july eighth, 2016
lagos, nigeria
"Alright, what do you see?" Brooke asked as she stood on one of the rooftops.
"Standard beat cops. Small station. Quiet street." Wanda listed as she looked around after taking a sip of her coffee. "It's a good target."
"There's an ATM on the south corner which means—?" Steve trailed off as he looked out of the window.
"—cameras."
"Both cross streets are one way." Steve added, Wanda nodding subtlety.
"—so compromised escape routes."
"Means our guy doesn't care about being seen. He isn't afraid to make a mess on the way out." Steve explained before he looked at the red car up the street. "You see that Range Rover halfway up the block?"
"Yeah, the red one? It's cute." Wanda commented as she glanced around.
"It's also bulletproof, which means private security, which means more guns, which means more headaches for somebody." Natasha added before she took a sip of her coffee. "Probably us."
"You guys know Brooke and I can move things with our minds, right?" Wanda reminded before she took a sip of her coffee.
"Looking over your shoulder needs to become second nature." Natasha said, a small smile on her face as Wanda looked at her.
"Anybody ever tell you you're a little paranoid?" Sam asked, making Natasha shake her head.
"Not to my face." Natasha said before she took a sip of her coffee. "Why? Did you hear something?"
"Eyes on the target, folks." Steve refocused. "This is the best lead we've had on Rumlow in six months. I don't wanna lose him."
"If he sees us coming, that won't be a problem." Sam said with a scoff. "He kinda hates us."
"Sam, see that garbage truck?" Brooke asked as she watched a garbage truck plow down the street. "Tag it."
"Give me Xray." Sam said after he flew Redwing over to the truck. "That truck's loaded for max weight. The driver's armed."
"It's a battering ram." Brooke realized before she and Sam flew toward the building. "Go now."
"What?"
"He's not hitting the police." Steve said before he headed for the building. "Body armor. AR15s." Steve informed after he fought a few of the hostiles. "I make seven hostiles."
"I make five." Brooke said after she fought the two hostiles on the roof.
"Sam." Wanda called before she used her magic to move her hostile to Sam, who knocked him out with one of his wings.
"Four. Rumlow's on the third floor." Sam called after he looked at Redwing.
"Wanda." Steve called as he walked over to the teenager. "Just like we practiced."
"What about the gas?" Wanda asked as she looked at him.
"Get it out." Steve said before Wanda used her magic to lift him to the third floor, where he took down the hostiles in the building.
"Pack it up." Rumlow demanded, him and a hostile finding the bioweapon before they went outside, Rumlow seeing Wanda using her magic to get the gas out. "They're here."
"Rumlow has a biological weapon." Steve said after he saw that the containment unit was empty.
"I'm on it." Natasha said as she used her motorcycle to take out a hostile before using her infamous Widow Bites on two of the hostiles who were waiting outside of a humvee.
She finished taking down the rest of the hostiles by the truck before Rumlow grabbed her by her hair, Natasha being surprised after he didn't react to her Widow's Bite. "I don't work like that no more. Fire in the hole." Rumlow said before he dropped a bomb into the humvee that Natasha was in. The guards both looked at each other before Natasha took them down and jumped out in time for the bomb to go off.
As Steve stepped out on the balcony, Rumlow shot at him before driving away, the blast knocking Steve onto the concrete. "Sam. He's in an AFV heading north." Steve said with a groan as he stood up.
"Take this to the airstrip." Rumlow ordered as he handed the bioweapon off to one of his hostiles. "We're not gonna outrun em. Lose the truck." Rumlow ordered before the driver crashed into a local market.
"Where are you gonna meet us?" The hostile asked as he jumped out of the truck.
"I'm not."
"I got four." Sam said as he landed on one of the roofs. "They're splitting up."
"I got the two on the left."
"They ditched their gear." Steve said after he and Brooke found a helmet and a vest. "It's a shell game now. One of them has the payload." Steve said before Rumlow threw a bomb onto the shield, Steve throwing it into the sky before it could detonate.
"What the—?" Brooke started before Rumlow punched her and Steve in the backs, sending them flying into one of the booths.
"There you are, you son of a bitch. I've been waiting for this." Rumlow said before he punched Brooke and Steve before they could fight him back.
Sam flew through the market before he landed and kicked two of the hostiles down, him sighing after he checked both of their bags for the bioweapon. "He doesn't have it. I'm empty!"
"Out of the way!" Natasha called as she ran through the market, waving for people to move. She finally caught up to the hostiles before she managed to disarm them and grab one of their guns, one of the hostiles pointing his gun at her.
"Drop it." The second hostile ordered as he held the bioweapon. "—or I'll drop this. Drop it!"
"He'll do it!"
Natasha let out a small sigh before Redwing quietly appeared and shot the second hostile in the neck, Natasha shooting the first one and grabbing the bioweapon before it could hit the ground. "Payload secure. Thanks, Sam."
"Don't thank me." Sam said in a singsong voice.
"I'm not thanking that thing." Natasha said with a shake of her head as she looked at Redwing.
"His name is Redwing."
"I'm still not thanking it." Natasha said with a small chuckle.
"He's cute. Go ahead. Pet him."
Brooke groggily looked up, her eyes widening as she kicked Steve out of the way before Rumlow could stomp on them, both of them jumping up. "Come on!" Rumlow said with a yell as he punched at Brooke and Steve. "This is for dropping a building on my face." Rumlow said before a knife appeared out of his metal glove, Brooke grabbing his arm and twisting it—taking the glove off—before he could stab them. Rumlow smirked slightly before a knife appeared on his other glove, Steve holding his arm in place before Brooke roundhoused him, knocking him onto the ground. "I think I look pretty good all things considered." Rumlow said with a pant after Brooke and Steve walked over to him.
"Who's your buyer?" Brooke asked after she rolled her eyes, a smirk on Rumlow's face after he looked up at her.
"Hey, Brookie. You know, Brayleigh's anniversary is coming up." Rumlow reminded, Brooke letting out a small gasp as she let him go. "Maybe you and I should get together or something."
"Shut up! Answer the question!" Steve said as he grabbed Rumlow by the collar. "Who's your buyer?"
"You know, he knew you, Rogers. Your pal, your buddy, your Bucky."
"What did you say?"
"He remembered you. I was there. He got all weepy about it; til they put his brain back in a blender. He wanted you to know something. He said to me please tell Rogers. When you gotta go, you gotta go. You're coming with me." Rumlow said before he pressed the button on the detonator, Wanda confining the blast with her magic as she lifted him up, him exploding next to a building.
Wanda looked up at the blast, a horrified gasp leaving her as she covered her mouth. "Oh my God."
"Sam, we need Fire and Rescue on the south side of the building." Steve said with a pant before he headed for the building. "We gotta get up there."
Sharon: you may find this hard to believe, but not everyone wants to be an Avenger because not everyone wants to be Brooklyn Stark.
Brooke: not everyone can be.