Riley's Girl

Zemo being Zemo

You're instructed by Bucky to meet him in an abandoned warehouse 5 minutes away from the prison as he had to "run an errand", as you stood in the warehouse you waited for any sign of him. 

Then the loading bay curtains showed a silhouette approaching, you breathed a sigh of relief until you saw Zemo walk through them, smugly. Shortly followed by Bucky, hanging his head - as he should be. 

"Woah, woah, Buck I didn't mean to break him out of prison." you say astonished that you even had to say that out loud. 

You start walking towards them, but Bucky blocks you putting his hands on your shoulders. "Look, I know it's not exactly what you had in mind but there's too much red tape to do this the "legal" way." He goes onto explain. 

You stay silent to allow him the time to continue, he takes another breath, stepping closer and lowering his voice "red tape that draws Captain America's attention. The kind of attention we don't need." he watches you closely. 

You stare back, your mind ticking over his statement. He was right, you saw his logic, but it was still the entirely wrong way to approach the only way you can effectively help Y/N and keep her alive. Your thoughts were abruptly interrupted. 

"That makes sense to me. Very good plan gentlemen." Zemo says confidently, trying to score points.

You immediately look up at him and spit out "Shut up" at him, distain flooded your words. He might be the only way to help Y/N, but having to work with him makes your blood boil, your stomach twist and your head ache.  

"It's the best option we've got. The quickest one to help Y/n." Bucky reinstates. 

You look down, shaking your head, exhaling, he was right in what he was saying but coming to terms with the methods he has decided to use is a hard pill to swallow. But you shake yourself free of the turmoil momentarily. 

"Okay we do this. But you." you point at Zemo, "You don't do a thing without our permission, got it?" speaking as assertively as you could, amid the shakiness in your voice.

"Fair. You've got yourself a deal." Zemo replies. A smug smirk crosses his lips, sending shivers down your spine, it was the same one on the recording you all saw from Tony's suit during the exposure of the Winter Soldier's orders in 1991. "Shall we?".

-A couple of hours later- 

Zemo had instructed you to take him to an underground garage in a neighbouring town, as you walked into the garage it was immediately illuminated and it was filled with lavish, classic and rare cars. 

"Just picking up some essentials." Zemo was too arrogant for your liking. 

He went into the back of a bentley, retrieving a black duffle bag, then proceeded to stride to the other side of the garage. "Come on gentlemen, we've a plane to catch." You and Bucky shared a sceptical look, Bucky having a hint of remorse and regret in his eyes and honestly, you couldn't blame him. You were eager to save Y/N, this was as desperate as it got.

-another hour later-

You had been driven to the airport, but instead of going through the car park like you were expecting, you had been planning for each eventuality in case you were being set up by him. Instead, you were driven onto the tarmac, Zemo gets out the car and walks towards a private jet. 

Frustration got the better of you "I'm clearly missing something." the exasperation ringing true with each word you spoke. 

"I'm a Baron Sam. Before your avengers ruined my country, my family were royalty." Zemo counters back, matching your annoyance. 

Once you board the plane, you are only waiting for 10 minutes before you take off. Shortly afterwards a smartly dressed, elderly man brings out a crystal chute with gold rimming "Your champagne sir." he hands the glass to Zemo. 

Obnoxiously Zemo raises the glass in the air, with yet again another smug smirk "To a beautiful new partnership." giggling afterwards, as he takes a sip of his champagne. 

You and Bucky giving him as equally stern looks as the other. Completely unamused with his new found and ill-advised confidence. 

-Couple of hours later- 

You and Bucky had been deafly quiet the entire plane ride. Zemo had his nose buried in a book next to you, the waiter keeping him fed and watered - with champagne - you had been offered but didn't trust Zemo enough to take any kind of replenishment off of his plane. 

"Now, this is interesting." Zemo speaks from his blessed silence. You turn to look at him, rolling your eyes in the process "These list of names seem very familiar James." You go to look at Bucky to see if he knew what he was talking about. 

But before you could, Bucky had jumped up, lunging himself at Zemo gripping his hand around Zemo's throat, inches from his face. "Keep your mouth shut. And take this seriously" he was seething, his hands trembling, his voice course. You would have stopped him, but Zemo deserved it. 

"My sincerest apologises James. If it makes you feel any better, we should be landing shortly." Zemo chokes out, as he coughs his airways clear. 

"Good, I need some air." Bucky retorts. 

You allow your head to fall back against the seat and rotate it to look out of the window, awaiting for the feeling of the plane descending before they killed eachother.