"Look, it's 20 miles to the airport. You guys need a ride." He opened the back door. "Guys. Ma'am. Gary, stop." The three exchanged a look and reluctantly got in. All Katarina wanted was silence, but John kept talking, which meant she wouldn't get what she wanted. "Okay, so we've got eight Super Soldiers on a bulk supply run. Why?"
Sam let out a sigh. "They say their mission is to get things back to the way it was during The Blip. Maybe they're just trying to help."
"They had a funny way of showing it," Bucky said while Katarina nodded.
"That serum doesn't exactly have a great track record," John stated, looking at Bucky and Katarina. "No offense."
Katarina narrowed her eyes. "Well, we need to figure out where they're going."
"Who are you to treat me so rudely? You were a Nazi, right?"
Katarina glared at him. "No. I'm not."
"But-"
"How'd you track them here?" Sam asked, changing the subject. "The Flag Smashers?"
"Uh, no, we didn't track them, we tracked you, uh, through Redwing," Lemar replied, scratching the back of his head.
"You hacked my tech?"
"Sorry," John said with a chuckle. "It's not exactly hacking. It's government property." He gestured to himself. "Kind of the government." He chuckled, then glanced at Bucky. "Does he always just stare like that?" He glanced at Katarina. "Does she always look so intense?"
"You get used to it."
"Okay, look," he cleared his throat, "you know, things have gotten kind of, uh..."
"Chaotic," Lemar finished, glancing at John.
"Yeah. Well, the GRC, they're doing the best they can to get things up and running smoothly, post Blip."
Katarina narrowed her eyes at John and the two stared at each other with the same expression.
Bucky watched the two, making sure Katarina wouldn't do anything.
Lemar continued. "Reactivating citizenship, social security, health care. Basically just managing resources for the refugees who were displaced by the return."
"The Global Repatriation Council does all that," Sam said. "I get that. So why exactly are you two here?"
"Well, they provide the resources and we keep things stable."
"Yeah, violent revolutionaries aren't usually good for anyone's cause," John added.
Sam smirked lightly. "Usually said by the people with the resources."
"We got a lot of resources. If you joined with us, we could..."
"No," Bucky and Katarina interrupted.
Lemar gestured between the three. "I got mad respect for each of y'all. But you were getting your asses kicked till we showed up."
Katarina frowned. "Who are you?"
"Lemar Hoskins."
"We just saw you hanging out of a helicopter in full-on tactical gear. We're gonna need more than just "Lemar Hoskins"."
"I'm Battlestar. John's partner."
""Battlestar"? Stop the car!" Bucky ordered.
Gary stopped the truck, Bucky got out, and John looked between the three as he said, "Look, I... I get it, okay? I get the attitude, I do. You didn't think that the shield was gonna end up here. I get it, Bucky, Kata. And I'm... I'm not trying to be Steve. I'm not trying to replace Steve. I'm just trying to be the best Captain America I can be. That's it."
Katarina climbed out of the truck as she said sharply, "You will never be the Captain America Steve was. And don't call me Kata."
She got out of the truck and followed after Bucky. The two walked away, quickly matching each other's stride.
John frowned slightly at her words. "It'd be a lot easier if I had Cap's wingmen on my side."
Sam scoffed. "It's always that last line." He climbed out of the truck and followed after Katarina and Bucky.
John told Gary, "Let's go."
The three walked along a the road and eventually made their way back to the plane.
Bucky moved to sit on a large box in the middle of the cargo bay. Katarina stood, standing between Sam and Bucky. She moved closer to Bucky and he moved over to give her some room.
Sam, who was laying on one side of the plane, opposite Katarina, smiled, watching their interaction before asking, "You two all right?"
Katarina nodded as she said, "We need to get that shield back."
While glancing at Katarina, Bucky said, "Kata's right. Let's just take the shield, Sam. Let's take the shield and do this ourselves."
"Steve gave it to you. He trusted you."
Sam frowned, looking between them. "We can't just run up on the man, beat him up, and take it."
"And why shouldn't we?"
"Do you two remember what happened the last time we stole it?"
"Maybe," Bucky and Katarina replied.
"I'll help you two in case you forgot. Sharon was branded an enemy of the state, and Steve and I were on the run for two years. I don't know about either of you, but I don't wanna live the rest of my life la vida loca. We just got our ass handed to us by Super Soldiers, and we got nothing."
"Not entirely true. There is someone you should meet," Bucky said.
Katarina sighed and nodded. "He's right."
---
The plane changed course, flying instead to Baltimore, Maryland.
The three got out and walked through a neighborhood. They passed a couple kids and the smaller one said, "Hey, it's Black Falcon. What's up?"
"It's just Falcon, kid," Sam told him.
"No, no. My daddy told me it's Black Falcon."
"Is it because I'm black and I'm the Falcon? Well, technically, I mean, yes. So are you, like black kid?" The kid sighed and Sam turned to the kid's friend before saying, "I got him, right?"
