly hit it in the side. It lost control of its flight as the truck suddenly swerved to the side. Redwing was hit in the side by the truck and sent flying, crashing into a stone wall and smashing to pieces.
As someone else landed on the truck roof, Bucky looked up and couldn't contain his shock.
"Steve?"
It wasn't Steve, Bucky quickly realized. It was a man dressed in a Captain America suit, but it wasn't Steve. The projectile, which was a mirror image of Steve's shield, returned to his hand and not Steve threw it at Bucky. Bucky jumped to his feet, catching the shield with his flesh arm.
It wasn't made of Vibration, Bucky realized almost immediately. It felt like it was made of regular metal. Bucky threw the shield back at not Steve, who caught it easily before pulling out a pistol. He fired off a few rounds at Bucky, who managed to dodge before Sam flew down. As Sam landed on the roof, he tried to strike not Steve, who whirled around and used his shield to block Sam's punch. Not Steve then sent a kick to Sam's abdomen, sending Sam stumbling back. Not Steve fired a round at Sam but Sam used one of his wings to deflect the bullet.
Not Steve then struck Sam in the face with his shield, sending Sam stumbling back before he whirled around, opening fire on Bucky. Bucky dodged the bullets before rushing over, attempting to strike not Steve, who brought up his shield in response. Bucky's metal arm impacted on the shield and Bucky saw it was slightly dented from the force of his punch.
Snarling angrily, not Steve pushed back, sending a kick to Bucky's abdomen before grabbing him and pushing him off the truck. Bucky used his metal arm to grab the edge of the truck before grunting as not Steve stomped on his hand. Sam trip to rush him but not Steve fired his pistol at Sam. Sam took off into the air to avoid the bullets before coming back around near Bucky. Bucky managed to jump up but not Steve sent a powerful kick to Bucky's chest, sending him crashing into Sam.
Bucky and Sam went flying, Sam crashing back first into a stone wall, which cracked under the force of Sam's wings, before the pair fell onto the road, slightly dazed. Not Steve watched them for a moment before tapping the Comms piece in his ear.
"We need to move, now."
"On it boss," one of the Flag Smashers said as they increased the speed of the truck.
"You alright?" Sam asked Bucky as they got up.
"Yeah, I think so," Bucky said as he got to his feet. "That wasn't Steve Sam."
"No, no it wasn't. But it sure as Hell looked like him, even had a shield," Sam noted.
"It wasn't Steve," Sharon said over the Comms, making the two start as they had forgotten she was even there. "His name's John Walker. And if he's leading the Flag Smashers, then we're in trouble."
Los Angelus
Same time
"There's thousands of different kinds of Hells," Spike was saying. "There's your ice Hell, your Fire Hell, your….Ice Hell."
"Spike, you already said that," Fred reminded him.
"I don't care if he's in toy poodles on parade Hell," Angel snapped. "He's got information that we need."
"According to the girl whose only reason for being is to see her little pookie bear again," Spike argued.
"He's got a point Angel," Faith said as she eyed Eve suspiciously.
"I'm not lying!" Eve protested before turning to Lorne. "Tell them I'm not lying!"
"No one can fake it through the pina colada song, not once the chorus kicks in," Lorne confirmed.
"Lindsey might be the only one who can tell us how to get everyone back, so I want him. You got a better idea how to do it, I'm totally open," Angel snapped as he got to his feet.
"Didn't say that, just saying that this plan sucks. We're lookin' for a Hell Dimension in a Haystack," Spike pointed out.
"What do we have on the Senior Partner's Hell Dimensions?" Willow suddenly asked.
A few minutes later, they stood in Wesley's old office. Angel picked up a book off the shelf.
"The Senior Partner's Hell Dimensions," Angel said.
Angel handed it to Willow and, as she opened it, the book was suddenly filled with information.
"Say what you will about Wolfram and Hart, they know how to get things done," Faith muttered.
Willow ignored Faith, placing the book on the desk. She placed her hand on the book and, to everyone's shock, the words on the pages began to move from the pages and onto Willow's arms. Willow's eyes glowed pure white again until the pages were completely blank.
"Will?" Dawn asked nervously.
At the sound of Dawn's voice, the words fades from Willow's skin and her eyes returned to normal.
"I'm fine Dawnie, I just absorbed all the information from the book into my mind," Willow assured her before looking at the others. "I know where Lindsey is. And I know how to get him out."
Fun fact, one of the lawyers from Wolfram and Hart was played by T.J. Thyne, who went on to star in Bones, another David Boreanaz show, as Jack Hodgins.
Yes, John Walker is the leader of the Flag Smashers in this AU. His motives for forming the Flag Smashers will be explained next chapter, but I have given some hints over the last few chapters.
Also, RIP Redwing.