Before this chapter begins:
With Amadeus and Inessa sharing a body for this chapter, I wanted to give him a voice in things too, but in a way that wasn't too confusing. Therefore, except when italics are used to emphasize a word in a sentence, anything like: Amadeus: or Inessa: means that they are thoughts, not something spoken. You could have probably figured that out on your own, but I just wanted to give you a heads up to avoid confusion :)
Chapter 20: Not Dead (Yet)
Bucky's face broke into a massive grin and he pulled Amadeus into a tight hug, "Inessa, I- you're-"he couldn't find the words for the incredible relief that washed over him.
Amadeus: Get him off me. Get. Him. Off. Of. Me. And if you two kiss I swear to god-
"We're freaking the host out," Inessa pushed Bucky away lightly. She suppressed her smile- she had to admit it was a nice hug.
Amadeus: NO. That is NOT allowed in MY BODY!
Inessa: Stop reading my mind!
Amadeus: I can't NOT, you're broadcasting loud and clear!
Inessa: I've never done this before, give me a break!
"How are you doing this?" Bucky had no idea Inessa and Amadeus were bickering, "I thought you were gone."
"It's kind of hard to explain… Amadeus, shut up for a few minutes, OK?" She caught the confusion on her companion's face and pointed to her (Amadeus') head, "He's being noisy," it was hardly an explanation, but Bucky was willing to take it.
Inessa: I just realized I have no idea how to explain this.
Amadeus: Well, show me what you know and I'll try to talk you through it.
"Um, alright," she decided to parrot her lieutenant, "The wolves in the Valley- they weren't wolves, they were something I made without realizing it. My eyes were brown when I was little, but between Dimitri's drunken beatings and the general stress of growing up broke in a place like Englewood, I wasn't shutting my power down as quickly as I got older. When Hydra took me I was always trying to use my abilities, testing their frequency and with everything… I never stopped. I never let go of the shadows. Frequency or no, my powers were still active, so my eyes didn't change back."
"Amadeus thinks the Hydra attacks and the accidents when I was little are linked to my emotions. The wolves became more feral the angrier and more afraid I became. After Hydra they were psychotic because with everything I'd just about lost my mind too. I was broken, beyond terrified, and desperate for the world to make some sort of sense for five minutes in a row. They fed off that confusion and were out of control."
Amadeus: You lost your mind to Hydra…
Inessa: Yeah, and a lot of people suffered for it.
Amadeus: You lost your mind… To that hundred-plus year old man over there you were just thinking is such a nice hugger.
Inessa: Amadeus Cho don't you start in on that-
Amadeus: You're literally in my head, I can see your every thought and as an inside AND outside observer let me make it clear: I DON'T APPROVE OF ANY MORE HUGGING!
She felt like taunting him out of spite, What about-
Amadeus: NONE OF THAT EITHER, YOUNG LADY!
"So what was the armor then? That stuff- I thought it was killing you." Bucky could tell there was some internal dialogue going on between Inessa and Amadeus, but he couldn't hear what they were saying and there was information he definitely needed.
Amadeus: Repeat after me, ghoul-
"The wolves- it took power to form and maintain them," she wasn't sure it would work, but Inessa held up Amadeus' arm, "one percent of my power for every wolf- not really but let's pretend- one hundred wolves means one hundred percent of my power. Then instead of the shadows forming from this," she let black mist run down Amadeus' arm, "it starts sucking its power from me. If left unchecked it will kill me." She closed her fist and pure black armor erupted from the flesh, wholly encasing it, "This is what one hundred percent in one spot looks like, but it's self-contained. I create it, then it keeps itself going, unlike the wolves. The wolves keep drawing from me, this- it's like a battery backup.
"We didn't know what it was the first time. Using my power the way I did pulled way more than I'd ever tried to use before. My system was strained, my powers started drawing from my body, and somehow I created the armor. It was protecting me, I think, covering me so that I could extend my abilities just a little bit longer during the day. Travis didn't understand- none of us did. The armor protected me from my own powers. He- Travis- pushed me into the sun, shorted it out before it could form all the way. My power turned on me, just about killed me because I couldn't shut it off.
"The Avengers thought it was the Shadow dislodging from the host, so when Travis found me at the Collector's Vault he tried to jump-start me again, knock me clean out of this world. The armor was the overflow power. I couldn't shut it down, couldn't see or hear anything. Berny's gun forced everything to stop- the wolves, the armor- he reset my abilities and threw a lot of power back into me… Did that make any sense?"
