SAM, BUCKY, AND Y/N were at the doorstep of the house. Now in Baltimore, Bucky told them about a man he's acquainted with in the past and they were there to talk to him.
They were out of their gear and wore casual clothing. The young super soldier had on a gray polo and denim jeans which were suitable for the humid weather. He stood beside Bucky and Sam as the former knocked on the door.
They waited for an answer, and a moment later a teenage boy opened the door. He looked at the trio through the metal screen door.
"We're here to see Isaiah." Bucky told him.
"Nobody named Isaiah lives here." The kid shot back.
Bucky glanced at Y/N and Sam before looking back at the boy. "Look, we just want to talk to him."
"You must not hear what I just said. You ain't getting into this house. Y'all can leave now."
Bucky was adamant about seeing the man. He tried again. "Tell him the guy from the bar in Goyang is here. He's gonna know what that means."
The teenager paused for a moment. He ultimately decided to do so. "All right. Wait here."
He shut the door, leaving the three out on the porch. Y/N put his hands in his pockets.
"Nice kid." He remarked.
Sam crossed his arms, looking at Bucky. "How do you know this guy?"
"I used to." He replied. "We had a skirmish during the Korean War."
"Really? HYDRA had you out there for everything, huh?" Y/N asked as he leaned against the wall.
"If your fake parents didn't change their minds at the last minute, HYDRA would've done the same to you." Bucky remarked.
Y/N rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah...you're right."
The teenager, Elijah, opened the door and let them in. "Today's your lucky day. He says he wants to see you for himself."
They walked into the living room and were soon face-to-face with an elderly African-American man. He was fit and well-built for his age, looking as if he was in his mid-60s.
"Isaiah." Bucky greeted.
"Look at you." The man spoke sternly.
Bucky turned toward his colleagues and started to introduce them.
"This is Sam and Y/N. Uh, Sam and Y/N, this is Isaiah. He was a hero. One of the ones HYDRA feared the most. Like Steve. We met in '51."
"If by met, you mean I whupped your ass, then, yeah." Isaiah retorted.
Bucky reacted with a slight smirk. The elderly man kept speaking.
"We heard whispers he was out on the peninsula, but everyone they sent after him never came back. So the U.S military dropped me behind enemy lines to go deal with him. I took half that metal arm in that fight in Goyang, but I see he's managed to grow it back. I just wanted to see if he got the arm back. Or if he'd come to kill me."
"I'm not a killer anymore." Bucky told him.
Isaiah chuckled. "You think you can wake up one day and decide who you wanna be? It doesn't work like that. Well, maybe it does for folks like you."
Bucky sighed. "Isaiah, the reason we're here is because there's more of you, me, and Y/N out there."
Y/N glanced at Bucky after his statement, questioning what he meant by that. But the realization was beginning to hit him.
"You and me, huh?" He asked, also looking at Y/N before facing Bucky again. "I'm not like you two."
Bucky ignored his remark. "We need to know how—"
"I'm not going to talk about it anymore!" Isaiah shouted as he grabbed a metal container and threw it at the wall. His unmitigated strength caused it to impale into the plaster.
At that moment both Y/N and Sam fully realized that Isaiah Bradley was a super-soldier too. Elijah dropped his head at the sight of his grandfather's outburst.
Isaiah stepped closer to them. "You want to know what they did to me for being a hero? They put my ass in jail for thirty years. People running tests, taking my blood, coming into my cell..."
Sam was speechless, as well as Y/N. Isaiah was describing atrocities done to him by the U.S government. The young super soldier was disgusted that the country his father served...the country he served...would do such a thing to a hero like Isaiah.
"...even your people weren't done with me." Isaiah added as he pointed at Barnes.
"Isaiah—" Sam spoke.
"Get out of my house!" He interjected.
Elijah immediately began to escort them out of their home. "Let's go. Come on, let's go."
The trio walked down the porch steps as Elijah shut the door. Sam walked ahead of them and Bucky called out.
"Sam."
"Why didn't you tell us about Isaiah?" He asked as they walked down the street. "How can nobody bring him up?"
Bucky didn't reply and just kept walking alongside them. Y/N, in his annoyance, looked at him as well.
"Bucky, why haven't we known?" He asked.
