A Hero Will Rise // TFATWS

12

The five managed to get out before the lab exploded and they snuck out of the entry container.

They looked around and only saw smoke.

Bucky yelled, "All right! Wait for my signal!" They took on gunfire and Sam found an opening, instantly taking it. "Damn it!" Bucky stepped around the container door, covering everyone's backs.

Sharon went to the right with Sam while Jace remained with Bucky.

More and more people appeared.

Bucky held his ground until his gun jammed. "Ah!" He pulled his left hand down.

The father and son joined Sam and Sharon and Bucky said, "I thought we were gonna go left."

"You went the wrong way!" Sam retorted.

"I cleared the way!"

"I came out first. You are supposed to follow me. You as well, Jace."

"And where are we now?"

"Guys, not the time!" Sharon yelled, ducking down after shooting a few more rounds. "I'm out!"

"This is a barricade," Bucky said.

"It's in every action movie!" Sam shot back.

A single gunshot sounded and there was another explosion, which caused the four to duck. Zemo fought the remaining bounty hunters.

Bucky pushed his son back before saying, "Go. Come on. Let's go."

They ran through the containers as they got shot at. A bullet sounded like it hit a container, causing Jace to stop and turn back. Bucky turned back as well, hearing the same sound.

"Buck! Jace!" Sam yelled.

More bullets hit a container.

A man came closer to them and Jace picked up a pipe and said, "Daddy! Catch!" He threw the pipe to Bucky who caught it and hit the man who was shooting at Sam and Sharon.

Sam opened a container and used it as a shield. Bucky and Jace walked up to him as he cried, "Let's go!"

Bucky punched the far side of the container, causing light to enter the pitch black room.

As soon as they got out the container, they heard tires screeching.

A car pulled around a corner and stopped in front of them.

"Hello..." Zemo greeted from the driver's seat. "Supercharged."

Sam shook his head. "You're going back to jail."

"Do you want to find Karli or not?"

Bucky nodded. "And there's three of us, and at least 20 of them. Come on." Jace climbed into the car.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Fine. But if you try that shit again..."

Zemo chuckled. "I wouldn't dream of it."

Sharon walked up and stood next to the car. "Well, that was one hell of a reunion."

Sam glanced back at her, the back passenger's door still open. "Come back to the States with us."

"I told you I can't. Just get me that pardon you promised me."

"Thanks for everything." He watched Sharon leave before sitting in the car. He let out a sigh when he realized Bucky was sitting in front of him. "You're not gonna move your seat up, are you?"

Bucky shook his head. "No."

---

At the police station in Germany, John and Lemar looked at a video and the former said, "You said that Sam, Bucky and Jace were here on the same day this happened?"

"Correct," the guard replied, "you don't think they had anything to do with him getting out?"

"Thank you." He and Lemar walked away.

"What?" Lemar asked as they strolled down a hallway. He chuckled. "So, you seriously think Sam and Bucky would've broken a guy like Zemo out of prison?"

"That's exactly what I think they did. They were just as desperate for leads like we were."

"Come on, man. You know damn well we can't accuse 'em of something like that without evidence."

"Which is why you and I are just gonna run with this one for a minute."

Lemar scoffed. "Okay, so I take it what happens next isn't a strictly on-the-books type thing, is it?"

"Lemar, if we get the job done, you really think they're gonna sweat us on the how?"

---

The four took the car Zemo had stolen back to the plane.

Sam called Torres and began looking into finding Donya Madani.

"Donya Madani," Sam said. "She's a refugee, yeah."

"Okay, I'm on it," Torres replied.

"Okay. Call me if you get a hit."

"Will do."

"Thanks, Torres." He sat and let out a sigh.

Bucky started cleaning his hand. When he finished, he glanced at Sam and asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah," Sam replied. "Just thinking about all the shit Sharon had to go through. And Nagel referring to the American test subject like Isaiah wasn't even a real person." He turned in his chair. "It just makes me wonder how many people have to get steamrolled to make way for this hunk of metal."

Bucky looked down at his hand before saying, "Well, it depends on who you ask. That hunk of metal saved a lot of lives."

"Yeah, I get that. All right. Maybe I made a mistake."

"You did."

"Yeah. Maybe I shouldn't have put it in a museum. Maybe I should have destroyed it."

Bucky let out a deep breath, finally glancing at Sam. "Look, that shield represents a lotta things to a lotta people, including me." He turned to face Sam. "The world is upside down, and we need a new Cap, and it ain't gonna be Walker. So before you go and destroy it, I'm gonna take it from him myself."

Jace nodded, glancing at Sam. "I will too. That guy doesn't deserve it."

Sam's phone buzzed and he answered. "Yeah." Zemo came out of the galley, offering food, which Bucky and Jace accepted and Zemo set Sam's down before sitting back in his chair. "Yeah. Okay. Thanks. Good work." He ended the call. "They found Madani... dead. She died in Riga, a city near the Baltic Sea."

"I have a place we can go," Zemo said. "I, for one, am looking forward to coming face to face with Karli. Oeznik, we're changing course."

---

As they flew to Riga, Latvia, Jace's head rested on his father's lap as he slept.

Once they landed, Bucky shook his sleeping son who slowly opened his eyes and he said softly, "We're here, bud."

They got off the plane and Zemo led them through the streets as he said, "I heard what became of Sokovia. Cannibalized by its neighbors before the land was cleared of rubble, erased from the map. I don't suppose any of you bothered visiting the memorial?" The two Avengers and Jace remained silent. "Of course not. Why would you? We are here."

Bucky slowed his pace as Sam and Zemo started towards a building's entrance. "I'm gonna go on a walk. Jace, go back with Sam and Zemo, okay?"

Jace nodded and ran towards the building.

"You good?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Be careful."

When the three walked inside, Bucky picked up a Kimoyo Bead from the ground. Bucky turned, hearing a small beeping noise which led them to another bead. He picked up the second bead and looked around a second time before heading into the alley.

"You dropped something," Bucky said, holding up a bead. He glanced up to see one of the Dora Milaje; Ayo. "I was wondering when you were gonna show up."