Sam Wilson

> *"What would be the point of all the pain and sacrifice if I wasn't willing to stand up and keep fighting?"*
> - **Sam Wilson**
>
>

## Sam Wilson

### Aliases

Falcon
 Captain America

## People

### Relatives

Imogen Hayes (wife)
Sarah Wilson (sister)
Paul Wilson (father)
Darlene Wilson (mother)

## Work

### Affiliation

US Armed Forces
 SHIELD
 New Avengers
 US Air Force
 Wilson Family Seafood

### Occupation

Pilot
 Soldier
 Avenger
 Vigilante

## General Info

### Languages

English
 Spanish
 Arabic

### Origin

MCU (Franchise)
Avengers (Movies)
The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (TV Series)

# Early Life

Samuel Thomas Wilson was born on September 23, 1368 in Harlem, New York to Paul and Darlene Wilson.

## Childhood

Sam was raised in Louisiana along with his sister, Sarah. Sam's father would often take him to go fishing at a spot in Grand Isle, making Sam very fond of their boat. Sam had an aunt, whom he referred to as his TT, whom he was very close to. When his TT passed away, Sam attended her funeral, which was well attended and continued for many days, celebrating her life.

Paul and Darlene Wilson were very helpful people, earning many favors from neighbors, who helped them with their family business.

# Mid Life

## Career

However, Paul and Darlene both died, leading to Sam joining the military and Sarah working on the business in Delacroix.

Sam joined the US Air Force after qualifying and passing all the requirements for pararescue. He served two combat tours in the War on Terrorism, being sent out to Afghanistan during his service. Assigned onto the 58th Rescue Squadron, Sam was a test pilot for the EXO-7 Falcon along with his wingman, Riley. During his time serving in the US Air Force, Sam often found that he would be the most comfortable when he was sleeping on the ground while using rocks as pillows, since there were few other options.

#### Losing Riley

One of Sam's missions involved successfully capturing Khalid Khandil in Bakhmala, Afghanistan, being once again teamed up with Riley. However, during a night rescue mission, Riley was killed after his EXO-7 Falcon was hit by an RPG and Sam could do nothing to save him. Having lost his close friend, Sam had a hard time finding a reason to continue serving and soon left the US Air Force, deciding to focus his efforts on helping veterans recovering from combat post-traumatic stress disorder back home, creating the District of Columbia Support Group to do whatever he could to help.

#### Meeting Captain America

Having returned home from the US Air Force, Sam was hired by the Department of Veterans Affairs, with the intention of counseling the veterans who had been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. While out for his morning jog across Washington, DC, Sam soon found his early morning exercise being interrupted by Steve Rogers, who had managed to casually run by Sam several times, teasing him as he went, much to Sam's annoyance.

With Rogers having run past him multiple times throughout their jog, Sam eventually stopped to catch his breath as Rogers came over to rejoin him. Commenting on how fast he had run, Sam jokingly challenged Rogers to run another lap, questioning if he could do it in the blink of an eye. Rogers had then questioned what branch of the US Air Force Sam was a part of, and Sam introduced himself.

As Rogers introduced himself, Sam had then made it clear that he already knew who he was based upon his incredible running abilities. He then questioned what it was like for Rogers to have been woken up in 1391 after living in the 1320s during World War II, to which Rogers only claimed that it was taking some getting used to. Before Rogers could walk away, Sam had then noted that most other US Armed Forces veterans, himself included, had struggled to get used to sleeping on a comfortable bed upon returning home, which Rogers related to. The pair then bonded about their experiences while serving in the military and similarities in readjusting without a war zone.

Once Sam asked Rogers about the differences between living now compared to the 1320s, he listened to Rogers explain why it was not so bad, commenting on all the improvements with their food and technology in the modern day, including the internet. Hearing that Rogers was still trying to catch up on everything that he missed, Sam then recommended Marvin Gaye for him to listen to, and Rogers added it to his To-Do List.

The conversation was cut short, however, as Rogers was called away on a SHIELD mission by Natasha Romanoff. Sam encouraged Rogers to visit him at the VA some day, ostensibly so Sam could impress the women who also worked there, while Rogers teased him over his jogging abilities. As Romanoff had arrived to collect Rogers in her car, joking that they would put him in The Smithsonian Institution as an exhibit, Sam gave her a flirtatious greeting before watching her drive away with Rogers.

Sam held a group session with US Armed Forces veterans who were suffering from PTSD as he helped Garcia, who was struggling with visions of IEDs in the roads. Once Garcia had finished her confessions, Sam spoke to the group about what they kept with them from their experiences with war and what they left behind. He used a metaphor of carrying the memories in a bag as he offered advice in separating their time in the military from their time being at home, where they were trying to relive as civilians.

With their meeting over, Sam once again met with Steve Rogers, who complimented him on his insights to Garcia, having arrived to listen to the last few minutes of his meeting. Sam then told Rogers about his time in Afghanistan and how he lost his friend, Riley, during a mission. Sam explained that once Riley died, he had lost his own passion for serving in the military but found a new purpose in his life by helping these veterans readjust after returning to their homes.

Rogers admitted to Sam that he was struggling with the idea of what to do with himself if he was not a soldier, since he also didn't know how to leave SHIELD and just live a normal life, to which Sam jokingly suggested that he could join Ultimate Fighting due to his Super Soldier Serum. However, Sam got serious once again as he then assured Rogers that he could do whatever he wanted, before questioning what it was that actually made him happy in life.

### Helping the Fugitives

Having returned to his apartment after jogging through Washington, DC, Sam heard a knock at his door and was surprised to find a disheveled Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff, who had come seeking refuge as they claimed that everybody they knew was currently attempting to kill them. Despite having little context to their current situation, Sam offered them both help without a second thought, opening his door for Rogers and Romanoff to come inside.

While they were inside his home, Sam made the pair breakfast and allowed them to use his shower in order to clean themselves up, as they had been involved in an explosion at Camp Lehigh. Despite his own choice to leave the US Air Force, Sam had felt that being called upon by Captain America simply meant he had to return. Having finished making breakfast, Sam came upstairs as he informed Rogers and Romanoff that it was ready if they wanted it.

As the group ate together, Sam learned of the full details of Rogers' and Romanoff's current predicament, as he was informed about how SHIELD had been infiltrated by HYDRA for decades, resulting in them being betrayed by Alexander Pierce who had ordered the assassination of themselves as well as Director Nick Fury. Having learned how dangerous their situation was if Pierce succeeded in his plans with Project Insight, Sam had then offered his assistance.

Although Rogers was reluctant to accept, Sam had insisted before then revealing to them that he was part of a military project that used the EXO-7 Falcon, with Romanoff recognizing their unit as the one that captured Khalid Khandil in Afghanistan. Rogers had also noticed a picture of Sam and Riley. Seeing that Sam could be beneficial to the mission to capture and question Jasper Sitwell, Rogers accepted his help as they all agreed to steal the EXO-7 Falcon together.

#### Kidnapping Agent Sitwell

Having retrieved the EXO-7 Falcon from Fort Meade, Sam traveled with both Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff to find and interrogate Jasper Sitwell. Sam called Sitwell on the phone after he had a meeting with Senator Stern and threatened to have him shot if he did not do exactly as instructed; he ordered Sitwell to go into a car that drove him to a nearby building to be questioned by Rogers and Romanoff on the roof.

During his initial interrogation by Rogers, Sitwell denied any knowledge of HYDRA's takeover of SHIELD. As they grew tired of his lies, Romanoff had instead resorted to kicking Sitwell off the building, in order to scare him into finally giving the answers they needed. After Sitwell fell several stories, Sam, as the Falcon, then flew in at the last moment, caught him in mid-air, and brought Sitwell back onto the top of the building, dropping him with some force on the ground.

As Falcon retracted his wings and rejoined Rogers and Romanoff, he watched as Sitwell confessed, since the fall scared him so much. Sam listened while Sitwell revealed how Arnim Zola's algorithm was in fact their plan to locate any potential threats to HYDRA in the future, and that Alexander Pierce intended to use Project Insight in order to assassinate these people of interest the moment the Insight Helicarriers were launched.

#### Encountering Winter Soldier

Having learned of Alexander Pierce's sinister plans of the worldwide massacre, Sam drove Jasper Sitwell towards The Triskelion, where they planned to use his clearances to gain access to, and shut down Project Insight before Pierce could activate it. Sitwell, however, insisted that this concept was a terrible idea but Sam ordered that he keep quiet while they were driving there as Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff then continued to discuss the fine details of their new plan.

However, before the group could get to The Triskelion, someone suddenly landed on their roof as a robotic arm ripped Sitwell out of the window and into the path of a speeding truck, killing him. As the attacker began shooting into the car, Sam slammed on the brakes, launching him off the vehicle, and they were faced with the Winter Soldier. Before the group could react, another vehicle had slammed into the back of their car, which drove Sam and the others towards the Winter Soldier.

With Sam unable to do anything, the Winter Soldier proceeded to rip the steering wheel out of his hands in an attempt to cause a fatal crash. While the car spun out of control, Rogers then grabbed Sam and Romanoff and threw them all out, using his shield to protect them as they skidded on the road at high speed. When they recovered from the crash, a fight then erupted in the streets, in which Sam dove for cover while Rogers was knocked off the bridge by a grenade.

Once Romanoff was also thrown off the bridge because of the Winter Soldier's grenade launcher, Sam had managed to remain hidden as the HYDRA mercenaries then began repelling off the bridge in order to continue the fight, shooting at Rogers with a mini-gun. Surprising one mercenary, Sam was able to knock him off the bridge and take his gun, using it to give Rogers covering fire. Sam then instructed Rogers to help keep the Winter Soldier away from Romanoff.

Eventually, Sam had managed to defeat the unit of HYDRA soldiers from the bridge and then went in search of Rogers and Romanoff on the streets of Washington, DC, taking his EXO-7 Falcon with him as protection. Before long, Sam discovered Rogers battling the Winter Soldier and flew in to assist, coming in just as their fight had briefly paused due to a moment's confusion. Sam was able to kick the Winter Soldier aside just before he could shoot Rogers.

While Falcon had landed on the streets, the Winter Soldier recovered from the assault and had attempted to shoot at Rogers again, only for Romanoff to then shoot a grenade launcher at him, which caused him to flee. Before they could get away, however, Rogers, Romanoff and Sam were then surrounded and captured by some of HYDRA's infiltrators within SHIELD, led by Brock Rumlow. As Sam was pinned against the car at gunpoint, he had his Exo-7 Falcon removed while Rumlow and Jack Rollins secured Rogers. The three of them were put in the back of a van to be executed later, with Romanoff wounded from being shot at by the Winter Soldier earlier.

#### Meeting Nick Fury

Under the watchful eyes of HYDRA's soldiers, Sam and the others were transported towards a secret location where Brock Rumlow intended to have them all killed. During their journey, Steve Rogers explained that Winter Soldier was in fact his friend, Bucky Barnes, who seemingly died in World War II. Sam wondered how this could be possible, and Rogers explained that Arnim Zola had experimented on Barnes, which helped him to survive his apparent death.

