Till the End of the Line Vol. 5

Chapter 9 - 'Where Do We Start?'

Several hours later, Becca, Sam, Loki, Bucky, and Sofia arrive at the Berlin police station. Everyone gets out of the car. Becca turns to Loki and says, "Loki, why don't you wait for us out here, okay? I don't want people to -"

"I know," Loki replied. "Be careful, darling."

"I will." Becca kisses him. "Love you." Becca, Bucky, Sam, and Sofia head inside the prison.

Sofia walks to the guard and speaks in German, "Excuse me, Sergeant Barnes requests to see Zemo. It's a political matter."

Bucky glances at the group and then looks back at Sofia. A guard nods and has them follow him down a corridor. Bucky walks next to Sofia and whispers, "Since when did you start speaking German?"

"Former Black Widow, remember?" Sofia smiles.

As a guard escorts them, Bucky smiles as he is impressed that his fiancé speaks another language, and it turns him on. Sam leans over and whispers, "Buck, focus." Bucky makes a specific sound as he knows that Sam's right. Sofia smiles as she is amused that she made Bucky smile.

Several minutes later, the guard escorted Bucky, Becca, Sam, and Sofia stopped and said as he pointed, "He's just down this corridor."

"All right," says Bucky. "Give us a sec." He stops and turns to Becca and Sofia once the guard walks away. "I'm gonna go in alone."

Sam looks at Bucky, confused, and asks, "Why?"

"'cause you three are avengers. And Becca, you know how he was last time."

"Look, it's not like you two were known for frolickin' in the sun together."

"He was obsessed with HYDRA. We have a history together. Trust me. I got it."

Becca steps forward and whispers, "I don't trust him!"

"Becca, it will be fine," says Bucky.

Becca rolls her eyes and sighs. "All right, but if he does something -"

"He won't."

Bucky turns to Sofia as he sees a concerned expression on her face. She whispers to him, "Bucky, let me come with you -"

"No, Doll," Bucky interrupted. He places his hand on her cheek. "Please wait for me. Okay."

"But -"

"I promise. I'll be fine." Still unsure but trusting him, Sofia nods. Bucky lets go and walks off. As he does, Sofia and Becca watch him, uncertain and concerned about what will happen.

Outside the one-person prison cells, the guard puts his key on the door, and it buzzes, allowing Bucky to be escorted through one door. The guard speaks through the comm in German to the security room, and then the door buzzes as it locks back up and opens the door to Zemo's cell. In the cell, Zemo is sitting in the dark in silence. Once they are alone, Bucky walks up to him and gives him a death stare.

Speaking Russian, Zemo says, "Longing." He stands up, emerges from the shadows, and communes to talk about the trigger words. "Rusted. Furnace."

"Those days are over," said Bucky.

"I know. I just wanted to see how the new you react to the old words." He stands up, walks to Bucky, and squints his eyes as he looks into his soul. "Something is still in there. At least you were not conscious for most of your imprisonment."

"That time wasn't exactly a picnic." Bucky continues to glare at Zemo.

Zemo slowly walks away and towards his bed. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. For you and your sister. It was never personal. You were simply a means to a necessary end."