Sometimes the people we think we're fighting become Family.

1. The phone call

"I love you" Bucky whispered to Zemo who was fast asleep against his chest while they cuddled on the couch in peaceful silence. The kind of silence Bucky didn't think he'd ever get again, but something about Helmut Zemo just fit, like two pieces of a puzzle that were made for each other.

They'd been lounging around all day, Sam out with Torres doing who knows what, enjoying the peace while it lasted. It seemed like the flag smashers had gone underground and nothing had been heard from them since the John Walker incident. In some ways it was a good thing John's public murder of the flag smasher was filmed, thought Bucky, if only because it meant he was stripped of his title and discharged from the US military. He was glad Zemo destroyed all the vials of super serum in time too, as they were pretty sure johns endgame was to inject himself.

A sudden ringing woke the Baron from his sleep, "James I believe that's your phone" he murmured against Bucky's chest.

Bucky reached for his phone and saw an unknown number calling, he answered sceptically as only 4 people in the world had his number, "hello" .... his greeting was met with the sound of sobbing and what sounded like club music in the background "I'm sorry I'm so-I'm so sorry I... please" he immediately sat up alert as he identified the voice of Karli Morgenthau. He put his phone on speaker as his boyfriend looked at him in question.
"Karli, what's happening? what do you want?" He asked.
"I'm so sorry I don't know who else to call... I think I killed him... oh god-I think he's dead" Karli sobbed into the phone.  Zemo was immediately alert after hearing the fear in her voice, he took the phone from Bucky.
"Karli, its Zemo what's happening? Who's dead?"  They could hear Karli gasping for air and sobbing on the other end of the phone, "Karli I need you to listen to me" said Zemo "Listen to my voice and calm down okay? Tell me what happened and why you called"

"He... they dragged me out to some club tonight... to celebrate Mama Donya they said... I... there was this m-man he was at-staring at me a lot but I ignored him. I got distracted by my friends and I looked away for a second! I swear it was only a second but I... I think he put something in my drink- not enough to knock me out, maybe because of the serum, but I just got cloudy and dizzy all of a sudden. I thought i was just overheated so I went out to the alley to cool down. I didn't hear him till he was right behind me." Karli started sobbing harder. Bucky and Zemo looked at eachother in horror, not liking where this story was headed, Bucky could hear Karli's heartbeat through the phone, he could tell she was telling the truth and was terrified. "Karli we're here okay, you need to tell us what happened and we're going to come and get you" said Bucky as he dragged Zemo to their room to frantically throw on some real clothes and shoes.