As they drove along, Sam noticed that Natasha Romanoff was currently losing a lot of blood from her injury and warned the guards that she needed a doctor or else she would bleed out. However, much to Sam's great surprise, one of the HYDRA guards then used a Taser Rod to attack the other guard and knock him unconscious, before she revealed herself to really be Maria Hill. While Hill had questioned who Sam was, she used the Mouse Hole to escape with the three before Rumlow even noticed.

Having gotten away from their HYDRA kidnappers, Hill then brought them inside the SHIELD Dam Facility where Romanoff was finally given medical attention from Doctor Fine. While Romanoff's gunshot wound was being treated, Hill revealed to Sam and the others that Director Nick Fury was also there, still recuperating from the recent assassination attempt orchestrated by the Winter Soldier, with nobody, other than them, currently being aware of his survival.

Sam listened as Fury and Fine discussed the list of injuries Fury had sustained when he was attacked by the Winter Soldier. Fury explained that he used Tetrodotoxin B, which had been developed by Bruce Banner, to slow his heartbeat down to the point that it appeared that he had died. When Rogers questioned why he had kept this as a secret, Hill noted that their enemies needed to believe that Fury was dead in order to ensure that any second assassination attempt was not made. While the others remained unsure about the situation, Sam listened as Fury continued explaining that he had been unsure who he could actually trust since SHIELD was compromised.

Sam rejoined the team while together, they focused on their work to stop HYDRA's plans as Fury discussed Alexander Pierce's betrayal and how they could not contact the World Security Council to stop the launch of Project Insight. As Fury revealed three microchips, Sam asked what they were, to which Hill explained that they would use these chips to hack into the Helicarriers directly and cause them to target each other, warning that millions would die if they failed.

When Rogers told Fury that he intended to destroy not only the Project Insight Helicarriers, but all of SHIELD with them, Fury protested, insisting that HYDRA had tricked them all and SHIELD was innocent. Despite his protests, Hill and Romanoff agreed with Rogers, to which Sam affirmed that he was also standing with his friend, joking that he would go where Rogers went, only slower. With that, Fury finally relented and gave Rogers control over their mission.

Knowing that their plans to defeat Pierce would undoubtedly be met with the full forces of HYDRA, Sam later talked with Rogers about what they should do once they encountered the Winter Soldier again. Sam insisted to Rogers that Barnes was the kind of guy you have to stop rather than save in spite of their friendship in World War II. However, Rogers remained convinced he could save Barnes, as he then proclaimed that he would find his uniform to fight their upcoming battle against HYDRA.

### Battle at The Triskelion

Having assisted in stealing Captain America's Uniform from The Smithsonian Institute exhibit, Sam joined him and Maria Hill as they broke into The Triskelion and secured the control room, taking Moore and the other controllers captive. Once they all had taken full control of the situation, Rogers informed every SHIELD agent of HYDRA's infiltration into their organization as well as Alexander Pierce's true plans for Project Insight, asking them to trust his word.

Sam listened as Rogers told the SHIELD agents that while many had been ordered to hunt him down by STRIKE teams, he urged them to stand against the enemy before Pierce was able to succeed with launching Project Insight, revealing that they already killed Nick Fury to ensure their plan went ahead. Once he had finished, Sam jokingly asked Rogers if he had practiced the speech beforehand, or simply made it up as he went along.

With the Project Insight Helicarriers now launching and the few remaining SHIELD agents being led by Sharon Carter in their fight against HYDRA, Sam and Rogers charged outside to destroy these Helicarriers. As they jogged forward, Sam questioned how they would be able to tell the good guys from the bad guys, but Rogers just calmly reminded Sam that only the bad guys would be attempting to shoot him out of the sky.

On that note, Rogers, as Captain America jumped off the platform onto the rising Helicarrier while Sam, as Falcon, activated his EXO-7 Falcon and took off. As Falcon flew in line with the Helicarriers, he immediately found himself being targeted and attempted to avoid the gunfire by using his advanced flying techniques. Maria Hill asked Falcon for an update on his status, and he informed her that he was engaging the enemy as he flew directly into the line of fire, swiftly diving through the air to avoid all the Helicarrier's shots.

Diving onto the deck of a Helicarrier, Falcon had managed to surprise one HYDRA guard by crashing directly into him, before then spinning around as he armed himself with his handguns and shooting down a second guard. However, before Falcon could sneak on board the Helicarrier to plant their microchip, he then suddenly came under attack from a Quinjet, which chased him across the deck while shooting at him. Falcon used the parked Quinjets to take cover.

Suddenly, the Quinjet fired a missile at Falcon, barely missing him and destroying a parked Quinjet he was flying by. The explosion knocked Falcon to the ground, as the Quinjet came out of the smoke and attempted to shoot him down. However, Falcon swiftly recovered as he then dived backwards off the Helicarrier, shooting his twin guns at the HYDRA pilots before reactivating his EXO-7 Falcon and flying away, with the Quinjet still chasing him down and shooting at him.

While Captain America successfully inserted the first microchip in one of the Helicarriers, Falcon continued to desperately try to get away from the Quinjet that was still pursuing him. While Falcon flew on the underbelly of the Helicarrier, the Quinjet had fired dozens of missiles at him. Falcon used all of his maneuvering abilities to avoid them, retracting his wings and allowing himself to fall as all of the missiles then smashed into the side of the Helicarrier.

With the Quinjet pilots mistakenly thinking they had just killed Falcon in the explosion, he was able to use the hole in the underbelly of the Helicarrier, which was caused by the missiles, to get inside and access the control systems to insert their second microchip, granting Hill control over two out of the three Helicarriers. With that portion of their mission completed, Falcon then dove back outside in order to board the final Helicarrier and destroy Project Insight.

Before Falcon could head onto the third Helicarrier, he was contacted by Captain America, who requested a ride since he was under attack from several HYDRA agents. Falcon then witnessed Captain America dive off the second Helicarrier, falling hundreds of feet to the ground below. Falcon flew after him at full speed, managing to catch Captain America in the air and fly him to the final Helicarrier. He had also jokingly commented that Captain America was a lot heavier than he looked.

However, just as Falcon and Captain America shared some humor, they were ambushed by the Winter Soldier, who charged forward and threw Captain America from the Helicarrier. Fearing his friend was falling to his death, Falcon attempted to save Captain America, only for the Winter Soldier to grab one of his wings and throw him backwards to continue their fight. Falcon then drew his twin guns and shot at the Winter Soldier, who was able to avoid the bullets and take cover.

As Falcon had then tried once again to rescue Captain America from falling, he flew upwards only for the Winter Soldier soldier to use his grappling wire to grab ahold of Falcon's wing and pull him back down to the ground, before tearing one of the wings off the EXO-7 Falcon. As Falcon then attempted to get back on his feet, the Winter Soldier charged forward and kicked him off the Helicarrier, with Falcon plummeting towards the ground below with his now badly damaged wing suit.

As Falcon fell hundreds of feet below, he was then able to cut the second wing free before activating his parachute, allowing him to land safely in The Triskelion. Falcon confirmed that Captain America was alive and still on board the Helicarrier, as he had gone to continue their mission alone. Falcon was warned by Hill that Brock Rumlow was now on his way to the World Security Council in order to then intercept Black Widow, so he went to keep Rumlow away from the group.

Refocusing his mission on protecting Nick Fury, Sam encountered Brock Rumlow inside The Triskelion as Rumlow was on his way to challenge Black Widow and Fury in order to try and rescue his commander, Alexander Pierce, so they could escape during the chaos of the battle and kill the World Security Council. Sam hid behind the door and ambushed Rumlow, striking him in the face and attempting to knock him out with a knee to the head.

However, Rumlow quickly proved himself to be a formidable fighter as he blocked Sam's knee and head-butted him with some force, knocking Sam onto the ground. While Sam slowly got back onto his feet, Rumlow had removed his jacket and Bulletproof Vest as he then proclaimed to Sam that his punishment for trying to go against HYDRA would now cause him considerable pain, since that was the only way HYDRA believed the world could regain order.

As Rumlow continued to rant about HYDRA's schemes, Sam readied himself for a fight and simply told his rival to shut up, so they could. The two soldiers charged towards each other for an intense fight in hand-to-hand combat. As their battle reached its conclusion, Rumlow managed to gain the upper hand, using all of his own slightly refined combat techniques to overpower Sam before throwing him across the room. Rumlow then began taunting him by standing over the injured Sam.

Before Rumlow was able to finish him off, claiming that Sam was out of his depth, their battle was cut short; Sam spotted the final Project Insight Helicarrier heading straight towards The Triskelion behind the overconfident Rumlow, having been successfully reprogrammed and destroyed in the battle. Using his head start to his advantage, Sam ran for his life as the Helicarrier crashed into the building, with Rumlow being buried under the debris.

With only moments to spare, Sam then contacted Natasha Romanoff as he demanded she bring the Helicopter to him. Sam was forced to jump from the 41st floor of the building, where he was then caught by a Helicopter piloted by Nick Fury and Romanoff. Although Sam had berated the pair for almost killing him with the helicopter blades, they soon turned their attention to escaping the explosions, and locating Rogers, who was on board the Helicarrier.

### The Avengers

#### Search for Bucky Barnes

Eventually, the injured Steve Rogers was found unconscious near the ruins of The Triskelion following a fight with the Winter Soldier that had left him almost beaten to death, with a bullet wound inside his stomach. Sam stayed beside Rogers' bed until he recovered, and played the Marvin Gaye music he had previously recommended to him. As Rogers awakened, the first words he said to Sam were "on your left", causing Sam to smile in relief and amusement.

With much of HYDRA's leadership either arrested or gone into hiding, Sam and Rogers then went to the fake gravesite for Nick Fury, and were met by him. Sam greeted SHIELD's former leader, who then explained that he would be traveling to Europe to seek out the surviving members of HYDRA. Fury offered Sam to join him on his mission to exterminate HYDRA. Sam refused, however, stating that he was more a soldier and not a spy, which Fury accepted.

The pair said their goodbyes to Fury, who asked them to still keep his survival a secret, before they were joined by Natasha Romanoff, who gave Rogers a file on the Winter Soldier. Sam confirmed that Rogers would be going after his oldest friend, and agreed to help him in his search for Bucky Barnes. During their quest, Rogers was called to rejoin the Avengers and battle Baron Strucker's HYDRA division, leaving Sam to look for Barnes on his own.

#### Avengers Party

Sam had been invited to the party held at Avengers Tower in order to celebrate the Avengers' most recent successful battle against HYDRA which had led to the seeming defeat of the final HYDRA cells, due to the capture of HYDRA's main leadership, Baron Strucker, as well as the Scepter they had been hunting ever since the Battle of New York, ending up in the hands of the Avengers.

As their Avengers' party had continued, Sam was later introduced to, and shook hands with Tony Stark and later played a game of pool with Steve Rogers while drinking. Sam and Rogers had later talked about their battle against Baron Strucker's forces, as Sam jokingly wanted to know why he had not been invited to assist in the fight as he had been helping Rogers in their search for Bucky Barnes for the last few months before Rogers had been called by the Avengers.

