The team soon converged at the scene: the Institute for Infectious Diseases. The truck sped through the guarded entrance and flipped over, hitting the archway. Smaller yellow trucks raced through the rubble into the courtyard of the building. Armed soldiers dressed in black armor jumped from the trucks, fired their weapons into the courtyard and shot gas canisters into the institute. Some soldiers wearing gas masks entered the building. Steve is the first to arrive on the scene, taking out several of the armed soldiers.
"Body armor, AR15s. I make seven hostiles." Sam arrived soon after, flying up onto a roof and using his wings to block the heavy gunfire before taking out the soldiers near him.
"I make five." Wanda is the next to arrive. Using her powers to fly, she landed in the courtyard and blocked the incoming bullets with a red shield. Manipulating her magic, Wanda wrapped the red mist around one of the soldiers, taking control of him, and lifted his body up into the air towards Sam.
"Sam," she called to him, alerting him of the delivery. Sam flew down from his perch and took out the soldier.
"Four," he said as he sends Redwing out to scan the inside of the building. "Rumlow's on the third floor." Steve nodded at Sam and looked at Wanda.
"Wanda, just like we practiced."
"What about the gas?"
"Get it out," Steve said as he got into position. Wanda wrapped her magic around the super soldier and lifted him up to the one of the windows on the third floor. Once he was inside, she began waving her hands, pulling the gas through the windows and out of the building. The gas rose higher in the air, building a column as Wanda's magic pushed it into the air before it disappeared. Minutes later, Steve's voice came back over the comms saying, "Rumlow has a biological weapon."
"I'm on it," Natasha's voice spoke through the comms.
"Sam. He's in an AFV heading north," Steve said. Sam flew from the courtyard, heading in the direction of Rumlow and the weapon. Catching up to them quick, Sam spotted four mercenaries splitting up. He sighed to himself.
"I got four, they're splitting up."
"I got the two on the left," Natasha said, following the two that turned left. Through process of elimination, Sam followed the ones that went to the right.
"They ditched their gear. It's a shell game now. One of them has the payload," Steve said as he stood in the middle of a marketplace. Sam quickly took out the men that he chased, and looking through their bag, he huffed loudly.
"He doesn't have it. I'm empty."
Natasha, following her men, tackled one of them and engaged in combat. When the other soldier arrived, Natasha hurled a basket at him to distract him. She then used her skills to fight them and ended up face-to-face with one soldier. They pointed their guns at each other. A moment passes, then, the other soldier produces the vial.
"Drop it. Or I drop this. Drop it!" the one mercenary yelled.
"He'll do it!" fired the other one. Before Natasha can follow the demands of the two men, Redwing descended and fired at the soldier holding the vial, dropping it. Natasha quickly reacted, shooting the other soldier and catching the vial before it hits the ground.
"Payload secure. Thanks, Sam," she said, standing back up and looking at Redwing.
"Don't thank me," Sam's smug voice said in the comms.
"I'm...not thanking that thing."
"His name is Redwing."
"I'm still not thanking it."
"He's cute. Go ahead, pet him."
Meanwhile, Steve engaged Rumlow in combat.
"Come on!" Rumlow yelled in frustration. He pinned Steve to a building and held up one of his gauntlets, revealing a blade. "This is for dropping a building on my face." Steve grabbed the gauntlet and removed it and knocked Rumlow to his knees. Rumlow removed his mask, revealing his scarred face and looked up at Steve. He chuckled dryly. "I think I look pretty good, all things considered."
"Who's your buyer?" Steve asked.
"You know, he knew you. Your pal, your buddy, your Bucky." Rumlow spat his name. Steve froze in front of him, his eyes going wide.
"What did you say," he whispered in shock.
"He remembered you. I was there. He got all weepy about it. Till they put his brain back in the blender. He wanted you to know something. He said to me, 'Please tell Rogers. When you gotta go, you gotta go.' And you're coming with me." Steve flinched and closed his eyes as Rumlow activated the bomb strapped to his vest, preparing himself for the fiery explosion, but opened them when he didn't feel any pain. He looked back at Rumlow and saw the fire surrounded Rumlow's body, wrapped tightly in a red mist. Rumlow screamed in agony as the flames ate at him. Steve looked to his left and saw Wanda struggling to contain the blast. Lifting Rumlow into the air, Wanda's grip in the explosion slipped and she lost control, causing the blast to bloom, consuming a couple floors of a nearby building. Both Wanda and Steve gasped and looked on in horror.
"Oh my...," Steve lost all words."Sam...We need...Fire and Rescue...on the south side of the building." He took offtowards the building, hoping to find survivors. "We gotta get up there." Wandadidn't move; she sunk to her knees as she stared at the building, her handcovering her mouth in shock as the tears pricked her eyes. What have I done?