JOAQUIN OPENED THE plane doors as he announced, "One minute until drop off, guys."

Sam didn't reply and just stared at Bucky, who in return did the same. They were both in their respective attire.

Y/N was already in his tactical suit and by the crates getting his gear ready. He picked up his karambit knives and sheathed them. Bucky and Sam got up to get their own gear and earpieces as well.

"So what's the plan?" Bucky asked.

Sam put the earpiece in and didn't reply, simply grinning as he put on his googles.

Bucky scoffed, "Great. So no plan."

"Thirty seconds!" Joaquin yelled.

"Enjoy the ride, Buck." Sam said.

"No, you can't call me that." He shot back.

"Why not? That's what Steve called you."

"Steve knew me longer and Steve had a plan."

"Fifteen seconds to drop!" Joaquin yelled again.

"I have a plan." Sam said.

"Really?" Y/N asked, "Mind telling us?"

Sam gave a look then immediately jumped out of the plane, activating his wings shortly after.

"Great." Bucky said.

"Where's the chute?" Y/N asked Joaquin.

"We're at 200 feet. It's pretty risky for a chute."

Bucky started walking over to the open door, "I don't need it anyway." He ripped the sleeve off of his jacket to show his vibranium arm.

"You sure about this?" Y/N asked.

Bucky nodded, "Yeah."

He jumped out of the plane as he let out a yell. Y/N rubbed his hands as he looked out into the trees below.

"Being able to fly would totally help right now." He muttered to himself, then walked over to grab a chute near the crates.

"Like I said, it's pretty risky." Joaquin reiterated.

"You got a better plan?" He asked.

Joaquin shook his and looked out of the door. Specter put on the pack and exhaled before jumping out of the plane.

"OneTwoThreeFourFive!" Y/N quickly counted and pulled open the chute. He started quickly descending and hit a few trees along the way. Ultimately, he got stuck on an oak and dangled from the branches.

"Great." Y/N breathed out.

A whirring was heard and Y/N turned to see Redwing near his face.

"Looky here. We got a life-sized Specter ornament." Sam's voice came out of the drone.

"Very funny." Y/N replied and took out one of his knives. He cut the strings and dropped several feet down onto the dirt.

"Okay, go north. Bucky's headed there now."

• • •

Y/N REUNITED WITH Bucky and Sam in an abandoned warehouse. Sam kept looking at the screen on his wrist as Redwing surveyed the area.

"You're doing that staring thing again." Sam remarked as Bucky gazed ahead.

"They're in there." Sam continued.

"Where's the guy?" Y/N asked.

"I don't know. But I think they're smuggling weapons, though." Sam answered.

"Well, I think you could be right." Bucky replied, "But there's only one way to find out."

Bucky tapped Y/N's shoulder, "I see a clear path, I say we take it."

Sam stopped Bucky before he walked forward, "We're not assassins." Sam glanced at Specter, "At least not anymore."

"We'll see you inside." Bucky ignored his statement and walked with Y/N. Sam chuckled, "Hey, come on. I'm just messing with y'all. Come back."

Y/N and Bucky snuck through the dark hallway. Sam stayed back while still using Redwing.

"Look at you. All stealthy." Sam spoke to Bucky through the comms, "A little time in Wakanda and you come out White Panther."

"It's actually White Wolf." Bucky sternly responded.

"Huh?" Sam didn't expect a response.

"That's actually a pretty cool name." Y/N chimed in.

The two made it to the area and hid behind shelves.

"All right, we're inside." Bucky told Sam.

"Therefore, way ahead of you." Y/N added. "It's not great but very doable."

Bucky turned around and was surprised to see Sam already next to them.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Hello. How are you?" Bucky replied sarcastically.

"Good. What did I miss? Nothing."

"All right. Let's go."

"No, wait."

"I got a vibranium arm. I can take them."

"Y/N has knives and I can fly. Who gives a shit? Wait. I want to see where they're going."

Bucky pointed ahead, "There's two people."

"You only see two? Let me see what Redwing sees." Sam pulled up the screen on his wrist and showed many thermal signatures outside, "Oh, look at that. How many people you see now? One, two...Oh, here it comes again. Four. Five."

Y/N sighed, "Yeah, we get it. Five."

"So they're strong. Whatever. Let's just go." Bucky started walking away but Sam pulled him back, causing him to bump into the shelf. A couple of the Flag Smashers turned around at the sudden clattering, but brushed it off and continued to load the trucks.

Sam used Redwing to scan the inside of one of the trucks, and saw somebody in it.

"There's an eighth person. I think they have a hostage."