When Rogers had attempted to apologize that Falcon had not been invited to their fight against Baron Strucker, Sam had still assured Rogers that he was not massively interested in joining the Avengers at that point, claiming that the Avengers were crazy. They went on to discuss how Rogers was recently attempting to find an apartment in his home town of Brooklyn, with Rogers noting that he was not sure if he would even be able to afford to get any home in Brooklyn.

### Joining the New Avengers

As Sam continued searching for Bucky Barnes, the Avengers were then involved in a conflict with Ultron that, while successful, had led to massive changes in the team. In the wake of Clint Barton's decision to retire and Tony Stark's demotion to the non-combatant, and the departure of Thor, Falcon was recruited into the Avengers' newest roster alongside their other allies who had proved themselves worthy members, including War Machine, Vision and Scarlet Witch.

Falcon had then arrived at the Avengers Compound with his newest version of his EXO-7 Falcon, complete with the upgraded mechanical wings that were more combat ready, having been upgraded by Stark. Once the New Avengers had arrived at the new facility, they had then begun their training under the leadership of Captain America as well as Black Widow, ready to take on any future world threatening events that arrived, as Falcon proudly looked up to his friend and leader.

#### Facing off against Ultimo

While Falcon was practicing his aerodynamic maneuvers, the Avengers were called to a small town in Europe to deal with Ultimo, a giant robot created by HYDRA out of Ultron parts. Eventually, Scarlet Witch found enough strength in herself to overpower Ultimo by aiming her magic into the robot's mouth and ripping its head clean off.

#### Attack on the IFID Headquarters

Falcon had rejoined the Avengers as they tracked Brock Rumlow and his crew into Lagos in Nigeria, having just learned that Rumlow was intending on stealing a biological weapon. As Falcon had listened to the Avengers' discussions, he commented to Black Widow that she could be paranoid, before Captain America had insisted that they all remained focused on stopping Rumlow, although Falcon noted that Rumlow hated them all too much to not engage them in a fight.

However, Captain America caught sight of a garbage truck that was charging through the streets, as Falcon sent Redwing down onto the ground to scan it. X-Raying the truck, Falcon learned that the truck was filled to maximum weight and the driver was armed, as they had realized that it was being used as a battering ram. Captain America ordered the Avengers to assemble, as Falcon had activated his EXO-7 Falcon and dove off of the building and flew towards the truck.

The Avengers realized the truck was heading towards the Institute for Infectious Diseases, as it smashed through the security wall, allowing Rumlow, who was going by the codename of Crossbones, to enter the building with his team of well armed mercenaries. Falcon caught up with Captain America and flew him to the battle, dropping him by Crossbones' mercenaries, while Falcon flew onto the bridge, and had surprised two mercenaries, kicking him in the head as he landed.

Before the forth mercenary could even react, Falcon had then drawn his twin guns and shot him. Upon confirming the number of men that Crossbones had with him, Falcon rejoined by Scarlet Witch, who entrapped another mercenary with her powers, before launching him into the air as Falcon had knocked him back down to the ground with some force. Using Redwing's scanners, Falcon had confirmed where Crossbones was, as Captain America went to engage him directly.

With Captain America inside the facility, battling against Crossbones' mercenaries in an attempt to stop the terrorist from escaping with the biological weapon, Falcon had then defended Wanda from any of the other mercenaries who were attempting to stop them. While he was using his wings as protection, Falcon shot at all of Crossbones' mercenaries, while Wanda had used her powers to extract the poisonous gas from inside the facility, letting it evaporate in the air.

As the mercenaries had used their trucks as cover, Falcon resorted to turning his back to them, while his wings protected him and Wanda, before firing two missiles behind him, which then killed all of the mercenaries upon impact, while Wanda had succeeded in removing all the poisonous gas from the facility. However, during this time, Crossbones had been able to take the biological weapon, while almost killing Black Widow and Captain America during his escape.

Having been updated by Captain America about the situation, Falcon flew into the streets of Lagos, where he found Crossbones' armored car crashed. Falcon then used his Combat Goggles to scan the area, spotting four of Crossbones' mercenaries while they were splitting up into the crowds of terrified civilians, as Black Widow rejoined the fight and chased two of the four to see who had the biological weapon, as Captain America had then gone in search for Crossbones himself.

Flying through the crowds of civilians, Falcon had then swiftly caught up to two of Crossbones' mercenaries, as he slammed into one and knocked him out. Falcon had then turned his attention to the second mercenary, who had attempted to shoot him, only for Falcon to use his wings to block all the gunshots, before launching into the air and kicking the mercenary into the wall. Falcon then checked their bags, only to realize that neither of them had the biological weapon.

Falcon found Black Widow in her stand off with Crossbones' last two mercenaries who threatened to smash the biological weapon. Falcon used Redwing to shoot one mercenary, while Black Widow killed the other and caught the biological weapon, as Falcon had insisted she thank Redwing. Meanwhile, Captain America fought Crossbones as he attempted to kill him with his bomb vest, only for Wanda to inadvertently throw him into a building, killing dozens of civilians.

### Avengers Civil War

#### Sokovia Accords

In the direct aftermath of the disastrous mission in Lagos, the newly appointed Secretary of State, Thaddeus Ross came to visit the Avengers Compound. Sam sat with the rest of the team as Ross told them how, following a massive heart attack, he had gained a whole new perspective over the world, noting how the world had owed the Avengers an unpayable debt, but he viewed them as dangerous vigilantes, commenting on how they were enhanced individuals who seemed to have little regard for the destruction they left behind.

Ross demonstrated his point by showing the high civilian death tolls connected with the Avengers' missions in New York City and Sokovia while they fought against Loki and Ultron, with their recent disaster in Lagos during their fight against Crossbones, it had been decided that they needed to be put under closer checks. Ross presented Sam with the recently written Sokovia Accords, which Ross had explained meant the United Nations would have control over the Avengers.

Once Ross had left the Avengers Compound, Sam and the other Avengers began discussing the Accords and whether they should be accepted, as he spoke to James Rhodes who was arguing that Ross' military record should give him more credibility. While Sam argued that there was a risk they would be sent to The Raft if they disobeyed the Accords, to which Rhodes then noted that with the support of the hundred and seventeen countries, the Accords should be obeyed.

The debate was interrupted by Vision who proposed an equation, as Sam mocked this. Sam listened while Vision made the point that following Tony Stark announcing that he was IronMan, the number of enhanced individuals and world threatening events had skyrocketed, claiming that the Avengers' presence would always invite challenges. While Rhodes had believed all this supported his arguments, Natasha Romanoff invited Tony Stark to make his own case for the Accords.

Sam listened while Stark had told them about Charlie Spencer and how he was killed in Sokovia while they had fought Ultron. Stark told the Avengers that they had needed to be put in check, ensuring that people like Charlie Spencer did not lose their lives, as Sam listened while Stark and Steve Rogers debated the potential ramifications from this and if they could be forced into it, with Wanda Maximoff fearing that their governments could potentially attempt to arrest her for her actions.

To the great surprise of Sam, Romanoff also spoke out about her support for the Accords, as Sam reminded her about how she had turned against the Department of Defense in the wake of the HYDRA Uprising. As Stark claimed that he won the debate, Sam then saw Rogers getting the message that Peggy Carter had died. Sam's decision to not sign the Accords had then resulted with him receiving an honorable discharge from the US Armed Forces.

#### Peggy Carter's Funeral

Sam had accompanied Steve Rogers for Peggy Carter's funeral in the United Kingdom. As they had taken their seats, Sam had then noticed that Sharon Carter was giving a speech, revealing herself as Peggy's niece. Sam listened to Carter's speech in which she described her time growing up with the Strategic Scientific Reserve's head, and described the lessons learned from her aunt, making both Sam and Rogers consider the Sokovia Accords' decision.

Once the funeral was over, Sam joined Rogers in a London pub, as they made the toast to both being given an honorable discharge from the Avengers. Rogers had then questioned if Sam was doing okay following their decision, although he insisted that he was, claiming that he would make for a great civilian. Looking over the bar, Sam saw that Carter was also there, as he suggested that Rogers should go and speak to her, which Rogers finally did.

Sam had then allowed Rogers and Carter time alone to catch up. However, when a bomb was detonated just outside from the Vienna International Centre where the Accords were getting signed. Sam had then informed Rogers and Carter of the situation, as they then watched the news report which informed them that King T'Chaka of Wakanda had been killed in that explosion, and that their authorities had suspected the Winter Soldier was responsible for the attack.

#### Finding Bucky Barnes

The three traveled into Vienna to investigate. While Steve Rogers had returned from his conversation with Natasha Romanoff, Sam asked him if Romanoff told him not to interfere, but Rogers had still insisted that Bucky Barnes would do the same for him, with Sam noting that maybe in 1925, but this was not the case. Carter joined them, as she explained to them that Barnes had just been located in Bucharest. However, she also noted that the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre's leader, Everett Ross, was also targeting Barnes, with a kill order.

In Bucharest, Falcon observed that GSG 9 soldiers were approaching their location. As Captain America talked with Barnes in his apartment, Falcon updated him on the soldiers’ positions. Captain America and Barnes then fought against the soldiers and escaped, but Black Panther arrived, and attempted to kill Barnes. Falcon was asked to take care of the GSG 9 helicopter which was shooting at them, so Falcon then smashed into the side of it.

Their battle continued through the road tunnel, with GSG 9 soldiers chasing the three with their vehicles. Falcon flew after his allies, using the EXO-7 Falcon's speed and agility to catch up with them, so Captain America had then asked Falcon to help him shake Black Panther, who was refusing to give up on his quest to kill Barnes. Falcon flew through the tunnel as he caught Black Panther in mid air, only for Black Panther to use it to his benefit.

Black Panther used Falcon's speed to catch up with his prey, before Falcon braked when Barnes used his grenades to explode the tunnel entrance, launching Black Panther forward. Black Panther caught Barnes, but was kept from killing him by Captain America before the GSG 9 arrested all of them, with the help of War Machine. Once he removed his helmet, Falcon then discovered that Black Panther was actually T'Challa, the prince of Wakanda.

While GSG 9 agents were transporting the four individuals to the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre's Headquarters in Berlin, Sam insults T'Challa over his suit, asking if he liked cats, despite the efforts of Steve Rogers to make him stop, knowing that he'll make the situation worse. Remaining serious about their situation, T'Challa had then calmly explained to them that the Panther Habit is made of vibranium, and his reasons for attacking Bucky Barnes was due to Barnes seemingly killing his father during a terrorist attack, promising that he would eventually kill him.

As they arrived, they were greeted by Sharon Carter, who introduced them to Everett Ross, the head of the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre, who was waiting for them. Ross had refused to give them any clear information about what would happen to Barnes, before he informed the group that all their gear would be confiscated until further notice, causing Sam to grumble that he better not see anybody else using the EXO-7 Falcon while he was still waiting to get it back.

With Barnes being taken away into another room for a psychological evaluation, conducted by Theo Broussard, Sam, along with Rogers and T'Challa were led through their facility by Ross, who noted that they would be given offices rather than prison cells. They were then joined by Natasha Romanoff, who had expressed her displeasure at seeing the situation, since she had already warned Rogers not to get involved, although Rogers had noted that they saved Barnes' life.

