World's a crazy place right now. People are... well, nobody's stable. Allies are now enemies; alliances are all torn apart. The world's broken. Everybody's just looking for somebody to fix it.

 

 

Lorna didn't get a of sleep the previous night. She hadn't planned on showing up if she was being completely honest. Sam had called her and they had made arrangements for her to go back to Louisiana to visit Sarah and the family as it had been a while since she had seen them - plus, he claimed that Sarah was starting to bug him about never keeping in touch with the team. It was for the better that she see her again. Sarah was a rock in Lorna's life. Especially after everything that happened with Steve, Lorna counted her blessings in having a friend-no, sister like Sarah.

Plans changed after Sam returned the shield to the Smithsonian. She had a feeling he wouldn't continue carrying the shield but she had hoped he would. Hoped he would be the Captain America she wished Steve continued to be. Deep down, she just wanted Sam to be Captain America so that she could forget Steve was ever the one who wielded the shield. It had been hard getting him out of her head in recent days, especially with the anniversary of their relationship nearing by. It would've been six years together and she probably would've had her baby by now. He made her question everything. She over analyzed every past interaction. Did he simply pity her? Did he just figure it was better to settle for her rather than live life alone? She'll never know and it hurt her that Steve never gave her an answer as to why he was so quick to go back for Peggy.

Sam had told her that he wouldn't be going back to Louisiana with her. She wanted to call him and yell at him but she also knew he was on a leash with the government since he signed the Accords. She knew that if they needed him, he had to follow orders. Lorna decided to berate him with questions about it at their specified location. From their conversation, Sam was tense. He said things had gotten complicated. He played it off as new people being a thorn in his side. He always did that. Tended to smooth things over with a joke for her, never really wanting to scare her or those around him of the dangers he possibly faced once he put his suit on. What she hadn't counted on was the tall woman speaking with him. She was as tall as him, give or take an inch. She had her hair in a loose pony, loose strands framing her face but kept at bay by a headpiece she wore. Her armor looking simple but from the heavy presence of metal Lorna sensed, not weak. She had a rope and sword strapped on either hip, a shield coming into view as she continued to approach them. As she got closer, the woman motioned to Sam.

"Lor, I'm sorry about the change of plans." Sam softly spoke as he brought his arms around a now-worried Lorna.

"I thought you said I didn't need to worry-"

"You don't, I promise" Sam protested with a smile as he stepped aside, "Nyx here approached me about a problem that's starting to spread so I decided to help." the tall woman smiled at her, extending a hand in her direction.

"Pleasure to meet you, Lorna. Sam has told me how incredible you are, could really use you out there." Nyx praised as Lorna shook her hand, trying to focus as she had to admit the mixture of Nyx's beauty up close and the extremely strong concentration of metal on her made her head spin. It had been a long time since she felt that much metal on one body; let alone the presence of such a strong metal concentrated on one body.

"What do you mean? I thought you told me this was just bad guys being-"

"Sam!" Another voice interjected from across the tarmac. Lorna's face went pale at the sight of him. She hadn't seen him in a while and was hoping it would be a while longer before she had to face him again. Sam only groaned at the sound, knowing the tone well enough to decipher what Bucky Barnes wanted with him. "You had no right giving up that shield!" he continued as Sam moved past the two women to meet Bucky half way.

"I don't need to explain myself to you. There are bigger things at stake right now than that shield." Sam voiced to him in disbelief. "What do you want me to do? Call America and tell them I changed my mind?"

"I'm coming with you, Sam." Lorna voiced as she walked up to the pair of men, actively avoiding any eye contact with James, not wanting to speak to him in fear of what she'll reveal to him since Steve's departure.

"What? No, Lorna go to Louisiana and I'll meet you there in a few days, I don't think this is going to take long. Please, Lorna." Sam pleaded with the shorter woman. He wanted to keep her away from all of this. If what Joaquin told him about this group earlier was true, he didn't want her to be near them. He knew that she would be able to take them down without probably breaking a sweat but given how dicey things were already between her and the world government, he didn't want to risk her chances with them. It was bad enough the guilt he carried from leaving her behind on the Raft all those years ago. He could still hear her cries, clear as day, ringing in his ears whenever he saw Lorna. It haunted him. It never went away and she could sense it. She never blamed him for it but she knew that he felt a sense of responsibility for her current situation with the government.

