Clint drove the van (not the same van, which greatly upset Clint as he liked the first van) into the parking garage of the Leipzig/Halle airport, pulling into a spot. Once the car was parked and Clint shut it down, Wanda moved to open her door, but Clint's voice stopped her.
"Not yet," he said staring straight ahead. Wanda looked at him, questioning him, but ultimately listened to him. She moved her hand away from the handle and placed it in her lap. She leaned her head back against the seat and lifted her legs up onto the dashboard. Sighing, she closed her eyes, hoping to catch at least a few minutes sleep. She had trouble sleeping on the way because their next stop, a man by the name of Scott Lang, kept wanting to talk to either of them, gushing about how excited he was to be of service to Captain America. Now that he was asleep, Wanda thought maybe she could sleep too, but Scott had over plans. His snoring bounced off the walls of the van, keeping Wanda from concentrating on resting. Clint could feel her frustration and laughed a little.
"I told you to sleep before we picked him up," he said, mocking her playfully. She shot him a glare but didn't reply to his taunt.
"So, what's the plan?" Wanda rolled her head over to look at Clint and he met her gaze.
"Cap said he had to go to Siberia. He figured Tony would try to stop him from escaping with Barnes, so he recruited us. That's all he told me, and frankly, that's all I need." Wanda nodded and turned back to stare in front of her, overlooking the airport.
"Thank you, for coming to get me," Wanda said quietly. Clint looked over to glance at her before looking straight.
"Yeah, of course." They were silent for a few moments. "You know, I missed you, kid." Wanda reached over and grabbed his hand, giving him a little squeeze and a small smile.
"I missed you, too."
After about thirty minutes, Clint and Wanda noticed a small blue car driving onto the 6th level of the parking garage. The little car pulled up next to the van and parked. Steve opened his door and got out and Clint and Wanda followed. Clint walked around the van and stood in front of Steve, taking a step towards him. Wanda stood behind him, closer to the van.
"Cap," Clint said greeting the Captain. Steve looked at him apologetically.
"You know I wouldn't have called if I had any other choice."
"Hey man, you're doing me a favor," Clint said shrugging. "Besides, I owe a debt." Clint turned and gestured to Wanda. Steve looked past him to look at her. He looked happy to see her. Steve always did have a soft spot for Wanda. As the three of them stood there, Sam, Bucky, and an unknown woman climbed out of the little car.
"Jesus Christ, could you have chosen a worse ride?" the woman asked Steve, though he ignored her. Wanda smiled at her as she stretched. The woman looked about her height with bright red hair that was tied in a high ponytail, but Wanda could see the very loose curls, and intriguing purple eyes. She was dressed in a white t-shirt, jeans, a black leather jacket, and black sneakers.
"Thanks for having my back," Steve said sincerely to Wanda. She smiled at him and tilted her head.
"It was time to get off my ass."
"How about our new recruit?" Clint walked to the side door of the van and pulled it open.
"He's rarin' to go. Had to put a little coffee in him, but...he should be good. What about yours?" Steve turned to look at the unknown woman before turning back to Clint giving him a smile.
"She's excited. Hasn't stopped talking since we picked her up."
"Same with him," Wanda said, pointing at Scott as he woke up and stepped out of the van, blinking fast. His mouth hung open in surprise as he saw Steve standing in front of him. Stumbling over to him, Scott held out his hand to Steve and he took it, shaking.
"Captain America," he said, mouth still hung agape. Steve smiled slightly.
"Mr. Lang."
"It's an honor. I'm shaking your hand too long. Wow! This is awesome! Captain America." He looked at Wanda and gave her a thumbs up. "I know you, too. You're great!" He turned back and felt Steve's shoulders. "Jeez. Ah, look, I wanna say, I know you know a lot of super people, so... Thinks for thanking of me. Hey, man!" Scott looked next to Steve and noticed Sam. Sam gave him a look.
"What's up, Tic Tac?" he asked.
"Uh, good to see you. Look, what happened last time when I..." Sam cut him off before he could finish.
"It was a great audition, but it'll...it'll never happen again."
"They tell you what we're up against?" Steve asked, cutting back in. Scott looked away from Sam and looked at Steve.
"Something about...psycho-assassins?"