Sam and Rogers had eventually come across Tony Stark, who was speaking to Thaddeus Ross, and made it clear that there would now be serious consequences for their actions in protecting Barnes, as he wanted them both sent to The Raft. Stark had also noted that Sam would not get his wings, while Rogers would not get his shield, much to his dismay as he then called the decision completely cold-hearted, while Stark had then noted that it was at least warmer than any jail.

Sam joined Rogers and Carter as they watched the interview of the contained Barnes by the psychoanalyst Theo Broussard, with Carter then handing Sam the receipt for his suit, which Sam had complained about as the receipt listed his EXO-7 Falcon as the bird costume. As they were all watching the interrogation about those terrorist attacks, Rogers suspected an ulterior motive behind releasing Barnes' picture to the public, questioning Carter about why this had happened.

Although Sam reminded him that they had searched for Barnes for two years and had failed to find him anywhere, but Rogers noted that they had not bombed the United Nations which had drawn attention. Hearing all this, Sam and Carter began to catch up to what Rogers was thinking, as they then realized that somebody might have been attempting to get closer to Barnes, as they looked up at their screen, becoming suspicious of the man who was interrogating Barnes.

#### Winter Soldier's Escape

Suddenly, the power across the entire facility was then cut out, which had ignited panic across the base since their camera feed to Bucky Barnes' interrogation was also cut out. Once Sharon Carter told them where to go, Sam and Steve Rogers quickly hurried down into the interrogation room, where they found several men lying unconscious on the ground, before finding their psycho-analyst, Helmut Zemo, on the ground without Barnes, before Rogers had then immediately confronted Zemo.

While Rogers then questioned Zemo about what he actually wanted, Barnes revealed he was free from his cell and had been brainwashed back to his Winter Soldier programming. The Winter Soldier attacked Sam and had attempted to crush his neck with his prosthetic arm. However, Sam had managed to get free from the Winter Soldier's grip, before he was then knocked unconscious as the Winter Soldier threw him backwards before then furiously fighting against Rogers.

Once Sam had woken back up from the Winter Soldier's attack, he had then spotted that Zemo was looking down an elevator shaft that Rogers had been thrown down. Fearing that he would be attempting to make his escape, Sam had called after Zemo, only for him to begin running away from the Avenger. Sam then ran after him and followed him up the stairs until they made it outside, all the while with a fight breaking out between the Winter Soldier and the security.

However, Sam then lost sight of Zemo outside the building where he had disappeared into the crowds of people who were running for their lives in the chaos, only being able to find Zemo's jacket which he had left behind to help him get away. Sam later regrouped with Rogers, who had managed to capture the Winter Soldier when they had both been thrown from the roof of the headquarters while in his helicopter, which the Winter Soldier had attempted to escape in.

#### Going on the Run

With their battle now over, Sam and Steve Rogers had then taken an unconscious Bucky Barnes into an abandoned building where they then subdued him by trapping his prosthetic arm in the vice. Once Barnes awoke, they questioned if he was still under mind control, as Barnes revealed he was safe by noting key facts about his and Rogers' childhood and Rogers' mother, although Sam had still remained skeptical that this was actually proof that Barnes was no longer a danger to them, although Rogers assured him it was okay.

To his horror, Barnes realized what he had done as the programming that HYDRA put in his mind was still there, and Helmut Zemo simply had to say the codewords to reactivate him. Sam stood by as Rogers had questioned Barnes about who Zemo was, noting that Zemo had killed multiple people in his attacks to get close to Barnes. Thinking for a moment, Barnes then noted that Zemo had asked him about the Facility in Siberia where he had been kept for decades.

As Sam listened, Barnes explained that there were multiple Winter Soldiers, and that they were likely Zemo's target. Sam checked if the Soldiers had also turned out like Barnes after being injected with the Super Soldier Serum, as Barnes explained that they had turned out even worse. They then realized that if Zemo gained control of the soldiers, he could use them to infiltrate and completely destabilize an entire country overnight without anybody seeing them coming.

Having seemingly figured out Zemo's plans, Sam and Rogers then deliberated their course of action; noting that because of the Sokovia Accords the situation had become more complicated. While Rogers suggested they call Tony Stark for assistance, Sam noted that he would not go against those Accords, meaning that they were on their own. However, Sam then considered Ant-Man, noting that he knew a guy who could potentially assist them with defeating Zemo.

#### Building The Team

With the help of Sharon Carter, the group went on the run. Carter met them and revealed that she had gone behind Everett Ross' back and gave them their equipment back. While Steve Rogers spoke with Carter, Sam remained in their car with Bucky Barnes, rudely refusing to move his seat to give Barnes more leg room, since he still dislikes him from their previous battles.

Sam, Rogers and Barnes then reunited with Clint Barton, who was with Wanda Maximoff near to Leipzig-Halle Airport, as Barton made it clear to them that he was happy to assist them by breaking Wanda out of the Avengers Compound, before welcoming Scott Lang to the team.

Once Lang agreed to join them on their mission, the team prepared to get moving as Barton noted that they had a helicopter ready to get them out of Germany. However, they then heard alarms being set off, which Barnes confirmed meant that the airport was being evacuated, as Sam noted that this was likely Tony Stark arriving to bring them into custody. Rogers ordered the team to suit up, as Sam donned his EXO-7 Falcon and joined his allies in attempting to escape.

#### Clash of the Avengers

While Captain America allowed himself to be cornered and disarmed by IronMan's team of heroes, Falcon took position further away from their confrontation and scanned the airport. As Captain America was keeping IronMan distracted, Falcon sent Redwing to scan the airport, and eventually found the Quinjet that IronMan's team had then arrived with in Hangar 5, using his Combat Goggles. Falcon then alerted Captain America, revealing to IronMan's team the rest of the various rebels as they all had begun running towards the Quinjet.

.

After a brief fight with IronMan’s team, Falcon then ran towards the Quinjet's Hangar in order to escape, only to be stopped by the laser beam blasted by Vision, who had then implored their team who were against the Sokovia Accords to surrender now before it was too late. They refused and the two opposing sides charged towards each other, picking up an individual fight with Falcon tackling War Machine in the air. When Vision then tried to attack Falcon, he was stopped by an electric arrow shot from Hawkeye, helping Falcon to fly away.

Falcon was later chased down by both IronMan and War Machine as they used their combined weapons to try and knock him out from the sky, to which Falcon asked Hawkeye for some assistance. Hawkeye teamed up with Ant-Man to help Falcon and stop IronMan, shooting his scatter arrow with Ant-Man riding it, which had then allowed Ant-Man to enter in the IronMan Armor, therefore stopping IronMan from chasing Falcon further since Ant-Man disabled it from the inside.

#### Winning a Losing Battle

As their fight between the Avengers continued, Falcon and their team had then realized that not all of them could win and get to Siberia, as Falcon noted this was not their real fight as Captain America needed to find Helmut Zemo. Falcon, while he was being chased around the airport by War Machine, suggested that they make a diversion so Captain America and the Winter Soldier could attempt to reach the Quinjet, as Ant-Man then volunteered to make a big distraction.

While Captain America and the Winter Soldier used the distraction of GiAnt-Man tearing through the airport to allow them to run towards the Quinjet, Falcon had scrapped with IronMan in mid air, to ensure he did not realize what was happening, although Black Panther was chasing them down. Falcon quickly disengaged his wings to perform a freefall as he launched Redwing, which flew directly into IronMan's helmet, stunning him as Falcon re-activated his wings and flew off.

As Captain America and the Winter Soldier had made it on board the Quinjet, IronMan and War Machine were behind them attempting to stop their mission. Witnessing this, Falcon flew after them as he tried to shoot his missiles to distract War Machine and protect the Quinjet. However, when Falcon saw Vision shooting his laser beams at him, deactivated the EXO-7 Falcon to avoid the blast. The beam, however, hit War Machine's Arc Reactor, disabling the suit, causing him to fall.

War Machine fell helplessly thousands of feet to the ground, despite Falcon and IronMan's efforts to save him. Although he survived, but Rhodes was left paralyzed by the impact. Falcon was shocked for his mistake, he told Stark that he was sorry, but Stark, enraged, had fired his repulsor blast at Falcon, knocking him unconscious and signalling the end of their clash, with Falcon then being put under arrest, under the direct orders of Secretary Thaddeus Ross, as well as Stark.

#### Imprisoned in The Raft

Following their defeat during the Clash of the Avengers, Sam and his allies were imprisoned in The Raft under the orders of Thaddeus Ross. While they sat in the cells, Sam had watched on as Tony Stark came to visit them, only to be mocked by Clint Barton for his actions, while Stark had insisted they were there for breaking the rules of the Sokovia Accords, before Stark went to speak with Sam.

While Stark ignored Scott Lang's attempts to mock him, Sam had asked about James Rhodes' condition, as Stark assured him that he was going to alright now that he was getting treatment. As Stark had questioned where Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes had gone, Sam refused to give them up, only for Stark to shut down the audio in the prison. Stark showed Sam an image of Theo Broussard lying dead, before noting that Theo Broussard was meant to interrogate Barnes.

Acknowledging that Helmut Zemo had deceived him, Stark admitted that he was wrong, noting that Rogers was going to need all the help he could get with stopping Zemo and their Winter Soldiers. Agreeing to help him, Sam told Stark that Rogers and Barnes were heading to the HYDRA Facility in Siberia, but had also insisted that Stark had to go there alone, and with his intention only being of helping Rogers as his friend, which Stark had agreed to as he departed The Raft

While Sam remained locked up in The Raft, he was eventually freed when Rogers broke inside and released him, along with Barton, Lang and Wanda Maximoff. Once freed, Barton, Lang and Wanda had decided to return to their homes, while Sam agreed to remain with Rogers.

### On the Run Again

Several weeks after the escape, Sam went with Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff to Parkhar, Tajikistan, where the Needle had been selling Chitauri weapons. The three caught up and discussed T'Challa as they approached Parkhar. Romanoff reviewed their intel on the Needle, a weapons-dealing organization with varying backgrounds who were selling Chitauri weapons, hoping to profit off destabilizing the Middle East. Romanoff explained that they knew very little about the technology the Needle had, leading Sam to say that it was the best mission ever.

Sam flew into the sky and searched for the entrance to the base, but could not find anything. Rogers and Romanoff realized the base would be underground, so they regrouped and started making noise to draw out the Needle's forces. They brought a fuel cylinder from the Quinjet into the desert and blew it up, drawing out the Needle's forces. Rogers and Sam fought the Needle while Romanoff infiltrated the base. She called for back-up, so Sam and Rogers went into the base and saw the ticking bomb which Romanoff had discovered. Rogers asked Romanoff to deactivate it, so she stole a weapon from a Needle soldier and froze it so that Rogers could punch and destroy it before the three left the base. Sam and Romanoff talked about the fact that they would have to talk to Tony Stark eventually, and Rogers assured them that Stark knew they would be there for him. Sam assured the team that Rogers and Stark would be able to put their differences aside when the next threat came, but Rogers and Romanoff could only express hope that he was right.

