Ellie Bishop: Yeah, Bucky and Wanda have a lot in common for sure. No kidding, really wish the MCU had explored a dynamic between them but unlikely to ever happen.

Russia

Morning

"Walker will have men around Rasputin, ready to attack when he gives the signal. You need to be there to intercept," Nick explained as Sam, Bucky, Wanda and Sharon began suiting up.

"Hopefully, we won't need to. But just in case, you guys should be there to stop them," Sam told Bucky, Sharon and Wanda.

"I know that Rasputin is going to be meeting with the President of Russia today. Walker plans to draw him away from the meeting," Nick supplied.

"Any idea how?" Sharon inquired and Nick shook his head.

"No, the plan wasn't really something Walker felt like sharing with some of us lower rank guys," Nick said apologetically.

"You've already been a big help. We'll take it from here," Sam assured him.

Wolfram and Hart

Same time

In his office, Angel leaned against his desk, facing Fred, Lorne, Spike, Willow, Faith and Dawn. The room was silent, thick with tension. Finally, after several moments, Fred spoke up.

"Connor. You…erased our memories of him," Fred said, looking at Angel with an unreadable look on her face. "Why?"

"It was part of my agreement to take over Wolfram and Hart. Connor…he was about to kill Cordelia," Angel revealed, to everyone's shock. "And himself, along with a whole bunch of people. He was so torn up about everything that had happened…I didn't know how else to help him."

"I can sort of understand why you would change Connor's memories. But why did you change ours?" Lorne inquired.

"Same reason I changed Connor's. You had all gone through so much because of Holtz, Connor and Jasmine. I wanted to spare you guys some of the pain you'd gone through," Angel explained and it was silent. "Maybe I made a mistake, but I only did what I thought was best. For Connor and all of you."

"You still should have told us," Faith said after a moment and Angel nodded.

"You're right. When Connor walked through that door, and especially when I found out someone was sending me a message, I should have told you guys the truth. I'm sorry," Angel apologized. "We good?"

"No, but I still feel the same about you as I did before," Spike said and Angel resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Spike's antics.

"Anyone else have any problems?" Angel asked.

"Well, I think my crush on Connor is gone," Dawn said and Angel raised an eyebrow. "He's a nice guy and all, but my sister's ex-boyfriend's son…it's just too weird."

"Understood," Angel said amused as Faith shot her a smirk and Willow playfully taped Dawn on the shoulder. "Anyone else?"

"Just…promise not to do anything like this again," Fred said and Angel nodded.

"I promise."

"Good," Willow said as she got to her feet. "Because messing with these kinds of forces…it can have terrible consequences Angel. I know that better than anyone. You ever do something like this again…I will take you out."

"If I do something like this again, you should take me out," Angel said and she nodded. "Now, let's get back to work."

Russia

Later in the morning

Near the city's capital, Wanda was on the street, in a hoodie, watching as a limo pulled up on the side of the road. It parked, two men in suits getting out before helping a dark haired man with a beard out of the back of the car.

"I have eyes on Rasputin," Wanda said.

Inside a nearby building, Sharon, dressed as a waitress, was serving people, tensing as she saw someone enter the room with an armed escort.

"The President is here. We better be careful. The Flag Smashers clearly don't care about collateral damage. Barnes, be ready to go at any moment," Sharon commanded.

"Hopefully, Sam's plan will work and we don't have to," Bucky said, watching Rasputin from the opposite side of the street as Wanda.

"I think you believe that as much as I do," Sharon said in his ear and Bucky didn't disagree.

Elsewhere in Russia, Sam walked into a café, looking around. It didn't take him long to find Walker. He was sitting at a table, drinking some kind of beverage and eating a Russian pastry of some kind. As Sam walked over, Walker put down his drink, looking up at Sam.

"Sam Wilson. Or do you prefer Falcon? I'm John Walker," Walker introduced himself.

"I know who you are. Can I have a seat?" Sam asked and Walker shrugged.

"Who am I to deny Cap's wingman?" Walker asked sarcastically.