"We're outside the law on this one. So, if you come with us, you're a wanted man," Steve warned. He hated bringing an innocent person into his fight. Scott just shrugged.
"Yeah, well, what else is new?" Wanda stared curiously at the unknown woman that stood beside Bucky, admiring and poking his metal arm, and before anyone could say anything else, Wanda spoke up, asking the most pressing question on her mind.
"Good, now that we're all set, would someone be so kind as to tell me who that is?" The woman looked up and over at Wanda, giving her a look that Wanda couldn't figure out. Steve turned and looked at her, motioning to introduce herself. Wanda raised an eyebrow at her as she waited. Bucky placed his metal hand gently on her shoulder.
"Go on, make friends," he said jokingly. The woman walked toward Wanda, never taking her eyes off the brunette. Her bright red hair glistened in the sun that peaked into the garage.
"I'm Claire Stowell and I'm a shapeshifter."
"I'm—" she cut Wanda off.
"I know who you are," she said before shaking her hand and walking back to Bucky. Bucky wrapped an arm around her and held her in a protected stance.
"After I escaped from HYDRA and started living off the grid, I ran into Claire. She made sure I safe and taken care of, and she later became my roommate—" Claire smacked Bucky in his chest lightly as he laughed.
"You're making it sound like we have something going on," she said, still eyeing Wanda. Wanda narrowed her eyes, feeling like they were leaving something out, but didn't bring it up. She fought the urge to dig inside her head for the answer.
"So what can you change into?" Clint asked. Claire turned her eyes away from Wanda and looked at Clint, giving a sly smile. Her purple eyes seemed to glow brighter.
"Any damn thing I want."
"We should get moving," Bucky said as he looked around the parking garage, feeling uncomfortable out in the open.
"We got a chopper lined up," Clint said. The team froze as a male voice came over the airport PA system.
"Dies ist eine Notsituation. Alle Passagiere müssen den Flughafen sofort evakuieren. (This is an emergency. All passengers must evacuate the airport immediately.)"
"They're evacuating the airport," Bucky said pulling Claire close to him.
"Stark," Sam said.
"Stark?" Scott asked confusion spread on his face.
"Suit up," Steve directed his team.
○○○
Wanda stood with Clint and Claire in the parking deck, in uniform, comms in ears, and waiting for Cap's orders. She watched Steve run out towards a chopper, before it was shot with an electric destabilizer. Tony and Rhodey swooped down and landed in front of Steve.
"Wow, it's so weird how you run into people at the airport. Don't you think that's weird?" Tony asked looking at Rhodey.
"Definitely weird," Rhodey replied.
"Hear me out, Tony. That doctor, the psychiatrist, he's behind all of this," Steve said, trying to reason. A man in a black cat suit who Wanda didn't recognize jumped down from a truck, standing next to Steve. Steve looked at him.
"Captain," the man said.
"Your highness," Steve replied, nodding with respect.
"Anyway, Ross gave me 36 hours to bring you in. That was 24 hours ago. Can you help a brother out?" Tony asked, lifting the Iron Man mask to reveal his face.
"You're after the wrong guy," Steve said. Tony frowned.
"Your judgement is askew. Your old war buddy killed innocent people yesterday."
"And there are five more super soldiers just like him. I can't let the doctor find them first, Tony. I can't," Steve said. Natasha stepped up into Steve's line of vision.
"Steve...you know what's about to happen. Do you really want to punch your way out of this one?" she asked the super soldier, hoping to avoid a fight. Before Steve could answer, Tony interrupted.
"All right, I've run out of patience. Underoos!" Suddenly, Steve's hands were bound, and a figure dressed in red flipped into the scene, stealing Steve's shield and landing on a truck. "Nice job, kid."
"Thanks. Well, I could've stuck the landing a little better. It's just the new suit...Well, it's nothing, Mr. Stark. It's-it's perfect. Thank you," the newcomer said.
"Who is that?" Claire asked, staring at the figure. Wanda and Clint shrugged in response, not having an answer for her.
"You've been busy," Steve said back to Tony. Tony looked at Steve, eyebrows furrowed and a frown in place.
"And you've been a complete idiot. Dragging in Clint. 'Rescuing' Wanda from a place she doesn't even want to leave, a safe place," Wanda flinched at Tony's words. The compound and Jemma's apartment might've been safe, but she definitely didn't want to be cooped up there all day every day. "I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart."
