"You think the Power Broker really exists?" Sam asked Bucky.

They had received a call from Nick Fury and gotten the urgent directive to pick up the other Flag Smasher. The pair was now sitting in the apartment Fury had obtained for them to stay at for the night. Once they had gotten the rebel out of the jail, they were to bring them to secret secure location while remaining, if at all possible, under the radar themselves.

"Everyone in Madripoor seems to think so," Bucky said, not committing to either side.

"What if Zemo is the Power Broker?" Sam said.

Bucky looked at Sam with an expression of disbelief. Sam wondered aloud if it was possible that all they heard and were told in Madripoor was only rumors. Maybe the truth was that someone else wanted the serum and the Power Broker wanted Nagel dead all along. Bucky shook his head at the idea and remarked that it made more sense that someone in the government was the Power Broker.

"And we're moving a Flag Smasher for Fury," Bucky said with a pointed look.

Sam stated resolutely that Fury wasn't the Power Broker and wouldn't help someone in the government take possession of a super soldier. Bucky questioned Sam's certainty and pointed out a few of Fury's actions that he knew of. Under the Winter Soldier's steadfast gaze, Sam wavered a bit in his certainty but told his partner that there was more going on than what they had been informed of. Sam asked Bucky if Alex had said anything about it. Bucky shook his head and shared that the last time he had spoken to her was in therapy. Bucky questioned why Sam thought she might know something.

"She was at that last briefing. Fury said the two of you called him. Maybe you're on some secret mission I don't know about," Sam answered.

"It's not like that."

"You gonna tell me what it's like?"

"No," Bucky said shortly.

Realizing he wasn't going to get any further answer from Bucky, Sam returned to discussing their current objective. "I don't like misrepresenting myself. It's not a good look for Captain America."

"Just hand them the papers. They give us the guy; we leave."

"You take the lead; you have some experience with getting people out of jail," Sam said.

"That wasn't me," Bucky shot back.

Later that night, Bucky sat up in bed breathing hard, having been jarred awake by a vivid nightmare. His subconscious had replayed the night he, as the Winter Soldier, murdered Tony Stark's parents. While the dream seemed to be a moment-by-moment repeat of the event, the scene suddenly jumped forward in time to Bucky's fight with Iron Man years later. Only this time, instead of being aided by his best friend, Steve Rogers stood by and watched as Bucky's metal arm was blown away and he lay helpless. As he walked away, Steve turned and told Bucky that he got what he deserved, to die alone.

Bucky reached for his phone and saw that was 2 a.m. He shook his head hoping to get the dream off him and out of his mind. With a mix of anger and frustration, he put the phone down on the bed, then picked it back up and stared at the screen. Bucky typed out a text to Alex asking if they could meet as soon as he got back. His thumb hesitated as he considered not sending the message. Much to his surprise not long after pressing send, he received a reply.

Definitely. Just call.

You having a late night or early morning? she asked.

Couldn't sleep.

You?

Bad dream. Alex replied followed by a scared face emoji.

As Bucky considered whether there was any truth to her response, Alex went back to the book she had been reading on her phone when his text arrived. The dream that had awoken Alex wasn't her own. Her five-and-a-half-year-old daughter also had a nightmare and crawled into bed next to her. Olivia had fallen fast asleep again after having appropriated a large portion of the bed while Alex remained awake.

While Sam and Bucky were transporting the imprisoned Flag Smasher to the new location, John Walker was carrying out his own covert operation. The former Captain America was in the midwestern United States entering an unmarked, grey brick facility. He was also being carefully surveilled by Zemo. Once inside, Walker went through security and was greeted by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. After ordering him to not be so surprised, she introduced, Ryan Sciple, a lead researcher of the "team".

As they went from lab room to lab room, Walker was introduced to the "team." It was made up of mostly scientists and researchers with a few tech people in between. Sciple shared that they were working on creating more of the super soldier serum for when it was needed.

Not only had their team decrypted Hydra's data that was dumped onto the internet by Black Widow, but they had also managed to decipher a good portion of the old SSR files as well. As the trio walked into another room, a man in a lab coat was drawing blood from a person sitting in a chair. The patient looked up and locked eyes with Walker and did little to disguise his hate.

When the left the room, Walker asked what they were doing. Sciple replied that they were going to be running tests on blood from someone who had taken the super soldier serum. The results, along with the historical data, would allow for further refining of the serum. The scientist then asked if Walker would be willing to provide a sample. The former Captain America immediately declined but assured Sciple he would think about it.

Outside the facility, Zemo watched Walker and Fontaine leave and made a quick phone call. He remained at his outpost to watch the comings and goings of others in building and began to formulate his plan.

In the hallway of the government office building where they worked, Dr. Raynor stopped Alex as she was walking by. It was Alex's usual time for meeting with Bucky and instead of hiding out in her preferred office space, she had gone out for a walk.

"Where's your patient?" Dr. Raynor asked.

"Rescheduled," Alex replied nonchalantly although she was surprised that Raynor has noticed.

"James needs regular sessions, Alex. He's reluctant to do the work as it is. He needs consistent check-ins."

"If he wasn't the Winter Soldier, would we be talking about this?"

"Of course. Why?" Raynor replied.

"It seems that a lotta people have been more concerned about him regressing than with him actually dealing with the underlying issues," Alex said.

"We need to be sure James doesn't go..."

"James is not gonna go," Alex said quickly cutting Raynor off. "He had to reschedule an appointment, just like we all do from time to time."

"Alex, if he does go off and does something unspeakable, you'll be held accountable; especially when it's discovered he's skipping appointments."

"Christina, he rescheduled. Not skipping. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a webinar to attend," Alex said solemnly and ducked away.

Once in the quiet of her room, Alex sank back into the beanbag and stared up at the ceiling. She silently cursed Fury for bringing her into this situation but Alex knew herself well enough to know that she wasn't going to quit now. Before signing on to the webinar, Alex made a call to Maria Hill. After exchanging pleasantries and promising to catch up on life later, Alex asked Hill for a favor. Hill agreed and Alex requested that someone from their tech do a sweep of her room and phone. When Hill asked why, Alex replied that she wanted to be sure her conversations with Bucky were not being monitored… by anyone.

"Maria, I've gotta go. I know Fury has his own agenda, but he's also pissed off a lot of people down here," Alex said and ended the call.