The Right Partner

By rockofmarduk

Chapter 28: Zemo's Revenge

000

"The nerve of him! After all I've done for that man!"

An angry Dr. Zola made his way down the hall towards the main staircase, rubbing his sore neck from were the Red Skull had almost throttled him. "How dare he treat me like this, like a dog, after all it was I 'Dr. Arnim Zola' who gave him all of this technology to defeat his enemies in the first place." Arnim paused in thought for a second and sighed, brushing a strand of hair out of his face. "Then again wasn't it Herr Skull that found the Tesseract to power up your creations in the first place? Without him you'd still be sitting behind some desk trying to get someone to notice one of your designs."

His ego suddenly deflated with this knowledge Zola went back to planning a way to find their unknown traitor. He had barely made it to the staircase when the place began to shake uncontrollable, knocking the scientist off his feet and face first onto the floor.

"Bloody hell! What the hell is it this time!" Zola shouted angrily, the floor muffling much of his voice before he managed to get back to his feet. Using the wall for support he made his way towards one of the castle windows that looked out over the courtyard. He was horrified by what he saw.

"My god! This cannot be happening!"

The courtyard was in flames. Wreckage was strewn about in every possible direction. Gunfire erupted from everywhere he looked. He could see Hydra troops battling and losing to an enemy that Zola could not see, but he knew could not be from the Americans side. They wouldn't risk such an attack while Hydra still held their precious super soldier captive. Would they?

Suddenly a fist full of Zola's hair was grabbed from behind and his forehead was slammed into the wall beside the window. Zola hit the floor with a thud, his head spinning, his vision blurry as he tried to make out his attacker. He could already feel blood running down his forehead and dripping onto his lips, causing him to gag on the copper taste it left in his mouth. Suddenly he heard a feminine laugh above him and through his blurry vision he could make out a tall blond female standing over him. One he knew all to well.

"An..Andrea?" he manged to choke out, spitting blood out of his mouth in the process. Another laugh escaped the young woman's mouth as she watch Zola make a spectacle of himself in his weaken state. Zola finally knew who the traitor was and by the sound of her laugh he had a feeling he wouldn't live long enough to tell anyone about it.

"Hello again my dear doctor. Herr Baron would like to have a word with you." Andrea sneered at Zola as black spots began dancing in front of his eyes.

That was the last thing Zola heard before he slipped into unconscious.

000

"Zemo! As in the guy who own that freaky castle with that giant living underground!" Steven asked in disbelief as the ground shook once more. Steven remembered the pages from the diary he found hidden all over the last castle he had been in, and discovered that the castle had belonged to a long line of Baron's know as the Zemo's. From what he had read from the diary they were a very strange lot who viewed themselves to be like gods and the rest of the people as their peasants, to obey their every whim and bow down to them when ordered to.

"The one and only." The Red Skull growled under his breath as he headed towards his desk with Steven hot on his heels.

"Steven I need to remain here until I return." Schmidt ordered as he rummaged around in his desk looking for something.

Rogers looked at the Skull in shock. "Are you kidding me? You must be out of your mind if you think I'm just going to sit here and let you face off against that maniac alone!"

"Oh, I won't be alone, I have a whole army at my disposal and this", he said as he pulled out a gun hidden in one of the drawers of his desk, "is all I need to finish Zemo off once and for all."

"But it's madness its..ARGGG!" Steven yelled out as his collar came to life sending a shockwave of pain through his body sending him crashing to the floor. Barely conscious, Steven registered himself being lifted off the ground and being placed on something soft. He then heard the sound of a door closing and the sound of something locking. His vision clearing up he saw that he was back inside his cage with the Skull looking at him with great pity from behind the bars.

"I'm sorry Steven. This is the only way you'd be safe. I can't have you running out and getting hurt now can I?"

Steven struggled to speak but was quieted down by the Skull by placing a finger to Stevens lips hushing him. "Shush, I know your probably angry at me but it's for your own good. Hopefully you can forgive me after the fights over."

Sparing one last glance at Steven, Schmidt headed to and out the door, making sure it was properly locked so that no one could get in or out. He would handle Zemo the best way he knew how..by shoving that gun up his ass and pulling the trigger. Smiling at the thought, Schmidt headed out to meet his enemy face to face and then he would blow his enemies face off.

000

Unbeknown to the Red Skull he was being carefully watched, not by members of Zemo's troops but by his own inner circle. Andreas Von Strucker and Mother Night watched from behind one of the pillars as the Skull made his way to the courtyard were most of the fighting was going on. Andreas fingered the gun in his right hand as he watched the Skull wondering if he was going off to fight or in all the confusion make his escape.

"Look at him, fleeing like the coward that he is." Mother Night spoke as if to confirm what the Skull was really up to."He runs while the true men die gloriously in battle. This is your chance Andreas. Kill the Red Skull and you will be the leader of all of Hydra!" Mother Night quickly urged the young man on.

Andreas aimed his gun, ready to shoot the Skull in the back but Schmidt had already moved too far out of range for him to take the Skull down. "Damn, he's moved to far to fast", Andreas cursed as he moved out from behind the pillar and began to pursue the fleeing Skull, "but don't worry my dear, he won't get far."

