Chapter 35: The metal arm

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The team landed just outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in Medford. Nothing major had happened in the city yet, so it was clear that The Winter Soldier would still be in the area going after his target.

As Rhodey was landing the jet, Tony gathered everyone together to run over the plan once more. By now, they'd gone over it nearly five times. This was never the case, but Tony was still having a rough time trusting that Steve wouldn't haul off and go against orders.

"Get in, get out. Steve, you're to get him down. Vision, you get the locked brace around him. Wanda, you're to get in his mind so that we can get all of this done quickly. It shouldn't be an issue. Y/N and I will be stationed in the area ready in case anything goes south," Tony stated.

Everyone was in agreement with what the plan was. As they were all stepping off the jet to get to their stationed areas, Y/N felt their phone buzz twice.

(1 min ago) Nat:

"I shouldn't be telling you this
so DO NOT tell her I did, but she
told me everything you both talked
about last night but now she is
absolutely GUSHING over you. It's
sort of disgusting, honestly."

(Just now) Yelena:

"I SAW HER TEXT YOU. SHE'S
LYING."

Y/N laughed before shutting their phone off and returning it to their pocket. She's alive and safe, they thought, so I need to focus on this.

As they got in their positions, the team could hear Tony from their earpieces, "Everyone set?" Each of them called back in noting that they'd made it to their spots just outside City Hall. It was clear that whoever his target was would be there. 

HYDRA had stations all over Philadelphia after their failed attempt to go after the President. The senator that was a close friend of him was sure to be their next stop.

Unfortunately, 45 minutes had passed without a sighting of him. Everything seemed normal as citizens just went about their day. Grabbing coffee, walking their dogs, heading to work. Nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Are we sure he's even here?" Wanda asked through the earpieces, "How long ago was it spotted?"

"Not even 30 minutes before we arrived," Tony responded.

Y/N and Wanda weren't stationed too far from each other and shared laughs knowing that he was getting frustrated. Tony was easily the least patient of the entire team, so him coming on sitting duck missions like this was always a treat for the team. They were sure to hear a couple good, annoyed remarks.

"Aw, poor Tony. Has to sit still for more than five minutes," Steve joked.

"Steve I swear to-" Tony started before he was quickly interrupted by Vision taking off next to him.

"There! I see him!" He said as he flew through the air to where The Winter Soldier was walking behind a building two blocks down from City Hall.

Steve took off in the same direction beside Wanda while Y/N and Tony followed shortly behind for backup. One part of the plan that Steve actually got to set was making sure that the team had the least amount of people working to get him down. He felt that having too many of them surrounding him would be even more overwhelming and dangerous. Send in only those who are absolutely necessary, he had told everyone.

Just before Steve rounded the corner with Vision and Wanda, The Winter Soldier had already turned back gun in hand, ready to fight. Shots were flying just next to Steve's head as he ducked each one or lifted his shield just in time for it to ricochet off.

"Vision! We need the pathway directly behind him blocked off!" Steve yelled through the earpieces. Without hesitation, Vision had dove down and began piling cars, trucks, and whatever he could find.

As Steve and Wanda closed in on him, he threw down his gun as he'd run out of ammo. Y/N glanced over him from the distance, noticing something that no one had actually seen the last time they'd fought him. 

"Is that... the metal arm?" They asked, just before Steve had thrown his shield at them again.

This time, instead of it connecting with his face, The Winter Soldier had turned around just in time to catch Steve's shield with his cybernetic arm, "Well, shit." They'd heard Steve mumble under his breath through the earpieces.

The fight to get him down was not going as easy as Tony had made it out to be, but Steve was still adamant about him and Y/N staying back to let the three handle it. No one had realized how strong he was beforehand as he had gone hand to hand with Steve and knocked him on his ass multiple times.

Each time he had gone down though, Wanda was able to slide something in his way. The stoppage was only momentary as he'd been able to throw them directly back at her as he caught them.

"I'm getting bored here, can we step in yet?" Tony asked.

"NO! I've... We've... GOT THIS!" Steve yelled back between blows he was taking from The Winter Soldier.

No one had been hurt yet, thankfully, but the damage to the city around them was beginning to add up. Nearly 40 cars had been either piled, crushed, or thrown in the process.

Just as Tony was about to step in, Vision darted down knocking The Winter Soldier face first. Wanda quickly noted that he had been taken off his game and took that split second to dive into his mind.

His head was darting back and forth as she'd just completely taken his sight from him. While he was struggling, Steve was able to get the brace around him while Vision melted it shut. At this point, just the lock was too risky.

"Wanda, knock his ass out, please. We don't need him bringing us down in the Quinjet," Tony called over the earpieces, "Great job team. Took long enough. Let's get back to the jet now."

Vision scooped him up to return him to the jet after Wanda had rendered him unconscious. She flew next to him to make sure that she was near in case he came to.

While they all flew back, Y/N and Steve hopped on the motorcycle that they had taken in town. They'd originally driven in separately, but Wanda had unfortunately used Y/N's as a weapon during the fight.

"What took you all so long? I really expected you to get him down quicker," Y/N asked.

"I was trying to talk to him each time we got close enough. I thought that I might be able to get to him there and make it all easier," He responded as he moved the kickstand up and started the motorcycle.

Y/N raised their eyebrows, "Well, you're really lucky Tony didn't hear any of that. I'm sure this could've gone a lot different had he intervened."

He let out a defeated breath, "Yeah, I'm aware."

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