Sam glared at him. "I asked you a question, Bucky."
"I know."
"Did my dad know about him?" Y/N asked.
"He didn't. I didn't tell him."
Y/N shook his head. Sam got angrier and stopped walking as the three stood in the middle of the street.
"So you're telling me that there was a black Super Soldier decades ago and nobody knew about it?" He exclaimed.
Before Barnes could say anything, police sirens sounded nearby. The vehicle stopped beside them and two policemen came out.
"Hello." One greeted.
"What's up, man?" Sam replied with a cordial yet stern tone.
"Is there a problem here?" The other asked them.
"No, officer. We're just talking here." Y/N said.
"We're fine." Bucky chimed in.
The first officer turned to Sam, looking him up and down before speaking. "Can I see your I.D?"
"I don't have I.D. Why?"
Y/N sighed and stared at the officer. "Man, seriously?"
"Okay, sir, just calm down." The cop told Sam.
"I am calm. What do you want? We're just talking."
"Give him your I.D so we can leave." Bucky told him.
"No. Can't he see we're just talking?"
The officer turned to Y/N. "Is he bothering you?"
Y/N glared. "No, he's not bothering me. Do you know who this is?"
The second officer went up to his colleague and whispered in his ear. "These guys are Avengers."
The cop looked at Sam and after a moment his expression changed.
"Oh, God, I am so sorry, Mr. Wilson. I didn't recognize you without the goggles." He looked at the other two. "Sergeant Barnes. Lieutenant Carter."
Y/N and Bucky gave him cold looks, which made the policeman uncomfortable.
"I really, really am sorry for this. Just...wait here, okay?"
He went back into his car to radio somebody as another police cruiser approached. Y/N shook his head at the situation they were in. And it pissed him off that Sam had to go through it.
Bucky chose to brush it all off and continue the conversation they were having moments ago.
"I didn't tell anybody because he had already been through enough." He said.
Sam sighed and shook his head. Suddenly, the cop walked back to speak with Bucky.
"Mr. Barnes, there's a warrant out for your arrest."
"Look, the president pardoned him for all that." Sam told him.
"Not for that." The cop replied then looked at Bucky. "You missed your court-mandated therapy. It's like missing your check-in with your P.O. I'm sorry, Mr. Barnes, you're under arrest."
Bucky knew he was at fault, so he complied and let himself get handcuffed. He was escorted to the vehicle and put inside, leaving Y/N and Sam behind as they drove off.
Sam turned back around and looked at Isaiah's house. Y/N took notice of his friend's mood and body language.
"Growing up I've always wanted to serve, just like Captain America did. Fighting for the Stars and Stripes." Y/N said. "But as expected, some things are kept secret. Secrets that are...vile. I ended up serving the people that did that to him."
Sam sighed. "It's not right, man. It's just..."
He wasn't able to get words out. Y/N pat his friend's shoulder.
"Come on." Y/N said. "Never thought I'd say this, but let's go get my uncle out of jail."
• • •
THE TWO FRIENDS sat in the lobby of the station. As they were seated, Bucky's therapist went up to them. Sam got up and greeted the woman.
"Sam, I've heard a lot about you. Dr. Raynor. I'm James's therapist." She introduced herself.
"So nice to meet you." He replied as he shook her hand.
Dr. Raynor turned to the super-soldier next. "Lieutenant Carter. James has told me a lot about you too. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."
Y/N also shook her hand. "The pleasure's all mine."
"Thank you for getting Bucky out, Dr. Raynor." Sam said.
"That was not me."
"Christina." A voice suddenly called out.
The three looked over to see John Walker signing autographs and snapping photos with fans in the station. He smiled as he met up with them.
"It's great to see you again." He told Dr. Raynor.
"You gotta be kidding me. You know him?" Sam asked her.
"Yeah. We did some field ops back in the day."
"I heard you were working with Bucky, so I thought I'd step in." John said. "Bucky's not gonna be following a strict schedule any longer."
"We haven't finished our work. Who authorized this?" She asked.
"Um..." John smirked and pointed at himself.
Y/N scoffed. "Let me guess. The government?"
John nodded. "He's too valuable of an asset to have tied up. Just do whatever you got to do with him, then send him off to me. Got some unfinished business, him and I."
