Faultlines

Picking Sites

Picking Sites

Scott could never really pinpoint WHEN exactly his life had gone completely insane. Prison? Not really insane. Becoming Ant-Man definitely qualified, yes, but it had been at least somewhat straightforward. Now he had his life back, got to see his daughter on a regular basis. And still, he could simply not resist, when Hawkeye (HAWKEYE!) had asked for his help. On behalf of Captain Freaking America. It wasn't just hero-worship, though, Scott knew what was on the line. For him. For Hope. For all of them.

So now here he was. Running. On an airport somewhere in Germany. Between Falcon and Hawkeye. Like he was one of them. Their mad dash towards the hangar was cut short, when Vision shot a weird ass laser beam from his forehead and separated them from Tony Stark and his team.

Scott cursed silently. They could have won this, he was sure, but with Vision on the other side? That was a completely new set of problems. Who'd be able to fight him? Wanda, Scott assumed, still amazed that he now knew them personally. They were no longer faces on a screen or heroes to call for help.

"Captain Rogers. I know you believe what you're doing is right. But, for the collective good, you must surrender now."

Yeah, not gonna happen, Scott thought.

"What do we do, Cap?", Sam asked.

"We fight.", he told them with resignation, but just as they all began to move forward, their opponents stopped. On reflex Scott stopped as well, thankful to see that they all came to a halt.

Iron Man opened his helmet.

"You gotta be KIDDING me!", he hissed and Scott turned around to see who he was talking to. A man had appeared behind them, wearing a weird mixture of a black cloak and vest, hexagonal glasses and a short, black beard. The billowing cloak was so off-putting, that it took a moment for Scott to realize that the newcomer was Harry Stark.

His expression was stoic, as he came to stand next to Barnes.

"You cannot be serious!", Iron Man continued, "Think of the consequences!"

"I am.", the reply was so cold, it send shivers down Scott's spine, "You are talking about consequences? You are right. I can say a lot of things. But it is time to take a stance."

"And that has to be against your brother?", War Machine sounded almost as hurt, as Iron Man did. Of course, Scott realized, there was a lot of history between these men.

"Against anyone, who threatens the very core of what I believe in. If that means standing between you and Barnes, then that is where I belong."

Scott's head was spinning. This wasn't just a fight. He had known that, logically, but this small exchange drove the fact that these people were friends, family, home with incredible force.

"Harry...", Black Window started, but Iron Man interrupted her: "Don't waste your breath. He has made up his mind."

"Damn.", Sam's voice next to Scott was so quiet, he knew no one else had heard it. Damn, indeed.

Cap seemed even more reluctant to fight the other team now, Scott could feel the conflict roll off of him. Scott kept looking between both teams. He wasn't exactly sure what Harry Stark was supposed to do (dude looked pretty much unarmed), but the other members of his team looked way more confident than before.

Ooooookay, Scott was missing something. Judging from the worried faces of some of the members of Team Iron Man: something big.

Was Vision nervous? Couldn't be.

No one moved.

Suddenly Iron Man closed his helmet, his angry face vanishing from view.

"You brought this on yourself."