Bailey zipped up the side of her old suit, a burnt hole still rested on her shoulder where extra padding should have been. The greying material was like a comfort of going home, everything pre-Ultron and now everything after.
There wasn't a magical poem to describe exactly what was happening, what Bailey was feeling. She could easy state anxiety, fear, sadness, determination, power, nostalgic... it went on and on and on. Bails herself couldn't point out the main one, maybe it was homesickness, maybe it was missing Emma and Bly, maybe it was the parting with Nat and only seeing one another in the battle field.
It was no secret Tony was rounding up his own team to stop them, and it definitely wasn't kept well if he was trying to keep it in the shadows. They were here now, and Bailey had watched the Red Hair through a window.
To end up battling a person she considered to be her soulmate definitely would not have appeared in her 'ten year plan' months ago, she would never be able to foresee such circumstances. Maybe she dreamed to live a life where she helped out the man, working day to day to make a difference.
If there was one thing 2015 Bailey Baxter would have deemed the biggest plot twist, was to find a sense of love whilst achieving her dream.
"I need you on second floor with Clint and Wanda," Steve walked up behind Bailey, not noticing her deep concentration in thought.
"Uh, yeah. Right, I'll be there. What's the full plan? You taking Bug-Man with you I hope... Undetected. Maybe get Sam on perimeters-"
Steve cut Bailey off before she rambled herself into a mess, "I've got this... don't worry."
By his smile, she just knew what he had planned, "You're going out there by yourself, aren't you? Has Bucky not taught you anything? Steven Rogers are you that daft?" she tried not to raise her voice at him, but failed apprehensively.
"Here me out-"
"My god, Steve! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
"You can't fight it, he'll just end up in another alleyway getting beaten by the third bloke that day," a new voice joined the conversation, and Bailey relaxed at the sight of his best friend.
"Buck, you're letting him do this?" she asked in disbelief.
"I'm sending the little guy out with him. I also managed to convince him that your trio can provide as back-up," he grinned, clipping his bullet-proof vest on.
"I hope that's 100% Kevlar, Barnes, because I'm about to beat you with a gun-"
"Bax," Baileys head snapped to the side at the nickname, cringing a little as she could almost hear Tony's voice instead of Steve's, "I know you think you won't provide much up there, but Wanda and Clint can. That makes them vulnerable. Worse hits the floor and you can jump in, for now you've done enough."
"Yeah man, I'll just watch my family's ass get whooped. I'll get it on record, don't worry, YouTube will love it," she sarcastically replied, stuffing her casual clothing back into her rucksack but leaving her jacket out.
"Bailey..."
She sighed, facing her back towards them, "I get it Steve. Don't worry. Nothing will happen to me and I'll lay my life on the line to make sure that nothing happens to anyone else, if it's the last thing I do."
"Careful the promises you make, they just might come true," his wisdom resurfaced, warning her.
"I'd rather save someone else than myself," she smiled to herself, watching their reflection in the van window, "Now come on boys, we have a Copper to catch," she grinned out fully, slinging Natasha's leather jacket around and stuffing her arms into the sleeves as she made it more comfortable around the tight suit.
Maybe wearing articles of clothing that brought bittersweet memories back wasn't the best idea bailey had in her life. Sure there were a good few that could give her a run for her money, but this one definitely topped all odds.
Just by the feeling of knowing she was wearing them sent her mind into a state, only thought being piled up upon other thoughts.
In her left hand pocket sat a pair of very old Flight-Goggles that she had managed to steal from the Avengers' compound, used only by single fighter-pilots.
In her right pocket were a couple crumpled pieces of papers, repeated drawings danced along the feint lines. The corners almost tore off each time Bailey opened them up, worn out and over-used. The crayon was slowly fading, but she would never part with the old memories.
Roses were the single thought that kept her feet moving towards two of the best people to stumble into her life.
"He tell you to sit this one out?" Clint asked, staring down at the ground beneath them where they could just barely make out a blue-boy with his stripes.
"I'm here to cover you," she replied, taking a seat on the hood of the beetle.
"He really believes it'll get to that point?" Wanda asked.
