Eunoia [Bucky Barnes]

chapter 47

"You could hardly have expected them to stay away." Ava explained to Bucky as he nodded.

"I get it, just makes our job that bit harder." He mumbled as they made their way back up the stairs to where Sam and Zemo had entered. Bucky opened the door and waited until Ava had entered before slamming it shut. Sam was sitting at a bar while Zemo exited a bathroom further into the building. "Well, the Wakandans are here. They want Zemo. Bought us some more time."

"Were you followed?" Sam asked them as Ava sat onto the couch that curled round the corner.

"No." Bucky answered.

"How can you be so sure?" Zemo questioned him as he looked out the stained glass window.

"Because I know when I'm being followed."

"It was sweet of you to defend me at least." Zemo turned away from the glass to face them.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ava spoke out loud as Zemo shrugged in response.

"Hey, you shut it. No one's defending you. You killed Nagel." Sam argued with him while Ava saw Bucky pull out his phone.

"Do we really have to litigate what may or may not have happened?" Zemo continued as Bucky lifted his eyes up to meet Ava's, obviously distracted by something other than the other's conversation.

"Sam." He interrupted Sam who was still trying to prove his point to Zemo.

"What?"

"Karli bombed a GRC supply depot." Bucky answered gravely.

"What? What's the damage?" Ava asked as she sat up from her seat to join the men, looking over Bucky's arm to read the information.

"Eleven injured, three dead. They have a list of demands and are promising more attacks if those demands are not met in full." Bucky read out as Ava took a deep breath in. This was getting dangerous.

"She's getting worse." Zemo stated in a whisper. "I have the will to complete this mission. Do the three of you?"

"She's just a kid." Sam exclaimed making Zemo raise a hand.

"You're seeing something in her that isn't there. You're clouded by it. She's a supremacist. The very concept of a Super Soldier will always trouble people. It's that warped aspiration that led to Nazis, Ultron, to the Avengers." He told Sam who seemed to be growing offended by his words.

"Hey, those are our friends you're talking about." Sam fought back.

"The Avengers, not the Nazis." Bucky added.

"So, Karli is radicalised, but there has to be a peaceful way to stop her." Ava spoke up as Zemo turned to her.

"The desire to become a superhuman cannot be separated from supremacist ideals. Anyone with that serum is inherently on that path. She will not stop. She will escalate until you kill her. Or she kills you." Zemo stared her in the eyes, not blinking as he made his point clear.

"Maybe you're wrong, Zemo. The serum never corrupted Steve." Ava answered him back, also not breaking the eye contact.

"Touché. But there has never been another Steve Rogers, has there?" Zemo now moved his eyes away from Ava to glance at the other two, silence falling over the group.

"Well, maybe we should give him to the Wakandans right now." Bucky moved away from leaning on the counter to begin walking across the room.

"And you'll give up your tour guide?" Zemo asked the question as if it was rhetorical, looking through a cupboard.