┌───────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───────┐

"𝘼 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙨"

└─────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───────┘

⍟ ⍟ ⍟

Juniper's throat hallows a gasp at the sight of one of the helicarriers colliding into the floor they're currently on. The destruction, the reckoning, the carnage... her marriage in flames... what was it all for?

Freedom.

A fire this bright hasn't been set under her in years. Her purpose almost truly forgotten over the course of many months, brought back full force.

Billie Thompson did not create S.H.I.E.L.D. nor die for it for nothing. Juniper Fox hasn't spent countless time, hours upon end, training, sweating, shooting, breaking, blistering, bleeding... to stop here. Even if it meant siding with her one-sided annoyance or coming to conclusion of divorce in the wake of it all.

"You gotta run, Juniper!" Sam yells at her, grasping her attention back to her life or death reality. Pulling her sluggish weight while running only slowing him down.

"Son of a bitch!" Rumlow lets out, hopping over a desk as the helicarrier reins the building debris down on him. His screams echo faltering her steps, her heart sinking to her stomach. He's still her husband. She can't stand the sight of him, and hates what he stands for, but 72 hours ago they were laying in bed together discussing a possible next vacation very soon to Italy.

"Don't look back!" Sam instructs, thankful for all those morning runs while simultaneously wondering how Juniper is even remotely hot on his heels in those shoes?!

"Plan?!" Juniper hollers at him as smoke envelopes around them. Running in heels, just as the other day, didn't even phase her anymore, she's been out in the field wearing them since she first started. A woman who can fight in heels is far more dangerous and enticing, and a woman who can also run in them... lethal.

"Please tell me you got that chopper in the air!" Sam shouts into his earpiece, sliding down onto his back as more of the building caves in.

Juniper exhales at the news of a chopper, sprinting on the balls of her feet. The cloud of smoke and sparks merely inches away from grazing her and Sam.

"41st floor! Northwest corner!" Sam yells back to whoever's in his ear and Juniper's glad he came prepared. She hates an incompetent rescue, and with Brock cutting her off from everything and worrying about her ambush against him, she had no idea what floor they ended up on. "Not an option!" Sam screams, picking up his pace and Juniper manages to keep up him. Maybe he wasn't running fast enough, damn.

"Sam!" Juniper raises her voice, their path for a runway quickly reaching an end and floor shatters into fragments beneath them. "Fuck."

"We're gonna have to jump." Sam warns her and groan rumbles in her chest at the familiarity of flying out of the glassed elevator with Steve a couple days prior... she can't even recall the last time she's had this much action in the field, though she's been sidelined more over the past couple years...

Sam reaches the window seconds before her, flying out into the open air first and she follows directly behind him, shards of glass sticking to the strands of her flying everywhere as her body soars down beside the crumbling building, the sharp gulps for oxygen slamming into her lungs as the breath is knocked out of her. Her and Sam fall into the helicopter that immediately swerves to land below at the sight of them, her sore body aching from the impact. The copter's door charges towards the ground as Sam grunts, and Juniper hangs from his leg as Natasha assists him in pulling him and June up.

"41st floor! 41st!" He chastities them as Juniper's eyes connect with Natasha's and she collapses beside her in the seat, shutting her eyes for a moment. Natasha's hand squeezes Juniper's, the woman she's shared many missions and secrets with, finally back by her side.

"It's not like they put the floor numbers on the outside of the building." Nick claps back and June's eyes fly back open as a small gasp escapes her lips.

"Oh my, God." She mutters, staring at her Uncle Nick flying the plane, very much alive. Her brows twist together. What the fuck? "You lied to me." She states.

"I led you under false pretenses for your own protection." Nick glances back at Goddaughter. He knew she'd be upset, even Steve felt betrayed for her. She understands. The rational, spy part of her knows it was what was best. But that doesn't mean a part of her still isn't angry she was left in the dark.

"How?"

"Banner."

She nods, running her tongue across her teeth, no further questions needed about that, but it suddenly sets in that others were missing. "Where's my father?"

"He's okay." Tasha tells her. Grounded. Safe.

Her next question festers annoyance in her chest, but she asks all the same. "And Steve?"

"Hill! Where's Steve? You got a location on Rogers?" Natasha shouts into her headset as they separate themselves from the disaster below. Juniper's eyes fall upon Sam sprawled on the ground, her mind numbing with a chaotic, overstimulating buzz.

Brock was left on the 41st floor. Her father is okay. Uncle Nick is alive. And Steve is still on a helicarrier. What was supposed to built in the name of protection, brought an unfathomably amount of destruction to S.H.I.E.L.D., and her marriage, in a matter of days. All at the expense of her hands. She didn't even need to be an agent out on the field to cause as much damage as she has from engineering.

Everything is fucked.

And will never be the same.

But Juniper knew that the moment she decided to run away with Captain America...

That there'd be no turning back.

And, thankfully, she doesn't want to.

⍟ ⍟ ⍟

𝟶ʙᴜᴛᴛᴇʀʙɪsᴄᴜɪᴛ𝟽 sᴘᴇᴀᴋs!

Heyyy... long time no seee... welcome back to THOA14!!! ;)

Wow, it's been far longer than I intended y'all lmao, honestly I've put this chap off for so long just bc I had to write it from scratch &/or just haven't had the proper time & energy to put that brain power into it lol, but we backkk!!!

Holy sh!t y'all, I'm almost to the end of the movie omggg!! Junipe found out Nick is aliveee!!! (lowkey forgot about that until this scene lmao, & she finally got to reunite with her girl, Nattt!!) Also her & Sam in this scene was fryinggg me bahaha. He just second guessing everything about running lmaooo byeee. And she lowkey having it all hit her at once y'alll, my poor girl omggg!!

Anywaysss, hope y'all still here & ready to buckle up for these last chapsss!! Idk how many we have left but we still have some things to cover, but I'm so sad we're reaching the enddd!! THANK Y'ALL SM FOR 900+ READSSS!! Anddd until next time, happy agent 14 day, mwah!! <333