CHAPTER SIX

The Falcon

- - - - -

Steve took them to an apartment where Sam Wilson, a friend he made from his morning runs stayed in. Ana's shoulder was ripped open from the explosion and Nat could barely walk, holding onto Steve for support.

"Steve, can we trust Sam? Do you know him well?" Ana asked as they stepped to the door. She placed one hand over her shoulder to press on the wound as the other held her elbow up.

Steve gave her a small smile, "Yeah, we can trust Sam." He confirmed.

He turned back to the door and knocked as Ana looked around the area. The sound of the door sliding open made Ana look at Sam.

"Hey man." Sam greeted, glancing at Natasha and Ana, a confused expression on his face.

"I'm sorry about this. We need a place to lay low."

"Everyone we know is trying to kill us." Natasha explained.

He glanced back and forth between the three, and pursed his lips together. "Not everyone." Sam let them inside his house, and slid the door closed, locked it, and closed his curtains.

When Ana passed him, groaning and slightly faltering in her steps, Sam wrapped a cautious arm around her waist. He looked at her shoulder and winced, "Damn, how the hell are you still alive?" He mumbled, guiding her to the living room.

Ana chuckled, "I'm an Avenger." She said, sitting down on the couch.

Steve and Natasha went to clean up since they were covered in dirt and blood, Sam went to get a first aid kit and Ana sat on the couch, trying to count all the stars flying around her head.

Sam kneeled in front of her, still in his sweats and picked up a bottle of disinfectant. Ana tried to take her mind of the pain when he poured it on her wound and started to stitch it. She was scared that Hydra was out there looking for them. If they managed to find them, she'll go out swinging, trying to protect her friends. And the video from Zola, the man carrying the baby, Ana couldn't help but feel like that was her. She was adopted at quite a young age, no records of her parents and any idea of how they abandoned her. Nick Fury promised her would help her find her true parents, but now he was gone.

"There you go, all done. Just don't go start stretching, that was the last of the string." Sam said, giving her a grin.

Ana rubbed her shoulder, feeling the stitches hold her skin together. She gave him a grateful smile, "Thanks a lot, I owe you." She said.

She then realised he didn't know her name and held out a hand, "I'm Ana, Ana Michaels. Nice to meet you." She smiled.

Sam shook her hand, "Sam Wilson. Great to meet you too. I'm going to make some food, why don't you go and get yourself cleaned up, you look like hell." He chuckled.

Ana nodded as he pointed to the bathroom, "Sure. Thanks again." She said before walking to the small room.

She smiled seeing Nat and Steve all cleaned up, "Hey you two. Feeling alright?" She asked, sitting on the bed next to Steve. They both smiled at her and nodded. Steve looked at her shoulder, "You heal fast, right?" He questioned.

Nat and Ana both let out an 'uh' before Ana shook her head, "It depends. Sometimes it's fast, usually for things like scratches and bruises but other times," Nat chuckled and spoke up, "Clint shot her with an arrow just to see how fast her relaxes were and it took about a week for it to heal."

Ana glared at that, wiping her face with a damp cloth Nat handed her, "Broke his bow in half because of that. But then I had to get him a new one." She smiled.

Steve smiled at the two warmly, "Good to know."

Natasha waved Ana over to sit next to her and she obliged, feeling Nat pull her hair into a braid. Ana looked at Steve, "Are you okay?" She asked.

Steve looked taken aback but nodded, "Yeah, I'm alright." He said.

Natasha scoffed from beside Ana, "Well, you seem pretty chipper for someone who just found out they died for nothing."

"Well, I guess I just like to know who I'm fighting." Steve replied.

"I made breakfast," Sam said, poking his head in the room, leaning against the wall, "If you guys...eat that sort of thing."

- - -

"So, the question is: who in SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?" Natasha said, glancing at Ana who was drinking a glass of water.

"Pierce," Steve and Ana said, glancing at each other quickly.

"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world." Natasha said.

"But he's not working alone," Steve said, glancing up at Natasha and Ana. "Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star."

"So was Jasper Sitwell," Ana said, remembering that glasses wearing traitor was on the ship.

"So," Steve said slowly, "The real question is: how do the three most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?"

"The answer is: you don't." Sam said, throwing a file onto the table they were at.

"What's this?" Steve asked, glancing at it.

"Call it a resume." Sam shrugged.

