The Right Partner
By rockofmarduk
Chapter 24: Lair of Baron Zemo
000
If there was anything that Andrea Von Strucker hated more it was dust.
It covered her clothes, her hair, it even got up her nose and made her sneeze. Dust covered every corner of the room, except for the enormous purple throne that sat majestically against the wall in the middle of the huge stone chamber she was in. The purple curtains with their royal insignia that hung in tatters from the walls, the ancient wooden dinning table that was slowly rotting away to nothing, the old oak desk that was starting to lean to one side, even the disgusting, weather beaten mattress that was supposed to resemble a bed was covered in the disgusting stuff. Yes she definitely hated dust, but for the sake of ultimate power she would hide her disdain, especially from the man who promised her the world.
That said man was now standing in front of an old painting that showed a handsome man in his late twenty's to early thirty's, with blue eyes and blond hair, dressed in royal robes looking every bit the heir to an ancient family legacy. The sad thing about it was the two men were one in the same, the great Baron Zemo himself, his beauty lost to an over zealous Dr. Zola and a tyrant Red Skull, his face forever hidden behind a purple shroud of a mask. Heinrich had told her everything that had lead to his family's loss of power and his exquisite beauty to the sabotage of Arnim Zola on his adhesive X. And the Red Skull's taking of his ancestral home and turning it into his own war factory and science lab, awakening the sleeper, fast asleep under his castle home and the destroying of everything he owned thanks to them and to the American super soldier.
She actually felt sorry for him, but she forced herself to hide her true feelings as to not appear weak in his eyes. She was promised to be queen of this world once Baron Zemo had conquered it and unlike her idiot brother she had no intention of wasting such an opportunity by showing weakness and compassion for anyone or anything, especially the enemy like Zola.
(Werner your such a little fool), Andrea thought to herself as Zemo turned to look at her, (look at what you lost, all that power. Your just like father and Andreas, no imagination or ambition what so ever.)
"Were you successful my dear in procuring the documents?" Zemo awoke Andrea from her thoughts as he strolled towards his desk and sat down behind it.
"Well of course I was Baron", Andrea purred as she produced said documents from her bag and handed them to the tyrant, "would I be here if I didn't? I always get what I want, no matter how I get it." she said seductively.
Baron Zemo chuckled. "I'm sure you do." he said as he started looking through the papers. "We have almost everything we need, but were still missing a few things. Like where are the rest of the documents I need?"
Andrea sighed as she crossed her legs on the desk she made herself comfortable on. "They weren't in any of the file cabinets, so I suspect that they might have been put in the safe. Unfortunately it would have taken me too long to crack it open and time was not on my side. The next shift was about to come on and I grabbed what I could."
Zemo nodded as he finished flipping through the papers. "Do not worry my dear Andrea, you did fine with what you got."
Getting up from behind the desk, Zemo walked over to the rotten dinning table and studied the array of objects lined up neatly on top. They were all the family trophies and heirlooms that Zemo had managed to salvage from the wreak that had been his home since the day he was born. His angry and hate had never been so strong until that day when he returned from his hiding place in the mountains to discover his home in ruins. His father and his ancestors were probably rolling over in their graves, disgusted and shamed at the disgrace he had brought to the Zemo name, by trusting those commoners.
What was he thinking?
Knowing what had to be done to reclaim his family's honor he explained to Andrea what needed to be done. "I heard that there is to be another change in the guard earlier than anticipated today. I need you to go back and break into that safe and get those documents. I believe you will have just enough time to get them, if not I'll create a diversion so you can slip out unnoticed. We need that super soldier formula if we are to succeed. Understood my future queen?"
"Understood my future king." Andrea smiled wickedly and bowed to Zemo before departing to prepare for the next heist.
Zemo shock his head as she left. She was a promising young woman, much more dependable than that brother of hers, but still could he trust her. Ever since Dr. Zola's betrayal, Zemo was much more cautious about who he trusted and what secrets he revealed. But for now he had no choice but to trust her if he wanted his plan to go through. He still wasn't sure if he wanted to share his future throne with such devious woman. She was however a perfect candidate to continue the Zemo bloodline if he so choose, queen or not. Chuckling to himself Zemo poured himself a drink of schnapps and toasted to the portrait of his former self as he imagined the pain and suffering that those who wronged him would soon go through.
"Revenge my dear, how truely beautiful you really are."