Mother Night watched with wicked glee as her young protege went off after his destiny. Soon Hydra would have a new leader, one far younger and much more easier to control and manipulate.

000

Baron Wolfgand Von Strucker was awoken by the sound of bombs going off just outside his hospital window. He quickly rolled himself out of the bed and ducked underneath just as debris from the explosion shattered his hospital window and sent shards of glass spraying across the room. Most of the glass shards embedded themselves in the mattress the Baron had just been sleeping on. Years of military experience had prepared him for incidents such as these and his instincts were as sharp was they ever were.

"Father, father, are you all right?" Werner Von Strucker shouted as he threw open his fathers door and made a bee line for his bed. He was relieved to find the older Strucker unharmed and already getting back into his old uniform. "The castle is under attack father!"

"So I've noticed Werner." Wolfgang spoke sarcastically back at his son. "How dumb do you think I am?" Surely this boy could not be from his own blood?

Werner said nothing to his fathers remark, it was a stupid thing for him to say. Instead he decided to follow any orders his father gave him."What would you like me to do father."

Wolfgang finished buttoning up his uniform and grabbed his newly rebuilt Satan's Claw from the desk beside his ruined bed. "It's simple my son. We gather our remaining troops, find the enemy and show him what happens to those who attack the imperial forces of Hydra." To demonstrate what would happen he activated his Satan claw and blasted a hole the size of a man through the wall of his room. Wolfgang glanced at his son and saw the fear and admiration in his eyes at the power he wield. Perhaps their was still hope for the boy. "Now get to work."

Werner nodded with pride at his father and ran out of the room to gather their men. Wolfgang marched out after him, ready to do battle with whoever was stupid enough to attack them. They would suffer for it dearly.

000

Back in Schmidt's private quarters Steven had finally gotten the use of his legs back and managed to stand up on his own. Gripping the bars of his cage with both his hands he tried once again to pry them apart but once again thanks to the collar it was a no go. He even tried to reach for his shield that was still lying on the floor but it was just to far out of his grasp.

"Damn it Johann." Steven cursed under his breath and began pacing back and fourth in his small cell. "Why did you do this, I could have helped you, you idiot. I know you said you wanted to protect me but this is a little bit extreme. I'm quite capable of defending myself you know." Steven stopped his rant for a moment and laughed. "I really have come to depend on you Johann for everything, even companionship. Here I am talking to you and your not even here to listen."

As another explosion rocked the castle, Steven slid down onto the floor and resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn't be fighting in this battle. He could only hope that Johann would be successful and he would return. But what if he didn't? Could Steven live with himself knowing that the person he loved had died because he hadn't been able to protect him? Steven looked up at one of the broken windows and made a silent plea.

"Just come back to me Johann, that's all I ask. Just please come back to me."

000

The first think Zola noticed when he woke up was the pounding in his head and the copper taste in his mouth.

The second thing he noticed was he was no longer in the castle hall. He was outside on-top of one of the castles many towers, high above the battle that raged below. Zola tried to get up into a sitting position but discovered that his wrists and ankles had been bound together with heavy rope and he was stuck in the hogtie position.

"Well now, look who's finally awake."

Zola's entire body froze at the sound of that thick heavy arrogant German voice that he knew all too well. Looking up he saw what he feared most. Baron Zemo stood over him with his sword in his right hand, the purple mask he wore like an executioners hood blew slightly in the breeze that chilled the air around them.

"It..it can't be you. Your dead." Zola stammered out, not from the chill of the cold night air but from the fear of the ghost standing over him.

Zemo laughed at Zola. "Yes I was dead, but now I've become death itself. Your death Arnim, for what you did to me you must be punished. And the only punishment I see fit for you is death. But I'm in a good mood today Arnim, so I'm going to spare your life just long enough for you to feel the pain that I felt when I lost everything dear to me."

Zemo looked down and nodded at something laying on the ground at his feet that Zola had not noticed before. It appeared to be a person with their hands tied behind their back with rope just like him. In a green Hydra uniform with shoulder length hair. Green hair specked with blood to be precise.

Zola's face went pale as he realized who it was lying in-front of him. "Ophelia." He gasped and began tugging at the ropes on his hands to free himself. "Let her go Zemo, it's me you want. She had nothing to do with what happened to you. She didn't even know."

Zemo laughed and grabbed Zola by the hair and looked him straight in the eye. "Look at you, how pitiful you've become. A pathetic excuse for a man who can't even save the woman that he loves. I'm actually surprised that she would be interested in a man like you, but I guess every whore has a different taste in men."

In his anger, Zola surprised them both by spitting right into Zemo's left eye. Zemo growled and threw Zola back onto the stone hard ground, before wiping away the spit from his eye. "You'll regret that." Zemo snarled as he reached down for Madame Hydra. "In fact lets start making you sorry now."

"No please!" Zola begged as he struggled to free himself. "Please Zemo not her. Take me instead!"

"Oh, I plan on doing just that. But only after I make you suffer a bit. It's only fair after what you put me through." Grabbing Madame Hydra by her hair, Zemo then slowly lifted his sword above his head and swung down.