iiii. 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐨 - 𝐭𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐰𝐬

𝟎𝟎𝟖

Everett sat on a plush couch next to Kashim, their hands interlaced. Sam was sitting on a stool at the kitchen counter, and Zemo walked out of the bathroom in a velvet robe. Everett rolled her eyes at his continued arrogance.

The iron doors clanged as Bucky walked through. His fists were clenched, and he stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of Everett and Kashim. His eyes tracked to their hands, and then back to Everett's eyes. She raised a challenging eyebrow, daring him to say something.

Bucky gave Kashim a slight nod, then turned to Sam.

"Well, the Wakandans are here. They want Zemo. Bought us some more time."

Everett raised a questioning brow to Sam, and he shrugged. Kashim leaned closer.

"Why are the Wakandans involved?" The words came out in a whisper, and Everett found herself shivering. She turned to Kashim and whispered back in turn. "Zemo framed Bucky for killing their king, even though he was the one who did it. They don't necessarily like him, and they much preferred him behind bars."

Kashim nodded, watching Bucky and Sam from his spot on the couch.

"Were you followed?"

"No."

Zemo walked over to the grand window. "How can you be so sure?"

Everett rolled her eyes again. "Oh my god, just because you hate super soldiers doesn't mean that any of us are suddenly incompetent. He's been doing the whole "silent but deadly" bit for like seventy-five years. I'm pretty sure he would know if he was followed. He's also not stupid."

Zemo ignored Everett's comment and turned around to face Bucky. "It was sweet of you to defend me, at least."

Sam glanced over his shoulder, voice dark. "Hey, you shut it. No one's defending you. You killed Nagel."

Everett's brows rose at that. "Who's Nagel?"

Bucky turned to her. "A scientist in Madripoor who made more of the serum."

Everett stood, fear lashing through her veins. "Madripoor? Are you joking? Do you realize how fucking stupid that was? They know us there, Bucky. They know both of us. You could have been killed on the spot, or worse."

Bucky didn't even spare her a glance. "And this is why I didn't tell you."

The fear was gone. Fury filled every spare part of Everett. "What the hell? We're in this together, Bucky. This is not another stealth mission where you go off and shoot somebody and it's over. This is a long game, and you have to realize that doing it alone is catastrophically stupid. I don't care that you like being alone and doing things the fast way. That isn't how this works. Karli is miles ahead of us, and we have to catch up before we can do anything else."

Kashim gripped Everett's hand, running his thumb over the back of it. She was justifiably angry, but he was worried about her, nonetheless.

Sam sighed. "I was going to tell you, Ev, as soon as I had the chance. Bucky's opinion didn't really matter in that case."

Everett rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Zemo stepped in again. "Anyways, do we really have to litigate what may or may not have happened?"

Sam looked at Zemo incredulously. "There's nothing to litigate. You straight shot the man."

"Sam."