Guns and Ammunition [] TFATWS

Twenty Three

Chapter Twenty Three:

They left before the sun came up, finding themselves in a shipping yard. Metal shipping containers filled the lot, large cranes surrounded the area. Josephine trailed behind Sam, eyeing each box with caution, as if one would blow open and reveal some sort of trick.

"Madripoor could give New York a run for its money. They know how to party."

Sharon led the group, holding her phone out in front of her as she tracked Wilfred Nagel. They were all still dressed up, though Sam had thrown a brown leather jacket over his turtle neck before leaving. "With that bounty on your head, the longer you're in Madripoor, the less likely you're ever leaving."

"Since when was there a bounty?" Josephine questioned, following the group through a maze of containers. They weaved through a handful before Sharon came to a stop, pointing to a red one a few feet away.

"Alright. He's in there." The woman nodded, holding out three ear pieces in her hand. Each man took one, placing them in their ear. "Container four-two-six-one. I'll watch while you guys talk to Nagel. You guys need to hurry, we're on borrowed time."

Josephine watched as she took off back the way they came, leaving her to follow the boys towards the container. Sam lead the way, unlatching the door and swinging it open. They all peered in, eyes landing on an empty space.

"Would you look at that." She muttered, stepping in after them. Bucky remained by the opening with her, Sam mumbled a few words into his ear piece. Zemo slipped a flashlight from his pocket, shining it around the room. He wandered forward, sweeping the space with light. She glanced up at Bucky, his focus stuck on gazing around the moldy walls. Something clicked, her attention flipped to Zemo who had leaned against the back corner wall. A door appeared, he pushed it open with a foot before gazing back at them. Sam and Bucky shared a look, both slipping guns from under their clothes. She hadn't seen them take any weapons, the sight of them made her uneasy. Zemo let Sam lead the way, to which Bucky ushered her in front of him before continuing. Josephine trailed up the steps, the walls of the container vanishing to bland white metal. Their footsteps were masked by music, the sound echoing around what she recognized to be a laboratory. Tables were set up, large machinery sat atop of the metal. Vials covered one surface, some filled half way with blue liquid. Bucky grasped her hand with his free one, guiding her across the room, hidden behind a few stacked boxes.

The music suddenly stopped, a man hunched over a table spun around, eyes wide.

"Dr Nagel?"

He froze, beady eyes staring at them. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"We know you recreated the super soldier serum." Sam got right to the point.

"Get out of my lab." The man huffed, brushing by Sam, only to pause at the sight of Bucky.

Sam shook his head, "You know who he is, right?"

He grabbed Nagel by the arm, adverting his attention to Zemo who had a matching glare set on his face. "And that's Zemo Baron. I know you've heard of him too."

The man was pushed passed them, farther into the makeshift lab. Sam's grip tightened they went, "You seem like a pretty smart man, am I right? So you better become conversational real quick."

Josephine watched as the man hit a grate, whatever fear that had shown in his eyes was replaced with something else. He straightened himself up, meeting Sam's gaze for the first time. "How about a counter proposal? Make me a better offer and I'll talk."

Bucky's glare was back, matched with a clenched jaw as he stared at the man. He took off at a start, moving with the smallest of nods from Zemo. He grabbed the guy by his arm, forceibly dragging back through the compound and shoving him in a seat. The gun she had managed to forget that he had was out now, the safety clicked off and loaded as he pointed it at his head.

She wanted to say something, wanted to propose a different way of getting the guy to talk, but she knew Bucky would think she didn't trust him, or that she hated him, and she couldn't do it. Instead she remained in the same spot, flinching as Bucky moved the barrel an inch away and shot a warning, moving it back to the mans temple.

"Okay, okay!" Nagel exclaimed, eyes widening. "I was brought into Hydra's Winter Soldier program to pick up their work after the five failed test subjects in Siberia. When Hydra fell, I was recruited by the CIA. They had blood samples from an American test subject with semi stable traces of serum in his system."

They were looking at Bucky, connecting the most reasonable dots together, what could make sense.

"After much labour, I was able to isolate the necessary compounds in his blood. I was a god." He glared up at Bucky, "I did what no other scientist since Erskine was able to do."

Zemo was moving from table to table, eyeing each and everything that covered the surface.

"But mine was going to be differemt. No clunky machines or jacked up bodies. Mine was going to be subtle, optimized, perfect." He seemed incredibly smug as he spoke, explaining his master work to a group of people who resented the very thing he was creating.

"How have we never heard about this?" Sam questioned angrily.

"Because... before I could finish my work, I turned to dust." He sighed, "Then when I returned, it was five years later. Program had been abandoned, so I came here."

Josephine shifted from her spot, "Why not put your discoveries towards something worth exploring?"

He glared at her, "This isn't worth exploring?"

"Well, I mean-- yes, it is incredible that this is possible, but not what it could do in the wrong hands."

"Things will always end up in the wrong hands. Weapons, they go both ways."

She pursed her lips, "I don't know I bother saying anything when I'm the dumbest person in this room. Never mind, ignore that."

Nagel scoffed, "The Power Broker was more than happy to fund the recreation of my work. It was worth exploring further."

"How many vials did you make?"

"Twenty."

That wasn't as much as she was expecting, but she supposed twenty was enough for what it could do.

"Karli Morgenthau stole all those, so I can only imagine what the Power Broker has planned for that poor girl."

Sam shook his head, "Where's Karli now?"

"I don't know where she is. But a couple of days ago, she called and asked if I could help someone named Donya Madani. Poor woman has tuberculosis. Typical of overpopulation in displacement camps like that."

"What happened to her?"

"Not my pig, not my farm." He shrugged.

Bucky tisked, "Is there any serum in this lab?"

The room fell silent, even Zemo had returned to their little group in quiet. Nagel looked over at Bucky, eyes glossing over. The gun was brought back to his head, pressed against his skin this time. He leaned away, cowering into himself, "No."

"Now what?" Bucky let the weapon drop for a second time, taking a step back from where the man sat.

"Guys, we're seriously outta time." Sharon's voice called, footsteps clicking on the linoleum floor as she rushed in.

Josephine looked around, unsure of what to do. They all shared a look, just as Zemo brought his hand up. Her eyes widened, her feet carrying herself towards him. "Wait--" She called, but they all had noticed then. Bucky was in front of her in an instance, swinging her towards him as a bullet met Nagel's forehead. He fell to the ground, still in his chair. Blood pooled around his head, his eyes stuck wide open, staring at the plain white ceiling.

She gasped, staring down at the scene. Someone had just been shot in front of her— Zemo had just killed a man, spots of blood dotted her shoes.

Bucky's grip on her tightened, it seemed all their gazes were on the body sprawled on the ground. "Oh my god." She mumbled as a hand pulled her away, whispering something as they went. She held onto Bucky, the scene playing in her head over again. Zemo had shot him as if it was nothing, just as Bucky had fought and attacked those men at the Princess Bar without so much as a nod. Josephine never thought it could be that easy to take someones life, but to them, apparently it was.