Chapter 36: -38- to -39-
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June 24th, 2016
Outskirts of Leipzig, Germany
Maggie and Bucky slept as they had as the Wyvern and the Winter Soldier – sitting bolt upright, one watching over the other. Sam and Steve had swapped driving so Steve could get some shuteye, but from what Maggie could tell he just stared pensively out the window. He clearly wasn't any good at sitting and waiting.
They were an hour out from their prearranged meetup with Sharon (who turned out to be Sharon Carter, Peggy Carter's great-niece), Steve was driving again, and Maggie was working on the computer.
As she trawled through flight records from the US to Germany, she tugged at the collar of her shirt. She was fed up with this car – it was tiny, poorly air conditioned, and packed with four wrung-out, tired people who hadn't had a moment alone in a while. She loved Bucky, but if he didn't stop shifting his legs in an attempt to find more room, she was going to scream.
Maggie squinted at the data on her screen and grimaced. "I've found some trace evidence of your friends' flight details to Germany," she told Steve and Sam. "And it looks like someone's been keeping an eye on Carter. If I can find it, then I'm sure that To- that others can find it."
Steve let out a long sigh. "I guess it can't be helped. We'll have to prepare for contact."
A grim silence fell in the small car. Maggie closed her laptop and shared a glance with Bucky. She could see the question in his eyes: are you going to be okay if your brother comes for us?
She didn't know. It didn't feel real yet, that she'd seen her brother, that she'd felt his beating pulse under her fingers. The thought of seeing him again so soon, when he was awake, was… terrifying.
Maggie swallowed. Bucky's metal fingers crept across the small space between them to tangle with her own fingers. His eyes were creased with concern, and she smiled reassuringly at him. They had a mission, and she'd complete it.
If Tony tried to stop them… she didn't have an answer for that. But it didn't seem like it was just her and Bucky against the world this time. Steve and Sam seemed just as determined to get to the doctor and the Winter Soldiers as they were, and they'd called in more help. Maggie had more or less figured out who was on the way – Lang, the "Ant-Man"; Clint – probably Clint Barton, AKA Hawkeye; and Wanda, no doubt Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch. Maggie had never really been on a team before, let alone with people with extraordinary powers, but she found she didn't mind the idea of it – the more people who could help to track down that doctor and bring him justice for what he'd done to the world and to Bucky, the better.
Tony would either agree to help them, or he would try to stop them. Maggie didn't think that anyone in this car wanted to hurt Tony, so they would just have to get around him. She let out a long breath, and squeezed Bucky's metal fingers. There were only two logical options. She could live with that.
Bucky seemed to sense her mind ease, and he knocked his knee against hers with a smile. She smiled back, but then he was moving his goddamn legs around again, so she had to clench her jaw and look out the window before she smacked him.
Sam had seen their fingers tangle out of the corner of his eye, and his eyebrows shot up his forehead as the pieces clicked together in his mind: the glances loaded with meaning, the small touches, the way they'd come back from their secret chat smiling and joking, and the way they seemed to exist in each other's orbit, intimate and trusting.
That's going to make things complicated, he thought. But he'd found a kind-of-truce with the ex assassins, and they all had a job to do, so he kept his mouth shut.
Underpass near Leipzig/Halle Airport, Germany
Steve pulled up behind Sharon Carter's nondescript grey Audi, and climbed out of the driver's seat. Maggie wasn't paying attention to him, though – her eyes were on the woman who'd just emerged from the car ahead of them.
She was younger than Maggie had expected, and pretty, with blonde hair and brown eyes. And… Maggie swore under her breath when she realised that she'd seen this woman only yesterday, groaning in the ruins of a cafeteria table. She glanced sideways at Bucky, and saw the glimmer of guilt in his expression. So he was remembering, then.
Maggie knocked her knee into his, and once she had his attention raised her eyebrows at him, as if to say see, she's okay!
Bucky smiled sadly at her, then went back to looking through the windshield.
Outside the car and out of earshot, Sharon Carter greeted Steve with: "I'm not sure you understand the concept of a getaway car."
"It's low profile," Steve replied, and they met by the trunk of her car.
"Good, because this stuff tends to draw a crowd." Sharon opened the trunk to reveal Steve's shield and uniform, and what must have been Sam's wing pack.
Inside the Beetle, Maggie's eyes widened and she sat up to get a closer look – she'd been curious about Sam's wings since she'd seen them in action on the causeway all those years ago, and now it seemed she might have a moment to inspect them. And the Vibranium shield – she wanted to know what the rarest metal on earth felt like, when it wasn't putting dents in her wings.
But she was distracted when Bucky spoke: "Can you move your seat up?"
Sam didn't even turn around. "No."
Maggie rolled her eyes. It seemed she wasn't the only one fed up with sharing this tiny goddamned space. And she was trying to pretend she didn't notice Sam and Bucky basically fighting over being Steve's friend, because that would be beneath them and she wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. She really did. Sighing, she pressed herself closer against the side of the car and moved her legs to give Bucky more room.
Outside the car, Steve murmured "I owe you again."
"Keepin' a list." Sharon turned to look into the Beetle just as Bucky shifted closer to the middle, slinging his metal arm behind Maggie's backrest so they could share more space. All three occupants of the car were looking out at Sharon and Steve.
"You know he kinda tried to kill me," Sharon sighed, leveling her gaze on Steve.
"Sorry. I'll put it on the list."
She smiled. "And you've made a friend," she added, casting another glance at the dark-haired woman in the back seat. Sensing she was being talked about, Maggie wiggled her fingers in a wave. That was something that people did with acquaintances, wasn't it?
Steve raised an eyebrow and turned back to Sharon. "His friend. I think."
Sharon smiled again, her eyes going warm, then glanced back down at the trunk of her car, biting her lip.
Back in the Beetle, Maggie's eyes darted between the two blondes. The eye contact, the way Steve's head was angled toward Carter, the almost nervous glances…
"Bucky," she whispered, straightening.
"I see it," Bucky murmured back. He sounded surprised, but there was a smile in his voice.
Sam looked over his shoulder. "What?"
They both ignored him.
Moments later, Steve stepped toward Sharon and leaned in, taking her in his arms as he kissed her. Maggie gasped and flung her hand toward Bucky, smacking his chest in her excitement.
After a short embrace, Steve and Sharon pulled apart, smiling.
"That was…"
"Late," Steve admitted, his hands on her waist and a smile on his lips.
"Damn right," she grinned. They pulled apart – Steve wished they could have more time, but it seemed he was always destined to go off and do something stupid.