Karli took a breath, her voice shaking as she continued "He..he shoved me against the wall and-" they heard her breath hitch "he started running his hands all over me and oh god, I was so dizzy and I think I hit my head when he shoved me to the wall and it was like I couldn't move my arms to push him off... I could feel him undoing my jeans and he was... whispering things in my ear about how I couldn't get away and I was his youngest yet and.." they could hear Karli lean away from the phone and start gagging, Zemo took the phone again as they ran for the door, his paternal instincts taking over "Karli listen to me, is he unconscious?" He heard a weak yes from her "okay then focus on me okay? Can you do that for me? You're safe right now and Bucky and I are walking out our door right now, Buckys got your location up on my phone and we're coming to you okay darling? Shhhhhh you're okay, we'll be 10 minutes okay? Just hold on" he could hear her calming down "can you keep telling us what happened Karli? We're in the car okay?"  They heard her take a deep breath "he... opened my jeans and he put his hand down my pants and he was touching me and all I could think about was how he smelled so bad, like alcohol and smoke and I wanted to be sick.... I don't know if I scared myself out of it or if the serum just burned through the drugs fast but suddenly my head was clearer and my arms weren't so numb so I- oh god I'm sorry" With Bucky breaking every speed law in existence, Zemo tried to stay calm and reassure Karli "shhhh okay whatever you did Karli, he deserved it and it's okay, no ones mad at you, you're not in trouble okay? We're 5 minutes away darling just tell me what happened"  he could hear Karli mumbling to herself "okay... it's okay they're not mad... I- I could feel my arms again so I just... I shoved him as hard as I could and I... I smashed his head into the opposite wall and I kept hitting him till he fell... there's so much blood I think I killed him oh my god please please help me" He could almost feel the terror through the phone, as he looked at his boyfriend he noticed the steering wheel warping under his metal tight grip, he set his hand on Bucky's arm to try and ground him "okay Karli it's okay, we're about to get out of the car okay? We're almost with you" they could hear Karli trying not to be sick again, as they jumped out of the car and ran towards the alley way at the back of the club. "Oh doll" mumbled Bucky as they turned the corner and spotted the tiny looking girl at the dark end of the alley, she was sat on the floor against the wall, in-front of her a tall well built man, unconscious, face covered in blood. While Zemo ran to Karli, Bucky stopped to check the mans pulse, it was weak but it was there. "I'm so sorry I didn't have anyone else- I didn't know what to do" sobbed Karli. Zemo slowly bent down next to her, only then noticing how young the girl looked, tears screaming down her face and clothes ruffled. "It's okay, you did the right think okay? Can I check the back of your head and make sure it's not split?" Karli nodded as tears kept streaming down her face silently. Zemo ran his fingers over the back of her head and felt a huge bump, thankfully no blood, he could feel Bucky stop behind him. "Okay you have a bump and probably a concussion that I imagine will be gone within half an hour" said Zemo as he smoothed back her hair. Bucky crouched down next to him, taking off his hoodie "you're freezing doll, and probably in shock, can I put this on you?" He asked as he noticed her shivering. She nodded so he slipped the hoodie over her head and pulled up the hood. She looked like a kid playing dress up in their dads clothing, he thought silently. "Karli look at me please" he said softly, she brought her eyes up to meet his, "he's still alive okay? He's got a pulse, and as much as Zemo or I would love to stop his heart from beating right now, it's your choice okay? I can have people here in 15 minutes to take him away to somewhere he'll never see the light of day again, what do you want to do, you control this outcome and we're with you 100%" he watched as Karli's eyes shifted over to the unconscious man, tears still streaming, she took a moment and then said "I... get him taken away... I don't want to be the reason anyone dies, even if they're a monster like him, he deserves to live and suffer after what he's done. I know he's done it to others too, he needs to pay for that." Zemo slowly lifted a hand to her cheek and wiped away her tears "then that, my dear, is what shall happen, James will make the call while we go and get you warmed up in the car okay? We can't leave you here, and you called us for help so now I'm asking you to trust we will protect you, no matter your past actions" Karli looked back and forth between the two men, only seeing truth and trust in their eyes. She slowly nodded, and took Zemo's hand as he stood to help her up. Zemo looked to Bucky and silently made sure they were on the same page. They weren't letting this girl go, they both knew from this moment they'd go to the ends of the earth to protect her. "Come on let's get you warmed up whilst James sorts this out" Zemo said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and guided her across the road to their car.

Bucky took out his phone and hit 2 on speed dial, "Sam." He said as he heard the person on the other end answer "I need you to not ask questions right now okay? I'm gonna text you a location and I need authorities to come and get someone, he'll need medical, not that he deserves it, and then he needs to be put in a deep dark hole somewhere he'll never get out of again. Okay?" Bucky said fuming, gripping his phone so tight he could almost hear it about to shatter. "Bucky man... *huff* okay no questions for right now, but tomorrow when we get back you're explaining. I'll have guys there in 10 okay? Just... are you okay? And your boy? Nothing wrong right?" He could hear sam's slight worry slip through, "thank you Sam, me and Z are fine, we'll explain tomorrow, we'll wait till we see backup arrive then we're gone okay? Seriously Sam... thank you" Bucky said, reality setting in ow that the situation was mostly handled, for right now at least. "Of course  man. See you soon." The call ended and Bucky took a moment to take a deep breath and centre himself, he wanted to March straight back into the alley and end the mans life, but he reminded himself it was Karli's decision, and that's not what she wanted. He was lost for a moment, amazed thinking about how far he'd come, from being the winter soldier to considering, and respecting, someone's decision not to kill. He took another breath and kept an eye on the road looking for backup to arrive. He wasn't shocked that no one in the club had come out the back, with the music so loud and a sign he noticed saying you could smoke inside, it was no surprise everyone was in the building on a freezing night like this one. As he heard truck engines a few blocks over getting closer, he headed for the car to make sure they were out of sight before anyone saw them.

As he slipped into the car he turned to see his boyfriend in the back seat, Karli's face was buried in his chest and she was sobbing again. He reached out with his flesh hand and rubbed circles on her back,  he could hear Zemo talking to her, calming her down by talking about anything and everything. Right now he was mumbling about their cat, Alpine, and how she was probably curled up in a blanket on their bed even though they tell her multiple times a day she's not allowed up on it. He saw multiple discreet military  looking vehicles coming towards them and knew that Sam had pulled strings to get this taken care of. "It's all over now okay? They're taking him away and he's never getting out." He said as Zemo lifted his head to look at him and Karli turned at the bright headlights coming towards them. "Thank you" whispered Karli in a broken voice. Bucky turned and pulled away from the curb as he saw them loading up the body from the alley way.