New Mission

Tension

Bucky's POV

"How could you free him?" Ayo spat at me in English.
"We need his help."
Ayo began to circle me as she talked "With time, will and the resources, the Winter Soldier programming was removed from you like a rotten fur."
"And I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful for everything you and Sheri have done..."
"Zemo murdered our King T'Chaka at the U.N. The man who chose us. Who chose me to protect him."
"I understand."
"Very little, if anything, of our loss and our shame."
"He's a means to an end." I told her in Wakandan trying to show my loyalty.
"8 hours, White Wolf. Then we come for him." Ayo promised and held her hand out for her tech back. I watched her walk off before turning around to go back to the other mess I had made with Star.

By the time I arrived back at Zemo's place he had already taken a bath. "Well, the Wakandans are here. They want Zemo. Bought us some more time." I informed them all.
"Were you followed?" Sam asked,
"No."
"How can you be so sure?" Zemo questioned.
"'Cause I know when I'm being followed." I shot back.
"It was sweet of you to defend me at least."
"Hey, you shut it. No one's defending you. You killed Nagel." Sam scolded.

As he and Zemo continued to go back and forth I read a news report in my phone about the Flag Smashers bombing a GRC facility.

"Do we really have to litigate what may or may not have happened?"
"There's nothing to litigate. You straight shot the man."
"Sam." I said catching his attention.
"What?"
"Karli bombed a GRC supply depot."
"What? What's the damage?"
"11 injured, 3 dead. They have a list of demands and are promising more attacks if those demands aren't met in full."
"That's an escalation in their behaviour." Star noted.
"They're getting cocky with the power." I said.
"Or desperate." Star noted without looking at me "This Donya Madani's death could have triggered Karli to go over the line she wasn't willing to cross before."
"Either way she's getting worse." Zemo said not caring about Karli's feelings in all of this "I have the will to complete this mission. Do the 3 of you?"
"She's just a kid." Sam argued.
"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, to Ultron, to the Avengers."
"Hey, those are our friends you're talking about." Sam argued.
"The Avengers, not the Nazis." I clarified.
"So, Karli is radicalised, but there has to be a peaceful way to stop her." Sam said preferring that option.
"The desire to become a superhuman cannot be separated from supremacist ideals."

"Well, maybe we should give him to the Wakandans right now." I suggested walking over to the couch putting distance between myself and Zemo before I hit him.
"And you'll give up your tour guide?" He quipped.
"Yes." I shot back fed up of him.

"From my understanding Donya is like the pillar of the community, right?" Sam looked at Star for confirmation and she nodded "So, when I was a kid, my TT passed away."
"Y-Your TT." I questioned not understanding the lingo.
"Yeah, my TT, yeah."
"Who is your TT?"
"Fine. When I was a kid my aunt passed away and the entire neighbourhood got together for a ceremony. It was like a week long. Maybe they're going the same thing for Donya."
"Worth a shot." I admitted.
"Your TT would be proud of you." Zemo told Sam "Turkish delight." He offered, throwing Sam one "Irresistible."

Now that Sam and Zemo were fairly distracted, the former on his laptop and Zemo checking things around his house, Star walked across the room to the door that led to the hallway and cocked her head at me to follow.

Outside, I found her standing with her arms crossed and an unreadable expression on her face.
"I'm sorry. I can't turn it off. Only higher if I focus on something but I promise I didn't do that."
"Well there's nothing I can do about it now. Just don't tell anyone." She said trying to walk past me but I grabbed her arm - careful to be gentle with her small arms; they were so skinny some of my fingers overlapped "How do you win fights with these things?" I wondered out loud, which was clearly the wrong thing to say, judging from her expression and the fact she hit my chest. "Sorry, I'm not doing very well today, am I?"
My comment managed to pull a small smile out of her as she said "Not really."
"I like it though, it's very pretty. It suits you." Mia was about to respond when the door was opened by Sam on the other side "Whoa, guys, you don't need to wait by the door to hurry us up, we're going now." Sometimes I was surprised he wasn't smart enough to ask questions but I was also glad he wasn't dumb enough to ask those same questions.