"I should go," Sharon said. She met his eyes once more, gave him a small smile, then stepped around him to get back in her car.
Smiling to himself, Steve nodded and found himself glancing back at the Beetle.
In the passenger seat Sam nodded and smiled, his eyes glinting with vindication after all the times he'd teased Steve about the nurse. Behind him, Bucky's tense face broke into a smile, teasing and proud and just so Bucky that Steve felt like he was a kid in Brooklyn again. To Bucky's left, Steve found himself faced with a wicked smirk that he'd seen time and time again throughout his life – first on Howard's face, then Tony's, and now, apparently, on Maggie's.
Steve sighed and gave them a pointed look. They could at least pretend they weren't blatantly staring.
Leipzig/Halle Airport
As Steve steered the puttering car into the airport carpark, Maggie met Bucky's eyes. Her gut was churning with nerves, and if Bucky's faintly whirring arm and troubled eyes were any indication, he wasn't exactly the picture of calm either.
Whatever was about to happen, it felt like everything they'd been running from for two years was about to come crashing down on them.
Maggie swallowed.
Steve parked a few spaces down from a nondescript white van, cut off the engine, and climbed out of the car. Maggie peered out the window and assessed the situation.
The driver of the van, a blonde man wearing black trousers and a leather vest, got out and nodded to Steve. "Cap." Maggie ran her eyes over the man's face and identified him as Clint Barton.
The passenger of the van, a grim-faced young woman with long brown hair, climbed out as Steve and Barton approached one another.
"You know I wouldn't have called if I had any other choice," Steve said, shaking Barton's hand. Maggie ran her eyes over the archer. Even if she hadn't known his name and alias, she'd have noticed that this was a highly skilled man. His eyes were alert, his body battle-ready. A prickle of nerves went through her as she realised that this was another person who knew her brother.
"Hey, man, you're doing me a favour," Barton said, and Maggie pushed the Beetle's driver's seat forward so she could get out. Bucky was climbing out the passenger door. "Besides," Barton continued, flicking his head at Maximoff, "I owe a debt."
Steve spoke to Maximoff, then, something about having his back, but Maggie wasn't paying attention. Barton had looked up to acknowledge Sam, now standing by Steve's side, and then his eyes flicked toward the two ex-HYDRA assassins climbing out of the tiny Beetle.
Maggie felt his gaze prickling on her skin as she stepped onto the concrete and shut the car door behind her. She moved towards the bonnet and leaned against it, hanging back from the conversation, but finally she could ignore the archer's gaze no longer. Crossing her arms, she looked up and met his keen, assessing eyes.
She knew they called him Hawkeye, and she had to admit the name was well-given. As he peered at her blank face, Maggie felt as if he was seeing every secret she'd ever kept. And for the life of her, she couldn't work out what he was thinking. She wondered how much he knew about her past, about who she was.
Barton's eyes flickered to Bucky, who was keeping the car between himself and the newcomers, trying to draw as little attention as possible, and a furrow grew between his brows. All of this passed in the space of seconds.
"How 'bout our other recruit?" Steve asked, drawing Barton's attention away. The archer didn't seem to need to acknowledge the Bucky-and-Maggie sized elephant in the room, so he swung around and paced toward the van door.
"He's raring to go!" he said, and pulled the van door open with a metallic slam. "Had to put a little coffee in him, but-"
The last occupant of the van, a dark-haired man who had been sleeping with his feet up on the seat, jerked awake, blinking. Maggie smiled.
"He should be good!" Barton finished.
Steve glanced at Sam questioningly, and Sam shrugged. No one was paying attention to Maggie, so she took the opportunity to look over her shoulder and raise an eyebrow at Bucky, questioning: are you alright?
He nodded, one arm propped on the car roof, and gave her a half-hearted smile. He looked tired.
"What time zone is this?" she heard the newly-awoken man – Scott Lang – ask, as he climbed out of the van. She turned to see him glancing around at the people in the parking lot, bewildered and getting rapidly more excited.
"C'mon," Barton muttered, and pushed Lang toward Steve.
"Captain America!" Lang exclaimed, eyes locked on Steve and his face all lit up like a kid at Christmas. He grasped Steve's outstretched hand and started enthusiastically shaking it.
"Mr. Lang."
"It's an honour," Lang said, nearly shaking Steve's entire body now. "I'm shaking your hand too long!" Steve nodded and was released. "Wow! This is awesome!"
Maggie raised an eyebrow.
"Captain America!" Lang exclaimed once more, to Maximoff, then did a double take. "I know you too, you're great!" Then, as if he couldn't decide what to latch onto next, he seized Steve's – admittedly impressive – shoulders, and grimaced. "Jeez."
Steve looked over his shoulder at Bucky at that, trading a bemused glance with his best friend. Maggie had to work hard to repress her laughter.
"Look," Lang continued, and Maggie's eyebrows continued to rise up her forehead. "I wanna say, I know you know a lot of super people, so – thinks for thanking of me!"
Lang was a ball of nerves and enthusiastic energy, his thoughts tripping straight off his tongue in a nervous stream-of consciousness. Maggie liked him.
Lang grinned at Sam. "Hey, man!"
"What's up, Tic-Tac?"
"Uh, good to see you. Look, what happened last time-"
"It was a great audition," Sam cut in, "but it'll…" he chuckled, shaking his head. "It'll never happen again."
Before she could stop herself, Maggie snorted. "Did he kick your ass?" she asked, still leaning against the car bonnet.
Sam tensed, but Steve moved on before she could get a satisfactory answer. She raised an eyebrow at Bucky, who gave her a small smirk. When she turned back, she realised that she'd drawn Barton and Maximoff's attention, and they were both eyeing her curiously. She stiffened again.
"They tell you what we're up against?" Steve was asking.
Lang sobered. "Something about some… psycho assassins?"
Bucky and Maggie tensed imperceptibly.
"We're outside the law on this one," Steve explained. "So if you come with us, you're a wanted man."
"Yeah, well, what else is new." Lang's face was uncharacteristically somber.
"We should get moving," Bucky called.
Barton stepped forward. "I've got a chopper lined up."
As if on cue, a blaring alarm sounded throughout the airport, followed by an evacuation instruction in German. Maggie's stomach erupted with nerves again, and she shared a glance with Bucky.
"They're evacuating the airport," he explained to the others. Maggie concentrated on her breathing. She wished they could just get to the doctor in Siberia and deal with him, instead of having to face… whatever was about to happen.
Sam turned to Steve and muttered: "Stark."
"Stark?" Lang echoed.
