Decisions and Splinters - Book 5 (Civil War)

Chapter 12 -

"What's gonna happen to your friends?" Bucky asked after a while of flying in silence.

Steve licked his lips before sighing. "Whatever it is, I'll deal with it."

"I don't know if I'm worth all of this to you."

"You are," Annabelle tried to assure him. "You always have been. Rescuing you was what got us started."

"What you did all those years, it wasn't you. You didn't have a choice."

"I know. But I did it." Annabelle let out a sigh before getting up and walking out of the cockpit.

***

Steve landed the Quinjet and Annabelle helped Bucky find the arselon and they both picked out their weapons.

"You remember that time we had to ride home from Rockaway Beach in the back of that freezer truck?" Steve asked as he hit the button for the ramp to go down.

"Was that the time we used our train money to buy hot dogs?"

"You blew three bucks trying to win that stuffed bear for a redhead."

Bucky chuckled. "What was her name again?"

"Dolores," Annabelle reminded them. "But you called her Dot."

"She's gotta be a hundred years old right now," Bucky shook his head.

"So are we, pal," Steve put his hand on his shoulder.

"Speak for yourselves. I'm only in my eighties," Annabelle said as she started walking down the ramp, the boys following. They walked over to the bunker to find the doors already open.

"He can't have been here more than a few hours," Steve said.

"Long enough to wake them up," Bucky told them. They walked inside and got into the ancient elevator getting their weapons ready as the doors opened. Bucky went first, then Annabelle, and then Steve. Bucky started to walk up a flight of stairs that would lead to where the Winter Soldier capsules were held when they heard a noise. They all spun around and Steve put his shield up while Bucky and Annabelle raised their guns.

"Ready?" Steve asked.

"Yeah," Bucky said as Annabelle nodded. The elevator doors slowly opened again to reveal Tony in his Iron Man suit. Steve slowly stood and started walking closer as Tony did the same, his mask coming down.

"You seem a little defensive," he broke the silence.

"No kidding," Annabelle let out.

"It's been a long day," Steve agreed with his sister.

"At ease, soldier," Tony said, looking at Bucky who still had his gun trained on Tony. "I'm not currently after you."

"Then why are you here?"

"Could be your story's not so crazy. Maybe," he conceded. "Ross has no idea I'm here, I'd like to keep it that way."

"Why? So you don't have to arrest yourself."

Tony pointed at her. "Always so perceptive."

"That sounds like a lot of paperwork," Steve said, slowly lowering his shield as Annabelle did the same with her gun. "It's good to see you, Tony."

"You too, Cap." They nodded at each other before Tony looked back at Bucky and scoffed. "Hey, Manchurian Candidate, you're killing me. There's a truce here. You can drop-"

"It's okay," Annabelle assured him and he lowered his gun. "What did you find out."

"The psychiatrist the UN dispatched to interview Barnes, Dr. Theo Broussard, is dead. Our guy is really Helmut Zemo. He was in charge of a covert kill squad. When they found Broussard's body, they also found a wig and facial prosthesis that approximated Barnes' appearance."

"Believe us now?" Steve asked and Tony stayed silent.

"Okay then," Annabelle got their attention. "Now that we're all on the same side again, you wanna show us where the Winter Soldiers might be?" Bucky nodded and continued to lead them through the facility, Tony putting his mask back up.

"In there," Bucky told them as they came to a door.

Tony went in front, holding up his hand. "I got heat signatures," he reported.

"How many?"

"Uh, one," he told Steve as they cautiously walked in. The lights in the Winter Soldier capsules turned on, a yellow glow filling the room.

"If it's any comfort," Zemo's voice filled the room, "they died in their sleep." They continued walking through the room, staying on the lookout while glancing into the pods to find that all the soldiers had been shot. "Do you really think I wanted more of you?"

"What the hell?" Bucky let out.

"I'm grateful to them though. They brought you here." Another light turned on and Steve chucked his shield, but it only bounced back at him. "Please, Captain. The Soviets built this chamber to withstand the launch blast of UR-100 rockets."
"I'm betting I could beat that."

"Oh, I'm sure you could, Mr. Stark. Given time. But then you'd never know why you came."
"You killed innocent people in Vienna just to bring us here?" Steve asked as he walked over to the window where he could stare Zemo in the eyes.

"I've thought about nothing else for over a year. I studied you. I followed you. But now that you're standing here, I just realized, there's a bit of green in the blue of your eyes." He chuckled. "How nice to find a flaw."

"You're Sokovian," he put together the timing and accent. "Is that what this is about?'

"Sokovia was a failed state long before you blew it to hell," he shook his head. "No. I'm here because I made a promise."

"You lost someone?" Steve asked, but it was more of a statement.

"I lost everyone."

"Heike and Carl Zemo. Your wife and son," Annabelle said, going through the names in her head, and a small look of shock came over Zemo's face. "Your father too."

He swallowed before nodding. "Yes. But now it's your turn." They turned as they heard a click to see a black and white recording playing on an old fashioned tv in the room. "An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again, but one which crumbles from within, that's dead. Forever."

"I know that road," Tony let out as he stared at the screen. "What is this?" he called over, but his eyes didn't leave the screen. Annabelle broke eye contact with Zemo to see the date written on the tape, a small sigh escaping her. Suddenly, a car crashed, running into a tree. A moment later, a motorcycle showed up. Steve looked over at Tony and Bucky looked down at the ground.

Hey guys! I'm alive! Summer was absolutely crazy and now I'm in college and trying to get into the swing of things. I really hope I can start posting consistently again because I do miss writing this stuff and putting it out for you guys and the community we have built. I do apologize for the weird stopping place of this chapter too. I'm currenly planning on going back and rewriting and editing all of my books, so bare with me. I will actually edit the stuff I've posted here at some point. Hope you all are well!