CRATES WERE BEING moved throughout the warehouse. The Chitauri technology within them had been smuggled into Northern Ireland, and its sellers planned on distributing them to potential contacts.

A gunman on the walkway above looked at the men on the ground floor and watched them move the crates.

"We got three more." One of the men spoke through the radio.

The gunman grabbed his walkie. "Move your ass then. We don't got all day."

He walked along the walkway until the same man spoke through the radio again, this time more frantically.

"The van's gone. The frickin' van's gone!"

"Stop messing with me." The gunman replied.

"Gale and I aren't blind. It was literally—" The man stopped for a moment. "Gale? Where the hell—?"

"What's going on out there?"

"He was just here—" There was rustling heard through the comms. "Oh shi—"

The transmission died and the gunmen kept trying to regain contact, to no avail.

"Son of a bitch." He muttered to himself, then looked at two of his colleagues at the end of the walkway. "On me."

The trio joined up and walked together as they gripped their rifles. A noise was heard, but they couldn't pinpoint where it was from. They darted their eyes around the dark room, then at the ceiling above. One of them could see a faint light...like a visor was scanning them.

Before he can speak, Taskmaster dropped from the beam onto the gunman. He incapacitated him with his electrical baton and sprung up to face the other two.

They fired at Y/N, but he formed a shield from his gauntlet and deflected the bullets. Once they had to reload, he activated both his batons and engaged them. He hit them several times before ultimately taking them down.

Two more of the criminals arrived at the walkway and witnessed him take down their colleagues. Y/N ran up to the gunmen and eliminated them swiftly, not giving them a chance to react.

Y/N made his way through the walkway and looked down toward the ground floor. He saw other men running toward the open service doors and immediately leaped over the railing, grappling a beam above with his billy club. He lowered himself to the ground floor and ran outside after them.

There were already a couple of arms dealers down as Y/N engaged the ones that were outside. He activated his staff and fought two of them, not realizing that the third was about to act. But before he could, Black Widow bolted in and swept the criminal's legs out from under him before slamming her fist against his face.

Taskmaster dealt with the two men but suddenly heard an approaching vehicle. A truck containing reinforcements drove toward the warehouse and the soldier immediately brought out his collapsible bow and drew an arrow. He shot at the vehicle, the trick arrow split into two and pierced the front tires.

The truck skidded a bit before the driver stopped. Several goons came out of it but before they could draw their weapons, they heard an incoming soaring sound.

Falcon flew in and kicked the driver into the side of the truck, denting it. He then grabbed the criminal nearby and flew upward with him before dropping him onto the top of the truck.

The gunmen shot at Sam in the sky, but a crimson force field shielded him from the gunfire. Wanda stood below forming the barrier before using her mind control to freeze the men. A blue blur ran in afterward and took away their rifles, leaving them unarmed. Pietro stopped near a man and smirked as he flipped his hat backward.

They broke out of their trance but were met with the full force of Y/N, Natasha, and Sam. A goon tried to go for their gun on the ground, but a foot stepped on it before he could grab it. He looked up, only to see Steve Rogers for a split second before being knocked down with a punch.

Y/N threw his shield at one of the remaining arms dealers, but he surprisingly was able to avoid it as the disc stuck to the side of the truck. His luck would run out eventually though, as Natasha simply wrapped his neck with a garrote wire and flipped him onto the floor, taking him down.

The team looked around at the downed criminals. They thought the job was done, but one of the men came out from behind a wall and shot at them. Three rapid bullets hit the side of Y/N and knocked him on the floor.

Steve immediately ran to Y/N's shield protruding from the vehicle and grabbed it, which he threw at the shooter and took him down with a hit to the head.

"Y/N!" Natasha exclaimed as she ran toward him. The soldier retracted his mask and let out a groan.

"I'm fine...I'm fine." He said as he felt the ache from the impact. Luckily his armor did a great job protecting him. Thank you, Shuri.

Pietro went and helped Y/N to his feet. Steve jogged over to the group and with a simple exchange of looks, the young man let his father know that he was okay.

"Let the authorities know about this location." Rogers told Sam. He then looked at the rest of the team. "We did well. Let's go."