Bucky didn't give a reply, and just started running. Specter followed close behind as Sam activated his wings and flew out of the warehouse.

Bucky used his enhanced speed to make it to the first truck and jump onto it. Y/N was only able to make it to the second one, and grabbed onto the back himself.

He grunted as he climbed the back of it and made it to the top of the truck. Suddenly, a thud was heard and Bucky cursed through the comms.

"Shit!"

Bucky dangled from the front of the second truck but two Flag Smashers pulled him up. A female leaped from the back of the first truck onto the second to join them.

Bucky tried to fight them off as Y/N ran up to assist. The female Flag Smasher punched Bucky as he was held down, then quickly turned back around to kick Y/N several feet back.

Redwing flew in and started shooting at the Flag Smashers, but the female simply jumped up and grabbed the drone in which she broke it in half with her knee.

"I've always wanted to do that." Bucky breathed out before being punched again.

The Falcon flew in seconds later and kicked the female Flag Smasher down.

She recovered and dodged a roundhouse kick by him and continued to fight.

"Good of you to join the fight, Sam!" Bucky exclaimed.

A Flag Smasher from the other truck jumped onto the top and grabbed Specter. Y/N elbowed him in the stomach, but it didn't phase him. He simply grabbed Y/N by the collar and pinned him down again.

The same was happening to Sam. Before one of them could stomp onto his face, a shield hit the Flag Smasher in the chest before summoning back in the hands of its thrower.

Above, John Walker and Lemar Hoskins dropped down from their helicopter and joined the fight on the trucks. Y/N used this diversion to unsheathe one of his knives and stabbed the man pinning him down in the thigh. He kicked him away and got back on his feet.

John Walker tossed the shield and took down a couple more Flag Smashers before joining back up with Lemar. He looked at Sam and saluted.

"Sam. John Walker. Captain America."

"Lemar Hoskins." His friend greeted as well, "Looks like you guys could use some help."

They ignored their statement and continued to fight. The Flag Smasher got back up and swung at Specter but the he dodged his attacks. Y/N slid during one of his punches and used his karambit to slash the side of his abdomen.

It only hurt him a bit, though. The Flag Smasher grab Specter from his shoulders and held him up. Before he can do harm, John Walker tossed his shield and hit the assailant in the back. He let go and Y/N took the chance to sweep the Flag Smasher's legs, which caused him to fall down and roll off the truck onto the road.

"Great to be of assistance!" John saluted to Y/N, who simply gave a nod and went over to help Sam.

The Falcon tried to glide up but was held down by three Flag Smashers. Specter jumped to the second truck and kicked one of the assailants down. Bucky came into to assist as well, kicking one off the truck and engaging another.

One Flag Smasher swung at Y/N but he ducked and punched him in the stomach. He dodged another punch and tackled the Flag Smasher, pinning him down. The Specter went to grab his karambit, but his assailant used their knee to throw Y/N off the truck.

He landed on the windshield of a car driving beside the trucks. "Argh!"

The two trucks drove off as Y/N slowly got up and groaned. The driver of the car got out of the vehicle and was flustered by the damage done to it.

Y/N stretched as he looked at the cracked windshield, "Sorry about that."

• • •

Y/N WAS WALKING along the path when he saw two men in the distance. It wasn't long until Sam and Bucky met back up and walked along with him.

"Everything good, Y/N?" Sam asked.

"My back still aches. Ever been thrown off a semi-truck before?" He replied.

Bucky shook his head, then changed the subject. "Sorry about Redwing."

"No, you're not." Sam shot back.

"I truly am." Bucky retorted.

Sam chuckled, "We should talk about how that girl kicked your ass."

"No we shouldn't."

"Yes we should. I saw it too." Y/N chimed in.

Bucky scoffed, "You two are unbearable."

There was silence for a moment as Bucky was lost in his thoughts. Sam noticed this.

"What's going on in that cyborg brain of yours?" He asked.

"It's computing."

Sam chuckled, "You know what? I can actually see it. I can see the gears turning."

Bucky scoffed as Sam continued.

"Oh, they're malfunctioning, shutting down. Yep, they're on fire."

"We gotta figure out where the serum's coming from." Bucky ignored his jokes.

Y/N glanced at him, "So it's a sure thing? Those folks have the Super Soldier serum?"

"Yeah. And we need to find out how the hell after 80 years are there eight Super Soldiers running loose." Sam answered.

A Jeep rolled up from behind the three and parked in front of them. In it was John Walker, Lemar Hoskins, and their driver.

