Avengers: Vengeance

Lost Cause

"Falcon to ground team," Falcon said as he flew through the sky overhead. "I've finished my sweep and see no sign of the rebels, over."

"Copy that," Captain Doom said in a clipped tone. "Report back to the castle."

Falcon flew low to the ground and made a soft landing on a large chunk of rock beyond the border of Doom Empire. His mechanical wings folded up into his harness and he stood there as Shang-Chi's message came through. As news of more death hit him, he curled his fingers into a fist.

"This really is unraveling," Falcon muttered.

"I know, man. But Wasp and Hawkeye returned from the mission with a pager."

Falcon began to laugh. "Oh, great. That's awesome. I'm so glad we got a pager for all our trouble."

"Fury said he's calling reinforcements with it."

Falcon began to laugh harder. "Reinforcements? Who else is left?"

"He said he's bringing a heavy hitter home."

"Okay, humor me. He bother to say who this heavy hitter is?"

"Just that it's some woman...former Air Force pilot named Carol."

"This a real person or has he lost it?" Falcon asked with heavy skepticism.

"I don't know. He hasn't said anything else about her. Just walks around singing some song about a postman."

"Wait, like the Motown song?" Falcon asked.

"I guess. I don't know."

"How can you not know a Motown song?"

Shang-Chi sighed. "I don't know. Look- he needs you to come back to HQ."

"I can't," Falcon sighed. "I'm needed at the castle."

Playing both sides wasn't how Sam envisioned things when Doom had seized control, but that was the unfortunate spot he'd been placed in. Dangerous as it may be, he knew the Freedom Fighters depended on an inside man for information. The hazard that came with that was the constant threat of getting decapitated.

"When can you sneak away?" Shang-Chi asked, bringing him out of his thougths.

"Not sure," Falcon confessed. "I'd say don't wait up though. With everything that's happened it wouldn't look good for me to sneak off now. I don't want to give them a reason to think I'm not on their side. Especially after Scott."

The two men were silent as they reflected on Scott Lang's public execution.

Scott and Sam had been working together from the inside, feeding intelligence to the rebels. This had enabled them to always manage to stay one step ahead of Doom and his people. Then, after being so careful, Scott had been discovered. Captain Doom and Winter Soldier had marched him out of the castle and directly to the town square. There, before a horde of downtrodden citizens, he had been pronounced a traitor to the empire.

Sam closed his eyes and could still see the horrendous beating that the super soldiers had given to Scott. They questioned him intensely and struck him with their powerful fists each time he refused to give them names. He had to stand aside and watch as his friend took the beating even though every instinct inside of him screamed for him to save him.

"I'll die before I betray anyone to you!" Sam had groaned through busted lips and shattered teeth, his jaw hanging at a crooked angle as blood poured from his face.

"Then I guess you should kneel and take your reward for all of your trouble," Cap calmly said as he smiled at Scott, his perfect face splattered in his prisoner's blood.