WHEN THREE COLLIDE / A Marvel Story

No Coincidence

Bucky sat with his elbows rested on his knees and his head placed gently in the palms of his hands. His eyes wandered back and fourth following the pacing movements of Loki and Zemo who were both mulling over the events of last nights break out and the knowledge they had gained on the new potential Hydra army.

"Will you two stop pacing, you're making me feel sea sick"

Zemo promptly stopped, breaking his thought trance and joined by Bucky's side on the couch. Loki however, continued.

"So what makes you think this is a Hydra army? Tell me everything you know" Zemo asked.

"There's this woman in my therapy group, she showed some unusual interest in me a few weeks ago..." Bucky started but was interrupted by a snigger from Zemo,

"So a woman has a crush on you and that makes you think it is hydra"

"No. Shush, let me continue" he replied irritated, Loki was smirking in the foreground, "She kept asking questions about me and my past and the Avengers and then she quoted something that I have only heard from Hydra workers themselves. Cut off one head, two more shall grow. It just seemed odd to me. Then following on from that I noticed her talking to someone in the alley out back of our class who seemed to be prompting her to ask more, which just doesn't add up" He stood and walked over to his wall of research pondering over his findings, "Nana doesn't have any family in the area, no job, nothing. She has no links to anything or anyone. She's a dead end."

"So why the interest?" Zemo asked, joining Bucky at the wall.

"The person prompting her is another female. We don't know anything about them" Loki continued.

"So I'll ask again. Why do you think this is Hydra driven?"

"I don't know for sure but it just feels too familiar. The quote she used, the suspicious behaviour. It might not even be Hydra but why so many questions ? Especially about the Winter Soldier program and the deaths of Tony and Nat and Steve. It just seems...."

"Strange" Zemo finished his sentence with his brow furrowed deep in thought. He sighed, "Well, I'm not sure if it is Hydra but it sounds like whoever is behind this, knows of them. What we need to find out is why they are so interested in yourself"

"That's not all" Bucky grabbed a 4 page, back to back list of names and handed it to Zemo.

"What is this?" He asked, flipping through the pages curiously,

"These are the people who have returned after the blip and shortly gone missing. This is just in this town"

"So what? This could just be random people going missing, it happens all the time" Zemo handed the paperwork back to Bucky.

"They are all past employees and relatives of Hydra and Shield"

"Hmm" Zemo pondered, "That's not a coincidence"

"No. It is not. So what do we do ?" Loki chimed in.

"Let's see what this mysterious woman wants to know and why. Let's start there" Zemo replied

So far, the only information the trio had gained from Nana was that she was unusually interested in Bucky and the Avengers and previous programs from Shield and Hydra. They of course knew this interest was not hers, but rather the unknown female from the alley. The better question was, why ? Why was she so interested in Bucky and the team? Why did she want to know about the blip events and the deaths of the others?

Bucky swaggered over to the fridge rubbing his head intently whilst grabbing a cold beer. Using his metal arm, he effortlessly pulled the cap off the top and chugged his queries away.

"Yes let's fog your brain even more with the remedy of alcohol" Loki sneered.

Bucky finished every drop of his beer and when it was empty, he placed it on the coffee table in front with pride and whilst lounging back into his sofa, he released an almighty belch that even Thor would be proud of.

"Charming" Loki replied in disgust. Though he was not one to steer away from his proper upbringing from Asgard, Bucky's belch reminded him so much of his brother. It got him thinking about where he was in the universe right now and when he would next see him. He missed him.

He thought to himself hard about how Thor would react for the millionth time to his reveal of not being dead. But his thoughts were paused and brought back to the present day when he picked up the list of names of those who had disappeared. Reality hit him hard when the thought of this really being Hydra kicked in and his heart skipped. Not in fear, but in worry. After all, it was a Hydra weapon that made him the disaster being that killed thousands of people in the New York battle. He knew what they were capable of. Even against an almighty god.

Adjacent to Loki was Zemo who was also pondering over their findings. Out of the three he was most likely to understand the ins and outs of Hydra and their way of thinking. Whilst Bucky was under their control for a long time, Zemo fought to understand their ways of work and cause chaos.

He paced over to the board scouring once more the scraps of paper and photos that had been gathered.

"I don't know what to suggest" he mumbled , rubbing his face in frustration.

"I say we capture the girl and torture them for information" Loki responded

Bucky stood and joined the pair, standing in the middle of them both.

"Are you serious? Is violence really your only plan!" Zemo shouted. The pair then began bickering like a married couple but were interrupted promptly by Bucky,

"Enough! I hate to say it Zemo but Loki is right"

Both Loki and Zemo looked at Bucky as if he had gone mad.

"I beg your pardon" Loki replied in disbelief.

"What he said" Zemo responded.

"I think the only way to get answers is to go to the main source. No violence. Just defence. We need Nana and her prompt..."

Silence fell across the room for several moments which was broken by Zemo,

"When is your next session?"

"Tomorrow evening"

"We will do it then" Zemo glanced to Bucky and Loki who were now all mutually agreeing on the plan. Violence was not their plan but more of an intervention and interrogation as to what is going on.