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Charlotte Watson wished that she was in Lagos to maybe see some sights, take a vacation. What she didn't want to be doing was tracking down ex-SHIELD agent and current HYDRA thug, Brock Rumlow, who they truly thought and wished was dead.
The soldiers, Captain America and Slate, stood side by side in the rundown Lagos apartment building, looking out the window as they gave their team time to settle in and get a good read on the area and the situation at hand. Steve stole a glance down at Lottie's hands and where they rested on the windowsill, a small grin lighting up his face for a moment.
"You know, you probably shouldn't wear that on missions,"
"Oh, this little thing?" Lottie held her hand up, the sunlight streaming through the window glinting off the small diamond that sat on her ring finger. She held a teasing smile as she put her hand back down, turning her attention back to the window. "I'm a big girl, Stevie, I won't lose it. Besides, I told you I'm never taking it off."
Steve and his love shared a small chuckle before he reached up, switching on his comms as he decided it was go time.
"All right, what do you see?"
"Standard beat cops. Small station. Quiet street. It's a good target," Wanda Maximoff's voice flowed through the comms as she spoke. Lottie looked down the street from the window, catching a quick glance of her and Natasha sitting at a small, street-side cafe.
"Okay, quiz time. There's an ATM in the South corner, what's that mean?" Lottie shot back at the girl.
"Cameras,"
"Both streets are also one way only,"
"That means a compromised escape route,"
"Means our guy doesn't care about being seen, he isn't afraid to make a mess on the way out," Steve called back to her, correcting her previous statement.
"You're getting pretty good at this," Lottie told her, a little smile on her lips.
"Well, I've had some good teachers,"
"You see the red Range Rover up the street?" Steve cut in, trying to keep the mission on task.
"Yeah, the red one? It's cute."
"It's also bulletproof," Natasha's voice cut in on the comms as Lottie saw her take a sip of her coffee. "Which means private security, which means more guns, which means more headaches for somebody. Probably us."
"You guys know I can move things with my mind, right?"
"Looking over your shoulder is part of the job, Wanda," Lottie told her, her and Steve still eyeing the streets for any suspicious activity. "It needs to become second nature to you."
"Anybody ever tell you guys that you're all a little paranoid?" Sam Wilson's voice cut through the comms as he stood at his position on top of a building not far from the rest of the team.
"Eyes on target, folks," Steve cut back in, shaking his head at his team's ability to get so far off topic so quickly. "This is the best lead we've had on Rumlow in six months. I don't want to lose him."
Lottie cocked her head as she watched the streets, a garbage truck rolling by down the road. Her eyes widened as her senses went off, quickly gaining Steve's attention and pointing out the truck.
"Sam, see that garbage truck? Tag it."
"That truck's loaded for max weight. And the driver's armed."
"It's a battering ram," Natasha called out as Lottie's eyes widened, turning to Steve.
"The Institute for Infectious Diseases is down the road," she quickly informed the team over the comms. "He's not going for the police."
"Go, now!"
The agents of Brock Rumlow, now known as Crossbones, stood at attention outside the Institute for Infectious Diseases, already having rammed through the front gates of the building. The glass on the windows was already broken from the gas canisters they had fired inside.
The soldiers turned their weapons to the skies at the sound of Sam Wilson's wings. Falcon let go of Steve and Lottie's arms, dropping them straight down into the battle below.
Steve knocked out one of the men with his shield, kicking another back into a truck and sending them both flying across the way. Lottie generated her shield, sliding underneath one of the men and shooting him with an energy blast before round-housing another, knocking him unconscious.
Steve threw his shield as it bounced off another agent. Lottie ducked and rolled underneath a car, grabbing the shield and hitting another agent with it before tossing it back to Steve as he stood on top of one of the trucks.
"Body armor, AR15s. We make 7 hostiles," Steve informed the team.
Sam and Wanda dropped down into the open area the pair were already in, taking out three of the hostiles.
"Make that four,"
Lottie looked up to the building, Friday scanning the structure and the bodies inside until she pinpointed Rumlow.
"Rumlow's on the third floor," Lottie told the team, turning to look at Wanda. "Okay, just like we practiced, get him inside."
"What about the gas?"
"Get it out,"
Lottie and Sam turned their backs to the pair as Wanda lifted Steve up and through the window. They covered her, firing at the rest of the agents in the parking lot while the young girl worked on extracting the gas from inside the building.
Sam turned around, his wings forming a shield behind him as Lottie stepped up behind the protection. With just a few quick movements across the screen on his forearm, Sam shot the remaining men behind them.
