nine

third person's pov

in a london cathedral which is packed with mourners. a choir is singing, steve is one of six pallbearers carrying a coffin draped with the union jack. his eyes are red as he's been crying.

at the altar, a candle burns by a framed photograph of peggy carter in her military uniform. the label reads margaret 'peggy' carter. the priest addresses the mourners.

"...and now i would like to invite sharon carter to come up and say a few words." the priest says as agent 13, steve's 'neighbor' steps up to the podium.

steve sits besides sam in a pew at the front. steve is looking down and doesn't see sharon walk up. sam is watching and nudges steve. he looks up to see sharon, who glances at steve and then takes a breath.

"margaret carter was known to most as a founder of shield...but i just knew her as aunt peggy." sharon says as steve realizes who exactly sharon is and takes a surprised breath.

"she had an autograph in her office. aunt peggy standing next to jfk. as a kid, that was pretty cool. but it was a lot to live up to. which is why i never told anyone we were related." sharon says as she looked exactly at steve.

"i asked her once how she managed to master diplomacy and espionage in a time where no one wanted to see a woman succeed at either. and she said, compromise where you can. but where you can't, don't. even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. even if the whole world is telling you to move...it is a duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye and say, 'no, you move." sharon says.

later

steve stands alone in the aisle, still dressed in black. natasha walks to him and he turns to her. he begins to speak without any introduction.

"when i came out of the ice, i thought everyone i had known was gone. then i found out that she was alive. i was just lucky to have her." steve says to natasha as he gave her tiny smile.

"she had your back, too." natasha says as steve finally kissed her cheek and the redhead smiled.

"who else signed?" steve asks natasha.

"tony. rhodey. vision." natasha replies without hesitation.

"clint?" steve asks.

"says he's retired." natasha says immediately as she smiled slightly.

"ingrid and bucky?" steve asks.

"ingrid is tbd, i don't know about barnes. he is on a mission by fury in romania." she says as steve cocks his head to the side. "i'm off to vienna for the signing of the accords. there's plenty of room on the jet for one more."

steve sighs and bows his head so she continues what she was saying. "just because it's the path of least resistance doesn't mean it's the wrong path. staying together is more important than how we stay together." she says as she almost seems to be convincing herself that.

"what are we giving up to do it?" steve says as she sighs, as he shakes his head unconvinced. "i'm sorry, nattie. but i can't sign it."

"i know." natasha says.

"then what are you doing here?" steve asks as natasha wipes a stray tear from his cheek.

"i didn't want you to be alone." she says as she pulls him a little for a hug. "come here." she says as she hugs him as she sighs.

------

vienna

the united nations a modern complex of interestingly-shaped high rise buildings.

"at a special united nations conference 117 countries have come together to ratify the sokovia accords." a news anchor says.

t'challa wears a sharp suit and stands looking through a glass wall as his daughter ada is wearing a fancy dress and heels.

"excuse me, miss romanoff?" a un staffer says as natasha turns around.

"yes?" natasha says.

"these need your signature." the un staffer says as t'challa looks over at natasha. "thank you."

"thanks." natasha says as t'challa walks towards the redhead.

"i suppose neither of us are used to the spotlight." t'challa says to her as ada smiled.

"oh, well, it's not always so flattering." natasha says with her famous smirk.

"you seem to be doing alright so far. considering your last trip to capitol hill .... i wouldn't think you would be particularly comfortable in this company.

"well, i'm not."natasha says.

"that alone makes me glad you're here, miss romanoff." t'challa says.

"why? you don't approve of all this?" natasha says.

"the accords, yes? the politics, not really. two people in a room can get more done than a hundred.

"unless, you need to move a piano." a voice can be heard in natasha's ears.

"father." t'challa says as natasha looks at the man with her most polite smile.

"son. ada. miss romanoff." t'chaka says greeting his son and natasha and granddaughter.

"king t'chaka. please, allow me to apologize for what happened in nigeria." natasha says to the king.

"thank you. thank you for agreeing to all this. i'm sad to hear that captain rogers will not be joining us today." t'chaka says as natasha nods her head at the king.

"yes, so am i." natasha says as she could really use steve here, because she knows how awkward she could get in situations like this.

"if everyone could be seated. this assembly is now in session." a man on speakers says.

"that is the future calling. such a pleasure." t'challa says.

"thank you." natasha says as she goes in her own separate directions.

"for a man who disapproves of diplomacy, you're getting quite good at it." t'chaka says to his son.

"i'm happy, father." t'challa says.

"thank you." t'chaka says.

"thank you." t'challa says as they do the wakanda arm thing.

"when stolen wakandan vibranium was used to make a terrible weapon, we in wakanda were forced to question our legacy. those men and woman killed in nigeria, were part of a goodwill mission from a country too long in the shadows. we will not, however, let misfortune drive us back. we will fight to improve the world we wish to join. i am grateful to the avengers for supporting this initiative." t'chaka says as his son spots something outside. "wakanda is proud to extend it's hand in peace."

"EVERYBODY GET DOWN!" t'challa says yelling as an enormous explosion goes off between two buildings and destroys the conference hall. t'challa finds his father lying on the floor with his eyes closed. he grabs his father's wrist and feels for a pulse, but his father lies still. devastated, t'challa lies across from his father. he lifts him up and rocks up in his arms.

"more than 70 people have been injured. at least 12 are dead, including wakanda's king t'chaka. officials have released a video of a suspect who they have identified as james buchanan barnes, the winter soldier. the infamous hydra agent, linked to numerous acts of terrorism and political assassinations." a news anchor says.

------

fire crews hose down the buildings. a red and white medical chopper flies overhead.