After the mission, the team settled in for the night. They stayed at a hotel near the outskirts of Broughshane and got three separate rooms on different floors. Steve and Sam chose to share a room, Wanda and Pietro in another, and Y/N and Natasha in one.

As they entered their room, Y/N didn't even get to put his case down before a worried Natasha grabbed his arm and lead him toward the bed. He knew what she wanted to see.

"I said I'm fine."

Natasha ignored him as she lifted his shirt and saw the welts on his side from the high-powered bullets.

Y/N continued. "These will go away in like...an hour...I hope."

"You hope." She repeated and gently touched the bruising, in which he winced upon contact. She shook her head. "Stay here."

The blonde went over to the bathroom as the man sat on the side of the bed. He fully took off his shirt, his Wakandan pendant dangling from his neck, and looked down toward his wound.

"You don't have to do this." He called out. "I can handle it, Tasha. Come on."

He was honestly used to this. For the last couple of years during their missions, he'd get scrapes and bruises here and there. Despite his healing factor, Natasha would often treat him afterward regardless of how much Y/N would try and turn it down.

"What did I say about whining?" Her voice came from the bathroom.

"I'm not whining. It's just—"

"What did I say?"

He let out a sigh. "It won't get me anywhere."

"I'm glad you remember." Natasha replied as she got out of the bathroom. She had a wet towel in her hand and sat beside him on the bed to treat his injury.

"It's just..." He winced a bit at the cold compress. "I don't think you should be doing all this work. You already do so much for me."

She looked up at him. "It's because I want to."

Y/N looked back at her as she continued to press the wet towel on his bruises. After a while, she stopped and sighed before speaking again.

"So much has happened the last few years. From the fight in Germany...to what happened in Budapest and Belarus. Those were things that could've broken us apart." Natasha said. "Now here we are, living day by day not knowing what to expect in this not-so-ideal life."

The soldier understood. Being on the run for this long had taken a toll not only on them but on the rest of the team.

"But living it with you is what makes it worth it. You along with the others." She continued. "Like I said before...I never thought I had a family. But I do."

Y/N smiled. "And you actually have two." He then thought about Yelena, Melina, and Alexei. "Where do you think they're at? I haven't had a proper dinner with my girlfriend's family."

Natasha chuckled and pecked him on the lips. "Trust me, I don't think you want to experience our family dinners."

He let out a laugh before looking toward the radio in the corner of the room. The young man remembered putting a CD there earlier that day. Y/N got up from the bed and walked toward it.

"What are you doing?" Natasha asked as she held up the rag. "I still need to do a warm compress."

"Let's put a pause on that while I play this." He replied.

Y/N pressed play and the song began. It was his favorite and Natasha knew it from the many times he'd play it at the compound.

Beggin' by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons.

He turned around and started to vocalize the beginning of the song before lightly snapping his fingers to the beat. His antics brought a chuckle out of Natasha.

"Let's dance." Y/N extended his hand. "Come on, don't leave me hanging."

She smiled and took his hand. Y/N pulled her in close and the two started to dance.

"I still like Madcon's version better." Natasha remarked.

"I've heard it. It's cool...but I love the original way more." Y/N replied as she slowly twirled her around. They continued swaying to the music.

"You know, I've been trying so hard to find this one song..." He began to say.

"Which one?" She asked.

"The one we danced to in Moscow years ago. In the club." He answered and tried to think back at the lyrics. "It goes like hey, hey, doo doo doo something like that."

The blonde giggled. "Yeah, that's not going to help me figure it out." She started to remember their mission back in 2012. "Why that one?"

"That day...just feels special to me for some reason." He replied. "You wore that red dress, and blonde hair kind of like now."

"So you liked my disguise?"

"You were beautiful, yes. But you always were. That time I just fully realized..." He paused for a moment. "We did undercover ops before, posing as business partners...couples...but that day it felt different. When we talked...when we danced..."

A smile grew on Natasha's face as she swayed with Y/N and looked up at him.

"The dance was nice." She recalled how she grinded on him during it. "It was a little out of my comfort zone but I know you liked it."