Maggie's muscles went rigid, locking her in place, and a ringing sound filled her head. But despite her instinctive bodily reaction to the name, she didn't miss the looks that everyone but Lang shot her. She scowled and hunched her shoulders. How many goddamn people knew who she was?
Steve straightened and glanced around at his motley crew of soldiers. "Suit up," he commanded, and everyone sprang into action.
Maggie pushed off the bonnet and reached into the car to grab her gear bag, but when she turned around she came face to face with Steve, his face creased with concern and his shoulders set. She blinked.
"Can I talk to you?" he asked softly.
"… Sure."
Steve turned and walked a little ways down the parking lot. Maggie followed, glancing over her shoulder at Bucky. Bucky had hesitated by the car and watched her following Steve with a furrowed brow. There was a question in his eyes: do you want me to come? She shook her head at him, shooting him a quick smile, and he went to suit up.
Maggie almost bumped into Steve when he stopped abruptly and turned around, his face still troubled. She could see him struggling for words so she waited silently, clutching her gear bag with both hands.
Finally, he met her eyes and said: "Tony's going to be here."
Maggie's look of polite curiosity fell from her face, and she felt as if he'd punched her in the chest. She knew that, she was trying not to think too hard about it, so why was he-
"You understand that?" Steve asked, eyes flicking over her face.
She straightened. "Yes."
His eyes were still troubled. "You don't have to fight him, if you don't want. You can walk away right now and no one will think less of you for it."
For a second, Maggie considered it. She wouldn't have to face Tony, she could slip back into comfortable anonymity. But as soon as it came, any serious consideration of the idea vanished – she couldn't leave Bucky to face the consequences of the past few days on his own, and she knew that Steve and the others needed her help against the Winter Soldiers.
Steve let her process his offer for a few moments, then continued. "But. If you want to stay, if you want to see this through – we could use all the help we can get."
Maggie sighed and looked into Steve's eyes. He looked disturbed, and she realized how hard this must be for him – sending his friend's sister up against his friend in battle. She could see from the turmoil in his eyes that he cared about Tony.
Maggie's face softened, and the churning fear and nerves in her gut lessened slightly. She took a deep breath, and murmured: "I'm not walking away from this one."
They looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds more, then Steve nodded, a frown still hovering on his brow. "Then you'd better get suited up."
"Yes, Captain."
"Call me Steve."
Maggie blinked and raised an eyebrow, and was surprised to see compassion in Steve's face. He didn't like this at all, that much was plain to see, but she could tell that he respected her. Maggie didn't think anyone but Bucky had truly respected her since her break with HYDRA, and the inclusion of Steve on that small list made her throat clog up with emotion.
But they didn't have time for that. She nodded to Steve once more, then ducked away to pull on her battle gear.
A minute later – she had always been a fast changer, thanks to HYDRA – Maggie stepped out from behind what meager cover she could find, holding her barbed gloves, red goggles, and cowl. She paced in the general direction of the two vehicles, frowning at the items in her hands, remnants of her life as the Wyvern. She'd barely looked at them in almost a year now, and they felt alien in her fingers. The gloves gleamed dully under the fluorescent lights, and the red tint of the goggle lenses glinted. The smooth slide of the cowl over her skin sent a shudder racing down Maggie's spine.
She'd taken the backpack cover off, so now her wings were out for anyone in the airport carpark to see, folded close to her body but still unmistakably lethal metal weapons. She noticed that her gait was different, now that she was wearing the wings and sturdy black battle gear. Her booted feet were light but sure, walking with purpose. Her arms hung loosely by her sides, ready for combat at a moment's notice.
Like a magnetic pull, she sensed Bucky appear before her. She glanced up and spotted him waiting for her by a concrete post, decked out in black gear with his silver arm bared. His blue-grey eyes were dark and troubled as he took her in.
For a few moments, silence stretched between them as they eyed each other in their uniforms. This was different to when they'd gone up against Vincent Silva – those had been costumes, intended to intimidate. Now, they were dressed for battle.
Bucky looked dangerous, clad in black with his arm's scarlet star on display. Maggie could only imagine she looked the same.
Maggie sighed, then realised she couldn't make this more tragic than it already was. "Right size?" she asked, gesturing to Bucky's vest as she resumed pacing toward him.
He nodded, frowning a little, and she shrugged.
"Sam was worried."
"I'm sure he was," Bucky replied, the corner of his mouth tugging up a little. Once they were a few feet apart, he nodded at the items Maggie carried. "You gonna use those?"
Maggie lifted her hands and considered the items, tokens of a past life that had rested at the bottom of her bag for so long, unused. Taking a deep breath, she picked up the black cowl with two fingers and dropped it on the ground. It pooled on the concrete, and she let out a breath of relief.
The cowl had been part of what made the Wyvern a faceless assassin, removed from humanity. It had separated her from her victims, given them nothing but darkness to look into before they met their violent end.
Maggie didn't want to cover her face any more.
Bucky watched her with warmth in his eyes. She put her goggles on slowly, resting them on her forehead for now, then pulled on her gauntlets. The feel of them made her shiver, as if she was pulling a part of her personhood away.
But Bucky was there, and once she was done they stepped together, pulling each other into their arms. Bucky smelled like leather and metal, but under that was the scent of him, warm and familiar. Maggie was careful to lay her palms flat on his back, to avoid snagging the sharp fingers of her gauntlets on his battle vest, and held him tight enough to feel his heartbeat.
Bucky sighed, his hair brushing her cheek. "You gonna be alright, doll?"
He was asking so many complicated things: are you ready to be the Wyvern again? and are you ready to fight HYDRA's ghosts? and are you ready to face your brother for the first time since 1991 on a battlefield?
Maggie tucked her head a little closer to Bucky's, closing her eyes at his warmth. "I have to be. How about you, handsome?"
He huffed a sad laugh, and his arm let out a faint whir. "Likewise."
"I love you."
Bucky's hand brushed the back of her neck, soothing. "I love you, too." After a beat, he sighed. "Meg, you don't have to fight him. I know you don't… it doesn't have to be like this."
"Huh, that's what Steve said," she murmured, and she felt Bucky's surprise. "But you need me. Steve and the others need me. I'm… I'm terrified, but I need to do this."
Bucky sighed again. "I'm sorry."
Maggie opened her mouth, not entirely sure what she was going to say, when they heard footsteps approaching and stepped apart.
It was Sam, adjusting his wingpack as he strode towards them in the fluorescently-lit carpark. He'd seen their embrace, and he raised an eyebrow.
Maggie rolled her eyes at Sam, then turned back to Bucky and cocked her head.
"For the mission?"
He nodded once, a faint smile playing at his lips. "For the mission."