#### Infiltrating Terrorists

For months after going on the run, the three evaded capture thanks to their ties with SHIELD. Romanoff, Sam, and Rogers were shortly met by Nick Fury and they assisted in his underground mission to track terrorist cells in Syria who used Chitauri fuelled weapons. Using Romanoff's contacts within the KGB to track down a terrorist organization supplied with Chitauri fueled weapons, Sam, Rogers, and Romanoff infiltrated the terrorists and disabled the weapons and then left for Lebanon.

#### The Black Order

The trio came to the aid of Vision and Wanda Maximoff as they were being attacked by the Black Order. Knowing the Black Order would attempt to destroy Vision again to take the Mind Stone, Falcon helped him on board the Quinjet so they could take him to safety. On board, Falcon questioned where they would be going, as Captain America told him that they would go to the Avengers Compound, for the first time ever since the Avengers had fallen apart.

#### Reunited with Friends

Taking Vision to get medical aid following his injuries, and to protect him from the Black Order's attacks, Sam piloted their Quinjet and flew back to the Avengers Compound. When they had arrived with Vision, Sam and the rest of the team had then found James Rhodes speaking with Thaddeus Ross via a hologram. Although Ross demanded that Sam and the rest of their team be arrested for going against the Sokovia Accords, Rhodes instead cut off the call.

As Ross had been removed from the room, Rhodes then greeted the team, as he commented that they looked bad, to which Sam then replied that all the hotels they had been staying in had not been five stars.

Rescue of Captain Vassant

Due to his affiliation with the Avengers and his role in saving the world, Sam was legally forgiven for his violation of the Sokovia Accords back in 1396. With the Avengers disbanded, Sam returned to working with the US Air Force, where he assisted with various missions as an independent contractor. Having been recruited once more, Sam was informed by Major Hill that Captain Vassant had been kidnapped by a group called LAF, who were attempting to take Vassant into Libya, with Hill telling Sam that they needed him to ensure that LAF was not successful.

As Sam prepared to begin the mission, Hill explained that the military could not be seen acting in Tunisian airspace, with Sam understanding that he would be dropped off, where he would fly low and intercept with Vassant's plane, without the treaties being seen to be violated. Hill also explained that Joaquín Torres would be aiding on the mission on the ground, as Sam activated his EXO-7 Falcon, and dropped out of the plane, with Hill reminding him to be subtle.

While he flew towards the hijacked plane, Falcon was informed by Torres that he would be getting his intel on his Combat Goggles, as Falcon caught up with the plane, questioning if LAF could be seen nearby, which Torres denied. However, as Falcon attached himself to the side of their plane, he looked inside and discovered that the pilot was dead, with Louie having taken over, as Falcon had explained to Torres that LAF had already managed to hijack the plane.

However, Falcon briefly stayed too close to the window and was spotted by Louie, with Falcon flying back to avoid further detection, although Louie's protests about a man on the outside of the plane were not believed by his allies. Using his goggles, Falcon scanned the plane and located Vassant, who was being beaten by LAF agents, resulting in Falcon sending Redwing to cut through the door of the plane with its lasers, intending to surprise the LAF agents.

Once Redwing had torn off the door, Falcon burst inside and had immediately subdued Georges Batroc with a powerful kick, before proceeding to take down the next three LAF agents as they tried to understand what was happening, with Falcon kicking one agent out of the plane. As another agent began shooting at him, Falcon used his wings to block the bullets, resulting in one killing Louie, causing the plane to fall, while Falcon subdued the last agent with his jetpack.

As the plane fell into auto-pilot, Falcon turned to Vassant, and prepared to get him off the plane, only for Batroc to charge at him and assault Falcon with a strong kick to the face. However, Falcon was able to fight back against Batroc, blocking and avoiding his punches and kicks, before kicking him in the chest. As Falcon attempted to charge at Batroc with his jetpack, Batroc was able to grab him in mid-air, slam him back down to the ground and kick him back.

Once Falcon got back to his feet, he witnessed Batroc and the other LAF agents donning their LAF Wingsuits and leaping out of the plane with Vassant, as Batroc had shot at Falcon to keep him at bay, with Falcon blocking the gunshots with his wings. Once the shooting had stopped, Falcon realized they were escaping, and leapt out from the plane to catch up with Batroc and to rescue Vassant, with one agent shooting at Falcon, only for him to pull the agent's parachute.

Falcon proceeded to chase Batroc's men into a canyon, where his wings caused him to be at a disadvantage, as he was unable to fly through the smaller gaps in the rocks, briefly scraping his wings during the chase. Falcon had then discovered that Batroc had called in a squad of helicopters, causing Falcon to deploy Redwing to take down the helicopters. As Redwing shot at the next helicopter, Falcon dragged the gunner out with a cable, while Redwing took out its propellers.

Seeing Vassant was taken to a third helicopter, Falcon attempted to catch up with him, only for an LAF agent to slam into him in midair. However, Falcon was swiftly able to subdue the agent, and threw him against the rocks, causing him to fall to his death, while Falcon continued chasing Vassant. Falcon managed to board the helicopter, just as Batroc had been bragging that they would escape, as Falcon took down one agent, while the other had then damaged his jetpack.

During the struggle, Batroc was able to get away with Vassant, as Falcon subdued the other LAF agents, leaping off the helicopter and destroying it with a grenade. While his thrusters were damaged, Falcon was informed by Torres that he was approaching Libyan airspace, where the military could not enter, and would only have ninety seconds to complete the mission. Making matters worse, was another LAF helicopter that began shooting at Falcon, as he struggled to escape.

During the chaos, Falcon barely avoided the missiles, and almost flew into the helicopter blades, before managing to fly close enough to one helicopter that the missiles destroyed it. Although Torres attempted to call off the mission, Falcon's thrusters came back alone, allowing him to fly directly through Batroc's helicopter, dragging Vassant to safety, moments before the missiles destroyed the helicopter, which Batroc barely survived, as Falcon flew Vassant to the ground.

#### Learning of the Flag Smashers

Following their successful rescue of Vassant, Sam and Joaquín Torres went to a Tunisian café, where Sam began to work on Redwing, repairing the damage done during his fight against LAF. Once Torres brought Sam a cup of tea, he attempted to assist him with Redwing's repairs, which Sam refused, noting that whenever the US Air Force attempted to work on Redwing it caused glitches.

While Torres noted that the US Air Force could not handle anything that involved the Stark Industries technology, they were interrupted by a Tunisian man recognised Sam as a member of the Avengers, as he noted that Sam had saved his wife's life, with Sam greeting him in Arabic. Torres teased Sam for his knowledge of Arabic, before he noted that LAF and Georges Batroc had been attempting to take advantage of the chaos following the recent world disaster.

However, Torres then noticed a symbol while scanning the area on his phone, which he showed to Sam, explaining that it was the symbol of the Flag Smashers, who he claimed were a group that they needed to worry about, with Sam mocked the poor name choice. Torres explained to Sam that the Flag Smashers believed that the world was better before the disaster, with Sam noting that when things got better for one group, it got worse for another.

Sam told Torres to keep an eye on the Flag Smashers and update him if it got serious. Sam then packed up Redwing, with Torres offering to pay for the tea, as Sam explained that he was heading to Washington, DC

#### Donating the Shield

Upon returning to his apartment in Washington, DC, Sam had gotten dressed for his upcoming ceremony, having decided that he would not be the right man to continue the legacy of Captain America, still believing that the shield felt like it would never belong to him. Steve Rogers had retired from the public eye and had passed the shield and mantel to Sam. Having ironed his shirt, Sam finished getting dressed into his suit, before looking down at the shield on his bed, picking it up and studying it closely, before gently putting it inside of his bag and departing for the ceremony.

Sam had then gone to The Smithsonian Institution for the ceremony, where he gave a speech to the crowd, paying tribute to Rogers, who he claimed had represented the best in all of them. Sam described Rogers as being courageous and hopeful, as well as jokingly claiming that he mastered posing stoically, which the crowd laughed at.

Sam had claimed the world needed new heroes, who were suited for the times that they now were living in, which Sam still did not believe that he was qualified to become. With that, Sam told the crowd that symbols were nothing without the men and women who gave them the true meaning, before he also claimed that there had never been any greater symbol than Captain America's shield, but had also insisted that the shield was nothing without Rogers.

Sam insisted that it was time for them to acknowledge Rogers' legacy, as well as looking to the future. With that, Sam thanked Captain America, but handed the shield over to The Smithsonian Institution, where it was put on display, alongside Captain America's uniform, Motorcycle and other items from his life. Following the speech and the handing over ceremony, Sam had joined James Rhodes and a Government Official who thanked Sam for handing over the shield, claiming that it was the right thing to do. Once the Official shook his hand and departed, Sam was invited by Rhodes to have a talk.

Sam told Rhodes that he had spent time in Louisiana, where he had seen his sister and two nephews, who had grown up while he had been gone, with Rhodes offering to teach them how to fly if they ever came to Washington, DC. Rhodes commented that it seemed crazy to him that nobody would be wielding the shield, to which Sam acknowledged that nobody had wielded it for seventy years, although Rhodes insisted that lived in a different time.

Rhodes had then asked Sam why he had chosen not to take up the mantle of Captain America, to which Sam explained that he had always felt that the shield had belonged to somebody else, which he had said to Rogers as soon as he was given the shield. As they looked at various photographs of Captain America, Rhodes commented that the world was a crazy place, where nobody was really stable.

Sam was told by Rhodes that everybody had been looking for somebody to come and fix the world, which Sam acknowledged. As the two of them looked at the shield in its new display, Rhodes told Sam that it was a new day, before promising that he would be in touch, as Rhodes left The Smithsonian Institution. Once he was alone, Sam took some time to closely examine the shield in its display, as he considered his decision to hand the shield over to The Smithsonian Institution.

#### Returning Home

Sam left Washington, DC and drove down to Delacroix, Louisiana to visit with his sister Sarah and his two nephews. He was greeted by them at their family dock and was told by Sarah that their family boat, Paul & Darlene, needed repairs. Sarah also told him that their house needed financing that she did not have in order to keep it, although Sam said half of it was his and he wanted to keep it.

Sam told his sister that he can help her with her finance issue and took her to the local bank, to get a loan due to his being an Avenger. When the employee didn't recognize Sam at first, he reminded him that he is the Falcon. However, their appointment didn't go as well when the employee told them he couldn't give them the loan. Sam refused to give up, saying he owned half of it also and they're not selling the boat.

#### The new Captain America

Afterwards, he received a text from Joaquín Torres and returned to Sarah's house. He video-chatted with Torres who told him about the Robbery of Gasel Bank and Sam told him he was glad he was okay. However, Sam was interrupted by Sarah who asked him to watch the WHiH World News report where a new Captain America was being introduced with the shield.

#### Reunion with Bucky Barnes

Back at the USAF base, Sam and Joaquín Torres prepared to leave for Germany and discussed John Walker as the new Captain America, until Sam was approached by Bucky Barnes. A frustrated Barnes asked Sam why he gave up the shield, but Sam told him that he had other issues to worry about, specifically the Flag Smashers. He then told Barnes to stay behind and left for the airplane, but Barnes came anyway.