Y/N chuckled. "Even though it was part of our plan, it was that moment...when the dancing subsided. I looked into your eyes, and I felt something, for the first time since I woke up. Everything seemed to have slowed for me when I did. It felt like it was just you and me on that dance floor."

These were things Y/N had never admitted before. It had just come to him recently, but he realized why that day during their mission in Moscow was special to him. It differed from other missions he had with the Black Widow before that.

It was the one where he fell in love with Natasha Romanoff.

Natasha kept smiling at Y/N as she took in his words. She cupped the side of his face and nodded. "I felt something too. I just...didn't know how to process it initially."

"We both didn't. But now here we are." Y/N added as they continued swaying to the music. There was a momentary pause before he spoke again. "We almost kissed that day too. But that bastard had to steal you away from me."

Natasha lightly laughed as she remembered Edik, the target from their mission. "Aww, you were sad weren't you." She asked with a playful frown.

"Oh, yes. I cried like a baby." Y/N joked before kissing her on the lips. "But then we questioned the guy and I threatened to throw him out a window and I felt better."

"I remember. Seeing that fierce side of you was very hot." She said with a smirk. "What happened to that?"

"What do you mean? I'm still fierce."

She playfully shrugged. "I don't know..."

"You're testing me." He smirked. "Okay..."

In one swift movement, Y/N picked the blonde up and held her bridal style. Natasha let a laugh before it was muffled within their kiss. The super-soldier then carried her towards the bed so they could end their night off the right way.

• • •

THE TWO SUPER-SOLDIERS sat in the back of the cafe. They wore caps and sunglasses to try and hide their faces as best they could as father and son enjoyed an evening coffee together. Y/N sipped from his cup before deciding to speak.

"You heard anything regarding what happened on Sunday?" He asked.

Steve nodded after taking a sip of his drink. "They confiscated the tech. That operation they were doing isn't going to start back up anytime soon."

"Good."

Steve paused for a moment as he looked out the window. "You okay?"

"What?" Y/N asked, but quickly realized he was talking about his close-call last night. "I'm fine. Really. Shuri made my armor bulletproof for a reason."

"Yeah, I know." He looked back down at his mug. "It just scared me. That's all. I know guys like us could get back up from that sort of thing...but it still did."

Y/N sighed, taking in the worry his father expressed.

"Remember in D.C when we found you on the shore by the Potomac? A couple of days after that...I was scared, seeing you in the hospital like that. For some time I thought maybe you wouldn't make it." He admitted. "I had just found my dad and I thought I was going to lose him."

Steve listened as Y/N continued.

"But I didn't. You're still here and I thank God for that. Guys like us always get back up despite what is thrown at us. And here we are enduring what's happening now. So you don't have to worry about me, because that same will you have..." Y/N pointed toward his own heart. "...I have."

The captain smiled as he tapped the side of his mug. He appreciated the lieutenant's words and was also impressed by them.

"You also have my speaking techniques." Steve said with a chuckle.

Y/N laughed as well. "It's crazy. It just came out of me. I didn't even have to rehearse."

Father and son shared another laugh before the captain's phone vibrated. He pulled out the burner he's always had on him and immediately saw who it was from.

"Excuse me." Steve said and abruptly left the table.

Y/N sat by himself as he drank his coffee, and it wasn't long until Rogers came back to inform him of the situation.

"What was it?" The young man asked.

"That was Banner." He answered.

"Banner? Where is he? How is he?"

"He used the burner I gave Tony. He didn't have time to explain everything, but Stark is missing and the people they fought are after Vision."

Wanda and Vision were currently in Scotland. Y/N didn't know the extent of the current threat, but the couple not having backup to deal with it could potentially be catastrophic. He looked back at Steve.

"Let's go."

• • •

WANDA AND VISION crashed through the roof of the train station. The synthezoid landed near the railing and Wanda got up to check on him.

"Come on, get up."

The couple had been fighting Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive through the streets of Edinburgh. They wanted Vision's Mind Stone but the witch wasn't going to let them hurt him.

"You have to leave..." Vision struggled to talk as the injury to his side weakened him.