"call MI-6, see if we can get micro forensics to hurry this up. we need the whole team here in two hours or it's not worth it." sharon carter says as she strides through a man in a green jumpsuit they both pass t'challa who sits on a bench looking stunned. there's a cut on his head, natasha sits on the next bench alone.

"i'm very sorry," natasha apologizes to the man who sits on the other bench.

t'challa glances at her as he's holding an ornate silver ring which he toys with between his fingers before speaking. "in my culture death is not the end. it's more of a...stepping-off point. you reach out with both hands and bast and sekhmet, they lead you into the green veldt where...you can run forever." he explains as natasha smiles a little at that thought.

"that sounds very peaceful." natasha says as t'challa barely nods his head.

"my father thought so." he says as he puts the ring on his finger. "i am not my father."

"t'challa. task force will decide who brings in barnes." natasha says as t'challa doesn't even look at her.

he clenches his fist as she takes in a deep breath. "don't both, miss romanoff. i'll kill him myself." he says before he got up and walked away.

steve calls natasha as she releases her deep breath as she sighs. steve is standing on the street in a cap and dark sunglasses.

"yes, you called?" natasha says as she barely cracked a smile at her joke as steve shook his head.

"good one, nat. you alright?" steve asks her as she looks over her shoulder and sees him.

"ah, yeah, thanks, steve. i got lucky." she says frowning as she looks around, then stands up. "i know how much bucky means to you and ingrid, i really do. stay home. you'll only make this worse for all of us. please, baby." natasha says as she doesn't want anything to happen to steve.

"are you saying you'll arrest me?" he asks his girlfriend as she shakes her head.

"no. someone will. if you interfere. that's how it works now." natasha says giving steve a warning of what will happen if he doesn't stay out of this.

"if he's this far gone, nat. i should be the one to bring him in, he's my best friend." steve says to natasha as she cocks her head to the side.

"why?" she asks as she sees no point of steve bringing in bucky and him getting arrested.

"because i'm the one least likely to die trying." steve says as he hangs up.

"shit really, steve." natasha curses under her breath as she walks away.

-----

steve approaches sam sitting at the counter of a coffee shop. with shockingly with ingrid also.

"ingrid rouz mayson, ya dumal, chto skazal tebe derzhat'sya podal'she ot etogo. kakogo cherta ty zdes'?" steve says in shockingly good russian, then again he's dating an ex-russian assassin. so it makes sense. ingrid hid her facial expression in her cup of coffee that sam got her. 'ingrid rose mason, i thought i told you to stay out of this. why the hell are you here?'

"my znayem, chto ya ne slushnayu pryamykh prikazov, stiven." ingrid whispered back so they don't cause a scene, as she has a cap on and dark red sunglasses, the same glasses that she wore in lagos. 'we all know i don't listen to direct orders, steven'.

"well maybe you should ingrid. it keeps you out of trouble." sam says butting into their conversation as the said teenager rolls her eyes at him. "natasha tell you to stay out of it. she might have a point."

"he'd do it for me." steve says as ingrid quickly wrote something down and slid it towards steve. he opened it and it said, i'm doing this for him. it wrote as he knew what it meant. bucky.

"1945, maybe. i just want to make sure we consider all our options. the people that shoot at you usually wind up shooting at me." sam says as the lovely sharon arrives by steve.

"tips have been pouring in since that footage went public. everybody thinks the winter soldier goes to their gym." sharon says as ingrid snickered at hearing that as sam just smiled without making a sound or saying anything. he gently bumped her side and shook her head as she nodded her head. "most of it's noise. except for this." sharon says as she slides steve a file. "my boss expects a briefing, pretty much now...so that's all the head start you're gonna get." sharon says.

"thank you." steve says as he looks over the file.

"...and you're gonna have to fury. we have orders to shoot on sight." sharon says as she walks away.

------

zemo and his daughter claudia are in a random german hotel room as they are reading over vasily karpov's red book.

"Возвращение на Родину. Возвращение на Родину. Один. Один. Грузовой вагон... Грузовой вагон. Грузов-" claudia and zemo say in unison in russian before a knocking on their hotel room could be heard. claudia quickly gets up as her father puts the book in a drawer as he tossed claudia gun. she slowly walks to the door and tucks the gun in the back of her back pocket and cocks it.

"herr und frau müller. ich habe dein frühstück." the german innkeeper says as claudia opens the door. 'mr and miss müller. i have your breakfast'.

"ich konnte es scion vo weitem riechen. danke." claudia says in german as she is fluent in german with her father of course. they would often just talk in german for days on end of random things. 'i could smell it before i opened the door. thank you'. claudia says using her manners, she's not an idiot.

"speck und schwarzer kaffee. wieder. ich kanna ihnen such was anderes machen, wenn sie dash möchten." the innkeeper says. 'side of bacon and coffee, again. i can make you something different, if you'd like'.

claudia shakes her head with a fake smile on her face. "bitter sehr, dash ist wunderbar." she says with a small fake smile. 'it's okay, this is wonderful'.

"ich stell ea Danny mal hier hin...." the innkeeper says before claudia interrupted her. 'i'll put this on your...'.

"neon, nein. das geht scion. ich mach das. violent dank, frau leiber." claudia says closing the door with a long sigh. 'no, no. it's okay, i can manage'.

in the room is a large device with a cage at the bottom and a drum of copper wire on top.

-----

bucharest, romania

bucky barnes stands in the middle of a market, with a basket of plums in his hands as he approaches the vendor in romania.