Before leaving, he looked at Sam and Y/N. "You two also. I'll be outside."
Barnes walked up to Y/N, Dr. Raynor, and Sam. His therapist looked at him. "James, condition of your release, session now."
Y/N chuckled as Bucky rolled his eyes and turned back around. But Dr. Raynor took notice of the young man's reaction.
"Lieutenant, you too."
"Uh, that's okay. I'll be out here—"
"That wasn't a request." She shot back and walked with Bucky down the hallway.
Y/N sighed and looked at Sam, who shrugged and pat him on the shoulder.
"I'll be fine out here." He reassured. "You go ahead and experience whatever Nephew-Uncle therapy session she wanna do."
Y/N laughed. "All right."
Bucky and Y/N sat across from Dr. Raynor in the dimly lit room. She put down her journal and opened it before looking back at the two.
"So...who would like to start?"
"Um...Dr. Raynor?" Y/N began. "Look, I don't know what I'm doing here. I'm 100% fine, unlike gramps over here."
"It is my job to make sure you're okay. Yes, this might be slightly unprofessional, but this is the only way I can see what is eating at you." She replied and looked at Bucky during the last statement.
Y/N glanced at Bucky, who just shrugged and shook his head. Dr. Raynor looked back at the young man.
"And you too, Mr. Carter."
"Nothing's eating at me." He replied. "I've gotten over my brief relation with HYDRA and my involuntary stint with the Red Room."
"I'm not talking about your past. I'm talking about the now."
Y/N arched a brow, but then started to realize what she was inferring. Was his mood about John Walker and the whole situation with him as Captain America that obvious?
"This is ridiculous." Y/N said with a chuckle.
"Yeah. I agree." Bucky chimed in.
She smirked upon seeing the similar attitudes both super soldiers were giving off.
"See? We're making progress already." She said. "So, who wants to go first?"
None of them said a word.
"No volunteers? Wow. How surprising." Dr. Raynor remarked. "Okay. We're going to do an exercise. It's something I use with couples when they're trying to figure out what kind of life they wanna built together."
Y/N and Bucky shook their heads as she explained.
"Are you familiar with the miracle question?" She asked them.
"Absolutely not."
"Of course not."
"Okay, it goes like this. Suppose that while you're sleeping a miracle occurs." Dr. Raynor stated. "When you wake up, what is something that you would like to see that would make your life better?"
"In my miracle..." Bucky pivoted his head toward his nephew. "He wouldn't be as stubborn. Maybe even talk less."
Y/N scoffed. "I was going to say no more taxes but yeah...I'd say the same thing, but for him."
"You guys are leaving me with no choice. It's time for the soul-gazing exercise." She told them.
Bucky feigned a smile. "I like this better."
"Jesus Christ. I know he loves this." Y/N remarked.
"Yeah, I'm ready."
"This is right up your alley."
Dr. Raynor motioned them to move their seats. "Turn around. Face each other."
"You should really enjoy this." Y/N continued.
"I'm going to." Buck replied.
"I know you are."
"Yeah."
"Y/N. Move your seat and face James." Dr. Raynor said. "Get close."
"Let's do it. Let's stare." Bucky spoke again. "This is a good exercise. Thanks, Doc."
Bucky had already turned his chair to face Y/N. The young soldier moved his seat too and looked directly at Barnes.
"All right, good." She said. "All right, get close."
They both shifted a bit forward.
"Come on, a little closer."
"Which way do you wanna go?" Bucky asked Y/N. "Right or left?"
Y/N spoke over him. "Why are your legs open, man? Close them."
"But then that's gonna create separation."
"You know what? All right." Y/N moved his chair closer and put his left knee in between his legs. Bucky's knee was by Y/N's right. They were as close as they could get.
"Happy now?" Y/N asked. "We're locked in."
"That's a little close." Bucky remarked.
"It's what you wanted, right?"
"Guys." Dr. Raynor exclaimed and got their attention. "Good. Now, look at each other. You need to look at each other in the eyes."
They looked up at did as told.
She nodded. "There, you see? That wasn't so hard."
The room was silent as the two stared at each other. Dr. Raynor was about to start questioning them but noticed their body language and exaggerated stares.
"What are you doing?" She asked. "Are you having a staring contest?"
