Never Back Down // TFATWS

01

Six months after Endgame

[New World Order]

Birds chirped as a man was ironing his white button-down shirt.

Sam Wilson put on his shirt, then his suit jacket as he stared at himself in the mirror.

In the sunlight, Captain America's shield caught his attention and he stared at it.

He went to pick the shield up and hesitated a moment before doing so. He held it in both hands and put it in a bag, zipping the bag up.

He remembered Old Steve asking, "How does it feel?"

Sam answered, "Like it's someone else's."

"It isn't."

---

In a plane, the Major said, "The criminal organization known as LAF is targeting Captain Vasant, one of our military liaisons."

"LAF?" Sam wondered.

"Yeah, they're high-powered. We lost contact with Vasant's plane just after it took off." The two looked at a screen with an image of the plane. "We need you to make sure that LAF doesn't deliver on their threat." Sam walked towards the other end of the plane, followed by Reya. "Vasant's plane has already entered Tunisian airspace." The Major followed Sam and Reya towards the exit. "US military cannot be seen operating out there."

"I got it." The door buzzed as Sam went to open it. "You guys fly low, drop me and Reya off, we fly up to intercept. No treaties violated."

"First Lieutenant Torres, our intel officer, will be helping on the ground." Sam put on his goggles. "And Sam, Reya, this has to be subtle."

"Subtle. Got it." He fell out of the plane on his back.

Reya sighed as she dropped from the plane in a flying suit of her own.

Mid-drop, he and Reya flipped onto their stomachs and released their wings.

On the ground while riding in a car, Lieutenant Torres looked through binoculars and saw Falcon and Reya flying.

"Sam, Reya, Torres here," Lieutenant Torres said. "Sending intel to your HUDs right now." He did so. "I'll be your boots on the ground, sir, miss."

Sam continued flying and shot up. "We got eyes on a plane. Any sign of LAF?"

"Nah. Nothing yet. But I'll keep tracking the chatter."

Propellers roared as Sam and Reya flew closer to the plane. They looked through the cockpit window to see a dead man and another man who glanced out.

"They've already hijacked the plane," Sam and Reya informed.

Torres lowered his binoculars. "Oh, we're gonna need to call some people."

The man flying the plane noticed Sam and Reya peeking in and jumped, letting out a gasp. Sam and Reya flew off.

The pilot pointed and asked in French, "Did you see that? I just saw a man and a woman on the windshield."

The man who had walked up behind the pilot rested his arms on the seats and said in French, "Louie..." he pushed the pilot's head, "I'm gonna kill you!" He walked away.

Sam, in English, said, "Okay, switching to plan B."

He used his googles to see what was going on inside the plane.

Two men pulled up another man with a grunt.

"Hey," Georges called as he walked up to the others. "Stop his flopping! He's like a fish, right?"