Sam ignored Walker's barb, pulling out the chair across from Walker and sitting down. For a moment, it was silent between them.

"Go on, say it. You're here to stop me," Walker egged him on.

"I'm just here to talk John. I know you lost people during The Snap," Sam started.

"You don't know anything," Walker sneered.

"I understand you're angry, I understand your grief. I've lost people to. But this is not the way to deal with it. There doesn't have to be a war John," Sam tried to reason with Walker.

"There's been a war going on for two years. I just finally see it," Walker said coolly.

Wolfram and Hart

Same time

Angel was in his office, deep in thought as he stared out the window. While the others had recovered their memories, Connor thankfully seemed unaffected. All in all, things could have gone worse.

"I thought sunlight burned you up."

"Special glass," Angel said, smiling as he turned around to face Connor.

"Nice. You should make a whole suit out of it," Connor said and a beat passed between them.

"How's your dad?" Angel asked.

"He's fine. They're releasing him now. I should warn you, he's pretty pissed," Connor said and Angel raised an eyebrow. "I told him you took me out demon fighting and almost got me killed."

"Alright," Angel said, bracing himself as he moved to grab his jacket. "I'll-"

"I'm kidding," Connor said with a laugh. "Man, you need to lighten up. I told him we spent the whole night doing tests. Told him I could bench-press like a thousand pounds."

"What are you gonna tell them about who you are?" Angel asked wearily.

"The truth, more or less. I'll them that I'm different. And that it's actually a good thing. I should tell them to stop worrying so much," Connor mused.

"They're parents. It's their job to worry," Angel told him.

"Yeah. But I feel a lot better, knowing you're looking out for them," Connor said.

"We haven't found Vail," Angel said regretfully. "But we will."

"I'm not too worried about him. Nothing he can show me that I haven't already seen," Connor said with an odd look on his face. "Anyway, I just wanted to say goodbye. I gotta go back to my life now."

"Oh," Angel said lamely, getting to his feet as Connor turned to leave. "Do you really have to leave…right now?"

"I kind of think I should. I need to take care of my parents. This really isn't their world. They don't feel safe here," Connor explained.

Of course they didn't. It was filled with monsters, some of which almost killed them last night. Angel couldn't be selfish; he couldn't put their lives in danger in order to hold onto Connor. Didn't mean it hurt any less though.

"You gonna do what you can to protect your family," Connor said, that same odd look crossing his face as he looked at Angel with a look Angel couldn't place. "I learned that from my father."

Connor then turned and walked out of the room. Angel walked over to the doorway, watching Connor press the button for the elevator. As he waited, Connor turned back to Angel, holding his gaze for a moment. It almost felt like Connor was saying goodbye, Angel thought.

Then, the elevator doors opened up. Connor smiled at him before getting in the elevator. Angel watched as the doors closed and his son walked out of his life for the third time.

Russia

Same time

"You know, as I kid, I admired Captain America. In fact, I even modeled myself after him," Walker told Sam. "And just like him, I served my country. I gave my body for it. My skin, my blood, even my very soul. I did what my country told me to, even if I didn't agree with it."

"You mean The Accords," Sam realized and Walker nodded.

"I disagreed with them. The more I found out about them, they more they felt…wrong. But I had faith. In Steve, in you and the other Avengers. That you would find a way out of this, some kind of common ground. But that didn't happen," Walker growled. "Instead, you all fought amongst yourselves and broke apart. And so none of you were able to stop Thanos."

"Maybe you're right," Sam said after a moment. "Maybe we didn't fight hard enough on The Accords. Maybe it is our fault, what happened with Thanos. But this isn't the way to go about it John. You're killing people."

"Hardly innocent ones though," Walker said dismissively.

"Is that what you tell yourself about Maynard Tiboldt's children?" Sam challenged.

"Collateral damage," Walker said dismissively. "Unpleasant, but necessary for the greater good."

"What greater good is that?" Sam asked, becoming confused as Walker checked his watch.

