Frostbite |The Alternate Timeline

Taking the Shield

John had seen all the eyes on him and immediately took off. God, this was a mess. We'd have to track him down, but first Sam needed to make a call. This was above us to deal with. John had killed an unarmed man in a foreign country. It wouldn't be pretty for him.

"You're gonna end up with brain damage," Bucky tsked at me as we waited on Sam. We were apparently avoiding what had happened earlier, at least for now.

I chuckled and said, "I'll be fine."

"Don't you get tired of saying that?"

"Not at all," I quipped, pausing before I said, "You know, I really did try to heal him."

Bucky's expression contorted and he seemed taken aback.

"I know you did. You did all you could. He was already gone."

It didn't change how horrible I felt for failing. Lemar had served our country, had a family at home waiting for him most likely. We hadn't seen eye to eye with them, but he deserved more than what had just happened to him.

"We need to take the shield, Buck."

"That I agree with," he muttered, running a hand through his hair angrily. Sam approached us, his conversation over.

"Torres and some other officials will be here soon to help clean this mess up. They want us to try and round up Walker," he informed us.

I rolled my shoulders, saying, "That shield needs to go back with you, Sam. Walker isn't keeping it and I'll be damned if the government gives it to someone else."

Sam just nodded in agreement and with that, we headed in the direction John had gone. He couldn't have made it far. We followed the river, sure this was the way he had gone.

An abandoned train station came into view and we agreed to check it out. It was a likely where he had gone. We quietly went inside, moving to the center of the dim building. Footsteps echoed as John approached from our left. He still seemed wound up.

"Walker..." Sam called as he tried to move right past us.

He turned in a circle as we stopped, "You guys should see a medic, you don't look so good."

"Stop, Walker."

"What? You saw what happened. You know what I had to do. I killed him because I had to! He killed Lemar!"

"He didn't kill Lemar, John," I reminded him, but he just sighed in frustration.

Bucky added, "Don't go down that road. Believe me, it doesn't end well."

"I'm not like you."

"Listen, it was the heat of the battle. Okay?" Sam tried to reason with him to avoid another fight, "If you explain what happened, they may consider your record. We don't want anyone else to get hurt. John... You gotta give me the shield, man."

My eyes drifted down to the blood that had begun to dry there. My jaw clenched as I ground my teeth in anger. John chuckled and shook his head.

"Oh, so that's what this is. You almost got me," he smirked.

"You made a mistake," Sam told him, still hoping to remain peaceful.

John glanced between us and quietly said, "You don't wanna do this."

"Yeah, we do," Bucky muttered back.

Sam moved first and John easily knocked him to the side, causing him to roll across the concrete. I shoved into his body, giving Bucky the opportunity to reach around him and toss his gun to the floor. It skittered away from us, and John made a noise of disdain.