"Hey, I'm not leaving you. You said you wanted to stay, so that means I am." Wanda replied.

Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight crashed through the glass structure and faced the two. They brandished their weapons, preparing to finish them off.

Wanda stood in front of Vision and channeled crimson energy on both palms. She was prepared to do whatever it took to protect her lover.

Behind them, a train came through. She looked back and saw a silhouette through the gaps of the train cars. Once it passed by, the silhouette was completely seen. Proxima threw her spear but the man grabbed it.

Steve Rogers came out of the shadows and once the light hit his face, Vision and Wanda smiled.

Suddenly, Sam flew in and kicked Proxima through a glass barrier. He shot rockets from his pack at Corvus next, who tried to hit them away with his staff. Steve then threw the spear at a running Natasha, who caught it and engaged in a fight with Glaive.

Natasha stabbed into his abdomen and the alien screamed in pain. She rolled down and kipped back up before initiating a spinning kick that hurled him away.

Proxima Midnight used her telekinesis and took the spear from Natasha's grasp. She ran up to her and was about to stab the blonde, but Y/N bolted in and blocked the attack with his sword. Taskmaster and Black Widow proceeded to fight Proxima two-against-one before Falcon soared in and kicked the alien down.

Corvus got back up to his feet and was about to engage the heroes, but Pietro dashed in and tripped the alien using his speed. He stood over and glared at his sister's attacker.

Captain America walked over and joined the four. They stood over the two Black Order members with Sam taking out his guns and aiming at them.

Proxima knelt over Corvus. "Get up."

"I can't."

"We don't wanna kill you, but we will." Natasha said.

Proxima looked up at her. "You'll never get the chance again."

The aliens suddenly got beamed back up into their ship and immediately flew away. Y/N, Steve, Natasha, Pietro and Sam walked over to Wanda and Vision.

"Are you okay?" The silver-haired twin asked Wanda as he held her shoulders.

"I'm okay." She answered. "But Vision's hurt."

"Can you stand?" Sam asked the synthezoid.

He nodded. Y/N and Sam helped Vision back on his feet.

Vision looked at Steve. "Thank you, Captain."

Steve nodded. "Let's get you on the jet."

The Quinjet flew out of Scotland. Natasha closed the airstair and spoke to Wanda.

"I thought we had a deal. Stay close, check-in, don't take any chances."

The witch and the synthezoid often spent time together away from the team, and their friends were used to it. But in this case, she didn't check back with them for the last couple of days.

"I'm sorry." She apologized. "We just wanted time."

"I understand." Y/N chimed in with his helmet off. "But you both could've died, and we wouldn't have known."

Wanda simply nodded and sat beside the injured Vision. 

Natasha went over to the cockpit where Sam was piloting the jet. He turned back toward Steve.

"Where to, Cap?"

Rogers had his hands on his waist as he looked at Vision and Wanda. He glanced over at Y/N in the corner and nodded. It was time.

"Home."

• • •

THE AIR FORCE VETERAN stood in the lounge as he spoke to Thaddeus Ross through a hologram. He would've rather kicked back and done something else, but the Secretary insisted that they had a meeting about the situation at hand.

"Still no word on the Vision?" Thaddeus asked the colonel.

"Satellites lost him somewhere over Edinburgh." He replied.

"On a stolen Quinjet with six of the world's most wanted criminals."

"You know they're only criminals because you've chosen to call them that, right, sir?"

Thaddeus let out a groan. "My God, Rhodes. Your talent for horseshit rivals my own."

"If it weren't for those Accords, Vision would've been right here."

Ross got up from his seat and walked closer to Rhodey. The colonel looked directly at his hologram form.

"I remember your signature on those papers, Colonel."

"That's right..." He nodded and looked down at his legs that were being supported with Stark-tech braces. "And I'm pretty sure I paid for that."

"You have second thoughts?" Ross asked.

"Not anymore." Rhodey replied.

A mechanical door whirred open nearby, and they turned to look at who arrived. To their surprise, it was the fugitives who Ross had just mentioned.

Rogers and Romanoff walked into the room with the rest following behind. Sam and Y/N had Vision against their shoulders with Wanda and Pietro walking beside them.