"Whatever, man," the kid retorted as Sam walked back to Bucky and Katarina. "Whatever."
The three walked up the stairs and Bucky knocked on the metal screen door. A young man opened the door and Bucky shifted slightly before saying softly, "We're here to see Isaiah."
The young man shook his head and replied, "Nobody named Isaiah live here."
Katarina gave a faint smile. "Look, we just want to talk to him."
"You two must not hear what I just said. You ain't getting in this house. Y'all can leave now."
"Tell him the guy and the girl from the bar in Goyang is here," Bucky said.
"All right. Wait here."
"Nice kid," Sam commented. "How do you know this guy?"
"I used to," Bucky replied. "We had a skirmish during the Korean War."
The boy returned moments later and he said, "Today's your lucky day. He said he wanna see for himself."
They entered the house and Bucky walked up to a man who sat in the room.
"Isaiah?" Bucky and Katarina called.
Isaiah lifted his head and stood tall. "Look at you."
"This is Sam," Bucky introduced. "Sam, this is Isaiah. He was a hero. One of the ones that HYDRA feared the most. Like Steve. We met in '51."
"If by met, you mean I whupped your asses, then, yeah," Isaiah said. "We heard whispers they were on the peninsula, but everyone they sent after them, never came back. So the U.S. military dropped my behind the line to go deal with them. I took half that metal arm in that fight in Goyang, but I see he's managed to grow it back. I just wanted to see if he got the arm back. Or if he and the girl would come to kill me."
"We're not killers anymore," Bucky said as he shook his head and laced his fingers through Katarina's.
"You think you can wake up one day and decide who you wanna be? It doesn't work like that. Well, maybe it does for folks like you."
"Isaiah, the reason we're here is because there's more of you, Bucky and me out there," Katarina said.
"You, Bucky and me."
"And we need to know how."
Isaiah pursed his lips. "I'm not gonna talk about it anymore." He grabbed a tin box on the table and threw it against the wall.
Katarina raised a hand, ready to freeze whatever was necessary, but Bucky gently pushed her hand down.
Isaiah continued. "You know what they did to me for being a hero? They put my ass in jail for 30 years. People running tests, taking my blood into my cell." He stared at Bucky and Katarina. "Even your people weren't done with me."
"Isaiah..." Bucky and Katarina began.
"Get out of my house!"
"Let's go, man, let's go," the boy told the three.
As they left Isaiah's home, Sam, visibly upset, stomped down the stairs.
"Sam..." Bucky and Katarina began.
"Why didn't you tell me about Isaiah? How could nobody bring him up?" Bucky and Katarina remained silent. "I asked you a question, Bucky, Kata."
"I know."
"Steve didn't know about him?"
"He didn't," Bucky said. "Kata and I didn't tell him."
"So you're telling me that there was a black Super Soldier decades ago and nobody knew about it?"
Before Bucky or Katarina could say anything, a car approached and a siren whooped.
"Hey," an officer said, climbing out of the squad car.
"What's up, man?" Sam replied with a shrug.
"Is there a problem here?"
"No, we're just talking."
"We're fine," Bucky and Katarina replied.
The officers walked towards the three, one focusing on Sam. "Can I see your ID?"
"I don't have ID," Sam replied. "Why?"
"Man, seriously?" Bucky said.
Katarina frowned. "That's enough."
"Okay, sir," the officer put a hand out to Sam, "just calm down."
"What do you want?" Bucky asked. "We're just standing here talking."
Katarina glanced at Sam with a gesture as she said, "Just give him your ID so we can get out of here."
"No, I'm not giving him shit. We're just talking."
The officer turned to Bucky and Katarina and asked, "Hey, hey. Look, is this guy bothering you two?"
Rori shook her head and replied, "No, he's not bothering us. Do you know who this is?"
The second officer moved closer to his partner and whispered, "Hey, these guys are the Avengers."
"Oh, God," the first officer said, "I am so sorry, Mr. Wilson." He chuckled nervously. "I didn't recognize you without the goggles."
Katarina scoffed and let out an irritated sigh.
Bucky glanced at Katarina as the first officer continued. "I'm really, really sorry about this. The..." A siren whooped. "Guys, ma'am," he sighed, "just wait here, okay? Just..." The officers walked away, then chattered on their police radio.
"I didn't... I didn't tell anybody because he had already been through enough," Bucky said.
"Mr. Barnes, there's a warrant out for your arrest," one of the officers said. "Miss Wagner, you should come in as well."
Sam frowned. "The president pardoned them for all of that."
"Not for that. You missed your court-mandated therapy. It's like missing a check-in with your PO. I'm sorry, Mr. Barnes, you're under arrest."
Bucky was handcuffed and was taken away in the squad car. Katarina remained silent as she followed them.
---
Sam made his way to the police station, planning to get Bucky and Katarina out.