Avengers: Divided We Fall

A Prelude to Chaos

Cleveland, Ohio

News of the most recent debacle in Lagos was being broadcast on the news in a cafe. The anchor and reporters on the scene of the explosion gave a detailed bloody account. Yet another entry in a long line of disastrous, destructive events involving the so-called superheroes.

I fucking hate superheroes, the man thinks as he sits alone in a cafe, his back to the wall. From his small table in the back of the establishment, he can see all of the activity. He prefers this. Hyper-vigilant, some may say. His wife certainly always does.

Always did, he reminds himself. Past-tense. His wife is dead. The Avengers made sure of that.

"Would you like another coffee, sir?" the waitress asks as she approaches the table, a bright smile on her face.

She looks like her.

"No, thank you," the man says in a kindly voice. It's in stark contrast to the storm that is raging within him.

The waitress nods, collects his cup and saucer, and departs for the kitchen. The void of silence left behind is quickly filled when the man takes his phone and he checks his voice messages.

"He asked me again if you were going to be there. I said I wasn't sure. You should've seen his little face. Just try, okay? I'm going to bed. I love you."

He smiles at the foolishness of his actions and at the sound of his wife's voice. It is bitter and sweet, a painful combination. His home was destroyed while he was away. His wife and son were killed. When Ultron- a creation of the Avengers- destroyed his homeland. Sokovia wasn't a special place to most people, but it was special to him. Not because of the decrepit buildings or the deep history of the place. Truthfully, he cared very little for Sokovia in the grand scheme of things. It was the people in Sokovia who had mattered most. And two of them, the two most important people in his world, were gone.

And it's all the Avengers' faults.

He stood from the table and laid several bills on the tablecloth. As he collected his coat and walked out of the cafe, he smiled bitterly. The world had no need for these alleged heroes. People who destroyed as much as they saved. He would ensure that enhanced beings ceased to exist. This was his solemn promise to the memory of his wife and child and anyone who had been harmed by the carelessness of the Avengers.

Oh, yes. They would most definitely pay. Especially now that he had a definitive plan. A realistic, accessible plan. That plan was in the form of one Vasily Karpov. To most people he was the neighborhood recluse. A shut-in. Scarcely going out of the house he'd made his prison. But he knew exactly who Vasily was. A Hydra operative. A colonel, no less. And he had the key. The key to the undoing of the Avengers.

He had been watching Vasily for some time now. Familiarizing himself with the man's house and his routine. But after days of merely observing, the time was approaching for action. The man stepped into his car and reviewed what he knew. Vasily had been involved in the Winter Soldier program- a Hydra program centered around the use of genetically enhanced, controllable super soldiers. And their jewel had been James Buchanan Barnes.

Ever since Barnes's appearance in Washington D.C., which precluded the collapse of S.H.I.E.L.D., the man had had his eye on him. With Hydra destroyed during that conflict, Barnes had been a dog with no master. And it was vital that the man learn what it would take to become that master again.

The answer came when the Black Widow released all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files to the public. This had been a fortunate turn of events. He'd easily sifted through the data until he found what he needed- details on a mission involving the Winter Soldier. And in that file there had been the mention of a book. The book held the key. All he had to do was find it.

Vasily had been involved in that mission. He had been the one to use the book. And now he knew of the man's whereabouts. He knew him to be vulnerable despite his cautious and reclusive lifestyle. The time to act was now.

He timed his actions well. The entire plan had been concocted and well-thought out for days now. He had watched Vasily refuse to open the door for a few people in the neighborhood. It would take something more than a neighbor asking to borrow sugar to draw the former Hydra colonel out of hiding.

With a sly grin on his face, the man hit the gas, driving his car directly into the tail end of Vasily's parked car. The crash was sufficient enough, he decided when he got out of his car and made a show of assessing the damage. Playing his part well, he muttered and shook his head as he hurried up to the front door of Vasily's house.

"Excuse me, I've had an accident. I jumped the curb and I'm afraid I hit your car," he said as he stood at the front door. He had knocked but there came no answer. "Maybe we can take care of this ourselves?" he offered in a congenial tone.

There was no answer, but he knew Vasily was standing on the other side of the door.

"If you want to call the cops, I understand," the man said.

"No!" Vasily suddenly shouted from behind the door. "No cops."

The man smiled as he listened to several locks unlatching. He had him now. The door opened and the man barely took the time to take in Vasily's appearance- unkempt, disheveled- before he drilled his fist into the man's face, knocking him to the floor and into unconsciousness.

A smashing sound roused Vasily from his sleep, but the sensation of being suspended upside down was a more immediate concern. He opened his eyes and took in the scene. He was bound to the wall just above the sink in his basement; his head was dangling in the sink. The faucet was providing a trickle of water. He could feel its cold. He tested the bonds and immediately recognized the futility of trying to escape them. His captor had been thorough.

And speaking of his captor, the man currently had his back to Vasily. He had used a sledgehammer to smash through a section of the wall and was rewarded with the discovery of a hollow, hidden room. The man rummaged through it before finally discovering what he had come for.

"It would appear you have kept your good looks, Colonel. My congratulations to you. The life you have lead cannot have been one that would make such a feat easy. The stress- it has a way of aging a person, doesn't it?"

"Who are you?" Vasily asked.

"You keep very sparse records, Colonel. You describe a facility that developed Winter Soldiers but do not give a location. Simply a date. So, I ask you to elaborate. Mission report: December 16th, 1991," the man answered.

Vasily tightened his lips together and remained silent.

"My name is Helmut Zemo," the man said. "And I will ask my question but one more time. Mission report. December 16th, 1991."

"How did you find me?" Vasily asked. He was at this man's mercy. The least he could do is understand how and why.

"When S.H.I.E.L.D. fell, Black Widow released all of Hydra's files to the public. So much information to look through. It was not a fun experience. But I am a very patient man, you see. And I do not mind a tedious process. Not when the payoff is so great."

"Tell me what you want," Vasily demanded.

"Mission report. December 16th, 1991."

Vasily shook his head. Hydra may be long-dead, but his loyalty to the memory of the organization would outlive it. "Go to hell," he spoke in a resigned voice.

Zemo smiled and turned the water on full blast before dropping the stopper into the drain. "Hydra deserved to burn, my friend. So your death will not haunt my dreams, I assure you. But if you don't tell me what I want to know, I would have to use this book and bloodier means to find what I need. This is not something I relish doing. But I will. Pride will be the only thing you die for."

The water began to slosh against his forehead. In that moment, a sudden peace came over him. He smiled. So many years of hiding were finished. "It's finally over," he spoke in relief as he surrendered to his fate. "Hail Hydra."

Zemo shook his head and turned away as the water overtook Vasily and began to spill over the sink and onto the floor.