"Okay," I breathe as I stroll back into the kitchen of the compound with two bags draped over my forearm. I double check the bag I just stuffed full of clothes one last time to make sure Sam's toothbrush is definitely in there. I haul the bags onto the island and huff out a breath. "I think we're good." I glance at Bucky sitting at the island staring wide eyed at the two bags. I wave my hand in front of me, trying to get his attention. "What?"
He points to the bags, not tearing his eyes away from them. "Is that all your stuff?"
"No." I gesture to the bag furthest from me. "That one's Sam's. I figured he could use some other things too." I shrug and dig through the bag containing my clothes, making sure I have enough for at least three more days. I hear him grunt in response and I dart my eyes to him. "Are you sure you don't want to grab anything while we're here?" I drape my bag over my shoulder and go to grab Sam's but Bucky beats me to it.
I watch him stand from the chair and hold the bag like it weighs nothing when I struggled holding it at all. He smirks at me when he catches me eyeing him and I roll my eyes. "We can always come back," he says sarcastically.
"I'm not your personal method of transportation, Barnes." I turn and start walking from the kitchen back into the lit foyer of the compound. "Just because I can get somewhere quick doesn't mean I do it all the time," I say as I turn on my heel to face him.
He smiles and glances outside the glass doors. "Well, I think it's fun." He shrugs and walks past me.
I huff out a breath and dig my phone from my pocket. No messages from Sam but it is only noon here in New York. "Bucky," I call out, making him freeze in his footsteps and turn around. I gesture for him to come back and he trudges towards me, dragging his heavy boots along the hard-wood floors. He stops just in front of me and I feel my pulse quicken which he seems to notice with wicked hearing. I shake my head and adjust the bag on my shoulder. "I have an idea." I grin at him and shove my phone back into my pocket.
He raises a brow at me before his lips turn up at the corners. "And what's that?"
I hold my hand out for him to take. "Do you trust me?" I ask, trying to hide the smirk crawling up my face. Excitement beams inside of me when he doesn't hesitate at my question and he wraps his flesh hand in mine, intertwining our fingers. I lose my train of thought for a moment, too caught up in his ministrations before I clear my throat.
I close my eyes a visualize the streets of Queens, sure to be busy with pedestrians and traffic. Alive with small shops and restaurants. My hearing goes blank for a moment before I hear the sounds of car horns blaring and conversations being had. A cool breeze blows across my face and I can't help the excitement flowing through me. I open my eyes to find Bucky still standing, clearly getting used to my method of 'transportation'.
He scans his surroundings, clearly confused. Because it's so early in the day and I knew there would be people everywhere, I took us to an alleyway that I was sure wouldn't be crowded. He looks back to me with a smug look on his face. "If you took me here to jump me you'll be sorry for it later," he remarks in a joking voice.
I let out a nervous chuckle and shake my head. "No," I manage to say through my laughter. "Come on." I drag him out of the alleyway by his hand, finding he follows me quite easily. I spot the small sign a bit down the sidewalk and beam with enthusiasm.
"Where are we going?" Bucky asks behind me, voice raised a bit over the commotion around us.
I slow my pace down to match his and I can't stop the smile that breaks through my face. He tightens his grip on my hand and I look away back to the sidewalk. "Just trust me!" I quicken my pace until I'm going at a slight jog but Bucky's footsteps are big enough that he hasn't even changed his pace. I stop us in front of the small restaurant seated between a thrift store and a book shop and look up at him in the sunlight.
"I used to work here and my boss- well Austin -is a big- well huge fan of the Avengers so I figured since we're here anyway..." I trail off when I see Bucky's face begin to fall. I tuck my hair behind my ear and bite the inside of my cheek.
"Or not. We don't have to, I just figured it would be something to do." I shrug and turn around to keep walking, surely there's something else for us to do to preoccupy our time before we have to go back.
I barely get two steps away before he yanks me back by my arm, catching me when I stumble a bit. "We can go in," he says, smiling at me. "But, I'm not an Avenger."
I shake my head at him. "You're wrong." I push the entrance door open, eliciting the small entrance bell that gets the attention of someone behind the counter that I don't recognize.
"May I help you?" He asks with a sickly sweet tone and I purse my lips.
I scan the small dining area, finding it's quite busy but Austin is nowhere to be found. "Y-yeah, is Austin here?" I ask as I swing my head back to look at the seemingly young boy.