God, she wanted to kiss him.
After a moment of consideration, Maggie reflected that there was no reason not to kiss him, so she stepped back into Bucky's space, smoothed her hand up the side of his neck and pressed her lips to his. After a moment of surprised stillness he kissed her back, his fingers curling around her waist and his body leaning unconsciously towards hers. Maggie smiled into the kiss, and her skin lit up where Bucky touched her.
The kiss only lasted a few seconds, but when she pulled away Maggie felt some of her nerves and exhaustion fading away. Bucky's eyes were warm, and the tension had slipped out of his face. He looked a little quizzical, but she merely smiled at him.
Maggie suspected there wasn't much that Sam Wilson didn't notice, as he was far more perceptive than he let on. And though she and Bucky had been restrained, careful, around Sam and Steve, they hadn't been able to hide the way they worried for one another, cared about one another. She supposed there wasn't much of a reason to hide their relationship, beyond habit. If she and Bucky wanted to kiss each other, she didn't see why they shouldn't be able to. What was Sam going to do, split them up at recess?
Sam passed by, shooting them a wary glance. "So weird," he muttered, but his tone was light.
Maggie bumped her shoulder against Bucky's, winked, and then they fell into step behind Sam on the way back to the van.
Darker thoughts began to slip back into Maggie's mind, and she found she was trying so hard to keep her mind off her brother that it took her a few seconds to realize that she was staring directly at Sam's wingpack. Now that was an excellent distraction.
Half a minute later, Sam glanced over his shoulder and flinched at the sight of Maggie barely half a foot behind him, awkwardly hunched as she tried to inspect his engine exhaust outputs.
"Jesus!" he yelped, skipping a few feet ahead. Maggie blinked at him, and Bucky smirked. "What're you-"
"The US Army made those?" she asked, nodding at his wings.
Sam walked sideways so he could keep an eye on her. "Originally. They've had updates since then. Why?"
Maggie could guess who had been making updates. She shrugged. "Just curious. They're remarkably collapsible. And you use your arms to steer them?"
"Look," Sam said defensively, "I've got wings, you've got wings, let's just deal with it, alright?"
"But I want to know-"
"Meg," Bucky interrupted, concealing a smile, and she sighed.
Maybe later.
They reached the parked vehicles, and Bucky and Sam veered off toward where Barton and Steve were planning. Maggie took one look at their heavy brows and headed towards the other two by the van. She knew she'd have to fight, but she wanted to avoid thinking about it for as long as she could.
She spared a glance for the parked Beetle – she'd left her backpack, with all her tools and treasures, in the trunk. Her heart ached.
Lang and Maximoff were pulling on the last parts of their uniforms – Lang was putting his arm through the sleeve of what looked like a red and black motorcycle suit, and Maximoff was pulling on her boots.
"Oh man," Lang was saying, and Maggie wondered if he'd stopped talking since he'd gotten out of the van. "Hank is going to be so mad at me-"
"Who's Hank?" asked Maximoff, as she dusted off her red leather uniform. "You've mentioned him a lot."
"Hank Pym, he's-"
Maggie perked up at the name, and stepped out from where she was concealed by the van. "Doctor Hank Pym?"
Lang flinched at her sudden appearance, cursing, but Maximoff didn't look surprised – perhaps her powers allowed her to sense Maggie before she was visible.
"The physicist?" she continued, cocking her head at Lang.
He blinked at her. "Uh, yeah. You know him?"
She shrugged. "I've read some of his work, he's a remarkable scientist. He made that suit?"
"Yeah."
"Huh." Her estimation of 'Ant-Man' hiked up a few notches. She was interested to see what the suit could do. She knew Hank Pym worked with her father and her aunt Peggy at S.H.I.E.L.D., back in the day. "So Pym Particles aren't just theoretical, then?"
Lang's eyes narrowed. She could see his confusion about her presence, and his darting glances at her wings, just visible over her shoulders. "Uh, so I don't think we were introduced, who did you say you were again?"
"Maggie." She offered her gauntleted hand, and he shook it. He had buttons on his gloves.
"Scott." He cocked his head, obviously still trying to figure out if he recognised her. "Are you wearing wings?"
"I sure am."
Maggie turned to Maximoff, who had been peering at her curiously, and offered her hand.
The Avenger took it. "I'm Wanda." Her Sokovian accent was still strong, but Maggie could hear the soft American twang to her voice, no doubt absorbed from her team members. Mentally, she corrected herself: ex-team members.
Wanda herself seemed to be sizing Maggie up, taking in her uniform and wings with something like a haunted look in her eyes.
"It's nice to meet you," Maggie said, and Wanda glanced up at her face.
"It's nice to meet you too," Wanda replied, and Maggie was surprised to hear that she seemed to actually mean it.
Scott got into his suit properly, and tucked a strange-looking helmet under his arm. "So you're a scientist, then?" he asked.
Maggie smiled. She liked Scott Lang, with his easy enthusiasm. "Not technically. I'm an international fugitive."
"Oh, sweet. I was in prison for burglary, but that was more of a state sentence."
Bucky came over, running a wary eye over the two relative strangers Maggie was chatting to. Maggie smiled at him, then turned to the others.
"Bucky, this is Scott Lang and Wanda Maximoff. Scott and Wanda, this is Bucky."
Wanda's eyes darted between Maggie and Bucky, and Maggie thought she saw her eyes glow red for a moment, but she was distracted by Scott's sudden exclamation of:
"Bucky Barnes?" His eyes were round. "Oh man, I used to watch that Captain America cartoon all the time, and I had a bunch of comics!"
Wanda rolled her eyes.
Maggie gauged Bucky's mood to see how he would react to that, but he just seemed bemused.
"Uh, well… that's me, I guess." He shrugged.
"Jeez, it is such an honor to meet you, and I gotta say I'm really sorry about the whole framing thing, that shit's rough. My girlfriend framed me for a burglary – well I mean, I technically did the burglary, but she was supposed to keep it secret, it was like a test, y'know?"
"No," said Bucky.
Wanda, bless her, interrupted. "It's nice to meet you both," she said, and there was a warmth in her eyes that Maggie liked. "I've heard a lot about you."
Oh. That explained the weird looks, then.
"Any good things?" Maggie asked half-heartedly.
Wanda opened her mouth, then closed it. Bucky tensed up.
Maggie sighed. "Well, we can only improve on that reputation. Would you care for a joke?"
That eased Bucky's tension, but before she could go on – she was definitely going to tell them the elephant joke – Steve and Barton walked over, grim-faced in their uniforms.
