The Hurt And The Healing: Bucky X OC

Chapter Thirty Eight: Into The Breach

It really shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone that Zemo was able to get the power station knocked out with such ease. Two days, a few phone calls from Zemo to sources unknown, and some promises from Sam to go to a general's son's birthday party later they were looking at a blown up map of the field with a half dozen small yellow patches scattered across it. Sam, Bucky, and Zemo crowded around it, strategizing and throwing around jargon that all went over Mara's head. She sat nearby, watching them with a strange look in her eyes that he couldn't quite place. She remained quiet for most of the planning, occasionally asking a clarifying question or breaking up an argument. It was like having Peggy Carter in the room during a Commandos meeting. She used to watch and let the men run their mouths until it was time to step in and take charge.

"We can assume that this one is for some sort of elevator to the lab," Sam explained, crossing out the blotch directly over where the radio station was located. "And this one is too small to be anything significant," he said, pointing to the almost green dot in the corner. "Which leaves us with four targets, here, here, here, and here," he circled them on the map.

"They're too spread out for us to go to them one by one," Bucky muttered, noting the distance between each area. "We'll have to split up. These two," he pointed to the southmost circles, "are close enough together that one person can probably take them both."

"What are you going to do when you get there?" Mara asked, glancing up from the first aid kit that she was preparing despite their assurances that she wouldn't need to use it on them.

"Destroy everything," Zemo replied. "I have several smaller versions of what was used to take out the power stations. When placed in these hot spots they will fry every piece of equipment in a ten foot radius. What we cannot fry, we burn."

"Can't you just use one of the big ones to destroy everything at once?"

"It would be too far below ground to be detonated remotely, and would kill everyone nearby when it went off," Zemo answered.

"I've never known you to care about innocent bystanders," Sam said with a side eye glare.

"You misunderstand me," Zemo replied with a smirk. "It would also kill whoever detonated it. And knowing your technical abilities, I am the only one who can do so."

"'Fuck everyone else so long as I don't die,' the Zemo family motto," Bucky grumbled. Zemo smiled placidly and said something in Serbian that Bucky was very grateful the others could not understand.

"How are you getting to the base?" Mara asked, forcing them to not argue and focus.

"The Latverias are practical to a fault," Sam explained. "They actually use the radio station to broadcast propaganda to their people. The evening news begins at eight p.m., so while the radio waves are going out across the city, we can sneak in without their radar detecting us."

"This is too easy," Bucky said with a frown.

"No one pays any attention to Latveria, so they have had no reason to be sneaky," Zemo said dismissively. "Besides, just because we can get there does not mean getting in will be easy."

"Still, does anyone else feel like something about the mission is strange?" Bucky pressed, looking to the others for confirmation of his suspicions.

"Everything about this is strange," Sam admitted, "But how long can we wait around with the threat of an army of super soldiers looming?"

"You are being paranoid," Zemo snapped. "Now focus!"

Bucky glared at him, but a quiet exhale from Mara lowered his hackles. Focus, Barnes, he commanded himself. You're almost done. Then she can be free.