Y/N kept staring with widened eyes. "Give up, Barnes. I could just mimic your eye movements and win this."
"You're insane." He replied amidst his stare.
Dr. Raynor snapped her fingers in between Y/N and Bucky and got them to blink. She scoffed. "Sweet Jesus."
She then commenced her session. "All right, James, is Y/N aggravating you?"
"Yes."
"Why is that?"
Bucky smirked and looked at his therapist, but she knew what kind of response it was going to be.
"And don't say something childish." She added.
Bucky's expression changed and his smile dropped. He turned to Y/N.
"Why did you give up that shield?"
Y/N didn't expect that question again. He exhaled and looked up at the ceiling before dropping his stare back at Bucky.
"Why are you making such a big deal about it? It had nothing to do with you." He shot back.
"Nothing to do with me?" Bucky replied. "Steve believed in you. I believed in you."
Y/N sighed as Bucky continued.
"He trusted you, Y/N. He gave you that shield for a reason. That shield, that is...that is everything he stood for. That is his legacy. He gave you that shield, and you threw it away like it was nothing."
"Don't say that."
"So maybe he was wrong about you." Bucky interjected. "And if he was wrong about you, then he was wrong about me!"
Y/N knew what Bucky was inferring. He still nightmares of being The Winter Soldier and that stain of being HYDRA's assassin was going to be with him for a long time. Steve was one of the people that believed Barnes was a good man and not what people were making him out to be.
"Bucky...you're not what you think you are. Yeah, my dad gave me that shield...but I just don't think I'm...worthy of such a legacy. I'm not him. Nobody ever will be."
"But he believed—"
"I can't take it." Y/N interjected. "Not with what I've done, with what I was supposed to become. Steve's heart was pure, while mine was filled with wrath. Somebody like that shouldn't be able to uphold such a legacy."
Bucky exhaled and sat back on his chair, shaking his head. "You know what your problem is? Self-doubt. Self-loathing. It always has been."
Y/N agreed. It was something he's dealt with ever since he found out the truth by Zola in Camp Lehigh. Natasha always kept reassuring him that he was a always good man inside and not destined to be a weapon.
"I'm sorry, Buck. I'm sorry." Y/N muttered as he got up from the chair. He looked at Dr. Raynor. "Uh, this went...well. Thank you."
He quickly left the room, leaving Bucky with his therapist amongst the silence.
Y/N met up with Sam outside in the lobby. He was sitting down and he stood up to talk with the super-soldier.
"Everything all right?" He asked.
"Yeah. Pretty eye-opening. Would do again." Y/N replied in a deadpanned manner.
"Sounds fascinating."
"Not really. Probably in some other universe, you went in instead, so be grateful you're out here."
Soon after, Bucky joined them and they decided to leave the station. Outside, a siren whooped and they turned their heads, spotting John Walker and Lemar Hoskins by a police cruiser.
"Gentlemen. Good to see you again." John greeted as the trio walked up to them. They didn't respond.
John took their silence as a chance to explain his plan on taking on the Flag-Smashers. "Look, if we divide ourselves, we don't stand a chance, you guys know that."
"So what do you got?" Sam asked.
"Well, the leader's name is Karli Morgenthau. We've been targeting civilians who've been helping Karli move from place to place."
"They geotagged a location then scrambled the signal." Lemar chimed in. "But our satellites have found their symbol popping up in various displaced communities all across Central and Eastern Europe."
"We think she's taking the medicine she just stole to one of those camps." John added.
"Well, there are hundreds of those all over the planet since The Blip. So I guess you'll have to look real hard." Y/N replied.
"Good thing I have 20/20 vision, huh?" John butted.
Bucky started to get annoyed. "Where is she now, Walker? Do you know?"
"No, we don't know, Bucky." John shot back. "It's only a matter of time before we find out."
Bucky sneered upon sensing his hostility. "Things are really intense for you, aren't they, Walker?"
John looked up and gave him a frigid stare, but Sam stepped in before they can spat.
"Take it easy. Look, Walker's right. It is imperative that we find them and stop them." Sam turned to Walker and Hoskins. "But you guys have rules of engagement and all kinds of authorizations you have to get. We're free agents. We're more flexible. So it wouldn't make sense for the three of us to work with you."