"He's in the back. Is there a problem?" His eyes flash to Bucky standing behind me and I shake my head at him.
"No, no problem. He's a friend of mine. If you wouldn't mind grabbing him for me I would really appreciate it." I smile at him and feel Bucky softly taking his hand away from mine. The boy nods cautiously and jogs to the swinging door heading to the kitchen.
"Holy shit. Was that The Winter Soldier?" I catch the thought coming from him quite literally as the door swings shut behind him.
I roll my eyes as I turn back to Bucky, finding him looking quite uncomfortable in the setting. "Are you okay?" I ask and tilt my head at him. He nods but his eyes just keep scanning the room.
"Excuse me?" I turn around and see the boy has returned to his spot behind the counter. "Austin actually went home early today, I'm sorry."
I shake my head to try a dissuade the disappointment running through me. "No- That's okay," I say and chew on my lip. "Can I just have two coffees then, please? One black and one with milk." I hand him a few dollars in cash and tell him to keep the change. As I watch him pour the coffee, I mull over the situation. It's not like Austin to leave the shop early, not at all.
"Thank you," I mutter as the boy slides two paper cups over the counter. Bucky and I leave the shop and step out into the cool air, which seems to melt his frozen demeanor. I hold one of the cups out to him which he takes hesitantly. "It's just coffee," I chuckle before taking a large sip of mine.
"Austin was your boss?" He asks me as I walk around him on the sidewalk.
I nod, swallowing a generous amount of coffee. "Right when I came to New York I knew I needed a job. He was the only one who would hire me on the spot." I smile to myself at the memory, though the backstory of it being dark, Austin brought light into my life when I needed it.
"Do you know anything about him?" He pauses when I shoot him a glare. "I mean; does he have a family, has he always owned the place? That kind of stuff."
I stop in the crowded sidewalk, turning fully to face him through narrowed eyes. "What're you doing?" I furrow my brows at him when he doesn't respond. "Why are you questioning me like he's some criminal?"
He sighs and twists the paper cup in his hand. "I just find it strange..." he trails off and I widen my eyes at him, telling him to continue. "Why was he so quick to hire you, help you and all that?"
I scoff at his words, feeling like someone just insulted my family when Austin is basically that to me. "Unbelievable," I mutter while pinching the bridge of my nose.
"Old habits die hard, I guess." I hear him mumble.
I look back up to him and brush the annoyed feelings to the back of my brain. I shake my head, trying to understand the place he's coming from. "Not everyone in the world is evil, Bucky."
"Not even me?" He questions with a knowing smirk.
I roll my eyes at yet another mood swing coming from this man. I eye him for a moment, pondering his question. "Not even you."
He looks at our surroundings for a moment, his hand sheltering his eyes from the afternoon sun. "I saw you eyeing that bookstore if you want to check it out." He raises his brows at me.
I smile at his attentiveness but shake my head. "We should probably just go back. I'm sure Sam and Zemo are back by now and wondering where we are." We walk back to the alleyway we came from in silence, but comfortable silence. I stop at the end of it and toss the empty coffee cup into a trash can, Bucky does the same. He takes my hand, taking me by surprise, like it's a routine now. I shake off the initial shock and shut my eyes to take us back to Zemo's home in Riga.
"Nadya, I swear if you don't start calling before you do that shit." Sam's irritated voice comes through my ringing ears before I open my eyes. I let out a small laugh when I see him hunched over on the couch, looking scared half to death. Zemo is at his place in the kitchen with an amused expression on his face.
"Sorry," I chuckle as I set my bag down. I turn to Bucky and gently take the bag from him and plop down next to Sam on the couch. "Here," I say as I hand him the bag.
He furrows his brows at me before taking the bag and ruffling through it. I purse my lips to hold back a laugh at the different facial expressions he's making at my choices in his clothing. "Thank you," he reluctantly says before glancing at Bucky.
I follow his eyes and see everyone having the same silent conversation, leaving me out of it. "What's going on?" I ask, my eyes darting between all three of them.
"We think The Flag Smashers may be here, having a funeral for Donya Madani," Sam answers my question. I recognize the name from one of the many arguments the three men have had over how to handle the whole situation. She's seemingly someone important not only to the leader but to the whole cause as well.