"I'll tell you later," Maggie whispered to Scott and Wanda, and they both blinked bemusedly at her.
"Alright," Steve said, and Maggie did a double take at the sight of him in full Captain-America uniform, stars and stripes and winged helmet. But after spending some time with Steve out of the uniform, Maggie realised it wasn't the suit that gave him that aura of purpose and solemnity. Steve had had it long before he put the suit on. Probably long before Captain America was even conceived of.
Steve continued: "We've got a plan to get airborne. First, everyone needs these commpieces."
Barton, wearing a dark sleeveless uniform, handed out the comms. He also handed Maggie something that looked a little like a chunky black bracelet. When she raised an eyebrow, he shrugged. "Energy blaster," he explained. "It'll power up once it's on your wrist, and it'll give you ranged defense. Here's how you fire it." As Barton gave her a crash course on the weapon, Maggie scrutinized his face out of the corner of her eye. Why he had seen fit to arm her, she didn't know, but she couldn't read any malicious intent in it. So she slipped on the blaster, feeling it fit snugly to her wrist, and nodded her thanks.
He offered a quick smile in response to her obviously confused expression. "It's an alternative to guns. Non-lethal." The explanation was non-specific, but Maggie was abruptly reminded that she was about to go up against her brother and his friends in battle, and her stomach flipped.
As Barton returned to his place, Steve ran an eye over his newly assembled team. They stood in a rough circle, adjusting suit straps and accepting the earpieces with serious faces. He felt a twist of guilt and sadness go through him at the sight of Maggie and Bucky in their uniforms. Their faces were visible this time around, but he couldn't help but think of them as the Wyvern and the Winter Soldier, all black outfits and metal limbs, with no choice in the matter. He wished he didn't have to do this, but they needed everyone they could get, and it was clear that Bucky and Maggie were going to see this through to the end.
Steve realised that Maggie was inspecting him right back, running an eye over his colourful uniform and the shield dangling loosely in his hand. She leaned toward Bucky and whispered something, which Steve just caught with his enhanced hearing:
"Living embodiment of freedom."
Bucky snorted, and Steve felt his churning guilt ease a little. This was almost normal, managing a team who traded jokes and sarcastic comments, making fun of their leader's uniform. All the same, he couldn't stop himself comparing Maggie's wry smile and glittering dark eyes to Tony, and his heart ached.
Everyone sobered up when they got into planning mode. Steve and Barton outlined their slapdash idea, while the others chipped in with questions and ways to hone the strategy. Scott came in useful, detailing what his suit could do and how it could help them. Bucky and Maggie's contributions revealed just how much tactical thinking had been drilled into them – they identified vantage positions, choke points and likely firepower in a heartbeat.
Maggie was relying on her skills and experience, but she couldn't shake off the knowledge of what she was about to walk into. Finally, she gathered her courage and asked: "Who are we going to be up against?" She cursed the slight waver in her voice, but didn't shy away from Steve's gaze when he looked up. She needed to know.
Barton cleared his throat. "Nat, Vision and Rhodey, for sure." Maggie felt her gut twist in an odd way at the prospect of fighting Rhodey, who'd once promised to take her flying. "If they're desperate, I think they'd ask King T'Challa to fight as well."
Maggie's eyes flicked to Bucky. The Wakandan thought Bucky had killed his father, and she knew better than most how that desire for revenge could fuel a person. She resolved to keep more of an eye out for Bucky than she normally would.
"And," Steve continued. "Tony. And whoever else they might decide to bring. We've got to be ready to improvise."
Maggie gritted her teeth, and reminded herself that no one here wanted to hurt Tony. They would just have to get around him. She could do that. It was just a tactical manoeuvre.
Bucky's fingers brushed hers, just for a moment, but the relief it gave her was an almost dizzying headrush.
"Okay," Steve said, straightening and fastening his remarkable shield to his forearm. When this was all said and done, Maggie wanted to get a good look at it. "Everyone know their positions?"
There was a round of silent nods.
Steve glanced around at them all. "Then let's move out."
++++++++++
Maggie was perched on the roof of Leipzig/Halle's air traffic control tower like some kind of gargoyle, watching from afar as Steve paced out onto the tarmac in full uniform, and broke into a run toward Barton's helicopter. The part of Maggie that was still the Wyvern thought: clear skies, open terrain; optimal for airborne attack. She narrowed her eyes behind her goggles and focused. Her clawed gauntlets and heel spurs dug into the roof to keep herself anchored.
Everyone was in position: Scott standing by, so small that he was hidden from sight, Bucky and Sam in the terminal scanning for the Quinjet that was surely somewhere, and Wanda and Clint in the parking lot.
Sure enough, Steve barely made it halfway before Iron Man, red and gold and gleaming, swooped down and tossed an EMP onto the helicopter. It shorted out with a crackle of electricity.
Iron Man and War Machine dove out of the sky to land in front of Steve, and Maggie's heart leapt into her mouth. She'd seen her brother only yesterday, but it was one thing to see Tony unconscious and bleeding on the floor, and it was another to see him like this – a red and gold beacon, staring down his friend.
"Wow, it's so weird how you run into people at the airport," came Tony's voice, and his helmet retracted to reveal his face. He turned to Rhodey. "Don't you think that's weird?"
"Definitely weird."
Maggie didn't know if she'd ever felt like this before. Her heart was pounding against her ribcage, her palms were sweating, and she felt strangely floaty, as if she wasn't really in her body. She was hundreds of feet away, but she could hear Tony and Rhodey's voices through Steve's commlink and it took her back to a kitchen in Manhattan, sipping orange juice with her brother and his best friend. Almost unconsciously, Maggie used her goggles to zoom in on Tony's exposed face. He was blooming with ugly bruises, and she winced, but now that he was awake he looked so alive: colorful and witty and determined.
"Hear me out, Tony," said Steve. Maggie jumped guiltily, and went back to surveying the situation. She couldn't allow herself to get absorbed in her brother, not right now. It was difficult to wrench her eyes away, though.
"That doctor," Steve continued, "the psychiatrist. He's behind all of this."
With barely a sound, the Black Panther leaped from behind a loading ramp, landing feet away from Steve. Maggie raised an eyebrow at the suit – she hadn't had a good look at it before, but she could see this was a well-made uniform, sinuous and lethal.
"Captain."
Steve inclined his head. "Your highness."
"Anyway," Tony said, pacing behind Rhodey. "Ross gave me 36 hours to bring you in. That was 24 hours ago. Can you help a brother out?"
"You're after the wrong guy," Steve replied.
"Your judgment is askew," Tony shot back. "Your old war buddy killed innocent people yesterday-"
Maggie flinched, and noticed her hands were shaking.
