______________________________________

at the front seats, while Alex rested.

"What's going to happen your friends?" Bucky had asked.

"Whatever it is, I'll deal with it." Steve assured.

"I don't know if I'm worth all this, Steve."

Steve looked over at his best friend of decades. The hurt in Bucky's eyes almost physically pained him.

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

"I know," Bucky glanced over to Alex, who seemed sound asleep. "But I did it."

Alex couldn't fully fall asleep, but rather, listened to the calming voices of the pair at the front. She felt as though she was intruding on their conversation so she stood up so Steve could take his turn.

"Steve," Alex said groggily. "You know what I just realized?"

"What's that, kid?"

"Where the hell is Thor?"

Steve chuckled as he walked to the back area of the Quinjet, taking the blanket from Alex.

"We never know where Thor is."

"Thor?" Bucky asked from the front.

"I don't believe you've had the pleasure of meeting Thor, but he not only is the God of Thunder, but uh, is the brother of her boyfriend." Steve winked at Alex.

She smiled, stretching her limbs. Her suit was still on, the spandex sticking very tightly to her skin. She walked to the front of the ship where Bucky sat to watch the controls, and took a seat next to him.

"Have a nice nap?"

"Couldn't really fall asleep," She admitted. "I'm a bit restless these days,"

"May I ask why?"

"I'm not sure, to be honest with you. Adjusting to Asgard, maybe. Fighting with Tony also messes with my mind. The disappointment that was so evident in his face,"

Bucky's eyes were trained on the sky in front of them. "He scares me."

Alex turned to look at Bucky before laughing. "He scares you?"

"Yes," He defended. "He's got that father look, and fathers never liked me."

"What, were you just the delinquent of the 1940's?"

"I was in the army, so, no, but I did leave a trail of broken hearts that sent some dads chasing after me," Bucky chuckled, which was the most she had ever seen.

"Did they," Bucky paused, as if he was wondering how to word his question. "Did they hurt you?"

Alex knew instantly what he was talking about. She didn't strike Bucky as the kind to talk about his experiences, but maybe he trusted her since she was the only one that had seen HYDRA firsthand. Even if she wasn't there long, she still had nightmares about being back in that cell.

"Not too bad," She responded. "I was lucky I could escape. But, the things I saw in there....I'm sorry you went through that."

She placed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, but she wasn't sure it worked. She always got awkward when people told them their experiences. He looked at her hand, and she removed it. He almost laughed at her pathetic attempt at counsel.

"Hey, I got this kick-ass arm, though."

"I was wondering," She thought aloud. "If I tried to arm wrestle you,"

"No chance."

"I don't know, I think I'd have a decent shot."

Steve awoke to their chatter, walking to the front of the Quinjet. Bucky stood up, going back to take his rest.

"Did I miss anything?"

"Not really."

"How's things with the Missus?"

She chuckled. "Good. It's weird going so long without talking to him,"

"Now you know how dating in the 40's was."

"Okay, gramps. Is that what that was earlier with Sharon?"

He waved her off. "We've got more important things to worry about."

She nodded. He was right, anyway. The Quinjet was nearing Siberia, and she now had to focus on what was waiting for them there. Steve woke Bucky up as they approached the snowy mountainous area.

Steve expertly landed the plane in a deserted area. Bucky went to the back, and from a tray of assault rifles, took his pick. Alex put her eye mask back on, and looked outside.

"Someone could've told me to bring a jacket,"

"I can give you mine, sweetheart."

"In your dreams, Barnes." She looked forward as the jet hatch opened.

"Buck, you remember that time we had to ride back from Rockaway Beach in the back of that freezer truck?"

"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." Steve chuckled.

Alex mockingly placed her hand over her heart.

"What was her name again?"

"Dolores." Steve replied. "You called her Dot."

"She's gotta be a hundred years old right now,"

"So are you, hot shot." Alex spoke.

They stepped out of the jet, and there wasn't a soul in sight. They only heard the whisper of the icy wind that blew right by them. They approached a cave, with a door in the middle of it. And the door was wide open.

"He can't have been here more than a few hours." Steve was the first to speak.

"Long enough to wake them up." Bucky replied.

They took a cage-like elevator down, deep into the earth. It was silent, but the tension was loud.

"You two ready?" Steve asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be, grandpa."

"Grandpa, gotta use that one." Bucky chimed in.

"Not so fast, grandma."

Bucky didn't have time to defend himself as the elevator jolted to a stop at the ground floor. Steve lifted the door, and they slowly stepped out. Bucky had his gun at the ready, and Alex read for any energy nearby. They stealthily made their way around the ball, when a loud thud sounded.

All three of them turned to see the door slowly opening, and on the other side, was Tony.

"Oh, good, Zemo's got an Iron Man costume." Alex dropped her hands and retorted.

"You seem a little defensive," Tony condescendingly replied.

"It's been a long day."

Tony looked to Bucky, whose gun was still up. "At ease, Soldier, I'm not currently after you."

"Then why are you here?" Steve asked.

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

Steve almost grinned. "Well, that sounds like a lot of paperwork. It's good to see you Tony."

"Good to see you too, Cap. And you, Sparky." Tony then glanced to Bucky again. "Hey, Manchurian candidate, you're killing me. There's a truce here, you can drop it."

Bucky reluctantly dropped his aim, not looking the least bit convinced. They four of them all kept walking throughout the floor, in search of anything useful.

"I've got energy signatures," Alex spoke.

"How many?"

"Uh, one,"

They reached the end of the hall, which dumped into a large circular room. Around the edge of the room, was several chambers filled with yellow liquid and tubes coming out of them. There was a sort of control panel in the middle of the room, and the lights were dim.

"If it's any comfort," A loud voice sounded over a P.A. system. "They died in their sleep,"

They all looked around for the source of the voice, and quickly realized it was Zemo.

Bodies were sitting peacefully in chairs inside the chambers, with some kind of wound on their head.

"Did you really think I wanted more of you?" It kept speaking.

"I'm grateful to them, though, because they brought you here."

Zemo's face suddenly lit up in a box far away, from some kind of viewing room. Steve flung his shield at the box, but it ricocheted back at him.

"Please, Captain. The Soviets build this chamber to withstand the launch blast of UR-100 rockets." Zemo mocked.

"I'm betting I could beat that," Stark sang.

"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 spoke.

It was at this time, Alex detected another energy in the room. She glanced over, and saw a familiar black spandex suit hiding in the shadows. She remained quiet for the time being, but made a mental note to not let him surprise them.

"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. How nice to find a flaw,"

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with Steve's eyes." Alex argued, but quickly shook her head once she got a dirty look from Tony.

"You're Sokovian." Steve responded. "Is that what this is about?"

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

"You lost someone,"

"I lost everyone," Zemo snarled. "And so will you."

Zemo clicked a button, and a screen next to them displayed a date in a foreign language. The 16th of some month, Alex read, 1991.

"An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one that crumbles from within. That's dead, forever."

Tony stepped over to the screen, observing it. "I know that road. What is this?"

They watched intently, and Alex flinched when it showed a car violently crashing into a tree. A motorcycle then appeared and a man jumped off his bike. He slowly walked around the car to the driver, who was crawling out of the crash.

"Seargent Barnes?" Was heard from the video.

Alex's wide eyes shifted from the video, to Tony, who was now looking at Bucky. The amount of hatred that now formed in the orbs of his eyes was so clear even Zemo could've seen it.

Bucky killed Tony's parents.

____________________________________

𝚍𝚘 𝚢'𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚢'𝚜 𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚛? 𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚕

𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝙸 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑𝚢!!!