Home

Chapter 19

The day felt like it had drug on, between her escape from the strange man at the hotel, Bucky's text messages and listening to Zemo and Sam bicker; Jo was spent. Her emotions still on edge as they approached the small plane. She lingered for a moment as Bucky and Zemo continued, a pit of nervousness building in that familiar spot in her stomach. Sam stepped down off the stairs leading out of the plane with his hands in the air. "You guys are late." He said and Jo could feel the eye roll from Bucky even with the black ray-bans covering his eyes and him facing away from her.

 

"There was no set time Sam." Bucky muttered as they approached a faded red carpet laid out at the bottom of the steps. Jo hadn't noticed the older man standing at the foot of the stairs whose smile grew a little bit wider when spotting Zemo.

 

The two began greeting each other in a language she didn't recognize, which only made the pit grow a tad bit bigger. Zemo embraced the older man who looked to be older than their actual age, sharing a kiss on each cheek. Sam had taken his place inside the small aircraft as Bucky and Jo stood watching the interaction. As the two broke apart, Zemo stepped up into the plane, Bucky taking a step forward just as Jo's hand flew up grasping at his sleeve. Brows furrowed as he turned to look at her.

 

"Are we sure about this?" She asked under her breath as the man smiled at the two of them, patiently waiting to escort them onto the plane. Bucky pulled his sunglasses off, turning his body towards her as he stuffed them into his jacket pocket.

 

"It's our only option." His voice seemed reassuring, but the words were not. He squeezed her shoulder as her hand fell from his arm, nodding to try and convince herself that this in fact was their only option. Bucky turned and stepped onto the plane, giving the man a compliant nod. The man held out his hand to embrace hers as she stepped forward, helping her up onto the steps. Not that she needed it but based on his clothes and how he greeted Zemo, it seemed as if that was the right thing to do.

 

Her legs shook softly with the plane as she stepped up into the cabin. It was a lot more luxurious than the military plane. The seats were adorned with a light tan leather, the walls sparkling white with cherry wood accents. Two seats on each side of the plane, facing each other. Sam was already showing Bucky something on his phone as they sat across from each other. Jo's eyes met Zemo's, he gave her a polite smile holding his hand out towards the empty seat in front of him. Great. She thought as she took her place flipping up the window visor to watch as a ground crew began preparing them for take-off.

 

The older gentleman handed Zemo a champagne flute granting a gracious grin from the Baron himself. "Thank you, Oeznik." The man smiled and handed one to Jo who took it cautiously as her eyes flickered to Sam and Bucky. Bucky was staring out of the window on his side of the plane and Sam had already taken a sip of the bubbly liquid before going back to his phone.

 

"I do apologize sir for the warm beverage, the refrigerator is broken." Zemo studied the glass before nodding softly as a thank you to him. Jo looked up at Oeznik and smiled softly.

 

"Thank you." She said before taking a tiny sip. Taking a second look at the glass before draining the rest of it and sitting back into the seat.

 

"Stressed?" Zemo asked, nursing his own glass with a raised brow.