"And there are five more super soldiers just like him," Steve cut in. There was a pause. "I can't let the doctor find them first, Tony, I just can't."
"Steve." That was a softer voice, and… oh. Maggie blinked at the sudden appearance of the Black Widow – she hadn't noticed her approaching, she clearly needed to focus. "You know what's about to happen. Do you really want to punch your way out of this one?"
Steve clenched his jaw and turned back to Tony. Maggie spotted a flash of red out of the corner of her eye.
"Steve," she murmured into the comm, "there's a-"
But she was too late. Tony sighed and said. "Alright, I've run out of patience. Underoos!"
The flash of scarlet turned out to be a guy in a red and blue spandex suit, who flipped over Steve's head, snagging the shield and simultaneously ensnaring Steve's hands with some kind of adhesive fluid. The guy landed in a dramatic kneel on an airport tug vehicle, holding the shield aloft. He lifted his head to reveal a full-head red mask with white slitted eyes.
"What the shit is that," Maggie murmured to herself, then realized that everyone over the comms just heard her. No one answered, though. Everyone within sight range was staring at the red and blue… man?
Steve's mouth opened, perplexed.
"Nice job, kid!" Tony called.
The man – kid, thing – straightened. "Thanks!" he said brightly. "Well I could have stuck the landing a little better, it's just the new suit – wait, it's nothing, Mr Stark, it's perfect, thank you-" he was gesturing nervously, and Maggie's eyebrows hiked up her forehead. What was he doing?
Tony was shaking his head. "Yeah, we don't really need to… start a conversation."
"Okay." The thing turned to Steve and awkwardly saluted. "Cap-cap'n." Maggie found herself suddenly smiling, despite the situation. "Big fan. I'm… Spider-Man."
"Yeah, we'll talk about it later," Tony cut in. Maggie blinked – she was very familiar with that tone in his voice, it was the one he often took with her, before, when she was getting under his feet and asking questions.
Spider-Man waved. "Hey everyone."
"Just… good job," Tony said, holding out a quelling hand.
"You've been busy," Steve noted.
Tony's head whipped around, and it was as if stormclouds rolled over his face. "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!" Steve shifted. Tony was working himself up, and everyone watched silently. "I'm trying to keep-" he was shouting now, so he cut himself off and glanced around, breathing hard. When he looked back, he fixed bright, desperate eyes on Steve. "I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart."
Steve didn't skip a beat. "You did that when you signed."
Tony's mouth went slack with shock and betrayal, and he glanced at the ground for a moment. Maggie could tell he was building up to something, the words rising out of his chest and into his mouth, but when he finally got there, he didn't shout. He met Steve's eyes again, and his words were a low murmur:
"Is my sister with you?"
Maggie's stomach plummeted, and she had to physically press a hand to her abdomen, certain that she was wounded, or bleeding, or something-
She distantly heard Scott ask "wait, what?" over the comms, but she didn't have space in her head for that.
She didn't know what Steve's face looked like, but there was sorrow in his voice when he replied: "she's where she wants to be."
Maggie glanced up, still clutching her stomach, and her heart shattered at the look on Tony's face. His whole face crumpled, and his suit made a whirring sound as his shoulders slumped. Tears sprang to Maggie's eyes. She didn't want to hurt him, she didn't want this, she wished he understood-
But Tony's defeated expression only lasted a moment before the anger came rushing back, hot and burning in his eyes.
"Alright, we're done," he said softly, glancing to Rhodey. When he turned back, his whole bearing was aggressive. "You're going to turn Barnes over and you're going to come with us, now," he shouted, "because it's us, or a squad of JSOC guys with no compunctions about being impolite."
As he spoke, Maggie had to fight back more tears. He sounded so desperate: this was his family, she realized. Not just her, but the people he saved the world with, the people he trusted. Everyone else on the tarmac seemed to realize that this situation couldn't be salvaged, but Tony was still stubbornly trying to make everything okay. Maggie wanted to curl into a ball. She wanted to be anywhere but here.
Steve looked away, not even making eye contact. Maggie just heard Tony's murmured "come on."
Sam piped up: "We found it. Their Quinjet's in Hangar 5, north runway."
Maggie's head shot up, locating the hangar. No one needed to say it, but she could hear the almost collective intake of breath over the comms: mission is a go. Maggie rolled her shoulders and narrowed her eyes, ready for action.
Steve raised his trapped arms, Tony's eyes went wide, and suddenly Steve's hands sprang apart, freed by Barton's spot-on shot. Tony spun around as his helmet slipped back over his face.
"Alright Lang," Steve muttered.
In a burst of movement Scott appeared seemingly out of nowhere, kicking Spider-Man in the face, seizing the shield and flipping off the vehicle.
"Whoah, what-what the hell was that?" Rhodey exclaimed.
Scott offered Steve his shield. "I believe this is yours, Captain America!" Steve took the shield, sighing.
Maggie hunkered down close to the roof. Her orders were to stay wide until someone needed backup, she didn't need to be spotted right now.
"Aw, great," she heard Tony sigh. "Alright, there's two on the parking deck and one of them's Maximoff, I'm going to grab her." He fired up his repulsors and jetted away. "Rhodey, you wanna take Cap?"
Rhodey rose as well, and she could see him scanning for more threats. "Got two in the terminal, Wilson and Barnes-"
"Barnes is mine!" snapped the Black Panther, breaking into a sprint toward the terminal. Maggie gritted her teeth. Screw orders. She sprang off the air control tower and fired up her engines, wings glinting in the sunlight as she soared into the sky.
Rhodey must have spotted her, because she heard him call: "And there's one more on the – oh, hell."
Maggie flipped over, red goggles glowing as she closed in on the tarmac. Her tied hair streamed behind her and the air was fresh on her cheeks as she rocketed through the sky, a black silhouette against the blue.
Rhodey hadn't needed to finish his sentence. Tony knew who was coming.
As Maggie swooped toward the tarmac, her eyes darted around to find the best target. The Black Panther was sprinting for the terminal, but Steve was hot on his heels. Rhodey was flying toward Steve, about to intercept him. The Black Widow and Ant-Man were circling each other. Spider-Man shot off more webbing and sprang away, but Maggie let him slide for now – Steve was one against two, and it was obvious what the Black Panther wanted. She veered toward the sprinting super soldier, pushing her engines to their limits.
Rhodey must have underestimated her flight speed, because his attention was still focused on Steve when she grew close. She didn't slow down. She curled into a ball and collided with the War Machine armor feet-first, sending him spiralling off-course. Maggie dipped into a tight turn, and saw that Steve had halted the Panther in his tracks.