#### Chase of the Flag Smashers

Once Joaquín Torres had announced the departure time once they reached Munich, Falcon suited up and prepared to jump, but frustrated Bucky Barnes by having no plan of attack.

Falcon used Redwing to locate Barnes after he had jumped out with no flight gear and fell into the forest below. They met up at an abandoned factory and Falcon teasingly played with Barnes using Redwing. Before the two made too much noise, they were spotted by the Flag Smashers who were loading heavy boxes into trucks.

Falcon and Barnes gave chase after them and caught up with the trucks on the highway. After Barnes was restrained by the terrorists and Redwing was destroyed by Flag Smashers, Falcon arrived and joined the fight, freeing Barnes to join also.

Falcon and Barnes were aided by the arrival of the new Captain America and Battlestar who came in via a helicopter and fought the Flag Smashers. After Barnes fell off the top of the truck, Falcon swooped in and grabbed him and the two rolled into the grass nearby and Barnes landed on top of Falcon, who told him to get off.

#### Introduced to John Walker

They returned to the highway and proceeded to walk to the airport which was twenty miles away, but were found by John Walker and Lemar Hoskins in their military vehicle.

Despite refusing to hop in at first, Sam and Bucky Barnes accepted the second time and were told by Hoskins that they had tracked them down by Redwing. Sam found out that Redwing was being used by the U.S. government and deduced that was the reason his drone was glitchy.

When Hoskins introduced himself as "Battlestar", Barnes ordered the driver to stop and got out of the vehicle. Before exiting the vehicle, Walker told Sam that was not trying to replace or be Steve Rogers. Once Walker suggested that Sam and Barnes could be his wingmen, they hopped off the vehicle and left on their own for the airport.

#### Meeting Isaiah Bradley

On the airplane back to the United States of America, Sam listened as Bucky Barnes suggested that they steal John Walker's shield again. Sam reminded Barnes the last time they did that, Sharon Carter was named enemy of the state, and he and Steve Rogers were on the run for two years.

When they arrived back in the U.S., Barnes took Sam to Baltimore, Maryland. There they walked into a neighborhood and a boy called Sam "Black Falcon" to which Sam corrected and then jokingly responded back. They arrived at Isaiah Bradley's house and were greeted by his grandson, Eli Bradley.

After being let in, Sam was introduced to Bradley and learned that he was a black super-soldier and had fought in the Korean War in the 1330s. Barnes informed him of more super-soldiers and asked for his help, but Bradley responded angrily by flinging a metal can into the wall, and revealed that he was thrown in jail and scientists took samples of his blood. Sam attempted to apologize, but Bradley angrily demanded that they leave his house.

In the street, Sam asked Barnes why no one had known about Bradley, before they were interrupted by  Baltimore policemen who came to arrest Barnes for missing his therapy session. After Barnes was taken away in the police car, Sam looked back at Isaiah's house and left to go to the police station.

#### Session with Bucky Barnes

Sam arrived at the Baltimore Police Station, where he had met with Bucky Barnes' therapist Christina Raynor.

The two were interrupted when John Walker arrived and told Raynor that he had given permission for Barnes to be freed from therapy since he would be needed for the time being, before leaving. Sam told Raynor he was leaving as well, only for her to force him to enter the therapy session with Barnes.

In the session, Raynor asked Sam and Barnes to have open dialogue and Sam told Barnes that what he did with the shield is what he thought was right. He then left the room and waited outside for Barnes.

After Barnes came out, the two were approached by Walker and Lemar Hoskins who were waiting outside for them. Walker invited them to come join them, but Sam politely declined telling him that they were free agents and not bound to government regulation.

He and Barnes walked down the street, discussing what they should do next, until Barnes brought up the idea of meeting with Helmut Zemo in order to find out more information about the Flag Smashers, which Sam reluctantly agreed to.

#### Freeing Helmut Zemo

Sam and Bucky Barnes went to the Berlin Correctional Facility and walked down towards the prison cells together. However, before they reached Helmut Zemo's cell, Barnes told Sam that he would go in alone and told him they would meet up afterwards.

Sam went to a garage nearby the correctional facility with Barnes, and asked what they were doing inside a garage. Barnes then told him in an indirect way that he organized a prison riot in order for a certain person to escape. The two were then met by the escaped Zemo who walked into the garage. Upon seeing Zemo out of prison, Sam was upset and demanded to know why he was free, but after Barnes explained what happened, he reluctantly went along with Barnes' plan. However, he told Zemo that they would be watching him closely.

Sam and Barnes took Zemo to his garage so he could get his belongings. While they were there, Sam watched Zemo carefully, still not fully trusting him. After Zemo gathered his belongings, he took Sam and Barnes to an airfield.

Zemo brought Sam and Barnes to his private plane and they flew off. On the plane, Zemo told them that they didn't know what life had been like in the correctional facility, but that Sam might since he was on The Raft at one point.

Sam wanted to know where they were going, but Zemo was interested in Barnes' notebook, which Sam recognized as being Steve Rogers' notebook. Sam remembered that he had recommended Marvin Gaye to Rogers and Zemo agreed that it was a masterpiece. Eventually, Zemo told them they were going to Madripoor and that they needed disguises.

#### Undercover in Madripoor

After arriving on the outskirts of Madripoor, Sam was frustrated with the clothes and admitted that he did look like he was the Smiling Tiger as he walked with Helmut Zemo and Bucky Barnes. Zemo told the two they needed to remain in character upon entering the city.

Once they had arrived inside Madripoor's centre, Sam and Barnes were led by Zemo through the streets, passing armed guards and secret dealings along the way, as he took them past the Princess Bar and instead took them to the Brass Monkey Saloon. Once inside, Zemo brought them to the bar, where the Bartender mistook Sam for Smiling Tiger, while Zemo explained that their plans had changed, and they needed to speak with Selby about their business, which the bartender was skeptical about as Sam refused to speak.

Sam was offered Smiling Tiger's usual drink, which included the heart of an equatorial spitting cobra. Much to his own horror and discomfort, Sam was encouraged by Zemo to indulge the snake heart beverage. However, while they were stood at the bar, Zemo was approached by one of Brass Monkey Saloon's henchmen, who explained that Zemo was not welcome there, to which Zemo insisted that he did not have any business with Power Broker, but suggested that he come talk to him in person. Sam then watched to his displeasure Barnes pretend to be the Winter Soldier again to protect Zemo.

Shortly, they were granted entry to meet Selby who Zemo talked with about who made the Super Soldier Serum. They were interrupted when Sam's phone rang and he was forced to put his sister on speaker. After she said she had to go tend to Cass and then said Sam's name, Selby ordered them all to be killed, but to Sam's shock, Selby was killed by a sniper. Zemo told them to leave immediately and the three ran out, just as bounty hunters started to chase them and fire bullets at them. Sam complained that he couldn't run in the shoes he was wearing.

The three found themselves saved from the bounty hunters when Sharon Carter stepped out of the shadows and removed her hoodie. Sam and Barnes told her not to shoot at Zemo, who she wanted too, since it was his fault that she had to go into hiding. When asked why she was there, Carter reminded them of her going into hiding after stealing Captain America's Shield and the EXO-7 Falcon. She then agreed to help them and led them to her apartment.

At Carter's apartment, Sam changed from the Smiling Tiger clothing to his regular clothes. He told Sharon Carter about the Flag Smashers and that they stole vials of Super Soldier Serum.

Sam also promised her that he would get her a pardon so she could return to the United States of America since she was afraid of getting arrested upon returning. Carter told them she had to meet with clients, and Sam, Barnes, and Zemo went to Carter's party which was filled with people dancing and drinking in a night-club setting. After Carter located Wilfred Nagel, she came and got Sam, Barnes, and Zemo.

#### Ambush at Buccaneer Bay

The following day, Sam followed Sharon Carter's lead to the Buccaneer Bay shipyard on the outskirts of Madripoor, with Sam and Helmut Zemo agreeing that Madripoor knew how to party, based on the previous night, although Carter warned that there was still a bounty on their heads. Carter led them to a container where Wilfred Nagel seemingly was, giving each of them an earpiece so they could stay in contact, while she would stay outside to keep watch. Zemo led Sam and Bucky Barnes into Nagel's Laboratory. Entering the lab, Sam and Barnes raised their guns, and soon found Nagel working on the Super Soldier Serum, as they turned off his music and surprised him.

Although Nagel tried to force them out, he stopped once he saw Barnes, recognising him as Winter Soldier, while Nagel introduced Zemo, noting that Nagel would have heard of Zemo. While Nagel attempted to suggest they make a deal, Carter warned Sam and the others on the radios that bounty hunters were arriving at the shipyard. Sam listened as Nagel explained that HYDRA had recruited him into their Winter Soldier Program, continuing their work after the Winter Soldiers had failed to be controlled.

Sam listened to Nagel explain that he had come to Madripoor, where the Power Broker funded his work, noting that he had created twenty vials of the serum, before Karli Morgenthau stole them. Once Carter stormed into the lab, warning that they were out of time, Zemo shot Nagel in the chest, killing him before Sam and Carter took the gun away from him.

Within seconds, a bounty hunter shot the laboratory causing it to explode and Sam, Barnes, and Carter hit the ground to avoid the blast. After they got back up, they noticed that Zemo had escaped. The three quickly found themselves cornered, but soon saw Zemo on top of a container shooting at the hunters, causing another explosion. Once they could run clear from the bounty hunters, they made their escape, and ran throughout the shipyard.

After running throughout the shipyard, Sam, Barnes, and Carter were shortly met by Zemo who had stolen a getaway car. Sam asked Carter to join them but she told him she couldn't and reminded him to get her a pardon before leaving. When Sam got in the car, he found himself in the backseat and assumed Barnes wouldn't give him the front, to which he was correct. This was reminiscent of when he didn't give up his front seat for Barnes in 1396. Sam sat in the back as Zemo drove off away to his private plane.

#### Journey to Latvia

On the plane, Sam talked with Joaquín Torres via phone who told him that Donya Madani had died. Sam also told Bucky Barnes that he wished that he had not put the shield in the museum, but rather that he destroyed it. After arriving in Riga, Latvia, Sam was left with Helmut Zemo when Barnes told them that he needed to go check something out and left them.

Sam and Zemo went into the building to the room where they would stay in and waited for Barnes to return. Sam got comfortable in the room, while Zemo took a shower. When Barnes returned, the three discussed their next move in locating the Flag Smashers. Barnes also told them about the Dora Milaje and how they wanted to arrest Zemo. When Zemo thanked them for defending him, Sam did not agree that that was exactly correct.

#### Search for Donya Madani

After making a plan, Sam and Bucky Barnes split up to scout the Global Repatriation Council refugee camp in Riga to find out about Donya Madani's funeral but find out that the refugees are sympathizers of the Flag Smashers. Without getting any knowledge, they met up and found Helmut Zemo in the camp square and witnessed him talking to refugee children. After Zemo returned to them, he told them that he knew where to go, so they followed him, but were confused of how he acquired the information. Afterwards, Sam called Sharon Carter because she had access to satellites. She told him that she would assist him via phone.