I nod, preparing myself for the inevitable fight. "Okay, so what do we do?"
"We ask around some more. See if anyone will tell us where the service is," Sam explains as Bucky takes a seat across from us.
All of us turn our heads to Zemo in the kitchen, making some sort of noise. He pulls a small candy from a crystal jar and twirls it around in his hand. "Turkish delight," he says as he tosses the small object to Sam. "Irresistible." I watch as he dumps the whole jar full of them onto the granite countertop. I rub my forehead, trying to think of any way this could end without bloodshed.
⩔ ⩔ ⩔ ⩔
I walk slowly behind the three men through pine arches leading to an open area full of children, darkened by the fading sun. "Shame what's become of this place," Zemo says, breaking the silence that's been following us from the small townhouse. "When I was young, we used to come here for fabulous dinners and parties. I knew nothing of the politics of the time, of course," he continues as we walk. We finally come to the opening and I scan the grand area filled with poverty, seemingly one of the GRC's camps.
My eyes find GRC posters hung up on every wall, fading from age and from being forgotten. Everyone in the area seems to stop and stare as we approach, seeing as we're outsiders. The sounds of playing children have died down to nothing but men carrying barrels full of water to a large container, filling them up and taking them to the upper levels of the building. "I'm gonna take a look around upstairs," Sam says, eyeing the upper level before looking back to Bucky. "See what you can find down here. And keep an eye on him," he continues referring to Zemo.
I watch as Sam heads back towards the stairs. "I'll stay out of your way," Zemo says, the sarcasm laying thick in his voice, with his hands up in mock surrender.
"I can easily get the answers we need, you know," I mumble to Bucky after he failed at getting any scrap of information from a group of people doing their laundry. They seem to be afraid of us, after Bucky said one word to them they scurried away as quick as they could. I huff out a breath when he doesn't respond to me so I scan the area for Zemo, seeing him stroll up to a group of children sitting at small tables. I walk quietly behind him, hearing him sing a children's song which, honestly, creeps me out. I stop a short distance behind him when he pulls a small crate up to a chair, holding a paper bag out in his hands.
He's going to bribe the kids.
I roll my eyes at his tactics, especially when I see them working. Saddened by the children going up to a complete stranger just to get some type of candy he's offering. I sigh and look around, my eyes stopping on a little girl hiding behind a curtain of her own hair. She looks like she's anxious to join Zemo's candy pool but knows better.
I glance back to Zemo, seeing he's already getting some of the children to confess information to him and back to the girl. I slowly walk up to her and she gets more tense with every step I take. I smile at her as I approach the small table she's sitting at and kneel at the side opposite from where she's sitting. "Hi, there," I say in a quiet voice, trying not to startle her more than I already have.
She stares at me with wide eyes as mine wander down to the table, seeing her shaking hands holding colored pencils. "Do you like to draw?" I ask, smiling at the picture of what looks like a butterfly. She nods her head but doesn't say anything. My heart leaps from my chest for these poor children. "My brother, Andrei, liked to draw too. Mostly space ships or dragons," I smile at the memory.
"You like to draw butterflies?" I ask her, not caring about the mission at the moment. Her shaking subsides a bit and she nods her head. "Do you have a favorite color butterfly?" I ask and raise an eyebrow at her, trying to peak in on her interests.
Her hand reaches back into the bin full of colored pencils, crayons, and markers. She digs through until she finds what she's looking for. She holds it out over the table. "This one," she whispers in a high voice.
Blue.
"Want to see something cool?" I grin at her and see her mouth start to quirk up in a smile. She nods and I take a deep breath, hoping I can pull this off like I could for Andrei all those years ago. I hold my hand out with my palm up, focusing on the center of it and see waves of blue start to flow into my palm like water. I tilt my head and envision a small butterfly, flapping it's wings until it appears, hovering just above my hand glowing a bright cerulean.
The girl gasps, showing a full smile and leaning over the table to get a closer look. She holds her hand out with an expectant grin on her face, her legs shaking under the open metal table like a dog wagging it's tail. I tilt my hand to hers, forcing the small butterfly to fall onto her hand and hover over it like mine. I struggle to maintain my focus when she lets out a squeal of joy, twisting and turning her hand around, staring at the butterfly in awe.