"Frankly, no. But Steve prepares for the worst in every case, which I'm grateful for by the way, but sometimes I disagree with his methods," Bailey mumbled, picking up a loose piece of concrete that had fallen from the wall in front of her.
"It's effective," Clint disagreed, holding out something for her to take from his palm.
Phasing her hand, the rock fell to the ground and she moved to pick up the ear-piece she would doubtlessly require later on when needing to communicate with the Captain. It struck down the realness of the situation to her, this was happening and there wasn't much to do that could change so.
She plucked it up and raised it to her ear, flipping her hair to the side as she stared down below them and fiddled with the comm.
"That our Chopper?" Bailey asked, referring to the only helicopter out at the time of day.
"Yeah, Steve should be getting at it soon. You see him?" Clint asked, positioning himself as well.
Bailey's eyes travelled back to where she had previously seen the blue figure.
"Yeah," she replied, raising a hand to her comms, "Steve, now I think you should very subtly and slowly walk over to the Chopper," she instructed, almost begged for him to keep it low-key.
Of course, the Spangled man chose to ignore her orders as he began a sprint to the helicopter instead. Steve was cut off when something hit the blades of the helicopter, firing electricity over the main rotor and cancelling all movement just as Clint had done to Vision earlier that day- or evening?
"Jesus Steve, listen to my advice for once will you? I have eyes on Stark and Rhodes," she continued to man him from above, motioning for Clint to make way over to the second window gap.
Tony Stark and James Rhodes landed on the ground in front of Steve, between him and the helicopter as if believing that would stop him then and there.
"Wow, it's so weird how you run into people at the airport. Don't you think that's weird?" Tony retracted his helmet and asked his best friend.
"Definitely weird," James agreed with him, mocking Steve as his failed attempt to get to Serbia.
"Hear me out, Tony," Steve interrupted.
More signals appeared on Bailey's borrowed goggles, extra figures were walking slowly into view but without Steve's notice.
"I've got two extra reads on the ground coming at you, Steve." Bailey warned, tapping at the button on the side to try and switch to sniper view and concentration.
"That doctor, the psychiatrist, he's behind all of this," Steve continued, pretending to not falter in his confidence from Bailey's words and continuing on as she tried to devise a plan to get him out of the situation.
A black figure jumped over a small, one-manned plane, landing diagonal to Steve with outstretched claws.
"That's one," Bailey said, watching the Kind of Wakanda slowly rise from his crouched position to face Steve at an eye-level.
"Captain," T'Challa greeted Steve, bowing his head down in respects to him.
"Your highness," he replied warily, unsure how he had been dragged into this mess as well considering the king was also arrested hours prior.
"Anyway," Tony broke off their conversation, "Ross gave me 36 hours to bring you in. That was 24 hours ago. Can you help a brother out?"
Bailey focused on the heat-figure approaching, waving her hand for Clint to start aiming his bow forward, and then held a fist in the air to wait.
"You're after the wrong guy," Steve warned.
"Your judgement is askew..." he replied with disgust, "Your old war buddy killed innocent people yesterday!"
"He kind of has a point," Bailey replied, fist still raised and Clint with his bow still aimed.
"And there are five more super soldiers just like him!" Steve interrupted Bailey, also leaving the one and only Stark speechless, "I can't let the doctor find them first, Tony. I just can't."
"Steve..." a voice warned from behind him, and all eyes watching trailed to the Red Hair.
"Wait a minute, am I the only one who thinks she looks absolutely stunning right now?" Bailey continued to joke, but her eyes still transfixed on Natasha below her.
"You know what's about to happen... Do you really want to punch your way out of this one?" Nat spoke with concern laced in her voice, not being able to hear what Bailey was seeing, nor having the knowledge if she was even in the airport.
"She really is fine in those tights. Steve, ignore what she has to say and ask for her number for me."
"Can it for a bit, Bails? I'm in the middle of something," he grew irritated with the side comment thrown around.
Bailey rolled her eyes and looked over to Clint with an exasperated sigh, the old man just grinned at her as he turned his focus to the scene beneath them once more.