"Well that didn't go as planned, huh?" John remarked as he opened the doors to let them in. The trio ignored his offer and kept on walking. John closed the door and ordered his driver to drive beside them.

"Look, at least we know what we're up against now, huh?" John continued, "And we're pretty sure it's one of the Big Three, so..."

"Aliens, androids, or wizards?" Sam asked.

"Pretty sure." John replied.

"There's no such thing as wizards." Bucky butted in.

"All right, then it's aliens or androids."

"Or Super Soldiers." Y/N corrected.

"Shit. Super Soldiers, for real?" Lemar asked.

"Yeah."

"Wow. All right, well, then we got to work together." John said.

"That's not happening." Bucky responded.

"I think we stand a much better chance if we all just—"

"Just because you carry that shield, it doesn't mean you're Captain America."

John scoffed, "Look, I've done the work, okay?"

Bucky stared daggers at him, "You ever jump on top of a grenade?"

"Yeah, actually, I have. Four times. It's a thing I do with my helmet. It's a reinforced helmet. It's a long story, but..." He shook his head, "Look, it's 20 miles to the airport. You guys need a ride."

The Jeep stopped and so did Y/N, Bucky, and Sam. They looked at each other for a while before ultimately deciding to join them in the vehicle.

They drove down the road as the five began to talk.

"Okay, so we've got eight Super Soldiers on a bulk supply run. Why?" John asked.

"They say their mission is to get things back to the way it was during The Blip. Maybe they're just trying to help." Sam answered.

"I don't know why." Y/N rubbed the back of his head, "Those five years weren't that pleasing."

"We need to figure out where they're going. How did you track them here? The Flag Smashers?" Sam asked John.

"Uh, no, we didn't track them, we tracked you. Through Redwing." Lemar replied.

"You hacked my tech?" Sam raised his voice.

"It's not exactly your tech. It's government property. We're kind of the government." John chuckled.

The three just started at the two as they explained how the Global Repatriation Council had been working for the last several months in getting things back in order after the Blip. They were here now to help.

"If you guys joined up with us, we could—"

John was interrupted by Bucky, "No."

"Look, I got mad respect for y'all. But you were getting your asses kicked till we showed up." Lemar shot back.

"Who are you?" Bucky asked.

"Lemar Hoskins."

"Look, we see a guy hanging out of a helicopter in tactical gear I need a lot more than Lemar Hoskins." Y/N replied.

"I'm Battlestar. John's partner."

"Battlestar?" Bucky scoffed, then turned to the driver, "Stop the car!"

The Jeep stopped as Bucky got off shortly after.

"Look, I get it. You didn't expect the shield to be back here!" John exclaimed, then sighed and turned to Sam and Y/N. "And...I'm not trying to replace Steve. I'm just trying to be the best Captain America I can be. That's it."

Sam gave a simple nod as he spoke, but then John continued.

"It'd be a whole lot easier if I had Cap's wingmen on my side."

Those words then bode well to the two. Y/N scoffed and Sam shook his head.

"It's always that last line." Sam remarked as he got off the jeep.

Y/N got off as well, "Take care of yourself, John."

"L/N." He sternly spoke as Y/N prepared to walk off, "The council has been keeping on eye on other things too. Like Maximoff after what happened in New Jersey. You should be careful."

Y/N turned around and looked directly at John, "The ones that should be careful are the ones who are watching us...watching her."

He walked off to join Sam and Bucky. John tapped on the doors and ordered the driver to keep moving.

• • •

THE TRIO WAITED in the plane as they traveled back to the States. Sam laid on a set of chairs while Y/N and Bucky sat down.

"You all right?" Sam asked Bucky.

After a moment of silence he answered, "Let's take the shield. Let's take the shield and do this ourselves."

"We can't just run up on the man, beat him up, and take it." Y/N responded.

Sam sat up, "Do you remember what happened the last time we stole it?"

"Maybe." Bucky replied.

"I'll help you in case you forgot. Sharon was branded enemy of the state while Steve, Y/N, Wanda, Nat and I were on the run for two years." Sam stated, "I don't know about you, but I don't wanna live the rest of my life la vida loca."

"We just settled down. I don't want be in that limbo again." Y/N told them as he thought of Wanda.

Sam nodded at his statement, remembering how they all moved from country to country during those couple years as The Secret Avengers.

"We just got our ass handed to us by Super Soldiers, and we got nothing." Sam said.

Bucky looked down at his hands, "Not entirely true."

Sam and Y/N looked at him with questioning looks. Bucky got off the crate he was sitting on.

"There is somebody that you two should meet."