The trio began to walk away, but Walker wanted to say something before they left.
"A word of advice, then. Stay the hell out of my way."
The two got off of the cruiser and left. Bucky glared at them before walking away with Y/N and Sam.
"At first he just annoyed me. But now he's just pissing me off." Y/N remarked.
They continued walking down the road. Sam looked at Bucky and noticed he was in deep thought. "So what are you thinking, Buck?"
"I know what we have to do." He answered rather quickly.
"And what is that?" Y/N asked.
"When we were with Isaiah, he said my people."
"Ah, don't take that to heart. That's not what he meant." Sam reassured him.
"No. He meant HYDRA. HYDRA used to be my people." He corrected.
Sam thought about what Bucky was inferring, then shot a look upon realizing. "Not a chance."
"Walker doesn't have any leads."
"I know where you're going with this, no."
"What? What's on your mind?" Y/N asked.
Bucky ignored his question and kept talking. "He knows all of HYDRA's secrets. Don't you remember Siberia?"
"So you're just gonna go sit in a room with this guy?" Sam replied.
Bucky hesitated for a moment. "Yes."
"Hello? Who are we talking about here." Y/N kept asking.
"Okay, then." Sam sighed and the trio stopped in the middle of the road. "We're gonna go see Zemo."
• • •
THE TRIO LANDED in Germany the next day. Bucky, Y/N, and Sam walked through the hallways of the prison with a guard.
"He's just through that corridor." The man informed.
"Give us a sec." Bucky said.
The guard nodded and left the three alone. Y/N put his hands into his coat pockets and sighed.
"Are we really doing this?" Y/N asked, still wanting to believe that Bucky planned to speak to Helmut Zemo, the cause of the Avengers' Civil War years ago.
"I'm going to go in alone." Bucky told him.
"Why?" Sam asked.
"You're both Avengers. You know how he feels about that."
"It's not like you two were known for frolickin' in the sun together." Sam shot back.
"He was obsessed with HYDRA. We have a history together."
"The guy killed King T'Chaka and framed you for it." Y/N shook his head and held up the Wakandan pendant that hung from his neck, the one that belonged to T'Chaka. "What stopping me from going in there and getting proper justice?"
"Because we need him." Bucky sighed. "Trust me. I got it."
He left the two and walked into the corridor. Sam crossed his arms and looked at Y/N.
"Proper justice, huh?" Sam asked.
Y/N shook his head. "I don't want to kill him. Proper justice is in the hands of the Wakandans. It'd be up to T'Challa and Ramonda if I were to bring him to them."
Sam understood Y/N ties with the Wakandans. After helping T'Challa with Klaue and stopping Killmonger, he became a part of Wakanda. Now bearing T'Chaka's pendant since then, Y/N felt that Zemo got off easy for murdering the former king.
"If I were to ever be face to face with him. I'd like to give him a piece of my mind though." Y/N added. "Not just for T'Chaka but for also driving Steve and Tony apart."
Sam chuckled. "Right. He's the reason why we were stuck in dingy hotels for two years."
Bucky finished speaking with Zemo. Sam and Y/N were walking with him down into the lower level of the prison. The two were confused about why they were navigating the corridors with flashlights.
"We might need to get Zemo to come with us." Bucky spoke.
"What are you talking about? You wanna break Zemo outta jail?" Sam asked.
Y/N glanced at his uncle. "Are you out of your mind?"
"We have no leads, no moves, nothing."
"What we have is one of the most dangerous men in the world behind bars." Sam said.
"We also have eight Super Soldiers that are loose." Bucky shot back.
"Zemo's gonna mess with our minds. Especially yours. No offense."
"Offense."
Bucky went to a switch and turned on the lights of the room. The rest of the lights flickered on as the two realized they were in a garage.
He continued. "Super Soldiers are against everything he believes in. He is crazy, but he still has a code."
"I've been on the wrong side of that code, Buck, and so have you. He blew up the UN. He killed King T'Chaka and framed you for it." Sam replied.
"Don't tell me you forgot about that, Bucky. The Wakandans sure haven't." Y/N chimed in.
"I know why this matters to you, but it's pushing you off the deep end." Sam added.
"We don't know how they're getting the serum. We don't even know how many of them there are." Bucky responded. "Let me just walk you through a hypothetical. Can I?"