"Bailey? You brought her along? Where are they?" Nat asked, head tilted a little to the side with curiosity, and a tinge of regret for how this was being handled.
The couple hadn't spoken since Clint's farm, no news exchanged between them at all. Bailey assumed Nat had finally convinced herself that Tony might've been right all along and forgot that their mission was always for the collective good of the people. Surely if she knew what was at stake with these Winter Soldiers she would've picked otherwise?
"That's it," Tony spoke up after Steve's silence, "I've run out of patience. Underoos!"
He raised his hands to cup the side of his mouth, shouting out to the distance to a figure he nicknamed after a superhero underwear line.
A boy in red Spandex flung over Captain America, shooting out something like a mini-grappling hook, and attaching the weapon to Steve's shield. With a tug he pulled it towards him, landing on the top of a small plane with the shield in hand. Cap's hands were left strapped together by the grappling hook substance, he couldn't even tear it open although he had super-human strength.
Bailey's fist lowered, faltering in the air only slightly.
"Nice job, kid!"
"Thanks."
Steve looked up, as shocked as the rest of his spectators were.
"Clint, on my signal... you shoot for Steve's hands..." Bailey whispered, trying to get the word out to Steve as well.
"That just might hit him," Clint raised his eyebrows.
"Stevie is a big boy now, he knows to move his hands from his body," she hoped.
They tuned back in, The new Spider-boy stumbling around with his words and getting flustered speaking to Tony Stark as he praised his suit.
"Cap, Captain," he stuttered with a salute, "Big fan, Spider-man," his arms raised as if showing off his get-up.
"Hey everybody," The teen still waved after being told to shut up, greeting them all on the ground.
"You've been busy," Steve acknowledged Tony's recruitment.
"And you've been a complete idiot," Tony fired back at the Captain, "Dragging in Clint... Coaxing Bax to do your deeds... 'Rescuing' Wanda from a place she doesn't even want to leave, a safe place."
Bailey looked to her two teammates beside her, and they shared a knowing look. No matter what, maybe they would have always chosen Steve's side. They knew what their priorities were. Bailey was going to stop Zemo, Clint was saving his family from a threatened empire falling, and Wanda was rescuing herself from entrapment.
Together they were becoming who they were meant to be and achieving what they were always meant to achieve, saving the world. If it meant going against Tony, that was fine.
The biggest worry running through the Blonde's head was whether Nat would actually make her dinner after all of this, or would they have their first actual fight?
"I'm trying to keep you!-" Tony shouted, stopping himself before he would say his original thought.
Keep you safe? Keep you in a good place? Keep you from ruining your good boy image?
"I'm tryna keep you from tearing the Avengers apart..." Tony instead stuck with.
On and admitting to the reality of the situation, Steve replied, "You did that when you signed."
"Sam... search for plan B. We need another chopper, maybe get the quinjet they arrived in. Actually... that sounds like an excellent idea," Bailey ordered, pointing Wanda to walk down the hallway.
Tony kept quiet, taken aback. It was almost as if he was triggered by someone not agreeing with him, not falling into his order from his words. He wasn't right, and he couldn't stand that. How dare Steve be the one to point it out to him?
Wanda knitted her eyebrows, Bailey had something planned. In mere minutes, shit was going to hit the fan and she needed to be ready to help them escape. She nodded her head in understanding, and obeyed her best friend's orders.
"All right, we're done. You're gonna turn Barnes over, you're gonna come with us, now," his voice wasn't friendly, he was shouting, authority was laced and his natural leadership and persuasive skills took over, "because it's us..."
Nat looked up at this, Bailey watching her eyes only praying for the forest green to match with hers but was only able to see her reaction instead of the comforting glisten.
"Or a squad of J-SOC guys with no compunction about being impolite..." Tony warned Steve of Ross's plan to get them taken down, his face twitched from mixed feelings rising, "Come on," now he begged.
"We found it," Sam spoke out onto the comms, "their quinjet's in hanger five, north runway."
"Now," Bailey whispered, dropping her hand and signalling for Clint.
Steve's hands shot upwards, Tony's eyes trailing after them, and an arrow shot straight through the web, slicing it clean. Not a second later, Tony's helmet clamped back on as he turned to face the source of the shot.