"You did that when you signed," Steve sighed.
"Alright, we're done. You're gonna turn Barnes over, you're gonna come with us. Now! Because it's us! Or a squad of J-SOC guys...with no compunction about being impolite. Come on." Wanda heard Claire let out a low growl at the mention of Bucky being arrested. Her eyes glowed brighter, turning to a lavender color.
"We found it. Their Quinjet's in hanger five, north runway," Sam's voice floods their comms. Clint extended his bow and reached behind to his quiver, grabbing an arrow. Loading up his bow, he watched, waiting for the signal. Steve raised his bound hands, and Clint stood and fired the arrow, cutting through the webbing. The three then took off running towards the Quinjet.
"Alright, Lang," Steve said into the comms.
"Hey, guys, something..." Peter was cut off by Scott's suit enlarging, knocking him off balance. Scott took back the shield, and returned to Steve, handing it to him.
"I believe this is yours, Captain America," he said.
"Alright, there's three on the parking deck. One of them's Maximoff, I'm gonna go garb her. Rhodey, you want to take Cap?" Tony asked as he took off.
"Got two in the terminal, Wilson and Barnes," Rhodey said. T'Challa snapped his head and started to run in the direction of the terminal.
"Barnes is mine!" he exclaimed. Steve ran after him and blocked his path.
Wanda, Clint, and Claire continued to run towards the Quinjet, but stopped at the sound of Tony's suit hovering in the air. Tony turned his metal head towards Wanda and the glowing eyes burned through her.
"Wanda, I think you hurt Vision's feelings." Wanda felt guilty for what she did to Vision, but right now she only felt angry at Tony. She sent him a glare.
"You locked me in my room."
"Okay. First, that's an exaggeration. Second, I did it to protect you." Wanda scoffed at his words. She had heard that lie before and she wasn't going to be lied to again. Claire looked over at her, her eyes were brighter than before.
"Are you okay?" Wanda whispered to the young woman with concern. Claire nodded her head.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be okay?" she asked. Her eyes were now a bright purple and her fingernails looked longer. Wanda didn't answer and turned her attention back to Tony.
"Clearly, retirement doesn't suit you," Tony said to Clint. "You got tired of shooting golf?" Clint shrugged, still holding his bow with an arrowed docked.
"Well, I played 18, I shot 18. Just can't seem to miss." He fired his arrow at Tony, but the Iron Man was ready for him and deflected.
"First time for everything," he said mocking Clint. Clint only smirked at him.
"Made you look." Before Tony could respond, a car from the top floors of the parking deck slammed past Tony. He looked up as dozens of cars came crashing down. Wanda stood, flailing her arms quickly as she pulled each car with her magic. She didn't stop until Tony was buried under a pile of cars. The three then took off running again, before Claire stopped.
"What is it?" Wanda asked her, jogging back to her. Claire looked back at one of the terminals, almost as if she wasn't paying attention. Suddenly, she snapped her head back to look at Wanda.
"You guys keep running. I'm gonna go help Bucky," she said, turning to leave.
"How are you going to help him?" Wanda's Sokovian voice asked her. Claire turned around and gave her a big grin, and Wanda was surprised when she saw a set of fangs.
"I told you," the shape shifter said. "I'm a shape shifter." And before Wanda's eyes, the young woman transformed into a wolf. Standing on all fours, she was the height of Wanda, and her eyes burned a light lavender. Her fur was a deep black, a contrast to her shining red hair. Claire looked at Wanda and tilted her head, as if to tell her to run, before running in the opposite direction, towards the terminal.
"Don't kill anyone!" Clint shouted as he grabbed Wanda's arm and pulled her along.
Claire ran into the terminal, bursting through the metal walls, and scanned the area for Bucky. She immediately saw him standing behind a pillar, catching his breath. His blue eyes soon found hers, right as Peter threw a something big at Bucky. It crashed through the pillar, coming really close to hitting Bucky. Claire let out a loud growl as she charged at Peter, but before she could get to him, Sam flew in and kicked him off the beam. Peter fired a web at Sam, causing him to crash to the floor, but Sam quickly stands. Peter shot another web at Sam's hand, sticking him to the balcony.
