Winters War

Chapter 25:

     "I heard what became of Sokovia."Zemo says as we walk down the street, "Cannibalized by its neighbors before the land was cleared of rubble, erased from the map. Don't suppose any of you bothered visiting the memorial?" There is silence for a moment before he continues. "Of course not. Why would you? We are here."

        "Hey don't get upset with us" Blue chimes in, "to be fair I was on the run, Bucky was still with Hydra, and Sam wasn't an Avenger yet. None of us were actually there when Sokovia fell." "Touché."he replies. "Yeah well I'm gonna go on a walk."I say as I start to part from the group. "You good?"Sam asks. "Yeah. I'll see you guys in a bit."

       Out of precaution I turn and look behind me making sure they went into the building before bending down as picking up a bead. Not just any bead, on from Wakanden bracelets. It beeps softly telling me where to go. As o walk more and more begin to appear. They lead me down some back alley, the beeping getting a little stronger. Once again I check behind me, being sure that no one is there.

        "You dropped something."I say. There is no response, forcing me to look the other way. Then I get this sudden feeling of being watched. "I was wondering when you were gonna show up."I say as I turn to face Ayo. "I'm here for Zemo."she says in her Wakanden dialect.

       "It is time."Ayo tells me as I stair into the fire between us. "You sure about this?". I continue to stair, hoping that maybe she is right. "I won't let you hurt anyone." Everything comes back to me as she says the damn words. For the first time in years tears flood my eyes. I remember fighting Steve, I remember killing the Starks, I remember them holding Blue hostage forcing her to watch me be beaten and my memory wiped. The more I remember the more I realize the words aren't affecting me.

       I'm still here, I'm still me. "You are free."she says softly. My whole body trembles and shakes as I cry hearing her words. This doesn't feel real, this can't be real. Slowly I turn to finally face her. With a small smile and a nod of her head she says "you are free." I can't contain it anymore, I let every emotion hit me. Part of me cries tears of joy while the other part wishes Blue was here. I wish she could see me now as Bucky, not just the Winter Solider.

       "How could you free him?"Ayo asks sternly. "We need his help." "With time, will, and resources the Winter Solider programming was removed from you like a rotten fur." "And I'm grateful for that.  I'm grateful for everything you and Shuri have done." "Zemo murdered our King T'Chaka at the U.N. The man who chose us, who chose me to protect him." Slowly she circles me like a hungry shark waiting to strike. "I understand."I tell her. "Very little, of anything, of our loss and our shame."

         With a heavy sigh I say "he's a means to an end."in her dialect. "Eight hours, White Wolf. Then we come for him." Swiftly she gestures her hand out as a way of asking for the beads back and walks away. A pair of familiar eyes greet me the second I turn around. Her hands are shoved in her pockets as her body language tells me how pissed she is. "Must of been one hell of a walk."she says.

      I don't say anything, not sure of what to say. "You know maybe next time you decide to not be the Winter Soldier anymore you should maybe tell your wife." "What's that supposed to mean?" I ask. "You left me!"she snaps, "that whole time I thought you maybe just didn't care anymore, looked for an excuse not to be with me, but damn it I searched for you! I never gave up looking for you! You told me it was to protect me! What the hell kind of protection was that?!"

       "I was protecting you from the Winter Soldier."I tell her. "Then why didn't you tell me?!" Once again I'm silent. "You know, you guys came after me for not telling you about being injected with the serum but you know what I guess we are even now." "Why does it even matter Blue?!"I snap. "Because we are supposed to tell each other everything! I'm supposed to be the one person you could come to no matter what! And not just as you wife but as your best friend." "Oh yeah because you have told me so much!" "How the fuck am I supposed to tell the man I loved more than anything in the world that they were trying to make me just like him."

         Loved. Key word there, loved. "You know with everything you and I have ever gone through together, I at least thought that maybe just maybe that would be something you would tell me."she says. I can see some form of tears come to her eyes. "I mean if you want to talk about love then if you loved me, you would have understood why I was acting differently before you left. You would have let me grieve the loss of my friend."

         "You aren't the only person who lost him Bucky!"She cries. "I was there with you! He walked me down the aisle and I was there...I was holding his hand when he died!" I watch as she begins to sob. "I was there too, and I didn't have time to grieve or to cry too long because I had a little girl that I needed to take care of.  I had a husband who was to busy pissing people off that they ended up burning down our house and trying to kill our daughter. I was barely holding it together while I tried so desperately to help pick up your pieces, and you, you never cared to ask how I was."

        I remember back to that night when they burned down our house, when they went after Storm, when they threatened to kill Blue in front of me. "So after all of that the least you could have done is told me that the Winter Solider was dead and I had the love of my life completely and totally. That is the least you could have done." I begin to walk up to her but she tries to back away.

       She spins around to run but I grab her wrist and pull her into me. She hits and scratch's me but I just hold her as she finally breaks. Her arms wrap around my waist and pull me closer, finally giving in and letting me hold her. "I miss him so much."she cries, "I miss my friend." "I do to."I tell her as I just hold her. No matter if she chooses to love me again or not, right now in this moment she is my Blue. She's not a super soldier, she's not an ex Hydra agent, she's not tortured or fighting to save the world, she is my Blue.