We're more alike than you think

53. Hope

"Thank you so much little bird" Zemo said as you laid a cold cloth on his forehead. You smiled weakly and shook your head. You hated him, but you couldn't help it that you liked him. You didn't say anything back to him and simply walked over to Sam. You took up the toolbox and opened it. The question you had asked John still bothered you. You couldn't believe that the goveremment were stupid enough to send Walker over here, so since you didn't trust walkers word, you simply were checking it yourself.

"Were you ever offered it?" Zemo asked. You and Sam looked at each other confused who he was talking to. "The Serum" Zemo continued. That's when you understood he was talking to Sam. "No" Sam answered confidently. "If you had been, hypothetically, that is, would you have taken it?" Zemo continued to fish for answers. Did this man ever stop thinking? "No" Sam shot him down. It was no question for him. How you were looking at it, Sam didn't need the serum to be the hero he was. "No hesitation. That's impressive" Zemo answered. You got through to the files from the GRC and your suspicion about John and Lamar not being sent here was confirmed. You couldn't help but be a bit relieved, as that meant that you could argue that he was an American Soldier fighting on a non American soil, which could get him suspended. The feeling of success faded quickly.

"Sam. You can't hold out hope for Karli.. No matter what you saw in her, She is gone.. And we cannot allow that she and her acolytes become yet another faction of gods amongst real people. Super Soldiers cannot be allowed to exist" Zemo said, clear as a day.

Sam could see the frustration in your eyes and he gently gave you a nod to answer the man. Zemo must have thought that you went out of the room after you put the clout on his forehead or the shield hit so hard that he had forgotten everything you had told him the last few days. You stood up, your arms crossed as you walked over to him.

"If you have lost hope for Karli, Zemo.. You have lost hope in me. You have lost hope in us. If you think that Karli is gone, I can promise you, that you have gone further. How blind are you?" You said with no hesitation in your voice. You didn't even care that Sam was hearing the two of you at this point.

"You and Karli are exactly the same. She lost everything and the world didn't listen when she was begging for help, the same way you did when Sokovia fell. The two of you went to the extreme to be heard, hurting innocents just like yourselves on the way." you continued. Zemo sat up on the couch.

"So when you say you lost hope for Karli, you say it because you think it's impossible for her to change, but also because you don't believe you can either... So why should I keep believing in you? In us?" you said as you let your hands down.

You were exhausted by him, by how he always changed back and forth between the man he actually was and the man he thought he had to be. If you felt this was, you couldn't help but wonder how lost he must feel. He couldn't let go of his past or live with it, so much that he thought he always had to fight. It is no way to live and breath, no matter the motivation behind it. You knew that better than most.

"Y/n, I didn't think you were he.."

"It wouldn't be better if I wasn't" you clarified. He struggled to look at you and you couldn't help but laugh low.

"Okay, but thank you Zemo and I mean this. You made it perfectly clear that you don't have hope for us. I have other people in my life that are easier to be with than you. So you are really just helping me out" you said.

You walked over to the kitchen and poured you a glass of whiskey. It's been over a week since you last tasted the poison on your lips and right now you really needed it. The second Zemo opened his mouth, Bucky came in the door making him shut up. He came up to you and started to pour himself a glass of whiskey when he realised that you had done the exact same. He looked confused down at your glass. He thought now that you had sorted out your whole 'I am a mutant and I am fine with it' situation, that you would chill on the alcohol. He brushed it off.

"You shouldn't have given Walker the shield" Bucky said annoyed at Sam. You took a sip of the drink and sat up on the kitchen counter. When would this discussion ever be done?

"I didn't" Sam easily replied and turned so he was facing us.

"Well Steve certainly didn't," he said as he shrugged down the glass. Seconds later somebody kicks the door open. You jumped down from the kitchen counter and walked with Bucky out to the living room. "talk about sunshine" you mumbled.

"All right. That's it. Let's go. I'm now ordering you to turn him over" Walker said, looking over at Zemo. The last thing you wanted to do right now was to defend Zemo, but it kinda helped that it was Walker you were up against as you hated him more after he kicked you down in your last meeting. This time you were not gonna be that kind. You choose to not use your powers as much back then, because it was out in the public with civilians. This was different.

"Hey, slow your roll. Shield or no shield, the only thing you're runnin' in here is your mouth" Sam said strictly back to Walker. Zemo stood up and took with him his bottle of whiskey as he walked over to you. Yes, you loved whiskey, but did he really think now was a good time? He stood behind you, so close that you could feel his breath against your skin.

"I know you don't trust me, but I truly am sorry" he whispered under his breath. You zoomed out from the conversation Sam and John had. Of course you didn't trust him, he just came begging over now because he knew that you could defend yourself against Walker. You took a deep breath and smiled weakly. "That's the difference between you and me Zemo" you whispered low, making sure nobody else could hear you. "It doesn't matter that I don't trust you right now, cause I have hope for you" you continued. The words made Zemo's heart skip a beat. He knew he was wrong about so many things, but hearing you say that it was still hope for him to correct his wrongs, also with you, made him believe it was a possibility. You felt his fingers intertwining with yours. "thank you" he whispered. It was the first time that Zemo actually sounded sincere and vulnerable. You even had to look up at him to check that he was alright, but the same moment you left your eyes from Sam, you could feel a certain type of metal fly through the room. The second you saw it was a spear, you understood who it was. You pushed Zemo back. The guilt on Bucky's face when Ayo talked to him was painful to watch. You could only get half of what Ayo was saying as you didn't really speak xhosa, but you knew a few similar languages and what you could get from it was really not good.

"Release him to us now" Ayo said and looked over at the two of you, but of course as the idiot Walker was, he saw this as a perfect opportunity to introduce himself.

"Well, let's, uh, put down the pointy sticks and we can talk this through, huh?" for once trying to act like a peacemaker, which was ironic because he was being super disrespectful. Your track record with Wakanda wasn't good, you may or may not have stolen vibranium before, but it was all in your past. You would lie if you didn't admit that vibranium felt good to manipulate. "Hey, John, take it easy. You might wanna fight Bucky before you tangle with Dora Milaje" Sam warned him.

"The dora milaje don't have juris.." he started

"The Dora Milaje have jurisdiction wherever the Dora Milaje find themselves to be ''Ayo interrupted him.

"Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot" John tried to save himself as he was stupid enough to lay a hand on her shoulder. Ayo immediately attacked him and you will gladly admit that seeing Walker get his ass kicked didn't hurt at all. Things escalated quickly after that, with the two groups fighting. You, Zemo, Bucky  and Sam stood all by the sideline. You turned towards the other two, not letting go of Zemo's hands.

"I meant what I said, nobody is getting Zemo. He will be with us to the end of the mission"