"Those wings carbon fiber?" he asked Sam as he sat and looked at him. Claire took her shot, running at the young fighter.
"Is this stuff coming out of you?" Sam asked as he inspected the webbing. Peter ignored him.
"That would explain the rigidity-flexibility ratio, which, gotta say, that's awesome, man." Claire continued to run down the terminal. Peter had yet to notice her, but Sam did.
"I don't know if you've been in a fight before but there's usually not this much talking," Sam fired at him, getting annoyed.
"Alright, sorry, my bad." He swung down from his perch. Bucky ran in between him and Sam, attempting to block Sam, but Peter knocked them both down onto the floor below them and Peter webbed them both. "Guys, look. I'd love to keep this up but I've only got one job here today and I gotta impress Mr. Stark, so, I'm really sorry." Before Peter could do anything, Claire pounced on him. Peter quickly rebounded and turned sharply getting a good look at Claire's wolf.
"Oh, yeah, you're in trouble now!" Bucky shouted from the floor as he looked over his shoulder at Claire. "Don't hurt him too bad, Claire."
"Oh, hey. You're a wolf," Peter said with fear. Claire only growled, baring her fangs. "Good wolfy, good girl." Claire stalked towards Peter before breaking off into the full sprint. Peter jumped up, dodging her, and shot a web at her back. Claire let out a little yelp at the sudden pain but turned around and jumped at Peter. He shot a web at one of the beams on the ceiling and swung down, kicking Claire in her jaw. She fell back with a hard thud, but reached her paw up, swiping her claws at Peter's body, catching his side. He hissed in pain as he landed on another beam and inspected the wound. Her claws had cut through his suit, getting his skin. Blood was pouring from the wound, but it wasn't deep. Before he could retaliate, Redwing flew in and latched onto Peter's arms, dragging him out of the terminal with a scream.
"You couldn't have done that earlier?" Bucky asked as they both still sat stuck to the floor.
"I hate you," Sam muttered with disdain. Claire trotted over and used her claws to cut Bucky and Sam out of the webbing before shifting back to her normal self.
"You boys need to knock it off. I had a whole car ride of your bickering," she whined as Bucky embraced her.
"How are you?" he asked as he inspected the growing bruise on her jaw. That kid really did a number on me.
"I'm fine," she assured him. She, Bucky, and Sam made their way out of the terminal and back outside, running into Steve. The four of them ran, soon catching up to Wanda and Clint.
Wanda and Clint kept running, spotting the Quinjet in the distance.
"There's our ride," he said to Wanda as the rest of "Team Captain America" ran for the Quinjet.
"Come on!" Steve yelled as he led the charge. They didn't get far as a fizzing stream of energy sliced through the runway, stopping the team. They all looked up as Vision slowly descended but still hovered above the ground.
"Captain Rogers. I know you believe what you're doing is right. But for the collective good you must surrender now," Vision said pleading with the Captain as Tony's team arrived, forming a line blocking Steve and his team from reaching the Quinjet.
Steve's team stood still, unsure how to proceed. Wanda tried to catch her breath as she looked over at Claire, taking notice of her giant bruise.
"What do we do, Cap?" Sam asked looking for direction. Steve stared ahead beyond Tony.
"We fight."
"This is gonna end well," Natasha muttered sarcastically as both teams walked towards each other with determination etched on all of their faces. Everyone soon broke out into a sprint before colliding with each other. Steve blocked a punch as Iron Man landed. Clint fired an arrow at Vision. Rhodey flew after Falcon and Claire shifted back into her wolf and chased after them. Bucky traded blows with T'Challa. An explosive arrow hit Iron Man. Natasha threw Scott, as Peter swung through the air, struggling to evade vehicles projected by Wanda. Bucky landed punches on T'Challa while Clint and Natasha battle with batons. Clint pinned her down with his bow.
"We're still friends, right?" Natasha asked the archer as he pinned her down. Clint smiled at her.
"Depends on how hard you hit me." Natasha quickly got out of his hold, spinning him with her legs. As she's about to kick him in the head, her foot stopped and glowed bright red. Natasha snapped her head to the right, seeing Wanda, before she threw the redhead into a truck. Natasha groaned as she hit her head and rolled onto her back. Clint looked over at Wanda surprised.
