AMERICA'S POV

The minute Steve parks in the Leipzig-Halle Airport, I hop out, ready to stretch my legs. After a few painkillers, I feel as good as new and ready to finish this.

Clint slams the door of his gray van shut. "Cap, America," he greets, holding out a hand to shake, which I take. The shake doesn't last long, though. Once I see Wanda getting out of the passenger seat, I immediately throw my arms around her. She hugs me tightly.

"I'm sorry for leaving you," I whisper into her ear. "No Pietro?"

She shakes her head. Really, I'm not surprised. He signed, too. To protect the two of us. That worked.

"You know I wouldn't have called If I had any other choice," Steve says.

"Hey man, you're doing me a favor. Besides, I owe a debt."

"It was time to get off of my ass," Wanda states simply. A grin spreads across my face.

"How about our other recruit?"

"He's rarin' to go." Clint pulls open the van door to reveal a man I've never seen before. Disheveled and barely awake. Steve and I both glance uncertainly at Sam, who shrugs as if this wasn't his idea. Scott Lang gets out of the van, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Had to put a little coffee in him, but he should be good."

"What timezone is this?" He mumbles, but all traces of fatigue disappear once he notices Steve. "Captain America."

Steve offers his hand, which Scott takes enthusiastically. "Mr. Lang."

"It's an honor. I'm shaking your hand too long. Wow! This is awesome!" He turns back to Wanda and smiles. "Captain America. I know you, too. You're great!" I fight to contain my laughter, but it gets funnier when Scott feels Steve's muscles. "Jeez. Ah, look, I wanna say, I know you know a lot of super people, so . . . thinks for thanking of me." This time I do laugh, and he holds out a hand. "And you too! Mrs. Captain- wait, no, Evans, Rogers... America?"

"America's fine," I reassure him. "Thanks for being here."

Scott still looks slightly confused, but he waves to Sam instead of asking more questions. "Hey man!"

"What's up, Tic-Tac?"

"Uh, good to see you. Look, what happened last time when I-"

"It was a great audition," Sam says, "but it'll never happen again."

"They tell you what we're up against?" Steve asks.

"Something about psycho-assassins?"

Close enough. It was hard to explain our situation on the phone.

"We're outside the law on this one. So, if you come with us, you're a wanted man." Instead of shirking away, Scott just nods resignedly. That's right. He was a criminal before all this, too.

"Yeah, well, what else is new?"

"We should get moving," Bucky says from behind the car.

"We got a chopper lined up," Clint says, but a voice and an alarm cuts over him.

"Dies ist eine Notsituation. Alle Passagiere müssen den Flughafen sofort evakuieren."

"They're evacuating the airport," Bucky and I say at the same time, creating that weird moment when you accidentally sync up with someone.

"Stark."

"Stark?"

Steve's mouth settles in a line of grim determination. "Suit up."

------

Steve and I make our way through the underpass while we head to the chopper. I purposely jog slowly to stay with him. As our recent bad luck would have it, an electric disabler launches onto it and renders our way out useless. Tony and Rhodey land on the ground in front of us, both in their respective suits. They match, and we match. Fun.

"Wow, it's so weird how you run into people at the airport," Tony comments, turning to his friend for input. "Don't you think that's weird?"

"Definitely weird," Rhodey says.

"Hear me out, Tony," Steve pleads. "That doctor, the psychiatrist, he's behind all of this."

King T'Challa, the Black Panther, leaps over a truck and lands neatly to our right.

"Captain, Mrs. Rogers." He inclines his head, and Steve does the same.

"Your Highness."

"Cat," I mumble. Tony starts to walk toward us.

"Anyway, Ross gave me thirty-six hours to bring you in. That was twenty-four hours ago. Can you help a brother out?"

I shake my head and say, "you're after the wrong guy."

"He's not just after him," Tony says quietly, giving me a meaningful look before turning to Steve. "Your judgment is askew. Your old war buddy killed innocent people yesterday."

"And there are five more super soldiers just like him. I can't let the doctor find them first, Tony. I can't."

"Steve, you know what's about to happen." Natasha materializes out of what seems like nowhere. All right, we've got Nat, T'Challa, Tony and Rhodey. But we're missing...

A whizzing sound fills the air, followed by a blue streak that slows into the form of my younger brother, who asks, "Val, one day, you're going to have to stop running."

Seeing him on the side opposite me breaks my heart. A few days ago, I would have been there beside him. But a lot can happen in a few days.

Tony groans, impatient with our stalemate. "All right, I've run out of patience. Underoos!"

This small guy in a red and blue spandex suit swings in from a building, shooting and encasing both my legs and Steve's wrists in what looks like webbing. I struggle against it, gaging the strength. I can probably break free. I just have to wait for the signal. "Nice job, kid!"

"Thanks!" To my surprise, his voice is much higher than anyone else's here. Was Tony recruiting from a local kindergarten? "Well, I could've stuck the landing a little better. It's just the new suit... well, it's nothing, Mr. Stark. It's- it's perfect. Thank you."

"Yeah, we don't really need to start a conversation," Tony replies disinterestedly.

"Yeah, okay. Cap, big fan. I'm Spider-Man."

"Yeah, we'll talk about it later. Just-"

"Hey everyone!"

"Good job," Tony says, mostly to shut him up. I find myself liking Spider-Man already, even though I'm so close to fighting against him, but he's a just kid.

"You've been busy," Steve says.

"And you've been a complete idiot. Dragging in Clint. Escaping with America after she went Hydra mode yesterday. 'Rescuing' Wanda from a place she doesn't even want to leave, a safe place. I'm trying to keep..." He sighs, barely containing his anger. "I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart."

Steve shakes his head. "You did that when you signed."

"Alright, we're done. You're gonna turn Barnes over, you're gonna come with us. Now! Because it's us! Or a squad of J-SOC guys with no compunction about being impolite. Come on." The last two words are quieter, almost begging. He doesn't want to hurt us.

"We found it. Their Quinjet's in hanger five, north runway," Sam says through the ear comm. I brace myself, ready to run. Steve raises his hands and Clint's arrow comes soaring through the air, severing the webbing in one perfect shot. I pull my legs free and immediately take off after Pietro, who I definitely need to have a word with. I just have to catch him first.

He slows when he sees me coming and immediately throws the first punch. "What are you doing?"

"The right thing." I dodge and twist his arm, throwing him sideways.

"How do you know?" He questions, eyes hard as he rises. I miss the normal mischief in them. "You signed the papers, you know the consequences of doing this."

"I've known James as long as I've known you," I say. "I trust him."

I narrowly avoid his kick, but before I can strike, someone else hits him and he falls to the ground, unconscious. Anna offers me a hand up.

"How did you get here?" I ask, amazed.

She shrugs, a thin smile on her face. "Not important. Come on."

My marching band might be doing a show I designed full of Marvel music and I'm sooooo excited!

Also: it's my BIRTHDAY!