We make it back to the jet and this time I steal a zip-up hoodie from Zemo's collection. It looks like a man with style also has the time for a little comfort.
I sit across from Bucky and watch as he cleans the grime off his Vidranium arm with a rag. Sam talked to Torres on the phone about the girl the scientist mentioned Karli was looking for. I tune out their conversation as I take the rag from Bucky and help him. The couch makes it ease for us to be close. I fold my legs beneath me as he places the arm in my lap. I clean between each carving in the vibranium with care, ensuring any smudge is cleaned ti perfection.
"You okay?" Bucky asks Sam as he slumps on the chair.
"Yeah, just thinking about all the shit Sharon had tk go through." Sam admits.
"It seems like she's doing pretty well for herself. I mean selling art isn't such a terrible way to live." I say, finishing a spot on Bucky's arm.
"Yeah." He agrees. "And Nagel referring to the American test subject. Like Isaiah wasn't even a real person. Just makes me wonder how many people have to get steamrolled to make way for this hunk of metal."
"Well I depends on who you ask." Bucky says. "That hunk of metal saved a lot of lives."
"Heah I get that. All right. Maybe I made a mistake." Sam admits.
"You did."
"Yeah. Maybe I shouldn't have put it in a museum. I should have destroyed it."
"Destroying that shield would be destroying Steve's legacy, Sam." I say, leaning my arm over the back of the couch. "You don't mean that."
"That shield represents a lot of things to a lot of different people, including me." Bucky argues. "The world is upside down and we need a new Cap, and it ain't gonna be Walker. So before you go and destroy it ill take it from him myself."
Sam's phone buzzes and he leans back, taking the call. Zemo walks down the isle with plates of food for us. I look at him with pinched brows, as I take the plate.
"Did this pass the smell test?" I ask and he chuckles.
"Yes it did." He says.
"Okay." Sam says hanging uo the phone. "They found Madani. Dead. She dies in Riga, a city near the Baltic Sea."
"I have a place we can go." Zemo says. "I for one am looking forward to coming face to face with Karli. Oeznik were changing the course."
I look at Zemo carefully before crossing my legs and pushing the food around my plate. I don't even know what it is. Just tan balls. I take a bite and find myself pleasantly surprised. After a few bites, my stomach turns from the new food that isn't cheap pasta, prison food or badly made food. Or maybe it's the alcohol I consumed rapidly only a few hours ago.
My body is quick to relax into the cushions of the plane and lean my head on Bucky's shoulder. My eyes drift closed as I press into Bucky's side, his hand resting on my knee.
"You know your girlfriends a lot nicer when she's sleeping or tipsy." Zemo says.
I lift my hand and flip him off. He chuckles as I put it back down and let sleep take me.
———
When I wake up gasping for breath Bucky and Sam are still awake but Zemo left probably to the bedroom to sleep. Fear clutches my chest as I try to calm down. I can't. This dream was new. It was about the flagsmasher on the train. I saw myself slamming my foot into his nose with my black mask over my mouth.
Bucky takes my hand and I hear Sam lean forward in his chair. Bucky's arm around my waist helps to ground me and I clutch his hand in mine desperately as tears fall from my eyes. I bring my knees to my chest and clutch them tightly as Bucky pulls me into his side, pressing his lips against my hair.
"Its okay. I'm here, I'm here. Its just a dream." Bucky says against my skin.
Slowly the tears stop and I look up to see Sam staring at me sadly. I wipe my face and stand slowly.
"Sorry just give me a second." I say, embarrassment flaring in my chest.
I shake out my hands as I walk to the bathroom and splash water over my face. The door is cracked and Sam and Bucky's conversation flows in.
"Does that happen a lot?" Sam asks.
"Yeah." Bucky says. "That's one of the better ones."
"Whats one of the worse ones?"
"Screaming, fighting." Bucky says.
"Shit, man." Sam says before I walk out.
I sit back down beside Bucky and he grabs my hand, rubbing circles over my palm.
"You okay?" Sam asks.
"Im fine." I say dismissively. "How far away are we?"
My question is answered by Zemo walking back from the cockpit, rubbing his hands together.
"Get ready for landing lady and gentlemen."
———
"I heard what became of Sokovia." Zemo says as we walk along the streets of Riga. "Cannibalized by its neighbors before the land was even cleared from the rubble. Erased from the map. I don't suppose any of you bothered visiting the memorial? Of course not. Why would you? We're here."
"Im gonna go on a walk." Bucky says.
"You good?" Sam asks.
"Yeah, Ill see you guys in a bit." Bucky says and J catch his arm before he walks away.
"Hey, whats going on?" I ask before I hear the faint beeping coming from a bead on the ground. A Wakandan looking bead. "Im coming with you."
"You don't have-" Bucky begins.
"Go on inside. Well catch up." I say to Zemo and Sam. "What do they want?"
"Thats what I was going to find out." Bucky says, clenching his jaw.
"Oh, don't act like you're not grateful I'm coming." I say, taking the ball from the rocks and linking my arm with his.
"I am grateful." He says, plucking another one tucked in the stone wall. "I just wish you wouldn't put yourself in these situations."
"What situations?"
"My situations."
"Well at some point a long ass time ago, your situations became my situations."
"Why is that?"
"Because you're shit at handling your own situations." I say and I hear the air move behind us.
"I was wondering when you were gonna show up." Bucky says as we separate and turn to see Okoye standing there.
She says something in wakandan that I don't understand and j curse myself for not learning it sooner. The only thing I understand is the last word: Zemo.
YOU ARE READING
Winter Widow
Fanfiction'Dark nights lead to cold Winters' Valeria Isakov was raised in the Red Room. Killing is the only thing she knows. Working for Hydra for years left her with a deformed sense of reality. When Captain America becomes her next target she is faced with...