"Do you see these men there?" Zemo's voice echoes in my ears and I turn my head to him, seeing he's standing and speaking to the children. I grit my teeth, trying to listen and focus for the little girl behind me. "They're very bad. Not to be trusted," He continues while holding the rest of the candy out. My eyes widen and I look back to see Bucky and Sam staring at Zemo, too far to hear him.
"Donya is our little secret, okay?" He makes a locking gesture to his lips before handing the children the rest of the candy. I turn back around before he can catch me listening and look back to the girl, still engrossed with the butterfly on her hand.
"I have to go now, okay?" I smile at her while the glow dies down in her hand, making her smile die down to a frown. "I'll send you a new one soon. I promise." I smile and stand from my crouched position. She looks much calmer than she was before as I back away and make my way back towards Sam and Bucky. I stand in between them as Zemo begins to walk towards us with a smug smile on his face.
"Cute kids," he says when he reaches us.
"Did you find anything?" Sam asks me when Zemo walks past us and I shake my head at him, knowing I can't tell him what I heard until we're back. "Damn it."
⩔ ⩔ ⩔ ⩔
The door slams behind us as Bucky strolls into the living area of the home. "I've got nothing. No one's talking about Donya," he huffs as walk quietly behind them, feeling a bit drained.
"Because Karli is the only one fighting for them," Sam responds. "And she's not wrong." They both take a seat and my eyes widen at Sam's words.
"Not wrong?" I repeat Sam's words and they both look to me. I shake my head at him. "Sam, I understand the why but not the way. The world doesn't need more wars than it already has." I grasp my forehead when I feel something warm drip down my face. I slide my hand down to my nose and pull it away, seeing blood dripping down my fingers. I turn around quickly and wipe away the blood as quick as I can before Sam can respond.
"To them at least Karli's doing something." I hear Sam say before I turn back around. I chew on my lip and glance at Zemo, eyeing me from the kitchen with a knowing look. I dart my eyes away and walk to sit on the chair across from the couch.
"You think her ends justify her means?" Bucky asks, including the fact that she'd be no different than any of their past enemies. I take a breath and lean back in the chair, closing my eyes for a moment. They continue to argue until I hear Zemo walk up. I open my eyes to see he's holding a wooden tray with a glass teapot and cups sitting on it. "That little girl-" Bucky gets his attention before he can set it down. "What'd she tell you?"
"The funeral is this afternoon," Zemo says calmly as he sets the tray down and I dart my eyes to him. Shocked that he's sharing the information with the group. But, of course, the conversation quickly turns into something it doesn't need to be with Zemo and Bucky trying to uphand the other with the Dora Milaje from Wakanda and Zemo's withholding of information. "I prefer to keep my leverage." Zemo smiles at Bucky and I sink into my seat.
Bucky stands from his place on the couch and walks a circle around Zemo. I take a deep breath waiting for whatever Bucky is about to do when I hear him snatch the tea cup from Zemo's hand and send it whizzing past my head, shattering when it hits the wall behind me. I keep my eyes trained on Bucky after taking my hands away from my head. "You wanna see what someone can do with leverage?" He fumes, dangerously close to Zemo.
Sam is quick to separate the two. "Don't engage him," he says to Bucky, trying to calm him. "Let me make a call," Sam says, walking through to the hallway behind the kitchen and giving Bucky a hard slap on his shoulder.
"Would you like some cherry blossom tea?" Zemo asks Bucky, hands folded in front of him.
"No, you go ahead," Bucky mumbles before walking in the same direction Sam did.
I stand from the chair, wobbling a bit at the lightheadedness I feel. I grasp the table in front of me for a moment and stand upright, walking past Zemo to go join Sam and Bucky. "You're all a bunch of children," I mutter as I pass him.
"And you're weaker than you let on." I hear him say and I freeze, wanting to show him just what I can do when I'm 'weak'.
No, Nadya.
I let out a slow breath and keep walking down the dimly lit hallway to where Bucky and Sam stand at the end. Sam's face showing in the glow of his phone and Bucky standing in the darkness. "Are you okay?" I whisper to Bucky low enough for only him to hear. He gives me a stiff nod and I huff out a breath, looking back to Sam. "Who are you calling?" I ask, trying to get my mind off the fact that Zemo just saw me at my weakest.
"Sharon," he states simply and I feel all the color drain from my face at the mention of The Power Broker, feeling even more dizzy than before.
⩔ ⩔ ⩔ ⩔