Green Eyes

Ch. 18 - Good Man

Eva returned and was greeted by Zemo who was seated on the couch.

“My lamb! Would you care for a cup of tea?”

She plopped down on the couch near Zemo.”Actually tea sounds really nice.”

He stood up and promptly served her a cup. She took what was offered and inhaled the steaming vapors rising from the cup. “Mmmm, Cherry Blossom?”

He nodded and she took a careful pull of the hot liquid and sighed at the comfort it gave her as she shifted and looked at Zemo.

“Where are the others?” She asked.

“Sam excused himself to make a call and James, well he is taking a breather.”

“Oh mercy, what did you do now?”

“It appears that the Dora Milaje is due to collect me at any moment and I may have withheld information that I have gathered. In an effort to prolong my stay of execution, so to speak.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose while she processed what he had just said before switching to speaking to him in Sokovian.

“Why must you go out of your way to antagonize them?”

“I don’t go out of my way per SE, it’s simply the result of a happy accident.”

Eva laughed. “So, you know where and when the funeral is and I’m assuming you’d like me to keep that information to myself?”

“If you would please, unless you’re ready to be rid of me?” She just smiled and shook her head.

“You’re lucky I’ve become rather fond of you.. I actually came into this disgusted by you to be honest, but I got to know you. And I understand you now. You’re not a bad man at all but you allow yourself to be perceived that way instead of trying to explain your actions. You were motivated by pain and loss, desperate for justice to be served only to have to serve it yourself when none came. The only reason you were still in that prison is you accepted responsibility for your actions. I respect that, and I respect you.”

Zemo took a sip of his tea suddenly unable to meet her eyes.

“How am I so utterly exposed to you? Only my wife was ever able to see through me the way you do.” Zemo said completely in awe of her. Feelings that had been building inside of him since they had met came crashing over him.

“It’s funny,” Eva said. “I’ve wondered the exact same thing about you.”

“James is indeed a lucky man. Sometimes I curse my own big mouth.”

She quirked her eyebrow at him with a playful smirk tugging at her lips. “Only sometimes?”

Zemo gave her a sly smile.

 

Bucky and Sam finally returned and Eva filled them in on her meeting with Nico. Sam was thrilled to have a new source for insider information and agreed to advocate on his behalf when the time came. They left for the funeral shortly after that. On their walk Eva noticed how tense Bucky was, she reached out and took his hand. He said nothing but he squeezed it and kept her close to him as they walked. Soon a booming voice was talking to them in the distance.