Bucky, on the other hand, hadn't seen Lorna since that day she stormed out of Tony's funeral. He knew that Steve was going to go back for Peggy. He'd known the moment he saw him interact with the woman all those years ago during the war. It wasn't hard for him to recognize that same little glint of love in his best friend's eyes. He wished Steve was better at goodbyes. He felt bad for Lorna. He didn't pity her per se but he just couldn't help but see the hurt she had in her eyes when she stormed away from him. Bucky didn't question Steve on it. He could tell that it wasn't his place to ask nor know about what had happened. Besides, he had been gone for five years - the duration of their whole relationship. He would be lying if he said he didn't feel a pang of hurt at his best friend leaving and growing old without him. He had missed so much time with his best friend and felt the time they did have was next to nothing in comparison. Seeing her again, he was at a loss for words. Happy that Sam had kept in touch with her. He could only look her way for a moment, wanting her to acknowledge him but figuring it'd be a long shot.

"Sam, we have to leave now. There isn't much time left before we lose our chance at stopping them." Nyx yelled from her spot, slowly starting to walk back to their aircraft for the mission.

"Them? Who's them?" Bucky looked between Sam and Nyx in confusion. What the hell was going on? Who was she and why was she accompanying Sam?

"A group called the Flag Smashers who believe that the world was better during the Blip." Sam said with an exasperated sigh, not knowing why he was even explaining himself to the man. "Nyx and I are going to stop them and see if we can get some answers and find out what they're really up to as it may seem that some are stronger than the average person." Sam didn't want to further explain himself as he brushed past Lorna and Bucky to get to Nyx. Lorna huffed as she jogged to catch up with the duo despite Sam's protests to get her to go back to Louisiana. Bucky internally fought with himself for a total of five seconds before following them to the aircraft.

The flight was less than comfortable for the two men. Nyx kept herself busy talking with the young gentleman she'd come to know as Joaquin about where they'd be intercepting and probing him for any other information about his rough encounter with the group. Given that Joaquin had taken quite the beating, she only suspected that some group members had taken a form of the super soldier serum. Lorna didn't say much as she sat next to Sam, going over all the things Steve had taught her for combat. While it wasn't too long ago the battle with Thanos, it seemed like a lifetime ago since she last used her powers for combat.

Steve had always told her to use her powers as a last resort and only to use it when absolutely necessary for a mission. He knew that she feared herself and the power she held within her. She had seen how the world viewed Wanda and so it seemed that Steve didn't want her to be under the same scrutiny. Clearly, he failed as she wasn't even considered a human being at this point in time. A weapon of mass destruction is what she was deemed as. Lorna knew that she could rival Wanda with her powers. Dr. Banner had even suggested that she carried a mutant gene that laid dormant until her experimentation when they were prepping to bring everyone home. He had analyzed her to see if there was a possibility of her wielding the gauntlet to bring everyone back and that's when he talked to her about his discovery. It would explain why she survived the power of an Infinity Stone when she was trapped in Sokovia in 2014. For a moment, she felt special and not like a freak. She felt like she held something over most of the team. She was born special and not from a bottle like Steve or through brains (and money) like Tony. She had a gene that proved she was born different and possibly even superior. A part of her thought that maybe that's why Steve trained her to subdue her powers on the field; maybe he was scared of her. Scared that she didn't need him, or anyone for that matter, to protect her. He wouldn't do that, right? This was Steve Rogers for Christ's sake. He wouldn't nerf her on the field if he knew how much power she held. Right? She could manuever his shield better than him given her powers. She could bring down a plane, or several, with a simple will of her powers. Lorna circled all the possibilities of what she could do with her power that she didn't notice the two children men speaking about Steve at the moment.

"You don't get to call me that, Sam." Bucky spoke through gritted teeth. "That's not how this is going to work."

"Why? That's what Steve called you." Sam spoke with a -eating smile as he got up from his spot, nearing Nyx and Joaquin by the door to the plane. Lorna unbuckled herself and followed suit. Nyx looked at her with a concerned look, not knowing if she could fly like her and Sam since they weren't making a traditional landing. Lorna nodded her head, assuming what she was thinking. Truth was, Lorna had custom shoes made for her. Shoes with metal soles so that she could use her powers to help her fly so to speak. Originally, Tony provided her with shoes similar to his Iron Man armor but once she got the hang of her magnetism powers. he made sure her shoes, combat and non, were made with metal soles. Bucky looks at Sam with a pointed glare.

Sam eyes the two women with a genuine smile. The rush of a mission never got old for Sam. He loved the adrenaline and the possibilities of what could come of a mission. Of course, he wants it to be successful each and every time but he enjoyed telling a good story so hopefully something interesting will occur on this one. Maybe he finds out that some punk is behind it all and it'll be an easy win for everyone. Maybe he'll see Nyx do something magical. Part of him believed her to be a sorceress but this would be the first time he'd see her in action. This was the first time he's seen Nyx in her armor. He had seen the armor and relics before. Just not on her. It was splayed on a mannequin as if it were some ancient artifact. It probably was considering the few tales she had mentioned to him a couple of days earlier and when he stayed in her house. Either way, Sam's excited and hopeful to put an end to these guys.