"Move, Captain," the Wakandan king threatened, getting to his feet. "I won't ask a second time." The dark intent in his words disturbed Maggie.
She gritted her teeth and dove, catching the Panther unawares as he sprang toward Steve. She dropped in from above, caught his outstretched leg and swung him backwards, sending him skittering along the concrete in a shower of metallic sparks.
When the Black Panther got to his feet again, claws extended, he looked up to see the Wyvern standing beside Captain America on the tarmac, her wings spread threateningly as she stared him down.
Steve glanced out of the corner of his eye at Maggie, taking in her slitted red goggles and the way she spread her arms, as if to throw up a physical barrier between T'Challa and the terminal, where Bucky was.
"You're looking for revenge on the wrong man," Maggie told the king through gritted teeth. He didn't even acknowledge her.
Unbeknownst to Maggie, T'Challa's earpiece heard her just fine, and her voice carried into Team Stark's comms. Tony faltered in the sky on his way to get Clint and Wanda, his whole body jerking at the sound of his sister's voice.
Back on the tarmac, Steve and Maggie tensed when Rhodey appeared again, repulsors whining as he honed in on the stand-off below. His weapons locked on to them.
"I've got T'Challa," Steve muttered.
Maggie didn't doubt him for a second – Steve respected her, trusted her even, and she had the same faith in him. He wouldn't let anyone hurt Bucky.
Maggie nodded once, and as the Black Panther leaped forward again she sprang into the sky, wings outstretched. She rolled, getting her bearings, and her gaze locked on the War Machine armor, which was still closing in on Steve and T'Challa.
Maggie flew straight at him, her flight path fixed in a deadly game of chicken. Rhodey was an obvious target, in his bulky armor with its red glowing arc reactor, and Maggie stared at him as they screamed toward each other in the sky. She swallowed her memories of him from twenty five years ago, keeping her eyes locked on the glowing eye slits in his helmet. He wanted to stop Steve, he'd have to go through her. The wind screamed in her ears.
In the seconds before imminent collision, Maggie heard Rhodey shouting at her: "c'mon, Maggie, move!"
Her eyes widened at the disturbed note to his voice, and at her name, but she only pushed her engines harder.
At the last second Rhodey faltered and swerved, narrowly avoiding collision with her outstretched wings. Maggie took advantage of his hasty diversion and ripped one of the gun turrets off his suit as she zipped past. It made an awful metallic shrieking sound, and she heard Rhodey cursing as he tried to get his balance back mid-flight. She dropped the gun turret, sending it tumbling to the tarmac below.
She and Rhodey wheeled in the air, arcing over planes and airport vehicles, and when they came together again Rhodey fired a repulsor blast at her. She rolled to avoid it, and tried to knock him into a small plane, but he moved with the blow and almost managed to grab her foot. They veered apart again, trying to get a better angle on each other. Maggie powered up the energy blaster fitted to her wrist – thanks, Barton – and fired a shot at Rhodey as they made another pass at each other. The ball of bright white energy sailed over his shoulder, and Maggie cursed.
Maggie could tell that Rhodey was disturbed by fighting her, and she couldn't say she was feeling great about the situation. His suit was also unpredictable, turning and maneuvering in unfamiliar ways that almost caught her out. As she veered to avoid a series of repulsor blasts, she heard the unmistakable sounds of other fights over the comms: Barton and Wanda sparring with Tony, Steve going toe to toe with the Panther, Scott having some kind of scuffle with Romanoff. She heard Bucky shout in alarm, and realized that he and Sam were fighting with someone, too – she did a quick head count and cursed when she realized Spider-Man must have gone after them. The sound of loud impacts, shouts and shattering glass came over their side of the comms, and Maggie gritted her teeth.
Spurred on by this new sense of urgency, Maggie forgot about going easy on Rhodey. In an agile, blindingly fast move she'd learned when she was sixteen, she feinted away from one of his dives and flipped above him in the air. She pulled a concussive blast grenade from her belt – another gift from Barton – and tossed it.
With a flash of light and a surprisingly loud explosion, the grenade knocked the armor out of the sky and into a catering truck. Maggie eyed the War-Machine sized hole in the truck for a second.
"Sorry, Rhodey," she muttered, and then spiraled away, heading for the terminal. Rhodey would be up again soon, but not soon enough for him to catch her.
With the glass and steel terminal in her sights, Maggie focused back on what she could hear over the commlink. In amongst all the chaos of everyone else's fights, she heard Spider-Man's high, animated voice jabbering at Sam about… the rigidity-flexibility ratio of his wings?
"I don't know if you've ever been in a fight before, but there's usually not this much talking." Sam sounded pissed, and if he was talking then he wasn't fighting back, which made Maggie nervous. She pushed her wings harder, arcing across the airport.
With a quick gesture, she adjusted her goggles so she could zoom in on the windows of the terminal, trying to see what was going on. The lens focused just in time for her to see Bucky throw himself in front of Sam, shielding him from Spider-Man's swinging assault. Spider-Man kicked them both through a glass pane and sent them plummeting to the floor below in a burst of shattered glass.
Maggie's eyes narrowed, fixing her glare on the still-jabbering Spider-Man. She streamlined her body so she sliced through the air like a knife, soaring towards the little asshole who'd just kicked Bucky to the ground.
Redwing got to Spider-Man half a second before she did. She saw the flying robot latch onto the suited guy's hand, knocking his aim off-course as he went to fire more adhesive webbing at Sam and Bucky.
Redwing didn't have him long, though. Maggie exploded through the windows on one side of the terminal, seized a handful of Spider-Man's suit, and used her momentum to smash him through the windows on the other side. She got the barest glimpse of Bucky and Sam pinned to the ground a floor below before she was soaring away again, Spider-Man squawking in alarm in her grasp.
Bucky and Sam had only seen Maggie as a metallic, red-eyed blur, there one second and gone the next, leaving the echo of screaming engines in her wake.
"Thanks, Meg," came Bucky's tired voice over the comms, making the corner of her mouth quirk up. Then she heard him say to Sam: "You couldn't have done that earlier?"
"I hate you."
Maggie turned her focus back to the squirming weirdo she was hauling through the air, just as he managed to wriggle his suit out from between her gauntleted fingers. He threw out another line of webbing, flipping away from her attempt to get him back. He was fast.
Just as she thought that, he did a complicated spin and shot a blob of webbing at her wings. The stuff caught her mid-turn, trapping her left wing while it was folded up and sending her tumbling out of the sky. The world became a kaleidoscope of colour, whirling wildly around her.