"What did you do?" Sam asked with an arched brow.
"I didn't do anything." He said rather quickly.
"Mmmm...that means you did something." Y/N shot back.
Bucky took a breath before speaking again.
"The weakest point in any system isn't the software, the hardware, it's the meatware. The human element. In this lockup, it's nine to one, prisoners to guards. And if two prisoners start fighting, then the protocol says four guards have to respond."
"So why would two prisoners randomly start fighting at that moment?" Y/N asked.
"Who knows? There could be many reasons. But the point is, these things escalate. Lockdown procedures would have to be initiated and with all those bodies flying around left and right, wouldn't be hard to slip down a hallway or two."
"That's quite the scene." Sam replied.
Bucky continued. "And if the fire alarm got tripped while the prisoners were being separated someone could use the chaos to their advantage."
"I don't like how causal you are being about this. This is unnatural. Are you—" Sam began to look around. "And where are we, man?"
There was a sudden sound of a door opening. The three looked to their right and saw someone walk through the corridor into the garage with them. The man was dressed up as a prison guard. A disguise.
It was Zemo.
"Whoa. Whoa, whoa." Sam began to shout.
"Sam, listen." Bucky eased.
"I'm gonna punch him, Buck. Very hard." Y/N spoke.
"Hold on a second!" Bucky brought his attention to the young man.
"What are you doing here?" Sam yelled as he made his way toward Zemo but Barnes got in front of him.
"I didn't tell you guys because I knew you wouldn't let this happen." Bucky told them.
"So much for a hypothetical." Y/N remarked.
"We need him."
Sam pointed at Zemo. "You're going back to prison!"
Zemo took off his hat. "If I may..."
"No!" The three shouted.
"Apologies." He said as he stepped back.
Bucky turned to his colleagues and started to speak to them.
"Sam, when Steve refused to sign the Sokovia Accords, you backed him." Bucky looked at Y/N next. "You let him go when you could've arrested him. You two broke the law, and you stuck your neck out for me. I'm asking you to do it again."
Y/N placed his arms on his waist and sighed. He ultimately nodded, agreeing with his uncle figure's statement. Sam dropped his head and thought.
"I really think I'm invaluable—" Zemo tried to speak once more.
"Shut up." Sam interjected before sighing. "Okay. If we do this, you don't make a move without our permission."
Zemo nodded. "Fair."
Sam glanced at Y/N then at Bucky before looking back at the criminal.
"All right, Zemo. Where do we start?"
• • •
ZEMO SPORTED A dark-purple shirt, a wool coat, and black pants. It was an outfit made for a man like him...rich, royal, and mischievous.
He explained that they needed to find a woman named Selby since she likely knew the creator of the new serum. Sam, Bucky, and Y/N walked with him down the airstrip toward Zemo's jet.
"So all this time you've been rich?" Sam asked.
"I'm a Baron, Sam." Zemo stated. "My family was royalty until your friend here and his father destroyed my country with the help of the circus."
Y/N knew he was referring to Steve and the Avengers during Ultron's offensive in Sokovia back in 2015.
"My apologies." Y/N said although he didn't really mean it in Zemo's case.
"I don't need your apologies, soldier." He interjected. "I got my consolation in Vienna and Siberia."
He knew the Baron was referencing the bomb that killed T'Chaka and the fight between Bucky, Steve, and Tony. Y/N simply scoffed and kept walking.
After Zemo greeted his butler, the three went up to the airstair where they entered the jet. They sat down and it wasn't long until they were finally in the air.
Bucky and Sam sat across from one another on the right side of the plane while Y/N was left with the seat across from Zemo. He shifted in his chair and stared at him.
Zemo's butler, Oeznik, gave his master a glass of champagne.
"Apologies if that's a little warm. The fridge is out. But I'll see if there is some good food in the gallery."
Zemo smirked before speaking to him in Sokovian. "Ak neprejde pachovým testom...dajte im ho (If it doesn't pass the smell test...give it to them)."
Oeznik chuckled. "It's good to have you back, sir."
He walked away as Zemo took a sip of his champagne. What he didn't know was that Y/N knew Sokovian. The super soldier sat back and crossed his arms.
"Whatever your butler gives me, I'm not eating." He told Zemo.