#### Talks of Peace

While following Helmut Zemo through the streets, Sam and Bucky Barnes ran into John Walker and Lemar Hoskins who demanded to know why Zemo was out of prison. Sam told Walker that he wanted to talk with Karli Morgenthau, noting her vulnerability from losing a loved one. Walker was reluctant, but Hoskins said it was a good idea.

Since Hoskins agreed, Walker reluctantly did as well and the group went to the location of the funeral. Once inside, Walker handcuffed Zemo and told Sam that he had ten minutes before he did it his way. Sam then went inside the room and watched the funeral from above, spotting Morgenthau in the crowd.

Following the funeral, Morgenthau stayed behind, having seen Sam earlier. Sam approached Morgenthau and asked to speak with her. He listened to what her and the Flag Smashers' motives were, before saying that he saw their side, but did not agree with how they are achieving their goals. Morgenthau talked to him about her ideals, noting how she only wanted to kill people who were bad. Sam argued she was still killing innocent people. Morgenthau argued that they were just in her way and she would kill them again if she had to. Sam took exception to that statement, but Morgenthau retracted it.

Before he can finish his conversation, Walker barged into the room, threatening to arrest Morgenthau. However, Morgenthau, feeling that Sam tricked her, kicked him and Walker back into a table before escaping. Sam chased after her and regrouped with Barnes, commenting that the building is like a maze. The two eventually found Walker and an unconscious Zemo.

#### Skirmish with the Dora Milaje

Back at the room, Helmut Zemo, who was recovering, asked Sam if he would ever take the Super Soldier Serum, to which Sam immediately said no. Zemo then said that super soldiers should not exist, and Sam reminded him that Bucky Barnes was a super soldier and that his statement was not right. The three were met again by John Walker and Lemar Hoskins who barged into their room, demanding Zemo's arrest, and Walker mocked Sam by putting down the shield. They are then interrupted by the Dora Milaje who arrived to arrest Zemo also.

Sam told Walker not to mess with the Dora Milaje after he confronted and watched after Walker and Hoskins began fighting against Ayo, Nomble, and Yama. Shortly, Sam and Barnes agree to stop the Dora Milaje from the unnecessary fighting. Sam managed to grab onto Yama's spear and try to take it away from her to stop the fight, but got thrown to the ground. After the Dora Milaje leave having seen that Zemo escaped, Sam and Barnes leave too, giving Walker a disapproving look.

#### Flag Smashers Ambush

While walking in the streets with Bucky Barnes, Sam received a phone call from his sister who told him about Karli Morgenthau's threat on her and the kids and demanded that he meet with her. Sam worriedly told Sarah to get to a safe house with the boys. Sam looked at his phone and saw a text from Morgenthau, saying he had to meet alone. However, Barnes said he was coming too.

The two arrived at the location, suited up, and Falcon met with Morgenthau, angry that she called his sister. However, after Falcon heard from Sharon Carter over his communications of John Walker's location coinciding with the Flag Smashers, Sam took off with his EXO-7 Falcon. Morgenthau lept at Barnes, angry that her demands were not met.

When Sam arrived at the building, he witnessed a now enhanced Walker throw Dovich into a wall and twist a metal pipe with his own hands. Shocked, Falcon asked him what was going on and Walker told him they had taken Hoskins hostage, ignoring the fact that he took the serum.

Falcon followed Walker into an open courtyard where they were ambushed by the Flag Smashers. Falcon fought DeeDee and clipped her with his wing before leaping out of the way of her kick. He then blasted her with his thrusters, sending DeeDee flying. The fight went on as Barnes arrived. He punched Diego out of the way, telling Falcon he was welcome. Suddenly, Morgenthau punched Hoskins, sending him into a pillar and killing him. Falcon and Barnes turned around to see Walker checking on his friend.

Once Walker realized his friend was dead, he went on an angry rampage, and jumped out the building window to capture Morgenthau. Falcon and Barnes left the building to catch up with Walker, and watched as Walker murdered Nico with the shield, staining it with Nico's blood. Falcon and Barnes were horrified and watched as the crowd filmed Walker with their devices.

#### Battle for the Shield

Falcon and Bucky Barnes chased after John Walker and found him in an abandoned warehouse. After confronting him, Falcon finally realized that Walker is both too unhinged and unfit to use the shield, and told him to hand over the shield, to which Walker refused, saying that he just wanted the shield for himself. Walker claimed that he had to kill Nico.

As Walker warned them that they did not want to take this course of action, Barnes affirmed to him they were serious about getting it back. With Walker refusing, a fight broke out between the three. After Walker momentarily knocked Barnes out, he dueled with Falcon, eventually getting the upper hand and throwing him to the ground. After the shield was thrown out of Walker's grasp, Falcon rushed to get it, only to get tackled violently by Walker.

With Falcon overwhelmed, Walker overpowered him and tore off Falcon's EXO-7 Falcon wing. Just as Walker was about to kill Falcon with the shield, Barnes rejoined the fight and tackled Walker, leading him away from Falcon. Barnes tousled with Walker while Falcon regained his bearings.

The two then managed to grab onto Walker. Falcon used his jet pack to pull the shield out of Walker's hand, breaking his arm in the process. Walker, in pain and enraged, demanded that it was his, and threatened to attack Falcon, holding the shield, but Barnes grabbed him by the legs and Falcon slammed the shield into Walker's back, knocking them all to the ground, but incapacitating Walker. Barnes then knocked Walker out for good measure.

As Falcon laid on the ground, exhausted, Barnes dropped the shield next to him, before leaving the warehouse. Falcon looked down at the shield, and tried to wipe the blood off of it, feeling it was his fault.

#### Battle Aftermath

Following the fight with John Walker, Sam and Bucky Barnes had then met with Joaquín Torres at the former Global Repatriation Council resettlement camp, who had arrived in Riga also. After Barnes left them, Torres told Sam that Karli Morgenthau was getting more followers and that after Walker's incident, they needed to lay low. Sam agreed and noticed how Torres seemed interested in his wings. He then showed Torres the shield. Afterwards, he left and on his way out, passed on his EXO-7 Falcon mantle to Torres and left Riga for the United States of America with the shield.

### Tough Decisions

#### Reunion with Isaiah Bradley

Sam returned to Baltimore, Maryland to meet with Isaiah Bradley again. While walking on the street to Bradley's house, Sam ran into Eli who was outside with friends. Eli told him Isaiah would be home shortly after asking Sam what he was doing there.

Sam met Isaiah Bradley in his backyard, who was watering his plants and started to show him the shield, but Bradley told him he was not interested and took Sam inside. After going inside, Sam sat down with Bradley in the living room, who told him about his past as being a black man who was experimented on with the Super Soldier Serum.

Bradley got emotional while recounting his past stories. He also told Sam that he believed that no black man would ever have the shield, even though Sam couldn't exactly relate to Bradley's stance. After their talk, Sam left the Bradley's house and once on the street, called his sister telling her he was coming back to Louisiana.

#### Time With Family

Once back with Sarah at her house, Sam thought of ways to get the boat ready to be sold. He said goodbye to Cass and AJ Wilson as Sarah told them to feed the neighbors. This made Sam remember how many favors the neighbors owe them. He told Sarah he would cash in those favors. He started calling people around the neighborhood. They were more than happy to help.

It was successful, as the community soon gathered to help with their boat. Sam thanked Carlos and Tommy before Bucky Barnes arrived and started helping out right away as well. Barnes then gave Sam a box that he said was a gift from the Wakandans who he had asked to make it for Sam. Sam then watched as Barnes and Sarah met, with Sam teasing Barnes about not flirting with her.

As the day was close to ending Barnes prepared to leave telling Sam he was going to return home and was going to stay at a hotel in the meantime. However, Sam offered Barnes the chance to stay with them until then which Barnes agreed to. The next few days Barnes stayed with Sam and helped him fix the boat. As Sam struggled to fix the boat manually, Barnes would come over every so often and use his vibranium arm to lift heavy objects with much ease, which Sam was grateful for.

#### Training with Bucky Barnes

After the boat was repaired, Sam and Bucky Barnes left the docks and began training with the shield, throwing it back and forth to get used to catching it. While doing so, the two talked and Barnes apologized to Sam for his initial handling of Sam handing over the shield to the government. Barnes told him that when and Steve Rogers had talked the night before Rogers handed over his mantle to Sam, that they never really fully thought through the implications of handing the shield to a black man and that he understood Sam's decision. In response, Sam helped Barnes with truly making peace with his actions as the Winter Soldier and the victims of the Winter Soldier's actions.

Telling Barnes that he should focus more on helping his victims achieve peace rather than just trying to assuage his own conscience, Barnes agreed with him. As Barnes prepared to leave the two humorously tried to define their relationship claiming that they were not friends or a team but instead partners and coworkers, then shaking hands and recognizing each other as actually friends, Barnes left for New York City.

#### Accepting The Mantle

The next day as Sam and Sarah prepared the final touches on the boat to sell it Sarah had a change of heart much to Sam's delight. Sam then told Sarah that his adventures over the past couple of days had taught him to accept he can't win every battle but that in this case preserving everything of their parents and family history was a fight they simply could not lose. Sam then told Sarah that in the past he could tell that the more he fought to change the world for the better the more he knew Sarah believed he was running away from their family.

However, Sarah told him that was untrue and that at no point in her life did she ever believe Sam was running away from them and assured her brother that she has always been proud of him for fighting not only to make the world better but also for their family. Sarah then told Sam that he should not let what Isaiah Bradley told him deter him from making his own decisions on what to do with the shield. Sam, however, reminded her that Bradley had gone through essentially torture throughout his life and that if in his exact same position, he would probably have the same outlook on life but acknowledged that if he wasn't willing to push through and keeping fighting then all the pain and sacrifices that they have all made would be for nothing.

Now fully ready to accept the mantle that Steve Rogers had passed on to him, Sam spent the next few days training with the shield and pushing his body to its absolute potential, doing pushups and running. While he initially struggled with the throwing of the shield and catching it on the return, eventually Sam managed to master both. AJ and Cass looked up at their uncle, happy and proud. AJ then traced the star on the shield, signifying the next step in Sam's life.

Later on, Sam got a video-call from Joaquín Torres. Torres told him got an alert from followers of the Flag Smashers in New York City as Sam watched the WHiH World News report of the GRC voting on the Patch Act that would relocate millions of refugees back to their countries of origin. Sam realized that Karli Morgenthau and the Flag Smashers planned on attacking there and so, he prepared to suit up, opening the box from the Wakandans that Barnes had given him, in which was a new Captain America suit and a new pair of wings.

### Becoming Captain America

#### Saving the GRC Members

Before he left, Sam called Sharon Carter asking her for backup. While flying to New York City in his new Captain America suit, Sam joined communications with Bucky Barnes. Nearing the building, Sam threw the shield at one of the Flag Smashers inside the GRC New York Headquarters. By doing this, the glass window shattered, thus allowing him to get in. Inside, Sam was then asked by a man who he was, to which he replied, "I'm Captain America" and then deduced that evacuating the building was a misdirect.

Sam then suddenly got hit backwards by a masked man who revealed himself to be Georges Batroc. Batroc told him that he still owed him lots of money after the Rescue of Captain Vassant, and then engaged Sam in a fight. As he was fighting, Sam remained in communications with Barnes and Carter. When Carter reported that a Flag Smasher was escaping with a helicopter containing GRC hostages, Sam threw his shield through another glass window, breaking it, and flew out to retrieve it in the air.

Sam then saved two NYPD officers, in a helicopter which had just been damaged. Sam deployed a newly constructed Redwing that saved the pilot, and he rescued the other officer. After safely placing them on a road, he flew off to intercept the other helicopter.

Sam then flew off to the helicopter that contained hostages. He used his new Redwing drones to find out if any of the members knew how to fly. After finding out that a woman named Ayla Perez did, Sam sent a message to her phone and told her to put her headphones in. After she did, Sam told Perez to prepare to get ready to take over the helicopter. He then flew after the helicopter, but was diverted into metal pipes which fell down into the Hudson River below. He fell as well and managed to dodge the pipes as he swam out of the water. Picking up energy, Sam then flew back and then used the shield to strike Diego, the Flag Smasher in the control seat and quickly grabbed him out of the helicopter. After a brief struggle with Diego, Sam dropped him in the Hudson River. He then complimented Perez on managing the helicopter after she successfully landed.

#### Final Fight with Flag Smashers

Sam observed the situation and swooped down to the construction site and used his Redwing drones to assist him as he stopped the armored truck containing GRC hostages inside from falling to the ground. He then used the thrusters from his new suit to further help him. After he had made sure the hostages were safe, he then flew back down to the riverbank.

Using the shield, Sam knocked out Karli Morgenthau and the other Flag Smashers, before standing alongside Bucky Barnes and John Walker. Morgenthau then took off her Flag Smasher mask and approached Sams, criticizing him for having taken on the mantle. He told her he was trying something different and that she should as well. They were interrupted when Georges Batroc arrived and shot smoke bombs at the ground, allowing for the Flag Smashers to escape. Sam then led Barnes and Walker deeper into the construction site underneath the building.

Sam, Barnes, and Walker ran through the construction site, trying to find the Flag Smashers, when Sharon Carter called and gave them an update. It was then determined that they would split up to find the Flag Smashers quicker, with Sam going solo, while Barnes left with Walker.

After hearing a gunshot, Sam was able to locate where it came from and found Karli Morgenthau holding a gun at Sharon Carter, who was on the floor and injured. He asked Morgenthau how many more people had to die and what she was willing to do for her goal, getting her to get away from Carter. Morgenthau then engaged in a fight with him, but Sam was able to dodge and flip his way from her blows, telling her that fighting wasn't the answer, but she had an irrational tantrum and knocked him to the ground.

After he was separated from the shield, Morgenthau got out her gun and pointed it at him. Sam tensed up at the situation and then witnessed Morgenthau double over after getting shot by Carter. He lifted Morgenthau into his arms as she died and heard her tell him that she was sorry. After exchanging glances over the situation with Carter, Sam left the site and flew down to where the rescued GRC members were, carrying Morgenthau's body.

#### Public Message

As Sam landed with Karli Morgenthau's body in his arms, the paramedics then rushed over and put Morgenthau's body on a stretcher and took her away to the ambulance. Sam then walked past news reporters and photographers with some crying out asking what to call him and that the government hadn't approved of him yet. He was then thanked by the Government Official, Ayla Perez, and another GRC member for his role in saving them.

However, he then explained to them that they as a whole should do better in helping everyone equally. He then noted that that was a reason why Morgenthau had started her movement to begin with. The Government Official told him that he didn't understand what the GRC did and how it worked, but Sam laughed and said that he understood. He said he understood now that a black man can take on the Captain America mantle and that it didn't matter what he looked like in order to do so. He then told them that they as a governing body had a lot of power. He said that because of this they affected people. Sam then said that all he could do was believe that America was capable of doing better.

After walking away from the GRC members, Sam saw John Walker and exchanged nods with him. He was then met by Bucky Barnes. Barnes teasingly told him that he hadn't been listening to it and then called him "Cap", congratulating him on his speech. Barnes then patted the shield on Captain America's back.

Sam and Barnes then walked over to Sharon Carter, who was leaning against a parked car and was clutching her side where she'd been shot. He told Carter to get medical help, but she said she was okay and didn't need it. He thanked Carter for coming to help them. Carter then told Sam that she liked his new suit to which he thanked her. He was then asked by a GRC employee to retrieve Diego, who had been dropped in the river earlier. Before flying away, he told Carter he would still get her the pardon from the U.S. government. He then flew away and picked up the last Flag Smasher, taking him back to the police.

#### Isaiah Bradley's Legacy

Sam returned to Baltimore, Maryland, and went back to Isaiah Bradley's house. He then rang the doorbell to the front door and saw Eli Bradley who looked through the screen door. Eli asked him what he wanted and then called him "Black Falcon" with Sam telling him he needed to learn manners. Eli told Sam that Bradley was out in the backyard. Sam then saw Bradley, who walked back to the front yard and commented on how Sam was still black but not the Falcon anymore.

Sam was told by Bradley that he heard after Sam's speech the GRC had called off their vote. Sam then told Bradley that even though Bradley disagreed with his decision, he felt that he needed to protect the United States of America, and explained why he took on the Captain America mantle. Bradley told him that he wasn't like Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., or Nelson Mandela, to which Sam agreed. Sam then told Bradley to get cleaned up as he wanted to take him somewhere.

Sam took Bradley and Eli to Washington, DC to The Smithsonian Institution. He then walked them through the updated Captain America exhibit and to another room where a smaller exhibit was on display for Bradley, showcasing a statue and a memorial plaque. Sam told Bradley that now the world wouldn't forget what he did for his country and that he would be learned about. Bradley, who became deeply emotional, hugged Sam in gratitude.

#### Louisiana Cookout

Sam returned to Delacroix. Louisiana and arrived in time for their community's cookout. He then met with Sarah, AJ, and Cass. Shortly, Bucky Barnes arrived as well and greeted them, giving Sam a friendly hug. Sam then sat down with Barnes, Sarah, and his nephews to enjoy the meal.

Since he was the new Captain America, Sam was asked to have his picture taken by the community. A line was then formed and he took selfies and pictures with Carlos, and other members of their community, along with some children.

Sam has a deep connection to his family's legacy, constantly trying convince Sarah not to sell their old family boat, despite their ever increasing financial troubles, firmly believing that things like legacy, history and righteous causes are worth fighting for.

## Friends

#### Steve Rogers

Sam is one of Steve Rogers' most stalwart friends and allies. Both men found a kindred spirit in each other when they discovered they both shared common life experiences and had similar values. Sam and Rogers both fought for the United States of America by joining the military, had to cope with the deaths of friends during war, and had to adjust to life outside of war. For Sam, he found purpose in helping military veterans adjust to civilian life. This earned Rogers' respect, and in turn Sam admires Captain America and the ideals he represents. Their commonality helped the two to forge a bond that led Sam to aid Steve Rogers in many of his heroic exploits. During these exploits, Sam becomes a hero in his own right, whether it be when the two are fighting shoulder to shoulder together during a mission to save the world or aiding Rogers with a personal matter, such as helping him find the Winter Soldier.

In contrast to Rogers' pensive no-nonsense attitude, Sam often displays a more brazen attitude and a strong sense of humor, often making cheeky comments; he jokingly tells Rogers to come by the VA to make him look good in front of a girl at the desk, and nods in approval when Rogers and Sharon Carter kiss. However, similarly to Rogers, Sam is also a hardened soldier who, during battle, believes strongly in focusing on the job at hand. Some of Sam's hardened attitude comes from losing his wingman, Riley, which led to him leaving the military. In addition, he also takes great pride in his work, both when he helps veterans who suffer from PTSD and his work as Falcon.

Unlike many of his teammates, Sam doesn't hold grudges and believes in forming his own opinions of others instead of going by what others think. He respects Scott Lang following their initial meeting despite much of the public believing him to be nothing more than a common criminal, and following their battle at Leipzig-Halle Airport is the only one of Rogers' captured teammates who doesn't show any ill will toward Tony Stark when he visits his former teammates and admits to Sam that he was wrong, suggesting the two of them both understand why the other did what they did and still hold some mutual respect for one another.

Sam also shares many characteristics and similarities to his friend and mentor Steve Rogers, being deeply compassionate and empathetic towards others, as well as having a strong moral code. He is able to understand and relate to the motivations and frustrations of the Flag Smashers, stating that he supports the noble nature of their cause, but that he cannot support their violent ways. Sam firmly believes that violence does not make the world a better place, to which Morgenthau suggests that he is either brilliant or hopelessly optimistic. Despite Baron Zemo's constant efforts to convince Sam that the only way to stop the Flag Smashers is by killing Morgenthau, Sam stands firm by his beliefs that the group can be stopped peacefully. After finding out that Sharon Carter was still in hiding for helping Sam, Rogers and Barnes during the Avengers Civil War, Sam is deeply stricken and appalled by what she had to experience, promising that he will personally make sure that she gets pardoned for her crimes.

#### Bucky Barnes

Due to his previous occupation as a counselor at the VA, Sam serves as a good advisor and a motivational speaker, being able to understand and help Bucky Barnes with his mental struggles and trauma, giving him a few helpful pieces of advice on how he should be making amends for his past crimes. Sam's understanding nature has helped evolve his initial rivalry with Barnes into friendship.

#### Isaiah Bradley

Despite not initially agreeing with Isaiah Bradley's beliefs about the legacy of Captain America's Shield, Sam was still deeply stricken by Bradley's tragic history, even going as far as briefly entertaining the thought of destroying the shield. However, after learning about the importance of the shield and it's legacy during the conversation with Bucky Barnes, Sam's mind about the shield has changed. So much so, that he willingly took the shield and became the new Captain America in hopes of bettering his country.

#### Wilsons

Darlene Wilson (mother)

Paul Wilson (father)

Sarah Wilson (sister)

Clyde Diggle (brother-in-law)

Cass Wilson (nephew)

AJ Wilson (nephew)

#### Hayes

Aurora Montgomery (mother-in-law)

Clarence Hayes (father-in-law)

##### Morgans

Savannah Hayes (sister-in-law)

Derrick Morgan (brother-in-law)

Junior Morgan (nephew)

Elijah Morgan (nephew)

##### Bennett

Naomi Hayes (sister-in-law)

Solomon Bennett (brother-in-law)

Mika Bennett (niece)

Betsey Parker (adoptive niece)

### Marriage

While spending some time with Sarah in Louisiana, recuperating after an Avengers related injury, Sam was required to regularly visit University Medical Centre in New Orleans. During his various appointments there, he met Dr. Imogen Hayes. Sam noticed that Imogen always got coffee at the cafe next to the hospital at the same time every day, and only having seen her in passing, Sam decided to approach her. The two of them began talking and soon a relationship began to blossom.