"ce fac ei? sunt bune? da-mi sase multumesc." he asks kindly in romanian.

bucky is in a black cap and casual jacket, as he is walking he is scanning around across the street where he spots a twenty-something vendor at a news-stand watching the man bucky glances away, he then looks back at the vendor who's still watching him.

the vendor runs back from his kiosk. bucky walks over and picks up a paper. on the front page, there are surveillance-photos of a man and the head line: winter soldier cautat pentru bombardamentul din viena.' Bucky glances over tensely like someone is watching him and wanting to get him.

meanwhile in her dark red suit ingrid is in an apartment. she looks around there's a mattress with disheveled covers and various bits of cheap furniture. the kitchen and one of the bedrooms are in the same room together. ingrid finds a notebook on top of the fridge to which she jumps onto the counter to get to because of her short legs. once she gets the notebook she jumps down and studies it with furred brows, her imagination running wild more than it has ever done before.

a crackle from ingrid's earpiece interrupted her thoughts, as she heard steve speaking clearly. "heads up ingrid, german special forces, approaching from the south".

"understood, cap." ingrid says then suddenly she felt the shift in the air. meaning that bucky is here. a presence that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. she knew who it was at that moment as she heard the very familiar heavy footsteps and clangin of his leather jacket as he slowly approached the girl. ingrid cautiously turns around to be faced with bucky.

"ingrid, i'm sorry, fury gave me this mission." bucky says apologizing to the girl who doesn't make an effort to move as she had tears pouring out of her eyes at the sight of her best friend right in front of her.

"you didn't say anything to me about it?! so you're keeping secrets from me, now, that's nice. thanks a lot for making me worry the fuck about you." ingrid says as she clenches her fists as tight as she can as she is livid with bucky right now but she also doesn't want anyone to be after her too. she finally had peace from that happening.

"i'm sorry, doll. i had no choice." bucky says as steve's voice rang in her ears once more.

"they've seen the perimeter." steve's voice says through the earpiece.

"look i know you weren't in vienna because that's horseshit also because you don't do that anymore, but dad, there are people out there wanting to kill you and there's only one way out of this.....i'm going with you. i don't give a shit if i go back to hydra now. i'm not leaving you. last that happened i almost lost you...forever." ingrid says all in one breath and bucky understood each word that she was saying. also there is also no time to argue with her of what she said. they're just going to have to go along with whatever is going to happen. if they get arrested, they'll do it together.

"they're entering the building." sam says through the comm.

"we have no other option dad." ingrid says using the word dad again making bucky's heart clench a little at the word, as he nodded his head as he punched a hole in the bag.

"they're on the roof, it's compromised." steve says through the comm again.

the heavy footsteps of the cops could be heard from upstairs, each pounding boot is a reminder that they are going to get killed if they don't get out of here sooner. bucky opened a window as ingrid tossed him the notebook and he shoved it in the bag before he jumped out of the building, along with ingrid in tow.

they tumble onto the lower roof of the neighboring building, as ingrid grabs the backpack and they run. then as if it had gone in slow motion a muscular man clad entirely in all black, slams into bucky knocking him down for a brief second.

ingrid cursed knowing the explosion in vienna had cost t'challa and his daughter ada her grandfather as bucky as the scapegoat, he knew the wakandan would stop at nothing to get their revenge.

t'challa and ada extended their claws as they popped out of their suits. they attack bucky and ingrid respectively with sweeping kicks and slashes, their hatred towards the man and girl are evident with their emotions.

ingrid tried to fight back against ada but with no avail, she was thrown into a wall. ada swipes her claws and spins gracefully as ingrid narrowly avoids being clawed. the red witch tries to defend herself, with a metal bar doing her best to keep ada's claws away from her flesh. as t'challa is doing the exact same thing to bucky, along to no avail.

"st-ste-steve sou-south-southwest roo-rooftop." ingrid stutters out in between tight breaths.

"who the fuck are the other guys?" sam asks in an incredulous tone.

"about to find out if me and buck survive." ingrid says in her comm.

ingrid buys enough time by distracting ada as she leaps from the balcony down onto the neighboring building as a chopper flies up. ada lunges at ingrid with her claws but ingrid grabs her wrist. a soldier flies a machine gun from the chopper but the ammo bounces off both t'challa and ada's armored suit, sending bullets in all directions.

"steve." ingrid says.

"got them." steve replies as sam flies down and shoves the chopper off course. then swoops down the street level. bucky breaks free from his attacker, and slings his bag on his back, then he runs and jumps down a level with ease. black panther and ada slides down the wall using their claws for traction, following closely behind. gunfire from the chopper tears up the sidewalk for friction from the harsh rain making it as if they were in a war zone; which they technically were, but for bucky.

bucky and ingrid jump down through an opening and land in an underpass, they run through the traffic. ada, her father, and steve drop down and chase after the duo, as special forces pursues them.

"stand down! stand down!" the driver screams as he takes bucky away but ingrid hasn't noticed yet. as she continues the chase with ease as bucky has a proud smile on his face at seeing his daughter.

the vehicle closes in, as blue lights are flashing. steve takes action leaping into the vehicle and splintering the windshield in the process. the blonde haired man yanks him from his stop, kicking out the windshield before joining ingrid pursuit the trio were in.

ingrid runs over the top of a speeding car, outpacing it. ada is a few cars behind keeping pace with ingrid. she leaps on the back of the 4x4 that steve's riding. steve swerves from side to side, trying to shake the girl off but it isn't working like he planned.

"sam, somehow i can't shake off ingrid." steve says as he stresses out with a sigh.

"right behind you." sam reassures the captain.

head ingrid reaches a fork in the road and faces oncoming traffic. she leaps over a barrier to which steve drives straight through. a motorbike speeds towards ingrid, forcing her to grab the handlebar and spin the bike around in mid-air, throwing the rider off. ingrid gets on the bike and rides away sending car careering out of the way as she continues the little goose chase. ada keeps on ingrid's tail with her father holding onto the back of the 4x4 onto ingrid's motorbike. ingrid kicks her assailant away, straightens up and rides on as if t'challa hasn't just tried to tip the girl's throat out.

black panther catches a ride on sam's leg. he grunts trying to kick t'challa off the best he could with him being in the air. but t'challa's sharp claws that were currently digging into his calf, he couldn't do much more than to continue to sore towards ingrid.

ingrid throws bombs that she had in her pocket that were thankfully hadn't exploded, as she blows up the roof at the end of the underpass, bringing down tons of rubble. black panther leaps from sam, and skillfully landing on the blonde girl, resulting in the two to stumble off the bike.

with steve close behind, he swerves the 4x4 through the rubble, and leaps out and pulls t'challa from the girl. steve stands facing a sleek and muscular t'challa with his daughter ada right behind him. armed police arrives and surrounds them, with their guns aimed. rhodey leaps down from above and rises both of his hands.

"stand down now." commands rhodey. "congratulations cap, and ingrid you're both criminals."

the police move in and force ingrid to her knees to steve's dismay the girl didn't seem to protest much. as t'challa and ada keep their arms raised a cop moves steve's arms behind their backs causing the blonde man to let out a pained grunt his eyes narrowing at the man-holder.

that's when t'challa and ada finally reveal themselves, retracting their claws and taking off their masks, their faces one of a mixture of anger and distress. steve, ingrid and rhodes look up at the father and daughter taking in their features.

"your highness." rhodes replies sarcastically with a sadistic smirk on his face as the cops drag ingrid away.

-----

BERLIN, GERMANY

traffic rolls around the victory column. police convoy drives beside the river spree. amidst the convoy is a gray armed truck. inside of said truck holds bucky and ingrid who wear restraints inside a prison like pod. three armed guard sit on the other side of the glass-walled pod. a police motorbike stops traffic and a van driver looks affronted. the convoy turns a corner onto a bridge across the river. in an SUV, t'challa and ada sit in front of steve who sits in front of sam.

"so, you two like cats?" sam asks as steve gives him a look.

"sam." he says like he's talking tony out of doing something stupid.

"what dude and dudette shows up dressed like a cat and you don't wanna know more?" sam says almost offended at steve.

"your suit...t's vibranium?" steve asks as t'challa and ada's eyes narrow as they glance sideways.

"the black and white panther has been the protector of wakanda for generations. a mantle, passed from warrior to warrior. and now, because your friend and the girl murdered my father, me and ada will wear the mantle of king and princess. so, i ask you...as both warrior and king....how long do you think you can keep your friend and the girl safe from me?" steve is stony faced as the convoy heads underground.

ingrid's hands won't stop trembling, she thought that maybe if she just tried to focus on them, then perhaps it could be like mind over matter, but unfortunately it isn't working. there are camera directed at her and the soldiers from most likely hydra, go figure, the ones wearing black tactical gear, sit on either side of her cage with large rifles in their hands. ingrid is taking in her surroundings working on an escape plan but also knowing it's not going to work.

bucky sits across from her in a glass cage of his own. his expression is blank and emotionless and his redshirted shoulders are pressed back against the metal chair. he has his head tilted back as he stares up and the ceiling and has metal bonds of his own climbing up his arms.

ingrid couldn't think of anything to say to the man who she had almost didn't remember was her 'father' until two days ago, that she desperately needed at the moment it broke his heart knowing that he can't give it to her. he just wants her to be safely in his arms, and him telling her that everything is going to be just fine, but he knows that's a fucking lie.

the father and daughter will be locked in a prison cell for the rest of their lives. they will never see the sun or blue sky again. even if ingrid is as pale as a ghost right now, because she never leaves the compound in the first place anyway. so what's the point of ingrid getting more paler. these next few hours, being in hostage...will most likely be the last times he will see ingrid ever again. bucky is for sure that he will lose her all over again.

they will take her from his side and there will be nothing he can do but watch and beg that they don't do anything to his little girl. his daughter, his entire world.- he won't listen to her rambling about how much she hates natasha, won't let her share her chicken and rice, and her fruit which makes him hungry at the moment. but he chooses to ignore it, also knowing that he won't be eating for god knows how long now. he also won't be there to comfort her when she's scared.

ingrid will be all alone in a small gray cell, with nothing to do, and no one to talk to but herself. but she is used to it after being in hydra for as long as she could possibly remember, when she was their little 'puppet' and have her compete against her father to see who is stronger than each other. which bucky would always win because ingrid was a small and helpless little girl.

bucky stifles back the panic in his voice as he calls her name. "kukla." 'doll'.

ingrid already knows that she won't see bucky ever again after they get to their destination. she knows that in the first place. they're not going to be even close to each other anymore. no more bucky and ingrid. no more nobody. every good thing that has happened in their lives since they first seen each other will come to an end.

"papa, pozhaluysta, ne nado." ingrid says as she didn't want to listen to whatever bucky is saying. 'dad, please, don't'.

"posmotri na menya, kukolka. pozhaluysta." bucky says to ingrid as she finally looks at him without saying a word mentally telling him that he can continue what he wants to say to her. "my spravimsya s etim vmeste, kak vsegda. vse budet khorosho, sdelay glubokiy vdokh, kukolka." bucky finally finishes what he wanted to say without ingrid interrupting him mid sentence. 'look at me, doll. please. we'll get through this together, like we always do. it will be just fine, take a deep breath, doll'.

ingrid merely nods her head wanting to know if he is going to be saying anything else. it worries her that she won't see bucky again. it feels like she had just gotten him back a while ago, and now she is going to be losing him all over again. she doesn't know if he is going to be brainwashed once they get back to hydra most likely he will. she doesn't know if she will be brainwashed.

"ya znayu, chto eto, navernoye, posledniy raz, kogda my snova vidimsya, no ya lyublyu tebya kukolka. ya deystvitel'no tak delayu. ya vsegda lybil tebya, s tekh por, kak ty byla malen'koy devochkoy." bucky says to ingrid in russian as he knows that she is terrified of going back as he can read right through her. she may not be scared on the outside but on the inside she is that worried little girl again. she always will be. it breaks him to the core seeing her like this. but at this point he has no say of what is going to happen. unfortunately. 'i know this is probably the last time that we will see each other again, but i love you doll. i really do. i have always loved you, since you were a little girl'.

he studies her tight and hard facial expression for a long moment, taking in her stone facial features for maybe the last time of seeing each other. both of his hands curl into fists as they sit on the arm rests.

"ingrid, kukolka...chto by ni sluchilos', vse budet khorosho. pover' mne khorosho." bucky says trying to reassure his scared little girl even though it's not working but he'll keep on trying until they stop and he won't see her again. 'ingrid, doll...whatever happens will be just fine. trust me okay'.

ingrid tries to look at him but she can but it's pretty difficult when she's scared inside of what's going to happen. he says nothing else before he leans back again, as he presses his head to the chair and stares up at the ceiling knowing their little conversation is over.

when they take the cages out of the monstrous prison truck, they are shifted through a large bay that stretches up with a seemingly endless ceiling. men in tactical gear and guns march by, glaring at bucky and ingrid. the men remind ingrid very much of the agents that were always in uniform at shield. come to think of it she misses shield right about now. maybe she should've listened to steve and not leave the compound. but she doesn't listen to anyone but the beat of her own drum.

nearby steve gets out of the SUV along with the others and glances across at bucky and ingrid who doesn't spot him. with sam, t'challa and ada, steve approaches sharon who's standing with a diminutive, gray-head man.

"what's gonna happen to them?" steve asks sharon as he cares about the two of them as he has known them since any one here was even born. "this is everett ross, deputy tak force commander."

"what about our lawyer?" steve asks as everett looks at the captain weird.

"lawyer. that's funny. see their weapons are placed in lockup. oh, we'll write you a receipt." everett says as sam now looks at the man.

"i better not look out the window and see anybody flying around in that." sam says as they go, steve looks back at the father and daughter across his shoulder with concerned brows, making both bucky and of course ingrid roll their eyes away. when their small cages are pulled around and slowly pulled back into a much smaller cement room, well bucky is. ingrid closes her eyes as she's starting to feel sick being back here, as she would sometimes bounce between here and hydra. bucky looks at where they're taking ingrid with a blank expression but if you were to see through him you could tell that he didn't want her to leave not knowing what they'd do to his little girl.

"you'll be provided with an office instead of a cell. now, do me a favor, stay in it?" everett says as ada rolls her big brown eyes that matches her father. "i don't intend on going anywhere." he flatly says as the daughter of said man follows him.

"for the record, this is what making things worse looks like." a voice says ringing in steve's ears as he immediately recognized it as natasha's. "he's alive." tony's voice rings as he is on the phone. "no. romania was not accords-sanctioned. and, colonel rhodes is supervising cleanup." natasha looks at her significant other. "try not to break anything while we fix this."

tony is still on the phone. "consequences? you bet they'll be consequences. obviously you can quote me on that 'cause i just said it. anything else? thank you sir." he says as he hangs up his phone.

"consequences?" steve says like he never even heard of the word as tony rolls his eyes, but doesn't say anything sarcastic. which is shocking because that's what he always does. "secretary ross wants you both prosecuted had to give him something." tony says as steve looks at tony. "i'm not getting that shield back, am i?" he asks as tony shakes his head as it's natasha's turn to look at steve. "technically, it's the government's property, now. wings, too." she says pointing to sam.

"that's cold." sam says as tony walks past him but before saying. "warmer than jail." he says.

-----

at a power station surrounded by tree the van with the driver who was affronted by the police convoy pulls up by the open gate. scowling he puts the parking brake on and picks up a clip board.

"das kann nicht richtig sein. was zum teufel?" the man says in german.

bucky's cage are plugged into the walls and the lights inside briefly turn up before completely shining above his head, making the man blink and squint his eyes a little adjusting to the now bright light. then, when the guards are certain that he is completely locked in, they leave heim in the darkness of the room.

tony finds steve in a glass-walled office overlooking the control room.

"hey you wanna see something cool?" tony asks. "i pulled something from dad's archives. felt timely." tony says as he shows steve two pens in black presentation box. "FDR signed the lend-lease bill with these in 1941. provided support to the allies when they needed it most.

"some would say it brought our country closer to war." steve says as he takes a single glance at the pens before looking up at tony. "see? if not for these, you wouldn't be here. i'm trying to...what do you call it? that's an olive branch. is that what you call it?" tony says. "is pepper here? i didn't see her." steve says looking around for the familiar redhead as he looked back at tony who shook his head sadly before looking down to the table.

"we're kinda...well, not kinda..." tony says trying to find the right words to say at the moment which are really harder than he thought it would be. then again this is the first time that anyone had questioned it.

"pregnant?" steve says as if tony had something in his mouth it would go flying out of it. course he'd make it look really cool because he's dramatic that way. "no. definitely not. we're taking a break. it's nobody's fault." tony says as steve looks at tony solemnly. "i'm so sorry, tony. i didn't know." the blonde says apologizing to the billionaire.

"a few years ago, i almost lost her, so i trashed all my suits. then we had to mop up hydra...and then ultron. my fault. and then, and then, and then, i never stopped. because the truth is, i don't wanna stop. i don't wanna lose her. i thought maybe the accords could split the difference." tony says standing up and paces around the two of them. "in her defense, i'm a handful. yet, dad was a pain in the ass, but he and mom always made it work."

"you know, i'm glad that howard got married. i only knew him when he was young and single." steve says as tony still paces around the room, before turning back to the blonde man. "oh really, you two knew each other? never mentioned that, maybe only a thousand times. god i hated you." tony says putting his jacket back on. "i don't mean to make things difficult." as once again tony is quick witted and came with a comeback. "i know because you're a very polite person."

"if i see a situation pointed south...i can't ignore it." steve says as he wheels around in his chair a little as he is following tony and him pacing around the room. "sometimes i wish i could." steve says explaining to tony but of course he's an idiot and doesn't listen to other people when they're talking. "no you don't."

steve smilies very thinly like natasha often would. "no, i don't. sometimes..." he says, as once again tony puts him in his place so he could act like he's the boss of everyone. "sometimes, i wanna punch you in your perfect teeth. but i don't wanna see you gone. we need you, cap. so does your little girlfriend. so far, nothing's happened that can't be undone, if you sign. we can make the last 24 hours legit. barnes and ingrid gets transferred to an america psych-center...instead of two wakandan prisons." tony says steve frowns thoughtfully as he picks up one of the fountain pens that tony had brought to show him. he stands up and paces then turns to tony. in the control room beyond there are multiple screens on the walls. "i'm not saying it's impossible, but there would have to be safeguards." tony now stands up straight as he gives steve his full attention.

"sure. once we put out the PR fire, those documents can be amended. i'd file a motion to have you and ingrid reinstated..." tony says before steve interrupted him and the word 'reinstate', as that immediately got steve's attention.

"ingrid? what about ingrid?" steve asks growing concerned for the girl he has known since the first day that bucky has brought her to their shared apartment way back in those years ago. "she's fine. she's confined with a psychiatrist, currently." steve finally felt like something in him snapped. "oh god, tony! every time. every time i think you see things the right way...." steve says as once again tony has to speak his stupid ass opinion.

"what? it's good for her maybe she'd release some of her anger issues before she starts turning into bruce." tony says. "it's for her own protection anyway." steve looked at tony like he just offended the only kid that he'd consider being his daughter. "protection? is that how you see this? this is protection? locking her with someone she doesn't fucking now. tony this is low on so many levels even for you."

"she's not technically a US citizen she's a fucking canadian citizen." tony says as the two are having one of their arguments once again. "oh, come on, tony." steve says. "and they don't grant visas to weapons of mass destruction which is what that brat is anyway. she destroys everything that she sees." he says. "she's a kid!" steve shouts making himself flinch like that. it's been a nice long hot minute since the last time he has shouted. he just feels like he needs to protect ingrid, because lord knows what they are doing to bucky. his buddy.

"GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK! i'm doing what has to be done...to stave off something worse." tony says as steve nods faintly. "you keep telling yourself that." he says as he puts down the pen. "hate to break up the set." steve says as he leaves the office and rueful tony watches bucky on one of one of the control rooms' screens.

bucky sits in silence for what feels like a really long time just staring off into space as he takes these last few minutes of being himself but also knowing what's going to happen next. the doors to the containment room suddenly move open as he looks up and sees a man as he goes silent and stiff. "hello, mr barnes." the man says looking directly at bucky as he stays so easily blank. "i've been sent by the united nations to evaluate you. do you mind if it sit?"

he doesn't reply to this man as zemo pulls back a chair and sits at the table across from bucky's glass cage, setting his bag to the table beside him. bucky boredly stares at the blue-toned ceiling.

"mr barnes, your first name is james? i'm not here to judge you." zemo says as he lets out a singing breath after he pulls a ew items from his leather bag. "i just want to ask you a few questions....do you know where you are, james?" when bucky still doesn't respond zemo says. "i can't help you if you don't talk to me, james."

bucky decides to lower his gaze as he slightly nods his head when he finally speaks. "my name is bucky." zemo's brown eyes dance at bucky right in front of him.

at the power station, a van driver honks and looks impatient watching the custodian's hut's front door. "hello?" the custodian comes outside and the driver comes out of his van. "Hey. Ich hab eine große für dich." the driver says. 'hey, i have a big one for you'. he opens the van's back doors and removes a large wooden crate. "ja. okay, hier unterzeichnen." 'okay. here. just sign here'.

"hier?" the custodian asks. 'here.' the delivery truck nods his head. "ja." 'yeah'. the custodian signs for the crate.

at the un bunker, steve studies the blurry photograph of the man who bombed the congress in vienna. "why would the task force release this photo to begin with?" steve asks. "get the word out, involve as many eyes as we can." steve looks at her then back at the picture. "right. it's a good way to flush a guy out of hiding. set off a bomb, get your picture taken. get seven billion people looking for the winter soldier and red witch."

"you're saying someone framed them to find him." sharon says to the captain but he shrugged his shoulders as for as once as they've been here, sam is deciding to speak his opinion. "steve, we looked for the guy for two years and found nothing." he says pointing out the obvious. "we didn't bomb the un. that turns a lot of heads."