Jump.

There Sam goes, freefalling before expanding his mechanical wings and soaring off whichever direction he needs to go. Nyx follows not too far behind, displaying another talent of hers, flying. 'Of course she can fly.' Sam thought to himself. Why wouldn't she be able to? Honestly, it wouldn't have shocked him if she couldn't fly but land on her feet gracefully. He sees Lorna freefalling a few seconds after. Panicking for a moment before seeing her manuever through the sky. Did she know how to fly? He'd have to ask her about it later.

Bucky looks down below, seeing the three easily flying through the sky. He didn't have magic abilities that helped him do so. Why would he? He's been lucky to be flown everywhere he needed to go pre and post Winter Soldier. Joaquin eyes the metal-armed man with uneasiness. Likely, he's going to survive but is he going to be okay free falling thousands of feet before making contact with the ground? Before he can say anything to deter the man, Bucky lets out a yell of frustration as he hops out the plane. Considering he doesn't have the flying abilities, it's not long before Bucky's making contact with branches and then the ground. He's on his back, looking up at the cloudy sky in pain and contemplating his decision of tagging along on this mission. He rethinks his decision of coming along. Why did he think he'd stick a landing from a plane thousands of feet in the air? 'I regret everything' is all the soldier could think in that moment.

"I have all of that on camera, you know that right?" Sam's voice rang from Red Wing, hovering over Bucky. 

"Get out of my face Sam or I'll break it." he groaned, defeated on all fronts. Nyx landed before his splayed out body, a hint of a smile piercing though as she offered her hand, "I've seen worse landings, if that helps"

"It doesn't." Bucky responded. A little more gruff than he wanted as he took her hand. Having to be incredibly close to her frame relatively quickly didn't help the heat that suddenly tinted his cheeks. Nyx didn't move, simply looking around for Lorna and Sam after her hand let go of his. Bucky could only clear his throat to recompose himself.

Lorna gracefully landed a few feet back from Nyx, taking a few breaths to ground herself again. She could hear Red Wing get closer to her. "I'm seeing this through with you, Sam" she bluntly spoke, crossing her arms as she looked the mechanical drone bird's camera sensor.

"I know, which is what scares me." He landed beside her, bumping his shoulder with hers to lighten her up a bit. It worked because the corner of Lorna's lip twitched upward.

"Torres says there's a warehouse close by where they've been known to frequent. Could be loading up some interesting cargo as we speak." Nyx pointed to the direction of a warehouse seen off in the distance of their landing. All nodded in agreement before making way towards the building.
 

• • •

Back at the air base, Joaquin was getting some things in order for Sam that he had requested from him. He didn't notice the motorcycle that was parked nearby after he landed. Completely missing the fact that someone was paying him a special visit.

"Thought I was your only famous friend, Torres." A voice came from the door frame, leaning against it with their arms crossed.

"Jesus, Jack! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"Oh, don't be such a baby. My current post doesn't let me have too much fun so I find it where I can." She sarcastically states as she crosses the room to lean against his desk.

"What's the new post?" he tore his eyes away from the files he was looking for.

"You know the new Cap?"

"Oh, don't tell me - they want you to be his Iron Man?" Joaquin couldn't contain the smile that poked through.

"Much worse," She rolled her eyes with an exasperated sigh, "I'm his new pilot flying him to missions."

"Doesn't that shield give him chivalrous powers among other things though?" Torres joked to soften her mood. "Wait, why are you here?"

"I need to know where you dropped him off, Joaquin. I have intel telling me you've been swapping secrets with Wilson about the Flag Smashers." Jack deadpanned; it was business. She didn't like she was coming for Torres but she needed the information to move forward. "I'm sorry."

"C'mon Stark. What's the point if Sam and them are-"

"Them? You mean it wasn't just Sam? Who else is there with him?" Now her tone switched to that of curiosity and panic. She knew how tight of a leash Sam was being kept on even if he didn't realize it. If the government found out that Sam was starting to lead a team of new Avengers, it wasn't going to end well for any of them. "Torres, you need to tell me, now" 

"Jack, I ca-"

"Joaquin, tell me the damn coordinates or next time, I'll do it behind your back. You know I don't even have to ask."

"Alright fine. Jeez, didn't think you would stoop to that level," he mumbled, writing down the coordinates for her on a small torn paper before handing it to her. "Just be careful, Jack. With the Flag Smashers and Walker. You know Tony didn't want you anywhere near this world." 

"You know me. Torres...danger always manages to find me." Jack scoffed as she took the paper from his hand with a wink.