Zemo gave an impressed looked and put down his glass. "I see you know the language. Is it one of the many you store in that memory bank of yours?"
"You can say that." Y/N simply replied.
"And I suppose you know Russian as well?" Zemo said. "Этому тебя учила Гидра? Или Наталья? (Was that taught to you by HYDRA? Or Natalia?)
Y/N shot forward, leaning over the table and facing Zemo. Hearing his wife's birth name come out of his mouth wasn't something he liked.
"Вы не можете ссылаться на нее этим (You don't get to refer to her by that.)"
"Understood." He simply replied with a smile. "And how may I refer to you? Do you still go by your kidnappers' last name or your late mother's?"
He slammed his fist against the table. "You don't get to talk about them either."
Sam and Bucky watched as the super-soldier scolded the baron. Zemo just gave a nod.
"You still care about them? Even though they took you away from Margaret Carter?"
This time Y/N didn't respond and just sat back. Zemo continued.
"I suppose it's because they raised you, right? It was the least they could've done." He said. "Did you ever find out who killed them after your disappearance in 1967?"
Y/N never dwelled on it. He was just told by Fury that HYDRA likely took them out during his deployment.
After Zemo's statement, Bucky darted his eyes between Y/N and the Baron. There was silence until he chose to break it.
"Enough." Bucky told Zemo with a glare.
Sam could feel the hostility in the space they were in. He decided to speak up and ask about their upcoming plan.
"Why don't you tell us about where we're going?" He asked.
By the time he asked the question, Zemo had been looking through a journal that he managed to snag. It was Bucky's book.
"I'm sorry. I was just fascinated by this. I don't know what to call it, but this part seems to be important." He lifted the book and turned to Bucky, making sure to glance at Y/N as well. "There are some recognizable names in here."
Bucky immediately got out of his seat and wrapped his metal fingers around his neck, holding him against the chair.
"You touch that again and I'll kill you." Bucky scolded with a glare. He let go of Zemo's neck and went back to his seat.
Zemo cleared his throat. "I'm sorry. I understand that's a list of names. People you've wronged as the Winter Soldier."
"Don't push it."
"I've seen that book." Sam said. "It was Steve's when he came out of the ice. I told him about Trouble Man. He wrote it in that book. Did you listen to it? What'd you think?"
"I like 40's music, so..." Bucky replied.
Sam was in awe. "You didn't like it?"
"I liked it."
"It is a masterpiece, James." Zemo cut in. "Complete. Comprehensive. It captures the African-American experience."
Sam glanced at Zemo and made a face. "He's out of line, but he's right. It's great. Everybody loves Marvin Gaye."
"I like Marvin Gaye." Bucky said.
"Steve adored Marvin Gaye." Sam added.
Zemo looked at Sam. "You must have really looked up to Steve. But I realized something when I met him. The danger with people like him, America's Super Soldiers, is that we put them on pedestals."
"Watch your words, Zemo." Y/N warned.
He continued anyway. "They become symbols. Icons. And then we start to forget their flaws. From there, cities fly, innocent people die. Movements are formed, wars are fought."
Zemo looked at Bucky. "You remember that, right? As a young soldier sent to Germany to stop a mad icon." He turned to Y/N next. "And you. An impressionable man sent off to stop the spread of an economic ideology."
The two soldiers didn't reply. Bucky looked out the window as Y/N crossed his arms and sat back.
"Do we want to live in a world full of people like the Red Skull?" Zemo added. "That is why we're going to Madripoor."
"Madripoor? Sounds kinda ominous." Y/N remarked.
"It's an island nation in the Indonesian archipelago. It was a private sanctuary back in the 1800s." Bucky told him.
"It's kept its lawless ways. But we cannot exactly walk in as ourselves. James, you will have to become someone you claim is gone." Zemo said.
Bucky understood what he was inferring. Y/N glanced at him before looking back at Zemo.
"And you, Y/N, are gonna have to take a similar path." The Baron said.
He immediately knew what Zemo meant. He chuckled as he leaned over the table, resting his elbows on it.
"Well, I apologize, but my armor is still at the dry cleaners." Y/N joked.
Zemo smirked. "No need for that. To the people of Madripoor, your face says it all. To them, you are Taskmaster."