Ana took the folder from the table and opened it, revealing pictures of Sam in his para-rescue suit and with his team. Natasha peered over Ana's shoulder, arms crossed over her chest as Steve stood up and also looked down at the folder.

"Is this Bakhmala? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you." Natasha asked. Sam nodded at Natasha, smiling at Ana when she gave him a fist pump. Nat glanced to Steve. "You didn't say he was a para-rescue."

"Is this Riley?" Steve asked, looking at a picture of Sam with his partner.

Sam nodded, "Yeah."

"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs. What did you use, a stealth chute?" Natasha asked.

"No, these." Sam walked over to the table and took out the other folder titled Falcon onto it, and handed it to Ana. She took it and her eyes widened, "Oh my..." She whispered.

"I thought you said you were a pilot." Steve stated, chuckling slightly.

"I never said pilot," Sam grinned.

"I can't ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason." Steve said after realising who he was bringing into the fight, into the whole mess they were stuck in.

"Dude," Sam said. "Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in."

Steve glanced at Natasha and Ana who both shrugged. "I wanna see him in action, I mean look at these." Ana said, showing him the wings.

"Where can we get our hands on one of these things?" Steve asked.

"The last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall." Sam said.

Ana winked at Sam and stood up from the table, she clicked her knuckles and pointed at him. "Shouldn't be a problem. I might even enjoy busting in." She laughed.

Sam looked at her confused, "Busting in?" He echoed. Ana nodded like it was obvious, "Yeah, I'm like crazy strong. I'll tell you all about my abilities when I get you your wings, Falcon." Sam grinned at her,

"You're awesome."

- - -

Steve tossed Sitwell across the rooftop they were on. After successfully temporarily misappropriating a pair of EXO wings for Sam, and a couple of weapons for themselves, Ana and Natasha aided Steve into interrogating Jasper Sitwell.

"Tell me about Zola's algorithm." Steve said, walking towards Sitwell as he got up from the ground and placed his glasses over his nose hastily. He stepped back as Steve advanced forward.

"Never heard of it." Sitwell said.

"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?" Steve asked.

"I was throwing up, I get seasick." Sitwell said before nearly falling to his feet, but Steve caught him by his jacket, and lowered him off the edge. "Is this really splitting semantics in throwing me off the roof? Because it's really not your style, Rogers."

"You're right." Steve said, letting him go and fixing his jacket. "It's theirs." He said.

Natasha and Ana shared a smirk before they both kicked Sitwell's stomach, and he fell down the building screaming. Ana slightly winced and blocked her ears, "Damn, he's got lungs." She mumbled to herself.

"Oh, wait. What about that girl from accounting, Laura...?" Natasha asked.

"Lillian." Steve said. "Lip piercing, right?"

"Yeah, she's cute." Natasha said lightly.

"Yeah, I'm not ready for that." Steve said.

"Still trying to find Steve a girl?" Ana asked Natasha. Natasha grinned at her and nodded.

Steve smiled as Sam, aka the Falcon, returned with Sitwell, and tossed him back on the roof. Sam landed on the ground, his EXO wings retracting back inside the pack strapped around his upper torso. He lifted his goggles up from his face as Steve, Ana, and Natasha circled him.

"Zola's algorithm is a program for choosing Insight's targets!" Sitwell exclaimed.

"What targets?" Steve demanded.

"You! A TV anchor in Cairo, the Undersecretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa city. Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA! Now, or in the future." Sitwell said. Ana scrunched her nose up at the mention of her old doctor.

"The future? How could it know?" Steve said.

"How could it not? The 21st century is a digital book. Zola taught HYDRA how to read it." Steve, and Natasha looked at Sitwell with confused glances on their faces. Sam and Ana also shared a shrug. Sitwell rolled his eyes, "Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, e-mails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores. Zola's algorithm evaluates peoples' past to predict their future."

"And what then?" Steve demanded to know more.

"Oh my God." Sitwell said as frightening look came onto his face. "Pierce is going to kill me."

"What then?!" Ana repeated sternly.

"Then the Insight Helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few million at a time." Sitwell said with a tired sigh.

Ana looked up at the skyline, a sickening feeling forming in the pit of her stomach. She could feel something bad was about to go down, and a lot of people will die if they don't act fast. Millions of innocent people.

- - - - -

Hey everyone! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and please comment, I love reading your thoughts on it. I'll post the next one up soon, so stay tuned!

Q- Star-Lord is going to be in the Avengers: Infinity War, who do you think he would connect with? i think tony.