The Red Soldier: Captain America and the Red Soldier

ISSUE #12

'You really need to learn how to drive,' Sam Wilson complained as they descended the last stair out of the subway station. The Falcon had arrived at his apartment earlier that morning, bearing gifts of coffee and donuts. After a short breakfast, the two began making their way towards The Bronx, in search of an old opponent of the Winter Soldier.

         Bucky shrugged his shoulders. (Y/N) was supposed to teach him how to drive years ago, but after a leg injury whilst riding his motorcycle, they'd decided to push off driving lessons in favour of something more pleasurable. He shook his head in attempt at ridding himself of the fond memories. Living in Wakanda with (Y/N) had been the last time he'd felt completely at peace, and now with (Y/N) god-knows where, and fighting god-knows what, it hurt to reminisce.

         'You know he's going to be alright,' Sam said reassuringly whilst they strolled down the quiet street, as though he could read his mind, 'in the year we travelled together he never suffered so much as a scrape.' This did little to quell the anxiety building up inside James Barnes. He'd been told all about their escapades across Europe, and it was of little surprise that (Y/N) wasn't hurt during them. They'd been up against petty criminals back then, but now he was confronting an army of specialised agents, and potentially Wanda Maximoff, a girl who's powers compared greatly with the Red Soldier's. Rather than express his worries though, James Barnes simply nodded his head. 'Where're we going anyway?' Sam asked as they approached a tall apartment building.

         He wasn't able to answer Sam's question before some kid noticed them. 'Hey,' he exclaimed excitedly, getting up from the step he'd been sitting on, 'it's Black Falcon! What's up?'

         'It's just Falcon, kid,' Sam corrected him.

         'No, no,' the boy attested, 'my daddy told me it's Black Falcon.'

         'Is it because I'm black and I'm the Falcon?'

         The kid struggled for a moment, his eyes darting between Bucky and Sam. 'Well, technically, I mean, yeah,' he stuttered.

         Sam smiled, 'so are you, like, Black Kid?' he joked. The boy sighed, clearly at a loss as the two walked onwards.

Bucky checked his phone as they came to a set of steps leading up to a chipped green door. 'This is the place,' he said, ensuring the address in his phone matched one of the buttons on the call box.

         'You going to tell me what we're doing here? Or who exactly it is that we're trying to get a hold of?' Sam questioned, surveying their surroundings.

         'Isaiah Bradley,' Bucky answered, pushing the button for apartment 4A, 'a super soldier I had a skirmish with during the Korean War. Thought maybe he'd know who had the formula for the serum last.' Sam Wilson went to reply but a fuzzy noise coming from the call box interrupted him. 'We're here to see Isaiah,' James spoke into the transmitter.

         'Nobody named Isaiah lives here,' the person on the other end replied bluntly.

         'Look, we just want to talk to him,' Bucky explained.

         'You mustn't have heard what I just said,' the voice sneered, 'you ain't getting in the building. You can leave now.'

         'Tell him the guy from the bar in Goyang is here,' he instructed, 'he's going to know what that means.'

         'All right, wait here.'

         The pair stood there for a few moments, until eventually the intercom buzzed once more, 'today's your lucky day,' the voice stated, 'he said he wants to see you himself.' The lock on the door clicked as it slid out of place, giving them access to the building. Bucky led the way up the stairwell and onto the fourth floor, where the door to apartment 4A stood ajar. He walked towards it slowly, his fist rapping against it loudly before he stepped foot inside. 'Isaiah?' he called out cautiously.