But with a simple shrug, her Adamantium skeleton sliced through the webbing and she snapped her wings out, flying free. She turned her red-goggled glare on Spider-Man, who was still chattering as he swung around a pylon, avoiding her.
"Oh wow," he gushed, "now those are some cool wings. Mr Stark said you might be here, but to be honest I don't know if I really believed him."
Maggie didn't know if he meant to do it, but just that short sentence managed to get into her head, distracting her from the fight for an instant. Tony had thought she'd be here? What did he say about her? She almost collided with the pylon as she swooped after the red-and-blue clad kid.
Unfortunately for Spider-Man, he'd also just pissed her off. She almost caught his foot, but he squirmed out of her grasp again.
"Jeez," he gasped, flipping over a truck and flinging a stray tyre at her. She just flew right through it, her Adamantium wing slicing the tyre clean in half. "You're a lot scarier than he said you'd be." He flung out another line of webbing to launch himself away again, but before he was even a few feet in the air Maggie flicked one of her heel spurs through the webbing, sending him tumbling back to the ground with a grunt of surprise.
"Oh man, you have knives in your feet?" he said, springing back up. "How do you even get knives in your feet? That's so cool!"
Maggie scowled. "Yeah, you wanna see 'em?" She swooped on him, both heel spurs extended, and Spider-Man yelped and dove away.
Maggie wasn't really going to stab him – she could hear the youth and inexperience in his voice, but she was getting seriously annoyed at him. She chased him around the tarmac, dodging his webbing and giving him a healthy fear of her heel spurs. There was a huge explosion over the comms, and Maggie glanced sideways to see a plume of fire and black smoke go up from the main part of the tarmac, where Steve had been.
"Oh man, I thought it was a water truck," she heard Scott say. "Uh… sorry."
A few seconds later, Maggie was trading a few punches with Spider-Man when Steve's voice came over the comms: "Alright focus up everyone, we're going to push through to the Quinjet. Converge on the luggage depot."
Maggie blinked. Right. She'd gotten so caught up in her fear for Bucky and then her irritation at Spider-Man that she'd lost sight of the end goal.
Spider-Man must have gotten a similar order over his comms, because he ducked one of her punches and said "Hey, I've gotta go back to my team now, should we just, like, call a time out?"
Maggie rolled her eyes, but she supposed it wasn't a bad idea. "Ugh, whatever." She flipped a grenade out from a holster on her back and tossed it at Spider-Man, knowing that he'd dodge in time. But he was sufficiently distracted by the fiery explosion, giving her enough cover to jump back into the sky and fly toward the luggage depot.
Maggie flew low and fast toward the luggage depot, careening past airplane supply vehicles and small aircraft.
She spotted the red and black figures of Wanda and Barton first, sprinting out from behind a stack of crates, and she matched pace with them, wings spread. They glanced over their shoulders at the sound of engines but relaxed when they spotted her. Barton even gave her a small salute.
"There's our ride!" He said, pointing at the Quinjet in the hangar up ahead.
Scott and Steve emerged from a line of vehicles, falling into step just in front of Barton.
"C'mon!" Steve called, with a wave of his hand, and Sam and Bucky veered in from the right. Maggie ran a concerned eye over Bucky, but he seemed okay. His hair whipped around his face as he ran, and his arm gleamed in the sun. He glanced up at her, and she could see him checking her for injuries as well. She smiled and sped up a little so she was flying over their motley team, casting the shadow of her wings over them as they ran. She lifted her gaze, focusing on the Quinjet.
But as they ran out into open space, they were suddenly cut off by a beam of some kind of energy, which scorched through the air and burned a crater in the concrete. Maggie flared her wings and flapped them frantically, trying to back away from the glowing beam. She came to a faltering landing between Wanda and Bucky, heart pounding at her near miss. She glanced down at the smoking line in the ground, and then up at the thing in their way.
She immediately recognised him as Vision: one of the newest recruits to the Avengers, and certainly the most mysterious. She knew he was an android, and as she peered up at him she could see his artificial, robotic face, and his strange colouring. He floated eerily in the air, as if he wasn't quite a part of the world they lived in. The part of Maggie that wasn't frustrated at being blocked was fascinated by him: he was one of a kind, a completely cybernetic being.
"Captain Rogers!" called Vision, and Maggie raised an eyebrow at his British accent. "I know you believe what you're doing is right."
Maggie didn't listen to the rest of what he said, because Iron Man had just landed on the ground beside Vision, carrying the Black Widow.
Maggie's mouth went dry. She was suddenly glad that her eyes were hidden by her goggles, because they'd shot wide open, and were suddenly brimming with tears. She didn't even look at the others as they landed in one way or another between her team and the Quinjet. Her eyes were locked on Iron Man, and though his helmet's glowing eye slits were inscrutable, she just knew that he was staring back at her. Maggie realized that this was the first time he'd seen her in twenty-five years.
She felt as if there was an invisible cord running between the two of them, stretching across the vast gulf of no-man's-land on the tarmac. Maggie was rooted to the spot, her breaths coming fast. She could feel Bucky looking at her, concern etched across his face, but she couldn't spare him a glance. She couldn't even blink – her eyes were itching uncomfortably because of how long they'd been snapped open, staring at her brother.
There was a long silence between the two groups of superheroes, filled with hundreds of unsaid things. Everyone was still and silent. Maggie felt like she was falling apart.
This was it, then. Somehow, hundreds of actions, choices and allegiances had led to this; she and Tony finally reuniting here, on opposite sides of a battle that threatened to tear a family apart.
Maggie swallowed. Ever since her memories of Tony returned, she had known that she would never hurt her brother. But she also knew that she couldn't step away from this fight. The two terrible truths clashed against each other in her heart, threatening to bring her to her knees.
She stood behind Steve and Bucky, a few feet to Wanda's left. Her skin prickled at the awareness that she was being stared at, and her wings shifted nervously, almost unconsciously. She could sense similar reticence and determination in her teammates: they didn't want to do this. But they had to.
Simultaneously, Maggie and Bucky's heads turned and they shared a look heavy with meaning. There was no specific message there, nothing to be conveyed except… love. Maggie found that that comforted her, that despite her wretchedness and the breaking hearts at this airport, there was someone who loved her unconditionally. Her heart ached, and she wished she could whisk Bucky away from here, away from the people who wanted to hurt him and punish him for a crime he wasn't guilty of.
It was then that Sam asked: "What do we do, Cap?"
Maggie saw Steve's shoulders rise and fall, determined, and a shiver went down her spine.
"We fight."
++++++++++
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone