CHAPTER SIX
xi. HELLO, KARLI MORGENTHAU

𝐀 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑, 𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐓 𝐒𝐀𝐓 𝐁𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄, 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐀𝐌 𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎 𝐇𝐈𝐌 𝐀𝐒 𝐁𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐘 𝐑𝐄𝐉𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊.

“Well, the Wakandas are here. They want Zemo. Bought us some time”, Bucky infromed them as he approched the two. “Were you followed?”

“No”

Zemo stood by the window looking down to the street, “How can you be so sure?”

Bucky walked around the table and stopped as he stood on Juliet's opposite. “'Cause I know when I'm being followed.”

Zemo turned around to them as he sighed, “It was sweet of you to defend me at least.” Sam gave him a side look, “Hey, you shut it! No one's defending you. You killed Nagel!”

“Do we really have to litigate what may or may not have happened?”

Juliet watched quietly as Bucky looked at his phone and suddenly had a worried expression on his face.

“There's nothing to litigate. You straight shot the man!” Bucky interrupted him, “Sam!”

“What?”

“Karli bombed a GRC supply depot.” Juliet's eyes widened, “For real? What's the damage?”, she asked as she exchanged a look with Sam.

Bucky still looked at his phone, “Eleven injured, three dead. They have a list of demands and are promising more attacks if those demands aren't met.”

Sam sighed deeply and Juliet rubbed her face with her hands. “She's getting worse. I have the will to complete this mission. Do the three of you?”, Zemo asked as he approched them slowly.

Juliet immediately looked up at the man, “She's just a kid.”

“You're seeing something in her that isn't there. You're clouded by it. She's a supremacist. The very concept of a Super Solider will always trouble people. It's that warped aspiration that led to Nazis, to Ultron, to the Avengers.”

“Hey, that's our friends you're talking about”, Sam told him seriously. Bucky walked to the end of the table before he leaned on it, “The Avengers, not the Nazis.” Juliet furrowed her eyebrows at him, wasn't that obvious.

The man looked at her and shrugged as she shook her head and looked back at Zemo. “So, Karli is radicalized, but there has to be a peaceful way to stop her”, the women told him stubborn.

“The desire to become a superhuman cannot be separated from supremacist ideals. Anyone oath that serum is inherently on that path. She will not stop. She will escalate until you kill her”, Zemo looked at Juliet convinced. “Or she kills you.”

“That's not going to happen”, the brunette shook her head as she looked at the others. “Maybe you're wrong, Zemo. The serum never corrupted Steve”, Bucky reasoned.

“Touché— but there has never been another Steve Rogers, has there?”, the man questioned as he raised an eyebrow. They all looked at him for a moment before Zemo mad his way to the wall cupboards.

Bucky continued his way around the table until he stood next to Juliet. “Well maybe, we should give him to the Wakandas right now”, he looked at Juliet who raised her eyebrow at him and scoffed as she jokingly slapped his shoulder.

Bucky smirked and turned around to walk further into the room. “And give up your tour guide?”, Zemo asked him.

“Yes”

“From my understanding, Sonya is like a pillar of the community, right? So, when I was a kid, my TT passed away—.” Bucky hesitantly looked at Sam, “Your TT?”

“Yeah, man. My TT”

“Who is your TT?” Sam rolled his eyes, “Fine. When I was a kid, my aunt passed away and the entire neighborhood got together for a ceremony. It was like a week long.”

Sam looked at Juleit, “Maybe, they're doing the same thing for Donya.”

“Worth a shot”

“You're TT would be proud of you”, Zemo said as he looked at Sam. He held something up, “Turkish delight”, he said before he threw it at Sam who catched it.

He then threw a couple of the on the table as he looked at Juliet, “Irresistible.” Juliet rolled her eyes and walked over to the couch where she sat down next to Bucky.

“Everything okay?”

The man looked at her before he slowly nodded, “Yeah, everything's good. I just had a little reunion with someone I used to know.”

Juliet nodded at him, but didn't wanted to push him further so the leaned her head back and closed her eyes for a bit.

An hour later Juliet walked in between Sam and Bucky as they entered some inner courtyard of a building.

“Shame what's become of this place. When I was young, we used to come here for fabulous dinners and parties. I knew nothing of the politics of the time, of course, but I remember it being beautiful.”

There were many people who chatted with each other and little kids that played and run through the courtyard.

“I'm gonna take a look around upstairs. See what you can find out here. And keep an eye on him”, Sam told them as he looked at Zemo sceptical.

So Juliet and Bucky stood by the door as they watched Zemo approche the group of kids that Juliet had watched a moment ago.

They watched as he sat down and emptied a bag of turkish delight on a small table. “The hell he's doing?”, Bucky said as he looked at the women besides him.

She leaned her head to the side and listened in on the conversation, “Turkish delight”

“It was always my son's favorite.”
Juliet looked back at Bucky, “He's talking about his son.”

Bucky furrowed his eyebrows, “His son?”

“It's starting to feel like a dead end”, Sam suddenly said from besides them as they all watched Zemo. The little girl looked at the three for a second before Zemo gave them the sweets and rejoined with Juliet, Sam and Bucky.

“Cute kids.” The three looked at each other as Zemo walked past them.

“Something is up”, Juliet said as she watched the man with a sceptical expression on her face. “With him, something is always up”, Sam responded before they followed after the man.

When they were back in their hiding place, Sam, Juliet and Bucky sat down on the couche.

“Well, Jules and I got nothin'. No one's talkin' about Donya”, Bucky infromed Sam a bit demotivated.

“Yeah, that's because Karli is the only one fighting for them. And she's not wrong.” Bucky sighed confused, “What do you mean?”

Sam looked at the others, “For five years, people have been welcomed into countries that kept them out using barbwire. There were houses and jobs. Folks were happy to have people around to help them rebuild. It wasn't just one community coming together, it was the entired world coming together.”

“And then Boom, just like that, it goes all right back to the way it used to be. To them, at least Karli's don't somethin'.” Juliet let out a deep breath as she watched Sam.

“You really think her ends justify her means?”, Bucky questioned him. He pointed at Zemo, “Then, she's no different than him or anybody else we've fought.”

Sam shook his head, “She's different. She's not motivated by the same things.” Zemo approched them with drinks in his hands.

Juliet eyed the man for a moment, “That little girl. What'd she tell you? I mean after you told her about your son.” Zemo looked a bit surprised and Sam gave her a confused look by the words son.

After a short moment Zemo placed the drinks on the table, “The funeral is this afternoon.”

“You know that the Dora's coming for you any minute. In galt their probably lurking outside right now. Keep talking”, Bucky told him as he watched the man seriously.

Zemo narrowed his eyes, “Leaving you to turn on me once we get to Karli—Hmm. I prefer to keep my leverage.”

Bucky slowly stood up from the couch and walked towards Zemo. He stopped infront of him and after a short moment he grabbed the glass that was in Zemos's hands and threw it against the wall behind the man.

“You wanna see what someone can do with leverage?”

“James, don't!”, Juliet said as she stood up quickly. She grabbed his arm and pulled him back again. He looked at her, “Come down”, she continued as she looked into his eyes.

“Take it easy. Don't engage him. He's just going to extort you and do that stupid head tiki thing”, Sam told him as he watched the two.

“Let me make a call”

Bucky still stood infront of Zemo as Sam left, so Juliet slowly grabbed his other hand and dragged him a bit away form the man.

“Want some cherry blossom tea?”, was all Zemo shouted after them.
But they both didn't answerd him as Juliet slowly closed the door behind her.

“Calm down, okay? That's just what he wants”, the women told Bucky as they stood in a big room that was lightened by the sun who shone through the window.

“I know, he's just a dayly reminder of who I used to be”, he said as he sat down at the small couch that stood by the window. She sat down besides him as she looked at the man, “James, I really hope you find a way to be yourself one day.”

The man looked up into her eyes, “Yeah I hope so too. But do you really think I can?” he looked down at the ground folding his hands.

“No.” Bucky furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at her. “I know so”, she smiled at him as she laid a hand on his shoulder.

Suddenly someone knocked at the door. “Come in!”, was all Juliet answered before Sam entered the room. “Come on, we're leaving for the funeral now”

But as soon as they stepped out of the door, Walker and Hoskins approched them on the street. “Karli Morgenthau is too dangerous for you guys to be pulling this shit!”, Walker said as he and his friend walked down the stone stairs.

“Ah! How's you find us now?”, Bucky asked him loudly as they walked towards each other.

“Come on, man. You really think three Avengers can walk around Latvia without drawing attention?”, Hoskins aksed him sarcastically.

“No more keeping us in the dark! You could start by telling us why you broke him out of prison”

Bucky looked at Walker, “He did that himself, technically.”

“This is better be an unbelievable explan—!”, Walker exclaimed as he came closer to Bucky. Sam pushed him back, “Hey, take it easy before it gets weird.”

The blonde man looked at Juliet, “Troy”, he nodded his head. Juliet crossed her arms over her chest, “Walker.”

“I know where Karli is”, Zemo informed them suddeny before he tried to walk past Walker but the man stopped him. “Well, where?”

“All we know is, it's a memorial. So we gonna intercept her there”, Sam explained to him calmly.  “That means civilians. High risk of casualties.”

They all followed after Zemo, “All right, good. We'll move in fast. Take her by surprise”, Juliet could hear Walkers voice from behind her as she walked besides Bucky.

“No, I wanna talk to her, alone”, Sam argued with him.

“I'm not loosing her again.”

“Look, the person closest to her died, she's vulnerable. Now is the time to reason with her.” Walker suddeny jogged infront of the group, “What? No. Wait. No! Stop! Hold on, stop!”

Juliet stoped and rolled her eyes at him annoyed. “I think we're way past reasoning with her, unless you forgot that she blew up a building with people still in it!”, Walker argued angry with them.

Hoskins looked at Sam, “Sam, you walk in there cold, she could kill you.”

“And if I go in hot and op goes wrong, more people will die”, Sam responded to him blankly.

“You're gonna let him do this? Are you gonna let your partner walk into a room with a Super Solider alone?”

Bucky looked at Walker seriously, “He's dealt with worse. And he's not my partner.”

“Look, Walker. If something goes wrong, I'm still here. I can listen to their conversation and we know when somethin' goes wrong”, Juliet told him as she let her arms that she had crossed over her chest fall to both of her sides.

“I used to counsel Soliders dealing with trauma, okay? This is in my wheelhouse”, Sam said as he approched Walker.

“Yeah, I know. And I know those soliders, which is why I know this is a bad idea.”

“Wait, John”, Lemar suddeny spoke up as he looked at his friend, “If he can talk her down, it might be worth a try.”

Walker scoffed as he looked back at the others, he then looked at Zemo, “We'll deal with you later.”

Zemo held up his hands, “I'm sure it will all come to an agreeable conclusion. My associate is just up ahead.”

As they looked around they saw a little girl standig in the middle of the street waiting for them before they continued their way towards her.

After Zemo gave the girl a lot of money, she lead then to the place where Donya's funeral was held.

The girl stood by the door pointing indie, “Karli is in there”, Zemo informed the others as they all stood there watching her.

“All right”

Sam followed the girl inside while Walker grabbed Zemo and handcuffed him to a metal pipe.

“Hey, you got 10 minutes”, he shouted after Sam. Zemo looked at the man and pointed to his handcuffs, “Really?” Walker gave him a look before Zemo scoffed, “But I get it.”

The five stood in the room in scilence, Juliet listening in on the funeral.

What Karli said about Donya was beautiful and Juliet though back to her mother's funeral.

Many people were there that day,  dressed in black with umbrellas. It was a very rainy day and it seemed like even the world would mourn the death of her mother. Juliet could remember that she didn't even recognized most of the people, but her younger self didn't really cared eather.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Walker who slowly grew more and more nervous. Juliet started listening in on the conversation again.

Karli and Sam were just talking about how Sam was either brilliant or hopelessly optimistic. So Sam was definitely not in danger.

But Walker walked up and down constantly muttering, “No, no, no.”

He turned towards Bucky and Juliet who were standing by the door, “This is a bad idea.”

“It's been ten minutes, John. Just sit tight.” Walker turned to Bucky, “Don't do that! Don't patronize me!”

Bucky stayed calm, “He knows what he's doing.” Walker stopped walking around and looked at the clock.

“Look, I can hear them. Sam is not in danger”, Juliet tried to assure the man but Walker approched them, “I'm goin' in!”

Bucky sighed and stopped Walker as he pushed him back with his hand.
“This is all really easy for you, isn't it? All that serum runnin' through your veins.”

Bucky eyed him still calmly. “Barnes, your partner needs backup in there. Do you really want his blood on your hands?”

“There will be no blood because he isn't in danger right now”, Juliet spoke up again as she eyed Walker with narrowed eyes. But the man just scoffed and pushed Bucky to the side with all his strength before he rushed of.

Juliet and Bucky exchanged a look before they quickly made their way after him together with Hoskins.

“Karli Morgenthau, you're under arrest!”, Juliet could hear Walker say as he stepped into the room. The girl looked at Sam, “So that is what that was, trucking me until help came?”

“We had enough time to talk”, Walker said as he approched the girl.

But she punched against his shield sending him to the floor together with Sam. Juliet quickly pulled Sam up, “Everythig okay?”

“Yeah, I'm fine”

In the mean time Bucky had followed after Karli, alone. Juliet and Sam quickly made their way through the building where they at some point met Bucky again.

“Shit!”

“I lost her.” Juliet looked at the two hectically, “This thing is a maze.”

After a moment they heard a couple of gunshots in the distance. Juliet looked at the others, “Did you hear that?” Sam nodded his head, “Yeah, let's go!”

And with that the three started running towards the gunshots as fast as they could. But they were to late.

When they arrived they saw Zemo laying on the ground and Walker, who stood over him with his shield in his hand. Sam was the first one who spoke up, “What did we miss?”