White | B. BARNES

Chapter 21

📍 Lagos, Nigeria | May 2016

"All right, what do you see?" Steve asked on the radio.

"Standard beat cops. Small station. Quiet street. It's a good target," Wanda answered while being undercover.

"There's an ATM in the south corner, which means..."

"Cameras," Wanda finished.

"Both cross streets are one way," Steve spoke.

"So, compromised escape routes," she replied.

"Means our guy doesn't care about being seen. He isn't afraid to make a mess on the way out. You see that Range Rover halfway up the block?"

"Yeah, the red one? It's cute," Wanda said.

Natasha, who was sitting two tables from Wanda, spoke on the radio, "It's also bulletproof, which means private security, which means more guns, which means more headaches for somebody. Probably us."

"You guys know I can move things with my mind, right?" Wanda asked.

"Looking over your shoulder needs to become second nature," Natasha said.

"Anybody ever tell you you're a little paranoid?" Sam interjected.

"Not to my face. Why? Did you hear something?"

Steve spoke once more, reminding them about the mission in hand, "Eyes on target, folks. This is the best lead we've had on Rumlow in six months. I don't want to lose him."

"If he sees us coming, that won't be a problem. He kind of hates us," Sam told him. "There's no way in hell he's making this out alive. Monkey didn't sacrifice her life for this fucker to still breathe."

"You had a monkey?!" Wanda exclaimed quietly to him.

A garbage truck pushed its way through the traffic with no regard to pedestrians or other vehicles.

"Sam, see that garbage truck? Tag it," Steve ordered.

Sam launched a small drone from his jet pack and flew it down to scan the garbage truck, "Give me X-ray."

"Weight analysis: Cargo Weight: 13825 kgs. Max capacity."

"That truck's loaded for max weight. And the driver's armed," Sam informed them.

"It's a battering ram," Natasha said.

"Go now."

Soldiers in black armor emerged from the trucks, firing their rifles around the courtyard.

Steve arrived and took out several of the soldiers, "Body armor, AR-15's. I make seven hostiles."

Sam flew in and up to a rooftop, spinning and using his wings to block the gunfire. He took out two soldiers, "I make 5."

Wanda arrived and flew over the rooftop and into the courtyard, blocking fire with her powers. She took control of one soldier and lifted him upward, "Sam."

Sam glided down from the rooftop, catching the soldier on one of his wings, "Four."

"Rumlow's on the third floor," Sam said after scanning the inside of the building with his drone.

"Wanda, just like we practiced."

"What about the gas?" She asked.

Steve replied, "Get it out."

Then, Wanda used her powers to lift Steve up and through the window.

"Rumlow has a biological weapon," Steve said as he saw the vault empty.

"I'm on it," Natasha replied while riding a motorcycle. She jumped off the motorcycle, and it skidded towards a soldier. Rumlow came up behind her and grabbed her collar, dragging her onto an armored vehicle.

She electrocuted him, which Rumlow say, "I don't work like that no more."

He threw her through the roof hatch into an armored vehicle, dropped in a grenade, and shut the hatch, "Fire in the hole."

Natasha managed to escape by grabbing one of the soldiers to shield herself from the explosion.

Steve, who was running on a balcony, spotted Rumlow, "Sam. He's in an AFV heading north."

Rumlow secured the biological weapon and handed it to a soldier, "Take this to the airstrip. We're not gonna outrun them. Lose the truck."

Sam landed on the roof of a building, scanning the area with his goggles, "I got four, they're splitting up.l

"I got the two on the left," Natasha said as she made her way through the crowd and vehicles.

Steve ran, spotting a vest in the middle of the crowd, "They ditched their gear. It's a shell game now. One of them has the payload.l

Someone threw a bomb at Steve, which stuck on his shield. Steve tossed it in the air, and the bomb detonates safely away from citizens while Rumlow comes up behind Steve and punches him in the back, "There you are, you son of a bitch. I've been waiting for this!"

Meanwhile, Sam chased the other mercenaries. He flew up and took out his two, then searched their bags for the payload, "He doesn't have it. I'm empty."

Natasha l chased the soldiers through the crowd, "Out of the way!"

She tackled one soldier and engaged him in combat. When the other one arrived, she hurled a basket at him to distract him. She used her skills to fight them and ends up face-to-face with one soldier.

They pointed their guns at each other. A moment passes, "Drop it. Or I'll drop this. Drop it!" One of them threatened.

"He'll do it!" The other said.

Redwing descended and fired at the soldier with the vial. He dropped, and in the moment of distraction, Natasha fired at the other soldier, then catches the falling vial.

"Payload secure," she said. "Thanks, Sam."

"Don't thank me."

"I'm... not thanking that thing," Natasha replied, looking at the drone.

"His name is Redwing," Sam said.

"I'm still not thanking it," she refuses.

"He's cute. Go ahead, pet him," he encouraged her teasingly.

Steve and Rumlow are still fighting.

"Come on!" Rumlow said, pinning Steve to a building and extending a blade from one of his gauntlets. "This is for dropping a building on my face."

Steve grabbed Rumlow's arm and pulls the gauntlet off, only for Rumlow to reveal another knife. But Steve knew better. Defeated, on his knees, Rumlow removed his mask, revealing a scarred face, "I think I look pretty good, all things considered."

Steve asked, "Who's your buyer?"

Rumlow smirked, "You know, he knew you. You pal, your buddy, your Bucky."

"What did you say?"

Rumlow continued to talk, "He remembered you. I was there. He got all weepy about it. Till they put his brain back in a blender. He wanted you to know something. He said to me, 'Please tell Rogers. When you gotta go, you gotta go.' And you're coming with me."

He activated the bomb on his vest, and Steve flinched as Rumlow's armor ignited, but Wanda kept the blast contained around Rumlow, who grimaced in agony.

She lifted him into the air before she loses control, and the explosion finally happens, destroying an entire floor of a nearby office building.

Wanda was terrified of what she just did.

"Oh my..." Steve watched the flame. "Sam, we need fire and rescue on the south side of the building. We gotta get up there."