Amadeus: Only if he has brain damage.
Bucky nodded, "I think so."
Amadeus: Oh, that's comforting.
Inessa got the gist of what Amadeus was trying to explain- armor good, armor help. No armor bad.
Amadeus: Have I told you lately you're a true intellectual juggernaut?
Inessa: Suck it.
"What's our next move? I was going to go for the intel before Sam tossed me in here. I think as long as Berny believes you're dead he can be persuaded to help us."
"First we need to know- Amadeus, who did Sam bring?"
Amadeus: Castor, Ellie, Eoin, Geoff, Kelsey, Marie, Maya, Raj, Travis, and myself. There are a handful of Asgardians, I'd believe if they had numbers instead of names. They're drones, but their leader's a snake- Calder.
"Alright, we've got Castor Kane, he's from Stark's team so he's a tech expert. He doesn't have superpowers but he's an excellent fighter. Next is Ellie Burke, a psychic from Natasha's team. She isn't as powerful as Madelyn Pryor was, but she can do basic mind reading, memory wipes, and she can influence emotion on the unsuspecting. Eoin O'Meara isn't an Avenger, he's a thug. Do you remember Mallory Ivanou?"
Bucky nodded, "Your best friend."
"Eoin is one of the ex-Hydra prisoners I handed over when she found me in Alaska. They started dating. When I formed the first Shadow Unit to help keep Steve out of trouble she was the first teammate I chose. Eoin came with her. He revealed our attack plans to Thanos in the Infinity War and got her along with eight other Avengers killed. If the death toll hadn't already been into seven digits we would have killed him too."
"Powers?"
"Healing. Also- be warned- he was about to be named leader of a second Black Ops unit when he betrayed us. He's smart and dangerous, a real sociopath."
"Who else is in Sam's arsenal?"
"Geoff Smith. He's from Steve's team, a teleporter. Then there's Kelsey Leigh- think Thor but with a sword instead of a hammer, she's also from Steve's team."
"Is there any significance to that? Two from his team?" Bucky was asking all the right questions, Inessa could tell Amadeus was impressed.
"Thanks to someone's prophecy Steve started turning on me first. It caused a lot of issues with the other Avengers, so like with any conflict things started to polarize. You had to be all in or all against, no middle ground. The other Avengers saw it as a personal attack on one of their own, Steve's team had to get pretty aggressive to defend his position for him. Kelsey and Geoff probably hate me almost half as Eoin- and they're both pretty much at the point where they'd like to see my face peeled off and sewn on inside out. That says more about Eoin's capacity for hate than it does about theirs."
Bucky grimaced, "They'll be spirited. Got it. Marie messes with temperature, Maya?"
"Maya Lopez is from Thor's group, so she might not hate me quite as vividly as the others. Maya is stone deaf- unlike Clint the hearing aids couldn't help her. She's a fighter like Castor but with superhuman speed and reflexes- you and Natasha minus the strength, basically. She'll move about twice as fast as me, half a step faster than you. Rajesh Patel, also from Thor's team, is a master of invisibility. Sam brought him for his power, no doubt. He's good in a fight, but just trust your instincts over your eyes with him- he tends to fake right and dive left. Thor turned on me second-to-last, so his team is still new to the hate. They'll be hard to pin down. Last man on the list is Travis Ivanovich of Banner's team. He's a doctor, he can take away your pain or give you more- don't let him touch you. Eoin can't be trusted, Sam knows this, and I'm betting he brought Travis along as a back-up medic for when Eoin turns on them."
"Two from Steve and Thor's teams, Natasha, Stark, Banner, and two from your team, counting Amadeus. Why didn't Sam bring any of his own people? His lieutenant?"
Inessa shook her head, "That's what makes this all so difficult. Sam was the last one to turn on me. He believed in me when no one else would- and I took that for granted. I pushed him away, hard, and made him look back over all that evidence with an angry eye. Then- then something happened that sealed the deal. Hell, if I didn't know any better I'd have turned on me too. His team didn't even get the chance to learn to hate me. He's probably left them on Earth to keep an eye on Wanda and Vision. I spent the last month working on them while I was looking for you and convincing them I wasn't a threat. Sam isn't listening to his own people anymore because they were counseling patience when he just wanted blood. I'm more scared of him than I am of all of them combined."
Amadeus: You're not going to tell him what happened to-
Inessa: No. Not unless he asks. I want him to trust me. If he finds out about Noelle then he'll turn on me, guaranteed.
Amadeus: You don't know that.
Inessa: I do, because you turned on me, and you had a million more reasons to trust me than he does right now.
Amadeus: Nessie, I'm sorry. I'll never stop being sorry.
Inessa: It's alright Amadeus. The big bad was smart this time. If they weren't then I'd have figured it out sooner.
Amadeus: Figured what out? Who's doing this?
Inessa couldn't help it. Under normal circumstances she'd just close her mouth and refuse to speak, but she and Amadeus were in one another's heads. At his question the entire puzzle appeared, laid out perfectly, even with the multitude of assumptions she'd made based off of what evidence was available from the blood magic straight to the face of their enemy.
Inessa: Don't freak out.
Amadeus: So it was-
Inessa: Yes.
Amadeus: And Thanos' Warlord is-
Inessa: Yeah…
Amadeus: It's-
Inessa: I'm fairly positive, yeah. It's the only thing that makes sense.
He was surprisingly silent for a few moments. Bucky could see from the glint in Amadeus' eyes that Inessa was busy communicating with the body's owner, so he saved his question until her focus was shifted back outwards. Suddenly though she jumped and covered her ears, "Amadeus stop screaming!" she hissed.
Amadeus: WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!
Inessa: No, we're all only probably going to die!
Amadeus: NO, WE'RE COMPLETELY FUCKED! WE'RE DEAD, GONE, KAPUT!
Inessa: Now do you see why I don't blame you for turning on me?
Amadeus: BECAUSE YOU DON'T WANT TO DIE WITH REGRETS?! Go ahead- hug Bucky again, kiss him, screw him, do whatever makes you happy because THE MOTHERFUCKING REAPER HAS ALL OUR NAMES ON HIS LIST!
Inessa: Now you're just being dramatic.
Amadeus: YES, THAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU FIND OUT YOU'RE GOING TO DIE!
Inessa: Can I talk to Bucky while you melt down? We've got to find this S.O.B, get out of here alive, get away from Sam, deal with a certain little traitor friend of ours, figure out a plan to survive the Warlord, and get our friend's back.
Amadeus: They're lucky. They're already dead.
Inessa: Amadeus…
Amadeus: Go chat. I'll just be sitting here, reminiscing fondly on simpler foes… LIKE THANOS!
"You've got your question face on," Inessa ignored the headache Amadeus was giving her and turned back to Bucky, who was blissfully ignorant of how devastatingly outmatched they were, "go for it."
"How many members are on each team?"
Amadeus: Oh snap.
Her heart sank. She knew where this would end, "Four. With Marie's addition we had even numbers across all teams."
He shook his head, "So why didn't Sam bring any lieutenants? Second in command- they'd be most out for blood and the rest could stay behind to keep the world safe."
Amadeus: Your luck is never this good. He's going to ask about Noelle next.
"Travis is a lieutenant. He's one of the angrier ones. The others swore an oath- if anything happens to the leaders they have to focus on getting Earth's defenses back up. They count themselves as the leaders now, and Travis will lose that position since he came with Sam and broke the oath. You already know Amadeus is my lieutenant. I'm betting Sam brought him to try and win over the others on Earth who aren't so sure I'm guilty. If my lieutenant seconds my execution then any Avengers with a shadow of a doubt of my guilt will be more likely to support Sam- even after he's killed another leader."
Amadeus: Never. I've got your back now boss, I promise. Until I die a painful, agonizing, terrifying, horrific death.
Inessa: You just said 'ouch' and 'scary' two different ways, but I still appreciate the sentiment.
Amadeus: Appreciate away, because the next question he asks-
"I get that this has all ballooned into something bigger than you anticipated," Bucky nodded to Inessa, "I think I understand why you were so angry when you found me."
Amadeus: Wow. Really? You're actually having a good day for once? He's not asking why Sam only brought Marie and I?
Inessa flat-out ignored him, "I was running out of time. If I didn't get to you before Heimdall's summons… Alone this is suicide. Alone there is absolutely no hope of us finding the others. I'm not even sure Steve, Nat, Clint, Tony, Banner, and Thor won't still blame me, if they're alive."
Amadeus: Knowing our enemy? Yeah, I'll bet most of them are still alive. Not Thor or Tony- they're not unusual like the others, but Steve and Nat for sure are good for some human experiments. Banner too, probably. Clint's at least a vaguely interesting oddity, ability-wise. He probably lasted a couple weeks- or had his eyes ripped out the first day.
Inessa: Amadeus, we need hope right now, not reality.
Amadeus: Sorry Nessie, it's hard to control what you hear me think.
Inessa: Ellie will be done with her inspection of my body soon, then I can go back and you can be as pessimistic as you want.
Amadeus: I appreciate that.
Bucky had already decided to trust Inessa, but she was still cagey around sharing intel. Still, she was warming up, and that was better than blind hope for the future. At least now he had a grasp of Sam's forces, "Amadeus or Inessa- what can you tell me about Calder?"
Amadeus raised his arm, "Inessa with Amadeus adding in. Calder is one of Odin's guards. I'm fairly confident he knows Odin is-"she forgot she couldn't say. The damned curse followed her into a new body! At least Bucky already knew that-
Amadeus: LOKI IS ODIN AND THE FUCKING SHADOW KING?!
Inessa: At last, a silver lining.
"Anyways," she could tell Bucky knew where her thoughts had been going, "He controls the Asgardians, but Amadeus says he's shifty, like he's trying to be sneaky."
"Yeah," Bucky nodded, "I've got a bad feeling about that one. I'll handle him if it comes to that."
"Alright," Inessa was content to let him handle whatever issue he foresaw, "there's something else we've got to take care of. I know the emergency procedures and Sam's routine- I know he's got Ellie scanning my body right now looking for me. When she doesn't find me, she'll look elsewhere just to be sure. Once she's done with my body, I can go back into it. Sam, however, is going to check JARVIS' protocols."
Amadeus: Wait, you're not saying-
"What protocols?"
"The embedded comms. Tony installed a shit-ton of personal scanners after the Infinity War so the comms can be hacked to monitor vital signs and do scans of brainwaves. Basically? Sam's got a remote suit on this ship somewhere to act as a relay for the comms. That suit is scanning data from my comm. If anyone knows I'm not gone, it'll be JARVIS and my brain activity scans."
"So we need to destroy the suit?" Bucky was planning how to get out of the cell.
"No, and that's too obvious. JARVIS' scans are locked- only Steve and Tony together can unlock the medical data, it was a condition of the end of their war. Neither can access that unless the other is present. What Sam can do, however, is ask JARVIS for Amadeus' status."
"I don't follow."
"JARVIS can't tell Sam if I'm still in the body or not, it violates that part of his programming. He can however indicate if I'm gone or not by how he refers to Amadeus."
Amadeus: You wouldn't dare…
Inessa tapped Amadeus' comm, "JARVIS, tone and cadence match. Identify and patch to system mainframe."
"Inessa Ryker. Shadow Unit Leader. Speaking through Amadeus Cho." The automated reply guaranteed Sam wouldn't be able to track this call through comms. It wasn't like a normal chat with JARVIS, it was directly accessing a part of his coding.
"Good. Now listen up- I, Inessa Nadya Antonia Emilia Ryker-"
Amadeus: DON'T YOU DARE!
"-hereby vote in favor-"
Amadeus: I WILL SIDE WITH SAM AGAINST YOU, FOR REAL!
"-of making Amadeus Cho-"
Amadeus: I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS!
"-leader of Avengers Black Ops Unit number two."
Amadeus: EVERYTHING YOU LOVE! I WILL PEE ON EVERYTHING YOU LOVE!
"In the fourth and final vote before the explosion I abstained. Now my vote is cast. JARVIS, report the results."
"Unanimous vote achieved. The Shadow Unit has been divided. Amadeus Cho is now Leader of Avengers Black Ops."
Amadeus: YOU EVIL WENCH! EVIL! DEVIL-WOMAN! I HOPE YOU- ooh…
Inessa: What?
Amadeus: I just remembered what Leaders get paid. Kaching!
Inessa: No more peeing?
Amadeus: Not at the moment, no.
Bucky raised his eyebrows, "What did you just do?"
Inessa grinned, "Sam's going to try and get JARVIS to verify my 'death' by asking who Amadeus Cho is. JARVIS is going to tell him my old lieutenant is now leader of Avengers Black Ops. Sam won't think to ask the right questions to get JARVIS to show him that vote again and see that mine changed in favor. It's a smokescreen, but a damned clever one. Bucky, until this is over and you're back on Earth, can you be my new lieutenant?"
"Just don't tell JARVIS. Whatever he has me listed as cannot change, or else Sam will know something's up."
"Deal."
Amadeus: Wait, doesn't that mean I can order the others around? Even Marie?
Inessa: You were a lieutenant, dumbass. You could always order them around.
Amadeus: Oh yeah…
Inessa: Travis lost his status, remember? You can boss him around too for fun.
Amadeus: Oh, it's a beautiful new world...
"So what's your next move? Grab another body and get the intel we came for?"
Inessa shook Amadeus' head in the negative, "Too risky. I found Amadeus by his mark, but those are all fading now- fast. I can't see anyone else as strongly except for Geoff and he hates me. We'd get our intel, but he could cause a lot of problems with my control in that body. Any struggle for dominance would tip Sam off too quickly- he could take off with you two and I'd be screwed."
"Does Amadeus trust you now?"
Amadeus: Utterly and apologetically.
"Yeah," she half-smiled, "but I had to show him everything. It would at least temper Geoff's hostility to do the same, but Bucky-"she shook her head.
"More sensitive intel?" Inessa nodded, "I get it, don't worry. I'm getting used to this."
"The fewer who know what I know the better our chances of finding Steve and the others. Geoff would be too obvious. I can only trust Amadeus with this. He's a good enough liar and I didn't exactly have a choice in sharing. You? I need your actions and reactions to be as genuine as possible. It's the only way this goes forward."
Amadeus: I disagree, but fine. Have it your way.
Bucky considered their options carefully, "You should go back to your body, protect it in case Sam decides to hurt it just to make sure you're gone for good. Can you keep your eyes brown?"
Amadeus' eyes abruptly lost their unearthly hue, "I think I can, yeah."
"Nadya escaped from Berny's weapon, but you probably know that already," he advised, "keep her back. If Sam gets a whiff of her here he'll know you aren't gone."
"Okay."
"Amadeus- of the two of us you have the best chance of being allowed out of here to find the intel, considering they think Inessa is out of play. Now, I think I can get them to let you go, but it's going to be very painful. Inessa, considering our history-"
"My history with the Winter Soldier," she corrected.
"-you should go before we begin."
"Oh no," she was adamant, "if that's how you want to handle this I'm staying right here-"
Amadeus: Nessie, it's alright. I knew it was going to happen as soon as he was dropped in this cell. The only way they'll pull me out is if there's a fight. He hits me around a bit, they feel sorry and let me go. It isn't like I could help you now anyways, what with you being dead and all.
Inessa: I'm not saying it's not a good idea, but I've got a much higher tolerance for pain than you. I can protect you so you don't even feel it. I've had a lifetime of practice.
Amadeus: Repeat after me, O Stubborn One:
"He wants a test hit with me in the body to prove something," Inessa rolled her eyes.
"Are you sure, I'm really not comfortable with-"
"I know… I know. Just- let's just do this so he'll stop bitching and we can get going. Sam won't stick around here forever."
Bucky reminded himself this was the best plan to get the boy out of the cell. Sam wasn't fighting with Amadeus, only Bucky, who'd taken Inessa's side time and time again against him. Amadeus wasn't a threat, Sam just needed a push to force him to see it. Bucky pulled his fist back slowly, willing a better plan to come to mind, "Ready?"
Amadeus: Ready.
"We're ready," Inessa braced for the blow. When Bucky's fist connected with her jaw the explosion of pain as she was launched back into the wall sparked a memory. She clamped down on it before it reared up too far, but even half a second was long enough for Amadeus to get a vivid picture of their past.
"Are you OK?" Bucky helped pull Amadeus and Inessa back up and lightly touched where his fist connected, feeling for broken bones. Remorse was written all over his face.
Amadeus: He's going to have to work on his mean-face.
"I'm fine," Inessa ignored Amadeus. She rubbed her jaw just around where Bucky was hovering and practiced opening and closing it a few times. Nothing broken, but it would hurt like a bitch for a few days, "Amadeus was just proving why you kicking me out was a good idea."
Amadeus: The psychological ramifications on you are just one part of it, Inessa. Even if you protect me from the blows you can't shield me from what they'll make you see. I saw some of the footage of what Dennisson did to you in Astana after Steve made me your lieutenant. I can't- I'd rather take one hit at a time than take one and re-live four others that much worse. I know it's selfish, but-
Inessa: It's not selfish, Amadeus. I didn't think about what could happen, I won't let you see any of that. No one should.
"I'm sorry Nessa," Bucky didn't know what else to say.
"It's still not your fault," she patted Bucky's hand to comfort him, "Just promise me you'll go easy on Amadeus? Nothing too bad?"
"I'll knock him out after the first couple of screams get their attention," he hated how horrible that sounded.
Amadeus always faced fear with humor, and this time it was no exception, it's alright Nessie, it won't take long. I'm a screamer. Just ask-
Inessa: I already know you and Kelsey had a fling, I don't need visuals or audio… OH MY GOD, STOP THINKING ABOUT IT! I CAN SEE THAT TOO YOU KNOW!
Amadeus: That was payback for earlier. Now- SCRAM!
"Fine, I'm going, I'm going. Ellie should be done by now anyways."
"See you on the other side?" Bucky tried to smile.
"I'll see you there. Good luck, and try to look scarier," Inessa squeezed Bucky's hand, then let herself slip away back into her body.
Amadeus sighed as he returned to full control of his body. It was starting to feel cramped in there. Bucky waited while he stretched and got his bearings again, "Ready, kid?"
"Hold on," something burned in Amadeus' eyes, a cunning Bucky didn't realize the boy possessed, "Inessa thinks you're safer left in the dark, I disagree. It's too dangerous to tell you anything outright, but I've got three things for you. A tip, a worry, and a riddle. Figure out the answer to the last one and you'll know half the story. Maybe more."
"This won't risk the mission?" Bucky wanted answers more than anything- but not if getting them meant killing any Avenger leader still alive.
"The first two are common knowledge amongst us, only you're out of the loop. The riddle- you've thought of it before, you must have! If half the stories about you are true you'd have noticed. You just didn't know how important it was. The plot-hole in Inessa's story."
"Go ahead," Bucky still thought this was a bad idea, but he couldn't resist.
"Your tip- there are three factions among the Avengers. The first and smallest believes that Inessa is innocent. She won over Wanda and Vision late in the game, but as far as I know it's just you, me, those two, and the Guardians right now in that camp. The second and largest unit believes Inessa is being controlled by the Shadow King- Loki. That's myself- formerly- and most of the teams on Earth and with Sam. They won't trust anything that comes out of her mouth, but they might be convinced, eventually. The last faction is the most dangerous- those who believe Inessa did all of this intentionally. Sam, Marie, Geoff, and Eoin are the most charismatic- they inspire the rest to hate. They think Inessa planned Steve, Natasha, Clint, Tony, Thor, and Banner's deaths right from the second she got out of that cryo tube in South Korea. No mind control, no room for uncertainty. To them she's pure evil. Adjust your tone accordingly."
"Understood," Bucky had guessed that much already, but it was nice to have confirmation.
"Next, the worry: Inessa found evidence that suggests whoever the puppet master is," Amadeus knew exactly who it was, but he made it very clear that intel wasn't up for grabs, "they were trying to replicate her powers. That's why Inessa won't go through the Valley, even to save herself. There's a chance she might not be alone anymore. No evidence has ever been found to back this up, but she's been right so far. I'm willing to be she isn't wrong here."
A chill crept up Bucky's spine. Now it all made sense- whenever he'd asked Inessa for information she'd looked away. He assumed she was breaking eye contact, shutting the conversation down- but the more he thought about it the more he realized that she wasn't just looking away, she was looking into the shadows as if they might have ears. That was why he'd never get the full story. That was why she needed him lost in all of this- it was literally too dangerous to tell him anything of value.
"And now your riddle," abruptly Amadeus jumped forward and put his mouth to Bucky's ear to whisper, "Why did Nikolai Ryker risk everything to flee Hydra with his niece only to sell her back later without a second thought?"
Bucky's eyes widened as Amadeus leaned back against the wall. The boy was right- when he found out Dimitri Aristov was Inessa's recruiter and uncle he'd been aghast. As he tortured the man to death he asked over and over again why he'd done it, how he could be so cruel to his own blood- a child he'd raised! Sometime between Aristov's last breath and the fight with Morris' cabal Bucky forgot his question- or decided it wasn't important anymore, "Dimitri's gone, how am I supposed to answer that?"
"It's a riddle," Amadeus wasn't giving him any more help, "figure it out."
"But-"
"Hit me," Amadeus cut him off and leaned against the cell wall, "we're on a clock, remember? Let's get started."