Guns and Ammunition [] TFATWS

Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen:

The surprise was the airport. Again.

Josephine sighed, marching beside Bucky as they followed Zemo towards a large private plane. The man had slipped away when they arrived, meeting them outside on the landing strip in new attire. He now wore all black, a large trench coat with fur lining sat snuggly on his shoulders, it bellowing behind him dramatically in the wind. He looked like a stereotypical villain in a cartoon, his scowl checking off the last box.

"So all this time you've been rich?" Sam exclaimed as they approached the small staircase leading into the plane. An elderly man stood in full uniform at it's base, greeting Zemo with a shallow bow and a smile.

"I'm a Baron, Sam." Zemo replied, "My family was royalty until your friends destroyed my country."

Josephine nodded, "See, I'd be pretty upset too if a group of people destroyed my country."

"Hello, Oeznik." He greeted the man, pausing at the steps to acknowledge him. They hugged briefly, both kissing each other on each cheek before he stepped away and nodded at the plane. She glanced at Bucky who had an amused look on his face, a smile playing at his lips as he shook his head. "Please."

They all shuffled past the man, she kept her gaze on the group as she scrambled up the steps. The interior was much cozier then the previous plane they had flew one, which made sense considering this one was a private. The floor was carpet, her steps incased in mud as she wandered behind Bucky, watching as he took a seat in the main space. Four leather lined chairs took up an area, each man took one as she found herself in the one next to Bucky. The wall behind her was accented with wooden panel, a small tv screen flush against the wall. Zemo swivelled back and fourth in his chair across from her, smiling at the little hallway. Oeznik slowly stepped forward, outstretching a glass of champagne to his boss. "Apologies if it's a little warm, the fridge is out. But I will see if there is some good food in the galley."

Zemo smiled, replying to the man in another language. The old man laughed, "It's good to have you back, sir."

Sam eyed Bucky, slowly looking back at Zemo. It was odd, the man sitting across from her certainly didn't feel like a villain. But she supposed none of them did, that's what made them a good one. "You don't know what it's like to be locked in a cell." He began, flashing his eyes wide as he glanced at Sam. "Oh. That's right, you do."

"Why don't you tell us where the hell we're going?"

He had a book in his lap, folded over his knee carefully as he addressed Sam. Josephine shifted in her seat, peaking over at Bucky. He was slouched in his seat, picking at his gloves with intense concentration. 

Zemo cleared his throat, picking up his book. He held it in front of him, brows knotting as he eyes wandered over the pages. "I was just fascinated by this." He mumbled, lowering his paperback to reveal a small red notebook. "I don't know what to call it, but it seems important. Who is Nakajima?"

Josephine looked to him, she knew that name. Yuri Nakajima, an elderly man who Bucky spent a lot of time with. Yuri was one of the sweetest people she had ever met, both sharing something that impacted them. Like Yuri, who had lost his son while he was traveling for school, wrong place, wrong time the police at told him. His son was dead, the same reasoning given to her about her own sister.

There was a blur of darkness as Bucky leaped across at Zemo in a blink, a gloved hand wrapped around the man's neck. "Touch that again and I'll kill you." He whispered, his gaze of fury searing into Zemo.

Bucky let go, grabbing the book from him as he flopped back down into his seat. She stared at him, wondering what the hell that was about. He closed the book and stuffed it in his pocket, refusing to meet her gaze.

"I understand that list of names." Zemo said, "People you've wronged as the Winter Solider."

He glared at the man, Bucky shook his head, gaze hard and unyielding. "Don't push it."

People you've wronged as the Winter Solider. How many people had he killed? She still couldn't truly believe it, but seeing these little glimpses of aggression, it certainly wanted to sway her opinion. 

"I've seen that book. It was Steve's when he came outta the ice." Sam eyed him, "I told him about Trouble Man, he wrote it down in that book. Did you hear it, what'd you think?"

It was odd for everyone to disregard the way Bucky had challenged Zemo, even the man who had a hand around his throat seemed completely over it. 

"I like 40s music, so..." Bucky still looked rattled, she could see his mind working behind his eyes. 

"You didn't like it?"

"I liked it."

Zemo nodded, touching his hand together in a triangle formation. "It is a masterpiece, James. Complete. Comprehensive. It captures the African-American experience."

Sam sat up in his seat, offering him a what did you just say? look before turning back to Bucky. "He's outta line, but he's right. It's great, everyone loves Marvin Gaye."

"I like Marvin Gaye." Bucky replied defensively, shaking his head. He was trying to calculate the next move, what else Sam would say so he could have a good response, to say the right thing.

"Steve adored Marvin Gaye." Sam said matter of factly, Josephine thought it was beginning to sound like a competition. 

Zemo slowly picked up his champagne glass again, swirling it around in small circles. "You 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 step, Zemo." Sam warned.

Josephine watched Bucky, his head tilted low. 

"They become symbols. Icons. And then we start to forget around their flaws." He continued nonetheless, "From there, cities fly, innocent people die. Movements are formed, wars are fought. You remember that, right?"

Bucky turned to the man, face still stuck in a glare. She forgot he was over a hundred years old, that he had lived lives before this one. There was a handful of Bucky's that she would never meet, perhaps a dozen different lives that should have never crossed paths with her own. 

"As a young solider sent to Germany to stop a mad icon. Do we want to live in a world full of people like the Red Skull?" Zemo shook his head, eyes haunted with something she couldn't decipher. "That is why we're going to Madripoor."

"What's up with Madripoor? You talk about it like it's Skull Island." Sam questioned.

Josephine sat up, peering out the small window. Madripoor. Perhaps this adventure with Bucky would take her all around the world, it certainly seemed like it. 

"It's an island nation in the Indonesian archipelago. It was pirate sanctuary back in the 1800s." Bucky grumbled, moving his gaze around. 

"It's kept its lawless ways." Zemo added, "But we cannot exactly walk in as ourselves. James, you will have to become someone you claim is gone."

She pursed her lips, turning to Zemo. "What exactly is it that we're doing?"

"She's new to this?" He looked at Sam, who only nodded, flashing her a worried look. He sighed, placing his empty glass on the table in between them. "That's adorable. You're in for a treat, darling."