"yeah but that doesn't guarantee that whoever framed him would get him. it guarantees that we will." sharon says as her gaze falls on the evaluator on the screen not realizing that it's zemo. her eyes narrow. steve frowns and looks around. "yeah."

"tell me bucky. you've seen a great day, haven't you?" zemo asks bucky as he totally wants to be anywhere but here. it doesn't take rocket science to realize what the fuck is going to happen. "i don't want to talk about it." bucky blankly says to the man knowing that he will continue blabber about some shit. "you fear that if you open your mouth, the horrors might never stop." zemo says as he glances down at his tablet before his eyes roll up to look at the man. he gets a message on his screen, 'message inbox' he touches it and it says 'status: package delivered' "don't worry, we only need to talk about one."

at the power station the custodian opens the crate. finding zemo's large device inside he is confused. the driver is at the back door of his van. "hey, was ist das?" the custodian asks the driver as said driver walks towards the custodian. 'hey, what is this?' the driver looks at the box. "Ich weiß es nicht." the driver says to the custodian. 'i don't know'.

the device then erupts. a bubble of energy engulfs the power station and sparks fly. in the city traffic lights fail. in the bunker the lights to out.

every light in the room and in his cage died away, fading out of itself until there's hardly anything. "great. come on, guys, get me eyes on barnes. go." everett says getting anyone to do what he just said. "FRIDAY, get me the source of that outage." sharon is in the office. "sub-level 5, east wing." she says as t'challa and ada spot steve and sam bolting.

bucky doesn't even flinch or jump as the room becomes cold and dark blue and an emergency red light blinks off and on from the wall beside him. "what the hell is this?"

"why don't we discuss your home? not romania? certainly not brooklyn, no?" zemo says as he slowly and meaningfully reaches into his bag and slowly pulls out something red. "i mean your real home."

as the man pulls off his dark rimmed glasses, bucky's eyes fall from his face to his hands that hold the red book with a black star stabbed into its front. it's the red book that zemo and claudia got from vasily karpov. bucky's chin slowly lifts and his eyes slightly widen while realizing what's going to happen next. the man begins to walk towards his cage, holding a flashlight against the pages of the red book that bucky had almost forgotten about until now.

"longing." bucky feels his throat close at the sound of that word. it's the one that starts the process that takes bucky away and into the winter soldier. bucky's head twitches a little and his eyelashes flutter closed as the memories of it all come back. of all the times that he was brainwashed at hydra before and after each mission that he was on during his long and hard days at hydra.

"no." bucky breathes out in disbelief slamming his head into the back of his seat staring up at the ceiling. like ingrid always did in their shared cell that he really wants to go back to right now. maybe he should have denied the mission that fury gave him otherwise he wouldn't be here. getting turned into the most feared person he has ever became in his entire life.

"rusted." bucky's lips tremble with heavy breathing as his eyes squeeze shut as he is trying to do what ingrid has told him to do when he has memories or in this case being brainwashed into the winter soldier. to take deep breaths and think of ten things you can feel and ten things you can see. though he doesn't really want to open his eyes right now. "stop." though zemo does anything but.

"seventeen." bucky grits his teeth as tight as he could, his metal hand begins to tremble and his voice grows more demanding and desperate when he yells. "stop!"

"daybreak." despite the utter terror shakes that are in his insides, bucky opened one eye and looks harshly at the man who is slowly creeps close to the glass as if taunting him. "stop it!"

zemo does not stop again. at this point bucky can't hear the sounds of his own screams as he begins to yank and break at his restraints, tearing his arms from the metal bonds. "furnace." bucky yells once more and he pounds at the thick glass separating him and the man who circles around, trying to stop him before it's too late.

"beign." bucky grunts and yells; each time beating the glass with more force than the last. "homecoming." at this point the glass starts to crack as bucky punches it again and again. "one. freight car." with one last punch the door completely flies off it's hinges and bucky falls to his knees after it. zemo slowly steps around the corner of the cage, and then a man who is not bucky barnes rises to his feet. zemo then briefly glances at a shadow at the entrance door, instantly recognizing it as claudia.

"soldier?"

"ready to comply."

"mission report: december 16, 1991."

-----

steve and sam arrive outside the chamber, red emergency lights flash all around. there are many agents slumped on the floor, all of them are out cold. "help me. help." zemo says as he is pretending to be hurt but steve doesn't buy it at all. steve finds the two in a heap inside the chamber. "get up." steve says as he grabs zemo and shoves him against the wall. "who are you? what do you want?" he asks the man. "to see an empire fall."

as sam enters bucky swings his fist which smashes through the wall as sam ducks. but before bucky could do anymore damage bucky's hand literally couldn't move as if it was being controlled and he turned around and saw ingrid. which of course he didn't know who she was because he is now the winter soldier. sam takes this chance of running away because with ingrid and her powers and bucky now being the winter soldier. yeah he's going to be dead.

bucky grabs ingrid by the jaw and throws her like a rag doll at the open pod, but miraculously she doesn't fall, instead she comes back to bucky. ingrid lunges and lands to punch bucky but he barely felt it. bucky kicks and punches ingrid out of the chamber. a punch from bucky goes through the elevator door. ingrid blocks the next one but the power of bucky's fist sends ingrid tumbling no matter how hard she tried stopping herself she falls into an empty elevator shaft, as her eyes go back to their original sky blue color.

in the chamber sam comes around and spots zemo looking down the elevator shaft looking for ingrid but doesn't see her.

"Der Ostflügel ist kompromittiert. Ich wiederhole: Der Ostflügel ist kompromittiert." a man on the PA says. 'the east wing is compromised. i repeat: the east wing is compromised'

"hey," sam says to zemo but he bolts as sam rises along with steve. at the bottom of the shaft ingrid pushes herself off the floor.

"blyat'....bol'no. zachem basks. pochemu iz vsekh veshchey. chto oni s toboy sdelali? a, skazhi, mne. otlichno, ya grebanyy idiot, kotoryy soshel s uma. zamolchi." ingrid curses in russian about bucky being like this. but then again it makes sense because they most likely turned him into the winter soldier. 'fuck....that hurts. why buck. why of all things. what did they do to you? huh, tell me. great i'm a fucking idiot, who's gone crazy. oh shut up'.

-----

control room

"evac all civilians. get me a perimeter, around the building and gunships in the air." everett ross, orders as his voice is firm. "please tell me you brought a suit, because if you didn't you're stupid." natasha says as she eyes tony warily. "sure, did. it's a lovely tom ford, three-piece two-button. i'm an active duty non combatant." tony says as the redhead rolls her eyes at the stark.

"follow me." sharon says as she gestures everyone to follow, and tony did so.

-----

meanwhile, ingrid are on the hunt for any sign of claudia while steve is looking for zemo. said zemo had turned their 'father' and friend into some human killing machine, something that happened before, but under the protection of the avengers who had the weapons to put a stop to him before things got to out of control.

steve chases after zemo as ingrid climbs out of an elevator shaft, just as bucky stalks through the building's ground floor taking out two guards. tony is behind a pillar as he has high-tech glasses secured on the bridge of his nose as he watches bucky in concern.

natasha's voice rings through everyone's comms. "we're in position." tony taps a wrist-control which becomes his iron man-glove. he zaps bucky with a stun-burst before bucky can shoot a guard. tony rushes him, firing again. bucky ducks the blast then trades blows with tony, firing the gun. tony has the iron man-glove over the barrel, blocking the bullet. he pulls the gun barrel loose then bucky smacks him backwards. sharon rushes bucky, then natasha rushes bucky. they both land kicks and punches, then bucky flips sharon head over heels. she smashes onto a table then natasha leaps on bucky, legs around his neck. he slams her onto another table and grabs her throat.

"you could at least recognize me." natasha's strained voice says. t'challa comes from nowhere and kicks Bucky off Natasha. he fights with bucky, landing lightning fast kicks and some punches. bucky gets a counter punch in and t'challa falls, but quickly recovers. bucky hurries up some stairs. t'challa leaps the levels and vaults a railing, landing in front of bucky. limber t'challa spin-kicks and grabs bucky's metal arm which he tries to twist then looks worried as he realizes it isn't going to work. he throws bucky backwards and keeps hold as they both tumble down the stairs. they resume fighting on the small landing and a leg sweep sends bucky over the railing. t'challa leaps down after him but finds the wide reception empty as he scans around.

outside staff flee the building en masse. sam is among them and quickly spots something on the ground. he then picks it up. "damn it." he curses. he then looks around the wide courtyard and scowls.

bucky's on the rooftop helipad. he marches up a blue chopper and pulls the lock off the door. he gets in the pilot seat. steve rushes outside with ingrid in tow, and they sprint toward the rising chopper. ingrid leaps and grabs the landing gear. ingrid's barely muscles are bulging as she pulls hard and the chopper slowly struggles to gain height. as ingrid's powers is making her stronger. ingrid's feet kick for traction then she gets them flat on the helipad. the chopper drags her onto the weak looking mesh framing the helipad. ingrid grabs the railing with one hand and clings to the landing gear with the other. she grits her teeth as her neck strains with incredible effort. bucky flowers from inside the chopper then throws the joystick left and the chopper's nose slams into the edge of the helipad.

the rotor-blades are smashed to pieces and both ingrid and steve duck as the tail swings around. the chopper lies twisted on the mesh at the edge of the pad. ingrid rises beside the canopy. bucky's arm smashes through the glass and growling he grab's ingrid's throat. the chopper starts to list over the edge. the tail breaks and falls into the river right below them. bucky keeps hold of ingrid as the whole helicarrier drops and slams into the river. the impact seems to knock bucky out cold as he lets go of ingrid. the body of the chopper sinks quickly to the riverbed along with other debris. ingrid surfaces with bucky in her arms.

after so long later, ingrid finally got bucky back. in her arms. literally. it all seems like her story is coming to and end, which it is. but this movie at least. there are still a couple more things that need to be discussed theeeeennnn this movie will be over and done with.

-----

at an airport zemo listens to a phone message as it's claudia's mother before she died in sokovia. "he asked me again if you were going to be there. i said i wasn't sure. you should've seen his little face. just try, okay? i'm going to bed. i love you and dia." her mother says using the only nickname that anyone has given her. frowning zemo ends the call as a TV news report is playing nearby.

"James Barnes, der mit dem bombenanschlag auf die UN in wein in verbindung gerbracht wird, ist heute aus der haft entflohen. Eberfalls vermisst werden die avengers steve rogers und ingrid rose mason und sam wilson." the news anchor says. 'james barnes, the suspect in the UN vienna bombing escaped custody today. also missing avenger captain america, ingrid rise mason and sam wilson'.

zemo eyes the TV screen he stands in line at the departure gate. the screen right above the gate reads. 'gate 06 berlin flughafen AEM2103 14:10 Moskau/Moscow.

--------

hi, it's me. if you survive reading this chapter then you deserve a fucking gold metal. i was exhausted doing this chapter non stop all yesterday and like five hours into the morning for today.

so have a great day.

don't be a silent reader!
please vote and comment, thanks!
❤️

Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top