New Old Love『BuckyxOC』

[Nine]

~Deanna's POV~

Swivelling the sparkling wine in its glass, I listen to the three men talking outside. Luckily I arrived fast enough to be the first on the plane and after a few nice words to Oeznik, he happily let me in and brought me some champagne. Being warned by Oeznik, Zemo doesn't even bat an eyelash when he sees me. Instead, he gives me an acknowledging smile, which I return. He'll get a whole speech when we're alone, too. Sam and Bucky follow him into the plane, frowning when they see me.

"Oh, right, you didn't really think you could get Zemo out of prison without me taking any notice of it, did you?" Giving them a fake smile, I gesture to the seats. "Sit, it'll make it easier to endure the lecture."

Zemo eyes me up while he sits down on the opposite side of me, gesturing to my neck as if to ask me a question about it. I roll my eyes and get up as soon as Barnes and Sam are seated.

One hand on the back of the seat, I raise an eyebrow at Sam. "I asked you specifically to not do anything stupid. Then I get no message from you, and today I wake up to Walker calling me, angrily telling me that you got a criminal out of prison. Don't worry, I covered for you and wannabe-Captain doesn't have my contacts, so it'll take him longer to track Zemo down. But really, Sam? Breaking him out of prison? I thought you're using your brain?"

Sam puts his hands up as if to defend himself. "Okay, Deanna, I didn't know about this. I followed Bucky into a workshop, where he started to explain Zemo's escape plan to me. All of a sudden, Zemo turned up. I'm just working with what we got, and he's already proving himself useful. He's helping us, and he's not making a step without our permission."

"Fine," I turn to Barnes and cross my arms in front of my chest. "And what did you think? Sorry, did you think at all? Isn't he the guy that tried to break the Avengers apart, using you as a weapon and as a resource? You just can't piss me off enough, can you?"

He scoffs. "I don't need to explain myself to a little bitch that's trying so hard to come off smart."

Clenching my jaw, I stare at him as if to stare into his bare soul. "You don't know who you're messing with, Winter Soldier. For as much as I know, it wasn't me who killed Howard Stark, was it? Or JFK? Hold on, did I murder Dupuy? Not that I know of. Should I go on?" Now he is the one clenching his jaw and his eyes widen slightly. "I assume that's a no. Start using your brain, and if I don't see a single reason to trust you, you're off the team." Letting out a deep breath, I sit back down and lean my head back. While I was having my little rant, we already took off, not wanting to lose any time.

Barnes watches me, but just when he's about to ask how I know about them, Zemo chuckles. "You don't know what it's like to be locked in a cell. Oh, that's right," he raises his glass of champagne, clinking glasses with me. "You do."

Sam sighs. "Why don't you tell us about where we're going?"

"I'm sorry," the Baron looks into his book. "I was just fascinated by this. I don't know what to call it, but this part seems to be important." Okay, not his book, it seems to be some sort of... Is that Steve's notebook? "Who is Nakajima?"

Oh, Nakajima... A little accident, Hydra had to wipe the Winter Soldier afterwards. Before I can even open my mouth, Barnes practically jumps out of his seat and starts choking Zemo.

"If you touch that again, I'll kill you." His voice lowered and with that dark expression in his eyes, it even sends shivers down my spine. Nice to know that he didn't really threaten me that night. Slowly, Barnes sits back down, taking the book with him, looking at me for a split second and then out of the window.

"I'm sorry." Zemo shifts in his seat. "I understand that list of names. People you've wronged as the Winter Soldier."

Bucky looks at him, hiding how guilty he feels behind a poker face. "Don't push it."

While the three men keep the conversation going, something about Trouble Man and Marvin Gaye, my own guilt starts internally eating me up. Tears well up in my eyes, thinking about my past. With Barnes nearby, it all just comes back. This mission better be over soon, or I might have to quit. Quickly, I wipe away a tear that escapes and shake the thoughts away.

-

Walking between Zemo and Barnes doesn't really make me happy, but I have to play Zemo's daughter believable, so I don't have another choice. With a long coat over the black crop top, high heels and with the black low rise jeans, I really do look like his daughter. Besides the hair type and the green eyes of course, but with a little help from Sam I manages to put my hair into a bun. 

"We have to do something about this. I'm the only one who looks like a pimp." Wearing a red suit with yellow circles and some weird black pattern, Sam really does look funny. On the other hand, a suit always looks good.

"Only an American would assume a fashion-forward Black man looks like a pimp." His long coat his matching with mine, underneath Zemo wears some red jumper and black pants. Matching shoes, of course. "You look exactly like the man you're supposed to be playing. The sophisticated, charming African rake named Conrad Mack, aka the Smiling Tiger."

Bucky looks like, well, the Winter Soldier. Black pants, leather jacket that exposes his metal arm and a halter for weapons. 

"He even has a bad nickname." Zemo shows Sam a picture of Mack, proving his point. "Hell, he does look like me, though."

Taking his phone back, the baron goes up to a car. "You smell this?"

"Yeah, what is that? Acid?" Sam furrows his brows.

"Madripoor." Opening the door for me, Zemo makes sure that I sit in the front. "No matter what happens, we have to stay in character. Our lives depend on it. There's no margin for error."

As soon as we arrived in Madripoor, Barnes is the one helping me out of the car. Of course, the Winter Soldier has to protect Zemo's offspring. Ahora odio esta misión aún más. (Now I hate this mission even more.) I clear my throat and follow Zemo's lead, admiring the view over Madripoor's Low Town. Zemo, my 'father', in the front, me behind him, Barnes looking ready to kill everyone who steps to close, and Sam in the back, we all follow the Baron to some kind of bar.

"Here we are," he mumbles, taking my hand to place it around his upper arm. "Готов подчиниться, Зимний Солдат?" Zemo leads us to the bar, the people around us murmuring.
(Ready to comply, Winter Soldier?)

It breaks my heart to see Zemo treating Barnes like that, but I have to stay in my role. The bartender already gets suspicious. "Hello, gentlemen, lady. Wasn't expecting you, Smiling Tiger."

Before Sam even gets a chance to fall out of his role, Zemo answers for him. "His plans changed. We have business to do with Selby."

"The usual?"

Answering with a simple "Ah", the Baron turns to me. "Something for you, my dear?"

"The usual, dad," I smile at him like the good daughter I'm playing. "Whiskey, please."

The bartender serves us our drinks pretty fast. "Smiling Tiger, your favourite."

"I love these." I can literally see the pain in Sam's eyes. Dios mío, it's just snake offal with alcohol.

Taking my glass with pure whiskey, I clink glasses with the two men, Barnes being treated like the empty weapon he was for so long. "Cheers, Conrad," my 'father' chucks his drink down, while Sam has a bit more of a problem with it.

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A/N: Quick FYI on my uploading schedule. Once per day, whenever I wake up (German time) and none Saturdays and Sundays. Those are my weekends. Your comments have me crackling up btw.
Love you guys!
— Vee