"Mr. Secretary." Steve greeted Ross's hologram.

"You got some nerve. I'll give you that." He replied.

"You could use some of that right now." Natasha rebutted.

Ross chuckled. He remembered letting her and Y/N go back in Belarus but still had to play along as if they escaped.

"The world's on fire. And you think all is forgiven?"

"I'm not looking for forgiveness. And I'm way past asking for permission." Steve said. "Earth just lost her best defender. So we're here to fight. And if you want to stand in our way, we'll fight you too."

Ross stared at Rogers for a moment, trying to contain his irritation and anger. He turned back toward Rhodey.

"Arrest them."

Rhodey gave a nod. "All over it." He then ended the call with him, but wasn't going to abide by his orders.

"That's a court-martial." He remarked and walked up to Steve. "Good to see you, Cap."

Steve walked up to colonel and shook his hand, "You too, Rhodey."

He also hugged Natasha before looking at the rest of the team.

"Wow. You guys...really look like crap." Rhodey remarked. "Must've been a rough couple years."

"Yeah, well, the hotels weren't exactly five-star." Sam replied before glancing at Y/N. "Then you got Steve McQueen here taking all the good rooms."

"I won our rock-paper-scissor matches fair and square." He shot back.

Suddenly, a familiar face entered the room. They looked ahead and were in awe at seeing an old friend...Bruce Banner.

"Uh, I think you all look great." He spoke. He fiddled with his hands and let out a chuckle. "Yeah, I'm back."

"Bruce." Y/N was the first to call out.

He smiled back. "Hey, kid."

The team discussed the situation in the office. A projection of Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive was displayed in the middle of the table.

"So we got to assume they're coming back, right?" Rhodey asked.

"And they can clearly find us." Wanda cut in.

Banner paced around the room. "We need all hands on deck. Where's Clint?"

Y/N had his arms crossed as he kept looking at the projections of the two Black Order aliens. He answered Banner's question.

"After the whole Accords situation, he and Scott took a deal."

"It was too tough on their families. They're on house arrest." Natasha added.

"Who's Scott?" Banner asked.

"Ant-Man." Steve replied.

"There's an Ant-Man and a Spider-Man?"

"Welcome back to terra-firma, Doc." Pietro remarked.

Bruce shook his head trying to comprehend the situation. "Okay, look. Thanos has the biggest army in the universe and he is not gonna stop until he gets...Vision's stone."

"Then we have to protect it." Natasha said.

"No, we have to destroy it." Vision chimed in from the other side of the room, leaning against the wall with a hand over his stab wound. "I've been giving a good deal of thought to this entity in my head. About its nature. But also its composition."

Vision continued as he got off the wall and walked toward Wanda.

"I think if it were exposed to a sufficiently powerful energy source, something very similar to its own signature, perhaps its molecular integrity could fail."

"Yeah, and you with it." Wanda replied.

"Eliminating the stone is the only way to be certain that Thanos can't get it."

"That's too high a price."

"Only you have the power to pay it."

Wanda walked away, not wanting to discuss it any further.

"Thanos threatens half the universe. One life cannot stand in the way of defeating him." Vision added.

"We can't do that, Vision." Y/N looked toward his friend. "We don't trade lives."

Vision looked back at him. "Your father once sacrificed himself to save many, why is this any different?"

"Because you might have a choice." Bruce interjected. "You are a complex construct of overlays. Jarvis, Ultron, Tony, me, the stone. All of them mixed together, all of them learning from one another."

Pietro got up from his chair. "You're saying the robot isn't just the stone?"

"I'm saying that if we take out the stone there's still a whole lot of Vision left. Perhaps the best parts."

"How can we do that?" Natasha asked.

Bruce shook his head. "Not me, not here."

"Well, you gotta find someone and somewhere fast. Ross isn't just gonna let you guys have your old rooms back." Rhodey said.

Steve looked down, he knew a place they could go that can help. A place that was currently helping Bucky erase his programming and that had successfully removed Y/N's two years ago.

He looked up at his son, who nodded as if they both were thinking of the same place. Steve nodded back and faced the rest of the team.

"I know somewhere."