"Rumlow has a biological weapon," Steve called out to the team.
"Natasha, you're up," Lottie called out to her friend as she turned to Sam and Wanda. "I'm gonna meet Steve on the other-side. Sam, take to the skies. Wanda, follow the plan."
The group split up, Friday giving another scan of the building as Lottie followed the outline of Steve to the other end.
Rumlow was station inside of a vehicle, firing at building as it exploded, Steve's body flying out of it as crashing to the ground below. Lottie sprinted in front of him, holding up her shield as they continued to shoot at them until they were out of sight, Natasha on her motorcycle taking off after them almost immediately.
"Sam. He's in an AFV heading north," Steve told their teammate as Lottie grabbed onto his arms, tugging him up to his feet as he let out a groan.
"I've got eyes on the AFV," Friday's voice rang through Lottie's ears. "They're heading for a market down the road."
The pair didn't waste a time, Lottie taking off down the road with Steve on her heels. The dodged in and out of the traffic, Lottie jumping up on top of the cars with Steve right behind her as they ran down the traffic, coming up on the marketplace as Sam and Natasha called out that they were going after Rumlow's agents, who had split up.
The civilians stared at the two in their gear as they stalked into the marketplace, crouching down at the pile of tactical equipment lying on the ground.
"They ditched their gear. It's a shell game now. One of them has the payload,"
The click of a bomb caught their attention as they looked down to Steve's shield, seeing one now attached to it. Steve launched it into the air as it detonated, Lottie covering them with her shield. It didn't last long as Lottie was throw to the side, Steve getting kicked in the head as he was sent flying through one of the market stands.
"There you are, you stupid sons of bitches! I've been waiting for this!" Rumlow walked out into the marketplace as the crowds disappeared. Lottie groaned, tugging herself to her knees as Rumlow looked over, smirking under his mask at the sight of the ring on her finger. "Awe, and you're engaged! Now I'm gonna enjoy killing you both even more!"
Rumlow charged at Steve who ducked out of the way, blocking all of his punches. Lottie ran forward as Steve ducked and rolled out of the way, Lottie taking his place. Her shield blocked all of Rumlow's shots as she fired an energy blast at him, stalling him for a second as her and Steve switched off once again.
Steve was thrown back into a building, a knife protruding from Rumlow's suit. He moved to stab him and missed, Steve taking hold of the knife and ripping it off, throwing it to the ground. Lottie ran forward, her legs wrapping around Rumlow's neck as she grabbed onto the knife now protruding from his other arm, ripping that one off as she flipped them over, jumping off his back as Steve kicked his suit, sending him flying through the clearing and landing on his back.
The pair stalked forward as Rumlow ripped off his helmet, finally showing his mangled face. Lottie kept her blaster at the ready as Steve grabbed onto his suit, tugging him forward.
"I think I look pretty good, all things considered-"
"Who's your buyer?" Lottie cut in, already having enough of his bullshit.
"You know, he knew you two. Your pal, your buddy, your Bucky," Steve and Lottie both froze at the mention of the name as Rumlow smirked. "He remembered you guys. I was there. He got all weepy about it. Till they put his brain back in a blender. He wanted you to know something. He said to me, 'Please tell Rogers and Watson, when you gotta go, you gotta go.' And you're coming with me."
Lottie moved forward to grab Steve as they watched Rumlow press the activation button on his suit that was actually a bomb. She grabbed hold of Steve, pulling him back as they waited for the blast, but it never came. Instead, the explosion was contained around Rumlow by a familiar glowing, red mist as he screamed.
With a look back, Lottie saw that it was Wanda standing behind them. She cried out as she tried to contain the blast, lifting Rumlow into the air until she couldn't take it anymore, his body flying into the side of the building as the young girl was forced to let go, the explosion taking place
Time seemed to stop as Steve and Lottie stared at the building with wide eyes, watching as the explosion ripped through the building that was full of civilians.
"Oh my..." Steve reached up, pressing on his earpiece as he moved forward. "Sam... We need... Fire and Rescue... on the south side of the building. We gotta get up there."
Lottie ran back to Wanda, grabbing onto her face as the girl's eyes shone with tears. She tugged the younger girl into her chest and wrapped her up in her arms.
"Don't look, Wanda, don't look," Lottie kept repeating as she gripped onto Wanda, feeling the girl's sobs shake her entire body. Lottie took one last look up at the burning building before turning back to Wanda, shutting her own eyes as she gripped her tight. "Just don't look."
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AND IT HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN! You guys don't even know how excited I am for this oh my god this is going to be so fun and heartbreaking to write.