Project 43: Healing

Attack

Elias watched Scott Lang like one watches a drunk man they know is going to fall down. Amused but still concerned. The man didn't seem to understand what he was getting himself into but was overly excited to work with the Avengers. Elias didn't like it but understood that his brother needed all the help he could get.

As the jet took off from Sa Fransico, Elias vowed to visit Mikey again. If he looked carefully enough, he could almost see the building his old friend was still living in.

Scott fell asleep quickly which didn't surprise Elias since they had woken the man up in the middle of the night. Wanda was quietly thinking about everything, which left Elias alone with his thoughts.

If someone had a way of unleashing the Winter Soldiers, it could imbalance the entire world in a matter of days. He could still remember the few times Elias was flown out to Russia to train with the Soldiers. Each time, it was just as hellish as the last. They were locked in a cage, sometimes on one, sometimes Elias against everyone else, but each time Elias walked out with severe injuries, which meant repairs, maintenance, and upgrades.

Elias had never been as afraid as he had been the day he died. He had never feared anything as much as he feared the Winter Soldiers. Bucky was always controlled, he wasn't angry, but the Soldiers were unpredictable and sloppy. They made mistakes that could take the lives of countless people.

"Do you know what the Winter Soldiers are like?" Wanda asked after about an hour of flying. Elias could see Clint quickly look back curiously.

"They're a group of soldiers almost as strong as me who lack impulse control. They're angry all the time, unpredictable, careless, animals Hydra once used for mass destruction. They can't be controlled and lunge at anything in their line of sight whenever they feel like it," Elias explained.

"They can destroy governments and whole countries in a day," he then added.

"Could've gone waterskiing, but no," Clint mumbled to himself making Elias smile. He liked Clint, mainly because he wanted to be the man. He wanted to be able to live somewhere on a farm with a family after being in the public's eye for so long. He wanted to be able to disappear from everything and live a simple life.

"But you can just send them through the floor so I think it's gonna be fine," Elias said to Wanda who smiled sadly. It was clear Wanda liked Vision and the feeling was mutual. It couldn't have been an easy decision for Wanda to leave and Elias wasn't even sure if it had been the right one. At least Wanda wouldn't be sitting still at the compound and wondering what she could have done differently.

The jet landed in Berlin and Clint quickly drove it into an empty hanger in the airport. It was astonishing how many connections Clint apparently had because there was a white van waiting for them in the same coincidentally empty hanger. The van was also stacked with coffee they downed.

Elias sat in the back of the van with a sleeping Lang while Clint and Wanda sat at the front. They were waiting for Steve's 'small old blue car' to park next to them.

Elias stared out the back window, looking out for any kind of movement. He had been ready to run into a fight ever since Clint mentioned the Winter Soldiers. Elias didn't want to let himself climb down from the tense energy as at any moment, something could go wrong.

Out of the corner of his eye, Elias saw the old blue car driving by the van and parking a few spaces over from it.

As the car parked, Elias jumped out of the car and walked to the other side, behind Clint.