Heroes Assemble!

A Soldier's Fight

"This is a terrible, terrible plan!" Jasper Sitwell stated emphatically, leaning forward towards the driver's seat of the car that they were in to emphasise his point.

Sam looked back at the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in his rear-view mirror.

"He's not wrong," Sam stated. "The three of us using him to get in ... You said you had back up right? Tell me we've got back up."

"We never said that the three of us were the whole plan. And yes, we've got back up," Steve stated in that calm way that he had.

"Maybe I should make that call," Nat suggested.

"Do it," Steve nodded and Sam couldn't help agreeing.

A heavy thump on the roof of the car had Sam looking up in confusion. Something had just landed on them? Exactly where it'd come from was a mystery, one that went straight out of his head as he heard the sound of a fist punching through the rear passenger window immediately followed by the sound of Sitwell's scream as he was pulled from the car and thrown into oncoming traffic.

Sam couldn't help but grip the steering wheel tighter, wondering if he'd be next. Suddenly, shots were being fired down through the roof. Natasha dodged the ones aimed at the backseat by scrambling forward into Steve's lap. Two barely missed both Steve and Sam, slamming into their headrests.

Steve, though, solved the problem, yanking up on the hand brake, bringing the car skidding to a stop and getting rid of their unwelcome guest by sending him flying down the highway. Sam could only stare as the guy's metal hand dug grooves into the asphalt as he landed in a crouch before standing to face them down.

He had dark goggles covering his eyes, a mask covering his nose and the lower part of his face and dark, lanky hair. It was obvious that he meant business. Even from this distance, Sam could count two knives and a gun, not to mention that arm. Sam recognised the type; this guy was a soldier.

"Make that call!" Steve snapped.

Sam noted that Nat pulled out her phone with one hand and her gun with the other. The unexpected jerk as a car slammed into them from behind, snapped the three of them forward and sent both phone and gun tumbling into the well at Steve's feet.

Sam slammed on the brakes, trying to stop their car from being pushed any further. The fact that the guy with the metal arm was standing there so calmly as they barrelled towards him was unnerving although, after what the guy had just done to Sitwell, Sam wasn't going to get upset if they ran him down.

Unfortunately, that wasn't to be. Just before they hit him, the guy leapt, spinning to land flat on the roof of the car. If Sam'd had time to process that, he might have worried about what was coming next. Having the windscreen punched through and the steering wheel ripped from both his hands and the car answered that very question in the most terrifying way possible.

"Hang on!" Steve yelled.

Sam's head snapped across and away from the terrifying sight of their car careening out of control down the highway. Seeing Steve slamming his shoulder into the door of the car, Sam scrambled to join Steve and Nat, only just making it in time to grab hold of the two before the door gave way, rocketing the three of them out and away.

The screech of metal sliding on the road as they tobogganed to safety was piercingly loud but all but completely ignored as the three skidded along, Sam rolling away just before they slid to a stop.

The crack of a bullet hitting the ground next to his head had Sam scrambling up and racing for the nearest cover – a car – his head low and out of the line of fire as much as possible. Risking a quick glance, Sam looked out, locating their now-overturned car a couple of dozen metres away. His wings were in there. Guns, too. He needed them. But they were staying right where they were, especially with what amounted to a small army between him and there.