"All right, Lang," Steve ordered, calling his own signal.
"Let's go!" Bailey's eyes widened, realising the fight that's about to break out.
And so without a second look back to what was happening outside the window, she turned and grabbed a fistful of material resting on Clint's shoulder, pushing him away from the window.
"Helmet-Head has his eyes on us!" Clint warned, shooting another arrow at the wall for a detective explosion in case Tony followed from there.
"That gives us a couple of seconds," Bailey mocked, racing passed Wanda and waving for her to follow.
"I don't see you coming up with a better plan," Clint replied, throwing his quiver back on as they ran, bow in arms and arrows at the ready.
Bailey watched behind her as the sound of metal on metal banged, and she could see Tony through the window.
"What the hell is that?" Bucky asked, comm still on.
"Everyone's got a gimmick now..." Sam replied to him.
"This way," Baileys gaze left the flying iron man, and pointed to a nearby exit, "North Runway, let's go! You guys leaving the terminals?" She asked the two boys, hoping for a reply that never came.
The three of them excited the dock, making their way to the safety of the runway before the fight reaches them. Without thinking, they came into full view of Tony which allowed him to launch grenades from the shoulder pocket of his suit.
Bailey ducked down as a truck exploded next to her, sliding along the tar and groaning as she stood up as fast as she could. The flung her arms in front of her as more debris flew out, and she phased herself and Wanda whilst Clint tried to pull out his bow.
Tony flew over their heads, coming to a fly-still right in front of them and aiming his hand thruster as a threat, "Wanda, I think you hurt visons feelings."
"You locked me in my room," she replied with the taste of anger on her tongue.
"Okay, first, that's an exaggeration."
"Teenagers these days, what are you going to do?" Bailey shrugged, glaring at the floating red.
"Second, I did it to protect you. Bailey I did it to keep her safe. How is that not your priority right now?"
"Trust me, it is," Bailey raised her hands in a threat.
"Your girlfriend have a say in your choices? Surely she would've led you to the right side," Tony still hovered in the air, pretending it was a normal conversation but instead he held them at gunpoint.
"She told me to step before I punch, somehow I always swing right past them," Bailey shrugged, coming up with an answer. The tip was thrown in months ago, but she won't ever forget it.
"Hey, Clint," Tony ignored her, focusing on his next punch line.
"Hey, Man," Clint sighed out, arrow notched.
"Clearly retirement doesn't suit you. You got tired of shooting golf?"
"Well, I played eighteen," Clint shrugged, "shot eighteen. Just can't seem to miss," and with that words, he let his arrow fly into the air, zooming right past Tony's head and into the distance, which he easily shot out of the air and turned to ashes.
"Well, there's a first time for everything," Tony mocked.
"Made you look," Bailey smiled smugly, high fiving Clint as Wanda's arms began to draw to her body.
A crash startled Tony from behind, a car just missing him, and then he noticed more. One by one they were pulled out of the airport parking docks, falling towards the ground in the Stark's direction.
He panicked, shooting at each one as they neared him until the numbers over powered the capabilities of the suit. They crashed down, covering him in a layer of metal that would take a while to squeeze or wiggle out of.
The trio heaved, catching their breath before catching one another's eyes. The team in the distance were still holding off the rest of Tony's side, trying their best to stall. Bucky, the man needed at the jet, was in the terminals with Sam. Neither could cut off the Spider-boy.
"You better get there," Clint suggested, watching the distance as Spider-Man threw a piece of building at Bucky, just missing him.
"They don't look like they have the upper-hand," Wanda mocked with a small smirk, despite the circumstances.
"Oh right, yeah. I'll help them fight a twelve year old, don't mind me," she rolled her eyes, nodding as a departure farewell.
"Here's something I haven't done in a while..."
And with the last mumble, she kicked off the ground, hair flicking into her face as she travelled upwards in the sky.
As she reached a reasonable level, she twisted her body horizontally, and shot forwards towards the departure terminal A, ready to save an assassin and military pararescue airman from the deadly terrifying teenager.