"You were pulling your punches." Clint nodded at her sheepishly as he got up and followed her. Wanda looked to her left, seeing Bucky's altercation with T'Challa and ran over to him. T'Challa had him pinned to a truck; his claws ready to pierce Bucky's neck. Before he could move, Wanda's magic stopped his hand, and then with a wave of her hand, Wanda yanked T'Challa away, crashing into a passenger gangway. Bucky gave her a nod of thanks as he ran off to find Claire who was busy trying not to get stuck with anymore of Peter's webs.
Bucky caught up with Steve and Claire who had shifted back as they sat behind a gangway. They were both slightly out of breath when Bucky sat beside them, looking over at the hanger that kept the Quinjet. It wasn't that far, but there was no way they could make it.
"We gotta go," Bucky said to Steve, gaining his and Claire's attention. "That guy's probably in Siberia by now."
"We gotta draw out the flyers. I'll take Vision. You get to the jet."
"No, you get to the jet! Both of you!," Sam said as his voice cut through the comms. "The rest of us aren't getting out of here."
"As much as I hate to admit it," Clint said. "If we're gonna win this one, some of us might have to lose it."
"This isn't the real fight, Steve."
"Alright, Sam, what's the play?" Steve asked.
"We need a diversion, something big."
"I got something kind of big, but I can't hold it very long," Scott said. "On my signal, run like hell. And if I tear myself in half...don't come back for me." Bucky looked at Claire with and eyebrow raised in confusion.
"He's gonna tear himself in half?"
"I don't know man, don't look at me. I'm not the one who recruited him," Claire said raising her hands in defense. The three could hear Scott muttering encouraging words to himself, as they looked out at the runway, seeing Scott grow a couple stories high, holding onto to Rhodey's leg before throwing him.
"I guess that's the signal," Steve said as he ushered the three from behind the gangway, taking off towards the Quinjet.
"Way to go, Tic Tac!" Sam yelled happily through the comms.
The three continued running, almost making it, when a yellow beam fired in front of them, hitting the control tower, knocking it down. Steve slowed down until he saw the familiar red mist catch the tower, slowing its descent. He turned around, and seeing Wanda struggle with the weight, he picked up his pace, urging Bucky and Claire to do the same. They ran faster, almost reaching the hanger when they heard a loud scream. Stopping, Claire turned and saw Wanda kneeling with her hands to her ears and her head hanging low. The mist holding the tower disappeared and it fell faster, starting to block their path.
"Claire! Come on, we gotta move!" Bucky shouted at her.
"You guys go on without me! Go!" she yelled back, looking at Bucky before running towards Wanda. Bucky and Steve kept running, making it inside the hanger before the tower fell. Claire ran up to Wanda and laid the brunette's head in her lap.
"Are you okay?" she asked, brushing Wanda's hair from her face.
"Yeah," Wanda replied, taking deep breaths. "I'm fine." She felt her cheeks heat up at the close contact between her and Claire.
"I'm sorry," Claire whispered, turning away from her.
"For what?"
"I feel like I should've stayed with you; protected you." Wanda let out a little laugh.
"You don't need to be sorry. I can protect myself." Wanda laid in Claire's lap for several minutes, trying to steady her mind and slow her breathing. She looked up into the sky, seeing the Quinjet fly away from the airport, before shutting her eyes. She could still feel the ringing of Rhodey's sonic cannon in her ears, bouncing around in her brain, creating a massive headache. She didn't know how long she had been laying on the runway, but she opened her eyes once more, looking at Vision as he descended over to her. Claire let out a little growl, but Wanda laid her hand on top of hers, stopping her.
Vision kneeled beside Wanda and took her hand, looking at her with sympathy and sadness.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"Me, too," she panted.
"It's as I said. Catastrophe." Wanda closed her eyes again, her head pounding, but a faint voice broke through her mind.
"Vision, I got a bandit on my six. Vision! You copy? Target his thrusters, turn him into a glider," the voice of Rhodey pierced the air as Vision turned and targeted his blast at Sam. Claire, seeing who he was aiming for jumped into action.
"No!You'll kill him!" she yelled as she pounced on Vision, causing him to alter thetrajectory of the blast, hitting Rhodey instead of Sam. Vision immediately tookoff, flying after the Quinjet.