My Angel - Sam Wilson

Part 4

Zemo heaved a sigh.  "We have a real problem now, so leave your weapons and follow my lead." 

They casually left the building, phones ringing all around them.

"There's a bounty on our heads!" Sam cried, checking his phone. 

"On her killers - they don't know its us," Alex said. Rapid gunfire flew over their heads causing them all to duck. "They know it's us!"

"Run!" The streets in Madripoor were like a maze - luckily she was familiar with the area. 

"I can't run in these heels!" she heard Sam cry behind her. 

"You seem to have a guardian angel," Zemo said as three bounty hunters dropped dead around them.

"Or a wife and friend." Carina emerged, electric batons in hand.

"Well this is too perfect." Another figure emerged along with her, gun pointed at Zemo. "Drop it Zemo."

Zemo obeyed  and set his gun on the ground.

"I thought you said 'leave your weapons'," Alex reminded him.

"That was before we were being shot at." 

"Sharon?" cried Bucky to the newcomer.

But her focus was on Zemo. "You cost me everything."

"Sharon wait!" cried Sam. "Someone recreated the super soldier serum and Zemo had a lead."

"That explains why you guys are here, and why Selby's dead."

"Selby? Isn't that who you were meeting with?" asked Carina. "You killed her?!"

"What are you doing here?" Bucky asked Sharon.

"I stole Steve's shield, remember? I also took the wings for your ass so that you could save his ass from his ass. Unlike you I didn't have the Avengers to back me up so now here I am, off the grid in Madripoor."

"Hey don't blow that smoke at me, we were on the run too," Sam said, gesturing to himself and Carina.

"Was, is, big difference. I don't speak to my family anymore. I can't. My own father doesn't know where I am, even if I'm alive." Then she saw Alex, seeming to just notice her. "Who the hell is this? Another one? Seriously?"

Okay, so that was how they were playing this, as though she and Sharon didn't know each other. Sharon did call the shots after all. 

"Listen, Sharon, we need your help, please," Bucky told her.

She scoffed in response. "This isn't over. I have a place in High Town - you should be safe there for a while."

"Hmm, looks like we do have a friend in High Town after all," Alex remarked. 

-------------------------------------------

Sharon's place in High Town was a penthouse apartment overlooking the city with a spectacular view. 

"Looks like breaking all those laws is treating you well," Sam told her. 

"Well at some point I thought if I had to hustle, might as well enjoy the life of a real hustler. You know how much I can get for a real Monet?"

"Deactivate your hustle mode. You sell fake Monets."

"No, she means real. This gallery is specialized in stolen artwork," said Zemo.

"How do you know?"

"Monet, Van Gough, classics."

"It's true. You know, half the artwork in museums like the Louvre is fake," added Bucky.

"Real stuff sits in places like this," said Carina. "Enjoyed by only a lucky few."

"Okay guys, I see what you're doing. You're more worldly than good old Sam."

"Yeah? What's Google say?" Bucky asked him.

Sam checked his phone. "No shit!"

"Come on, you guys need to change - I'm hosting clients in an hour," Sharon told them.

"Thank God I can finally get out of this ridiculous thing." Sam quickly shed his Smiling Tiger jacket. 

Alex was making her way through the apartment while the others changed.  "Oh - excuse me," she said when she almost collided with a shirtless Sam. 

"Hey, thanks for saving our asses back there," he told her. 

"No problem. Who called you?"

"My sister, Sarah."

"Ah."

Sharon strode past them.  

"What's going on Sharon?" Sam asked her. "You don't ever wanna come back home?"

"They'll lock me up if I step foot back in the States. Madripoor doesn't allow extradition."

"Look, we're sorry we didn't call. After the Blip and all the chaos-"

"Look, you know that whole hero thing is a joke right? The way you gave up that shield deep down, you must know it's all hypocrisy."

"He knows. And not so deep down," piped-up Zemo, who had already helped himself to the wide array of liquor that was on hand.

"By the way, how is the new Cap?"

"Don't get me started," sighed Bucky.

"Oh please!" scoffed Sharon. "You buy into all that stars and stripes bullshit. Before you were his pet psychopath you were Mr. America! Cap's best friend."

"Ooo, ouch," said Carina.

"Wow, she's kind of awful now..." Bucky agreed. "And I was Steve's best friend long before he was Captain America."

"Karli Morgenthau and at least seven others have taken the serum," Sam updated her.

She just shook her head. "You guys really should steer clear of all this for your own safety."

"We know it's a risk, but we're not gonna leave until we find out who cracked the code," Sam insisted.

"We have a name - Dr. Wilfred Nagel," Bucky told her.

"Nagel works for the Power Broker."

Real subtle, Boss, thought Alex. 

"We need your help, Sharon. I can get your name cleared," Sam promised.

"You pretending you can clear my name."

"Okay, maybe it is hypocrisy, maybe you're right. But I'm willing to try if you are. They cleared the bionic staring machine and he killed almost everybody he's met."

"I heard that," Bucky called.

Sharon sighed.  "Fine, and don't think I'll let you forget this promise. Now lay low, blend in, enjoy the party. And try to stay out of trouble. I'll see what I can find." 

Zemo chuckled. "Trouble?"

(Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :))