Charlie's POV:
The plane ride to Berlin is a long one. Most of my time I spend pretending I'm asleep. Just in a world where I can think. Being around Bucky makes me realize how much I missed him. His cocky crooked grins make me melt, and I don't like it. I've never been one to hold grudges too long, but I can't trust him with my heart. I want to so bad, but not yet, in time. When he left it was another time of going through the motions. I had to be there for my daughter. It was five months of getting Steve on a regular routine schedule. He still brings up Peggy, and I haven't been ready for that.
Steve worries about Bucky, even more so when he wasn't returning any phone calls. He would tell me to be patient, he knows how Bucky truly feels, blah blah blah. I'm lost in my thoughts when I feel a person sit in the seat beside me, sighing. Without opening my eyes, I know it's him. "What do you want Bucky?"
"Just to see how you were?" He asks, sincerely.
"I'm fine. How are you?" I look over at him. "This small talk is silly. I've seen you naked."
He inhales deeply, trying to think of something to say. "I wanted to be close to you. I know you have your own issues with Zemo."
"My issues aren't quite the same as yours. So how are you really feeling?" His eyes soften and go glossy. I want to touch him, memorize his face.
"I'm good. He can't hurt me."
"I think you seriously underestimate that man. Maybe not physically, but he's conniving. He can't be trusted. And he knows so many people. I want you to be careful." I tell him.
He looks over at me, and places a hand on my thigh. "James."
"What? I want to touch you." Another cheeky grin.
"It's not that I don't want you to. I have to be careful with you. I trust you personally. But you with my heart? This isn't something I can trust right now. We can't jump back into things the way they were. Maybe if you had some form contact for the past five months, but I got a call and no texts."
"I'm sorry. I know that's not worth anything. I thought about you every day, I just didn't think I was good enough for you or Maggie. I don't deserve you." His hand starts to move off my thigh and I place my hand on top, stopping him. His eyes shift down before meeting mine with a smile.
"Can you from now on let me decide what I deserve?" He nods, I turn my body and begin tracing his face, memorize him. God, I've missed him so much.
"Charlie..." He whispers, I pause my movements and look at him. "Would you like to go on a date with me?" He almost pouts at my face, and I let out a giggle. "That bad huh?"
"I just wasn't expecting that. I don't know if I've ever actually been on a date."
"You and Steve?" He searches me. I mean we might have had domesticated moments, but never an explicit date. I'm nearly thirty. I shake my head no. "That's a shame. I promise after this, if you want to, I'd like to take you out on a date."
"For coffee?" I ask with a smile.
"We can have that at home...I mean at your home. I would like to actually take you out. Properly." Why is he perfect?
"I would like that. If we get out of this alive. We are getting out of this alive? I have this little girl at home that's perfect, and I want to make sure she has her mom."
"Yes, doll, we're getting out of this alive." His gloved hand comes up to my face, as his thumb pets the side of me.
Behind us Sam grunts. "I like it better when you two talk in each other's minds. I don't want to hear this." He kicks at the back of my seat.
"Get some sleep, doll." Without hesitation I lay my head over on his strong shoulder, breathing in his woody scent. A scent that is quintessential James Bucky Barnes. It isn't long into breathing him in that I fully drift asleep.
___________________________________________________________________
Bucky's POV:
We walk down the long white hallway at the prison. Charlie still stands in between Sam and myself. Her hand randomly flicks over to mine, reassuring me that she's not going anywhere. She knows that this won't be the easiest conversation for me.
"He's just through that corridor." The C.O. tells us.
"Alright, give us a sec." I answer. Charlie knows I want to go in alone, and she trusts my decision and even agreed. "I'm gonna go in alone." I look over Charlie at Sam, he remains calm but his eyes tell me, he doesn't like this. My hand gently comes up to Charlie's hip. "I'll be okay." I reassure her.
"I know."
"Why?" Sam asks, looking down at Charlie before returning to me.
"Because you're an Avenger. You know how he feels about that." I answer. He despises anyone enhanced, gifted, or just put on a pedestal.
"It's not like you two were known for frolickin' in the sun together." Sam doesn't agree I should go alone.
"He was obsessed with Hydra. We have a history together. Trust me. I got it."
"Charlie, you okay with this?" He looks down at my hand on her hip, before meeting back up to her eyes.
"Yes. I think Bucky is fully capable of handling this, Sam. Trust him, and if you don't want to trust him, trust me." He nods down at her before meeting my eyes again.
I give Charlie's hip a squeeze and go to Zemo. The C.O. ushers me through more hallways, behind heavily locked and guarded doors, before I enter in his solitary room. Even though he's in prison, he's also alone. His own personal hell. Every day, alone. This is not the life that I would want to live. He sits on his bed; shadows cover up his face.
"Желание. Семнадцать." He stands, walking out of the shadows and closer to me. Reciting my triggers words. He doesn't scare me. They know longer hold the same power over me. "Ржавый."
"Those days are over." My face is calm and emotionless at him. He thinks he actually holds power over me.
"I know." He grimaces. He wishes he still held that power. "I just wanted to see how the new you reacts to the old words." His body stalks closer to the glass, looking deeply into my eyes. "Something is still in there." No there's not, but I feel myself react to what he says. "At least you were not conscious for most of your imprisonment." Still, it was seventy years. Seventy years of people using my body as a weapon and I had no control.
"That time wasn't exactly a picnic." Being there lead me here, to where I am. Being the Winter Soldier, changed me, but I don't think it changed me too worse. I'm different than I was in the 40s, but I'm comfortable.
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry." He turns his back to me, starting to pace around his cell. "It was never personal. You were simply a means to a necessary end."
I'm tired of this back and forth, "Someone recreated the super soldier serum." He turns back to look at me, genuinely shocked. "I need to find out who."
Again, his body slowly comes to the glass, as close as he can be, despite the wall that separates us. "You are assuming Hydra has something to do with this, which is why you came to me, which means you are desperate. Luckily for you, I know where to begin."
"I don't have much time, tell me."
"Do you think it's going to be that easy? I also have the information you've been seeking." He smirks as he looks down.
"What are you talking about? I need to know who's creating the serum."
"Ah, but that's a new development. What about those memories of dear Captain Roger's princess that plague you?" My eyes widen as I look at him. "How is she by the way? No longer with her Captain I'm assuming." I don't want to give him any more information about Charlie. He's already reading me like a book. "She's not who you think she is, and you're far from who she thinks you are."
"We're not talking about her, Zemo." He laughs, knowing he's pissing me off. We'll deal with the past later.
__________________________________________________________________
Bucky's POV:
"What are you talking about? You wanna break Zemo outta jail?" Sam asks as I lead them through the dark garage. Following directions with utmost precision. "Where the hell are we, Buck? Have you lost your mind?"
Our flashlights shine through the darkness, creating small beams of light, and obscuring our line of vision. Charlie follows closely behind. I watch her eyes dart around as she's trying to figure out what the hell is going on.
"We have no leads, no moves, nothing." I answer, trying to keep my knowledge of everything that's happened out of the forefront.
"Bucky, you want to explain what's going on?" Charlie asks looking around.
"What we have is one of the most dangerous men in the world behind bars." Sam huffs out.
"We also have eight super soldiers that are loose." I completely ignore Charlie's question.
"Zemo's gonna mess with our minds. Especially yours. No offense." Sam tells me.
"Charlie, help me." I wave my hand for her to come closer. I don't need her help; I just want her closer. I spent five months being away from her, for my own stupid reasons.
"Yeah, of course." She answers shining her flashlight in Sam's face with a smile. I finally reach the switch and turn on the lights. We all look around at our surroundings. Charlie's eyes narrow at me. "Where are we?"
"Super soldiers go against everything he believes in." I ignore her, smiling when she scowls at me. "He is crazy, but he still has a code."
"Yeah, and I've been on the wrong side of that code, Buck, and so have both of you. He blew up the UN, when he sent you into soldier mode you tried to kidnap Charlie, nearly killed Steve. He killed King T'Chaka and framed you for it. Did you forget that? You think the Wakandans forgot about it? It's a rhetorical question. They didn't. I know why this matters to you, but it's pushing you off the deep end." Sam clearly is frustrated.
"Sam, we don't know how they're getting the serum. We don't even know how many of them there are. Look, let me just walk you through a hypothetical. Can I walk you through a hypothetical?"
Charlie looks around the room before facing just me. Her eyes show that she too is worried. Sam paces around the garage, still trying to figure out where we are. "What did you do?" She stares up at me. Her mom voice is coming through.
"I didn't do anything." My head shakes at her.
"Bucky?" Again, mom voice. Her arms cross as she juts out a hip, eyes narrowed at me.
"The weakest point in any system isn't the software, the hardware, it's the meatware. The human element. Now, in this lockup, it's nine to one, prisoners to guards. And if two prisoners start fighting, then the protocol says four guards have to respond."
"You've thought an awful lot about this." Her eyes glare up at me. I find it more comical than anything.
"So why would two prisoners randomly start fighting at that moment?" Sam asks furrowing his brows.
"Who knows? There could be many reasons...but the point is, these things escalate. Lockdown procedures would have to be initiated and with all those bodies flying around left and right, it wouldn't be hard to slip down a hallway or two."
"You needed me to sleep, so you could think about your plan to break Zemo out! I can't believe you." I smile down at Charlie at her realization of what I accomplished.
"And if the fire alarm got tripped while the prisoners were being separated...someone could use the chaos to their advantage."
"I don't like how casual you're being about this." Sam's head tilts as he too has figured out this isn't hypothetical at all. "This is unnatural. Are you..."? His head shakes around taking in our surroundings again, "And where are we, man?"
"I would like to know, too." Charlie's finger pokes at my chest. "Still ignoring me, James?" She casts in my head before my eyes meet hers, "I could always talk dirty in your mind, distracting you until you tell me where the hell we are."
"Don't..." I frown. "don't start something you can't finish."
A door opens in the distance, Sam glowers over there, Charlie sensing who's entering in moves in front of me and Sam, separating us. We watch as his figure comes closer, and then it dawns on Sam, "Whoa. Whoa. Whoa."
Sam runs towards him, and Charlie and I follow. "No, listen." Again, she makes sure her body is planted in between me and Sam. "Im not going to kill him." I try to make her see I'm not going to do anything to Sam.
"I'm not worried about what you will do to him. I'm worried about what he will do to you."
"What are you doin' here?" Sam shouts at Zemo.
"I didn't tell you 'cause I knew you wouldn't let this happen." I try to calm him. Charlie faces him with her hands on his chest.
"What did you do?"
"We need him, Sam."
"Did you know?" He looks down at Charlie.
"She didn't." I answer. She's just good at putting my puzzle pieces together.
"You're going back to prison!" He shouts pointing his finger. Charlie could easily calm him, but she hates manipulating any of us without our consent.
"If I may..." Zemo interjects.
"No!" We all three shout at him. He nods, realizing he needs to just let this ride out.
"When Steve refused to sign the Sokovia Accords, you backed him. You broke the law, and you stuck your neck out for me. I'm asking for you to do it again." Charlie pushes Sam a bit further back from me, and I place a comforting hand on her hip. I love having her so close.
"I really think I'm invaluable..." Zemo answers from the side.
"Shut up." Sam's gaze meets his. If looks could kill. His focus is back on me. He pulls Charlie's hands off of him, "Okay." Looking back down at her nodding he repeats, "Okay. If we do this, you don't make a move without our permission."
"Fair." Zemo answers.
"Okay, Zemo." Sam's eyes study my face, taking in every inflection I have while looking at me. Even though he's agreeing he wants to make sure I'm okay. That my mind is okay. "Where do we start?" Zemo smiles over at us. Charlie shifts a little.
"You okay, doll?"
"Yes. Are you?" I nod looking down at her hazel eyes. There's more. "He just makes me uncomfortable. If there is any moment you can't handle any of this, you'd tell me, right?"
"Yes, I'm not leaving you in the dark anymore."
"James, don't make promises you can't keep."
"I won't."
Zemo laughs looking between us, seeing our interactions before he spins, turning on more lights. Sam looks around, "So our first move is grand theft auto?" Sam quips.
"These are mine. Collected by family over the generations. I spent years hunting people Hydra recruited to recreate the serum." I pull Charlie's hand as I look amongst all the old luxury cars. Bringing me back into another time. "Because once it's out there, someone can create an army of people...like the Avengers." He smirks over to Sam before leaning in a car and grabbing out a bag. We watch intently, not fully trusting the man.
"I ended the Winter Soldier program once before. I have no intention to leave my work unfinished. To do this, we'll have to scale a ladder of lowlifes."
"Well, join the party. We've already started." Sam is not letting him get off easy.
"First stop is a woman named Selby. Mid-level fence I still have a line on. From there, we climb.
___________________________________________________________________
Charlie's POV:
Mostly silent we travel to a private jet. Setting this near impossible plan in motion. "So, all this time you've been rich?" Sam asks, dramatically throwing his hands in the air. He is slightly in front of us, but still, I wind up in the middle of him and Bucky every time. Makes me feel safe.
"I'm a Baron, Sam. My family was royalty until your friends destroyed my country." He speaks Russian to what I'm assuming is his butler as we near the stairs to the jet. Sam follows behind Zemo, and the butler takes my hand kissing it, telling me something in Russian, not understanding I smile at him. Bucky's hand goes tight on my hip as he pushes me up the stairs.
"What was that about?" I cast to him.
"Nothing. He just called you, princess." Bucky goes silent. He still isn't a fan of anyone calling me that. I've heard it so often that the word is almost pointless.
Taking our seats in the plane, Bucky and I sit across from one another, our eyes constantly meet, and I can't help but smile at him. He's so much more reserved than he once was. His hands constantly covered. I quite enjoy seeing his metal hand. Zemo annoyingly sits beside me. The butler hands a drink to Zemo, "The fridge is out but I will see if there is some good food in the galley." Him and Zemo share a few words before he laughs, "It's good to have you back sir," he responds as he walks away.
"You don't know what it's like to be locked in a cell. Oh, that's right. You do." He looks between Bucky and Sam before meeting my eyes with a smile.
"Why don't you tell us about where we're going?" Sam asks gaining Zemo's aggravating smile from me. I don't know what it's like to be in a cell, maybe he hates me for that. Sam has been in an underwater cell. Bucky was in a cell for seventy years.
"I'm sorry. I was just fascinated by this." He flicks open a book, the mocking tone he uses leads me to believe he's up to no good. "I don't know what to call it, but this part seems to be important. Who is Nakajima?" Quickly Bucky bolts over to him, fury in his eyes as his metal hand wraps around his throat. Sam adjusts his position. I hold mine, knowing he was reading something of Bucky's.
"If you touch that again, I'll kill you." He whispers to me. Zemo nods, knowing full well Bucky could kill him in an instant in hundreds of different ways. He sits back down, his eyes still locked in on Zemo.
"I'm sorry. I understand that list of names. People you've wrong as the Winter Soldier."
"Don't push it." Bucky's voice is steady, but he's serious.
"You, okay?" His eyes are beside me.
"I'm fine."
"I've seen that book. It was Steve's when he came out of the ice. I told him about 'Trouble Man.' He wrote it in that book. Did you hear it? What'd you think?" Sam smiles at Bucky, trying to lighten the mood. I watch as his jaw tenses up.
Bucky finally looks over at Sam, "I like 40s music, so..."
"You didn't like it?" Sam's face is so serious. I can't help but smile. I've grown to love that soundtrack myself. It was one of Steve's favorites to listen to as he cooked.
"I liked it." Bucky looks at Sam still serious, before looking back at me, while I try to hold in a laugh.
"It is a masterpiece, James. Complete. Comprehensive. It captures the African-American experience." Zemo says calmly looking at Bucky.
Exasperated Sam turns to Bucky, "He's out of line, but he's right. It's great. Everybody loves Marvin Gaye."
"I like Marvin Gaye."
"Steve adored Marvin Gaye, right Charlie?" He looks over at me.
I nod, "Especially when he cooked. Very badly cooked." Bucky's eyes look back out the window. I shouldn't have brought up domesticated life with Steve, but it happened.
"You must have really looked up to Steven. But I realized something when I met him. The danger with people like him, America's Super Soldiers, is that we put them on pedestals. Some individuals really put them on pedestals, even loving them too much." His eyes look over to me.
"Watch your step, Zemo." Sam warns him.
"They become symbols. Icons. And then we start to forget about their flaws. From there, cities fly, innocent people die. Movements are formed, wars are fought. You remember that, right?" His gaze goes to Bucky, and Bucky moves his eyes to my hands, not wanting to look into my eyes, but look at me, "As a young soldier sent to Germany to stop a mad icon. Do we want to live in a world full of people like the Red Skull? That is why we're going to Madripoor."
"What's up with Madripoor? You guys talk about it like it's Skull Island." Sam asks. He seems to be the only one who can speak to Zemo calmly. I want to smack him.
"It's an island nation in the Indonesian archipelago. It was pirate sanctuary back in the 1800s." Bucky answers, finally speaking and meeting my eyes.
"It's kept its lawless ways. But we cannot exactly walk in as ourselves. James, you will have to become someone you claim is gone." Bucky's eyes fall back to my lap. "Charlotte, so tell me, exactly which soldier had the most flaws? I'm guessing Steven isn't as perfect as people think."
My head shoots over to him, "Watch how you talk to her." Sam's voice is authoritative.
Now that he has my attention again, he smiles over at Bucky before coming back to me, "You two been able to fit together your memories?"
"What are you going on about Zemo?" I ask him, getting more annoyed.
He reaches over and pulls out a file with the Hydra symbol on the front. I look towards Bucky, and I see tears well up in his eyes. "C. Allen. That's the second time I've seen that today. I have the answers you seek, Charlotte."
"Keep it." I stand walking away.
Before I leave, I hear his slimy voice. "She must really love you, James. Especially since she's not curious as to what's in this file. Have you figured it out yet? Or both of you want to continue to stay in the dark. It's one of Hydra's best kept secrets. Their most successful wiping of a brain, well brains."
"Shut up." I hear Sam huff out and I hear feet shuffle closer to me.
Bucky follows me into a room towards the front, "Charlie..."
"I don't want to know what's in that file. It's not going to change anything."
"What if it does?" His eyes search mine as he places a hand on my cheek, using his thumb to soothe me.
"What good could come out of it?" His eyes continue to roam my face. "I would rather us put it together without using a file, one of Hydra's sick files. Do you remember anything?"
"Just that you were younger. At one point, much younger, a child."
"Why was I there?" I look up at him. Our eyes never leave one another.
"I don't know. Knowing Hydra, they wanted to use you. They obviously knew about your powers."
"I didn't develop them until I worked with Wanda."
Sadness crosses over his face, "Zemo said it was their most successful wiping. You could have had powers there, but they wiped you, you wouldn't remember."
I look up at his perfectly piercing steel blue eyes. I want to know, but I'm not ready for that. I would prefer if Bucky and I could unravel that mystery together. And if we look at the file it's on our time, not Zemo playing mind games.
"What are you thinking, doll?"
"How bad I want you to kiss me right now." I have missed him. Every part of him, although I'm not ready for us to go back to how things were, I want to feel his lips. Let him know that regardless of what's in that file I want him. I want him close to me until the end of my story. I want him in my life. And I see the fear in his eyes that the truth in that file will tears us apart.
"You...you said you...we can't do this." He stutters still searching my eyes.
"Why not? You don't want to?"
"I have thought about nothing more the last five months than wanting to be with you. But you wanted to take things slow."
"It's kissing. On an ass holes jet. I'm not asking you to..."
"Are you sure? I don't want you to make a mistake or regret something. We were just talking about the fact that you were in Hydra."
"James, kiss me, please."
His thumb caresses my face as his left hand comes to my hip, pulling me closer to him. I tilt my head back looking at him as he gently brings his mouth closer to mine. I meet him halfway. Our lips connect and the past five months melt away. I forget everything that had happened from my last kiss with Bucky. I bring my hands in his hair, weaving them into his soft shorter locks, and I bring him closer to me. It almost feels like electricity kissing him. Like lightening running through my veins and connecting at our lips. I feel his tongue trace along my lips as I open my mouth to connect my tongue with his. Memorizing his taste, and how much I have missed this.
I long to be even closer to him. As if reading my mind, he lifts me up and I wrap my legs around him. His body pushes me to the side of the plane. His lips pull away from mine as he peppers kiss along my jaw and on my neck, I push my head against the wall, panting, giving him more access to the sensitive skin. I run my fingers down his head and on his neck, where I use my finger nails to tickle along his skin. I missed this. I missed him. He knows every part of me, and knows exactly what I want without me mentioning it.
He moves his head back, smiling at me, I meet his gaze, "Charlie I lo..."
"Too soon, James." I warn him. I do love him, but we need to leave that unspoken a bit longer.
He smirks at me, "So you don't?"
"I'm not saying that. It's too soon. I missed you, missed this, we just fit together so perfectly. But I'm guarding myself from you right now."
His lips peck a kiss on mine, before coming to my forehead, "I understand. I'm not going anywhere, ever again. I'm yours." I feel my cheeks heat up as I smile at him. "However long you need me to wait, I will. We're in this together now."
"Thank you." He gives me a sweet smile and I pull him in for another kiss. His grip on me loosens as he lets me slide down my body.
"You're, okay?" I nod. "One day, we need to look at that file. I know you're curious. As am I." He has a point, but it can wait.
"One day we will. Together. Today's not the day." He nods, grabbing my hand and leading us back to our seats.
"You two look like you had a nice chat." Sam smiles over at me, "I got the file from him. When you're ready."
"Thank you." I cast back at him.
__________________________________________________________________
Bucky's POV:
Walking down the road that will lead to Madripoor, I feel uncomfortable with how Zemo thought the best disguise for Charlie was his call girl. She dressed in the shortest black leather shorts, making her ass cheeks peek out a bit. Her tall heels make her five inches taller; her legs were a bit wobbly at first. She shifts around watching her chest to make sure she doesn't have a boob flop out, Zemo assured her with the tape they'll stay covered. The thin white material plunges just above her belly button. In another situation I might find it hard to keep my hands off of her, but putting up the façade she stands close to Zemo.
Once we were dressed and my metal arm shined outside its shirt, no longer covered, Charlie's fingers traced up and down it. She informed me she didn't like me covering my body. That the arm makes me, me, and she thinks it's beautiful. I've never had to hide anything from her.
"You could have at least given her a bigger coat." I watch her lips; they're starting to turn purple as she shivers. I can't help but look, but I can see the outline of her nipples as she wraps her arms around her. The coat is pointless, the thin material doesn't keep her warm, and seeing how it's cropped it still leaves her legs and ass out to the elements.
"We're almost to the car, and then she'll be fine." Zemo answers, wrapping an arm around her. Just in case we're spotted I don't touch her, but a twinge of anger and jealously rise up from the pit of my stomach.
"Bucky, I'm fine."
"You're freezing, and he's an ass hole."
"Seriously, we have to do something about this. I'm the only one who looks like a pimp." Sam, ever the dramatic one.
"At least your ass and tits aren't hanging out." Charlie answers.
"Only an American would assume a fashion-forward black man looks like a pimp. You look exactly like the man you're supposed to be playing. The sophisticated, charming African rake named Conrad Mack, aka the Smiling Tiger." Zemo replies.
"He even has a bad nickname." Sam still isn't happy. Zemo hands Sam his phone to show him a picture of the Smiling Tiger.
"Hell, he does look like me, though."
"And you my dear, are my courtesan, Poppy." Charlie rolls her eyes.
"Yeah, well, keep your hands to yourself." I caution him.
"James, we all have a part to play. I would touch a courtesan." He pauses, breathing deeply. "You smell this?"
"Yeah, what is that? Acid?" Sam asks. It isn't the most pleasant of smells.
"Madripoor." Simple answer. This isn't my kind of place. "No matter what happens, we have to stay in character. Our lives depend on it. There's no margin for error. High Town's that way. Not a bad place if you wanna visit, but Low Town's the other way." I open the door and let Charlie slide in the middle as Zemo gets in the front.
"Let me guess. We don't have any friends in High Town." Sam states as he gets in on the other side.
I wrap my arm around Charlie trying to warm her up the best I can, thankfully the car is quite warm. I hear her breathing slow down and watch as her lips quit chattering and her body quits shivering. I hate him. Charlie's heavy makeup and false lashed eyes close as she feels me rubbing on her body, trying to create any kind of warmth I can for her.
The car moves forward as we head into the city. "Once we get closer, James, you can't touch her."
"I know, but she's freezing. She's basically naked."
"We could have arranged that for her as well." I glare up at him, but the rest of the ride is silent. Once we get closer, I unravel myself from her body and I see a cold chill rise off her body at the lack of my body heat. Motorcycles surround the car, creating a protective ride into Madripoor for Zemo.
Entering the city Charlie's arm stays intwined with Zemo. She puts on the act bringing herself closer to him, although I know she's trying to keep herself warm. Sam follows closely behind, as I bring up the rear. As much as I want to just watch Zemo with Charlie, I also scope out our landscape, just in case things go south.
I watch as Charlie, not used to the high heels, stumble a few times. His grasp on her gets a bit tighter as he holds her up from falling. There are people everywhere, all with various forms of weaponry. This can't be good.
We walk into a club, I plant myself a bit closer to Zemo and Charlie, I'm supposed to be the body guard, but I don't make any eye contact, trying to keep my distant and cold state.
"Ready to comply...Winter Soldier?" Zemo asks in Russian. Causing several people around us to take notice of me here. He leads us to the bar where we're greeted by a very large man.
"Hello, gentlemen, lady, wasn't expecting you, Smiling Tiger." Charlie leans up against the bar, smiling and traces circles with her fingers on the counter. I plant my body as close to hers as possible without looking suspicious.
"His plans changed. We have business to do with Selby." Zemo tells the bartender. His hand comes to the small of Charlie's back, pulling her ever so closer to him.
"The usual?" The bartender looks at Sam. He responds with a nod.
"Charlie, I give you permission that if I have to become him, that you can center me, after. Okay."
"Okay. I've got you." She lets out a little giggle as she looks up at Zemo. I want to hit him, but I also want to pull her over teased hair, and smack her ass. Focus.
We watch in emotionless horror as the bartender pulls a snake out of a jar and cuts it open to pull out an organ or guts to put in Sam's drink. Glad I'm not him. I'll take the Winter Soldier any day. Overwhelmed with the thought that he has to drink that Sam looks away.
"Ah, Smiling Tiger, your favorite." Zemo says with a smile.
The bartender puts the shot glass in front of Sam. He picks it up, trying not to break character. "I love these." He says over to us, trying to convince himself he can actually drink it.
The bartender places a shot glass in front of Zemo and Charlie as well. "Cheers Conrad." Everyone clinks their glasses together, before leaning back and taking the shot. Sam hesitates as Zemo and Charlie put their glasses down. Charlie has to look back up to Zemo to let a giggle out as she rubs her finger on his arm. Good save.
Sam finally drinks the shot and gives the bartender a thumbs up, I just have to keep my eyes off him. I want to bust out laughing. Another man comes up behind, pulling Charlie off Zemo, before he makes Zemo turn and look at him. "I got word from on high. You ain't welcome here." He spits at him.
"I have no business with the Power Broker, but if he insists, he can either come and talk to me..." He uses his hand to gesture over to me. Stone faced I look at the man.
"New haircut?" He asks.
"Or bring Selby for a chat." He reaches over pulling Charlie back by his side as the man walks away.
"A power broker? Really?" I ask him.
"Every kingdom needs its king. Let's just pray we stay under his radar."
"Do you know him?" Sam asks.
"Only by reputation. In Madripoor he is judge, jury, and executioner." He spins around, getting a view of another man coming up to us. He starts speaking Russian to me, "Winter Soldier." His hand brings Charlie to him. My eyes go blank. "Attack." The man pushes Charlie out of the way before slapping a large hand onto Zemo's shoulder. He touched her; I'm going to enjoy this.
As if by muscle memory my body reacts, favoring my left arm. I grab at his hand, squeezing it, surely breaking a few bones. I look back at Zemo, my eyes only for a second meet Charlie's and I throw the man to the ground. He screams out grabbing at his shoulder. Another man comes forward, trying to attack, but I get the upper hand. It takes a second before I kick him over into other people, as he lets out a pained groan. I kick at him again, for good measure.
More and more people come to assault me and with very little effort I throw all of them off me. One man comes forward and I pick him up by the neck and sling him down on the table, constricting his airways. I freeze, feeling the air leave his throat, and all around me guns begin to cock.
I feel Sam's arm slap on my metal arm, "Stay in character or the whole bar turns on us." Zemo whispers to him.
"James, I'm here. Breathe." Her sweet voice casts into my mind, "You're James Bucky Barnes. Relax."
My mind comes back into focus. I am no longer the Winter Soldier. I am James Bucky Barnes. I hear Zemo's voice speak in Russian. Stay in character, "Well done, Soldier."
My eyes focus on the shocked bar tender. "Selby will see you now." He tells us.
"Thank you." Zemo pulls Charlie's arm as he guides her away, I feel her lightly brush against me as I smell her sweet floral scent, grounding me even further.
"You good?" Sam asks me. I inhale sharply, glancing at him for mere seconds before stalking after Charlie and Zemo. I am fine.
We walk into the room where this Selby is. She looks amongst our crew, eyes lingering on Charlie and myself. I stand frozen, while Charlie rubs on Zemo's arm. "You should know, Baron. People don't just come into my bar and make demands." Her fingers tap on the armrest of her chair, annoyed by our presence.
"Not a demand, an offer." He sits on the couch opposite her, pulling Charlie onto his lap.
"A lot has changed since you were here last." Her gaze finds me as I plant myself behind Zemo. "By the way, I thought you were rotting away in a German prison. How did you escape?"
"People like us always find a way, don't we? I'm sure you've already figured out what I'm here for." His hands rub on her thighs, I look down before I have to look anywhere but his hands on her.
"You're taller than I'd heard, Smiling Tiger." Selby points a finger at Sam, but her eyes stay on Zemo, before slowly moving to him. Sam just nods. She purrs over to him. "What's the offer?" She smiles, eyes back on Zemo, as they travel down to Charlie's body.
"Tell us what you know about the super soldier serum." He pushes her off his lap and walks over to me. Walking around me, showing me off like cattle. "And I give you him, along with the code words to control him, of course." I watch as her eyes light up. Zemo's hands cup my chin, showing how controlled I am, "He will do anything you want."
"Now that's the Zemo I remember. I'm glad I decided not to kill you immediately. Yeah, you were right to come to me. Arrogant, but right." Zemo sits back down on the couch, tapping his lap and Charlie crawls back on him. Selby smiles at the interaction. "The super soldier serum is here in Madripoor. Dr. Wilfred Nagel is the man you wanna thank. Or...condemn, depending on what side of this you're on. The Power Broker had him working on the serum, but...things didn't go as planned." She laughs, watching too intently at Zemo's hand rubbing on Charlie's thigh.
"Is Nagel still in Madripoor?" Zemo asks.
"Oh. The bread crumbs you can have for free, but the bakery is gonna cost you, Baron. And before you get all cute, don't think you can find Nagel without me." She stalks closer, her hand goes to Charlie's face as she traces along, "Although, throw in the whore and you might can get a few more crumbs."
Before Zemo can agree vibration from Sam echoes through the room. Selby's hand drops from Charlie's face as she spins to face Sam. It's his fucking personal phone. "Answer it." She tells him. "On speaker." My body turns towards him. Selby's armed guard comes right behind Sam, finger already on the trigger.
"Hello?"
"Hey, um, we need to talk about this situation. It's been drivin' me nuts."
"What situation exactly are you talkin' about?"
"Are you high? You know what situation, it's the only situation me and you have." Selby begins circling around me, and I stand as frozen as possible.
"What situation, Sarah? Say it."
"The damn boat. And watch your tone. Okay? I let you slide at the bank."
"The bank. Yeah." Selby stalks closer to Zemo and Charlie, she runs her fingers up Charlie's arm as she walks past. "Laundered so much...yeah, they'll come around."
"If that was the case, then why'd they dog you out, Big Time?"
"Yeah, you damn right I'm Big Time. You'll see when I have that banker killed."
"Cass! What'd I tell you about the Cheerios? I don't have time for this! Sam, I'm sorry. I'll call you back." Shit. Dammit to hell.
"Sam?" Selby looks at him. Our cover is officially blown. I watch as Charlie's fingers push on her bracelet as she pulls over the gauntlets pointing it at Selby. "Who's Sam?" Her eyes see Charlie with her hand pointed at her. "Kill them!"
Before anyone reacts, a window busts and Selby falls to the floor. Charlie stands up off of Zemo, as everyone looks at the dead Selby. An armed guard comes up to Sam and he slings his arm, knocking the guard to the ground. The guard behind me goes to point a gun towards Zemo and Charlie. I grab it with my metal arm as he pulls the trigger. My hand blocks every one of the bullets. I push the gun back towards his face knocking him out.
Charlie covers her hand with the other gauntlet as we all stalk towards the door, "They're gonna pin this on us." Sam says.
"We have a real problem now, so leave your weapons and follow my lead." Leave the weapons? I listen as cell phone after cell phone beeps.
"Leave the gauntlets on, doll." She nods her head, as I take her hand in mine. We walk through the city. Trying to keep our heads down and walk fast. I'm almost having to drag Charlie in her big fucking heels.
"This is not good." Zemo says as we continue our fast walking. Lights in the streets go out as we hear gunshots.
"Shit!" Sam shouts.
"Come on." I pull at Charlie's hand as Sam follows.
"I can't run in these heels!" Sam shouts.
"Are you fucking kidding me, Sam?" Charlie shouts. She definitely has it worse, but somehow her movements are smoother when running. All around, the city wakes up as they all search for us.
I hear motorcycles behind us, and then gunshots in front, killing the man on the bike. We all pause looking around. Zemo comes out of the shadows, "You seem to have a guardian angel."
"Well, this is too perfect." A new voice, but one we all remember. Holding a gun up, emerging from the shadows is Charlie's favorite person, Sharon Carter, "Drop it, Zemo." Charlie's hand immediately points at Sharon. She's waited for an opportunity to shoot her; I know the gauntlets won't do any real damage.
"Sharon?" I ask, just to make sure. Judging by the woman to my right's behavior, that's exactly who she is.
"You cost me everything." She comes closer to Zemo, she aims to kill him.
"Sharon, wait." Sam says moving closer to her.
"Charlie, make her put the gun down."
"What the hell? Get out of my fucking head!" Well, that didn't go according to plan. She can't control everyone.
"Someone recreated the super soldier serum and Zemo had a lead." Sam continues to try and calm her.
"That explains why you guys are here, and Selby's dead."
"So, what are you doing here?" My hand goes to Charlie's hip as I trace circles on her. Her defensive stance hasn't eased up.
"I stole Steve's shield, remember? I also took the wings for your ass, and your arsenal of weapons, so you guys could save ass from his ass." Sharon easily explains what happened back then. Very simplified version of events. "Unlike you I didn't have the Avengers to back me up. So, I'm off the grid in Madripoor." Sharon drops her gun, but Charlie is still pointed right at her. Sharon chuckles and shakes her head at Charlie.
"Don't blow that smoke at me. We were on the run, too." Sam tells her. Charlie's stance begins to slightly relax.
"Was. Is. Big difference. I don't speak to my family anymore. I can't. My own father doesn't know where I am."
"Listen, Sharon, we need your help." She laughs, and Charlie finally drops her hands. Thankfully. "Please."
She sighs before saying, "This isn't over. I have a place in High Town. You should be safe there for a while."
I pull at Charlie's arm and we're off again, "Don't be so hard on her. She probably hates you, too."
"I don't want to talk about it Bucky. We're safe. You're safe."
"Put your gauntlets back up. How do you hold my metal hand?"
"It feels nice. And safe."