"You'll find out in three, two-"

Suddenly, the entire café was rocked. In the distance, Sam could hear what sounded like a roar. A pit of dread formed in his stomach as Sam jumped to his feet. Rushing outside, Sam could see rising smoke in the distance. Looking back inside, Sam saw Walker had made off while he was inspecting the disruption.

Bucky and Wanda watched the smoke from a mile away before they saw Rasputin's guards leading him away.

"Guys, what was that?" Sam asked over the Comms.

"A bomb, what do you think? But it doesn't look like it was aimed at Rasputin or the President," Bucky told him. "Also doesn't seem like it was very big."

"Rasputin's being led away to safety," Wanda noted as Rasputin was put in his car.

"So is the President," Sharon said as she saw the President led out of the room by his guards.

"Guys, Walker is responsible for the bomb, this is part of his plan. And he used all the chaos to slip away," Sam said, trying and failing to fight his way through the crowd.

"Shit," Sharon said as the realization hit her. "Whenever something like this happens, it's protocol to get all political leaders to a safe location."

"Would Walker know this?"

"If he has a source in the Russian government," Sharon realized with dread. "Barnes, Wanda, you cannot let Rasputin get away."

Immediately, Bucky rushed across the street, taking off after the car. Within seconds, Bucky had overtaken it. Jumping in front of it, Bucky used his robotic arm to stop it. After the car was forcibly stopped, two guards got out. They reached for their guns when, suddenly, they were surrounded by red energy and throw back several feet. Bucky rushed towards the car door and yanked it open. To his shock, it was empty.

"Rasputin's not here! The car is empty!" Bucky shouted over the Comms.

"They must have taken a decoy. It can't be far. Go!" Sharon barked in his ear.

A car was driving on a road nearby when someone suddenly ran into the road. It was Walker, dressed in his Captain America suit, wielding his shield.

Walker pulled out a gun, opening fire on the car. The bullet went through the windshield, killing the driver instantly. The car swerved, crashing into a nearby street. People ran out of the way as it crashed into a stand, finally at a stop. Walker approached the car as two guards got out. They pulled out guns, opening fire on Walker as they advanced on it.

Walker used his shield to block the bullets before returning fire with his own pistol. Walker then threw his shield, which knocked the gun out of the hand of one of the guards. Walker fired, getting the unarmed guard in the chest. As he went down, Walker fired at the other guard, getting him in the head.

As he walked past the bodies of the guards, Walker pocketed his pistol, picking up his shield as he saw someone fleeing the scene.

Rasputin.

Walker immediately took off running in pursuit of Rasputin. Rasputin had the lead, but Walker was in better physical shape and was easily able to catch up. As they ran onto a crowed street, Walker threw his shield, which struck Rasputin in the shoulder. Rasputin stumbled back as the shield returned to Walker's hand before he threw it again. This time, it struck Rasputin in the chest and he fell on his back. As Walker approached Rasputin, he saw a nearby man holding out a cell phone, recording the whole thing.

Perfect.

"Please! Please don't!" Rasputin pleaded.

Walker ignored him, raising his shield into the air before violently bringing it down on Rasputin's chest. The civilians gasped in horror, watching terrified as Walker brought the shield down on Rasputin's chest several more times until the shield was dripping with blood.

At that moment, Bucky and Wanda arrived on the scene, stopping and staring in horror as they took in the scene.

On the other side of the street, Sam arrived, taking in the scene. Looking around, Sam saw the terrified bystanders and his heart broke.

It wasn't Steve…but as far as anyone who watched that video would be concerned, Captain America had just murdered a Russian politician in broad daylight. Not only had Walker tainted the legacy of Captain America, but, by association, the Avengers as well.

As he stood to his full height, clutching the bloodied shield, Walker spotted Sam in the crowd and flashed a smirk. Sam met his gaze with a dark look, knowing what he would have to do now.

Honestly, Angel and Wesley really should have talked about Connor in the show once Wesley regained his memories. So I had Team Angel talk about it here.

And Walker did exactly what he set out to do, tarnish everything the Avengers stand for. It's a dark moment for sure, hope I did it justice.